Meeting of the Rotary Clue of Eureka
March 31, 2014

New Police Chief Andy Mills led the pledge. Lisa Slack gave the invocation. 

After he asked for visiting Rotarians and guests, President Ziggy gave us another reminder of the multi-club Mad River cleanup project. It starts at 8:45am on April 19th and finishes at Mad River Brewery at Noon. Then the drinking starts. 

Visiting Rotarians, soon to be members of our Club!

On a more sober note, dues are due. They are $130 for the club and $73.50 for the service fund. The alternative is a 5am phone call from Ziggy. 

Christian Hill announced that the March Madness auction had made $5,200, up from last year. 

New Rotarian Kathy Smith came up to get her blue badge. 

Ziggy held a brief vote on whether to submit Winship’s renovation as our club project for an award at the District Conference. The ayes have it. 

Gregg Gardiner gave a report on the Boys and Girls Club refurbishment. Lead abatement is complete and next they will fix the leaky roof. The club has raised over $100,000 in grants and local donations. 

Then Gregg asked Steve Justus, Jessie Klair, and Rick Littlefield to pose for a picture holding the certificates of appreciation the Marine Corps gave them for helping out Toys For Tots. Over 6,000 children got toys this year. 

John Bradley reminded us that the Backpacks for Kids barbeque and auction is April 25th at 6pm at the Adorni Center. Dr. Squid will provide the music. 

Steve Lafferty was awarded a t-shirt for a new addition to his family…after 50 hours of labor, a baby boy named Jack. We suspect that his wife did most of the work. 

Finally, in a disturbing trend of adding insult to injury, Christian Hill was presented with a t-shirt because the team he had purchased in the NCAA auction, UCLA, lost. 

Andy Mills and Tom Schallert won the drawing. 

Program
Our program was HSU Economics professor Erick Eschker. His students maintain the Humboldt Economic Index, a web site which gives a month to month picture of how the county is doing. It tracks employment, housing, retail, energy, hotels, and lumber. He announced that they will be adding niche manufacturing to the mix. 

There are some signs that the economy has improved in the last 3 years. Help wanted ads are up, unemployment claims are down, and the number of houses sold is up. He feels that housing prices have bottomed out, down 1/3 from the boom years. He says niche manufacturing has shown an up-tick in 2013. Then it was time for questions. What effect will marijuana legalization have on our economy? Will interest rates increase? Will there be another recession? Are there greater numbers of long-term unemployed? Is there balm in Gilead? They were all great questions, and the professor was glad they asked those questions. He was unable to hazard a guess due to insufficient information. Therefore our editorial staff has provided the answers. 1. Sales of snack foods will increase. 2. No-wait, maybe. 3. No, because we’re still in one. 4. Seems like it. 5. Try CVS. 

 Penned by PP Hank Ingham.

Meeting of the Rotary Club of Eureka
March 24, 2014

Nick Bertell led the pledge and Dan Price gave the invocation. 

It was then Ziggy realized that the microphone was not working. He compensated for it by yelling. 

Dan the exchange student reported on his recent activities. He just finished reading “The Grapes Of Wrath.” He didn’t understand it. 

John Bradley spoke for Backpacks for Kids. The program started in 2007 as a joint effort with Food For People and is now a multi-club effort that packs 114 bags a week at a cost of $6 a bag. The food goes to needy kids so they have enough to eat on weekends. They’re having a fundraiser Barbeque and Dance on April 25th. 

Carol Rische and the small grant committee presented a check for $700 to Jeff Smoller of Making Headway, a non-profit that supports people with brain injuries. They give out 400-600 helmets a year to help prevent trauma. 

Fred Sundquist introduced a new member, Jason Ganz, COO of City Ambulance. Kim Bauriedel gave the Past President’s talk. 

President Ziggy reminded everyone that the January-June 2014 dues need to be paid, or else. The “else” is Ziggy calling you up at 5am. 

Then there was a little recognition. Ziggy awarded T-shirts to Rick Littlefield and Hank Ingham because their teams lost during March Madness.  As if losing wasn’t enough, Ziggy then announced that there would be a River Project on the Mad River on April 19th for which he needed a work crew. Said crew would be able to refresh themselves after work at the Mad River Brewery. 

Jill MacDonald and Sue Bosch won the Spengler Science Fair drawing. 



Program
Our program was Cliff Victorine, who heads Eel River Organic Grass Fed Beef. They started direct marketing over 10 years ago and now are one of the largest purveyors of Organic Grass Fed Beef in the U.S. Their marketing area is from Alaska to San Diego and east to Idaho. Locally, Eureka Natural Foods sells a lot of his product. 

Conventional beef comes from cattle that start in pastures but in the last 90-120 days are fed corn in feedlots. This fattens them up in a hurry, but it’s not their natural food. Organic Grass Fed Animals are inspected to be antibiotic free and raised on organic pastures where they eat only hay and grass. In addition the Animal Welfare Program monitors the farms to make sure the animals are sheltered and not mistreated. His meat company has created jobs in Humboldt County and brought in revenue. There’s much at steak here and we must not be cowed by those who herd corn fed beef is better. For moo information visit www.eelriverorganicbeef.com. 

Respectfully submitted by Hank Ingham

Meeting of the Rotary Club of Eureka
March 17, 2014

Don Leonard led the flag salute. Steve Justus gave the invocation, and because it was St. Patrick’s Day, he told an Irish joke. Here it is: “Pam wnaeth y cyw iâr groesi'r ffordd? I gyrraedd yr ochr arall!” Or it may have been a Welsh joke. Everyone laughed anyway.

Visiting Rotarians included Liana Simpson and Jim Seiler.

President Ziggy then called up Kim Bauriedel to talk about the impending visit of what used to be GSE teams but are now known as Vocational Training Teams. Four women from Vladivostok are coming here to learn how we integrate special needs children into the regular classroom. No host dinners are available. Call Kim to set something up. On April 1 they’ll be at the Old Town meeting and the Ferndale Rotary Meeting. Then they are going to Sonoma County.





Mel McGuire, coordinator of the Humboldt County Science Fair, came to the podium to accept a check from Rotary. This year’s fair is the 31st, and over 400 projects were entered. The money goes cover a portion of the expenses of the fair. It also enables us to send 6 of the top projects to the State Science Fair, where we have won in several categories in the past.

Mindy Bussman was fined $25 for her birthday.

Steve McHaney went to Germany last week to attend a music industry trade show, and received one of Ziggy’s t-shirts as a souvenir.

Program
Recognition was cut short so that we might participate in “March Madness”. Christian Hill was our auctioneer, and he opened the bidding with a recording of “Danny Boy.”

He then auctioned off the teams, interspersing that with asking trivia questions and giving away green frosted cupcakes as prizes. #1 seeds went to Mindy Bussman (Arizona @ $350), Rick Littlefield (Wichita St. @ $300), Jack Rieke (Florida @ $600), and Nick Bertell (Virginia @ $150).

Do you dare try to outbid the "masters" of the NCAA tournament?

Successful bidders for other teams included Dr. O’Brien, Don Leonard, Glenn Goldan, Christian Hill, John Winzler, Jay Reed, Murl Harpham, and most unlikely of all, Hank Ingham. Jack Rieke and his syndicate spent the most, followed by Glenn Goldan’s group. Deal of the week went to Nick Bertell getting a number one seed for $150. Christian Hill did an excellent job as auctioneer.

And since we have time here’s another joke for you. “What’s Irish and stays out all summer long? – Paddy O’Furniture. Ziggy signed off with, “May you be in Heaven an hour before the Devil knows you’re dead.”

Short story by Hank Ingham.

Meeting of the Rotary Club of Eureka
March 10, 2014 

Bruce Rupp led the flag salute. Gregg Williston quoted from the Bible-saying essentially that we should give until it hurt, and do so joyfully. This was particularly apt, considering that our guest speaker was Joan Firkins, Zone 25 coordinator for the Rotary Foundation. And if anyone needed a reminder of the Almighty’s power, there was the earthquake that happened Sunday night. 

There were lots of visiting Rotarians and guests, including Gary Barker, who had taken a break from being retired to come visit while someone pruned his vines. 

Dan, our foreign exchange student, came to the podium to announce that this was his second earthquake (6.9 on 3/09) and he had only been here 4 months. He was shaken, but not stirred. 

Carlton Nielsen announced that a fundraiser for Winship Middle School would be held Saturday March 15th at 6pm at the Eureka Inn. 14,000 oysters would be served along with barbequed tri-tip and small plates from 15 participating restaurants. You can get all that food plus beer and wine for only $40, or $75 per couple. 

Mindy Bussman then revealed the theme of this year’s Rotary Raffle – “The Great Gatsby.” It will be held at the Ingomar Club on May 31st - $150 a couple includes the raffle ticket. 

Continuing in the fund raising vein, Christian Hill reminded us that the March Madness is coming to our Rotary meeting on Monday the 17th. The four top seeds in each bracket will be auctioned off and then the remaining teams will be packaged for quick sale. Everybody is a winner, except for 63 of the 64 teams. 

Four women from Lost Coast Rotaract celebrated the anniversary on March 13th of Rotaract and said they would be at the door selling cake pops after the meeting – so far we were up to four fundraisers, and that didn’t count the Rotary Foundation. 

We now have two more Rotarians. Kim Bauriedel introduced Tom Strickland, Boy Scout Executive, and Murl Harpham followed with Andy Mills, the new Police Chief. Past president Dennis Hunter wrapped it up by asking everyone to stand and turn out their pockets if they had given money to anyone. 

President Ziggy eschewed recognitions and called on Gregg Gardiner to introduce our speaker, Joan Firkins, Regional Coordinator of Zone 25 of the Rotary Foundation. Her theme was “Engaged Rotarians Change Lives.” Rotary Foundation allows you to make a difference around the world. 50% of annual fund contributions come back to the district after three year’s time in the form of grants to district projects. Three years ago our district gave $342,228 to the Foundation, so this year we get back $171,000 to use on our projects. 

 

There are three kinds of grants: Global Grants which are matching, District Grants that include group study exchange, Package grants that involve partnerships with Mercy Ships and other providers, and Bottled Grants, which is a brand of Scotch. Oh, wait. That’s one too many. The Foundation channels its money to peace and conflict resolution, disease prevention, water and sanitation, maternal and child health, basic education, and something else that begins with the letter “e”. They also support Polio Plus and six Peace Centers where you can get a Masters. 

Joan got involved in the Foundation when she went to the international Rotary convention in Melbourne. Then she visited Uganda where she witnessed extreme poverty. She participated in Rotary Health Days, a series of traveling clinics in Nigeria, Uganda, and South Africa. She showed slides of the clinics, and then we ran out of time. 

Visiting Rotarians and District Leadership

 You can contribute to the foundation by automatic withdrawals every month. $10 a month, you won’t miss it. Our District Representative can arrange it.

Penned by Hank Ingham, with extra credit for using the word “eschewed”.

Meeting of the Rotary Club of Eureka
March 3, 2014

Lunch Menu: Salad bar, chicken fried steak, ham, mashed potatoes, gravy, mixed vegetables, rolls, dessert.
 
Called to order by President Ziggy at 12:30pm.

The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Bruce Emad.  The Invocation was led by Matt Messner.

Visiting Rotarians
None.

Guests of Rotarians
Steve Jackson introduced Rick Priolo from Senior’s Today Magazine. Fred Van Vleck introduced Tracie Kern, Principal of Grant Elementary School and Angela Shull, Principal of Lafayette Elementary. Gregg Gardiner brought Tom Newhouse, General Manager of Lost Coast Communications.
 

Student Guests
Eric Bergel introduced Laura, President and Kendall Vice President of the Eureka High School Interact Club.

Announcements
Ziggy said an email regarding District Assembly was recently sent out. He will be talking more about it at future meetings.

Gregg Gardiner announced that Interact has signed up to scan the Burl Newsletter which dates back to the 1930’s, These scans will be posted on the club web site so we can access the history of our club. Gregg then asked everybody with a birthday in July to stand up. He announced that the way program speakers are selected will be changing in July. Each month one person will be a chairman of the committee. In July, Lisa Slack will be that chairperson. Each month these committees will select six great programs so that if 2 don’t work we still end up with the four we need. Upcoming speakers will be listed on our web site.
 

John Bartholomew said that the Board of Supervisors asked him to invite everybody to the Interactive Community Budget Meeting. There will be 5 locations in Humboldt County. Eureka’s will be on Thursday from 6 – 8pm at the Humboldt Office of Education Annex Building.
 

Ziggy gave Steve Allen his blue badge amidst applause from the crowd.

 

Pat Folkins awarded Ted Loring with his THIRD Paul Harris and a 2 stone pin to commemorate it. The crowd gave a standing ovation and enthusiastic applause.

Ziggy gave Stacy Lane her official Board of Directors pin. And Stacy announced that everyone was invited to a dinner Monday Night at the Sea Grill with Joan Firkins from the Rotary Foundation. She will be our guest speaker at next Monday’s meeting as well as hosting a 2pm meeting with the President and Board of Directors that afternoon. Call Stacy if you would like to attend.

Carol Rische talked about the small grants program. There were 12 requests for funding during this last quarter. She said this was the most requests received in the past four years. Two of the three final choices were here to receive their checks. Principal of Lafayette, Angela, and Trish, a Library Technician, received $1,300 to go towards upgrading their VHS library to CDs.

Tracie Kern from Grant Elementary received $1,000 to buy computers for Grant Elementary.

Recognitions
Dick Storre received his t-shirt and a thank you from Ziggy for being a hero by volunteering his time as a member of the Eureka Volunteer Patrol Officers.

Raffle: $10 to: Tracie Kern & $10 to: Dave Dillon

Guest Speaker
Matthew Owen introduced Jenny Bowen from the Humboldt County Office of Education. Jenny talked to us about the Decade of Difference.

The Decade of Difference is a ten-year community initiative that is preparing local youth to be contributing and productive members of our society. 95% of the schools in Humboldt County are enrolled in this initiative.

Today 20% of our youth don’t graduate high school. This is a little higher than the State percent but still not good. Jenny had 20% of the room stand up to illustrate how many people this actually affects.

A few years ago we had 27,000 youth in our community and we now have 18,000. Employers are having a hard time finding skilled employees to fill certain jobs. The marijuana industry also contributes to this problem as it lures youth with the promise of high income without the demand of a lot of education or training.

The program has 3 main goals.

-100% of 4th graders will reach grade level mastery in reading and math.

-95% of entering high school freshmen will graduate with a high school diploma.

-90% of high school graduates will continue their education and enroll in a post-secondary educational program.

Jenny went on to say that today’s world requires that students receive additional education beyond high school to be successful whether that be college or vocational training.

The Decade of Difference is partnering with individuals and various businesses in the community interested in volunteering time assisting students to read, mentoring students or providing field trips, etc. Contact Jenny Bowen at 441-4552 or jbowen@humboldt.k12.ca.us for more information.

Meeting adjourned at 1:30pm.

Respectfully submitted,
Alicia Cox