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.
Usually, we meet on most Fridays at 7 am in the Plaza View Room
at Arcata’s historic Jacoby Storehouse,
however, during the COVID-19 pandemic, we are meeting online.
Please visit the RCAS Website for the meeting links.
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 Calendar …
RISE: “Rotary Involvement Strengthens Everyone“
- June 12 – Adopt-A-Highway Cleanup – be at the Humboldt Coastal Nature Center at 10 am
- June 12-16 – The 2021 Rotary International Convention – Online!
- November 11-14 – The Zone Institute, tentatively scheduled for Tuscon, Arizona
- October 8, 2021 – The North Coast Ethics in Business Awards
- June 4-8, 2022 – The 2022 Rotary International Convention in Houston, Texas.
Gratitude and Service
We welcomed some dignitaries to the last Final Friday of President Maggie’s reign. These included Seri Walsh and Ava White from the Arcata High School Interact Club, David Mark-Raymond of the Sebastopol Sunrise Rotary, Former District Governor Kevin Eisenberg of the Rotary Club of Calistoga, Marty Lay of the Southwest Eureka Rotary, District Governor Designate Jennifer Strong, and Elizabeth Cruft-Anderson from the Major Gifts Office of the Rotary Foundation.
After the introductions, Amy Scolari shared a number of things that she is grateful for, including her “super supportive family and friends”. She said that she recently moved back in with her parents in Fortuna, which is indicative of their support, and she said that she also feels the strong support of the members of our Club.
Ian Schatz said that he is thankful for his family and for their health in the pandemic. He said that he was able to cut firewood for his father, which made him very happy. He will get to see his kids soon for a couple of weeks, which is great. Ian is also grateful for our family – the Arcata Sunrise family – with our school projects and the recent Board Retreat, he is looking forward to an exciting year as Club President starting in July.
President Maggie thanked all involved with the Peninsula School Project – John Gullam, Nick Torres, AJ Gonzales, Ian and Elizabeth Schatz, Jessica McKnight, Cam Appleton, and others. And Lisa Hemphill, Mike Pazeian, and President Maggie proved themselves worthy of our praise for packing the Backpacks for Kids that week. Vanessa Griffin will be hosting the next packfest, so be sure to sign up. And don’t forget the Adopt-A-Highway cleanup scheduled for 10 am on Saturday, June 12th.
Dues notices will be coming out soon. Please be sure to pay your dues in June if possible – if this is a hardship for you, please have a private discussion with President Maggie or one of our Directors.
June is Rotary Fellowship Month, and we will celebrate with a “Pirates Unite” gathering on Sunday, June 27th from 3 to 5 pm at the Griffin. Bring your best “Arrrgh” to the table.
Service After Self …
Our Final Friday meetings are dedicated to the great work of the Rotary Foundation. But the Foundation would not be able to operate if it were not for the generosity of so many Rotarians and others throughout the world. However, our Club and the Rotary Club of Southwest Eureka have two of the most giving Rotarians around – Marty Lay and Terri Clark! [We’ll wait while you give them a well-deserved ovation.] The couple recently became Level Four Major Donors. I’ll let you look it up, but that means that they have donated A LOT to the Foundation.
And they will continue their support when they are no longer with us – many, many decades from now – because they are also Level Five Members of the Bequest Society. That means that a significant portion of their estates will be donated to the Foundation as well. Elizabeth Cruft-Anderson, who is a Major Gifts Officer with the Rotary Foundation, was on hand to congratulate and thank Marty and Terri. We are in awe of them both!
The Foundation Final Friday Auction!
As I noted, Final Fridays are all about the Foundation. And the aforementioned Terri Clark told us that President Maggie recently became a Paul Harris Fellow … Plus Five! Thank you and congratulations, Maggie!!
Then it was down to business – the last Final Friday Auction of President Maggie’s year. Please read the section after the list of auction items for another amazing story of a Rotarian’s generosity … but first, the list:
- Scott Heller donated three bottles of fine wine which were purchased by Bryan Plumley and DG-to-be Jennifer Strong. Wait – did I say there were two winners? Then Scott must have doubled his donation! Wow!
- Sey Moore Dahlias donated a gift certificate for some of their beautiful flowers. John Gullam was the winning bidder.
- Ray Noggle provided gift certificates for his own Bigfoot Taproom and for The Griffin plus two t-shirts. This package went to the always generous JOYC (the Justice Of Your Club).
- An amazing “Canning Experience for Two” was offered by Rachel Sarvinski. The package includes the items you would like to can (with Cowboy Candy as one of the options), and the event will take place in Mama Nita’s Canning Room in Arcata. High bidder Ceva Courtemanche will be enjoying the fruits (and vegetables) of her labors for a long time to come!
- Did you know that gin can turn color? It can if it’s the amazing magical Empress Gin! Jeff Stebbins included that as part of a package that also contained gift certificates for the Plaza Grill and Mad River Gardens. The winner was Past President AJ Gonzales.
- Dick Johnson offered two ways to relax – with a gift certificate to the Spa at Personal Choice and two 375 ml bottles of Prosecco. The winner was Amy Scolari, who will be relaxing soon …
- A round of golf at Beau Pre Golf Course (with a cart) was Chris Hemphill’s contribution. But wait, there’s more … He included 24 additional balls (so you can avoid chasing after those errant shots into the woods, a 49ers towel, and a sleeve of balls with the logo of the Oakland A’s. Lori Breyer outbid everyone for that beauty!
- “Bob Wants to Send You to the Zoo” was the name of the prize offered by Bob Johnson. This included a Family Membership to the Sequoia Park Zoo, a Zoo backpack, two insulated cups, a notebook with colored pencils, a kids’ game, Redwood Skywalk stickers, a pink flamingo (plastic, I think), two Redwood Skywalk masks, and a $50 bill to buy some lunch. Whew!! Rachel Sarvinski won that awesome package for her recently expanded family!
- The last item was donated by Malinda Damme-Hinton. It was a full year of desserts – one per month, with special additions from Mama Nita (Malinda’s and Rachel’s mother). The winner was Dick Johnson. Watch for more of him in the coming year – much, much more!
Pretty generous, don’t you think? Thanks to all the donors and purchasers, we raised $2,400 for the Rotary Foundation. But there was one more aspect of this auction that I didn’t mention. It was a special “Stick It to Scott” edition of the auction. The a-ma-zing Scott Heller matched all of the money earned dollar for dollar. So we will actually be sending the Rotary Foundation a check for $4,800!! WOW!! Thank you Scott!!
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