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.
We meet (almost) every Friday at 7 am in the Plaza View Room
of Arcata’s historic Jacoby Storehouse.
For more information and for the meeting links, please visit the RCAS Website.
Rotary Vision
Together, we see a world where people unite and take action to create
lasting change – across the globe, in our communities, and in ourselves.
The RCAS Calendar
RISE: “Rotary Involvement Strengthens Everyone“
- January 26 – RCAS Fellowship at the Cal Poly Jacks Basketball game
- February 19 – RCAS Charter Celebration!
- March 31 & April 1 – District Training Assembly
- May 4-7 – District Conference at Konocti Harbor Resort
- May 27-31 – Rotary International Convention in Melbourne, Australia
For Openers
After the introductions of Visiting Rotarians and our guests, we heard from Lazo, our Exchange Student from Uganda. Lazo talked about his first Thanksgiving in America. Dustin Littlefield discussed the return of the AIBT – the Arcata Invitational Basketball Tournament after a long pandemic-induced absence. Then Jessica McKnight reminded us that the RCAS Holiday Party would take place that evening. And Romi Hitchcock asked us to please attend the 5th Annual Justice for Josiah remembrance and holiday necessities distribution the following day.
We welcomed two new Rotarians into Arcata Sunrise. Bob Johnson presided over the induction ceremony for Shoshanna Rose and Walt Geist, who were sponsored by President Vanessa and Angela Robershotte respectively. Welcome to Rotary!!
Sandy in Arcata?
Our Featured Speaker was Sandy Schultz, also known as “Sandy in Honduras”, Sandy is a former Peace Corps volunteer who has devoted about a quarter of a century to helping Honduran children with serious medical needs. She has corralled medical providers to perform surgeries to correct issues including club foot, cleft lip, orthopedic repairs, and more. She noted that the process takes time. And while the parents are immensely grateful, sometimes the children are not so appreciative … in the short term, at least.
Sandy shared photos and some details of the most recent successes, including Jose and Jefferson. She closed by showing photos she has taken while bird watching in Honduras. After her presentation, Sunriser Howard Stauffer announced that our Club would be making a donation to her nonprofit, to help support the wonderful work she continues to do.
You can earn more about Sandy’s work by visiting this Facebook page:
In Closing
The video does not include the weekly raffle, but it should be noted that the two winners were our two new Sunrisers – Walt and Shoshanna!
It does include a suggestion that you seriously consider serving as a Host Parent for an Inbound Exchange Student. It will enrich your life in ways you cannot imagine.
We also heard that the Membership Committee is seeking experienced Rotarians to serve as mentors for newer Sunrisers.
We are all happy for Lori Breyer, who recently retired, and who now plans to visit her grandkids – often!
John Gullam explained the Backpacks for Kids program, and President Vanessa gave us a brief glimpse into the future.