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.
For more information and for the meeting links, 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“
- October 1 – Oktoberfest! Drive-thru fundraiser for RCAS at the Griffin
- October 15 – Foundation Dinner North – Mardi Gras!!
- October 16 – Fellowship Event – Miniature Golf action!
- October 19 – Women of Rotary meeting at the Griffin
- November 17 – The return of in-person Taste of the Holidays! All hands on deck at the Arcata Community Center!
- March 31 & April 1 – District Training Assembly
- May 4-7 – District Conference at Konocti Harbor Resort
- May 27-31 – Rotary International Convention in Melbourne, Australia
For Openers
President Vanessa reviewed the events of the last couple of weeks, showing photos from the previous week’s Field Trip to Nordic Aquafarms, the RCAS team for the Out of the Darkness Walk, and our fellowship event on the Madaket. We also saw a shot of Tom Tellez, who traveled to New York to attend a surprise party for a friend, then went on to travel to Paris! We saw Janice Newman’s “new wheels”, helping her get around. And there was even a photo of a structure that had repurposed some “Joyce Hinrichs for Judge” campaign signs from 1996.
Vanessa then provided a Board of Directors update. The group voted to donate $2,000 to support the Lost Coast Rotaract Club, they increased our Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) budget to allow us to send two students to the leadership camp next summer, and they discussed the Dictionaries for Third Graders program. There was also a discussion about when we should wear our Sunrise Rotary t-shirts to events hosted by other organizations.
Matt Cendejas, President of the previously-mentioned Lost Coast Rotaract Club, was on hand to provide an update on his group’s plans and activities. Matt said that the Rotaractors are excited to go after the long pandemic hiatus. They are looking to gain new members, so if you know any young people who are interested in a way to help their community, have them contact Matt.
There was a dire warning about the Oktoberfest event, coming up on Saturday, October 1st. As of the morning of our meeting, only nine dinners had been sold. The call went out to all of us, asking us to volunteer, purchase meals, and promote the event. And the Taste of the Holidays Committee provided an update.
We held a quick fundraiser for Inbound Exchange Student Lazo from Uganda. Pastries and coffee netted a total of $150 to help fund his future excursions, such as the Rotary Western Safari – a tour of the southwest for Rotary Exchange Students, which takes place each spring.
Speaking of young people, Cecelia Eggleston visited us via Zoom. Cecelia received our four-year scholarship as part of the Arcata High School Class of 2020. She is attending UCLA, majoring in pre-med and public health. She’s getting ready to be of service to her community!
Pat Knittel’s Craft Talk!
Pat Knittel joined our Club at President Vanessa’s first meeting on July 8th. She jumped right in, and has been a great Sunriser. But what did we really know about her? Well, we learned a lot from her Craft Talk!
Pat’s family moved here from Southern California when she was three years old. She grew up in Freshwater, attending Garfield School (which has since been demolished). She showed us a photo of the Times-Standard being delivered to her home via horse. She still lives in the house where she grew up.
She was a music major in college, and worked in banking for a while, trying to decide “what I wanted to do when I grew up”.. She went to Napa and attended Napa Valley College and the UC Davis remote program there “to learn how to ferment things”. For 15 years, she worked in wine industry in Napa and Sonoma Counties, and she even participated in two harvests in New Zealand, learning more at each stop. One of the important things she learned from her mentors was that you can’t take a “recipe” approach to winemaking. You have to work with each individual harvest, maximizing the qualities of the fruit you have in hand.
In 2014, she moved back to our community, and she soon founded North Story Wines and the Wrangletown Cider Company. She started Wrangletown because apples are a big part of the history of Humboldt County. Pat uses only the juice she gets in the fall of each year, all from local orchards. This practice allows her to identify the bottles with orchard-specific labels, so you know just where the cider comes from. She told us that her winemaking background has been critical to creating the best possible cider.
Pat told us that among her favorite things are … dogs! In about 2009, she had a dog that had some issues, so she sought assistance from behavioral trainers in the Bay Area. Her research led her to take classes in the subject, and she became a trainer and puppy socialization expert.
You can find Pat (and her ciders and wines) at Wrangletown Cider Company and North Story Wines at 955 I Street, in downtown Arcata.
Tia Baratelle of Hospice of Humboldt
Our Featured Speaker was Tia Baratelle, the Development Director for Hospice of Humboldt. Tia has been with the organization since April of last year, after over ten years with Planned Parenthood of Northern California and Six Rivers Planned Parenthood.
She told us that Hospice of Humboldt was founded in 1979, and it was an all-volunteer organization for its first decade. In 1989, the agency was certified to serve Medicare patients, which allowed an expansion of services and staff. The Hospice House was opened in October 2016, on the organization’s grounds a few blocks off Harris Street in Eureka. Earlier this year, Hospice launched a new home-based palliative care service, which helps provide support for those suffering from a serious but perhaps not life-threatening illness.
Hospice of Humboldt serves an average of 130 patients each day, within a 50-mile radius from its Eureka site. They employ about 100 staff members and work with about 100 volunteers. Its mission is to provide “heartfelt end-of-life care and grief support services”. For more information, click on their logo to visit the Hospice of Humboldt website:
In Closing
Following our raffle – in which somebody at a back table won some big dough – DEI Committee member Rebecca Crow noted that it was Native American Day. This honors those who have been a part of the American tradition since before Europeans and others came to this land. It is intended to help change the way that people view Native Americans and their varied cultures.
Lisa Hemphill reminded us that Backpacks for Kids – the Food for People program that provides a bag of kid-friendly food to income-eligible students during the school year – will be starting up soon. We will once again be packing the bags following our meetings, and delivering to three local elementary schools. Please check your emails for the Signup Genius requests for assistance.