- Foundation Final Friday -
Exchange News
Fa Sillapajarn, our Rotary Exchange Student from Thailand, provided a final report last Friday. (She was scheduled to leave for her other home on Tuesday.) Fa said that she had a sushi dinner in honor of her recent birthday. Cam and Lisa Appleton hosted, and Cindy Sutcliffe and her husband Tim Theiss were among the celebrants. Following the dinner, Cam and Lisa took Fa to Trinity Lake and they all had a great time. Fa tried wakeboarding, and they even saw a deer swimming in the lake.They also played Bingo, and Fa won $14!
Fa thanked us for hosting her for the year. When she first arrived, she realized that we had a hard time understanding her, but we made her feel welcome, and that made all the difference. We'll miss you, Fa!
Logan White will be heading out soon as well. Logan is our Outbound Exchange Student for the year, and he tentatively plans to leave for his post in Italy on September 2nd. He said that he had just returned from Fresno, where he was trying to clear up some issues regarding his visa.He is continuing to work at raising funds for his Exchange, and "it's all coming together".
Announcements
In August, we will welcome District Governor Helaine Campbell for her official visit to our Club. On Thursday the 22nd, Helaine will meet with our Board of Directors, Officers, and Committee Chairs. At our meeting the next morning, Helaine will be our featured speaker.
President Jessica reminded all committee chairs to be sure that they are in communication with their committee members.
Jessica also continued her positive reinforcement campaign to encourage Sunrisers to be ready to go at 7 am. She provided a quart of homemade lemonade to a member who was seated at the ringing of the bell.
Recognitions
Tomas Chavez started the Recognitions Round by asking Lori Breyer about her recent birthday. She and her family spent the previous week and a half at Lake Tahoe and Reno. While there, Lori met up with Sunriser Kathy Fraser. Kathy and her husband Bill have spent the summer in Reno, watching their grandkids, and deciding whether they wanted to relocate permanently. They will be returning to Humboldt in September. Lori said that her favorite part of the trip was going to Granlibakken's Treetop Adventure Park in Tahoe City. They have a combination zip line and ropes course "that is to die for".
Cindy Sutcliffe's recent birthday was "an unusual biirthday for me". Why? She went camping. She said that she enjoyed a delicious barbequed steak dinner, salad, and s'mores! She said that it was a lot of fun.
Logan White and his family were in Monterey for his 17th birthday, and he insisted that they all go to Big Sur. His plan was that they would take a 6-8 mile hike. When they strayed off course, they came upon a big waterfall, which was an unexpected delight. Upon their return, they enjoyed a nice dinner.
George and Diana Cavinta's22nd anniversary took place on July 20th. However, according to George, "We didn't do anything!" They had just returned from a trip to Santa Barbara and Los Angeles, so they were tired. George said that he tried to rally the troops, but they were having none of it.
Scott Heller and his son Michael recently returned after spending two weeks in China. Along with seeing the sights, Michael was awarded his black belt at a post-midnight ceremony in the Shao-lin Temple. Congratulations, Michael!
Rotary Foundation - Part I: Polio Plus
President Jessica discussed a recent article in the New York Times, entitled "Pakistan Battles Polio, and Its People's Mistrust". The piece by Donald McNeil, Jr. highlights the difficulties we face in this final phase of polio eradication. There is widespread distrust of vaccinators in Pakistan, Nigeria, and Afghanistan - the only countries were polio has not been eliminated.
The other two challenges faced by vaccinators In Pakistan are the large groups of people who are traditionally migratory and the conditions in slum areas.
There is hope that the strong rivalry between Pakistan and India will provide an impetus for Pakistanis to accept the vaccination program more readily, now that India is polio-free.
Jessica said that the proceeds from last week's Final Friday Auction would be earmarked for polio eradication.
Rotary Foundation - Part II: Terri's Stories
Terri Clark is our Club's Foundation Chair, and she has a lot of firsthand experience of the good that the Rotary Foundation does throughout the world. She shared two of her stories last Friday.
Terri said that she and her husband Marty Lay traveled to Guadalajara, Mexico in 1999 for Rotary's Festival of Brotherhood. They visited a facility that takes care of severely disabled people. Although the staff was diligent in keeping things clean, many of the residents required a daily change of bedding. They made do with two older home-style washing machines and hanging the laundry on a line to dry. As a result of cooperation among several Rotary Clubs and the Foundation, the facility now has an industrial-capacity washer and dryer. This made a difference to the staff, who had more time to spend with the patients.
She then said that about six years ago, she and Marty went to Hue and Saigon in Vietnam to help distribute wheelchairs. The chairs were provided by The Wheelchair Foundation, which our Club proudly supports. What Terri found the most touching was a young man who crawled up the steps of the local Red Cross office, with his wheelchair voucher in his teeth. When he was helped into his chair, his life was changed - now he had the means to get around without crawling.
Rotary Foundation - Part III: The Final Friday Auction
Logan "$100" White served as our Guest Auctioneer last week, and the first item he offered was a basket containing several items from Thailand. Our Exchange Student Fa put together the basket, which was purchased by Cindy Sutcliffe.
The next item was a "Coffee Basket" containing (as you may have guessed) coffee. It also contained a single-serve coffeemaker/thermal cup, a gift certificate, and Kalhua. The basket was donated by Dick Johnson, and the winning bidder was Carol Vander Meer,
Ron Sharp provided a bottle of gold-medal-winning bourbon, and Bryan Reeser was the lucky winner.
Rotary Kid Mary Crow is determined to become a Paul Harris Fellow under her own steam, and she's making great progress. Her contribution this month was a plate of butterscotch brownies. Her batch was snapped up by Praj White.
Cam Appleton put together a "Smoked Salmon Medley", which sounded delicious. The winning bidder was Meredith Hyland, the President of the Arcata Noon Rotary. (Thanks, Meredith!)
A beautiful begonia was donated by Janice Newman. Logan noted that "I was just at Miller Farms, and I saw one just like this for $100". That may have been auctioneer hyperbole, but it was very nice. Joyce Hinrichs must have thought so, too, because she offered the high bid.
Fa placed a second basket of items from Thailand.on the block. This time, the winner was Ian Schatz.
Two dozen eggs per week for the next four weeks was Kyle Visser's contribution to the auction. That sounded tasty to winning bidder Scott Heller.
Robert Goodman provided a bottle of Robert Goodman Wine. (You expected something from another winery?) Joyce Hinrichs was the happy purchaser.
Our final item was donated by President Jessica. It was a Lemon Package, consisting of homemade lemonade, lemon Jello, and vodka. The winning bid was provided by Rebecca Crow.
Thanks to all who participated. We made an additional $795 for the Rotary Foundation!
