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 most Fridays at 7 am in the Plaza View Room at Arcata’s historic Jacoby Storehouse.
The Calendar …
RISE: “Rotary Involvement Strengthens Everyone“
Sunday, August 12: The Humboldt Bay Marathon is looking for volunteers to help direct runners.
Monday, August 13: Help welcome our new Inbound Exchange Student from Germany – Finn! He is scheduled to arrive at the airport at 5:28 pm. He won’t be there long before his Host Family, Andreas and Jen Krause, take him home. On the 13th, you can check to see whether his flight is on time by clicking this link: United Airlines Flight Status. He will be arriving on UA 5555.
Sunday, September 9: “Out of the Darkness” Community Walk to raise funds and awareness for suicide prevention. Registration on the Arcata Plaza is at 9 am; the walk begins at 10 am.
Committee Meetings
Youth Exchange – Monday, August 6th
Spring Fundraiser – Wednesday, August 8th
Other Important Stuff
Links for monetary donations to fire relief via Rotary
Mendocino/Lake Counties: https://www.larca5130.org/
Victims of the Carr Fire: http://www.shastarcf.org/funds/cdrf Please be sure to enter #NorCalRotary in the notes section as you enter your donation.
Rotarians of the Week & Sojourning Sunrisers
President Ray ended Dick Johnson’s long reign as Rotarian of the Week(s) by naming two new honorees – Romi Hitchcock Tinseth and Jessica McKnight are the co-Rotarians of the Week! They were selected for reasons that are obvious to all Sunrisers. They do everything that is asked of them (before they are asked), and they do so much more! Congratulations!
Our Sojourning Sunrisers were Jennifer Coriell and Tami Camper. Also traveling was President Ray, and he gives us an update and further instructions for The Great Rotary Pin Hunt.
Off to Brazil … Soon!
2018-2019 Outbound Rotary Exchange Student Travis Naman leaves for Brazil within the next few weeks. Before his departure, he stopped by to talk with us about his impending adventure, why he decided to spend a year in another country, and why he opted for a Rotary Exchange!
Supporting the Rotary Foundation in a Big Way!
Sunriser Terri Clark is a Past District Governor and our Club’s Foundation Chair. There is no questioning her dedication to the Rotary Foundation. So it was no big surprise when Jim Flamson – a PDG himself and the District Foundation Chair – visited us to announce that Terri and her Rotarian husband Marty Lay had recently entered the Third Level of Major Donors, by contributing a cumulative total of more than $50,000 to the Foundation. Congratulations to a very generous couple!! Thank you both!
We also recognized Exchange Student Travis Naman as a Paul Harris Fellow, and we honored Karen Burgesser, who has worked to make each of her grandchildren Paul Harris Fellows.
The First Final Friday Auction of Ray’s Reign!
Our Fabulous Final Friday Foundation Auction for July was another success. The theme was “Summer Fun”, and the auction prizes filled the bill.
Maggie Kraft either volunteered or was drafted to be the Auctioneer, and we had a great time – complete with product durability tests! Here are the results:
- Nick Torres provided a basket of goodies that included unbreakable dishware. (Check out the video of the full meeting for more details.) Unfortunately, with dishes flying about, I didn’t catch the name of the winning bidder.
- A couple of delicious-looking pies that had been originally slated for a Damme Family Dessert were hijacked by Rachel Damme and Malinda Damme. Their family may be disappointed, but winner Randy Mendosa and his family will not!
- As noted above, Sunriser Terri Clark is a very generous person, evidenced by the Rotary Travel Bag she donated, along with treasures from her side trip to New York. Chris Hemphill outbid all others to bring that prize home.
- Karen Burgesser is also very generous (also see above)! She donated a “Lazy, Hazy, Crazy Days of Summer” package – a soft rolling cooler/backpack filled with “soda and pretzels and beer”. She also threw in a zero-gravity outdoor chaise and a book of local trails. Dick Johnson (aka Your Editor) won that great summer package!
- The final prize was another rolling cooler – filled with Coronas – offered by Jose Zapata. As the bidding approached the $125 mark, President Ray offered to add a bottle of Bacardi 151 Rum to the package (if the winning bid hit $151), that convinced Shannon Maciel to make it happen!
Thanks to the generous donors and bidders, we raised $701 for the great work of the Rotary Foundation!
“Watch this episode of The Adventures of President Ray!“
(Click on President Ray’s photo to view the video of the full meeting.)