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Today’s meal: Swiss Chicken, Pork, scalloped potatoes, vegetable medley, garlic bread and coconut cake.  Christian Hill was substituting for President Gregg Gardiner.  He asked Ken Stodder, an ardent Boston Red Sox fan, to lead the pledge.  Matt Mesner gave the invocation.  Keith Crossley narrated the Rotary Minute.  This is Polio Plus’s 25^th Anniversary. Keith gave five reasons to continue the program. To prevent future outbreaks, because it’s treatable, it’s a good investment, saving millions in future medical costs, and because it sets the stage for the next Rotary Program.  

John Burger was wearing a DePaul Shirt because his son goes there.  No fine. 

Tom Schallert has a new granddaughter, Lillian Margaret.  He offered to start a Paul Harris Fellowship for her. 

Chuck Ellsworth was appointed to the Headwaters Fund Board but he missed the first meeting so he has nothing to report.  He did, however, narrate a slide show on the Lincoln Funeral Carriage that Blue Ox reproduced and shipped to Springfield Ill.  He had worked on the gold filigree and lettering.  During transport the dry heat of the South West caused the wood to shrink, cracking some of the castings.  They had to pull a series of 18 hour days to get it ready for the funeral celebration.  Chuck estimated that it cost a million dollars to build.  Body not included. 

Ray Wickel, who attends two meetings a year, drew the winning ticket and selected the joker from a 9 card deck, thus ending the suspense of who would win the $790. 

Matthew Owen introduced our speaker, Charlotte McDonald, executive director of Eureka Main Street.  They oversee Arts Alive, the 4^th of July Celebration, the Summer Concert Series, and the Crab Festival. This was the first year for the crab festival.  It had 1400 visitors who walked from Restaurant to Restaurant sampling crab themed appetizers in spite of the bad weather and lack of crabs.  They have big plans for the Fourth of July Fireworks.  It occurs on the same day as Arts Alive, so things should be hopping.  She also mentioned that they   had creative a Merchants Neighborhood watch program to address security concerns in Old Town.  One of her greatest accomplishments is the revitalization of Saturday Arts Alive.  Because of the support of the City of Eureka, the Eureka Chamber of Commerce, and the Convention and Visitors Bureau the once a month city wide art exhibition has become a tourist draw and has even received National Recognition.

Submitted by Hank Ingham

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The Menu: Chicken in sauce or pork ribs, scalloped potatoes, garlic bread, and salad bar. Police Chief Andy Mills led us in the pledge.  Carlton Nielsen gave the invocation. President Gregg Gardiner recognized Neil Carnam, who had just returned from Nepal.  He was at the Mt. Everest base camp four days before the earthquake.  He said the trip was a lifelong dream and he felt very lucky to have survived it. He will give a brief travelogue next week before our program (Cal Fresh).  

Our Prez recognized Ziggy Ziggenfuss for a recent TV ad of him running the St. Joseph Hospital shuttle program.  Dave Wells finally got his Blue Badge. Then we had the drawing.  Greg Bowen won the bottle of wine and Jay Bahner, given a 1 out of 13 chance to win $740, drew the ten of hearts.  

Our program on the homeless problem included 8 different presenters so we got right to it. Supervisor Virginia Bass introduced the subject.  She said it’s important to distinguish between the homeless problem and the panhandling problem.  Many panhandlers have homes.  Some young families working low paying jobs are homeless.  The current estimate is that there are 600 homeless, half local and half transients.  50-60% have mental issues and 70-80% abuse drugs or alcohol.  She’s a member of CHIP, Creative Homeless Improvement Program.   The group meets every Thursday and includes business owners service providers and the Police Chief.  

The Police Chief then took his turn.  He’s for a compassionate solution, but is pressing to find a location for a more structured and hygienic homeless camp.  They hauled off 100 tons of trash and 800 shopping carts from “The Devil’s Playground”.  They made over 5000 arrests and relocated 1800 people to other cities.  Their mobile intervention services team swept the camp and found 16 guns.  They have been passing out flyers telling people not to give cash to the panhandlers.   

Phillip Crandall, Director of the Humboldt County Health and Human Services Department, spoke next.  They are planning to expand the MAC building over by Target adding 60 beds.  The homeless need housing, it turns out.  He passed out a sheet that debunked some of the myths about General Relief.  In spite of the general feeling that the number of homeless is increasing, the GR caseload is 183, down from 227 in 2014.  GR vouchers cannot be used for drugs cigarettes and alcohol.  DHHS doesn’t provide any funding though any of its programs to support people’s dogs or other pets. The average payment in California is $296 a month.  Humboldt County pays $303.  

Betty Chin was next. She operates the Betty Kwan Chinn Homeless foundation.  She feeds 450-500 people a day.  She’s found housing for 129 single men.  She has provided housing, transportation to schools, and other services She said we don’t see some of the neediest homeless because they hide in the bushes and never come out. 

Other speakers included Pamela Milsap EPD homeless liaison officer who noted that there are no drug or alcohol treatment programs for persons under 18.  Fox Olsen Arcata Homeless Advocate wanted a transitional housing program. She had an on the job training plan that would pay half the salary of an employee.  

Nezzie Wade represented Affordable Homeless housing Alternatives.  She co-managed micro housing.  

Finally Bryan Lee Hall of the Eureka Rescue Mission asked us what we thought when we saw a turtle on a fencepost.  “Someone put it there”.  The homeless need to change the way they think to become contributing members of the community and someone needs to give them hope and training.  Someone has to put them on that fencepost.  And how do you get off the fencepost? Stay tuned.

 Hank Ingham Burl Writer

Meeting of The Rotary Club of Eureka April 13, 2015

Lunch Menu: Salad bar, Swiss Chicken, Beef Hash, Roasted potatoes, corn, gravy, rolls, dessert

Called to order by President Gregg Gardiner at 12:30pm
The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Pat Folkins
The Invocation was led by Greg Williston

VISITING ROTARIANS: Bill Mays and friend from Mad River Rotary, Sandy Scott Arcata Noon Rotary

GUESTS OF ROTARIANS: Greg Pierson introduced Ben Brown (AKA Bill) from the Clarke Museum, Rich Littlefield introduced soon to be a Eureka Rotarian, Linda Wise from Recology and president of the Redwood Arts Association, Don Smullin introduced Susan Gillespie from the Eureka Chamber of Commerce

STUDENT GUESTS: None. Spring Break.

FOUNDATION MINUTE: Dr. Kim Bauriedel talked about Rotary’s goal to eradicate polio. Before vaccines were available the only treatment available for polio was life on an iron lung. It is a horrible disease. In the 1950’s vaccines became available in the United States and we have been basically polio free since the late 1970’s. In the Mid ‘90s Rotary embarked upon a campaign to eliminate polio worldwide. Today we are down to 3 countries and they are the hardest to provide treatment to. It is estimated that it will cost 5.5 billion more to reach our goals by 2018 (or longer). The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will match $2 for every $1 donated. If you’ve already donated this year, please consider making another donation.


ANNOUNCEMENTS: Mindy Bussman announced that the Firesides will start tonight with the first one at Matthew Owens house. If you haven’t signed up already, sign ups are on all of the tables.

Backpack for Kids annual fundraiser will take place this Saturday with a BBQ by Blackberry Bramble and music by Doug Fir and the 2X4s. Tickets are available from Mindy.

Greg Pierson and Ben Brown (Bill) stepped up to the front of the room and Greg talked about Sign Smith. Total earning this year were over $25,000 that are able to be used for projects in the community. $5,000 will be going to the Clarke Historical Museum. Ben Brown the curator and director thanked Eureka Rotarians for their donation that will help pay for a WWII educational memorial at the Airport in McKinleyville. They have raised a total of $18,000 so far. This free standing computer kiosk will feature videos regarding the history of veterans and Humboldt County and will be updated periodically.



CRAFT TALK: Nathan Nilsen is one of the owners of Nilsen Company. He is a 5th generation Humboldt County native. Nilsen Feed was founded by Oscar Nilsen in 1896 who came here from Norway. It started as a fancy grocery store but as the grocery business became more competitive it morphed into a feed and animal care store in the 1920’s. Today there are 3 locations in Eureka on South Broadway, Ferndale which was founded in the 1950’s and Redway which was purchased about 3 years ago. He and his wife also purchased Express Personnel in Eureka last year. His 2 younger brothers, his Dad and Nathan are all the owners of Nilsen Feed. He has one step son, Stephen who is a student at CR and is not interested in working in the feed business. Last year they sold 3,000 baby chicks at Nilsen Feed Co.


RECOGNITIONS:
Past President Hank Pierson was asked to stand. He has attended 2 meetings in a row but only attended a total of 3 to 4 meetings during President Greg’s year. He generously donated $100 to Polio Plus and $100 to Backpacks for kids.

Dr. Kim Bauriedel was asked to stand. Last week all club members put down $1 for Polio Plus. This week despite many attempts to forego the fine… President Greg firmly told Dr. Kim a $25 fine was required.

Anthony Stunich is gone so his fine will wait until next week.

Greg Williston’s son Reed is graduating from Cal Poly with a degree in aeronautical engineering and graduated at the top of his class. He already has the job of his dreams in vehicle design for a company in Los Angeles. Greg’s Paid $100 to Paul Harris.

Don Smullin was asked to tell us about his daughters. After relating a story about a delayed trip to Italy because of a nearly expired passport and then another story about his participation in Eureka High School’s recent Every 15 Minutes event where his daughter played the part of a drunk driver who killed her sister and then had to call her Dad (Don) to report that her sister was dead and she was in jail for vehicular manslaughter while DUI (Don said it was a very difficult part to play) we finally got to the reason that Don had been asked to stand. His daughter Angelica recently received a Rising Star award (this is his fourth child to receive this award). His fine was $25 per child or $100.

SPENGLER-HOWARD RAFFLE: A bottle of Riverbend Cellars wine was won by Bert Campton.
Pat Folkins drew from the deck of cards for the joker and a pot of $650 but alas he drew a 2 of hearts. Sorry Pat. Next week drawing goes to $670.

GUEST SPEAKER INTRODUCTION BY: Carlton Nielsen introduced Sandy Scott who moved to Humboldt from Charleston South Carolina four years ago with her retired husband Harry. She was formerly employed by the Salvation Army but is now the Executive Director of the Arcata Chamber of Commerce and California Welcome Center. She is a member of the Arcata Noon Rotary club.

GUEST SPEAKER: Sandy acknowledged guest Bill Mays who was instrumental in initially opening the California Welcome Center in Arcata 15 years ago and Larry DeBeni who donated the land and building to make it all happen. They see 10 to 15,000 visitors a year and provide information for the entire county. She meets regularly with all chambers, Main Street, HCCVB, etc. The California Welcome Center is kind of like a franchise. They pay $5,000 a year as one of 20 welcoming centers in California and in return receive a lot of advertising and promotion, directing visitors to the center.

As the director for the Arcata Chamber of Commerce Sandy and her team nearly doubled their membership last year. They had their 1st cannabis member join this year. Many of their members are preparing for the eventual legalization of marijuana… She’s heard a Bud and Breakfast In will be starting and food companies are getting recipes ready that include marijuana in them. The chamber holds fundraisers and an annual dinner each year as well as classes of interest to business owners.

Matthew Owen asked a question that the speaker had previously answered and President Gregg fined him $100 for being late to the meeting and asking an unnecessary question.

MEETING ADJOURNED: 1:30pm
Respectfully submitted, Alicia Cox

Meeting of the Rotary Club of Eureka January 26, 3015

Lunch Menu: Salad bar, beef stroganoff, fried chicken, mashed potatoes, steamed zucchini rolls, dessert. Called to order by President Gregg Gardiner at 12:30pm.The Pledge of Allegiance was led by WWII veteran Ken Stodder. The Invocation was led by John Gierek Jr. VISITING ROTARIANS: No visitors today.

Keith Crossley and Dale Warmuth

GUESTS OF ROTARIANS: Carlton introduced 3 guests from Teen Challenge Tim, Rachel and Emily. Carol Rische introduced John Friedenbach, Business Manager at Humboldt Bay Municipal Water District. STUDENT GUESTS: No student guests but Ted Loring said he’s talked to our outbound student Eli Savage who is having too much fun in Brazil. We’ve selected our outbound student who will be going to Bolivia.

PAUL HARRIS: Keith Crossley introduced our newest Paul Harris Fellow, Dale Warmuth. Dale received a standing ovation from his fellow Rotarians along with a pin, giant necklace and certificate. BIRTHDAYS: Bob Morse, Neal Carnam, Chris Freeman, John Gierek Junior and Nathan Nilsen are all celebrating birthdays this week. John Gierek celebrated with his favorite drink… a gin and tonic, dinner with his family and by working all day. Nathan’s celebration is still to come. President Gregg asked them to please think about their fellow Rotarians while they are out celebrating. NEW MEMBER: Our newest returning member, Cici, owner of the Irish Shop was re-introduced by Past President Dr. Kim Bauriedel. She received a red badge that will quickly be exchanged for a blue badge since she had already earned the blue badge in her past life as a Rotarian. Cici was welcomed back by the club. Past President Tom Schallert provided the Past President address. RECOGNITIONS: Carlton donated the majority of his weekend to cooking for a gathering of 22 exchange students, barbecuing trip-tip one night and pork shoulder the other. Carlton said it’s amazing how much food teenage boys can eat.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: J Bahner reminded us that February 14th is coming up… the date of our annual fundraiser. Right now only 50% of the club has purchased their tickets. Please get your money to J as he needs to let the caterer know how many meals to prepare. President Gregg reminded the club that the Annual Fundraiser is part of our annual commitment when we join Rotary. Everybody is required to purchase a ticket and if possible attend the event. J noted that if you are unable to attend, please give your ticket to somebody who would enjoy a nice dinner and a great time. President Gregg announced there is a board meeting tomorrow, 12 noon at the Ingomar. Red badges are welcome. Doug Lanning was welcomed back after a year and a half absence. He looks forward to being able to attend more often in the future. SPECIAL PRE-PROGRAM: Teen Challenge graduate, Rachel talked about Teen Challenge noting that Teen Challenge has partnered with our Rotary Club on many projects including Winship School and now the Boys and Girls Club… Teen Challenge helps people whose lives have been affected by drug or alcohol addition become contributing members of society. They purchased the Garden Motel on 4th Street and house 50 men there who are turning their lives around. At 7th and T Streets there is a Woman’s House that houses 25 women. Rachel is a 1988 graduate of Teen Challenge. This program provides a structured vocational program for people leaving prison, those who may have been homeless, in the foster care system, etc. They provide tree, lawn, construction, janitorial services and more. They are going to be adding curb appeal services soon that will include the cleaning and weeding of curb areas on various streets. If you have a need call to schedule their time. Tim introduced a video featuring Past President Bush who spoke about the value of Teen Challenge, a national and even worldwide program. Emily told us her story. She’s from Toledo Ohio, 18 years old and came from a good, supportive family. She started shooting heroin when she was 15 and dropped out of school, lost all of her friends, etc. Her mom found Teen Challenge and she’s been in the program 6 months and can already tell that she’s changed for good. She said it’s the first time she’s ever looked forward to having a future.

Pat Folkins

SPENGLER-HOWARD RAFFLE: Pat Folkins won a bottle of Riverbend Cellars wine. Jerry XXXXX drew from the deck of cards for the joker and a pot of $400. No luck. The pot next week will go to $420. GUEST SPEAKER: Past President Bruce Rupp was our guest speaker representing the Humboldt Bay Municipal Water District (HBMWD) where he sits on the board of directors. Bruce noted that the presentation he is making has already been made to the Humboldt and Trinity County Boards of Supervisors. He also noted that after a 20 year history with the HBMWD General Manager Carol Rische is retiring. He talked about Carol’s time with the district and the valuable asset she has been to the district and our community. He hopes that in June, prior to her retirement, Carol will have the opportunity to give a presentation before the club discussing the many changes that HBMWD has made over the past 20 years. Bruce said that the HBMWD has been focusing on Water Resource Planning. When the water system was built over 50 years ago there were two large pulp mills using a lot of water. They basically underwrote the cost of developing the infrastructure and helped to keep costs down for other water users. Today we have no more large industrial customers. The result is idle infrastructure with a significant cost increase to the district’s municipal customers and a potential loss of water rights. The State basically owns our water and leases it to us. If we don’t use it they can take it back. The HBMWD has been addressing this issue for the past 6 years since the loss of their industrial customers. They are focused on 1. The protection of water rights 2. Fiscal sustainability 3. Environmental Sustainability. To do this they must evaluate how they can increase local water usage, understand the environmental benefits to enhancing stream flow, and the possibility/costs of transporting water out of the area. They hired HSU students to study which industries would utilize a lot of water and found that basically if we recruited every brewery to Humboldt, we still wouldn’t use all of the available water. The pulp mills used a lot of water. In regards to the transportation of water they initially focused on transferring water to the Northern California area… Sonoma County, etc. The cost to use water bags that would float to these areas, came in at $6,000 an acre foot. Right now Sonoma and other counties in this area are paying much less an acre foot. Then HBMWD started looking at pipeline possibilities which brought the costs down to $1,800 to $2,000 an acre foot. Focus initially would be Sonoma, Marin and then if that didn’t pan out on to other areas. The cost of pipeline construction very roughly is estimated at $491 million for an eastern route and $759 million for a southern route. These are rough figures and Bruce thinks these numbers can go down. Time was up and that was the end of the talk. MEETING ADJOURNED: 1:30pm Respectfully submitted, Alicia Cox

Meeting of the Rotary Club of Eureka January 19, 2015

This was an off site meeting at the Humboldt County jail. Lunch menu: Boxed lunches were provided by the Humboldt County Sheriff’s office. The meeting was called to order by President Gregg Gardiner at 12:15pm.

 The pledge of allegiance was led by Ziggy. The invocation was led by Greg Pierson. Announcements: Jaimie is fundraising with a goal to attend the annual meeting in Brazil in June. She is offering Valentunes at $40 a singing which includes a rose. Please contact her if you are interested in signing up. J Bahner reminded us that the Annual Fundraiser is coming up on Valentine’s Day. He still needs auction items. Please contact him if you can help. PROGRAM: Undersheriff William Honsai III noted that Sheriff Downey unfortunately (fortunately for Sheriff Downey) is in Hawaii and was unable to attend today’s meeting. This is the first tour the jail has offered since the initial opening tours. Undersheriff Honsai noted that our lunch was being served in one of three dormitories at the jail. They are hoping that our visit today will help to disrupt any pre-conceived notions we may have about the jail. This dormitory sleeps up to 75 inmates who are managed by one corrections officer. Sgt. Christiansen was introduced. An almost 20 year veteran of the jail, Sgt. Christiansen talked about her experiences, the 12 hour shifts officers work, with 1 supervisor and 18 officers for up to 470 inmates. Jail is different now than it used to be. The inmates have options. For example in the morning they can get up and do some calisthenics, taking advantage of opportunities to study, etc. or they can decide to sleep. Corporal Ross, a 13 year employee, said that while managing behavior is a big part of the job so is providing tools for success, plans for the future, helping inmates stop the cycle of problems. The average population at the jail is 368. He talked about how much easier it is to manage the inmate population when they are in a dormitory setting versus locked up in an individual cell. While inmates are locked up in individual cells if they refuse to obey the rules or are a danger to others, the preference is to keep everybody in a dormitory setting if possible. It’s a healthier atmosphere for the inmates with less suicides, less attacks, etc. The officer’s role is to listen, provide authority, act as an activity director, and provide constant supervision. He emphasized that the inmates, once they are clear of drugs and alcohol, are normal people just like the people in this room but they need help to move forward. Some of the options available to inmates today include taking GED courses, college level courses, knitting and crocheting lessons, mental health services, veteran’s aftercare and treatment. In 2014 a total of 10,057 people were booked into the jail. The average population at the jail was 348 and the average number days of incarceration were 14. Since proposition 47 passed the population has decreased significantly, shrinking to 242 today. Today’s jail has not been designed for long–term stays, (no open fields to run in, etc.), but changes at the state level have meant that some inmates have been housed for a long time. Teen Challenge is currently applying for permits to provide transitional housing for inmates as they leave jail. The Sheriff’s office is excited about the potential for help that this means for the inmate population. We then separated into small groups for a tour of the jail. Meeting adjourned at 1:25pm. Respectfully submitted, Alicia Cox.

Meeting of the Rotary Club of Eureka January 12, 2015

LUNCH MENU: Salad bar, Meatloaf, Noodles with red sauce, mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans, rolls, dessert. Called to order by President Gregg Gardiner at 12:30pm. THE PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE was led by guest, Capt. Mark Neeson USN (retired). THE INVOCATION was led by Gary Todoroff. VISITING ROTARIANS: Liana Simpson, Old Town Rotary.

GUESTS OF ROTARIANS: Carlton brought Hawley Butterfield, Gregg Gardiner brought Capt. Mark Neeson USN (retired), J. Hockaday introduced Torrance Gaucher, new meteorologist for News Channel 3. STUDENT GUESTS: None. NEW MEMBER: Hawley Butterfield was welcomed back into the club after being gone for a couple of years. He even received his original blue badge. Past President Brian Papstein talked about the importance of being involved in Rotary. Past President Kim Bauriedel noted that Hawley Butterfield did not receive an introduction from his sponsor and invited Hawley to introduce himself to those members who did not remember him from his past membership. President (aka Emperor) Gregg Gardiner received a fine of $10 from Dr. Bauriedel for not introducing Hawley. ANNOUNCEMENTS: We will meet at the Humboldt County Jail next Monday the 19th for our meeting. You need to RSVP if you are coming and if you plan to bring a guest so that we have enough lunches. Bring $11 for lunch. Proper change is appreciated. Weapons are not allowed. Prescription drugs (or any other drugs) are now allowed. Parking is in the large gravel parking lot area. Enter the jail through the 5th Street entrance. RECOGNITIONS: Nancy Dean was asked to stand as, even though she’s retired now, there was a letter to the editor in the Times-Standard about her good work in the community, at the weather service and thanked her especially for bringing champagne to a harbor district meeting. John Burger identified a photograph that President Gregg Gardiner held in hand as a photo of his grandson on a goose-hunting trip. President Gregg’s inside source had disclosed that 9 Aleutian Geese were shot on that trip. John received a $50 fine. Pat Folkins was fined $25 for forgetting to bring something. We don’t know what. J Hockaday was asked to stand in preparation for a fine he will be receiving in 2 weeks when Pat Folkins remembers what he forgot. Apparently there was one donated gift to Toys for Tots that was rejected as not being appropriate for children and J Hockaday apparently donated that gift. More to come on this interesting subject. Dave Tyson was back after missing 52 meetings. He’s been in Point Arena, serving as Interim City Manager. Ziggy came forward to help President Gregg determine the appropriate fine since part of the meetings missed were in Ziggy's year as President. After discussions of fines as large as $850 Dave was happy to settle for a fine of $250 as long as the fine David Hull paid for missing a number of meetings was equally large. Gregg acknowledged that David Hull’s fine was only $240 so he knocked $10 off of Dave’s fine. Fred Van Vleck was asked to stand for asking voters to pass Measure S in November, a 49.75 million dollar bond to repair school facilities. The first project will start on January 30th at Lincoln School. Project details can be found on the Eureka City School’s web site. Fred received a $100 fine. Past President Dennis Hunter recommended that the fine be split with Fred’s Campaign Chairperson, Gregg Gardiner. But both Gregg and Fred offered to pay $100 each. SPENGLER-HOWARD RAFFLE: John Burger won a bottle of Riverbend Cellars wine. Craig Hansen drew from the deck of cards for the joker and a pot of $370 but the pot’s still going up to $390 at the next meeting. GUEST SPEAKER INTRODUCTION: Liana Simpson introduced our speaker Emily Jacobs, Program Coordinator for the Arcata-Eureka Airport in McKinleyville. Liana joined the Fly Humboldt Committee to help solve the problem with air flight in Humboldt County. Why? We need competition to help lower rates, as the only national and regional recruiter in Humboldt County Liana has seen us lose great talent that she’s recruited for interviews because of the price/availability of air flights. She sees local business owners that are having a hard time getting to meetings and getting back home. Humboldt County needs to recruit physicians, we have a severe physician shortage but the air flight situation is a stumbling block.
Fly Humboldt needed to gather one million dollars as a minimum revenue guarantee (MRG) to entice an airline to consider coming here. They just crossed that goal line. It only took 8.5 months. Emily Jacobs is the Program Coordinator at the airport. She is a certified NOAA weather person, she manages the staff, budgets, is the chief negotiator with airlines in addition to a number of other duties. GUEST SPEAKER: Emily said that airlines have certain restrictions/requirements they have to pay attention to. One big one is that due to new restrictions from the FAA there is a huge shortage of pilots. Pilots are now required to have at least a 10 hour rest between flights plus flight training is costing about $100,000 while starting jobs at airlines are about $25,000 a year. So many pilots are choosing to work for private companies instead. On Wall Street shareholders are clamping down on growth because airlines have finally found a profitable model. Today airlines are not focused on market share as much as they are on profitability. There is a lot of concern about the drop in fuel prices because airlines have invested heavily in fuel-efficient planes and there’s a danger of smaller airlines being able to flood the market when they are vulnerable during the lowering of fuel prices. United is currently switching all flights to jets which expands their capacity to 50 to 70 seats per flight but Crescent City, Carlsbad and Chico are losing United because those airports can’t accommodate the jets on their current runways. Emily said airlines aren’t interested in using the MRG money, they prefer to have full flights which are more profitable. Liana noted that the way an MRG works is that a community commits to an airline up front in return for the airline bringing in new routes and flights. The guarantee is based on the revenue an airline must earn to make the route(s) viable and makes up the difference. So if a flight is under booked, but the airline needs to have 40 seats booked to be profitable, they can utilize the MRG money to make up the difference. Emily said when Delta came into Humboldt, we combined forces with Redding to sign an MRG and Delta was here for 9 years but they couldn’t continue to afford to be here. The benefit to Humboldt was lower airfare and more flights. The way to bring the costs of flying down is to fly more. By filling up seats locally we can demonstrate to interested airlines that there is a need. When we utilize other airports we are increasing their chances of bringing more airlines to that airport. 10% of flights are cancelled locally. It’s a lot lower cancellation rate than most people think. Emily showed us the best way to book the lowest cost flight. Directions: Go to Google.com/flights. A window will appear where you can enter the information about your flight and you will see the lowest price attached to all available flights. Emily had the audience call out various destinations and she showed us how easy it is to find the cheapest available flights. MEETING ADJOURNED: 1:30pm. Respectfully submitted, Alicia Cox

Meeting of the Rotary Club of Eureka January 5 2015

LUNCH MENU: Salad bar, lasagna, fried cod, mixed vegetables, scalloped potatoes, garlic bread, and dessert. Called to order by President Gregg Gardiner at 12:30pm. Chris Freeman led the Pledge of Allegiance. Carlton Nielsen led the Invocation. VISITING ROTARIANS: No visitors today.

Carlton and Our exchange student

GUESTS OF ROTARIANS: Jaison Chand introduced his guest, Elan Firpo. Russ Harris brought the new Relationship Manager for Tri-County Banks. Jason Eads brought Jim the new owner of H&R Block in Eureka and Arcata, Carlton Nielsen introduced Deborah Claesgens, Executive Director, at Sequoia Park Zoo.

 STUDENT GUESTS: Our exchange student, Lisa said she slept and watched her favorite show on TV on her Christmas break. Carlton let us know that Lisa’s parents have granted her wish to pay for a trip to New York but she needs a certified Rotarian to go with her. If anybody is available to go to New York with Lisa, March 15-20th, please contact Carlton. ANNOUNCEMENTS: Jay Bahner reminded us that he has tickets to sell for the annual fundraiser at the Adorni Center. He needs help. Please call Jay if you can help him sell tickets or if you would like to buy extra tickets. President Gregg said that we are NOT closed for Martin Luther King Day instead we will all be going to jail courtesy of Sheriff Mike Downey who will be giving us a tour of the jail. An invite will be mailed out and calls will be made to find out who is attending so please respond so they can figure out how many lunches. RECOGNITIONS: President Gregg asked whoever had missed all meetings in October, November and December to stand.

David Hull

 One person stood up. David Hull. After some discussion President Gregg agreed to not fine him $500 but to fine him $200 instead. President Gregg showed Pat Folkins a photo of Pat’s grandson standing with another member, John Burger. Both men were carrying shotguns, as they were duck hunting. Although Pat’s grandson in the picture didn’t shoot a duck his other grandson shot a goose so Pat agreed to pay a $25 fine in recognition of the downed goose.

Nancy Dean

 Past President Nancy Dean has retired from the weather business and is now a Rotarian 100% of the time. Gregg gave her the option of finding her replacement from the weather station or paying a fine. She paid a fine of $100. NEW MEMBER: Carlton Nielsen introduced our newest member, Deborah Claesgens, Executive Director, at Sequoia Park Zoo. Deborah was born and raised in Twin Cities, Minnesota and has an impressive resume including working as the Development Director for the University of California in Santa Cruz for the past 3 years, working for 4 years for the Los Angeles Unified School District as the lead consultant for special programs and initiatives. She even worked for the Disney Development Company in Florida for a few years. Past President Dennis Hunter gave the Past President address and urged Deborah to never say no when a request was made to help out at Rotary. Just as he didn’t say no when he stepped into the meeting today and was asked to give the Past President address since he was the first Past President to walk into the room.

President Gregg presented Deborah with her red badge.

Mindy gets her blue badge

Mindy Bussman was asked to head to the front of the room where she was presented with her Blue Badge. President Gregg noted that her father holds the record, not only in the Rotary Club of Eureka, but also in Rotary International, for having a red badge for the longest period of time so it gave him great pleasure to give Mindy her Blue badge. President Gregg noted that the Sheriff’s SWAP team recently took on the task of cleaning up the woods adjacent to Winship and turning them into more of a park environment by removing brush, etc. President Gregg also noted that Toys for Tots had the biggest year yet serving 6,600 children. Unfortunately, they ran a little short on toys and were unable to serve the 23 to 24 last minute calls they received. He thanked Bob Morse for the immense amount of work he donates to Toys for Tots, maintaining the database each year. STUDENT

Lisa, vice President of Interact

GUESTS: Lisa, VP of Interact recently attended the Rotary Youth Leadership Conference (RYLA) for district 5130. Lisa talked about the valuable experience she had at the camp. She met many people who she has formed long-lasting ties with and participated in a number of leadership training activities. She thanked the club for sponsoring her trip. SPENGLER-HOWARD RAFFLE: Mike Cunningham won a bottle of Riverbend Cellars wine. Past President Dennis Hunter drew from the deck of cards for the joker and a pot of $340 but alas drew a four of hearts. GUEST SPEAKER INTRODUCTION: Chris Freeman introduced our guest Michael Christian who has been his long time friend and neighbor for the past 20 years. When Michael graduated from HSU in the 1970’s he needed to make his own job.


Michael Christian



He wanted to see the world, live in Humboldt County, visit warm, sunny places, go fishing and be passionate about what he did for a living. And… American Hydroponics was born. Michael is a worldwide expert in hydroponics, evening having projects on display in the Smithsonian and he consults on projects all over the world. GUEST SPEAKER: Michael Christian, American Hydroponics / Water Planet, (AH/WP) Michael said they have 10 employees at AH/WP. Although many people think of marijuana when they hear the word hydroponics that’s not what AH/WP is all about. HYDRO means water and PONICS means working. They utilize dissolved minerals and recirculate water to grow food year round. This process utilizes 1/10 the amount of water required in traditional direct farming and is not climate dependent. In traditional farming crops that can turn 4X in one year can turn 24X in one year with hydroponics, making this a very efficient, cost-effective way to bring fresh produce to market locally. It’s a great way to use unused land, rooftops and more. He showed us examples of systems they’ve set up all over the world including a rooftop garden over a Whole Foods Store in New York that grows fresh vegetables on the roof that they take by elevator downstairs to serve their customers. Consumers are really starting to vie for locally grown foods. It not only makes sense economically, it helps with the utilization of our natural resources and there are no transportation costs. It helps keep food fresher with less chance of health issues. They believe education is key to empowerment and they welcome a lot of children through their greenhouses to show them how it all works. MEETING ADJOURNED: 1:30pm. Respectfully submitted, Alicia Cox