September 25th, 2017

The meeting was called to order at 12:20 by President Bruce.

  • Flag Salute:  Julie Denbo
  • Chuck Ellsworth announced that Jim Hoff (previous Rotarian) is undergoing cancer treatment so keep him in our prayers.
  • Invocation:  Mike Cunningham
  • Visiting Rotarians:  Scott Pesch Southwest Rotary; Chris Hartley Mad River Rotary; Amanda Nelson; Old Town Eureka
  • Guests:  None
  • Birthdays, anniversaries and club anniversaries were all announced
  • Announcements:

o   President Bruce announced that our club donated $4,361 to the Pedal for Polio cause which met the goal of $35/member
o   Phil Nicklas announced there will be a Done In a Day project this Saturday at the Boys and Girls club teen center (J & Harris) from 9:00 to noon.  Bring gloves and round up if you have it.
o   President Bruce announced there was a Friday social at the Ingomar Club.  There were approximately 10 Rotarians from our club that attended and 7 Lost Coast Rotaract members.  The social will be every other month and he encouraged folks to attend to promote fellowship and because they ‘had a grand old time’.
o   Dale Warmuth had multiple announcements:  There was a Eureka Cruise over the weekend he was involved with that raised $20K; his sister has come back to work at the business; this Saturday the Boys and Girls Club will be holding a dinner/auction from 6:00 – 9:00 (5:30 libations) at the Elks Club where they will be honoring a ‘champion of youth’ which happens to be Dale.  He made a $100 donation for all of these recent accomplishments.

  • Chuck Ellsworth addressed the recent Hurricane Harvey devastation in Texas.  He has a house on a neighboring island so has ties to the rotary clubs in that area.  He asked that people leave money on the table if they would like to donate to the Rotary Club of Rockport and the Rotary Club of Port Aransas.  He will make sure these two clubs receive the direct contributions.
  • Mike Cunningham attended Bruce’s daughter’s wedding and they attended two Rotary meetings while in the Middle East, bringing back two flags for our banner.
  • Drawing:

o   Silver Dollar – Elan Firpo

o   McDonald’s GC – Miguel Garcia

o   Hamilton – Ted Loring

o   Black Lightning Café GC – Jay Reed

o   Card drawing (king of spades) – Jay Reed

  • President Bruce introduced the program as our guest speaker Dr Chris Hartley who is the new HCOE Superintendent, replacing Gary Eagles.  Dr Hartley provided some background information on himself including he is from Coalinga (school mascot horntoad), and is a 1991 graduate of HSU.  He has been in education for 23 years with 21 years being in the northern HC districts and the most recent being 5 years as the Superintendent for the Northern County School District.  He discussed multiple topics including: Key shifts in education; the pendulum swing within education; emerging technology and the significant changes they’re trying to take advantage of; language and information available to the kids is increasing excessively; and one of their primary focuses being how to help students make the transition from school to the workforce.  They are currently training students for jobs that don’t exist yet because of the rapid expansion of technology.   They participate in some great programs including the Innovate Challenge which is students participating for prizes based on business models and ideas they present.  The second program he discussed is the Youth Ambassador program through Eureka Chamber where kids learn speaking skills and work closely with business leaders.   He also discussed Gen Z (student generational reference) and what they want, who they are, and what they will be like to employ.  Some of the key initiatives for HCOE will be addressing the teacher shortage and working closely with law enforcement.  He answered several questions and was provided his Rotarian trophy.
  • President Bruce challenged all Rotarians to bring at least one guest over the next 9 months with the goal being to increase club membership.

The meeting was adjourned at 1:15.

Jennifer Budwig