The Sunrise Spirit

The Rotary Club of Arcata Sunrise

Volume VII, Issue 4 — August 1, 2007

Club President 2007-2008: Lori Breyer

Editor: Dick Johnson

Business Spotlight

The Business Spotlight is shining this week on North Soles Footwear - Kathy Fraser invites you to visit either the Arcata or the Eureka store and you will receive a 10% discount for being a Sunriser. (If you go to the Eureka store, have them call Kathy for the official hokey-dokey. You could probably do the same thing at the Fort Bragg store, if you're adventurous.) The Arcata store came first - it was founded 13 years ago by Cynthia Russell (a former Sunriser and parent of a former Rotary Exchange Student). Cynthia sold the stores when she moved to Mt. Shasta several years ago. Kathy was the organization's bookkeeper for several years, and is now the General Manager of the Arcata store. They sell shoes for women, men, and children, and their top brand is Dansko.

Special Daze

O-P, better known as Sunriser Orrin Plocher, celebrated his birthday on July 11th. He went to Six Rivers Brewery "after the Jorge thing" - better known as our farewell party for Jorge at the Crabs game.

Barbara and Ron Browning "weren't together" for their recent anniversary. Barbara was in Berkeley, while Ron was in Minneapolis. One or both of them (both, I hope) went to Vancouver where she/he/they toured a chocolate factory that uses only organic fair trade beans to make their treats.

Julie Vaissade-Elcock and her husband Stan celebrated their 27th anniversary on July 12th. They originally planned a quiet intimate dinner, but ended up with a "romantic dinner for ten"! They plan to get a little time alone in January, when they will be on a cruise.

Donnie and Jennifer Rosebrook's anniversary was on July 24th, but they had to wait until the weekend for the getaway. No dinners for ten here - they were planning to leave for Fort Bragg last Friday - "just the two of us". Don't forget the 10% discount at North Soles Shoes!

Announcements / Committee Reports

Craig Newman reminded us that he is the one to talk with if you are interested in helping out with Project Amigo in Colima, Mexico during one of their theme weeks. The three possibilities are:

November 10-18: Literacy projects, including the development of mini-libraries
January 5-13: The annual Vision Clinic
March 8-16: Literacy projects

Craig noted that the nice thing about these weeks is that you get to visit the many projects that Project Amigo is working on. The trip will cost you about $1,500. Project Amigo receives $1,000 for each person involved. ($500 is a donation to the program, and the other $500 pays for all your food, transportation, etc. for the week.) Our Club will pay half of that amount. The other cost is the airfare, which Craig estimates will run about $1,000.

Brett Johnson told us that this Sunday (August 5th), there will be a three-mile run/walk to benefit the family of Tim Brownlow. Tim was well-known in local running circles, and he was also President Lori's neighbor. He died in April when his UPS truck crashed in the rain. The $20 entry fee will get you into the run (or walk), into the barbecue, and into a T-shirt (based on a sketch by Tim's wife).

Kathy's Fine, Really!

Our first Round Robin Finemaster session didn't start off very well for Your Editor. Kathy Moxon was the Finemaster du Jour, and before the meeting, I was feeling a little Gallic. So I took her hand and smooched it. When she arose to begin collecting moolah, she noted that little incident. I made the mistake of saying that "I should have kissed a little lower". I failed to add additional directional data that would have made it clear that I meant that I should have applied lips to her heinie. Those of you who thought otherwise, shame on you! Anyway, the blunder cost me five bucks, "for making me blush".

Kathy changed the subject quickly, calling upon Michael Boreing. Michael's daughter, JJ was named one of the 50 top-producing mortgage brokers in the nation by a national rating service. You can find the article here.

Guy Joy finished a story he was telling Kathy before our meeting began. Guy said that his daughter, Alexandra Jordan Joy, had taken her first ever rafting trip recently, on the Upper Trinity River. He told us that the young lady "kept her cool better than the adults".

Kathy then went long ... to Joyce Hinrichs. Joyce was supposed to go to Yosemite recently, but her plans fell through, so instead she headed for Santa Cruz with a friend, and there was this guy there (not a big G Guy, a little g guy) who tried to pick them up, unsuccessfully, of course, but they had so much fun that they're going back in August.

Sir Charles is our Past President, which means that he is fair game for Finemasters. Kathy noted that Chuck had been on the Plaza early on the Fourth of July. What was he selling? Kathy called it the "Breakfast of Champions", but I think the folks at General Mills might quibble. The Chuckinator was unable (or unwilling) to answer the simple question, "What kind of beer is best for breakfast?"

According to Wikipedia, challah is a special bread eaten on special Jewish holidays (but not on Passover). How big is it supposed to be? Well, they're not usually four feet long, but Charlie Jordan and the crew at Los Bagels were asked to prepare the biggest one they could for a Bar Mitzvah. They decided to bake a test challah, which came out fine. And it is there that our story must end, as I have no further notes on the topic.

Tere Hicks went to Africa recently. She spent three weeks in Kenya, Nairobi, and Uganda. The main reason for her trip was to help establish a new Internews office in Uganda. This involved setting up their accounting system and training the staff. There was some confusion regarding carnivore or carnival.

Kathy said to Brett Johnson, "Tell us about the other big fish you caught." Brett then had to figure out which was the first big fish ... Hmmm ... So he told us that he asked his girlfriend Tracy for her hand (watch out for the hand, Brett) in marriage. He popped the question on July 3, and they plan to get married on January 19th. Clear your schedules. Oh yeah - he also caught a 58-pound halibut.

More Meeting Information

President Lori said that 21 people visited last week's Business Spot, which was NAPA Auto Parts / The Coffee Depot. Joyce Hinrichs was awarded a box of brownies, however, she was not able to come up with the answer to the Trivia Question, so she did advance to the Bonus Round.

Our Outbound Exchange Student for this year is Jamie Towson, who will soon be on her way to Switzerland. On behalf of the Club, Craig Newman presented Jamie with a badge for her blazer, a Club Roster, and a journal for keeping her thoughts and memories organized. When Jamie arrives in Switzerland, she will head off to a language camp, for some intensive instruction in German. She will be in Europe for about 10 months. Craig said that Exchange Students, such as Jamie, are Rotary's "secret weapon for world peace". He noted that they are expected to serve as ambassadors for their home countries while abroad, and then for their host countries when they return. Have a great year, Jamie!

The Wheelchair Foundation and Arcata Sunrise

Once again, our "guest" speaker was one of our own - Janice Newman spoke to us about the Wheelchair Foundation, and its ties to our Club.

First, however, Janice spoke to us as our Director of Club Service. The committees she oversees are Programs (chaired by Brett Johnson), the Recognitions Committee (Bob Johnson), Mentorship (Lynda Moore and Charlie Jordan), Club Communications (Dick Johnson and Paul Picciotta), Fellowship (Chuck Giannini), and Sergeant-at-Arms (Wendy Madsen).

Janice reminded us that Club Service is the only Avenue of Service that does not receive money fromthe Arcata Sunrise Community Foundation. Instead, it is funded through our dues (of which, only $21 is retained by the Club), the revenue from our weekly meetings, and recognitions. From that, we must pay for ... renting the Senior Dining Facility each Friday, insurance, meals, weekly raffle winnings (including the big winners), the website, member supplies, fellowship functions, postage, office supplies, club banners (large and small), and a host of other items.

Included in that budget is a line item for a gift for the speaker each week. In years past, we provided a coffee mug emblazoned with our Club logo. But since July 2001, we have been making a ten dollar donation, in the name of that week's speaker, to the Wheelchair Foundation.

This change came about after Janice attended a presentation at the 2001 Rotary International Convention in San Antonio. A panel presentation highlighted nonprofit agencies that worked with Rotary. One member of the panel was Ken Behring, the founder of the Wheelchair Foundation. Mr. Behring said that the goal of his organization was simple - to provide a wheelchair to every child, teen, and adult in the world who needs one. Since it was established in June 2000, the group has provided over 580,000 wheelchairs in over 100 countries.

Since July 2001, our Club has given 24 wheelchairs, with the most recent provided to two young men in Jordan. In all, Rotarians have donated funds to purchase over 125,000 chairs.

For more information, please visit the Wheelchair Foundation website.