Welcome to the Sunrise Spirit –
the Weekly Newsletter of The Rotary Club of Arcata Sunrise
We hope that you will attend one of our lively Friday meetings,
whether or not you are interested in joining Rotary.
Usually, we meet on most Fridays at 7 am in the Plaza View Room at Arcata’s historic Jacoby Storehouse,
however, while we are under the Shelter In Place order, we are meeting online.
Please visit the RCAS Website for the meeting links.
The Calendar …
RISE: “Rotary Involvement Strengthens Everyone“
Watch here for events as they return to our Calendar …
The Latest from Thomas!
Here’s the latest from Thomas Spengler, our Exchange Student from France – He tried crabs for the first time ever, and he helped his host parents paint!
Thomas also did an online makeup with the Rotary Club of Dougherty Valley in San Ramon. (That just happens to be the Club that Chris and Lisa Hemphill transferred from when they moved to Humboldt County!)
All About Patti!
Patti Britt Campbell gave our Club’s first Virtual Craft Talk last Friday. We learned that she was the youngest of four children, and a sixth-generation Humboldt County native.
Patti said that hers was an “idyllic childhood” as she grew up in the timber industry. (Her parents founded Britt Lumber.) She was part of the first freshman class at Eureka High School, and after graduation, she attended Cal Poly.
In 1995, she married Travis Campbell in Vail, Colorado (at Beaver Creek Chapel). They started a family there before the family moved back to Humboldt County when Patti’s oldest sister died from melanoma.
Their daughter Kirby graduated from the University of Oregon last year, and is now working for the Academy of Country Music. Their son TJ also attended Oregon, and is currently with DANCO. Youngest son Remy is a junior at St. Bernard’s Academy.
Although the family moved from Vail, Patti remains an avid skier, and regularly sets up “Camp Campbell” at Trinity Lake. She also told us that she is a “serial remodeler”, which is an expensive hobby.
She is happy to be a Rotarian, and she was especially pleased at the opportunity to travel to Guatemala earlier this year to help build a home for an appreciative family.
Recognitions & Announcements
We heard that Bryan Plumley’s daughter Kate was accepted into the prestigious Stanford Summer Pre-Collegiate Institute, a summer residential program that engages academically talented students in an intense three-week program. That was good news, although the COVID-19 crisis has moved the program online, since Stanford will not be able to host students on campus this year.
We saw a video of Sunriser Brandon Kakitsuka dodging the Coronavirus as he traveled the mean streets of McKinleyville in search of Clorox Wipes and Huggies. (Gotta have them Huggies!) Also on the shopping front, Mike Pazeian reported that he was at Safeway when they opened, and had his own successful shopping trip.
Sunriser Michael Boreing was unable to join us, but we heard about his “Badass Humboldt Native” daughter Kelly Boreing Stevens, who helped Portland Police recover about 8,000 stolen N95 respirator masks in that city. The masks were stolen from Mercy Corps, and Kelly found that the thieves were selling them on Craigslist. She posed as a buyer and fronted the sting operation. Wow!!
Birthdays, anyone?
- Bryan Reeser had one, but we didn’t get to hear how he celebrated.
- Tami Camper celebrated at a vacation rental near Patrick’s Point, where she enjoyed a barbecue, camping, and watching the sunset.
- Craig Newman turned the “Big Seven-Oh”, and he celebrated with Janice, and both his boys were in town for the event.
- Matt Babich had dinner with a friend, and
- President AJ enjoyed takeout from Brick & Fire.
- Brandi Easter had planned to take the Perilous Plunge on her birthday, to raise funds for the Discovery Museum. The COVID-19 fears led the organization to make the Plunge a virtual event.
- Charlie Jordan took a walk in the Sunny Brae Community Forest, after which, her family did a “drive-by” celebration with her and they also communed virtually
RCAS is showing its support for local businesses, and our own Tamra James was hosting a Movewell Arcata event the next morning. HealthSport is offering online classes, Kinetic Koffee is providing home deliveries, and Bigfoot Taproom is offering growlers to go.
Dustin Littlefield provided an update on Rotary District 5130’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Mike Pazeian is putting together an article for the Mad River Union on “Our New Way of Life” – how this crisis has changed your life. If you would like to help him, please put together a paragraph (8 to 12 sentences), and send it his way.
We received economic updates from Gregg Foster (who, by the way, was sporting a stunning one-piece fleece Stormtrooper outfit). Gregg advises all small business owners to stay connected to the various online economic sources in Humboldt County and beyond.
And Andreas Krause came up with the “Stimulus Check Challenge”. If you can afford to part with some or all of your coming stimulus check, please share what you can with our RCAS Foundation or another nonprofit organization that is hurting right now. Andreas said that his contribution will help support support the Backpacks for Kids program. What a great idea! Thanks, Andreas!!
News from the City of Arcata
Arcata City Manager Karen Diemer was on hand (or online) to talk about how the COVID-19 crisis is affecting city services and programs. She said that City Hall is closed, except by appointment. All departments are open, however. The City Council and the Planning Commission are meeting online, and there is a lot of great information available on the City of Arcata website.
Karen also discussed a rent deferral program, and she said that the City has suspended all water shutoffs. The buses are still operating, and they are free (to avoid drivers being infected while accepting fares). She talked about the challenges involved in protecting the unsheltered population of the City. The Police Department surveyed members of that community recently to determine how best to help them.
Don’t miss a minute!
(Click here to view the video of the full meeting.)