February 22, 2021

President Mindy Sehon opened the meeting at noon with 28 members in attendance. Our guest speaker is Keith Snow-Flamer, President of College of the Redwoods.  We moved into breakout rooms.

Anthony Stubbs provided the inspirational moment.

Blane O’Shaughnessy gave the founding Rotary member moment. Our founding Rotary member today is Hans Christian Nelson. Han’s father visited Humboldt County from Denmark in 1874. He returned home and married Hans mother.  Hans was born in 1886.  Their family immigrated to Humboldt County when Hans was two years old.  His father was a logger.  Hans graduated from Eureka High School in 1904.  He attended Stanford University and received a degree of Jurum Doctor.  He came back to Eureka and started a law office, Nelson and Ricks.  He was politically minded and was a progressive Republican.  Hans ran and was elected for State Assembly.  When the Deputy District Attorney of Humboldt County died unexpectedly he was appointed to that position.  He married his wife, Esther Jones in 1913.  He ran for California Lieutenant Governor in 1929 which was short lived as he fell and broke his leg during the campaign and had to pull out of the race.  He was a founding member of the Rotary Club of Eureka in 1923 and was President in 1927.  He passed away in 1939 at the age of 53.  He was honored by the State Senate at his passing.

Birthdays: Bert Campton and Greg Williston

RECOGNITIONS: Kate Witthaus- Search and Rescue Training practice this weekend.  Jera Newland got a new puppy, Bronx.

SPEAKER Keith Snow-Flamer said that 86% of College of the Redwood’s (CR’s) courses have been online or virtual over the past year.  They have determined that the transition affected both budget and enrollment.  Enrollment is 20% down.  While some students do well online, some students do not do well.  Marginal students tend to be more marginalized.

As they approach the New normal in Fall 2021 CR is committed to increasing face to face courses from 14% to 50 to 60%. Their ability to do this depends on the level of students and teachers who decide to receive vaccinations, and on how they reconfigure courses to fit current social distancing needs.

They are currently building a new PE/Fieldhouse complex and hope to have this completed in summer 2022.  They have demolishing plans for the old Life Science and Physical Science Buildings their goal is to have this completed by April 2021 (new buildings are already built).  They are researching cost to build new dorms on the Eureka campus. The current dorms are so old it is cheaper to tear them down and build new ones.  They are also building a new Creative Arts Building.

Last year football and other sports were put on hold due to budget.  After research about the importance of sports at the school they will be reinstating football in 2022.  They will also bring back women’s golf and possibly women’s wrestling. They want to focus on local athletes from California and Oregon.  No out of state recruitment (except from Oregon).

Future trends that may impact CR.  Students have many remote learning options and can go outside of the area, etc resulting in less enrollment locally.  Employers are becoming more accepting of credentials from online learning. CR is focused on developing courses that strengthen Humboldt County.  Internships, mentorships and apprenticeships are very important. How do they deliver educational opportunities to students who work during the day?  CR is holding a workforce summit in April to invite key business leaders to talk about where CR should be headed in the next 10 years. They are coordinating with HSU’s master plan as the two systems are very interlinked.

The meeting was adjourned at 12:51pm.