RISE Calendar … “Rotary Involvement Strengthens Everyone”
July 16 – Opening of the World War II Memorial at the California Redwood Coast/Humboldt County Airport – 2 pm
August 19 – Field Trip Meeting at Arcata High School to check out its new Fine Arts Center!
September 11 -“Out of the Darkness” Suicide Awareness Walk – meet at the Arcata Plaza at 9 am
Susan Makes Her Debut at our Club President
Susan Jansson learned about Rotary early – her father was a Rotarian, and she became a Paul Harris 
Fellow through his efforts. She is excited about her Presidential Year, and she has a two-part theme for us to follow:
“Putting the FUN in FUNdraising … and the FITNESS in Rotarians!”
The first part of the theme came from Charter Sunriser Bob Johnson, because we do have fun with our fundraisers. Susan noted that the money we raise in our various events allows us to do some pretty amazing things in our local community and in the global community as well. But that doesn’t mean that we don’t have fun in the process – in fact, that’s one of our Club’s great qualities. President Susan wants us to keep up our efforts, and to look for add
itional ways to have fun while raising funds.
In implementing the second half of the theme, Susan did have some yummy/healthy smoothies available for us last Friday, and she also led us in air squats. My thighs protested a bit, but it was good for us. (Gotta keep telling myself that …) Susan reminded us that we are at the “Before” stage, and encouraged us to visualize the “After”.
What FUN Looks Like in 2016-2017, per President Susan:
- We will engage and grow membership
- We will have fun hands-on projects and fun activities
- We will create new FUNdraisers
- We will donate our money to meaningful projects
- We will organize a 100-year Rotary Foundation event
- We will create a Rotary Fitness Challenge for RCAS
A Rotary Minute
President Susan asked Past District Governor Erin Dunn to provide the morning’s “Rotary Minute”. Erin visits often, and she told us that she loves to do so because “you are the heart of Rotary; you are the epitome of Rotary”. She noted that our Club earned several awards at the District Conference in May, but she wanted to announce another award that wasn’t completely tallied by that event.
“You’ve achieved something that only a few other Clubs in the District achieved last year,” she told us. “It’s a really difficult task. You received your Presidential Citation for 2015-2016. Congratulations to all of you on that achievement!” She continued noting that she has traveled around the District, and this was the first meeting where she had a smoothie! But she wanted us to know “how special you are, and thank you for the great work you do for Rotary, in every aspect!”
Your 2016-2017 Board of Directors
President Susan introduced this year’s Board of Directors, along with Sunrisers who are doing additional work at the District level:
The Executive Committee consists of President Susan, Past President/Secretary Howard Stauffer, Treasurer Bryan Reeser, Sergeant-at-Arms Janice Newman, President-Elect Dustin Littlefield, and Former President Barbara Browning.
Rounding out the Board are Terri Clark, Carol Vander Meer, Maggie Kraft, Ray Noggle, and Steve McHaney. Sunrisers who are serving District 5130 include Ian Schatz, Lori Breyer, Dick Johnson, and Barbara Browning.
New This Year …
President Susan will be adding some new twists this year. In addition to the Rotary Minute, we will share Sunrise Moments – these will include coming events, which may or may not be directly sponsored by our Club or by Rotary. As examples, she noted our coming Field Trip to see the new Arcata High Fine Arts Center on August 19th, and the “Out of the Darkness” suicide awareness walk on September 11th.
In addition, we are encouraged to share “brags, news, and special events” from our lives. Susan wants us to talk about the many things that Sunrisers do for the community, beyond our Rotary contributions. She warned us that in future meetings, sharing will entail a small donation, and she promised more information about that soon.
To get us started, President Susan called on Gregg Foster to share something. “Let me get over my natural reticence and shyness here,” he said, before saying that he is really involved (“Really involved”) with the local airport situation, “to the point that I actually married the airport lady”. He was happy to report that for the first six months of 2016, traffic is up almost 33 percent over last year.
Carol Vander Meer announced that the Annual Sand Sculpture Festival, which benefits the Friends of the Dunes, would take place the next day. So we’re hoping to see photos of some creative artwork next week.
Maggie Kraft recently downsized from a 1,500 square foot house to an apartment that has less than a third of that area. “It’s good that I love puzzles,” she told us. “I couldn’t move [in the apartment] until I moved that. Then, I had to move that, then I had to move that, until I was back where I started.” Her organization, the Area 1 Agency on Aging, provides moving assistance to people who are downsizing, as she did.
Susan then asked Ceva Courtemanche what she’s been up to. She told us that her son Hayes recently attended a horse camp in Orleans. He was joined at the camp by about 20 cousins from as far away as Washington! Later, the family visited friends in Sacramento, to visit and hang out by the pool.
Lisa Hemphill told us that Exchange Student Sophia Waern-Bugge would wrap up the Rotary Western Safari over the weekend. She has just a week in town before she returns to Sweden on Sunday. Lisa and her Sunriser husband Chris will host a farewell party on the 16th. Watch for the email invite!
Featured Program: TRiO Upward Bound
A fairly large contingent from HSU’s TRiO Upward Bound program attended our meeting, and we heard from three participants. Upward Bound is a college prep program that seeks to help limited income high school develop the skills and motivation they will need to succeed in college. There are six target schools for the local program – Arcata High, Hoopa Valley High, and South Fork High in Humboldt County, and Trinity High, Southern Trinity High, and Hayfork High in Trinity County. The program operates year-round, with a summer residential session and an academic year component.
Students Jenny, Courtney, and Vanessa told us how the program works. Each of these young women has been in the program for at least three years. They talked with us about how Upward Bound has impacted their lives. Jenny said that many aspects of the program have been helpful, but this year, she is receiving help in the college admission process. She will be the first member of her family to attend college, and she would have been uncertain how to proceed if she hadn’t received assistance and support from Upward Bound staff and participants.
Courtney told us that, in addition to the academic support, Upward Bound helps participants develop their social skills. She said that, when she started with the program, “I didn’t really know where I fit in.” Like many of us, she was unsure of herself in social settings, especially in large groups. She soon discovered that “Upward Bound is a place where you’re just free to be you”. She considers it like a large family that supports you and loves you. She has bonded with her roommate of the last two summers, and thinks of her as a sister and a best friend. “I don’t know what I would do without her,” Courtney said, “and I thank Upward Bound everyday that I got the chance to know her.”
Vanessa said that the summer session is followed by an week-long “after-program”. This involves a college tour, with different colleges visited each year. One year, the group visited schools in Oregon, and the next year’s tour looked at schools in the Bay Area. Vanessa said that, although she has researched many of these schools online to get hard information, “it’s a whole different experience actually being there, and getting to walk around and see what it’s like”. All of the colleges she applied to were ones she had visited on the tour, and she has decided to attend Sonoma State in the fall.
Upward Bound has given its participants develop academically and socially, Jenny said, and it has provided a framework for them to help make decisions about their lives after high school. “Upward Bound is a place,” she said, “that we will always remember. It will always be a part of us – we’ll always be part of the UB family.”
Sunriser Kyle Visser told us that he was the first in his family to attend college, and he participated in the Upward Bound Talent Search program several years ago. He said that the program was a great help to him.
Special Daze
Lori Breyer’s birthday is coming up on July 16th, and her plans include going to Sophia’s farewell party. Chris Hemphill said that now he’s going to have to get a cake … July 29th will be Kyle Visser’s birthday, but he told us, “I don’t plan my personal life that far ahead.” He is hoping for a day working in the garden with his wife and kids.
The anniversary of Barbara Browning and Ron Sharp took place on Sunday, July 10th. The couple had planned to have dinner at Larrupin’s, but a bit of oral surgery for Barbara put the kibosh on that (for now). Barbara braved the pain to attend President Susan’s first meeting, however, saying, “I wouldn’t have missed it!” … No surgery was involved in the 20th anniversary celebration for John Gullam and Denise Fitzgerald on July 1st. Denise did post a lot of wedding photos to Facebook in honor of the occasion, and they had dinner at Moonstone Grill following a sunset walk on the beach … Romi Hitchcock Tinseth and her husband Glenn don’t have big plans for their July 16th anniversary, since “it’s an odd one”. With their wedding attire 25th anniversary blowout a few years ago, they are keeping a relatively low profile for a while … Bryan and Susie Reeser will celebrate on July 12th. Bryan said that they had reservations for dinner, and that they planned to attend the Giants game the day before … Julie Vaissade-Elcock and her husband – Visiting Rotarian Stan Elcock – were both at Friday’s meeting. Their 36th anniversary is also on July 12th, and they didn’t have any advance plans. Julie solicited ideas from her fellow Sunrisers, but no firm plans were made …