Burl 6/8/2015
Today’s meal: Swiss Chicken, Pork, scalloped potatoes,
vegetable medley, garlic bread and coconut cake. Christian Hill was substituting for President
Gregg Gardiner. He asked Ken Stodder, an
ardent Boston Red Sox fan, to lead the pledge.
Matt Mesner gave the invocation.
Keith Crossley narrated the Rotary Minute. This is Polio Plus’s 25th
Anniversary. Keith gave five reasons to continue the program. To prevent future
outbreaks, because it’s treatable, it’s a good investment, saving millions in
future medical costs, and because it sets the stage for the next Rotary
Program.
John Burger was wearing a
DePaul Shirt because his son goes there.
No fine. 
Chuck Ellsworth was appointed to the
Headwaters Fund Board but he missed the first meeting so he has nothing to
report. He did, however, narrate a slide
show on the Lincoln Funeral Carriage that Blue Ox reproduced and shipped to
Springfield Ill. He had worked on the
gold filigree and lettering. During
transport the dry heat of the South West caused the wood to shrink, cracking
some of the castings. They had to pull a
series of 18 hour days to get it ready for the funeral celebration. Chuck estimated that it cost a million dollars to
build. Body not included.
Ray Wickel,
who attends two meetings a year, drew the winning ticket and selected the joker
from a 9 card deck, thus ending the suspense of who would win the $790.
Matthew
Owen introduced our speaker, Charlotte McDonald, executive director of Eureka
Main Street. They oversee Arts Alive,
the 4th of July Celebration, the Summer Concert Series, and the Crab
Festival. This was the first year for the crab festival. It had 1400 visitors who walked from
Restaurant to Restaurant sampling crab themed appetizers in spite of the bad
weather and lack of crabs. They have big
plans for the Fourth of July Fireworks.
It occurs on the same day as Arts Alive, so things should be
hopping. She also mentioned that
they had creative a Merchants
Neighborhood watch program to address security concerns in Old Town. One of her greatest accomplishments is the
revitalization of Saturday Arts Alive.
Because of the support of the City of Eureka, the Eureka Chamber of
Commerce, and the Convention and Visitors Bureau the once a month city wide art
exhibition has become a tourist draw and has even received National
Recognition.
Submitted by Hank Ingham