September 27, 2021
The meeting was opened at noon on Zoom by President Klark Swan. Thought of the day was provided by Steve Allen who reminded us to slow down and appreciate our lives and friends. Phillip Nicklas led the pledge of allegiance.
CLUB BUSINESS
- Board of Directors Strategic Planning is coming up. Please reach out to Klark or a board member with any agenda items or thoughts you may have.
- Small Grants – Steve Allen reported that 3 applications have been received. Deadline to apply is 9/30/21. Applications are available on the web site.
- Social Event – Jera Newland is organizing a social event at the Humboldt Social Club on Monday, October 11 at 5pm. Bring a guest or your entire family. Come prepared to purchase drinks and food. We can be outside unless it rains and then will be in the hangar. 900 New Navy Base Rd, Samoa.
- Rotary Blood Drive – Kate Witthaus said 15 Rotary members showed up to donate with 11 able to donate. Linda Wise was the winner of the gift basket. Thanks to everybody who came.
- District Conference is happening 10/8 and 10/9. This will be a virtual event. District Governor has been sending emails so let Klark know if you aren’t receiving.
- Rosters – Klark has mailed the rosters. If you do not receive let her know.
ROTARY MOMENT:
Klark reminded us of the Rotary 4 way test. Our goal as a Rotarian is to live our lives adhering to these principles in all aspects of our lives.
RECOGNITIONS:
- Jera Newland – became a gallon blood donor during the Rotary blood drive!
- Alicia – was recognized for posting a picture of her daughter on national daughter day.
- Mike Martin – was pictured showing off rocks he collected in Nevada. Included in his collection are dinosaur droppings that are now very colorful agates.
SPEAKER:
Jerry Reece introduced our speaker, Jessica Osborne-Stafsnes. Jessica is the Grants and Program Development Director at the Humboldt Independent Practice Association and North Coast Health Improvement and Information Network.
Jessica said the North Coast Health Improvement and Information Network was formed in 2010 after their CEO, Martin Love determined that there was not a complete interface in Humboldt County between electronic records. They applied and received a grant from Headwaters Fund that helped them start working on this issue. In 2015 while working on the RISE project which helped women who were pregnant and at risk or substance abusers. Practitioners were complaining that there was no easy way to access referrals, active resources, etc. for this population. The North Coast Resource Hub was developed and has expanded to include many types of healthcare resources in Humboldt, Del Norte and Trinity Counties. This is a mobile web site, resourcehub.nchiin.org that is very interactive. It has been well received in the healthcare community. Right now there are 247 resources listed on this site and more are being added as project dollars allow.
The meeting was adjourned at 12:42pm.
September 13, 2021
The meeting was opened at noon on Zoom by President Klark Swan. Thought of the day was provided by Lynn Dugaw. Colby Smart led the pledge of allegiance.
- Rotary Blood Drive – Sept 25th 8am – 3pm. Call ahead and make appointments. Please sign up. You might win a basket of goodies in addition to helping our community.
- Rotary Environmental Efforts – September 25th will be movie night. We will be viewing, “California on the Climate Restoration Frontier.” A link is available by contacting Klark Swan.
- There will also be monthly meetings on the topic of Environmental efforts. The next one will be on 9/22 @5pm. Email Klark for more information.
- Past District Governor, Terri Clark sent a request for funding to help fund a Library at Your Front Door van for the Humboldt Library Foundation. Klark directed her to our Small Grants applications as funding has increased this year. Please remember to encourage folks to go there.
- Past President Brad Mettam will start providing a monthly Cal-Trans update because of multiple requests from members. Last Chance Grade – there are many questions about when it’s really open. There was a slide that blocked the road and lots of repair work has taken place. Delays are relatively short now with one way traffic happening each way.
ROTARY MOMENT
To mark the International Day of Peace on September 21st Rotary International is encouraging clubs to prioritize projects that improve the health, well-being, education and economic security of girls in their communities and around the world. Rotary Club of Eureka recently made a grant to a school based wellness center – a girl empowerment group.
UPDATES:
Fire Relief- looking for ways we can help. Ideas?
- Colby provided the following link: https://www.scoe.net/news/library/2021/august/25fire_relief/
- Brad Mettam provided a link to a group disaster committee.
- Carly suggested Pay it Forward Humboldt as a possibility.
Rosters are in! Please let Klark know if you need one.
RECOGNITIONS:
Kris Marquez- recently celebrated with a birthday brunch at a local restaurant.
Mindy Sehon – 3 year old Marina recently was brave enough to jump off the side of a pool
Annalise – Recently provided keys to a young family that bought a new home.
Jerry Reece – His son lives in Los Angeles and works with a group that holds game shows via podcasts. He recently was asked to host one. A link to the show was shared on Jerry’s Facebook page.
PRESENTER
Brenda Perez – Perez is an immigrant from Chalchicomula, Mexico, in Wiyot lands. She is the Executive Director of Centro del Pueblo. She is a member of the Humboldt County Sanctuary Law Committee. PhD student in Latin American Studies at the National University of Mexico. She has conducted research in Lyon, Montreal, Bolivia, Argentina and Mexico, which includes field work with indigenous communities affected by violence. In 2017, she was a visiting scholar at the Interdisciplinary Marijuana Research Institute at HSU. She is the host of two bilingual radio programs that highlight the importance of the immigrant community and the Indigenous Peoples of the South in the United States.
Karen Villa also with Centro del Pueblo talked about their Mission Statement – They are an immigrant rights organization.
They provide many things to the community including food distribution and food growing. Covid-19 economic relief for immigrants. Free community activities: Kayaking, theatre, painting, music. Their outreach network extended from McKinleyvilile to Garberville
Immediate needs they have identified in our community include: Rent relief and food sovereignty
Community food gardens currently exist in Arcata, Loleta, Eureka and Fortuna. More are coming.
Support from organizations include: Humboldt Area Foundation, St. Joseph Providence, McLean Foundation, Grantmakers and more.
They dream of providing art programs in gardens. Gardens are considered safe places that can also provide healing space, meeting areas, etc.
They are working to encourage and educate about vaccinations. 100% of staff is vaccinated. Catholic Charities in Santa Rosa assist with immigration help. For more information about their programs please visit: www.cdpueblo.com
The meeting was adjourned at 1 pm. A recording of the meeting can be found here. (Use password M6BL1Cz+): https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/08WyumF0tLhyx1KEfpD4TBHsQ0wH8fFd1b5RS0eSLNSAVu6SH7OS9k0g09y3RTQ.8D07Oxv1IJGKFL42
August 30, 2021
The meeting was opened at noon on Zoom by President Klark Swan. Thought of the day was provided by Fred Van Vleck. Mark Fazzone led the pledge of allegiance.
Happy birthday to all those with August birthdays.
On Saturday, September 25th there will be a Blood Drive from 8am to 3pm. There will be prizes. All other Rotary Clubs in Humboldt have been invited.
District Conference is happening in October. Questions for the District Governor? Want to know more about being a District Governor? Please send your questions to Klark. If you are going to the conference, you must be vaccinated or if you have health reasons and cannot be vaccinated you must be tested.
Rosters are in! Klark is trying to determine how to deliver them. Let her know if you need one now.
ROTARY MOMENT
In 1968 the first Rotary Club banner to orbit the moon was carried by astronaut Frank Borman, a member of the Houston Space Center Rotary Club.
RECOGNITIONS
Fred Van Vleck – school has started. Enrollment is up by a lot. Distance learning is not a possibility as the law has been changed. You can do independent learning, there are about 100 students choosing that option. COVID has made changes. All students masked when a student tests positive they can still attend school and isolate to their classroom and will be tested weekly until quarantine is ended. Today for example, 250 tests were taken.
GRANT RECIPIENT – Robert Santilli with St. Vincent De Paul. Rotary funded a $2,000 grant for small houses. One home was donated and this money will be used to build a second one. The family who will receive it volunteer a lot of time at St. Vincent. They’ve been staying in a tent in the courtyard so this will be an improvement for them.
PRESENTER
Dr. Samantha Day is with the Humboldt Senior Resource Center(HSRC). HSRC serves 600 people right now and hope to expand that. Right now their service area is primarily McKinleyville to Scotia. They would like to expand to all of Humboldt County.
They offer many programs. Their Activities Program has been difficult to push to virtual meetings as a lot of the attendees were not interested in moving online.
They offer tax help, commodities distribution, senior home repair, Dial-a-ride tickets, Are You Okay program – (one time fee of $12.99 and then receive a daily call).
The Nutrition services have expanded during COVID. Last year they served nearly 100,000 meas and are hoping to expand. Seniors 60 and older can qualify.
HSRC also offers three health programs…
- Adult Day Health and Alzheimer’s Center – 18 and up with a qualifying disability. State funded.
- MSSP – medicare waver program. Medi-Cal recipients who are in danger of being placed in Assisted Living and having to leave their home. State funded. Helps people remain independent.
- Redwood Coast PACE – a health plan that provides comprehensive care and support services.
They also offer a housing program that ends on November 30. They have money to spend before the end of November so if somebody needs help staying in their home let HSRC know.
A new program coming soon is a Behavioral Health Services programs. This program offers depression treatment, suicide prevention, substance use counseling, individual and group therapy and more. Any person in Humboldt County 55 and up can qualify. There will be three full time clinical social workers.
We will be dark on Labor Day, September 6th. The meeting was adjourned at 12:43pm.
August 23, 2021
The meeting was opened at noon on Zoom by President Klark Swan. Thought of the day was provided by Jerry Reece who discussed service above self. Lynn Dugaw led the pledge of allegiance.
Happy birthday to all those with August birthdays. President Klark has noticed that birthday people are not posting as much on Facebook. She needs spies to help out by sending her pics and info.
There are many opportunities to volunteer on committees. Please talk to Klark about getting involved.
Welcome to new member- Mark Fazzone. Sponsor Linda Wise introduced Mark. He is a construction project manager with New Life Services. Mark was Chief Engineer at Walt Disney Company in Florida prior to that. He’s been a Rotarian in the past.
District Conference is coming up on October 8th and 9th. You’ve been receiving emails with info. Please contact Klark with any questions you’d like to ask about the conference or what it’s being like to be a District Governor.
Mike Martin sent a picture of the Monument Fire from Horse Mountain that was taken by Red Jioras. Kate Witthaus shared a photo taken by her partner Mark McKenna who is a photo journalist. They drove directly into the fire by Clear Lake to take pictures. It was fast moving. The schools had to evacuated. Two mobile home parks burned down with 60 people losing their homes.
ROTARY MOMENT: Franco with Chile was a former Rotary Youth Exchange his little brother Domingo is visiting with Greg Williston for a couple of weeks. Domingo was an exchange student 2 years ago. He now has connections all over the world – Eureka, Canada, Germany, Finland, etc. His brothers were exchange students.
RAFFLE PRIZES: Jerry Reece picked three names- Mark, Lynn and Colby as our winners. Klark will be getting their prizes to them.
RECOGNITIONS: Jerry Reece and his wife received best travel agent from the TS Best of the Northcoast contest.
Our small grant winner is with the Priority Care Center – Jessica. Jessica was formerly with the Raven project. She is now with Humboldt Independent Practice Association. She is coordinating girl empowerment groups to provide support to girls. The money awarded is being used for supplies.
PRESENTER
Carly Robbins introduced our speaker, District Governor Dustin Littlefield. Carly is currently assistant District Governor for the Eureka Clubs. Dustin works in Property Management at the Palm Creek Apartments in Arcata. He is a real estate agent with North Coast Rentals. He is a member of Arcata Sunrise Rotary Club. He was born and raised in Arcata and has a degree in Economics from HSU. He first joined a Rotaract Club. He enjoys surfing, camping and is a musician.
Dustin recently had a breakthrough case of COVID but is doing well now. Dustin congratulated all of the clubs leadership who have kept Rotary going so well over the last year and a half. This years international theme is Serve to Change Lives. Rotary international president, Shekhar Mehta of India said service is the rent I pay for the space I occupy on Earth and I want to be a good tenant.
District theme this year is “This is Rotary”. This is about principles. Truth and fairness matters. Everybody must benefit. We are facing unprecedented challenges locally and throughout the world. We need to adapt be creative and enhance the Rotary experience. We need to create leadership pathways for young professionals, dream big and be collaborative with Rotary projects. Rotary is not an organization, it’s us. All of us working together.
August 16, 2021
Klark Swan opened the meeting at noon via Zoom with 26 people in attendance.
Brad Mettam talked about thinking about adding a Rotary background to your Zoom window and how that can also sell Rotary when you are in other meetings.
Klark said we will continue to meet virtually for now but hopefully can meet in person soon.
Volunteers are needed on the small grants committee. Please let Kate Witthaus know if you can help out.
The Golf tournament is still happening. Please register to help benefit Youth Exchange. The Friday night dinner will be held outside.
The Coast Guard dinner is cancelled or postponed depending on how things go. If you have already paid please let Klark know.
BUDGET REPORT: The budget has been approved by the board and excess funds that have not been spent over the last 2 years because of COVID, will allow us to increase spending by $3,000 for Backpacks for Kids, $5,000 for International Projects and an additional $30,000 for small grants (usually $9,000).
ROTARY MOMENT: Klark shared that Rotary’s worldwide effort to end Polio is doing great. We’ve now reached the 28th week in a row (over 6 months with no new reported cases.). Thanks to all have donated to help win this battle.
Arny King- reported on the results of the Olympics Pool. 1st place winner- Debbie Storre won $350. 2nd place: Lynn won $100 and a Dick Taylor bar. 3rd place $50 Matthew Owen. Kris Marquez and Mindy Sehon both won a chocolate bar. We raised some money for the Red Cross in Germany.
No raffle today.
RECOGNITIONS:
- Annalise – just became a 1 gallon donor.
- Arny King- Arny’s wife Jessica has been going to CU school for the past 4 years for management. She received high honors.
- Jera Newland– CCCU team members at the Eureka downtown branch formed a team and went after work to donate blood at the Blood Bank.
PRESENTER: Our presenter today was supposed to be Eric Stackpole who is on a ship in Svalbard so he is unable to present today. He is the host on an upcoming show that they are currently filming. He’s a local graduate of McKinleyville High. We will hear from him at a different time.
Next week’s speaker will be District Governor Dustin Littlefield. Please plan to attend.
The meeting was adjourned at 12:27pm
August 9, 2021
Klark Swan called the meeting to order virtually at 12:06pm.
Thought of the day was provided by Chuck Ellsworth. Chuck said in Quaker tradition he wanted us all to offer a silent prayer for anyone in your life that needs it.
Brad Mettam – Pledge of Allegiance
Birthdays in August – Debbie Storre was on the meeting.
INFORMATION
- Klark said that we would be meeting virtually via Zoom from now until the foreseeable future. The board will revisit our options at the end of August. Klark would like to discuss ways to continue some type of social contact through online raffles, small break out meetings on Zoom and more.
- Youth Exchange Golf Event – As far as we know this fundraising event is still happening since it is outdoors.
- Coast Guard Dinner- Klark is waiting to find out if this dinner is happening as normal or maybe it will be a pick up and deliver kind of event.
- Budget Report –There will be an impromptu board meeting this week to discuss finalizing the budget. We have some surplus because of the lack of expenditures over the last 2 years. Klark will have a report and approved expenditures to discuss for next week’s meeting.
- Klark played a rotary.org video that highlighted Rotary virtual backgrounds that are available for use on Zoom calls at the brand center.
- Arny sold all of the squares on the Olympic pool and sent an email with all of the winners names.
RECOGNITIONS:
- Phil was recognized with a picture of his daughter water skiing at Ruth Lake.
- Kate Witthaus was wearing a Hawaiian outfit at a Blood Bank marathon event. They had 80 runners, great weather. Good event.
- Carly – Food for People won a number of awards in the North Coast Journal Best of Humboldt contest.
SPEAKER
Merry Kate Lowry is with Pathmakers.
Pathmakers is a grant-funded program developed by the Center for Tribal Innovation and Entrepreneurship (C-TIE), a consortium of the Blue Lake Rancheria, the Northern Humboldt Union High School District, and the Humboldt County Office of Education.
The program provides curricular and financial resources to Native students and non-Native youth, families, and educators. Kate co-teaches with the teacher. Last year everything was on zoom but they are hoping to get kids outside this year. Through makerspaces and making, Pathmakers integrates Native American tribal knowledge, cultures, and languages with Western science, technologies, and tools. (A makerspace is a place where people can explore their own interests, learn how to use tools and materials, and learn to develop creative projects.) Programs have included Native language, fishing, forestry, basket weaving and more. They utilize Native art as part of their teaching curriculum. For information contact: Alison Robbins, Blue Lake Rancheria, 707-497-8638, arobbins@bluelakerancheria-nsn.gov
August 2, 2021
The Rotary Club of Eureka meeting was called to order by President Klark Swan at 12:22pm.
After the pledge of allegiance Annalise Von Borstel provided a thought for the day.
GUESTS OF ROTARIANS: Linda Wise introduced Donna Wright, CEO of Eureka Chamber of Commerce. The president of Lost Coast Rotaract was visiting. Carly also noted that the Sign Smith grants applications are open as of today. Applications are due by 9/30/21. Please spread the word.
AUGUST BIRTHDAYS – Klark listed all of the August Birthdays with a special shout out to Dave Dillon who is now at Timber Ridge in McKinleyville. If you can visit to say Happy Birthday please do. Contact Klark if you are able to go.
INFORMATION:
- Masking discussion – Klark said the board is actively discussing masking protocol as things change.
- Scott Thompson – Nordic Aquafarms land-based fish farm is planned for the Samoa Peninsula. Tours will be happening August 30 – September 3rd Email: mullen@gmail.com for information. Masks will be required.
- Klark said on August 30 we may do an off-site at Nordic watch for an email with information.
- Rotary Youth Exchange Golf Tournament Saturday, 9/25/21 to benefit Rotary Youth Exchange. 10am shotgun start, Baywood Golf and Country Club prime rib buffet dinner Friday night.
- Coast Guard dinner is August 26th. Reservations are due by 8/19. Cost is $30 at the door. Sponsor a Coastie for $30. Klark will be providing info on how to pay for sponsorships.
- Rotary moment: Provided by Lost Coast Rotaract. They have continued to meet on Zoom with a social once per month. They have been buying local art and raffling it off to the local community to raise money and bring awareness to local artists. Their goal is to increase speakers at their meetings, please send her ideas.
- Arney King is not here but he is still working on the Pool for the Olympics. There are still 20 squares to sell. Only $5 per square.
- Raffle: Golden coin, McDonalds value meal, $20 gift certificate for Phatsy Kline, Chance to win golf pieces worth over $450 by drawing a joker out of card deck. The winner was Hank Ingham but sadly he was not a winner today.
RECOGNITIONS:
- Linda Wise and Dale Warmuth were each visited by “Mondays with Michaele”
- Phil Nicklas talked about the Boys and Girls Club goat race fundraiser. They are looking for sponsors and raffle items.
- Phil Nicklas and Chuck Ellsworth were recognized. Phil recently moved his office to the old Arthur Johnson building in downtown Eureka and Chuck created the new sign on his door.
- Jera Newland recruited fellow Coast Central Credit Union co-workers for a blood drive and they in turn recruited others.
- Klark and Carly visited the circus with Klark’s family.
SPEAKER:
Jack Sheppard is with the Humboldt County Office of Education Trades Academy. Jack is a Humboldt County native. He worked his way through school as a welder and auto technician. He learned how much you rely on the people you employ.
Jack taught school for many years and he was a stickler with his students about showing up and being on time in preparation for real life. He focused on getting kids to look at going to work in the trades based on many requests from the community.
The trade academy has over 80 business partners locally, and they are always looking for more. During COVID videoed different business owners to find out what they are looking for and showed that to the students via Zoom. He played us a video he created of these interviews and some with students who are interns. Again, they are always looking for business partners so please contact Jack for information.
The meeting was adjourned at 1:06pm.
July 26, 2021
The Rotary Club of Eureka meeting was called to order by President Klark Swan at 12:18pm.
- The flag salute was led by Klark Swan
- Thought of the day was led by Arny King
- Guests of Rotarians: Mark (Linda Wise); Eric Smith (speaker). Cindy Denbo (South West, Eureka)
BIRTHDAYS
Tom Schallert’s birthday is today! Klark recognized him but let him off the hook since he just contributed $250 donation to the Foundation. Klark said Rotary Club of Eureka is nearing becoming a 1 million dollar club contributor to the foundation. More info to follow later.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
- We are planning on having a social meeting soon depending on what happens with COVID-19 regulations. They will announce a date and time next week.
- Ted Loring talked about the Golf Tournament that is coming up to benefit Rotary Youth Exchange. The money raised will go to benefit students who are exchange students. This is a district wide event. Ours will be happening September 25th. You can sponsor a hole or have a sign. Contact Ted for information.
- Cindy Denbo talked about the North Coast Ethics and Business Reward. You can nominate a deserving business. Nominations close 7/31/21. northcoastethics.com Awards luncheon will be October 8th in Santa Rosa.
- The annual Coast Guard Cook Your Own Steak Dinner is coming up on 8/26. Cost is $30. Pay at the door. Please consider sponsoring a dinner for a Coastie. All three Eureka clubs are participating.
- Kate Witthaus – The Small Grant committee had 12 applicants this year. We also had a little extra funding this year as there were no awards given last year. The award winners were: North Coast Dance – scholarships for students. Priority Care project – helping middle school students develop leadership skills and more. Betty Chinn homeless project – we are helping to fund the women’s shelter called the Annex. Vincent De Paul – helping to construct a tiny shelter to house homeless. This will be a temporary shelter to help people who need a temporary place to stay. Total awards were $7,900 (about $2,000 each).
- Olympics blind pool – There are still 50 squares left. Just $5 per square. You can win money! Email or talk to Arny. You can pay online at Rotary1.org or in person.
ROTARY MOMENT
This moment was an email from our most recent inbound exchange student, Sandy. Klark read an email from Sandy talking about the wonderful year she had here. Despite being quarantined here and having to leave early because of COVID-19 it was a wonderful experience.
RAFFLE TIME
Klark’s 9 year old daughter, Charlie is here to help with the raffle. The prizes included: a silver dollar, McDonalds gift certificate, $10 cash, Chalet gift certificate, and a bottle of mystery wine. The final potential prize was a Gold piece worth $450. Neal Carnum had the winning ticket to try for this prize. He had to pull a joker from a deck of card. But… not a winner today.
RECOGNITIONS
- Destination wedding in Florida
- Dennis Hunter – Elks Lodge District leader visited and the local Elks Lodge hosted him.
- Jill Mcdonald- youngest son just graduated with his Coast Guard license.
SPEAKER
Our speaker was Eric Smith, president of Old Town Rotary Eureka. Eric was with the fire district for 25 years, retiring as Eureka’s Fire Chief, facilitating the formation of Humboldt Bay Fire. He talked about the revitalization of Carson Park. Community Parks are very important to community life. Old Town Rotary moved the Rhodie parade awards to Carson Park from Henderson Center in order to provide more options for the event. The Bathrooms were outdated with no ADA facilities. The park and playground area are old and antiquated. They met with the city and discussed partnering to raise money to improve the park. They first fundraised to redo the bathrooms, partnering with other clubs and raised over $5,000. They’ve improved the tables and made other improvements. They are now working with others to raise money for the playground. They are also focusing on improving the picnic area and building. This will be a Rotarian identified project. They are looking to partner with Rotary Club of Eureka if we are interested. They are not looking for a monetary commitment.
The meeting was adjourned at 1:18pm.
July 19, 2021
The Rotary Club of Eureka meeting was called to order by President Klark Swan at 12:25pm.
Rick Littlefield led the Pledge of Allegiance.
Blane O’Shaughnessy provided the inspirational thought of the day. Prayers were said for Ken Stoddard and his family. Ken’s wife’s daughter passed away. Blaine read an inspirational thought entitled, “It’s really all about the future.”
GUEST INTRODUCTIONS. Linda Wise introduced Mark Pozone construction manager at New Life Services. Tom introduced our speaker Jera introduce her Mom Jody. Jerry’s wife Becky. Southwest president visiting.
JULY BIRTHDAYS. Please let us know what you are doing that’s fun and fill out an envelope to make a donation.
GENERAL INFORMATION:
Michael is a recent member and was sponsored by Bruce Rupp. Michael was welcomed to the club and given his new member packet.
Winners of small grants will be notified at the end of this month.
We are talking about a new location for our meetings some members would like the club to be more centrally located. One possibility is the Inn at 2nd and C Streets. There are pros and cons. Please vote and put your votes on the table.
We had a Done in a Day last Saturday. About 6 people showed up at the Sequoia Zoo. Those volunteers moved about 2,000 pounds of hay.
Today’s Rotary Moment was provided by Dr. Kim Bauriedel. Kim was 6 years old on September 1, 1952 and was camping with his family and Rotarians at the Prairie Creek State Park. They attended the 48-acre Rotary Grove dedication. Rotarians raised the money to purchase this grove of trees. Funding started in 1949. The Lady Bird Johnson Grove is located at Prairie Creek State Park. About 252 clubs contributed including Rotary clubs overseas.
Tom Schallert said that Dave and Carol Dillon have moved to Timber Ridge in McKinleyville for about a month. They don’t have any family here but would really like to see more people.
Arney King is organizing the 2021 Tokyo Olympics Blind Pool. It’s $5 per square and there are 206 squares. If your country wins you could win $350. 2nd $100, 3rd $50. If your country wins for the first time ever you could win a Dick Taylor bar. Other local clubs are participating as well. Money is going to help with flooding in Germany.
RAFFLE DRAWINGS – Gold dollar, McDonalds meal, $10 Hank, Cutten Chalet Gift Certificate, Mystery wine, Gold pieces valued at $450. Draw a joker from the deck- Tom Schallert drew a Jack of hearts.
RECOGNITIONS: Arney King – just went to Baja Mexico. Wayne Wilson – on the Skywalk at Sequoia Park.
PRESENTER: Michael Orr, Supervisor of Parks and Recreations for Humboldt County.
Mike gave a call out to Tom Schallert for all of Tom’s volunteer work on the trails. Tom has even mowed the trails with his own mower.
The Parks and Recs department has a lot of challenges. They are developing about 25 miles of trails in total in Humboldt County. Issues that are preventing projects from moving forward are employee retention issues, old equipment, limited budget, and a lot of homeless issues on the trails. A lot of their available time is spent managing campers. They are currently generating ideas on how to deal with trail cleanups. A couple of ideas were suggested by Rotarians: Adopt a trail like Cal Trans has. Developing a program with HSU?
Next weeks speaker will be Eric Smith, President of Old Town Rotary.
The meeting was adjourned at 1:05pm.
July 12, 2021
The first meeting of the 2021_2022 year was called to order by President Klark Swan at 12:20pm. This was a hybrid meeting – both in-person and on zoom.
Nancy Dean provided the thought of the day.
Klark noted July Birthdays and asked for any birthday stories but nobody apparently had any fun on their birthday as there was no response.
Klark talked about her strategic plan for the coming year as decided at the board retreat last year. The 4 major areas we are targeting– youth literacy, homelessness, food for people & international projects.
New this year- If you leave money on the table please fill out the envelopes that are on the table so our treasurer knows why there is money on the table and who it is from.
There will be a Done in a Day at Sequoia Park Zoo this Saturday from 9am – noon. All volunteers will be able to walk on the Skywalk following the cleanup. Contact Matthew Owen for details.
Today’s Rotary moment was provided by Dennis Hunter. Dennis asked that we remember the many Rotarians we lost over the last year… Dick Storre, Laurie Lazio, Jack Macdonald, Hugo Papstein, Scott Sattler, Craig Perrone, Pete Vallerga and Richard Burrough.
Raffle – Klark’s son, Lincoln and daughter, Charlie came up to help distribute prizes to the winners.
RECOGNITIONS:
- Mindy Sehon – Klark noted it was a challenging year and that Mindy deserves a big thank you for all of her hard work. Mindy then gave Klark her President’s pin.
- Ted Loring is a grandfather!
- Wayne Wilson and his wife were pictured walking on the Skywalk.
- Jerry Reece received a baseball cap signed by his favorite Survivor actor for his birthday from his kids.
- Kris Marquez recently went on vacation in Vegas with her daughter and husband.
TODAY’S SPEAKER: Klark Swan
Klark provided a picture of herself with her parents. She was born in 1967 in a little town outside of Bakersfield. She moved to Humboldt County when she was 6 years old. She was homeschooled along with her brother and sister until junior high. Karly Robbins from our club has been a good friend since high school. Klark was an exchange student in Germany through the Rotary Club of Eureka. She married Jesse Swan 11 years ago. Her husband owns an auto detailing business.
Klark has been active in Rotary affiliated organizations since she was 16. She helped found Rotex in 2005. In 2008 she became President of Lost Coast Rotaract. And in 2016 she joined Rotary Club of Eureka. She’s been looking forward to being president for many years. Career-wise she has been in the event world for many years. Her theme for this year is… Who Would I Be Without Rotary? She encouraged everybody to get involved & get excited about Rotary.
The meeting was adjourned at 12:55pm.