A Moment With Noëmi
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| Noëmi Declares Her Allegiance? |
Noëmi received a gift that helps clarify her understanding of the fans of American football. Or maybe it doesn't.
In other Exchange Student News, Cindy Sutcliffe read a letter from Grace Lovell, who is currently representing our Club in Chile. (You can check out her adventures by clicking on the link to your right - "Exchange Student Grace in Chile".) We also heard that Nilvan Olivera, Jr., who was an Inbound Exchanger not long ago, has passed his US Medical Licensing Exam.
Julie Vaissade-Elcock: Rotarian of the Month for November!
President Scott said,"Of the last 10 papers, we've been in 7!" He was referring to the efforts of our Public Relations Committee, headed by Julie Vaissade-Elcock. Julie works to ensure that our Club's efforts continue to be noticed in our community. Great job, Julie - congratulations!
Announcements
President Scott and President-Elect George Cavinta wanted to let us know that the Sunrisers who worked at the previous evening's Foster Youth Holiday Dinner did a Great Job! We served about 300 people at the event, and we may be following up with a holiday gift program for the young people. George had special praise for Murphy's Market, which responded to a last-minute request for assistance providing food for the dinner, and for Sunriser Craig Newman, who was there from the get-go, making things happen. Craig was also at the AIBT, which began the same evening. (Maybe he's cloned himself.)
Terri Clark asked us to empty the change from our pockets, and to place them in the "End Polio Now" boxes that had been placed on the table earlier. Although the boxes were not initially effective in holding the coins placed within, the money will successfully make it to help support the Rotary Foundation's PolioPlus Program. Terri reminded us that we are "this close" to ending this disease. She reminded us that polio is only endemic to four countries - Pakistan, India, Afghanistan, and Nigeria (which form the sadly appropriate acronym "PAIN"). She told us that there has been only one case of polio reported in India recently, although the news from the other three countries has not been as good. "Polio is still only a plane ride away," Terri reminds us.
We Welcome New Members Dawn and Laura!!
It's always exciting to bring new members into our Club, and last Friday, we had two! Lori Breyer introduced the newest Sunrisers, and reminded them (and all of us) of the commitment to service they are making.
Laura Montagna's sponsor is President Scott. She owns NuGames (here too, more information will follow), and her three children are Marco, Gina, and Jeffery. Laura likes the theater and playing the steel drum.
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| Lori Breyer, Bob Johnson, Dawn Elsbree, Laura Montagna, and Scott Heller |
Bob led off by asking whether we recognized the bass line that was playing during his introduction. If anyone did they were too busy groovin' to the riff to respond. Bob said that it was from the self-titled Blood Sweat and Tears album from 1969 - one of his favorites! So he asked Romi Hitchcock-Tinseth what her favorite album is. Romi was hard-pressed to be specific on such short notice, but she said it's probably by the Indigo Girls. Cam Appleton's favorite is After The Gold Rush by Neil Young.
Bob said that there's a new river guide in the Club, now that Dawn Elsbree is a Sunriser. Bob showed a photo of some rapids on the Rogue River and asked Dawn if they looked familiar. It seems that on that stretch, her husband Andy decided to do some fishing from the edge of the raft. He ended up in the water, pole and all. Bob recalled that, although Andy's not usually much of a drinker, he imbibed a bit that night. He was evidently worried about all of the microbial critters he may have ingested.
Bob said to Laura Montagna, "We have known each other a long time as well." Years ago, they took a class offered by Eureka Adult School that taught how to drink wine properly. (Apparently it does not require a paper bag.) Laura said that she started NuGames with her children, who are now grown up, and she is looking for a buyer.
Jessica McKnight was out of town and even out of the country for her birthday this year. She left for Mexico before Thanksgiving, and returned last week. She and husband James Hitchcock visited Barra de Navidad, which is in the state of Jalisco, south of Puerto Vallarta. The town was hit by Hurricane Jova in mid-October, and there were many signs of the fury of that storm. However, the residents have been working hard to repair the damage, and Jessica noted that "I put many tourist dollars to work".
In Other News
President Scott told us that some of the businesses owned by Sunrisers have been nominated for this year's Arcata Chamber of Commerce awards. DANCO, owned by Dan Johnson, is a candidate for Business of the Year, while Kyle Visser's Shred-Tec is in the running for Green Business of the Year. Rounding out the nominees is Kinetic Koffee, co-owned by Charlie Jordan. It is a potential Small Business of the Year. Good luck to all three deserving businesses.
