Sunrise, Sunset with Noëmi
Last week, President Scott displayed a photo of Rotary Exchange Student Noëmi Schönenberger watching a lovely sunset. Although I don't have that picture available, I was able to crib Noëmi's new Facebook profile shot.
Scott also shared something from Noëmi's Facebook page, and I will share it as well:
"A
year has passed and now we stand on the brink, of returning to a world
where we are surrounded by the paradox of everything and yet nothing
being the same.
In a couple of weeks we will reluctantly give our
hugs and, fighting the tears,we will say goodbye to people who were once
just names on a sheet of paper to return to people that we hugged and
fought tears to say goodbye to before we ever left.
We will leave our best friends to return to our best friends.
We will go back to the places we came from, and go back to the same things we did last summer and every summer before.
We will come into town on that same familiar road, and even though it has been months, it will seem like only yesterday.
As you walk into your old bedroom, every emotion will pass through you
as you reflect on the way your life has changed and the person you have
become.
You suddenly realize that the things that were most
important to you a year ago don't seem to matter so much anymore, and
the things you hold highest now, no one at home will completely
understand.
Who will you call first?
What will you do your first weekend home with your friends?
Where are you going to work?
Who will be at the party Saturday night?
What has everyone been up to in the past few months?
Who from school will you keep in touch with?
How long before you actually start missing people barging in without calling or knocking?
Then you start to realize how much things have changed, and you realize
the hardest part of being an exchange student is balancing the two
completely different worlds you now live in, trying desperately to hold
on to everything all the while trying to figure out what you have to
leave behind.
We now know the meaning of true friendship.
We know who we have kept in touch with over the past year and who we hold dearest to our hearts.
We've left our worlds to deal with the real world.
We've had our hearts broken, we've fallen in love.
There have been times when we've felt so helpless being hours away from
home when we know our families or friends needed us the most, and there
are times when we know we have made a difference.
Just weeks from now we will leave.
Just weeks from now we take down our pictures, and pack up our clothes.
No more going next door to do nothing for hours on end. We will leave
our friends whose random e-mails and phone calls will bring us to
laughter and tears this summer, and hopefully years to come.
We will take our memories and dreams and put them away for now, saving them for our return to this world.
Just weeks from now we will arrive.
Just weeks from now we will unpack our bags and have dinner with our
families. We will drive over to our best friend's house and do nothing
for hours on end.
We will return to the same friends whose random emails and phone calls have brought us to laughter and tears over the year.
We will unpack old dreams and memories that have been put away for the past year.
In just weeks we will dig deep inside to find the strength and conviction to adjust to change and still keep each other close.
And somehow, in some way, we will find our place between these two worlds.
In just weeks.
Helping our Local State Champions!
Our Club recently responded to a request by the Mad River Youth Soccer League to help fund its U14 team, which recently won the State Championship. Next month, the team will travel to Colorado to compete in the Western Regionals. Their record this year is 27-0-0.
Here's hoping that they make it all the way to the National Championship in July! Good luck, guys!!
On the Calendar
- Sunday, June 3: Kids, Crabs, and Rotary at the Arcata Ballpark
- Friday, June 8: We welcome the Top 10% AHS Seniors
- Sunday, June 10: Orick School Move
- Friday - Sunday, June 15 - 17: District 5130 Conference in Fortuna
Jessicognitions
Once again, Ms. Jessica McKnight presided over the Recognitions portion of our weekly meeting, and she called upon her fellow recognitionist, Bob Johnson, to give us the "whether" report from Hawaii. Bob said that he weathered a few crises while he was visiting with his younger son, who is in college there. Aaron had torn up his knee, and it was up in the air whether he would need surgery. That meant that there was a question whether Aaron would be able to attend summer school. While things were being sorted out, Aaron turned 21, so Bob bought him a beer. The results are in - no to surgery, yes to summer school.Jessica then turned to another Bob (Goodman), who was, in the days leading up to the Humboldt Arts Festival, was filling holes. There were a few rough patches in the area around the Robert Goodman Wine Stage, so the concrete was being poured to make the area safe. Bob also received a second plug for his new Juice Bar, which probably had its best weekend of the year, courtesy of the Festival.
Although he was not a Sunriser when his anniversary took place on March 25th, we still wanted to hear what Angelo and Michelle Baciagaluppi did that day. They occupied the northwest corner table at Moonstone Grill, enjoyed the beautiful view, and celebrated 12 years of marriage. Congratulations!
Ceva Courtemanche's birthday started on May 2nd, but "it's great - it's still going on!" Her husband Doug sent flowers, her in-laws had a party for her, and after the meeting, she was planning to head out to the ranch for the weekend.
Julie Vaissade-Elcock as part of a multi-birthday celebration. Her daughter's birthday was included, as was her own, and "Mothers Day was wrapped in there" as well.
Mothers Day was also part of Bob Goodman's birthday, since they coincided this year. "Oftentimes I have to share my birthday with Mothers Day." It was not a complaint, however. After all, there was a big party all day long, right outside his business.
Bob Johnson said of his birthday on May 15th, "It wasn't a month, it wasn't a week. It was Tuesday." It was his first day back on the job following his Hawaii junket. He received greetings from AARP, which would really, really like to count him as a member.
Jessica continued the "Getting to Know You" program, which allows us to re-connect with long-time Sunrisers. This time her subject was Jacqueline Debets, who is a fifth generation Humboldt resident. She did attend high school in Corvallis, Oregon, but she's back now. Jacqueline has been married to Rick Bend for 12 years, and they have a son - Rotary Kid Luc.
Jacqueline was a founding partner in Lost Coast Communications, which owns radio stations KHUM and The Point. She now works for the County of Humboldt in Economic and Workforce Development. Her focus for the last few years has been the Prosperity program, now in its "Prosperity 2012" phase.
She said that in the first phase of the program, they sought input primarily from local industries and identified "Targets of Opportunity". In the new phase, they have formed
19 Citizen Action Teams to come up with ideas for direction.
Jacqueline reminded us that our local economy "is built by people who are building their own businesses".
Eyewitness News - Dateline Bangkok!
Our featured speakers last week were Sunrisers Terri Clark and Cindy Sutcliffe, who recently attended the Rotary International Convention in Bangkok, Thailand. The threesome (which also included Terri's husband Marty Lay) arrived a day early, and visited the House of Friendship. It was a relatively peaceful visit, compared with the next day - after about 30,000 additional Rotarians arrived.
Cindy said that in Thailand, "Orchids grow like weeds." To which Terri added, "That's because orchids love hot, humid weather." It was Orchid Season the whole time they were there. We saw many photos from the Conference, featuring luminaries such as RI President Kalyan Banerjee, and the Chinese Magician (with his 40 or so masks).
The Opening Ceremonies featured a procession of flags from every Rotary country, and the featured speakers were wonderful and inspiring. They included Angelique Kidjo, a singer-songwriter from Benin, who has been a Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF since 2002, and who also founded the Batonga Foundation, which helps create educational opportunities for African girls. Another impressive speaker was Gillian Sorensen, who serves as a Senior Advisor at the UN Foundation, responsible for outreach to non-governmental organizations. Other presentations that moved Cindy and Terri were given by Dr. Muhammad Yunus of Grameen Bank, a pioneer in microcredit lending, and Hugh Evans, a 27-year old humanitarian, and Amanda Martin, a former Rotary Peace Fellow.
Terri and Cindy reported that the End Polio Now initiative, which sought to raise $200 million by June 30th of this year, achieved its goal almost two months early. This qualifies the program for a match by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, but don't put away your checkbooks - we still have "this far" to go.