Rotary Club of Eureka, California

February 7, 2011

Meeting of the Rotary Club of Eureka

President Carlton Nielsen clanged the opening bell, which was the high point of the meeting, as usual.  Alicia Cox was asked to do the flag salute.  Fred Whitmire then gave us the invocation.  Gabriele , our exchange student from Italy, presented the  outgoing exchange student, and then President Carlton Nielsen presented Gabriele with a classic red and green letter jacket.  Gabriele was the first exchange student to earn a varsity letter in football.  Carlton announced that we will be having a Group Study exchange team from Tokyo Japan visiting us May 1-4.  If you have a spare bedroom in your home, it will be needed to house them for 4 days.  Eureka Rotaract then came to the podium to ask for participants in their “Sweets for Swaziland” fund raiser.  For $10-15 you can get a black and white heart shaped cupcake delivered to your sweetheart.  Just don’t let your wife find out. Pat Folkins reminded us that the raffle is coming up.  If you didn’t get a ticket give him a call.  

New member Cindy Cree, owner of the Irish Shop, was introduced by Gary Philp.

PP Dennis Hunter threatened to sing a Rotary song he’d heard at a recent conference, but we were spared at the last minute.  Then the hat came out.  Carlton put on a dark brown Stetson and then asked Lane Strope and Carolyn Crnich to stand up.  Lane won the bid to print the county ballots for the next election, a $250,000 job.  Carolyn’s tip, assuming 15%, should be $37,500.  They got off with a recognition of $100 each.   

Kathleen Cloney-Gardiner’s son scored 17 points in a recent basketball game. It cost her $55.  

Susie Smelzer, the new Boy Scouts local honcho, went to Dallas, where it was so cold they closed the Boy Scout Training Center.  $50.   

Dennis Hunter then was asked to stand up because he won $750 at the Ferndale Rotary Raffle.  He also won $100 when his ticket was called, but Carlton took it for the Club.   

 

Matthew Owen  introduced our program, Tom Abate and Judy Hodgson of the North Coast Journal.   

Tom Abate started the NC Journal in 1990 as a monthly.  Judy and some partners bought it from him shortly thereafter when he went back to finish his degree.  In 1998 they changed to a weekly.  Now , after 20 years working for the SF Chronicle and Examiner , Tom has returned to be editor of the paper he started 31 years ago.   

Judy took a few swipes at the TS , and then cautioned everyone not to pay attention to the tempestuous  interview Tom and she had participated in at a local radio station.  Of course as soon as the meeting was over someone emailed a humorous remix of that interview to everyone in the club.  Temper, temper, Tom.   

Carlton concluded by asking anyone if they knew someone who was a mutineer, road guard, fish wrangler, or somnambulist who would make a good Rotarian.