Volume XII, Issue 22: December 20, 2013

Exchange Student News
At last week's meeting, Alex Rialet, our Exchange Student from France, gave us an update. He said that he went to the final football game of the year at Humboldt State, then he attended the Arcata Invitiational Basketball Tournament at Arcata High. President Jessica said that she and Alex were the two representatives from our Club at the final game. He also made some croissants for the holidays. Jessica also told Alex that his Christmas present from the Club is an AHS yearbook - "a solid set of memories" - to be delivered near the end of the school year. 

Jessica also shared a few words from our Outbound Exchange Student in Italy, Logan White: "The weekend after my last post [in early November], my host parents took me and two friends to Lugano. If you ask the Internet, you will learn that Lugano is a small city on the shore of a lake in the south of Switzerland. If you ask me, you will learn [that] it is a breathtaking city on the edge of a breathtaking lake with crisp autumn temperatures, ridiculously high-end stores, and an awesome public park." For more from Logan, click on "Logan White in Italy" in the Links section to your right.

Announcements
As mentioned, President Jessica (and Alex) attended the AIBT Championship Game between Arcata High and the Fortuna Huskies. As our President who is also a Fortuna High alumna, she was conflicted. She sat with the Arcata fans, but she said that "it did my heart good to give FHS the trophy".

She also reminded us that through the end of the year, your donations to the Rotary Foundation will receive double recognition toward your Paul Harris Fellowship. But the clock is ticking ...

Recognitions
Craig Reed Keeps his Minions in Line
Tomas Chavez hosted the Recognitions segment of last week's meeting, calling upon Craig Reed to discuss his recent cruise to the Bahamas with family members. He also had fun at a recent holiday party at work. This photo shows him dealing with Gary ("one of my minions at work"), keeping the celebration from getting out of hand. Craig was awarded a tote bag with a pineapple and goat cheese for winning the limbo competition. He was also involved in a contest during his cruise. in which they sought the World's Sexiest Man. Craig noted that it "went poorly. I did come in last place, but there were only 10 people, and that makes me the 10th sexiest person on the ship."

Bob Johnson was recently returned from a brief trip to Hawaii to visit his son Aaron, who is attending school there. He arrived the day after Thanksgiving, and they spent four days walking around Honolulu. It rained on the Sunday he was there, "but it's still 70 degrees, so it's still kinda fun." He had a really good time, and he said that Aaron is now home for the Christmas holiday through early January.

Zöe and Romi
Romi Hitchcock Tinseth was very excited - not so much that she had completed the "Holiday Half" half-marathon in Portland, but that her daughter Zöe had completed it with her. They trained together and supported one another during the race. 

 Janice and Craig Newman celebrated their recent anniversary with a 12-day trip. They were in Nantucket, Martha's Vineyard, Connecticut, and other parts of southern New England. While there, they encountered the "Elf on the Shelf", the live version of the children's book character. Apparently, in real life, the Elf wears mascara and rides atop a truck in Christmas parades. Janice also encountered Susan Branch, who has been Janice's favorite author since the late 1970s. Craig added, "She made me drive by her house." For his part, Craig spent his time looking at the hardware and architecture, when he wasn't watching football at the B&B. Since he occasionally forges iron himself, he is appreciative of the work done by the blacksmiths of the 1700s and 1800s. 

The day before our meeting was Ed Christian's birthday. When asked what he did to celebrate, he replied, "Pretty much nothing. All I really wanted was a nice quiet day at work, and since I didn't get that ..." Ed did say that he would probably go out to dinner over the weekend, especially since his co-workers got him a gift certificate for Moonstone Grill. "Problem solved!" he said.

Your Editor's birthday was the day of the meeting. I noted that, "I'm awake, I'm still alive ... I think." I planned to go to dinner with my wife Shelley that night, "or we will just go out with Ed tomorrow night".

President Jessica had one more recognition - she presented our faithful server Elsa with a token of our appreciation. Elsa works hard at each of our meetings to ensure that we are fed and (perhaps most importantly) provided a good supply of coffee. 

Our Annual Holiday Treat
As per Arcata Sunrise tradition, we were serenaded by the Arcata High School Madrigal Choir, directed by Carol Jacobson, and accompanied by Jonathan Webster. Below, you will find links to videos of the pieces they shared with us, and below those is a photo showing President Jessica with a check for $500 to help pay for the group's April trip to Italy!
A Little Help for the Madrigal Choir's Spring Trip
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