Rotary Club of Eureka, California

Meeting of Rotary Club of Eureka
August 16, 2010

The meeting was called to order by club President Carlton Nielsen. Jamie Carroll gave the pledge by way of singing our national anthem; Ryan Fray reminded us to pray for Mike Moreland and Don Brown and did so as we were convened.

Guests of Rotarians
Dave Dillon brought his wife Carol, daughter Cynthia and granddaughter Samantha Hovis.

Our new exchange student Gabriele Umidon from Milan, Italy attended his first Eureka Rotary meeting. Benvenuto, Gabriele.

Announcements
The 1923 Committee meets for dinner at the Lost Coast Brewery this Wednesday at 5:30.
August 23rd our program will be from Gideon Lustig, Israeli Consul to the US.

Don Smullin received his blue and Susie Smelser her red badge: both were pinned by our District Governor, Jim Flamson. Susie was given a Rotary pin to wear on her scouting uniform, and in return offered us free Boy Scout calendars.

Special Presentation to Dave Dillon

John Winzler recalls Dave being a banker for over 40 years before he retired. Dave moved from Washington to San Francisco to Eureka, arriving in Humboldt County “of his own choice.” Dave and his bank loans got John and his business through many a scrape over the years. Others who have run businesses in Humboldt could testify to the same. Dave joined Rotary in 1957 and our Eureka club in 1963. Dave served as our club president in 1997-98. He established the Wolford Scholarship that continues to this day, helped us clean up our bookkeeping, got a number of service projects going and later served as secretary for two years. He even used mimeograph machine to publish the Burl at one time.
Bill McAuley recounted Dave’s contributions as District Governor. We all know Dave is extremely organized and very detail oriented, yet Bill commended Dave for also staying focused on the “big picture.” Bill noted Dave’s many contributions initiating and promoting the student exchange programs. It is no exaggeration to say that Dave is the “Father of the youth exchange” in our club and district, a program that by now has seen over 300 inbound and outbound students. Dave embodies the Rotary ideal of "service above self."
District Governor Jim Flamson pinned Dave’s lapel with a stone that means Dave has now earned his original Paul Harris Fellowship plus seven more. This Paul Harris award was given to his granddaughter Samantha Hovis, whose accomplishments in school, international travel and music are very impressive—the grand-apples don’t fall far from the tree.


Program
Steve Justus introduced our District Governor (DG) Jim Flamson and his wife Kathy. Kathy is a past president of the Rotary Club of Calistoga. Jim and Kathy have both been very involved not only in Rotary, but also in Boy Scouts of America, receiving the Cliff Dochterman award for their service. They have traveled extensively on behalf of Rotary. Jim mentioned that the theme for 2010-2011 is ‘generators’ seeking to find and recognize those who generate action and service within Rotary. Eric Bergel was awarded an honorary ‘generator’ pin for our club.
Years ago Jim became very involved in the Rotary club of Calistoga and his community as well. After a twelve year absence, Jim returned to Rotary upon the invitation of a Rotarian friend. He reminded us that there could well be some in our community who simply need to be invited back. Jim’s current goal is to see Rotary become: Bigger, Better and Bolder.
Goal #1 ‘Bigger.’ This means more members in Rotary. Goal #2 ‘Better,’ means more involved in the community toward the betterment of people’s lives. When you ask a Rotarian to do something they typically help, and then say, “What else can I do?” Goal #3 ‘Bolder’ means we should be willing to tackle some big issues. For example, solving global warming. The GreenPlus program is an attempt to do just that. The five-fold mandates of the program are as following. #1 Every member of Rotary Club will walk, cycle, carpool, or take public transportation to 5 meetings per year. #2 Every Rotary member will plant 5 trees per year. #3 Each member will plug in at least 5 devices into power strips and turn off the strips when not in use. #4 Every member will replace 5 incandescent light bulbs with five compact fluorescent light bulbs, and #5, each member will recycle 5 categories of throwaway items such as aluminum cans, paper, plastic, glass batteries or ink cartridges. Jim says all clubs of district 5130 are committed to reducing our carbon footprint by living simpler, less consumptive lives.
Finishing polio eradication also remains a high priority for Rotary, says Jim. Polio is all but eradicated in both Africa and India. But in Pakistan and other places there are several hundred cases of polio breaking out each year. Jim encouraged us to continue fighting polio and especially to keep contributing to the Rotary Foundation. He closed with this: “Never doubt that a handful of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world.”

Respectfully submitted,

Dan Price