Rotary Club of Eureka April 24, 2017 meeting

Our presenter Carol Vander Meer was asked to lead the flag salute.  Bill McAuley gave the invocation asking the entire assemblage to pray for the Giants.  He then quoted Vince Lombardi “ Winning isn’t everything, it’s wanting to win.”

Carol Vander Meer

 Our exchange student Clara mentioned that she’s having a fund raiser this week at the Faith Center to help pay for a cross country tour with her host family. It’s $30 a head but she didn’t say what time it started.  President Matthew Owen touted his “Done in a Day” work project this Saturday at Food for People.  You can go and help them re-landscape the grounds.  Weak coffee and turnips will be served afterwards.

Our exchange student from Milan

The 11^th annual Brew at the Zoo is happening Saturday May 6^th.  It’s a 21 and over Beer Tasting.  You get a souvenir beer glass and there are three Pub Grub venues plus live bands.  Tickets are $30 for zoo members and $20 for designated drivers. Tickets are available at the Zoo gift shop, The Works, and Wildberries.

Linda Wise donated 6 tickets plus a parking pass to tomorrow night’s game.  Matthew tried to auction them off, but there were no bids. It was short notice and more difficult to get to San Francisco with 101 out.  Plus the Giants are 6 and 13 as Dennis Hunter observed when Matthew noticed him wearing his Giants jacket.  The final straw was that Bumgartner the scheduled pitcher fell off his dirt bike and is out for 8 weeks.  Bill McAuley was fined $150 for taking a vacation in Maui. CPAs Jay Reed and John Fullerton were welcomed back for returning after tax season. Matthew then did a blatant commercial for Leon’s Mufflers.  Dale can do warranty work on cars and trucks.

Rick Littlefield introduced our guest speaker Carol Vander Mere who gave us an update on the Humboldt Bay Trail.  When complete the 13 mile-long trail will run from south Eureka through Arcata.  This non-motorized trail will increase road safety, provide a low cost travel alternative, and promote healthy active transportation. The Humboldt Bay fund was established at HAF to provide a mechanism for private donors to assist in the continued development of the HBT by focusing on the critical need for trail maintenance funds.  All donations up to $25,000 will be matched by a $25,000 donation by Eureka Natural Foods. Send your checks to HAF. The menu for today’s fascinating meeting was scalloped potatoes, ham slices, manicotti, corn, muffins with black specks in them, and salad bar.  Dessert was fruit cobbler.

Submitted by Hank Ingham

Rotary Club of Eureka April 10 2017 Meeting

The menu was spaghetti, meatballs in gravy, chicken Cacciatori , bread and salad bar. President Matthew Owen called the meeting to order.  Past President Greg Pierson led us in the flag salute.  Matt Murrish gave the invocation.  There was a larger than usual crowd because State Senator Mike McGuire was scheduled to speak.  Owen had a picture of Dale Warmuth’s outfit for the the fundraiser High Heels for Healing.  He came dressed as Dorothy in an outfit that would make the Wicked Witch of the West pour water on herself.  Christian Hill announced the winners of March Madness.  Jack Reike and Jay Bahner fared the worst.  They invested $1400 each and got checks for $125.  Greg Bowen was recognized for coming to the meeting.

Our speaker was California State Senator Mike McGuire.  He grew up in Healdsburg and was a Sonoma State graduate.  At 19 years of age he won his first election-to the School board- and was subsequently elected the youngest mayor ever (of Healdsburg).  He became a senator in 2014.  He said his grandma’s helpful hints were 1.  Work Hard.  2.  Assume everyone is smarter than you. 3. Never take “no” for an answer.  He said spending is up because lower income people are making more money but they can’t afford to save.  California leads the nation in job creation.  Our schools need additional funding. The state has 22% of the country’s homeless and a quarter of them are veterans.  He’s going to bring back the nursing program to Humboldt State. Things to be proud of: Humboldt Del Norte, Lake and Mendocino counties account for 60% of the pot grown in the US.

Early Rotary Wheel. Past Presidents with Red Badger

Penned by Hank Ingham.

Rotary Club Of Eureka April 3 2017 meeting

Our Speaker for the day, Dennis Scott, President of the McLean Foundation, led us in the flag salute. Dan Heinen followed with the invocation. President Owen called Scoutmaster James Dement to the podium to present him with his red badge. By the informality of the exchange I can only guess that he had had his membership ceremony last week and Matthew forgot to give him the badge. Carlton Nielsen reported that our exchange student in Paraguay is unaffected by the recent riots and attempts by protesters to set fire to the parliament building. Of course no one had heard about riots or knew where Paraguay was. Some thought it was a big bird that lived in the jungle. Nancy Dean and Carlton had just returned from the District Conference in Ukiah, where they taught classes about youth exchange. It was hat day for baseball fans. Dennis Hunter in his Giants cap announced that the Giants were 0-1 in spite of the fact that their pitcher hit two home runs. Pat Folkins also had a Giants hat on. Ken Stodder had a Boston Red Sox hat on and his team was up 5 runs. Christian Hill didn’t have a hat but he said the NCAA raffle raised $9,015 for Rotary. Klark Swan reminded us of the Rotaract Fundraiser April 22 at the Women’s Club in Eureka. Tickets are $50.

Then it was time for Boasts, Toasts, and Roasts. Jay Bahner roasted Matthew Owen for calling him on his cell phone at ten o’clock at night and asking him “where’s the party”. He’d intended to call Carlton Nielsen, but got his numbers wrong. We never found out where the party was. Other notable events: Annalise ran her first 5 K.. Matthew took his daughter Molly to her first wine tasting in Sonoma. It used to be free, but now it costs $80 a head.

Our presenters for the day were Dennis Scott and his fund raiser Sabrina Delashma from theMcLean Foundation. The Foundation was started by Mel and Grace McLean. They owned a chain of grocery stores and Eel River Sawmills. He left 20,000,000 to the foundation. The latest project that they are providing seen money for is the Fortuna Community Health Center. It will open in June of 2018. 30,000 square feet of Health care space. It will be under the aegis of Open Door Clinic, which has 660 employees. They will add 9 new physicians and a Dental Clinic. They still need money, so they are asking for donations. For more information call 707 725-1722 x 103.
Penned by Hank Ingham