June 14, 2021

The meeting was called to order at 12:25pm by President Mindy Sehon. This was a hybrid meeting.  Participants were in – person at the Elks Lodge and attending via Zoom.

Flag salute was led by: Jera Newland

Inspirational moment was led by: Klark Swan

Dr. Kim Bauriedel talked about our newest Paul Harris Fellow. He was a charter member of the Rotary Club of Eureka, Charles Douglas Deuchar, Broker at Cyrus Peirce & Company. Deuchar was born in New York City (NYC) in 1898.  He was the 4th of 12 children. His parents were immigrants from Scotland. He was in the Army reserve.  He enjoyed singing. In January of 1918 Deuchar was called to active duty and he was discharged in 1919.  After his discharge he moved to NYC and lived with his parents. He eventually went to work for Cyrus Peirce & Company, an investment company in San Francisco.  He was soon made branch manager of Eureka and moved here. Their office was in the same location where Security National is today.  He played baseball locally, joined the American Legion, continued singing and at some point met a divorcee, Ellen McCormick, who he eventually married on September 1, 1923. He became a charter member of the Rotary Club of Eureka. On May 1, 1926 he resigned and went back to San Francisco, changing employment to a different investment company.  He eventually bought a seat on the stock exchange for $45,000. However, later in life he had problems including a DUI, divorce, etc. and left the stock exchange. He was enlisted in the draft in 1940.  In 1950 he was working for a real estate company but died in 1957 from liver disease and health issues associated from drinking.  The only picture we were able to find was his army group that he trained with in NYC.

Recognitions:

  • Scott Thompson received his Red badge.
  • Dennis Hunter recently wrote and published a book – The Last Whaler about his father.
  • Sofia Pereira has recently been hired as the new Public Health Director for Humboldt County
  • Birthdays: Jim Sessa – today, George Owren- 17th

Raffle drawing:  Rotary face mask- Alyssa. Free meal at McDonalds- Dennis Hunter. $20 gift certificate to the Chalet- Lane Strope. $20 to Norman’s Dry Cleaners- Scott.  Drawing for a gold coin- Lane Strope – not a winner this time.

Past President Carly Robbins Food for People is our speaker. In February of last year a sewage disaster basically destroyed the Food for People building.  After a lot of discussion and research they decided to build a new building. They are currently leasing 5 different locations in order to provide services while the new building is being built. Construction will be starting in the next 3 months.

Backpacks for Kids is a program Food for People has partnered with for 10 years.  John Bradley from the Rotary Club of Eureka first introduced this program to the club.  The program provides food for kids who don’t have adequate food resources at home.  Kids get a backpack on Fridays with food for the weekend. Mindy has been coordinating the program for Eureka for a number of years with 115 backpacks being packed each week.  This is a countywide program with 500 bags being packed by the total county each week.  Each year they do a fundraising program with the Times-Standard to raise $30,000 for the program. The Times-Standard donates the space and businesses or individuals can buy a square to sponsor the program. There’s no federal or other funding for Backpacks for Kids and it costs $600 to sponsor one kid for a year.

Note: RSVP to Klark if you are attending the debunking on the 28th of June.

The meeting was adjourned at 1:08pm.