Mar 20, 2017

Rotary Club Of Eureka March 20, 2017 meeting

Menu: Turkey Rolls, pork cutlets, mashed potatoes, ménage of vegetables, and chocolate cake. Matthew Owen opened the meeting by asking Jim Davis to lead us in the flag salute. Craig Hansen followed with the invocation. He asked for a moment of silence for long time Rotarian Ray Wickel, who passed away recently. Ray was an ex green Beret Army Ranger as well as a civilian pilot and instructor with 5700 hours in the air. He’d been active in Rotary for 50 years. Will the exchange student outbound for Belgium said he had cupcakes to sell to raise funds for his trip. Glenn Goldan was recognized for a ringing cell phone during the meeting…

Other guests included Mayor Virginia Bass and Jim Christenson of the Ink People . Christian Hill had raised $8,000 the previous week and still had six squares to sell for the NCAA March Madness fundraiser. President elect Bruce Smith was recognized for his photo in the TS presenting a check to the science fair. Alicia Cox got a big thank you from Pat Folkins on behalf of the club for garnering so much publicity for our Rotary club that the other clubs were jealous. Nancy Dean returned from Calgary in Canada for a Rotary Student Exchange convention. President Owen reminded us of the Rotary District Convention to be held April 1st at Mendocino College in Ukiah. Dale Warmuth drew the joker in the Spengler Howard Raffle and won 430 dollars, which partially recompensed him for having bought Duke for $800 only to see them lose in the 2nd round.

Our Speaker was John Henry Ford Planning and Building Department Director. He started off defending his staff, saying they were not incompetent as a recent newspaper article suggested. He said the deluge of Cannabis Cultivation Permits was taking time away from other projects. There were 2300 applications, but only 18 of them were completed and approved. He’s going to restructure the department and get a new computer program to keep track of things. The General Plan is 50 days away from being put out for public comment. Matthew said there were 12,000 growers in Humboldt County, and 11,982 were out of compliance. Craig Hansen said we should spend more time going after the growers and less time nitpicking timber harvest plans. Put that in your pipe and smoke it.

Penned by Hank Ingham

Mar 14, 2017

Rotary Club Of Eureka Meeting March 13, 2017

Lunch Menu: salad bar, corned beef, potatoes, swiss steak, boiled cabbage, steamed carrots, rolls, dessert. Called to order by President Matthew Owen at 12:15pm. The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Assistant District Governor, Lori Breyer. The Invocation was led by Tom McMurray (special prayers for Ray Wickel who passed away recently). VISITING ROTARIANS: Pat Tracy, Brian Lovel, Lisa Fryrear-incoming president for Arcata Rotary, Matt Nielsen- incoming President for Southwest Rotary, Lori Bryear Assistant District Governor. GUESTS OF ROTARIANS: Greg Pierson introduced John Day from Pierson Co., Linda Wise introduced Jim Christiansen from the Ink People.

ROTARACTORS: Jamie Carroll, Matthew, Ray, Christine Tyson. It is Rotaractor week. Our Rotaractors told us that Rotactors was founded in 2010 and the Rotary Club of Eureka founded Lost Coast Rotaractors in 2010. They have a food and wine fundraiser coming up at the Eureka Women’s Club on 4/22. Proceeds will benefit Ugandon Women. They also brough St. Patrick’s Day cookies for $5 a bag. STUDENT GUESTS: Claire, our exchange student from Italy is doing some fundraising for a Western Safari Trip with dinner and silent auction. They are looking for auction items. Please let her know if you can help. ANNOUNCEMENTS: President Matthew Owen showed photos and talked about the Done in a Day project that took place on West Wabash last Saturday. It was a huge eyesore that has now been cleaned up thanks to the 10 Rotarians that showed up. A special thank you to John Day from Pierson Co. who ran the bobcat that saved a lot of time and energy. John was presented with $100 in gift certificates from Jesse Claire at McDonalds and a $100 gift certificate from the Rotary Club of Eureka to Bayfront restaurant. There will be another Done in a Day project on March 25th. We will partner with Pacific Outfitters Pac-Out team to clean up Broadway.

Rotary’s District Assembly is coming up on 3/31. If you haven’t registered yes, please do. RECOGNITIONS: Dennis Hunter and other PP recognized Matthew Owen for leaving his credit card at the check-in desk. There was no photographer present and Matthew Owen requested help from the audience. Kim Bauriedel extorted a fee of $50 from Matthew and agreed to help out. Incoming President Bruce Smith presented a check Melanie McGuire from the Humboldt County Office of Education with a check for $5,000 to help send local high school students to the State Science fair. Kim Bauriedel introduced new member, Julie Benbow, executive director of the Sequoia Zoo Foundation. Pat Folkin gave the Past President’s address. SPENGLER-HOWARD RAFFLE: Rotary Coin: Matthew Owen. $10: Brad Mettam. Dale Warmuth drew a card for a pot of $400 but alas did not win.

GUEST SPEAKER: Christian Hill ran the annual auction for NCAA Division men’s basketball championship. Bidding was lively and nearly $9,000 was raised in a very short time. 1Ž2 of the money will go back to the top winners of the pool and the rest will go back to provide benefits to the local community. MEETING ADJOURNED: 1:40pm.

Respectfully submitted, Alicia Cox.

Mar 6, 2017

Rotary Club Of Eureka March 6, 2017 Meeting

The menu was deep fried chicken or pork, mashed potatoes, white gravy, and chocolate cake. President Matthew Owen asked Harold Hillficker the fourth to lead us in the flag salute. Carlton Nielsen then gave the invocation. Dale Warmuth stood out more than usual. He was wearing a lime green wig that made him look like a parakeet. It was left over from Bowl For Kid’s Sake, which he said raised $80,000 that previous weekend. President elect Bruce Smith just returned from the PETS (Presidents Elect Training Seminar) and was inspired. Jeff and Don Leonard were recognized for the pictures they took at the recent Rotary raffle Mardi Gras with a Papoose. Hank Ingham was awarded 3rd place at the recent Redwood Art Association Juried show. He gained some prize money, then he lost it to Rotary. The check’s in the mail. Klark Swan brought her six week old baby” Lincoln.” President Owen reminded us that the Rotary District Conference starts March 313 in Ukiah. Still room at the Inn if you want to attend.

Our presenter was Harold Hillficker IV owner of Hillficker Pipe, which is having its 100th anniversary. His Great grandfather came from Switzerland and arrived in Humboldt in 1890. By 1902 he was married and had started a business hauling gravel and making well casings, burial vaults and ornamental bird baths. In 1910 the family started a concrete plant and over the years accumulated 42 patents on retaining walls. They do about 20% of their business locally, and the rest is shipped as far away as Chile. They make concrete and corrugated steel pipe, and wire retaining walls. It’s still family owned. “ The work can be draining”, Harold said” but what was once a pipe dream is now concrete.” They still have the bird bath mold if you need one.
Extruded by Hank Ingham