March 22, 2021

The meeting was opened via Zoom at noon by President Mindy Sehon.  We moved into breakout rooms for a little “table talk”. There were 27 members in attendance.

Our inspirational moment was provided by Klark Swan who provided a quote by Van Gogh. ”Whoever loves much, performs much, and can accomplish much, and what is done in love is done well.”

President-elect Klark Swan informed the club that she had a planning meeting with the other Eureka Club incoming presidents regarding Carson Park – The 3 Eureka clubs want to pool resources and money to make improvements at Carson Park in the coming year.

Annallise presented the next founding member, Paul Harris Fellow- Christie H. Palmtag. Palmtag was born January 4, 1875 in Salinas, CA. Christie Henry Palmtag came to Eureka in 1896 as an employee of the Old Wells Fargo Express. He went on to join Belcher Abstract & Title Company before joining the Bank of Eureka. He left the bank shortly to form a real estate/insurance company alongside partner Harvey Farrell with offices at 5th & I St. Their business included facilitating the sale of large timber properties.

After the untimely passing of his wife Olive Sawtelle Palmtag, daughter of a pioneer merchant of Eureka, Palmtag rejoined the Bank of Eureka in 1917 as Vice President. He never remarried and they had no children.

In 1954, at the age of 79, then President of Bank of Eureka, Palmtag facilitated the merger with Anglo California National Bank. At that time, Bank of Eureka was the largest independent bank on the California Coast north of San Francisco, with deposits of approximately $21M and Capital Funds exceeding $1.6M. Subsequently Anglo California National Bank was purchased by Croker-Anglo National Bank which was then merged with Wells Fargo in 1986. This building is now the home of the Clarke Historical Museum and the Eureka Visitor Center).

He was Rotary Club of Eureka president from 1928-1929. He was also a member of the Eureka Chamber of Commerce. He passed away in February 25, 1958 at the age of 83 while conversing with friends after dinner. He is our latest founding member Paul Harris Fellow.

• Lost Coast Rotaractors raised funds to purchase school supplies, backpacks, hats and gloves for Lafayette School
• Alyssa Woods is having a birthday on March25.  Happy Birthday!
• Last Friday our club board of directors met with Fred Van Vleck and other school representatives at Zane middle school. We presented a check to Eureka City Schools for $4,278. The money is being used to pay off student lunch debt and was partially funded by a matching grant from Rotary District 5130.  A news release was sent out to news media today.

Charlie Jordan from Arcata Sunrise is our speaker today.  In 2019 Arcata Sunrise was looking for a project and they partnered with Casas por Cristo to provide a home for a homeless Mayan family in Guatemala. Local pastors vet the families who receive a home. Orlando and Maria received the home built by Arcata Sunrise. In Guatemala many existing homes are made from scraps they gather.  Guatemala has a rigid caste system and by providing people a home it raises the family’s caste rating in a number of ways. The permitting took over 2 years to receive.  The “Build Team” stayed in a bunk room – (girls in one and boys in another). There were flushing toilets and showers just down the hall.  The homes foundation was 20X24 feet.  Teams were building walls while other teams finished the foundation, so it all goes up pretty quickly.  There were 3 rooms in the home.  It had electricity but no plumbing.  The family brough cold watermelon out to the team each day.  On the last day the family made a huge chicken lunch with a number of people attending. The house dedication was very emotional.  The house is given to the woman of the home to ensure their independence. This was the 8,000 home built by CASA.  CASAS been building homes in several area including Mexico, Nicaragua and Guatemala for over 30 years.  CASAS checks up on the families to make sure they are doing well and most of the homes are still in use today. After finishing the home, the team was able to go visit Mayan ruins and do some shopping in Antiqua. They visited a coffee plantation and did some zip lining. For more information contact Charlie Jordan, Charlie.Jordan1@gmail.com.