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.
Please note – we will not meet on Friday, June 30th
We encourage you to join us for John Gullam’s first meeting as RCAS President on July 7th
For more information, 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“
- July 7 – The Gullam Era begins!
- August 26/27 – The Inaugural Rotary Kickball Tournament in Blue Lake – Save the days
For Openers
President Vanessa opened her last meeting by recapping the Board Meeting held earlier in the week. She announced that we met our goal for contributions to the Rotary Foundation. The Board also designated Nick Torres and Dick Johnson as Honorary Members. Naturally, Dick (also known as Your Editor) had something to say about it:
Vanessa also thanked those who stepped up to help with the carwash fundraiser for Outbound Exchange Student Cairo, and she reminded us to set aside August 26th and 27th for the Rotary Kickball Tournament in Blue Lake. Then she discussed the Mini Libraries project, and she assessed the Club’s interest in a possible Painting Project to be led by Charli Murphy (aka Crystal Perez).
Shoshanna’s Life in Just Under 19 Minutes!
The amazing (and ebullient) Shoshanna gave her Craft Talk, and it was a whirlwind of information and fun! She told us that she graduated from Arcata High School, and that one of her first jobs was with Adoption Horizons, and she loves being a belly dancer. She met her husband Adam when both were attending Humboldt State; Adam was a forestry major. They were married in 2006, and they have two daughters – Amira, who was born in 2007, and Elora, who came along three years later.
Shoshanna teaches Middle Eastern Dance at Cal Poly Humboldt and she runs a dance studio. She has a lot of other interests as well: family-friendly community events, art, helping small businesses, fostering healthy rural economic ecosystems, early childhood literacy, music, gardening, and fairies! (Please note that this listing is not comprehensive, simply indicative of Shoshanna’s wide-ranging interests.
With so many things going on in her life, it’s amazing (to an old man like me, at least) that Shoshanna has any energy left. BUT SHE DOES!!! She told us about a trip to Egypt, and how amazing Halloween was the last time it fell on a Saturday (with a full moon rising over the Plaza, which was decorated with giant skeletons). She loves the events she works on as the Youth Services Outreach Coordinator for the Humboldt County Library, and she served as the “Associate Fairy Godmother” for the Kinetic Sculpture Race. She also organized Arcata’s recent Fairy Festival. She is amazing and (did I say this already?) fun!! Please watch the video below – I’m going to take a short nap to recover before I continue this newsletter …
Giving Thanks …
Vanessa thanked a lot of people who provided help over her amazing year as Club President. First on her list was her “quietly amazing” Club Secretary, AJ Gonzales, then came her “level-headed” Treasurer, Sophie Saucedo. Next up was Past-President Ian Schatz, who served as Assistant Governor for our District, but really was “helping with every need we have”!
Other deserving Sunrisers on the thank-you list were Tom Tellez, Marty Lay, Charlie Jordan, Bob Johnson, Claire Ajina, Dustin Littlefield, Amanda Nelson, Stephanie Lane, Romi Hitchcock Tinseth, and Elder Statesman Craig Newman.
But no one can argue with Vanessa’s selection for Rotarian of the Year – she named “Foundation Chair Champion” Terri Clark. Terri can always be counted on to give her all for Rotary, and especially for our Club.
Vanessa then handed the reins over to our next Club President, John Gullam, and thanked him for his Rotary Service.
Before the final bell, however, there was one last (but very important) Sunriser to thank. Newly-minted Honorary Member Dick Johnson popped up to express our Club’s appreciation to President Vanessa for doing such an amazing job leading us over the past year. The Club gave her a well-deserved standing ovation to close the meeting.
Click below for a video of the entire meeting: