Rotary Club of Eureka, California

Meeting of Rotary Club of Eureka
July 26, 2010

President Carlton Nielsen opened the meeting with a tinkle on the miniature cowbell that apparently was substituted for the real bell. He put out a plea to get it back before the end of the year. Ron Shoenherr led the pledge. Richard Whittaker did the invocation and included a special mention for Bob Palmrose, who is going in for some tests.

Carlton announced that the District Governor would be at the meeting on August 16th and that there would be no early leavers. Steve Justice recalled that he had insulted the DG during a recent meeting by substituting a personals ad for his bio. That cost Steve $10.

Next Carlton promoted Celebrity Chef and local boy Guy Fieri who will be at the County Fair August 12. Fieri will judge a barbeque competition, which will be covered by KIEM TV. Greg Williston presented a check for 2,100 to Melinda Booth of the Sequoia park zoo. The money will be used to purchase a portable defibrillator. Then Carlton mentioned that the Board of Supervisors had declared August “Backpacks for Kids Month”.

Carlton then put on his fining hat, a Russian Army chapeau that made him look like a clove of garlic. Kim Bauriedel was recognized for his recent return to the US. Virginia Bass and Matthew Owen were fined $50 for a trip to Hawaii. Ted Loring Jr. forked over $50 for his 30-year tenure as a director of the California Association of Realtors and a trip to Sacramento for an Association meeting. Ted pointed out that Bruce Rupp had also been a member of the Association. Carlton asked how effective they were as a lobbying association and Bruce replied “Successful? How’s the resale value on your house these days?” Nuff said.

Our program was Tom Schallert, head of the National Association of Blood Banks. He pulled on his dashiki and talked about his recent trip to Nigeria as part of the Rotary Project “Safe Blood Africa” Nigeria is a small country on the west coast of Africa, but it has a quarter of the population of the continent within its borders. 150 million people with a median age of 19 and a life expectancy of only 49 years. There is a great need for blood, but less than 1% of the supply comes from voluntary donors. Patients and their families have to recruit their own donors, or hire a “tout:” who buys blood on their behalf. Blood drawing facilities are primitive and unsanitary, and equipment is frequently broken and abandoned due to a lack of local repairmen. As a result the country has less than a third of the blood it needs for treatment, and thousands die who might have been saved by an infusion of red blood cells. The most challenging issue is the absence of active recruitment for blood donors. Tom said they need professional recruiters, and more training. Additionally the people need to change their attitudes about donating.

Tom was rewarded with a handsome picture of himself and signed a book for the library. If you want to know what a “dashiki” is, send a crisp dollar bill and a self addressed envelope to “Too Lazy to look it up Myself” c/o 5650 S. Broadway Eureka Ca. 95503.

Derisively submitted by Hank Ingham.