Rotary Club of Eureka, California

Meeting of the Rotary Club of Eureka

January 4, 2016

Lunch Menu: Salad bar, macaroni & cheese, roast beef, mashed potatoes, gravy, mixed vegetables, rolls, and dessert.

Called to order by President Jay Bahner at 12:30pm. The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Linda Wise. The Invocation was led by Matt Messner.

VISITING ROTARIANS: None.

GUESTS OF ROTARIANS: None.

STUDENT GUESTS: None.

BIRTHDAYS: Bob Morse, Neal Carnam (Medicare party)

ANNIVERSARIES: Tom & Tess Schallert- 40 years!

ANNOUNCEMENTS: There will be no meeting on January 18^th in recognition of Martin Luther King Day.  The 2017 Nominee for President is 2017-2018 will be Bruce Smith.  Nominations will remain open for two weeks.  If you would like to nominate somebody please contact President Jay.

RECOGNITIONS: President Jay asked all 49er fans to stand.  About ½ the room rose to their feet.  He then asked everybody who thought the 49ers would actually win the game in overtime to stay standing.  Russ Harris was the lone survivor.  President Jay took pity on him and did not impose a fine.  John Burger was asked to stand to display his San Diego state paraphernalia but didn’t fine him.  

President Jay requested volunteers who needed to own up to a fine worthy event to stand.  

Craig Hansen stood and notified the room that there was one Rotarian in the room who had just purchased a brand new spiffy truck from Harper Motors and thought maybe that Rotarian would like to confess.  President Jay confessed and promised to pay a fine.  He asked if anybody else wanted to own up… Steven Lafferty owned up that he had met with Harper Motors that morning and now had a little over 3 hour relationship with them.  He was asked to spin the wheel, which after President Jay did his “magic” calculations came to a fine of $25.  

Jason Eads was asked to stand and introduce the change that recently occurred in his life…  Jason moved offices July 1^st to Stokes, Rowe, Hamer & Kaufman in Arcata where he will be specializing in Estate planning.

SPENGLER-HOWARD RAFFLE:  $10: Steven Lafferty Rotary Timer: John Fullerton Keith Crossley drew a card for a pot of $480.

GUEST SPEAKER: Emma Breacain is the Executive Director of the Humboldt Literacy Project.  Basically they teach English literacy to adults with volunteer tutors.  She started with a story…  She had a persistent telemarketer who was hounding her and despite many requests would not stop calling.  Determined to stop the situation she researched the laws and found that he was operating outside of the law.  When he called next time she notified him that he was operating illegally and realized that in order to protect herself and do this research she had to have literacy skills.  She asked everybody in the room to imagine what it would be like to not be literate.  Could you still have the career you had? Could you still function as well as you do?  What would your income be like?   

There are 80 tutors and 80 learners at Humboldt Literacy Project.  Emma has been there 5 years but the organization has existed for 30 years.  Originally they were under the umbrella of the library but because of budget cuts they were removed from that umbrella in the 1980’s and now operate as a non-profit.  It is estimated that 15% of the adult population in the United States have literacy issues, that would be 14,000 people in Humboldt County.  It’s often hard for people to ask for help.  People come in that are keeping this a secret from their boss, friends, even from their spouse.  Becoming literate can turn people’s lives around.  April 3^rd is the Humboldt Literacy Project’s annual fundraiser at Cher-ae Heights Casino.  Check their web site for details.  If you want to get involved donations of money are always appreciated or you can volunteer as a tutor.

MEETING ADJOURNED: 1:30pm.

Respectfully submitted, Alicia Cox