The Sunrise Spirit

The Rotary Club of Arcata Sunrise

Volume VII, Issue 12 — September 26, 2007

Club President 2007-2008: Lori Breyer

Editor: Dick Johnson

editor@arcatasunrise.org

 

Business Spotlight

Sunriser Romi Hitchcock Tinseth says that she is probably the biggest cheerleader for Humboldt State University, and she's got the right job - recruiting students! Romi says that HSU is the place to be, and she's not getting many arguments. Each of the last two freshman classes have been the largest ever, and the National Science Foundation recently rated the school as one of the best. 

Make it your week for a campus visit!

... go to the main information desk in the lobby of the Student Business Services Building.

 

It is one block east of LK Wood on Harpst Street and one long block north of 14th Street on B Street

 

 
 
Notes From Our Last Meeting
Our Exchange Student from Milan, Italy, Jessica Bono, is getting to be a true Humboldt County resident - last week she reported that she and her host family, the Frasers, had come down with colds - runny noses, sniffles, sneezing, and all. Despite her discomfort, Jessica still had to endure a German test. "What else has happened this week," asked President Lori. "Nothing," said Jessica, or maybe it was, "Nuddig".

Kathy Moxon provided a report from the recent special "Coastal Cleanup Day" Adopt-a-Highway excursion. "We had a great time," she said. And Kathy said that the after cleanup session at the Plaza Grill was pretty special, too.

Wendy Madsen is our Chair for the upcoming Taste of the Holidays said that, if you haven't selected a committee for the event, one will be selected for you. Kathy Moxon and Barbara Browning are co-chairing the raffle subcommittee. Each Sunriser is responsible for providing a raffle prize worth between $25 and $50. Please let Kathy or Barbara know the prize you will be providing so they can make a sign for it. They will also need assistance setting up for the raffle on the day of the event (Thursday, November 15th, if it's not already on your calendar).

Amy Bohner's Community Service Committee was on display last week, with signs for each of the programs the group will be engaged in this year:

  • First up was Non-Native Plant Eradication event. This April, we will be involved in the 8th annual outing. Brandi Easter, who has spearheaded our involvement in this activity, noted that "our club is the charter group" involved. The Committee is also working to provide swim lessons for young people. This effort is being helped along by the owner of HealthSport, Sunriser Susan Jansson.

  • Our Adopt-A-Highway program was mentioned earlier, and we clean up a three mile stretch of Samoa Boulevard every few months.
  • A new program to be unveiled in the spring is "Rotary Walks" - a community walking program. Each month, we will offer a theme walk, open to all.
  • The Committee plans to provide more information to victims and potential victims of domestic violence. They have developed a poster with tear-off tags that will provide the number for a hotline. The poster will be posted in restrooms and other locations.
  • We will continue to support the RUOK? Program. This service provides a computer-generated call to seniors or shut-ins each day. If the phone is not answered, the Arcata Police Department then calls the individual's designated contact. If necessary, APD will send officers to the person's home to check on them.
  • And Bob Johnson said that another program is MIOK? Well, not exactly a program, but "if you ever question whether you're 'OK' as a Rotarian, just look at the things we do".

Tickets are officially available for the Foundation Dinner North. The event will take place in Crescent City on October 20th. This Friday, you will also be able to purchase raffle tickets. This is a great way to contribute to your Paul Harris Sustaining Fellowship - the entire purchase price is credited to your account! Of course, if you buy $1,000 worth, you're in the Winner's Circle immediately.

This Friday night, a group of intrepid Sunrisers and their Significant Others will be journeying up to Klamath for dinner. If you haven't signed up, you're probably out of luck. You could give Sir Charles of Giannini a call to see whether there were any last minute cancellations. If you're on the list and you plan to ride the bus (provided by Timber Ridge - "Senior Living at its Finest"), be at the Community Center at 5:30 to saddle up!
 
Special Daze
President Lori said that there were no birthdaze to talk about, and she mislaid her list of anniversaries, so the only thing to do was to fine the President-Elect! Yup, P-E Mark Burtchett is a new grandpapa. His grandson is Tyler Michael.
 
Fines By Julie
Julie Vaissade-Elcock assessed the fines last week, beginning with Paul Picciotta. When Julie asked Paul what he's been up to, he said that he has been working on some IT projects at HSU. "Aren't you teaching a class?" she pressed. As it turns out, he is teaching Introduction to Business. Julie advised him to be wary - "We have a mole in your class."

Julie asked Dan Johnson what had happened. "You got some positive press in the Arcata Eye," she said. "You didn't read far enough into the paper," Dan replied. But he and Danco Builders were commended for building 120 new housing units in Fortuna and Arcata.

Bob Johnson was the subject of the game he invented - Liar, Liar. As the Liar, he put forth three statements - two true, one a lie. It was up to Cam Appleton to determine the falsehood. Bob said that ... (1) His full name is Robert Alan Johnson; (2) On his first anniversary, he took his bride Susan on a VIP tour of a paint factory; (3) He was an altar boy. Cam slipped up and paid the price ($20.00). Can you do better? Check the bottom of the page for the answer.

President Lori had the final recognition, with photos of Don Andrews at a speedgliding training event. Don said that the program was a three-day clinic where the participants tried to cause trouble for themselves in the air. "All the bad things that can happen," he said, "you do on purpose." Each of the levitators was towed by a jet boat, reaching an altitude of 3,000 feet before they started their antics. Don said that they wore reserve chutes, just in case
 

Michael Davies-Hughes on Immersion Education
Michael Davies-Hughes says that he has a dream job. Each morning he walks out of his office and gets at least half a dozen hugs. He is the Principal at Morris Elementary School in McKinleyville. He is willing to share the dream: "For a nominal fee," he said, "I'll let you be Principal for the Day."

If you take him up on the offer, you'll be presiding over a school that offers a Spanish Language Immersion Program for students from Kindergarten through Fifth Grade. The program provides children exposure to content-rich Spanish as they learn their regular academic subjects. Students in the Immersion Program spend half of each day with one teacher, who instructs them in English, focusing on Language Arts. The other half day is spent with a second teacher, who takes them through Math, Science, Social Studies, and P.E., all in Spanish.

The program got its start in 1996 when a planning committee was seeking ways to address the growing diversity of the McKinleyville Union School District. The group chose to implement the immersion program. Following studies of various implementations of the immersion concept, the District launched the new program in 2001. Michael says that those first students are now in 7th Grade, and doing well. He said that if a student continued through middle school taking Spanish following the immersion program, he or she would enter high school ready to enter a Spanish III class.

Michael thanked our Rotary Club - in addition to providing dictionaries to third graders in Arcata, we also provide two types of dictionaries to students in Morris's Immersion Program. Kindergartners receive picture dictionaries, and third graders get more sophisticated Spanish-English dictionaries.

For more information on the Immersion Program, visit the Language Immersion page on the Humboldt County Office of Education website by clicking here.

 

 Cam guessed that Robert Alan Johnson is not Bob's full name. Cam is $20 poorer.

Was Bob an altar boy? Yes, he was - he attended St. Bernard's and the robe was standard, if occasional, equipment.

No, the truth is that Bob did not take Sue to the paint factory for their 1st anniversary. No, they went there on their honeymoon. Who says that romance is dead?