Volume XII, Issue 11: September 21, 2012

GOOD MORNING, FA!
Fa Sillapajarn, our Rotary Exchange Student from Thailand, has attended her first American wedding, and she also helped the Rebels softball team celebrate the end of its season. I am missing details about the wedding, but Your Editor was there for the softball celebration, which took place at Lori and Dave Breyers' home. Fa took up a mallet for her first-ever croquet game, and she did quite well - she didn't win, but she fared better than certain newsletter editors you may know. 






ANNOUNCEMENTS

Erin Dunn of the Fortuna Sunrise Rotary reminded us that the Foundation Dinner North is only a few weeks away - October 13th, to be precise. You can register for the dinner, which will take place at the River Lodge, online by clicking on this link:

 

Cam Appleton said that the deadline to confirm that our Club would like to host an Exchange Student for the 2013-14 Rotary/School Year has been extended to October 15th. He said that we just need a commitment from one more host family to make the student's stay a success. If you are willing to host or if you know someone who would,please contact Cam as soon as you can.

Another Arcata Sunriser has achieved PH Plus status. Julie Vaissade-Elcock is our latest member to donate enough to the Rotary Foundation to earn a second Paul Harris Fellowship. Congratulations, Julie, and thank you for your generosity!

SPECIAL DAYS
Although Kahuna Kavinta's intent was to talk with Dan Collen about his "recent" anniversary, he started by asking for news about the Humboldt State football program, since Dan is HSU's Athletic Director. Dan told us that the team is 3-0, off to its best start in years. He also said that the team is ranked 10th in nation for its category. When the subject returned to the anniversary, Dan said that he and his wife Sarah had a nice time celebrating with a dinner in Healdsburg.

Jacqueline Debets & Luc

Randy Mendosa noted that he seems to say the same thing about his anniversary every year. He and Lisa have an anniversary tradition; they have dinner at their favorite restaurant - Larrupin's. This time, they celebrated 23 years together!

Matt and Liz Babich spent their anniversary weekend in mud baths and mineral water in Calistoga. They enjoyed lots of wine and pedicures.

Jacqueline Debets and her husband Rick Bend were in Monterey for a conference, so they celebrated their anniversary there.

Amy and Steve Bohner recently acquired a new Harley, so they decided to be spontaneous, and they took a ride up the coast. They found it to be a tad cold, but they persevered and made it to Ashland to commemorate their 8th anniversary.

Joyce Hinrichs and Steve Watson went the other direction for their recent anniversary. They were in San Francisco, where they ran, walked, and visited with friends.

Bob and Susan Johnson marked 32 years of marriage by working. Okay, they celebrated that evening. Later, Susan called Bob "the most capable man I have ever met". Bob's response was, "I am ... the luckiest guy ever ..."

Volume XII, Issue 10: September 14, 2012

ANNOUNCEMENTS
The Mighty Kahuna Kavinta started last Friday's meeting by showing a message from the District Governor: 

5130 District Governor Michael Juric's July 2012 Message 

DG Michael will be the featured speaker at our next meeting, but only after he meets with the Kahuna's Kabinet (also known as the RCAS Board of Directors) Thursday evening. 

THE WORD FROM FA
Our Rotary Exchange Student from Thailand, Fa Sillapajarn, said that she went to see the Arcata High School football team take on Lower Lake High. The AHS Tigers won, 44 to 6. Fa also told us something about marshmallows, but Your Editor didn't have his trusty cub reporter serving as his emergency backup ears, so the Spirit missed it. 

MORE ANNOUNCEMENTS
Rob McBeth told us that Kirk, one of the former foster youths who spoke at a recent meeting, is in need of an apartment. If you have a lead, please let Rob know.

Howard Stauffer, our long-serving World Community Service Committee Chair, announced that the process and criteria for Rotary Foundation Matching Grants have changed. The process had become complex, and the costs to review and administer such grants has grown a bit. It no longer makes sense to fund smaller grants at the Foundation level. Now Matching Grants come in two flavors - programs seeking up to $1,500 are asked to request funding at the District level. Larger grant requests will be funded through the Global Grant program. Howard gave the example of a $35k project - at least $10k needs to be raised locally to leverage the money to the $35k level. He said that the WCS Committee plans to apply for a Global Grant later this year. Each year, our Club needs to be certified before it can access this program. President George and President-Elect Barbara attended a recent Foundation seminar, which began the certification process for the current year.


Cam Appleton told us that we are nearing the October 15th deadline for committing to host an Exchange Student for 2013-2014. We have been hosting at least one student per year since 1994, Cam said, "And it would be nice to do it again." However, we need commitments from families to host the Inbound Student. We traditionally have three host families during the year. If you are interested or if you know a family who might be interested (it doesn't have to be a Rotarian's family), please contact Cam. 

Grab your bat, glove, and balls ... the Lost Coast Rotaract is putting on  a softball game on Sunday, September 30th at Fortuna's Newburg Park. The group is raising money for its Community Service Projects. The official announcement says that concessions, lunch, and VIP seating will be available. There will also be (wait for it ...) a beer garden! Alrighty, then! Contact Kahuna Kavinta to sign up.

Terri Clark announced that her first grand niece was born on Labor Day. (Aren't all babies born on labor day?) I missed the little girl's name, but I didn't miss the news that she is already a Paul Harris Fellow! Congratulations!

NEW MEMBER
Last week, we were pleased to welcome our newest Sunriser - Tomas Chavez. His Sponsor, Angelo Bacigaluppi invited Tomas into the Club, and we're glad he did. Tomas works as a Personnel Consultant for Sequoia Personnel Services, and he and his wife Heidi have a one-year old son, Cruz. Tomas enjoys the outdoors and sports. Welcome, Tomas!

IMAGINE HUMBOLDT
Last week, we welcomed back one of our Charter Members (and a Past President!) - Kathy Moxon. For 30 years, Kathy has been involved in economic and community development. She is currently the Director of Redwood Coast Rural Action (RCRA), a group of regional leaders who are working to grow the local economy through several avenues. The group is a project of the Humboldt County Association of Governments, which is itself a cross-jurisdictional group.


RCRA grew out of a CalTrans project; its initial goal was to look to the future for ways to reduce gas consumption. However, the model used was urban-centric, and it didn't translate well to rural settings. But the idea of planning the future across jurisdictional boundaries resonated.

Kathy Moxon

So in late 2010, RCRA began the process of identifying the elements that comprise the appeal of Humboldt County, and envisioning its future. Kathy noted that the project got off to a somewhat rocky start, and the early results were not encouraging. over 60% of the people at community forums and responding to questionnaires indicated that they thought that the economic situation in Humboldt would be worse by 2050. Jobs were seen as the biggest issue. 

A second round of public meetings are now being held, supplemented by an online tool that allows online participation via interactive maps. Kathy noted that there are seven maps, or canvasses, available online (at Imagine Humboldt: Share Ideas): McKinleyville and Northern Humboldt, the Arcata area, Willow Creek-Hoopa, the greater Eureka area, Eel River Valley, Garberville-Redway, and one encompassing the entire county. 

The maps allow you to read comments by others, respond to those comments, and/or add comments of your own. Each comment is shown on the map in the location that it addresses. The comments heard in each public meeting are added to the maps, to generate a comprehensive interactive discussion. Kathy said that the initial goal for the discussion is to have 300 or more ideas tagged to the seven maps. 

Because both HCOG and RCRA are non-regulatory bodies, they hope to engage the community in a civil conversation about the future of our community. For more information about the project, visit the Imagine Humboldt website.

Volume XII, Issue 9: September 7, 2012

Good Morning, Fa!
Last Friday our Exchange Student From Thailand, Fa Sillapajarn, told us that the previous week had been a busy one. She started at Arcata High School and attended our Club's beach party in her honor. Fa said that her classes include PE, Photography, and US History. Right now, she's finding it a bit difficult to understand the teachers, but we expect that to change soon.

Coming Events
Rotary District 5130 Governor Michael Juric will be with us in a couple of weeks for his official visit. On Thursday, September 20th, Michael will meet with our Board of Directors, committee chairs, and any other interested Sunrisers for a dinner meeting. His presentation to the Club will take place the next morning.

We will hold this month's Fourth Friday Foundation Auction on the following Friday (September 28th). Bring a raffle prize and/or your checkbook. (Cash is also accepted!)

Kahuna Kavinta

The Mighty Kahuna Kavinta (aka President George) says it's not too early to be thinking about Thursday, November 15th. That is, of course, the date for this year's Taste of the Holidays. It's one of our two major fundraisers each year, and it's one of our few "all hands" events. Be thinking about your donations for the raffle and auctions.

The Kahuna also reminded us that our next "Fifth Friday Fellowship" event is also scheduled to take place in November. Since that's a busy time, with the Taste of the Holidays and Thanksgiving crammed in there, we're looking for an idea for the event. If you have one, please let George know.

The Lost Coast Rotaract originally scheduled a softball game/tournament/event for Labor Day weekend, but they have rescheduled for a (hopefully) more convenient date - September 30th. The event will be held at Newberg Park in Fortuna. If you're interested in playing, contact the Kahuna.

Special Day
Last week, we had only one special day to celebrate, but it was a good 'un. Laura Montagna's birthday was held on August 29th, and she took the day off. Good thing, too, because all three of her kids were here to spend a day on the river with her.

Speaking of Laura ...
We were able to see the Recorded Recognitions that Laura put together. The audio was a bit week, but the video was great, and Laura narrated for us. Unfortunately, Your Editor failed to contact Laura to get a copy of the video before going to press. I'll try to snag it and put it up on the Spirit blog next week.

Orrin Plocher had Good News last Friday - he and Cristina "survived our trip to Russia". While there, they were able to spend three days with Alexander, the boy they are trying to adopt. Orrin promised to keep us updated on the adoption situation.

Laura asked Amy Bohner about a recent Design Commission award received by Alchemy Construction. Amy said that the award was recent (and appreciated), but the project was completed six years prior. It was for the design and construction of Cafe Brio on the Plaza. 

The commission also presented an award to Murphy's Sunnybrae Market for its facade remodel. Donnie Rosebrook of Murphy's noted that the remodel took place eight years ago. But they were pleased to receive the award, which was printed on "recycled embossed paper", according to City Manager Randy Mendosa.

"The Power of a Smile"
Last week, our featured speaker was Jasmine Schatz, an Inbound Rotary Exchange Student. Jasmine spent the last school year in Sicily, sponsored by the Rotary Club of Old Town Eureka. She is also the daughter of Sunriser Ian Schatz.

Jasmine told us that the island of Sicily is as far south as you can go in Italy, and her Exchange was in the city of Ragusa, which is in southern Sicily. She said that she took over 10,000 photos during her stay, and she shared many of them with us.

Jasmine Schatz

She noted that Sicily boasts a remarkable number of architectural styles. She showed a photo of an ancient Greek temple as evidence. She also said that the streets are very narrow, with no sidewalks. Fortunately, Jasmine said that the cars are also small, "which helped." The insides of all the churches she visited were "spectacular", each containing "a ton of ancient art".

Sicily is known for its desserts, and Jasmine showed some mouth-watering photos of marzipan, gelato, crepes, and cannoli. She noted that the city of Ragusa is known for its chocolate. Jasmine also enjoyed other culinary delights including pizza and locally-grown oranges and lemons. 

Jasmine enjoyed her host family. They were caretakers of a large house that frequently had visitors. One of her host "sisters" was on an exchange to San Diego. Jasmine did not meet her, but Ian and the rest of the family did. 

She was very enthusiastic about her school and her classmates. She said that, unlike US high school,  the classes stay in their rooms at the end of a subject, and the teachers rotate in and out. During her Exchange year, the school administration was looking to increase class sizes, and there were many protests against the proposal.

Jasmine provided this Sicilian cultural note: "If you're supposed to be somewhere at 7:00," she said, "nobody gets there until 7:30."

Celebrations are an important part of Sicilian life. "It's a huge thing, because they have Saints' Days." The Patron Saint of Ragusa Ibla is St. George, and the celebrations involve fireworks and music.

Jasmine went to Carnival in a "city famous for its Carnival floats". I believe this is the city of Acireale. As she walked through the crowds, she was sprinkled with confetti and silly string.

 Most Rotary Exchange Students travel a lot during their years abroad, and Jasmine was no exception. She went to Pisa and saw the famous Leaning Tower. She did note that "that's all there is to see there". Her visit to Florence (Firenze) was more exciting for her. "It was interesting seeing buildings that I had seen in my art history books." She walked a lot when she was in Rome, and she saw the Coliseum and other attractions. Of her visit to Venice, Jasmine noted, "All the streets are water." She said that public transportation in Italy was amazing. 

What did Jasmine learn from her Exchange Year? 

• "The power of a smile is incredible."
• "You realize that people are really the same all over the world."
• "Friendship is universal."

 

Jasmine with the Sicilian Flag

Volume XII, Issue 8: August 29, 2012

Fifth Friday Fellowship

Last week, we had our first Arcata Sunrise Fifth Friday Fellowship. In months that contain five Fridays, we will forgo meeting on that fifth Friday. But we will still meet - but it will be at an alternate date/time and location.

The alternate date was Wednesday of last week, and the alternate location was Merryman's Beach House at Moonstone Beach. We joined with the Rotary Club of Arcata (aka "The Noon Club") to welcome this year's Inbound Exchange Students. Our Club is hosting Fa Sillapajarn from Thailand, and the Nooners have Luca Vass from Hungary.

The meeting portion of the evening was mercifully short - Our Kahuna, President George, shared the "podium" with Noon Club President Ross Welch. After just a few choice comments by the duo we returned to the festivities, which included a massive pot luck and barbeque feast. Your Editor took a few photos, which are shared below ...

Guests of Honor Luca and Fa

A Presidential Welcome

The Most Patient Man in the Universe

Railbirds

Cooking at the Bob-a-Cue