Welcome to the Sunrise Spirit –
the Weekly Newsletter of The Rotary Club of Arcata Sunrise
Our Next Meeting
There will not be a meeting on Friday, May 26th; we are holding our annual Fireside Meetings to plan the coming Rotary Year. We will return to the Jacoby Storehouse on Friday, June 2nd to begin President Susan’s final home stand. You are welcome to join us!
RISE Calendar …
“Rotary Involvement Strengthens Everyone“
June 2 – The Steve Brodhag Golf and Crown Royal Classic at Baywood – a fundraiser for the Rotary Club of Southwest Eureka. Contact Emanuel Rose to participate. We have three RCAS teams so far, but more would be welcome!
June 10-14 – The Rotary International Convention in Atlanta, Georgia
June 17 – RCAS Food Booth at the Arcata Bay Oyster Festival
August 13-19 – Pedal for Polio bike ride to raise awareness and funds to support Rotary’s fight against polio. Participants will ride from Crescent City to Petaluma (or portions of the route)
August 5 – Kevin Ebbert Campout – Details to be announced
August 27 – Kevin Ebbert Memorial Trail Run in Arcata Community Forest. Sign up at any HealthSport location.
Sunrise Moments
The Judy Report: This week’s report from Yi Ting “Judy” Chen – our Exchange Student from Taiwan – includes her trip to Lake Tahoe for the District Conference:
Rotarian of the Year! At this year’s District Conference, Sunriser Lori Breyer was named the District 5130 Rotarian of the Year. Here she tells us what the honor means to her:
Remembering The Fallen
Since this was our last meeting before Memorial Day, Sunriser and Veteran Tom Tellez gave a moving presentation about the meaning and history of the holiday, and we heard from Gold Star Mother Charlie Jordan, whose son (and President Susan’s son-in-law), Keven Ebbert, was killed in Afghanistan in 2012. Charlie talked about the ways Kevin’s fellow SEALS continue to keep his memory and spirit alive.
There will be two events this summer to honor Kevin’s legacy – the Kevin Ebbert Campout, which will be held August 5th, and the annual Kevin Ebbert Memorial Trail Run, which will take place in the Arcata Community Forest on August 27th.
Here is the RCAS tribute to Kevin and to the others who have fallen defending our country:
Foundation Final Friday – Part I
This Rotary Year, we are celebrating the centennial of the Rotary Foundation, and our Club is presenting a special pin commemorating the event to each Sunriser who contributes $100 or more. Foundation Chair Terri Clark gave pins to these generous Rotarians: Michael Boreing, John Gullam, Randy Mendosa, Karen Burgesser, Bryan Reeser, and Bob Johnson. Thank you all, and to the Sunrisers previously honored!
It is a long-standing tradition in our Club to honor our Exchange Students – both inbound and outbound – by donating $1,000 to the Rotary Foundation in their names, so they become Paul Harris Fellows. At our meeting, Terri Clark announced that Outbound Exchanger Isabella White is our latest honoree. Isabella will be leaving for Denmark this summer to represent our Club and the US, and we are proud to have made this donation on her behalf.
Foundation Final Friday – Part II
We held our last Final Friday Auction of the Rotary Year, and it was a goodie! At least there were lots of goodies that were up for bid. Here’s a list of the donors, the prizes, and the winning bidders. (Remember, all the proceeds go to the Rotary Foundation!)
- A complete kit for making Manhattans (the cocktails, not the island or the Project – although that would be cool) was donated by Bryan Reeser. Your Editor was the purchaser.
- Jeff Stebbins hand-crafted an alcohol dispenser that was not quite finished at the meeting (check out the full meeting video to see it). The project held so much promise that Ian Schatz had to have it … when it’s ready.
- Tom Tellez provided a tall order – a 3 liter bottle of Italian wine. It was purchased by Lori Breyer.
- A gift certificate for the Plaza Grill was donated by Deb Engs, and Praj White offered the winning bid
- Michael Boreing offered a one-hour twilight kayaking package, and the winning bidder (and soon to be paddler) was Nick Torres.
- Although she couldn’t be at the meeting, Ashliegh Diehl donated two bottles of Parducci wine. The package was purchase by Auctioneer (and Charter Sunriser) Bob Johnson. In an amazing plot twist, Bob immediately donated the wine back to the auction, and it was re-purchased by Cam Appleton! Whodathunkit!
- Tom Tellez donated his second bottle of wine – a slightly less tall bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon. President Susan snapped that up, which left us with …
- … Leftovers? The Club had four bottles of fine wine remaining after our Spring Fundraiser, and these went as a package deal to Craig Newman!
Thanks to the generosity of the donors and purchasers, we raised another $1,050 for the Rotary Foundation!
