FOLLOWING FA
Our Exchange Student from Thailand, Fa Sillapajarn, provided an update on her week. She moved in with Romi Hitchcock-Tinseth and family, and is having a good time. She said that she had been having some trouble with her phone, but it is working now. Fa thanked Sunriser Susan Jansson for a complimentary membership to HealthSport - she said that she has been to "Boot Camp". Fa also went to a birthday party for a fellow exchange student, and they played Pin the Tail on the Donkey and "I eat a lot". And that's why the HealthSport membership comes in handy.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
The Charter Night Luau is Wednesday, February 27th, at the Arcata Playhouse. Be there to help us celebrate our 21st birthday! (We're finally old enough to drink ... legally!) Don't forget to us the Signup Genius to RSVP online.
Craig Newman provided an update on the condition of injured Rotary Exchange Student Franco Calleja-Lorenzini of Chile. Craig said that Franco is walking and eating on his own, and for now, he is undergoing therapy at St. Joseph Hospital. He can't have visitors yet, but we'll let you know if that changes. Franco's recovery is a slow process, but he continues to make continuous progress.
Our next meeting will be chaired by Past President Terri Clark. Although Terri was never a President of our Club, she did gain some experience as the Prez of the Southwest Eureka Rotary, and maybe a bit more as our District Governor in 2002-2003. Don't miss it!
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| Orrin Plocher holds Super Rotary Kid Alex as Lynda Moore Looks on |
RINA'S SPECIAL DAYS
January 30th was Rina Brodhag's birthday, but it didn't begin well. She was in Portland, and hubby Steve forgot to wish her a happy birthday in his morning call and her kids didn't call at all. Hrrumph! But all was not lost - her co-workers called her to a meeting midway through the day, and treated her to a cupcake-fest. The following day, she and Steve celebrated their anniversary, sort of. She got home just before midnight, so they got to see one another before the next day began.
SCOTT FINALLY FINISHES
It took weeks for Scott Heller to finish his presentation on his time in Roatan, training to be a divemaster. Unfortunately, we had to cut his talk short last month - we ran out of time. But the last part was soooo good, we had to hear the ending.
As the end of Scott's training approached, he hatched a grand scheme. His son Michael and his girlfriend Robin Meiggs would both be in Honduras for his "graduation". Part of the process involved dedicating a dive area and giving it a new name. Scott told Robin that he had decided to name the site "The Garden of Hedon", in honor of his firm, Hedon Investments, and he asked her to dive with him there for the dedication ceremony. She agreed, but the weather was determined to spoil the event. Undaunted, Scott tried one last time. He, Robin, Michael, and Bebe Bryans dove to the site, with "Scuba Suz" shooting video. You can see what occurred at the dive site (real name: "Robin's Nest") by clicking anywhere in this sentence.
RECOGNITIONS WITH LORI
Lori Breyer served up the Recognitions last Friday, focusing on Sunrisers in the News and Valentines Day.
If you watched the video from the link above, you know that Robin Meiggs is now engaged to Scott Heller. What you would not have learned from that video is that Robin was also elected to serve on the NCAA Division II Women's Rowing Committee. This group determines the national rankings of rowing teams each month, and it is responsible for assigning the seeds in the national championships. Congratulations, Robin!
Angelo Baciagaluppi's kids Emma and Diego were in the news - at least they were on Facebook. The youngsters were dressed to the nines to serve as flower girl and ring bearer for a friend's wedding. Angelo said, "They love the chance to get dressed up." Angelo said that on Valentines Day, he had to wait a while for Michelle to get home - it's tax season, and she works for Jackson & Eklund. But they did plan a nice Saturday dinner at Moonstone, while the in-laws cared for the kids.
Valentines Day arrived early for Jeff Munther - he and his wife Courtney are expecting another boy in July. They did attend a fundraiser for the Special Olympics at the Ingomar Club recently, but their Valentines Day celebration was a nice dinner with the family.
Rina and Steve Brodhag were seen recently at the Southwest Eureka Rotary's Vampire's Ball fundraiser. Both were in costume - Rina as a vamp and Steve as an Archbishop. Steve was out of town on Valentines Day, so Rina went to the HSU basketball game.
Reflections on Peace Through Service
Sunriser Maggie Kraft has been a social worker since 1988. During those 25 years, she has given quite a bit of thought about service and about peace. Given that "Peace Through Service" is Rotary President Sajuki Tanaka's theme for the current Rotary year, Maggie's reflections on the topic were a natural topic for a presentation.
Maggie recently returned from an assignment with the Peace Corps, and she said that she realized that "the mission or desire of the Peace Corps is very similar to the desire of Rotary thoughout the world." She said that our actions as Rotarians promote peace. "It's the things we do every single day."
Maggie has given much thought to the meaning of peace, beginning with, then going beyond the dictionary definitions. She has come to believe that one of the great enemies of peace is poverty. She said that "Poverty doesn't cause war, it makes war a reasonable option."
Rotary promotes peace by addressing poverty. In fighting polio and addressing education and literacy issues, we also promote peace.
There are other things that interfere with our practice of peace. Maggie listed ego and fear as two. We can give in to feelings of anger or frustration with other drivers on the road, or our co-workers who do things that irritate us.
Maggie also looked up the definition of service and found herself drawn to the version that means to be "of use". But who decides whether we are of service? The recipient determines that. To truly be of service means that there are no strings attached. "Those who are served," Maggie noted, "do not owe us anything."
But we owe ourselves something - we should be servants but not slaves. If we begin to feel that way, "maybe we should step back and say, 'Wait a second ... am I doing this out of true service, or am I doing it out of a feeling of obligation?'" When we offer our service freely, we can provide true "service with a smile".
Sunriser Maggie Kraft has been a social worker since 1988. During those 25 years, she has given quite a bit of thought about service and about peace. Given that "Peace Through Service" is Rotary President Sajuki Tanaka's theme for the current Rotary year, Maggie's reflections on the topic were a natural topic for a presentation.
Maggie recently returned from an assignment with the Peace Corps, and she said that she realized that "the mission or desire of the Peace Corps is very similar to the desire of Rotary thoughout the world." She said that our actions as Rotarians promote peace. "It's the things we do every single day."
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| Maggie Kraft - "Peace Through Service" |
Rotary promotes peace by addressing poverty. In fighting polio and addressing education and literacy issues, we also promote peace.
There are other things that interfere with our practice of peace. Maggie listed ego and fear as two. We can give in to feelings of anger or frustration with other drivers on the road, or our co-workers who do things that irritate us.
Maggie also looked up the definition of service and found herself drawn to the version that means to be "of use". But who decides whether we are of service? The recipient determines that. To truly be of service means that there are no strings attached. "Those who are served," Maggie noted, "do not owe us anything."
But we owe ourselves something - we should be servants but not slaves. If we begin to feel that way, "maybe we should step back and say, 'Wait a second ... am I doing this out of true service, or am I doing it out of a feeling of obligation?'" When we offer our service freely, we can provide true "service with a smile".
