Meeting of the Rotary Club of Eureka
Gary Philp was called upon to do the flag salute and Dan Heinen gave the invocation.
President Carlton Nielsen announced that this was his last official meeting. There was a smattering of applause. Then he asked that the debunking committee notify him in advance if they were going throw him in the bay at the next meeting. Apparently he had noticed the anchor chain and cinder blocks over by the badge box.
This was our exchange student Gabriele’s last meeting and he came to the podium to thank everyone for a life-changing experience. He thanked all of his host families and said he would never forget what’s-his-name, our president.
Matt Messner, red-badger and pastor of the Faith Center, gave his craft talk. He was a track star in high school and had the choice of going to Dartmouth or an un-credited Bible school in LA, but felt his calling was to be a pastor. He later returned to running as a hobby and ran in the Olympic trials. He was a long distance runner, but found he could sprint when he had to in some of the dicier parts of Los Angeles.
Bill McAuley and Carlton were the sponsors of two new Rotarians, Erin Tilch and Greg Seiler, numbers 20 and 21 of the year. Pat Folkins gave them some unforgettable advice, but I don’t remember what it was.
President Carlton then put on his final fining hat of the year. It belonged to his Uncle Kimble, and was festooned (one of my favorite words) with buttons. Kimble lived to be 100 and was the only person torpedoed by the Germans in both world wars. This gave the debunking committee another idea. He then called on Burt Campton, Paul Brisso, Bruce Emad, Ron Pierre, Will Kay, Matt Messner, John McBeth, Al Crnich, Mike Cunningham, and Sid Anderson to stand, along with Craig Hansen. All of them had helped Craig in some way to accomplish his charitable project. $20 each. Paul Brisso remained standing and was called to account for ventilating eight animals in South Africa. He flew 26 hours one-way to get there, so he must have been itching to shoot something when he arrived. He was fined $65 and gave an extra $100 to Gary Todoroff’s Orphanage in Africa. Fred Griffith came back from Hawkins Bar to find his house in Eureka had been burgled. “The Mercedes was gone…” He intoned. Yeah, and someone took my Lamborghini. Murl Harpham recovered most of the loot, and coincidentally Gabriele cancelled his garage sale. In a continuing disaster theme, Dave Dillon was recognized for encountering four tornadoes on a recent cross-country tour. The tornadoes escaped unharmed. Dale Warmuth and Joan Davies won the Spengler raffle.
Our program was given by two returnees from a Group Study Exchange in Japan, Jillian Kerby and Craig Reed. They went to four cities in four weeks in fall 2010. The toured the birthplace of Hello Kitty! They went to Yamanashi, where they also make Sake and wine. The saw Mount Fuji in Mishima, went to a glass museum and snack factory in Hamamatsi. They visited Tokyo. The received a friendly greeting in Hawaru and a more casual reception in Hawzitgoan. They saw many shrines, and wore kimonos, and ate many strange foods, like live squid and deep fried spaghetti. Rotary is different there. Everyone wears a black business suit and white shirt. Fines are in the hundreds of dollars. No women are members. Carlton’s debunking is next week. Wear a hat.
Submitted by Hank Ingham
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