May 31, 2019 – Final Friday

Welcome to the Sunrise Spirit –
the Weekly Newsletter of The Rotary Club of Arcata Sunrise


President Ray … and His Voice

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

Friday, June 7: We congratulate the Academic Top Ten Percent of Arcata High School’s Class of 2019 at our 7 am meeting.
Saturday, June 8: The Lost Coast Rotaract Club hosts their 8th Annual Food & Wine Pairing (and Silent Auction) from 6 to 9 pm at the Sequoia Conference Center in Eureka.
Saturday, June 29: RCAS work party at Bayside Community Hall

Additional Important Stuff

The Arcata High School Interact Club meets every Friday at 12:20 pm during the school year.
The North Bay Rotaract Club meets in the Plaza View Room at Jacoby’s Storehouse at 6 pm on the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays of each month.

Congratulations, Announcements, and ROTW

Steve McHaney and the rest of his Trilobike crew were the Grand Champions of the 2019 Kinetic Sculpture Race – for the third consecutive year! Steve said that he is retiring from the competition, at least for now. But he will have a showing of his art very soon, so we’ll watch for that.

Sophie Saucedo invited us to the debunking of the North Bay Rotaract Club President Jordan Jones. The event will take place on June 14th at Wallace & Hinz, starting at 6:30 pm.

The next day, RCAS will be staffing the beer booth at the Arcata Bay Oyster Festival. Check your emails for a Sign Up Genius message!

President Ray selected Dick Johnson as his Rotarian of the Week, from a nomination by Crystal Perez.

Let’s Hear It for the Rotary Foundation … and RCAS!!

Terri Clark chairs our Club’s Rotary Foundation Committee, and she brings a passion to the task … and a lot of great stories. Here, she tells us about the first Paul Harris Fellow from Vietnam.

This is followed by Dick Johnson expressing his appreciation for the generosity of the members of our Club.

The Fabulous Final Friday Foundation Auction

Okay – you probably already know this by now, but just in case … Our Club dedicates the last Friday of most months to a celebration of the a-mazing work of the Rotary Foundation. In addition to discussing what the Foundation does (see the video above), we hold an auction. Sunrisers (and sometimes others) donate items and packagesto be auctioned off, and other Sunrisers (and sometimes others) purchase those items and packages. All of the proceeds are donated to the Rotary Foundation; for each item, the donor and the purchaser split the amount as credits to their Paul Harris Fellow accounts. It’s truly a win-win-win proposition, and it was the brainstorm of former RCAS President Craig Newman!

There was a special twist for this auction – the last Final Friday Foundation Auction of President Ray’s Rotary Year. Scott Heller agreed to match all the proceeds with his own donation! Auctioneer Bob Johnson encouraged the bidders to “Stick it to Scott“! Here what was on the auction block:

  • Deb Engs donated a Gift Certificate for the Spa at Personal Choice in Eureka. Perennial purchaser (and many-time Paul Harris Fellow) JOYC offered the top bid.
  • Randy Mendosa provided not one, but two pies from A Slice of Humboldt Pie. John Gullam bought the blackberry one, and Ian Schatz went home with the apple pie.
  • Ian was also the top bidder on a package that Sarah James brought in. It was a basket filled with goodies, including wine, jams, a candle holder, and a Fire & Light piece!
  • The aforementioned Terri Clark donated a ticket for Martinis By The Bay – a fundraiser put on by the Rotary Club of Southwest Eureka. Tom Tellez will be doing some serious sipping at that event!
  • President Ray donated a gift card from … well, I just don’t know. But I’m sure that Lori Breyer knows, ’cause she was the top bidder!
  • I do know that Bryan Reeser contributed a Fire & Light Bowl with matching goblets and some Moonstone wine. That was yet another item purchased by JOYC!
  • A “Netflix and Chill” package came from Patti Campbell, and it was won by Lori Breyer!
  • Crystal Perez brought in a bottle of Cabernet, some plants with a decorative holder, and tickets to the Lost Coast Rotaract Club’s Food & Wine Pairing fundraiser. Ian Schatz gladly ponied up the winning bid for that item!
  • Seven bottles of wine were on the block also. They were all that remained from our recent Taste of Spring fundraiser. The happy purchasers were Nick Torres, Brandon Kakitsuka, Bryan Reeser, Randy Mendosa, AJ Gonzales, Deb Engs, and Bob Johnson.
  • Jeff Stebbins offered a pair of two-night stays at his Benbow cabin. The two buyers were Ian Schatz and Lori Breyer.
  • Finally, Exchange Student Finn Grewe sold five birdhouses, with the proceeds going to help fund his imminent Western Safari Trip. That is a Rotary Youth Exchange tour of several locations in the Southwest and Southern California. Those who will be hosting avian visitors included JOYC, Terri Clark, Lisa Hemphill, AJ Gonzales, and Dick Johnson

So how did the “Stick it to Scott” campaign fare? The bids and donations totaled $1,695; with Scott’s super-generous match, we raised a total of $3,390!! Thank you all!!!


“Watch this episode of The Adventures of President Ray!(Click on President Ray’s photo to view the video of the full meeting.)Save

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