April 7, 2014

Meeting of the Rotary Club of Eureka
April 7, 2014

Lunch Menu: Salad bar, chicken fried steak, pork chops, scalloped potatoes, mixed vegetables, rolls, dessert.

Called to order by President Ziggy at 12:20pm.

The Pledge of Allegiance was led by: Jim Howard.

The Invocation was led by: Greg Pierson.

Visiting Rotarians
Liz Smith- Arcata, Mike Brown- Fortuna, Diane Nedder- Bishop.

Guests of Rotarians
Welcome to all. Given the large crowd we won’t make individual introductions today. Thanks for coming.

Student Guests
Eli Savage- Our outgoing student. Dan – our exchange student

Announcements
John Bradley- reminder Backpacks for Kids fundraiser is coming up. Tickets are $50 and includes a Fancy western Barbecue dinner and dessert, dancing with Dr. Squid, auction action and no-host bar. Friday, April 25th at the Adorni Center.

Dennis Hunter recited a wonderful poem about a Shoe Shine man. He told us that copies of an article written by Jeremiah Scott, Jr. for the Humboldt Historian was on each table for us to take with us. Pat Folkins escorted a very surprised Jim Howard to the front of the room amidst a standing ovation and the accolades began…

Jim Howard arrived in Eureka when he was 6 months old. Today he is 98 years old. He has been a member of the Rotary Club of Eureka since 1973, (41 years).

Past President Will Kay talked about Jim’s many attributes including his ability to make people feel better which is why Will calls him Doctor.

Pat Folkins talked about Jim’s many Paul Harris Fellowships since 1978 and presented him with a gift of 3 half-penny’s found in England by our own Rotary Club member and resident treasure hunter, Mike Martin.

Mayor Frank Jager, Presented a proclamation from the City of Eureka noting Jim’s outstanding service to the city. Jim ran his own shoeshine shop in Eureka for over 30 years serving locals and traveling visitors such as boxing champ Joe Louis and Senator Alan Cranston. He was a member of the Eureka Housing Authority, an elected City Council member numerous times, president of the Eureka chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

Melanie McGuire from the Humboldt County Board of Education thanked Jim for his help in raising over $160,000 through the Spengler Raffle which has impacted over 11,000 students and provided over 7,000 medals as well as many ribbons. She presented Jim with a 1st place medal and a plaque from Garry Eagles who was unable to attend.

Virginia Bass- representing the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors, read a proclamation noting Jim’s many achievements and presented him with a framed plaque.

Denna Hanson, representing State Assemblyman Wes Chesbro, and Zuretti Goosby, representing State Senator Noreen Evans, thanked Jim for his service and presented a framed plaque.

John Driscoll, representing Congressman Huffman, provided Jim with a Certificate of Appreciation.

Elizabeth Smith presented Jim with a proclamation thanking him for his work with the NAACP.

Past District Governor and Past President Dave Dillon Talked about the history of the Spengler Raffle. Bill Spengler was a Eureka Rotarian in the early 1990’s. He started a raffle that was used to purchase shoes for kids at cost. The raffle at that time was .25¢ per week and the winner received $1.00. In 1936 the donation went to 50¢ and the winner received a percentage of the total pot with the money raised going to provide scholarships for kids to go to camp. Jim Howard took on the responsibility of collecting money at each meeting and handling the counting of that money, etc. and has done that for many years. In Jim’s honor, the raffle will now be known at the Spengler-Howard Raffle.

A new bucket inscribed with the new name was given to Jim who drew the 2 winners of the first Spengler-Howard Raffle. Nobody claimed the first $10 so it was given to Dan our exchange student and Jack Macdonald was the winner of the second $10.

Jim then stood and thanked everybody for their kind words and corrected a couple of errors in reporting. He actually served 5 terms as City Council Member from 1932-1990.

The meeting was adjourned and a large group photo was taken by father and son team Don and Jeff Leonard.

Meeting adjourned: 1:30pm

Respectfully submitted,
Alicia Cox