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, during the COVID-19 pandemic, we are meeting online.
Please visit the RCAS Website for the meeting links.
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 Calendar …
RISE: “Rotary Involvement Strengthens Everyone“
- April 16-17 – District 5130 Training Assembly
- June 12-16 – The 2021 Rotary International Convention – Online!
- November 11-14 – The Zone Institute, tentatively scheduled for Tuscon, Arizona
- June 4-8, 2022 – The 2022 Rotary International Convention in Houston, Texas.
For Openers …
President Maggie opened Opportunity Door #1 (Gratitude and Fellowship) with a quick review of the visit from RI President Holger Knaack the previous week. We also welcomed visitor Jarad Petroske, who used to work at Advanced Security with President-Elect Ian Schatz.
Maggie also told us that our theme for this month’s Sunrise Swednesday (which will take place on March 10th at 5:30 pm) will be Compassionate Mindfulness, which will be led by Charli Murphy (aka Crystal Perez). There will also be a special drawing for a gift basket from Terri Clark – if you attend, you’ll be automatically entered!
The Rotarian of the Month for March will be Cam Appleton. That will give you a chance to learn more about one of our Charter Members!
Opportunity Door #2 was dedicated to Service and Community. Crystal Perez told us that our TAY (Transition Age Youth) Internship program is gaining momentum. We have two young women ready to start their 32-hour stints, and we are looking for more businesses that would like to participate. Remember, these are paid internships, but all of the bookkeeping and payment stuff is being handled by Sequoia Personnel Service (thank you, Tomas Chavez and crew!).
Past President AJ Gonzales brought us up to date on the activities of the Community Services Committee. He said that they had met the previous Wednesday, and they looked at supporting the NAACP Book Drive (which they hope that individual Sunrisers will also support), they discussed seeking tutoring opportunities, and they discussed ways to incorporate environmental elements into RCAS programs and activities.
Thanks went out to Romi Hitchcock Tinseth, Zoe Tinseth, and Jake, who took care of packing the week’s Backpacks for Kids.
We’re floating the idea of another round of golf … a second fundraising golf tournament for this Rotary Year, that is. Brandon Kakitsuka said that he had played in a tournament the previous week, and it seems like a great pandemic event. [Editor’s Note: Whenever I play golf, social distancing is not a problem – there’s nobody but me out in those woods looking for an errant drive.] Contact Brandon if you would like to be part of the planning, and especially if you can help on the day of the event.
On Saturday, March 22nd, our friends in the Arcata Noon Rotary will be hosting a “Drive-By Tri-Tip Dinner”. You can pick up a delicious meal at the Bayside Presbyterian Church between 4:30 and 6:30 pm. For info and to order, click here:
YUM! I LOVE TRI-TIP!! AND THERE’S A VEGETARIAN OPTION, TOO!! (It is Arcata, after all …)
President Maggie let us know that we can donate to Rotary’s efforts to help those suffering during the severe winter storms in Texas by contacting Scott Rainey, at 713-724-8595 or via email at srams@aol.com.
Rebecca Crow spent a few bucks to give President Maggie some grief for her time management issues. Unless I missed something, Rebecca is the only one to date to take Maggie up on her request for um … constructive criticism (?) in exchange for a donation to the Rotary Foundation. It’s time for the rest of us to step up our games and dis the boss!
Steve McHaney was on tap for words of gratitude, and he delivered! He said that he is grateful for the people around him, noting that he works with some great folks. Steve is also grateful for his family, especially his wonderful wife Patty. And he also appreciates the good weather we have been enjoying lately, because he has been able to ride his bike. Steve selected Rachel Sarvinski as the next Sunriser to offer words of gratitude, so we got to have a brief visit with her new baby, Isaac!
Lori Breyer let us know the current “standings” in the Club Health Challenge. There are three Sunrisers at or near the 100 mile mark – Maggie Kraft and Malinda D; Stephanie Lane, Ray Noggle/Noogle, and Lori are close to 200 miles; and Vanessa Griffin and Romi Hitchcock Tinseth are nearing the 300 milepost – and there is a Gregg Foster pie pledged to the winner!
Final Friday Auction and Other Foundation News
Before we got into the Final Friday Foundation Auction, Terri Clark announced that our Club’s newest Paul Harris Fellow is the aforementioned Isaac David Sarvinski! She also thanked Susan Diehl-McCarthy for her generosity, as she recently earned her PHF+1 for continuing to donate to the remarkable work of the Rotary Foundation.
So what happened with the Auction, you ask? Here are the results, or at least most of them:
- A Sourdough Pancake Breakfast package was donated by Ian Schatz. This included flapjacks created from Ian’s “super-secret recipe”, using all organic ingredients. The purchasers (who included Terri Clark, Lori Breyer, Barbara Browning, Rachel Sarvinski, Rebecca Crow, and Jeff Stebbins – although I think there were even more) will also receive a cooking lesson via Zoom, with the opportunity to ask Ian “anything”.
- Barbara Browning’s contribution was also food-themed. It was a Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat Starter Kit, which included the book by Samin Nosrat, kosher salt, Maldon Sea Salt, olive oil, lemons, silicone ice trays (for freezing lemon juice), Frank’s Red Hot Sauce, and a mini tote from the Philippines, to keep it all together. Our winner was Ceva Courtemanche.
- Lori Breyer donated a lesson (in-person or via Zoom) in preparing a specialty cocktail, under the guidance of Vanessa Griffin. Jeff Stebbins purchased the package, which also included a gift card from The Griffin.
- And Vanessa offered her own package, devoted to gardening. Her kit included gloves, a digging tool, cleanup essentials (soap, brush, and lotion) from Bubbles, and two cocktails of your choice from The Griffin, to help you unwind. JOYC (the Justice Of Your Club) provided the winning bid.
- Two Pandemic Recovery Baskets were donated by Susan Jansson. The first contained a spa towel, body wash, sanitizer, room mist, a Dick Taylor chocolate bar, a steel water bottle, Stash Tea, a 50-minute personal training session at HealthSport, a 30-minute massage, and HealthSport activewear. This was purchased by Lori Breyer.
- The second Pandemic Recovery Basket from Susan contained a hand towel, sanitizer, a gel pack, a chocolate bar, cream, foam bath, body wash, a zippered pouch, Stash Tea, and HealthSport activewear. AJ Gonzales was the winner of that package.
- Our final auction item was a KitchenAid 4.5 quart Tilt-Head Mixer, courtesy of Ceva Courtemanche and Hensel’s Ace Hardware. This item has been difficult to find lately, but Tom Tellez cast the winning bid, so he will be mixing it up soon!
Thanks to all of our donors and winners, we raised $1,170 for the great work that the Rotary Foundation does to improve our world.
We ended with a brief story from Cam Appleton. Paul Harris married the great aunt of Lisa – Cam’s wife. Cam said that she visited Paul Harris’s home, and noted that he was “very reserved”.
– Click here to view the complete meeting –