Meeting of the Rotary Club of Eureka January 5 2015

LUNCH MENU: Salad bar, lasagna, fried cod, mixed vegetables, scalloped potatoes, garlic bread, and dessert. Called to order by President Gregg Gardiner at 12:30pm. Chris Freeman led the Pledge of Allegiance. Carlton Nielsen led the Invocation. VISITING ROTARIANS: No visitors today.

Carlton and Our exchange student

GUESTS OF ROTARIANS: Jaison Chand introduced his guest, Elan Firpo. Russ Harris brought the new Relationship Manager for Tri-County Banks. Jason Eads brought Jim the new owner of H&R Block in Eureka and Arcata, Carlton Nielsen introduced Deborah Claesgens, Executive Director, at Sequoia Park Zoo.

 STUDENT GUESTS: Our exchange student, Lisa said she slept and watched her favorite show on TV on her Christmas break. Carlton let us know that Lisa’s parents have granted her wish to pay for a trip to New York but she needs a certified Rotarian to go with her. If anybody is available to go to New York with Lisa, March 15-20th, please contact Carlton. ANNOUNCEMENTS: Jay Bahner reminded us that he has tickets to sell for the annual fundraiser at the Adorni Center. He needs help. Please call Jay if you can help him sell tickets or if you would like to buy extra tickets. President Gregg said that we are NOT closed for Martin Luther King Day instead we will all be going to jail courtesy of Sheriff Mike Downey who will be giving us a tour of the jail. An invite will be mailed out and calls will be made to find out who is attending so please respond so they can figure out how many lunches. RECOGNITIONS: President Gregg asked whoever had missed all meetings in October, November and December to stand.

David Hull

 One person stood up. David Hull. After some discussion President Gregg agreed to not fine him $500 but to fine him $200 instead. President Gregg showed Pat Folkins a photo of Pat’s grandson standing with another member, John Burger. Both men were carrying shotguns, as they were duck hunting. Although Pat’s grandson in the picture didn’t shoot a duck his other grandson shot a goose so Pat agreed to pay a $25 fine in recognition of the downed goose.

Nancy Dean

 Past President Nancy Dean has retired from the weather business and is now a Rotarian 100% of the time. Gregg gave her the option of finding her replacement from the weather station or paying a fine. She paid a fine of $100. NEW MEMBER: Carlton Nielsen introduced our newest member, Deborah Claesgens, Executive Director, at Sequoia Park Zoo. Deborah was born and raised in Twin Cities, Minnesota and has an impressive resume including working as the Development Director for the University of California in Santa Cruz for the past 3 years, working for 4 years for the Los Angeles Unified School District as the lead consultant for special programs and initiatives. She even worked for the Disney Development Company in Florida for a few years. Past President Dennis Hunter gave the Past President address and urged Deborah to never say no when a request was made to help out at Rotary. Just as he didn’t say no when he stepped into the meeting today and was asked to give the Past President address since he was the first Past President to walk into the room.

President Gregg presented Deborah with her red badge.

Mindy gets her blue badge

Mindy Bussman was asked to head to the front of the room where she was presented with her Blue Badge. President Gregg noted that her father holds the record, not only in the Rotary Club of Eureka, but also in Rotary International, for having a red badge for the longest period of time so it gave him great pleasure to give Mindy her Blue badge. President Gregg noted that the Sheriff’s SWAP team recently took on the task of cleaning up the woods adjacent to Winship and turning them into more of a park environment by removing brush, etc. President Gregg also noted that Toys for Tots had the biggest year yet serving 6,600 children. Unfortunately, they ran a little short on toys and were unable to serve the 23 to 24 last minute calls they received. He thanked Bob Morse for the immense amount of work he donates to Toys for Tots, maintaining the database each year. STUDENT

Lisa, vice President of Interact

GUESTS: Lisa, VP of Interact recently attended the Rotary Youth Leadership Conference (RYLA) for district 5130. Lisa talked about the valuable experience she had at the camp. She met many people who she has formed long-lasting ties with and participated in a number of leadership training activities. She thanked the club for sponsoring her trip. SPENGLER-HOWARD RAFFLE: Mike Cunningham won a bottle of Riverbend Cellars wine. Past President Dennis Hunter drew from the deck of cards for the joker and a pot of $340 but alas drew a four of hearts. GUEST SPEAKER INTRODUCTION: Chris Freeman introduced our guest Michael Christian who has been his long time friend and neighbor for the past 20 years. When Michael graduated from HSU in the 1970’s he needed to make his own job.


Michael Christian



He wanted to see the world, live in Humboldt County, visit warm, sunny places, go fishing and be passionate about what he did for a living. And… American Hydroponics was born. Michael is a worldwide expert in hydroponics, evening having projects on display in the Smithsonian and he consults on projects all over the world. GUEST SPEAKER: Michael Christian, American Hydroponics / Water Planet, (AH/WP) Michael said they have 10 employees at AH/WP. Although many people think of marijuana when they hear the word hydroponics that’s not what AH/WP is all about. HYDRO means water and PONICS means working. They utilize dissolved minerals and recirculate water to grow food year round. This process utilizes 1/10 the amount of water required in traditional direct farming and is not climate dependent. In traditional farming crops that can turn 4X in one year can turn 24X in one year with hydroponics, making this a very efficient, cost-effective way to bring fresh produce to market locally. It’s a great way to use unused land, rooftops and more. He showed us examples of systems they’ve set up all over the world including a rooftop garden over a Whole Foods Store in New York that grows fresh vegetables on the roof that they take by elevator downstairs to serve their customers. Consumers are really starting to vie for locally grown foods. It not only makes sense economically, it helps with the utilization of our natural resources and there are no transportation costs. It helps keep food fresher with less chance of health issues. They believe education is key to empowerment and they welcome a lot of children through their greenhouses to show them how it all works. MEETING ADJOURNED: 1:30pm. Respectfully submitted, Alicia Cox