The Sunrise Spirit: Volume XII, Issue 42: May 30, 2014

Alex's Week

Holi Moli! Alex with Kate Breyer!

On Friday, Exchange Student Alex Rialet told us that he returned to his first host family's home for the weekend. Angelo and Michelle Bacigaluppi and their kids welcomed him back for the brief visit (which I understand from Facebook, featured Ethopian collard greens and fried plantains). Then it was Spring Week at Arcata High, and Alex made the most of it. He said that on Tuesday, they held their version of the Holi Festival, and he asked President Jessica if she knew what it was. She didn't, and Alex didn't explain. But I learned that Holi is a festival of colors in India. It is celebrated in part by participants throwing colored powder at one another.

Alex was colorful on Wednesday, too, as he made a tie-dyed shirt. Sadly, it hadn't dried by Friday, so we weren't able to see the finished product.

Finally, Alex was scheduled to serve as a member of the cheer team for the Powder Puff football game on Friday afternoon.

Announcements and Calendar
President Jessica issued a three-point challenge to all Sunrisers:

Come to a Meeting/Keep Attendance UP!
Bring a guest to a meeting so they can "meet Rotary"
Make a gift to The Rotary Foundation - we would like to be a Club that achieves the "Every Rotarian, Every Year" goal.

Jessica also said that we are looking for a third host family for next year's Exchange Student from Brazil. The hosts will probably be housing the young woman next spring. Please contact a member of the Youth Exchange Committee if you are interested or if you know a family that would like to serve as hosts.

The top 10% of the AHS Class of 2014 will be visiting next Friday (June 6th). We will meet in the Plaza Grill, not the Plaza View Room. Sunrisers should enter via the entrance by the elevators, so the students and their families can use the main entrance. We will present checks to our scholarship recipients, and our featured speaker will be Rollin Richmond, who is retiring as President of Humboldt State University this spring.

On Sunday, June 8th, you have an opportunity to meet Alex's parents, who will be in town for their son's graduation. The festivities will take place at Lori Breyer's home in Eureka, starting at 3 pm. Please RSVP to Lori, and join us for "Bocce, Barbecue, and Beer".

And on Thursday, June 12th at 2:30 pm, Alex and the top 10% will be on display again (with several of their peers, including at least a couple of Rotary Kids) at the AHS Graduation at Redwood Bowl.

We heard from the Arcata Noon Rotary Club last Friday. They are developing an International Project in Costa Rica for the coming Rotary Year. They will partner with the Rotary Club of San Jose in to help the "Forgotten People" in Cerro de la Madre, in the highlands. To help support the project, Rotarian Alberto Taylor and his son Ricardo turned their plan to scale Mt. Kiliimanjaro in Tanzania into a fundraiser. To learn more about the "Taylor Trek for Costa Rica" and about the project, please visit the website: Taylor Trek

In Appreciation ...
President Jessica also passed on several thank you messages that she has received recently:

Teddie Lyons, a member of the Board of Directors for the Senior Resource Center called to thank the Club for our support.
She also read a portion of a thank you letter for our contribution to the "Childspree Funding Partnership", a program of the Boys and Girls Club. Childspree helps provide school clothing for needy children in Humboldt County.
Jacquelyn Opelach, who received a History Day scholarship from us, sent us a thank you card.
We also received a Mothers' Day card from the Nurse-Family Partnership. Last summer, we built and stocked portable bookcases (with the help of the woodshop class at McKinleyville School) that were provided to new mothers to promote reading to children.
In appreciation for or help in moving the HSU Natural History Museum to its new location, we were invited to participate in their Grand Opening over the weekend. That's over now,but the museum is now open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 am to 5 pm, so be sure to drop by soon.

Jim Ritter is a long-time friend of our Club, and he is in charge of both the Humboldt LIVE! program and the AHS College and Career Center. Jim visited our Club last Friday to provide updates. He reminded us that both programs are about helping junior high school and high school students plan for successful futures. Jim said that both our Club and the Arcata Noon Rotary are "incredibly supportive both of those programs". We provide financial support and we provide panelists for career workshops and speakers at career fairs. "I really wanted to thank you personally," he said, "for your support this year. The programs continue to grow and be well-received. Now I have students who are well out of college coming back and talking about how important the Humboldt LIVE! classes were. So we really appreciate your support." Jim said that, now that the programs are under the same leadership, he is finding ways to provide connections between high school students and their younger counterparts. He recently set up a "Grad Panel" at Jacoby Creek School - a group of AHS seniors spoke at an assembly at JCS, telling the junior high students what to expect in high school. President Jessica then provided Jim with a check from our Club, as part of our continuing support.

Jim Ritter and President Jessica

Recognitions

Ian with Jasmine

Tomas Chavez began last week's recognitions by calling upon Ian Schatz to discuss moving his daughter Jasmine home from her first year at UC Berkeley. He said that they brought back way more stuff than he remembered taking down. They had to pack carefully, because they then had to take six Exchange Students to the District Conference. Jasmine was a Rotary Exchange Student to Sicily during the 2011-2012 Rotary Year, and now she is a dual member of both the Cal Berkeley Rotaract and the Lost Coast Rotaract. Ian was also recognized for his firm being named as the top security company in the area by the Times-Standard. Advanced Security Systems achieved that distinction even though they were not listed on the ballot!

Alex vs. Canines

Alex was recognized for his battle (tug-o-war) with the dogs during his weekend at Angelo's home. When Tomas asked who won, Alex said, "I did." The doggies were not available for comment at press time.

Romi Hitchcock-Tinseth was featured on the Arcata Chamber of Commerce's Facebook page for her work (with her husband Glenn) helping move furniture donated by GHD to the Chamber offices at the Welcome Center. The furniture that was replaced was then donated to the Arcata House Partnership. Romi and Glenn were part of the swap 'til you drop extravaganza! Romi was also recognized for her recent trip. She said that her kids have always been great about the nature of their vacations - adding service aspects and/or cultural lessons to their travels. But her daughter asked her, "Once - before I'm officially an adult - I'd love to just stay on a beach." So that's what they did in Cancun. "It was beautiful, but not a place I'll go back to - it's not Mexico, actually."

Brandi Easter was recognized for a gigantic abalone that she recently took. She said that it an abalone of that size will feed four to six people. Your Editor initially heard that as forty-six people, but I checked the tape ...

On Bob Goodman's birthday, May 13th, he "had the pleasure of moving my daughter out of her dorm room. I think I then transported another daughter down to a dance competition. In between, I ate dinner." This all took place in the Bay Area. His daughter Delaney has been shadowing a doctor there once a month for a while now, and she is "torn between medicine and dance" for her career path. Delaney recently accompanied the doctor on an Operation Rainbow humanitarian trip to Nicaragua. Tomas asked whether we might see some of the photos from the trip, and Bob said that he would try. But, he said, "those don't come directly to me - I have to get my other daughters to send them to me."

Foundation Final Friday
Per our tradition, we held a Final Friday Auction, with all proceeds going directly to the Rotary Foundation. Here are the results:

Gregg Foster donated a painting that included an orange cat (not Garfield, though). Jeff Stebbins will proudly display that in his home or office.
Wine and a gift certificate for Larrupin's - that's a Sunriser Anniversary basket! It was provided by Kathy Fraser and purchased by Rebecca Crow.
President Jessica put in a batch of homemade cookies with the promise of a second batch to be delivered on demand. (Blackout periods and some exclusions do apply, void where prohibited by natural law, all other generic disclaimers also apply.) Randy Mendosa walked away with the goodies.
A piece of Rebecca Stauffer's art was provided by her husband, Howard. Joyce Hinrichs was the high bidder.
Romi Hitchcock-Tinseth donated a year's worth of flowers, delivered on a monthly basis. This package was snapped up by Susan Jansson.
Joyce Hinrichs offered a watercolor painting that was purchased by Susan Diehl-McCarthy of the Arcata Noon Rotary.
Jeff Stebbins put together a Barbecue Package, which contained a barbecue, apron, sauce, tools, the makin's for s'mores, and (the most important tool) beer. Terri Clark will be puttin' on the ribz.

Thanks to the generosity of our donors and bidders, we raised $925 for the Rotary Foundation!