July 8 2013 Meeting of the Rotary Club of Eureka

Lunch: Meatloaf, green beans, salad bar pasta Alfredo,chocolate cake S&P 500: 1640.  

Our second semi permanent meeting at the Elk's Lodge was called to order on a beautiful sunny Eureka day by President Ziggy Ziegenfuss. 

Ziggy rings the bell

The microphone continues to put off a pleasant, echoing, high-pitched whine throughout the meeting.  Richard Whittaker led the Pledge of Allegiance.  

Lisa Slack invocates.  She was
fined $50

Lisa Slack led the invocation.  President Ziggy's phone rang right before the Pledge. He fined himself $30.  Past President Jim Davis introduced guest Kathy Smith, president of College of the Redwoods.  Matthew Owen introduced the exchange kids.  Bruce Smith introduced his daughter Nicky, and his cousin Saboudeed Masimoff.  Carlton Nielsen introduced a past exchange student from Denmark.  Jason Eads introduced Scott Icanitch, an intern at his law office.  Birthdays and anniversaries are in the book, congratulations to all.  

Matt Messner learns he's on
the clean-up committee

New Rotary directories came out today. Please review at your leisure and find out which club committees you've been added to. You might have duties you aren't even aware of. I did!  Lisa Slack just returned from six weeks in Europe. $50.  

Our exchange students

Our local outbound exchange students came to the front and discussed where they are going on exchange. Italy, Thailand, Sweden and Hungary. Sounds like a lot of fun, enjoy guys.  There was a vote on table linens for an extra $1. It didn't pass. Paper placemats will continue to rule the day.  Carol Riche went on a cruise in Scandinavia. $50.  

GAMBLING INTERLUDE (Spengler Raffle for the Science Fair) $10 Bruce Emad $10 Dale Warmuth.  

President Elect Gregg Gardiner introduced today's speaker. He made at least one joke that got no laughs. No worries Gregg, happens to me every day.  

Our speaker today is our fellow Rotarian 

Dr. Fred Van Vleck

Dr. Fred VanVleck, Superintendent of Eureka City Schools.  Dr. VanVleck polled the room on their belief that our youth have employment opportunities to stay in the community. A little less than half the room raised their hands.  Dr. VanVleck agrees with the minority, that our youth have opportunities to stay and thrive in our community.  

He went through the last year’s accomplishments. No teacher layoffs, opening Winship, a 19:1 ratio of students to teachers at the elementary level, and moving students into their neighborhood schools.  Contracts are settled with teachers, locker rooms at Eureka High have been updated, and custodial and instructional standards are being standardized across the district. Those two are only tangentially related.  They've applied for grants, partnered with HSU on teacher curriculum, allowed enrollment at school sites, built a PR campaign, adopted Google as their cloud platform. There was more stuff too.  

ALARMING FACT: The population of Eureka grew by 1,000 from 2000 to 2012. The students in Eureka City Schools dropped by over 40%.  Fred has been gone from Humboldt County for 20 years, and he came back because he believes in our community.  The school board has 22 defined goals for the next several years in their strategic plan. Contact him or a school board member for a copy of the goals statement.  Fred discussed some of the negotiations with the teachers union. The union is asking for just over a 15% raise for the most senior teachers by length of service. The district is currently offering across the board 3% raises. Expect some modest disagreements over this negotiating point going forward.  

Dr. VanVleck thanked our club and the community for our help in the project at Winship Middle School. Q&A  I asked why Winship was reopening with the long-term loss of students in the district. Fred explained that essentially the district closed too many schools over the past decade, causing severe overcrowding in the primary schools. Fred recommended Winship reopen to deal with this overcrowding.  Penmanship and handwriting have been eliminated. You'll just need to get a smartphone and learn about emoticons. LOL!  Ask your grandkids.  

Counseling at Eureka High has been a hot button issue, so the job was restructured to ensure that good communication and counseling is provided to students and clearly telegraphed to parents.  Ebooks? It's a state-level decision. Call/email/bribe your local congressman.  Music programs? They make the cut. The school is focused on offering them.  Auto shop? Not next year, there's not enough enrollment past the introductory level.  Comparing our educational system with other nations? The measurement metrics aren't comparing apples to apples. There's a new assessment standard going into effect for 48 of 50 states. We'll get back to you in a decade or so with the results.  The guest was thanked, the library book was signed, and the meeting ended on time.

Respectfully Submitted,
John Harper

July 1 2013 Eureka Rotary Meeting

Burl 7/1/2013

This meeting was the first in the 90^th year of Eureka Rotary, and the venue has changed.  Now we meet at the Elk’s Club on Herrick Avenue.  The Lunch charge was  only $14, and the meal consisted of breaded cutlets, pork, mixed vegetables, rice with slivered almonds, a nice salad bar and a slice of chocolate pie for dessert. 

Greg Pierson gives Nancy five.

Nancy Dean rang the bell as her last official duty as president.  She called on Tom Shallert for the pledge, and John Gierek Jr. for the invocation.  She thanked the members of her board of directors.

Nancy's crew

Present were Keith Crossley, Eric Bergel, and Greg Bowen, and each got a gift.  She also thanked Secretary Dan Heinen and sergeant at arms Dale Warmuth.  Greg Pierson then presented her with the past president’s pin and badge.  She then gave “Ziggy” Ziegenfuss his president’s pin.

Ziggy gets his president's pin

 Ziggy announced that Gregg Gardiner was the new president-elect.  John Harper, Alicia Cox and Mike Downey got director’s pins.  President Ziegenfuss announced the theme of his year “Honor the past, enter the future with the keys to success”. Will the new slogan fit on the cover of the Roster?  We’ll find out in a week.  His first order of business was to reduce annual dues by $80.  He then said those who paid their dues would get a free t-shirt.  He promised more off site meetings, closer scrutiny of attendance, and more world service projects.  “We’re going to make this one heck of a year, and have fun doing it!” 

Dan Kadurna

Dave Dillon presented a special guest, Dan Kadurna.  He was a former Rotary exchange student who we sent to Brazil.  He thanked Rotary and said the experience helped him get into West Point.  He flew helicopters for a while, then retired to go to work  for Aflac in Valparaiso Indiana.  Gregg Gardiner then came up to announce an urgent project. 

Gregg and Kathy Gardiner

Winship School is reopening and needs refurbishment.  280 6^th and 7^th grade students are coming this fall.   It needs Sports equipment, musical instruments, reseeding and leveling the playground, fixing the pot holes on the basketball court, and repairing the gymnasium scoreboard.  It’s a $100,000 project.  They have 7,000 plus 13,000 for musical instruments.  It all needs to be done before August when football camp starts.  Should be a Piece of cake.  Contact Gregg or Kathy Cloney Gardiner if you would like to contribute. 

The Elks Club

Ziggy then promised us that the meetings would all end at 1:30 pm or before, and let us all go at 1:15pm.  It was a promising start to our 90^th year.

They're pinned

Submitted by PP Hank Ingham

Meeting 45 June 24 2013

Meeting Of The Rotary Club Of Eureka June 24, 2013

This was the 45^th and final meeting for Rotary Year 2012-2013.  Past President Greg Pierson presided over the meeting so that a proper debunking of outgoing President Nancy Dean could take place.  As Greg further stated, “We want to properly celebrate your reign.” The meeting was held at the Wharfinger, but please note that starting next week our Monday meetings will be held at the Elks Lodge until further notice. Our flag salute this week was led by Rotarian Bob Palmrose. Bob’s not a member of our club, but he has better attendance here than his own club.

In keeping with the theme of our meeting, our own Greg Williston gave the invocation, which in honor of outgoing President Dean he promised to “KEEP IT SHORT”, which he did and which she is.  We had visiting guest of Rotarian Davis Wells, Mr. Mark Carter of the same named Carter Hotel.  Jay Hockaday also invited Channel 2 Meteorologist, Cecelia Reeves.  Hmm…weather predictions…the end of President Dean’s “rain”…I wondered, why is she here?

We had no visiting Rotarians and no Exchange Students with us this week.  Something must have RAINED on their parade!  We had three visiting Rotaract Members who clearly were not going to let any RAIN keep them from coming, Carly Robbins, Clark Swan, and Jessica (sorry, I did not get her last name).  ^th, Aaron Tilch on June 21^st, and Bruce Rupp on June 22^nd.  Wedding anniversaries announced were Rena & Dean Christiansen on June 24^th, Fred & Linda Sundquist, Jr., on June 24^th, Jill & John Bartholomew on June 27^th, Greg Gardiner & Kathy Cloney-Gardiner on June 28^th, Larona & Daniel Farnum on June 28^th, and John & Melina Harper on June 29^th.  There were no Rotary anniversaries this week.  Announcements for the week included the following: Our Exchange students Larissa & Bibi are seeking a ride to San Francisco this Saturday, June 29^th. They are on their way to a “Western Safari” outing that will include stops in Los Angeles, Arizona, the Grand Canyon, Nevada and then back.  If any is heading south, please give them a call.  Backpacks for Kids fundraiser is still on the front burner! The winner will be selected Aug. 30th. Tickets are $10 each or packs of 12 tickets can be had for $100.  First prize is a $3500 Vacation Getaway, and second prize is a Pierson’s Gift Certificate!  Outgoing President Nancy Dean spent time prior to the meeting handing out rain sticks to all members who had not received one over the last year.  Nancy you did an AWESOME job over the last year – three hip-hip-hurrahs and one “short” “rain” dance for Nancy!! 

Our incoming President Donald “Ziggy” Ziegenfuss starts the 2013-2014 Rotary Year next Monday, July 1^st, at the Elks Club. Come share in his first week as President!  We had two winners for the Spengler “Science Fair” Raffle Tickets – Ziggy won $10 which he promptly donated to Backpacks for Kids and one of our student guests got the other $10 prize.  Finally we got to the hotly anticipated debunking of President Nancy Dean.  In preparation for the debunking

Greg Pierson gallantly offered a bright yellow rain jacket with hood and gloves…after all, come rain or shine, we wanted Nancy to be prepared.  So, onto the debunking:  Jill MacDonald came up first and announced that after careful deliberation the debunking would be “gender neutral”. 

Hank Ingham wanted us to know that some careful analysis of all past Presidents had been done, and Nancy had proved to be the 2^nd tallest female President, the 2^nd shortest President, the President with the 2^nd highest approval rating, and only the 2^nd best weather prognosticator. A coin flip was more accurate.  However, not to let this drizzle of 2^nd best rain on her parade, Hank also announced that Nancy was actually first in one very vital category – she is the FIRST President named Nancy!  Tom Schallert also wanted us to all be aware of how she was viewed as head of the local National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) offices.  The following comments where shared by her co-workers.  Her vision was described as “partly cloudy”, and her demeanor as a “cold front, with a hot interior”.  As for her management style, it is universally accepted that she is “scattered & occluded”.  Finally, while her attitudes were often “turbulent”, she always “treated Rotarians as fair weather friends”. 

Former President Carlton Nielsen also had a list of the top 17 accomplishments as President, which included among other things: #17 that she was in charge of the weather (though there were clear questions as to her accuracy), #11 that she was the first President to make sure that Board Meetings always ended on time (where were you off to after that?!), #10 she had successfully corralled over 30 volunteers for various projects over the year (“don’t worry, it will only take a few minutes…”), #7 she is the only Rotarian with a Prius, #6 that her email address is unfailingly treated as spam, #5 she is lovingly referred to as “Mama Dean” by our Rotaract club, #4 she was instrumental in seeing that Franco’s family was helped every step of the way after his injury, #2 she is unbeatable at arm wrestling, and #1 the threat that was always hanging over us like a dark storm cloud, “don’t make me bring out the really big rain stick!!  Nancy Dean, a formidable thunderhead, ready to deal out rain and lightning – we love you Nancy! You have been an awesome President. Thank you!!! 

Cecelia Reeves, our guest meteorologist from News Channel 3, had some choice observations about Nancy.  People had always told her that Nancy was short, but she didn’t realize how SHORT she really was.  Based on her own experience with NOAA, Cecelia was amazed at the casual “sweaters and Birkenstock” dress code Nancy allows in her office, and it’s been clear that “showers are optional” at NOAA.

Birthdays for this week included George Owren and Richard Whitaker on July 19

John Gierek had a particularly amusing take on the scientific processes Nancy and NOAA use.  As John reported, NOAA is a government agency that goes back to the mid-1800s, and even at that time they used rigorous scientific methodology.  In fact, they had one of the first government computing systems, which is now fondly referred to as the “Lady Luck NOAA Computer”. 

This system was quite sophisticated, and used two highly technical tools – a coin and a chart.  In this process the computer operator would first engage with the coin, vigorously flipping it into the air, and then making careful observations as to what side of the coin it landed on. 

Once the side of the coin was ascertained, then the highly trained operator would refer to the region specific chart to determine what the predicted daily weather would be.  Even though this first computer was highly sophisticated, it’s predictive power was only 50:50  -- still that was pretty good back in the 1870s.  Then there was big breakthrough in technology in the mid-20^th century.  With its sharper pin-point accuracy this new computer was referred to as DART.  No longer hobbled by the inferior coin methodology, this new technology allowed the operator to utilize a finely honed tool, the “dart”, which the operator would then direct to the chart. Now, in this case, the chart had also been greatly improved – rather than relying on a binary selection paradigm, it allowed a trinary focusing tool. Now the operator could not only predict, “rain” or “shine”, but other conditions like “fog” could be identified. Of course, as before, the charts used by the DART system could also be customized to the local area – so places in the Midwest, for example, might have “lightning” or “cyclone” added to their predictive models.  Finally we come to the present, and this was also a leap forward in technology, and it one that President Nancy has teased us with over the last year.  This most magnificent jump in technology is referred to as the Hoover Atmospheric Technology, or HAT for short.  This new technology is cutting edge, and allows for a very fine gradation of predictive power.  In this case all the possible weather outcomes are identified and entered onto special “slips of paper”.  These are then introduced into the HAT system, which the operator can now query.  Once the proper query and verbal commands are made the operator can reach into the HAT system and withdraw the predicted outcome.  Now the real beauty of this system is that operator can use their own judgment to override the original HAT prediction, making additional queries to the system until the desired prediction is reached.  Once the desired outcome is reached, the operator can then instruct the system to display the prediction on the front display of the HAT system.  Having watched President Nancy use this system over the last year at our weekly meetings, I think we can all bow in amazement at the wondrous job Nancy is producing at NOAA, and we definitely are very thankful that she’s shared the outcomes of these to us every Monday.  THANK YOU NANCY!! 

Next we heard from three of our Rotaract Club members – Carly Robbins (former Rotaract President), Clark Swan (current Rotaract District Representative”), and Jessica (sorry, no last name given).  These Rotaract members first met Nancy in 2009, and they report how amazing Nancy has been.  Nancy has attended a majority of the Rotaract meetings since it started, and through her help and guidance our Rotaract Club has now won the Rotaract of the Year award in our District for the last two years.  Amazing job!  So, how has Nancy gotten such participation, engagement and commitment from these future Rotarians? Well the surprise answer, the dark secret, was revealed for all to hear.

Nancy has been giving Paul Harris Fellow buttons to all Rotaract President!!  Ye gads!! Is this bribery!? Moreover, even the young daughter of one of those present was given one of these buttons!!  So, is this why she goes to so many of their meetings? Is this why she answers their emails and phone calls so promptly? Sometimes within 20 minutes or less!  All kidding aside, these Rotaract members clearly love Nancy, who they fondly refer to as Mama Dean.  Hugs and affirmations of affection follow!  Nancy, we too applaud your amazing effort with Rotaract.  You are definitely an inspiration!!   Hank Ingham followed up with his annual PowerPoint debunking presentation.  As so many before him have done, he reminds us of how Nancy “comes up short”. Then he launches into a very convincing conspiracy theory around Nancy’s success. First, he reminds us of her “stool”, as that’s something we should definitely look into more carefully.  Then there’s those mysterious “rain stick” she’s been handing out.  There must be some deeper hypnotizing affect to their gentle drizzling sounds.  Most significantly there is the stovepipe hat she wears.  We musn’t forget that both President Nancy & President Lincoln wore stovepipe hats. More importantly, they were both born in a year starting with the number “1”.  Next there is the question of busts – both of them have them, Lincoln has one in Washington, DC, and Nancy always has hers close by.  Finally notice the great similarity between the famous Lincoln Logs, and Nancy’s rain stick. Now seriously, we ask you – is this merely a coincidence, or is something more sinister afoot. Think about it!  Getting close to meetings end, Greg Pierson wanted to reiterate how you, Nancy, “stuck it to us (with rain sticks) all year long”.  In reply we collected a number of suggestions of how we might repay you.  Suggestions included bread sticks, yard sticks, fish sticks, regular sticks, painted sticks, pretzel sticks, make-up sticks, lip sticks and even drum sticks.  In the end, the only thing that truly made sense was RAIN STICK, but not one of the “SHORT” ones you’ve been giving to us all year long.  So, we decided to give you, Nancy, a rainstick that was bigger than you!  We hope you find it’s soothing sounds a pleasant reminder of all we’ve put up with! Again, we love you Nancy!  Not willing to let matters lie, Nancy informed us that we had missed a couple of key points. In her professional careers, for example, we forgot to mention two very powerful tools she uses: a CRYSTAL BALL and a MAGIC EIGHT BALL…both of which have been instrumental in her success. In closing she also wanted to gracefully thank the Rotaract, the Wharfinger for letting us use their space, the lunch crew we’ve been getting tasty meals from, and all of us in Rotary too. Thank you Nancy!  With that, the meeting was adjourned.

Presented in Rotary Service by Bruce Smith

Meeting of the Rotary Club of Eureka

June 17, 2013  

This was the 44^th  meeting of the Rotary Year 2012-2013.  The meeting was held at the Wharfinger. Since our illustrious President was out of town at the annual worldwide Rotary conference, being held in Portugal, past President Don Leonard led the meeting..  Next week, which will host our debunking of out-going President Nancy Dean, is our last week at the Wharfinger.  The week after that we’ll be meeting at the Elks Club “temporarily” until further notice.

Flag Salute was led by the longest standing Rotary members present, James Howard (1973) and Al Crnich (1955).  We later acknowledged that two other long-standing members were also present:  Dick Nash (1954) and John Winzler (1961). A touching invocation was given by Eric Bergel.

John Cunningham

We had visiting Rotarian John Cunningham from Dublin, Ohio, which is near Columbus, Ohio, at our meeting this week.  We also had two guests of Rotarians.  Dick Storre graced us with his lovely wife Debbie, and Jason Eads introduced us to Scott McAnich, who’s going to law school at Golden Gate University and who’s an intern at Jason’s office this summer.

Larissa Toelke our Exchange student from Germany announced that this was her 10 month anniversary, and reminded us that she just graduated from Eureka High School last weekend.  Larissa also shared that while students were advised to not “decorate” their graduation outfits, she couldn’t resist decorating her cap with her & Franco’s photo.  That was very thoughtful Larissa – well done!

Also present was our Exchange Student from Italy, Bibianna Fabri, who introduced her sister Genevra, and her mother Diana.  Diana is a former Rotarian and Rotary President from Bergamo, Italy.

We acknowledged the birthdays of four Rotarians this week:  George Owren and Richard Whitaker celebrate their birthday on June 19^th, Aaron Tilch’s festive day is on June 21^st, and Bruce Rupp’s name day is June 22^nd.

While we have long list of head table birthday folk who could have and should have been seated (I counted 11 who could have sat up front), only Greg Seiler and Eric Bergel took their place.  Well done lads!!  Also seated at the head table was our guest speaker and Rotarian, Sheriff Mike Downey.

Wedding Anniversary announcements this week include John and Jackie McBeth on June 17^th and Kay and Jim Hunter on June 20^th (who celebrate their 32^nd year of bliss).

We also announced two Membership Anniversaries – Greg Seiler (June 20, 2011) and Dale Stockly (June 22, 2011).

We had a number of announcements this week:  

First, there were two special announcements.  This week marks the 42^nd anniversary of Lane Strope joining Rotary, and this week Sue Bosch celebrates her 57^th year with Humboldt Land Title Company. Both are remarkable achievements worthy of mention.

Second, we were reminded that the Backpacks for Kids fundraiser is still on! The winner will be selected Aug. 30th. Tickets are $10 each or packs of 12 tickets can be had for $100.  The prize is $3500 Vacation Getaway. There’s a second prize too – a Pierson’s Gift Certificate!  Let’s go Rotarians…we need as many of you as possible to step up and get some tickets. Let’s not forget who this is for!

Finally, and most importantly, we held a vote on where our “temporary venue” for lunch meetings will be held. There were three options (Wharfinger, Elks Club & the Ingomar Club), a paper ballot, and an added vote on the question of paying extra for linens should we end up chosing the Elks Club.  The Elks Club was chosen by a large majority, with no linens being paid for. So, starting the week of July 1, when incoming President Donald “Ziggy Ziegenfuss begins his year as President, we will be meeting at the Elks Club “temporarily” until some future vote on the matter is held.

We had two winners for the Spengler “Science Fair” Raffle Tickets – unfortunately I forgot to write those names down. Please forgive me. Mea culpa!

Our speaker, Sheriff Michael Downey, was introduced by previous President Don Leonard.  Sheriff Downey, who is a member of our Rotary chapter, was there to discuss the California AB109 Realignment bill, which essentially mandates that state prisons in California reduce its prison population by 55,000 inmates.  The end result of this bill is that the counties must take on a greater role in housing and processing inmates who are released to county responsibility.  The inmates who are to be sent back to the counties must be non-felony, non-sexual and non-violent prisoners. In addition, the bill stipulates that the county can hold these inmates for up to 3 years.  The state is providing some funding to the counties to cover the extra costs of the realignment.

AB109 poses a number of challenges for the counties.  Aside from the added financial burden the counties must take on, county level facilities are not sufficient enough to take on the extra prison population. This leads to overcrowding problems, which in turn leads to a change in prison population dynamics, plus increased violence.  The challenge of managing this growing prison population suggests that the counties also need enhancements to their prison programs.

Some of the county prison statistics makes all of these points clearer.  County facilities are currently limited to a maximum population of 391 inmates, of which 55 are earmarked for women.  Current daily rates at the county lockup are running between 375 and 385 inmates per day. This is close enough to the maximum capacity to essentially be full. Furthermore, the maximum population count assumes double-bunk units; so, when particular inmates require single housing cells, it creates further constraints to the system.  This can and easily does lead to overcrowding, which means that the county must many times release inmates who previously would have been kept in the system. This is further aggravated by the fact that they average inmate stay is 155 days, which means that there’s precious little room to bring new inmates into the system. To address these problems a new classification protocol for inmates has had to be developed, and lawbreakers who previously would have been brought in for police and court processing before being released are now in some cases simply being given citations.  Needless to say these program changes would normally require new hiring to help handle the extra work loads, but with freezes in hiring, the county currently has 16 unfilled correctional officer openings, and 13 unfilled Deputy Sheriff positions, to name the most obvious positions.

Some other stats also paint a very troubling situation. The current county prison population is made up of 17% sentenced prisoners, and 83% non-sentenced inmates.  Moreover, 92% are in the facility for felonies and 7% are in for non-felonies. Equally troubling is the rapid rise of gang members in the prison; in 2009 there were 104 identified gang members in the country prison, and then up to 197 in 2010, 640 in 2011, 1028 in 2012, and already 446 as of May 31, 2013.  Drugs are also an issue in the prison, with 45 incidents in 2009, 25 in 2010, 31 in 2011, 23 in 2012, and 23 so far this year through May 31, 2013.

While AB109 is something that the county will need to continue dealing with, there are other factors that are impacting the Sheriff’s Department being able to handle them efficiently and cost effectively.  The Occupy Eureka movement soaked up a lot of manpower and resources, ongoing Transient Clean-ups, and a number of manhunts have impacted the department’s ability to deal with AB109.

Presented in Rotary Service by Bruce Smith

Meeting Of The Rotary Club Of Eureka

June 10, 2013 

This was the 43^rd meeting of the Rotary Year 2012-2013.  The meeting was held at the Elks Lodge, which we were testing out as a possible new venue…a vote of which will happen next week at the Wharfinger.

Flag Salute was briskly handled by Gary Todoroff, 1988 Paul Harris Fellow, and the invocation was given by Dan Hienen.

We had no visiting Rotarians this week, but we did have two guests of Rotarians.  Dick Storre graced us with his lovely wife Debbie, and Jason Eads introduced us to Scott McAnich, who’s going to law school at Golden Gate University and who’s an intern at Jason’s office this summer.

As with visiting Rotarians, we had no guest students, but we did see our Exchange Student Larissa Toelke whose graduation at Eureka High School is this weekend.

We acknowledged the birthday of three of our illustrious members:  Eric Bergel and Greg Pierson have birthdays on June 11^th, Gregg Foster celebrates on June 13^th, and Greg Seiler’s joyous day is June 15^th.

As we learned last week, June is a busy month for Wedding Anniversary announcements – Sid and Judy Anderson (June 11^th), Gail and John celebrate their 25^th (June 11^th), Terry and Rob McLaughlin (June 11^th), Al and Marjorie Crnich (June 12^th), Rhonda and Tim Foster (June 12^th), Michele and Jack Rieke (June 14^th), Jason and Stacey Eads celebrated at Mt. Shasta (June 15^th), and Matt and Heide Messner had their joyous 23^rd (June 16^th).  Not to be left out, Don Leonard stood, and apologizing that he missed last week, announced that last week was his FIFTY-FIFTH anniversary (June 6^th), which brought a standing ovation – that’s AWESOME Don!! We celebrate all these wonderful anniversaries.

We also announced one Membership Anniversary – Aaron Tilch (June 10, 2011).

We had a number of announcements this week: 

 First, there were five $750 scholarships to the following Eureka High Students: Maya Kaup, President, EHS Interact), Carolyn Smullin (Secretary, EHS Interact), Arleah Aguilar, Riann Thayer, and Brook Wahlund. Congratulations all!

Second, the Harvey Harper Memorial Automotive Scholarship was awarded to Kristian Mohorovich.  Well done!

Third, we thanked Carol Rische and her committee for handling the selections and Kathy Cloney-Gardiner for helping advertise and obtaining a large applicant pool. You ladies are AWESOME!! Thank you so much!

Fourth, don’t forget that the meeting next week will be back at the Wharfinger and we will vote on a temporary change in venue.  Kim Bauriedel answered a few remaining questions, and those present seemed prepared to do the vote next week.

Fifth, don’t forget the Backpacks for Kids fundraiser! The winner will be selected Aug. 30th. Tickets are $10 each or packs of 12 tickets can be had for $100.  The prize is $3500 Vacation Getaway. Don’t let this slip through your fingers – buy a ticket, buy a pack of tickets…buy even more! Let’s have a great fundraiser!!  Click here for the fundraiser flyer.

Sixth, we announced that Roster Photographs could be taken at the end of the meeting for anyone who wanted updated photos.

Finally, Bruce Smith gave a heartfelt Craft talk.  He received a number of acknowledgments afterward. Thank you everyone for the kind words.

We had two winners for the Spengler “Science Fair” Raffle Tickets:  $10 went to Jill MacDonald and $10 went to Kim Bauriedel who donated his to Larissa.

President Dean then introduced our speaker, Patrick Cleary, the new Executive Director of Humboldt Area Foundation since October 2012.  Patrick is only the third person to serve in that role in the Foundation’s 40 year history.  Our speaker moved to Humboldt County in 1997 from New York where he was managing director at The Chase Manhattan Bank.  He earned his Bachelor’s Degree from Georgetown University in 1979. Since coming to Humboldt County our speaker served as the general manager of the Northcoast Co-op and KHSU. For many years he was chair of the county’s Headwaters Fund, and he served on the boards of the St. Joseph Hospital Fund, The Humboldt Folklife Society and Dell’Arte International, among others. In 2008, the North Coast Association of Non-Profits named him its “Leader of the Year.” More recently our speaker was the president of Lost Coast Communications.

Our speaker lives in McKinleyville with his wife Cat, their three dogs, three horses, and one cat, and is an avid amateur musician who currently performs with local group The Pilot Rock Ramblers. He plays guitar, mandolin, banjo, harmonica and bass.  Please join me in welcoming Patrick Cleary.

A lot of people don’t really know all the philanthropic activities the Humboldt Area Fund (HAF) provides, so Patrick spent most of his time telling us about the various activities they provide. The founding of HAF can be traced back to Vera and Lynn Vietor. Lynn Vietor was a graduate of Stanford University. After graduating he returned to the area to work in his father’s business, Eureka Boiler Works.  When they both passed away in 1972 they left their estate to form a community trust. The first Community Trust was the Cleveland Trust, which was founded in 1914.   HAF was modeled on this trust structure, and it now has a wide range of funds, which include some of the following:  Designated Funds, Donor Advised Funds, Flexible Funds, Field of Interest Funds, Companion Animal Funds, Education Funds, Natural Environment Funds, Senior Opportunity Funds, Scholarship Funds (over 300 such funds!), and Organizational Funds.  At present HAF has over 700 funds totaling in excess of $75 million.

In addition to the wide variety of funds, HAF also operates at the regional level, providing services for the Trinity Trust and for Trinity County, Del Norte County, the Wild Rivers area (Kerry County in Oregon), and for Mendocino County (which finally spun off into their own foundation in the 1990s).   Furthermore, HAF provides services and funding that assisted General Hospital, it provides meeting rooms for community use, has a wonderful HR Center which provides resources that assist other non-profits in the community identify grant sources and write grants, is involved with the Cascadia Center for Leadership, has a Native Cultures Fund (which works with local Native American groups, and their recent use of the Morris Graves Foundation building near the Eureka Inn), is a leading force behind NORCAN (Northern California Association of Non-Profits), is a driver or provider of resources for local initiatives (such as the local Economic Development Plan, the currently updated General Plan, and more), is a leader for the local Planned Giving Center, and has recently been awarded $10 million over the 10 years for the Building Healthy Communities program, to name just some of the more prominent efforts.  In the last year HAF has provided over $4 million in grants, including over $900K in Health related grants, over $600K in Scholarships, over $500K in the Arts, over $750K for Community grants, over $400K in Animal related grants, and over $400K in Youth related grants.  HAF is the most significant foundation locally, and is the 12^th largest in the state of California.  HAF has given out over $60 million since 1972.

As a personal comment, the breadth and scope of services and community involvement by HAF is amazing. It’s clearly one of the crown jewels of the Northcoast.  Thank you Patrick for sharing some of what HAF does!!  We look forward to your leadership at HAF in the years to come.

Presented in Rotary Service by Bruce Smith

Meeting of the Rotary Club of Eureka
June 3, 2012

This was the 42^nd meeting of the Rotary Year 2012-2013.  President Nance Dean reminded us that her tenure as President is quickly winding down…but, I’ve got to comment, she’s been doing a wonderful job of keeping us on track. Well done Nancy!

Flag Salute was briskly handled by Paul Brisso, 1987 Paul Harris Fellow, and the invocation was gracefully led by our own Craig Hansen.

We had no visiting Rotarians this week, but we did have two guests of Rotarians.  Carlton Nielsen introduced us to Craig Wruck, VP University Advancement at HAS, and Dick Storre brought his lovely wife Debbie.

As with visiting Rotarians, we had no guest students, but we did see our Exchange Students, Larissa Toelke and Bibiana Fabri.  Last weekend, in preparation of the rapidly approaching departure for home, they celebrated and said goodbyes to all the dear friends they’ve met and shared this exchange season with a sleep over at the Gym at the Eureka High.

We were extremely proud to also learn that our Lost Coast Rotaract won the Rotaract of the Year.  Way to go!! You guys are awesome!!!

As we do each week, we paused and acknowledged the birthday of our brethren. Rob McLaughlin and Wayne Wilson both had birthdays on June 3^rd, and Keith Crossley celebrates his on June 9^th.  Wayne let slip that this was his 75^th birthday, which we all gave a hearty applause to.  Also, sitting at the head table for their birthday month, we had Wayne Wilson (June 3^rd), Greg Seiler (June 15^th) and Bruce Rupp (June 22^nd).

This was a busy week for Wedding Anniversary announcements – Chris & Diana Freeman (June 3^rd), Tim & Marilyn Gallagher (June 3^rd), Dan & Karen Price (June 5^th), Terry Dickinson & Wendy Purnell (June 6^th), Don & Barbara Leonard (June 7^th), and Jim & Shirley Davis (June 9^th , and this was their 57^th anniversary, well worth a standing ovation!!).

We should also mention our Membership Anniversaries – Jay Hockaday (June 3, 2002), Jim Hunter (June 5, 2006), and Jill MacDonald (June 9, 2003).

We had four announcements this week.  

First, and most important, Gregg Gardiner reviewed our venue/lunch options, reminding us that we have a committee that has explored various options available to the club, and this has been narrowed down to three options: (1) stay where we are, which will result in our costs increasing by about 50% (which includes our subsidizing over $4600 in uneaten meals), (2) move to the Ingomar club which would require a change in lunch day and  result in costs increasing to the $18,000 to $30,000 per year range, or (3) move to the Elks Lodge, which would eliminate over $10,000 in facility rent per year, reduce meal costs from $17 per person to $14.50 per person, and reduce our commitment to the caterer from 60 minimum meals to only 20.  Our plan is to try out the Elks Lodge for lunch next Monday, June 10^th, and then the following Monday, June 17^th, to have a vote on the options mentioned above.  This is an extremely important decision, so we hope as many of you as possible can join us the next two week for this significant decision.

Second, the Backpacks for Kids fundraiser was announced. The winner will be selected on August 30^th.  Tickets are $10 each, or packs of 12 tickets can be bought for $100.  The grand prize is a $3500 Vacation Getaway! Come on down and get ticket…better yet, come on down and get a pack or two of tickets…this is for an extremely good cause.

Third, Matthew Owens announced a BBQ to help raise money for our Outbound Rotaract group.  It’s being held this Friday, June 7^th, at the Bayside Grange at 5:30pm. Tickets are $30.

Fourth, if you want new photographs of yourself in the Roster, please get them to Nancy right away. Also, if there are any final changes of information, please get that to her immediately.

Next, we had three Recognitions we want to re-acknowledge.  Jason Eads and his team (which included Hal Joiner and James Brown) won 1^st Place in a Long Beach BBQ eating contest! This included all kinds of BBQ, including pork shoulders, briskets, BBQ chicken and more.  What a way to go Jason!!  

Dale Warmuth announced that the local Boy & Girls Club was recently named the winner of Safeco’s Heroes of Community award.  This is a $5000 award, so it’s a huge help for the local club, and a wonderful acknowledgement of all they bring to the community.  Thank you Dale…very awesome!!  

Finally, Chris Freeman was duly acknowledged for his grand effort to show the visiting GSE team from France the Korbel Mill, and especially having the guests experience the “Owl Feed” in the forest – they actually got to see this happen twice!! Great job Chris!   Nancy duly awarded all of them rain sticks. Thank you Nancy!

We had two winners for the Spengler “Science Fair” Raffle Tickets:  $10 went to Ziggy Ziegenfuss and $10 went to Jim Davis.

Don’t forget, next week we are having our lunch at the Elks Club, where Patrick Cleary will be our guest speaker.  The week following that we’ll be voting on our new lunch venue – bring sharpened pencils and no erasers!!  

Our guest speaker was introduced by President Dean – Kathryn Smith, President of College of the Redwoods.  Kathryn Smith began as the new President/Superintendent of College of the Redwoods on May 14, 2012. Prior to coming to College of the Redwoods, Kathryn served at Mendocino College in Ukiah, California. There she was the Vice President of Academic Affairs for two years and served as the President/Superintendent of the college from 2005 to May 2012. Prior to coming to Mendocino College, our speaker worked for 11 years in various capacities at Pikes Peak Community College in Colorado Springs, Colorado.   Our speaker earned a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting at the University of Kansas and a Master of Business Administration at the University of New Mexico.  

Our guest started by sharing a number of interesting statistics about CR. It currently serves over 9000 full-time students and 2500 part-time students.  56% are female and 44% are male. The average age of their students is about 28 years old, and 48% of their students are in the 18-28 age range. 70% of the students come to classes in Eureka, and 25% take classes online.  They currently have 6 locations, with facilities in Eureka, Del Norte, Mendocino (Fort Bragg), Klamath-Trinity, Downtown Eureka and Garberville.  They currently offer 39 different degrees, 31 Certificates of Completion, and 16 Certificates of Recognition.

In the last few years there have been several challenges.

First, the Obama administration has introduced a new funding model that calls for 5 million more college graduates, and based on population California is targeted to increase her graduates by 1 million. Further, this new model calls for a change in educational focus such that avocational classes like PE, Music, Art and other “personal enrichment” classes be reduced and greater focus be made on training for skills needed for jobs now and that basic classes needed for transfer to 4 year colleges. The challenge is that these avocational classes are popular, but with decreased funding, and new funding requiring a reduction in these classes, it’s difficult to satisfy these competing demands.

Second, our guest explained that Bond Measure Q, which local voters approved to generate $40 million in funds to upgrade existing facilities can’t be used as planned because the upgrades won’t address seismic concerns required for K-14 buildings. The end result of this is that the best that can be done with many of the existing buildings is to rent them out to commercial users.  The college can, however, get access to state bonds in the amount of $45 million to design and build new buildings, but this will dramatically extend the timelines originally envisioned.

Third, and most significantly, CR President Kathryn Smith indicated that her biggest challenge has been the threat of the school possibly losing accreditation.  This is serious. There are normally three levels of notification in the process of losing accreditation:  warning, probation and show cause.  Show cause is the most severe notification, and it typically has very strict remedies it requires and a short timeline to achieve them.  Essentially the “show cause” notification challenges the college to show why it should remain accredited.  College of the Redwood received a “show cause” notification in 2011.  The resulting “show cause” review that was started after President Smith was hired came up with 8 recommendations that CR should implement to retain its accreditation. Some of these included a change in student learning objectives, integrations of planning & budgeting, and others were around CR’s Board of Trustees. One result of this is that CR needed to hire an outside non-board member, Tom Henry, who was given oversight and authority to overrule the board.  Another result of those actions is that a subsequent review will happen later this year which President Smith believes will result in the college being removed from “show cause” notice to a lesser or no notice status.

The final challenge is budgeting challenges. Colleges like CR are normally expected to have budget reserves of at least 5%, and many colleges have double digit reserves.  CR reserve at year-end 2012 was 2.6%, which is dangerously low.  To address these issues CR has increase furloughs by 8.7% and is now in the process of eliminating 39 positions so that it can balance its 2013-2014 budget. 

None of these challenges is easy, and all of them combined make for a very sober evaluation. It sounds like a lot of tough decisions have been made, but there are sure to be more in the months and years ahead.  More funding can solve some of these problems, and careful management can solve others.  It will require careful watching and support from all of us.

The presentation went a bit long and there was not much time for questions and answers, but we all appreciate the speaker’s effort and her presentation.

Presented in Rotary Service by Bruce Smith