by Dustin Littlefield
Craig
graduated from Birmingham High School in the San Fernando Valley in 1968. After 2 years at Pierce Community
College in Los Angeles, he transferred to Humboldt State. In 1973, he graduated with a Bachelors degree
in Forestry.
Craig was born in Burbank,
California in 1950 and grew up in Northridge, CA. He moved to Arcata to attend HSU in 1970.
Craig
wanted to go to college as far away from L.A. as possible, but needed to stay
in California. Humboldt was the furthest north
and it offered Forestry, which Craig thought sounded a lot like camping. (!?!?)
Craig
and Janice met in Algebra class in 1966. They remember that they both got “D’s” for the
semester and had to re-take the class.
They have two sons. Michael (39) is
an accomplished musician who now works as an Assistant Manager at Trader Joe’s
in Burlington, VT. Ryan (35) is a full
time professional musician. He plays
bass in the reggae band, Groundation, based
out of Rohnert Park. Ryan tours with the band around the world throughout the year.
Craig is the oldest of 6 kids. He has two brothers and three sisters. His youngest brother and sister are twins. All of his siblings still live in Southern
California, but Craig’s dad now lives in Grants Pass, Oregon, and Craig and Janice visit him
often.
Craig
joined Rotary in 1992 as a Charter Member of the Arcata Sunrise Rotary. He served three years as Club Secretary, two years as
Club Treasurer, and nine years on the Board of Directors. He was Club President in 1998-1999. He currently serves as Club Interact/Rotaract
Committee Chair. He served as an Assistant
Governor for two District Governors and also served as District Rotaract Committee
Chair for 3 years. He was District
Secretary for DG Harry Johnson, and co-chaired the District Conference for DG
Terri Clark. His most recent District
position was Inbound Coordinator for the District Youth Exchange Committee. After serving in that position for 10 years,
he recently stepped down this past June. Craig has attended 7 Rotary International
Conventions and numerous District Assemblies and Conferences. Craig has been most influenced in his Rotary
career by our Club's first President, Jim Hamby, and by former District Governor and
Club President, Harry Johnson. Both of
these great Rotarians were sources of inspiration.
Craig
was in the Indian Guides with his Dad as a young boy. His Indian name was Little Hook’em Fish and
his Dad’s name was Big Hook’em Fish. He
eventually moved to the YMCA program where, after involvement in Gray-Y and
Junior High-Y, he worked as a YMCA Program Day Camp and Mountain Camp Counselor
for several years. He played trombone in
Junior High but quit music to concentrate on sports. In High School he played Football for all four
years. He also played football in community college and during his first year at Humboldt State. His first car was a 1946 Willy's Jeep. Hobbies are fishing, blacksmithing, woodworking,
and Rotary.
