Garberville Rotary Blog

Humboldt Feast, Garberville Rotary Club.

2011-08-03T10:54:00.000-07:00

Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their service club. At least, so say the other Garberville Rotary Club members. So they are holding my fingers to the keyboard.

We are in the midst of the final stages of having an environmentally correct fund raiser for the many great pursuits of our small Rotary Club, September 17th 2011. We are calling the event “Humboldt Feast”, where everything served is organic and from the local area, within a hundred miles, or with good justification for coming from further away, like organic pineapples will have to come from somewhere more tropical. We will have numerous booths from which artisans will serve samples of their ware.

The tickets will be $50.00 each. Ticket buyers will be presented with an etched wine tasting glass to taste the various wines that will be presented. The glass will be your souvenir, to keep with your collection of event wine glasses. Various cheeses will be there. Some of the world’s finest cheeses come from right here in Humboldt County. Did you know that? This will be your chance to taste some. Local produce will be presented, maybe some local mustards, or sauces. Who knows? Many people are just beginning to sign up for booths. There will be acoustic bands playing, and some organizations will be passing out brochures on what they are doing to improve the environment.

The event is what, nowadays, is called "a green event", where everything is environmentally correct. The foods served will be grown and presented in an earth responsible manner. Whether the foods are oysters, beef, barley, or mayonnaise it will be earth friendly, or at least the earth friendliest product available. Each item served will be able to justify it’s “Green-ness” The event will be held in the Garberville Community Park, in the back south-east corner, what is popularly known as, “The wedding Grove”. You will be able to stroll through the widely spaced booths on the mowed grass. You will have the opportunity to observe the many wild birds of the park, and listen to their songs. The area is tucked away from outside noise. It will be like you are attending a private party, which, indeed, you will be. It will be for ticket holders only

Rotarians by their nature have a tendency to be too modest. For instance, not many people know that in 1985 the Rotary International took on the project of curing polio in the world. We knew that it would be the largest project that we had ever taken on. We estimated (hoped) that it would take us five years to immunize everybody in the world. As you know we are far beyond that five years, but we have effectively cured polio, you probably don’t know any recent polio victims. But, we still have to immunize everybody until the disease is dead like smallpox.

The Bill and Melinda Gates foundation gave the Rotary Club 355 million dollars to finish curing polio in the world, with the stipulation that the Rotary International would match 200 million of that amount. I have no idea how much that I have contributed to cure polio but I have given a significant amount. (To me, it’s significant) Altogether we will be spending 555 million dollars more to finish curing polio.

Curing polio is something that is near and dear to my heart. When I was a child growing up in Laytonville, I went to school with a kid that got polio. He was a great athlete, he loved to play baseball, he was vigorous and active in every way. One day I went to school and he was gone. The teacher, in tears, explained to us that he had gotten polio, and that “we should pray for him because polio was a very serious disease“. It was about a year before he came back to school, he was puffy from lack of exercise, and he had braces on both legs. He could barely get around on crutches. You have no idea what an impact that had on my young mind. Since then Polio has been a bitter enemy.

Wherever you see a child being immunized for polio in the world, you will see a Rotarian. They are down in the trenches doing the work. Rotarians are the heads of airlines, trucking companies, pharmaceutical companies, and every other walk of life. They make it happen. Whenever that I get discouraged about some small thing that someone in the local club is doing wrong, I think of my childhood friend, and know that I can put up with just about anything to cure Polio. We as Rotarians are curing polio.

The Humboldt Feast is only one of the things that we do to raise funds for the many, not just polio, but many worthwhile projects that we do. We will all be there.

Ask Dennis what the Garberville Rotary club has done for the schools. Ask Karen about, personally, planting trees in a South American rainforest to offset the carbon usage of the Garberville Rotary Club. Ask Brian Walker about traveling all over the world to cure Cleft Pallets. Ask about the orphanage in Mexico, or the one in Kenya. Ask about earthquake relief. Ask Seth about what it’s like to host a foreign exchange student. Ask Nancy about all the things that we do for the hospital and the projects that we do in the local community. Ask me about the local Culinary Arts project, or Nicks Interns that are working to revitalize the local forests and streams, or ask me what we are doing to help local workers and businesses. Ask any Rotarian what they are doing. You will be amazed at how involved that they are in the world around them.

Please link to Humboldt Feast for more information here: Humboldt Feast.

ROTAPLAST GUATEMALA 5/16-5/30

2010-05-13T20:14:00.000-07:00

rotaplast.org or http://sites.google.com/site/rotaplastreu2010

Rotaplast Mission

2010-01-18T12:59:00.000-08:00

Link to all Rotaplast Missions

Polio

2008-11-01T10:43:00.000-07:00

By, Ernie Branscomb, Garberville Rotarian

Polio victims in Africa still crawl on paddded knees.

When I was a school kid, polio was the dreaded disease. We couldn’t go swimming in the summer because the “old wives” decided that Polio came from the water. Polio is actually transmitted through human poop. (Sorry) We had an outbreak of Polio in Laytonville, and several kids disappeared from school. One came back wearing braces for life! That brings polio home, even for a kid.

The March Of Dimes was instituted to develop a vaccine against polio. Every store that a person went into had a card on the counter with dime slots in it, and if you got any dimes in your change you were expected to place them in the dime slots to fund polio research. Some people asked for dimes to place in the cards. I can still see the card in my mind. On the top of the card was a photo of a little kid in an “Iron Lung” that was used to help victims of paralysis breathe. I remember wondering if that was where my friends from school went. It didn’t look like that much fun to me. I remember that sometimes my Mom or Dad would give me a dime to put in one of the slots.

From Biography, Dr. Jonas salk:

"In 1955 Salk's years of research paid off. Human trials of the polio vaccine effectively protected the subject from the polio virus. When news of the discovery was made public on April 12, 1955, Salk was hailed as a miracle worker. He further endeared himself to the public by refusing to patent the vaccine. He had no desire to profit personally from the discovery, but merely wished to see the vaccine disseminated as widely as possible."

The first Polio vaccines were injections. I forget when I got the injectins but I believe that it was a series of three injections. After about 1967 Dr, Albert Sabin developed an oral vacine delivered on a sugar cube. Polio imunization became much more popular after that.

Many may know, but some don’t, that Rotary International has taken on the job of eradicating Polio throughout the whole world. Rotary was asked to accept the job of eradicating polio by the World Health Organization. In 1979 Rotary accepted that task, and the goal was to eradicate Polio by 1984.

The Rotary Club was asked to front the effort to eradicate polio because they take no position on religion or politics. Their stance of neutrality and impartiality made them the ideal vehicle for getting rid of the dreaded disease because they are welcome in most countries of the world. It seemed like it would be easy. Because Rotarians are in all most businesses, and have members all over the world, the vaccine can be moved cost free anywhere in the world, and can be delivered to a child’s tongue for under two dollars a dose. The only cost is the drug itself. Once polio is wiped out, it could be gone forever, like Smallpox.

What the Rotarians did not anticipate, and they should have, is the colossal stupidity of the human condition, and the struggle continues today. They gain a little and lose a little, and children in some countries are still getting polio.

From Time Magazine:
“In the summer of 2003, leaders of the region [Nigeria] stopped polio inoculations after rumors spread that the vaccine could transmit AIDS and render girls infertile. It was a bad time--and a very bad place--to halt vaccines. There are now 35 million Nigerian kids under age 5, and 20% have no polio vaccinations. Says Oliver Rosenbauer, spokesman for WHO's Global Polio Eradication Initiative: "That's a lot of breathing space for the poliovirus to survive."

Dr. Hamid Jafari:"in certain places, fatwas have been issued against the vaccine." In those places, Muslims have stopped state health workers from entering their houses and administering the polio vaccine, which is administered orally, to their children.Dr. Jafari adds that paranoia is not the only reason for the hostility to the polio drops. Uttar Pradesh is notorious for being one of the worst-administered regions of India, and most of the state has appallingly bad hospitals and health services. Muslims, who are among the poorest of Indians, bear the brunt of this collapse in the state's health infrastructure. Dr Jafari says: "There's a sense of frustration among many Muslims: they tell the health workers, we've never seen anyone coming to take care of us, why are you coming just to give us polio drops?"

Amid the heartache and frustration of eliminating Polio, there are good stories of epic proportions, wars have stopped the safe delivery of the vaccine in many countries, but there are exceptions.
From The World health Organization:
“Over 75,000 volunteer vaccinators delivered poliovaccine to children over a three-day period (13 - 15 August) in the first of three rounds of National Immunization Days in Democratic Republic of Congo. Fighting stopped in nine-tenths of the country to allow the campaign to go ahead, following the intervention of the UN Secretary-General Mr Kofi Annan, urging all sides to comply with truces for polio immunization.In Kisangani, 70 percent of children were vaccinated despite the outbreak of fighting on the third day. A ceasefire was agreed by the Presidents of Uganda and Rwanda, following a request by Mr Annan. An extra "catch-up" campaign to vaccinate unreached children in that area is scheduled."This is a significant step that brings us closer to a polio-free world," said Dr Gro Harlem Brundtland, Director-General of WHO. "War is one of the greatest hurdles that we now face in our effort to eradicate this disease. Through the joint efforts of the UN agencies, the Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rotary International and local authorities, we overcame this in the interests of the world's children."

The Presidents of Uganda and Rwanda agreed that their war was not against their children, and they declared a cease-fire for the vaccinations to take place.

And of course, as time goes on, more children are born that are not immune, and the Rotarians start over, two steps forward and one step back. It looked like the goal would finally be reached in 2005, but the recent conflicts around the world have built new walls of danger and mistrust.
I am not against any Religion, but I have seen the suffering of too many children to accept a closed mind. Some feel the fight against the disease will be won, it is only a matter of time and opportunity. On the other hand, there is some indication, even here in the United States, of reluctance to have children vacinated for any of a variety of diseases. So, who really has the right to decide.

Polio may be with us a long time.

News from the Rotoplast Team

2008-06-16T11:17:00.001-07:00

The girl in the photo is named "Sumalita", she was part of Rotoplast Guatemala, last years project. She has many more operations ahead of her.

Garberville Rotarian Brian Walker is the "Quartermaster" on the Rotoplast team to Venezuela. He is a reluctant "Blogger", so a member of the Rotoplast team has been chosen to keep us as up to date as possible, considering the remoteness of the area that they are in.

The team is down there repairing cleft lips and palettes. Click on this link for a description of the kind of work that they are doing; Clef palette repair. Also refer to this previous article. And this: Rotoplast

The reports from the team will be updated here as they come in. They will be posted at the bottom so they will read from earliest to latest. Here goes!

5-30-08

Dear Friends ~

Your friend or family member has given me your email address so that I can include you in my “reports from the field” as our team’s journalist. You may see this address or another one that I use (horsecrazykb@hotmail.com) so please don’t put them in the spam file!

Karen Bradford

(Rotary District 5330, sponsor of this mission)

6-2-08

Our Rotaplast team is safely in place in Venezuela. They took a military C-130 instead of an eight-hour bus drive from the airport.

Internet cafes are non-existent…there won’t be a lot directly from Karen.

Good news, though: Venezuela has adopted CDMA technology for their cellular network, so Karen can call using her home cell phone.

Clint Bradford

6-4-08

Karen advises there’s no Internet access in the hotel’s business office…So email messages from the team will be spotty.

Clint Bradford

6-6-08

Greetings to all of our family and friends!

This is just a little note to let you all know what is happening as I have not yet had time to write articles and have them cleared by our team leader in proper protocol. I hope to do that soon.

Our Team Cumana is very safe, happy and healthy on our fifth day in country. Our intake clinic day on Tuesday went well, despite a thunderstorm in oppressive heat, as we worked inside a smallish air- conditioned room on a military compound in Cumana.

The families are so appreciative that we are here. Surgeries started on Wednesday and are going well, and it is so rewarding to see lives changed in such a short period of time.

The host Rotary Club of Cumanagoto is absolutely exceptional in taking care of us. Despite it being a club of less than 30 people, there are so many supporter and volunteer relationships built during 10 years of sponsoring Rotaplast missions here. The Rotarians feed us very well and treat us with love and respect: At our first hosted dinner on Monday, I noticed the difference between our American customs by how one of the Venezuelan Rotarian ladies warmly held her arm around the shoulders of one of our female team members as she praised and welcomed us. When we go home, I will miss the ladies' custom of greeting me with kisses on each side of my face.

We are having difficulty with email by there being no Internet provisions here with the hotel's advertised facility being removed! I feel taunted by the sign on the door saying "Internet Center" but only an electrical cord in sight. Some team members brought their own laptops that they are happy to share, but modem connectivity has been very cranky, and there is so little time to spare as our team spends 12-hour days at the hospital --- and longer for some of the medical people! --- with a half-hour commute each way.

I am asked to convey that we are fine, and the team members may be able to phone if there is time. We are getting along well as a team and are proud of our work here. Thanks for your love and support in the time we are gone.

Warm regards from us to you,

Karen Bradford
Team journalist

6-9-08

Hello friends and family!Our team is still doing well, and we are more than half-way through our mission so we will see you soon. My first stories have been approved for distribution, so here is a description of our first day; more tomorrow. Karen Bradfordteam photojournalist
Arrival: ¡Bienvenidos a Venezuela!

“This mission to Cumaná is in the top one percent of what actually happens on Rotaplast missions,” complimented Mission Director Ted Durant during the first team meeting on the day after our arrival in Venezuela. “With our first few hours as an example, we all are going to be fine!” (His prognostication proved to be true.)

Unlike airport regulations in the United States, members of the Rotary Club of Cumanagoto greeted our group at the top of the Caracas jetway; we appreciated their warm welcomes after dragging in from various parts of the United States and funneling through Atlanta, where we first met as a team. Quickly escorted by the Rotarians’ arrangement through the customs arrival line marked “diplomats,” we retrieved our luggage and climbed aboard a shuttle, mercifully air-conditioned from the oppressive humidity. As condensation formed and dripped down our cooled windows, we realized the funny comparison to being inside a giant sweating glass of iced tea.

Plan A for transfer to Cumaná, about 250 miles east, indicated a hop via military transport plane; the Rotarians’ Plan B --- for “big bus” --- was an unappealing but very potential eight-hour ride in case the government could not accommodate us.

We were delighted to see the camouflage-painted Aero Fuerza Venezuela C-130 transport at our service, pallets of our boxed medical supplies already being loaded under bright spotlights. On mighty wings attached at the top of the fuselage, the plane’s four huge propellers would hardly get a workout from ferrying our supplies and team of 26 medical and nonmedical volunteers. We walked up the airplane’s rear deck fuselage that lowered as a ramp; the jump-suited crewman with headphones and a flashlight pointed us past cargo and into the cavernous dark to find our seats.

After figuring out how military aircraft buckles snapped shut, we gleefully looked around in our E-ticket ride: rudimentary webbed seating attached to center posts and padded airplane walls, a few stretchers fixed over our heads and the wires, cables and ducting of the aircraft in full view. The people who brought earplugs soon stuffed them in place as the props whined into furious spinning. We taxied and flew off into the starry tropical night.

After an hour of flight, more jump-suited and beefy-looking military men directed us from our solitary landing as we emerged under the plane’s tail to bright lights on a deserted tarmac. Pointed toward a terminal with peeling paint, we waited for the cargo.

Well past midnight by this time, we piled into a bus, our cargo and suitcases loaded on trucks behind us. Two policia escorts on motorcycles roared into the lead toward our hotel as we took our first look at the moonlit streets of Cumaná.

Karen Bradford

2008-01-29T17:06:00.000-08:00

Bear Gulch Bridge Naming Proposals

Two recent guest speakers at our lunch meetings have proposed names for the Bear Gulch Bridge.

The first was September Gray who proposes Wailaki Pass Bridge as the new name. At some future date, more plaques or other items may be added honoring local Indians. For more information contact September at 707 223-4256.

The second speaker was Hawk Rosales of the InterTribal Sinkyone Wilderness Council, a nonprofit consortium of ten federally recognized Indian Tribes from the region. The Council proposes 1) To formally recognize “Bear Gulch Bridge” as the official name of the bridge, and 2) To permanently memorialize the bridge with a plaque listing the words for “Bear Creek” in the Native languages of the region’s Tribal groups that historically lived, traveled through, or traded in the bridge’s vicinity. Hawk can be reached at the InterTribal office at 707 463-6745.

As a club, we do not endorse any side in a political debate. However, if you, as a member of this community, would like to support either naming proposal, the address to send your letter of support is listed below.

Donald C Tuttle
Special Projects Coordinator
Humboldt County Department of Public Works
1106 Second Street
Eureka CA 95501-0579

Garberville Rotary charter member dies.

2008-01-09T11:47:00.000-08:00

Monroe “Toby” Tobin died at 9:30 Tuesday morning, 01-08-2008.

Toby was a life-long member of the Garberville community and was much loved by his family and friends. He was a charter member, and past president of the Garberville Rotary club that was formed in 1938. He was too young to join the club at the time, but they needed one more member to form the club, so they put his name on the roster anyway with the hopes that by the time anyone found out that he was too young that he would be old enough. It worked, to all of our benefit.

Another Past President Bob Fraser also recently passed away, as did Vern Bonham.

Great men all. We wanted to get these announcements on this site, and we will fill in more details later.

Doug was working on the railroad all the live-long day.

2007-12-16T13:58:00.000-08:00

Garberville Rotarian Doug Ingold was featured in the Times-Standard this Sunday morning. Appearently Doug found a need to help clean-up the Railroad right of way between Eureka and Arcata.

The clean-up was done to show the intent of being willing and able to clear the tracks for a bicycle and pedestrian path. They all signed a release of liability in case anyone was hurt while working on the Rail Authorities right-of-way.

Doug Is the fellow in the orange vest, displaying the stitching on his rear pockets.(far Left person, for those of you slow on the uptake)

Garberville Rotary Club to pay for "carbon offsets"

2007-12-03T13:26:00.000-08:00

Karyn Lee/Thomas, co-owner of Signature Coffee and a Rotarian, proposed to the Garberville Rotary Club board of directors that we pay to mitigate our carbon footprint. It was passed by the board, with a unanimous decision. Part of what made the board decide to approve the funding is that she is an honest, trustworthy person, that exemplifies what we stand for as Rotarians.

The fact that she was willing to follow through and work on the project that would be planting trees is also another reason that the board approved the funding. She stated in a letter to the board:

“I have worked with Trees for the Future, the organization that will audit our audit and determine how many trees to plant. I have already offset Signature’s emissions by planting 2400 trees in Honduras. I am going there in a few months to actually spend a day planting trees with this organization and documenting exactly where the money goes and the direct impact of this program. FYI – for me, it’s not about “soothing my conscience” but to actually making a difference. Many people making a small difference = big impact.

With peace love and respect,
Karyn“

We will, from now on be carbon equal.

Many people have written the board, and as I get permission. I will post them in the “Comments” that you can access by clicking your cursor on “Comments”. You can also leave a comment if you wish.

Her survey is posted below:

"I need information from each of you to complete our carbon off-set project. Please answer the following by Dec 15th. Thanks! It will be interesting to see what our totals will be...
1-How many miles (one way) do you drive to Rotary? Either from your home or your place of business, whichever you do the majority of the time.
2-What kind of vehicle do you drive?
3-How many miles per gallon do you get (if you know)
4-Do you make any trips (other than to our meetings) related to Rotary? If so, where to and by what mode of transportation?

Thanks,
With peace love and respect,
Karyn Lee-Thomas"

For another Garberville Rotarian Field trip click on this: Rotaplast in Guatamala when you scroll all the way to the bottom, click on "older posts", there are seven pages in all. Garberville Rotarians Dennis Bourassa, Chris Brannon, and Brian walker are pictured in the third picture down, on the third page.

Casino Night.

2007-10-11T12:21:00.000-07:00

Garberville Rotary's own Greg Pfau has done it again. As the chairman of "Casino Night" he is anticipating a good crowd and a fun party for all.

The Garberville Rotary club is very active in Southern Humboldt area. Among a few of their hundreds of accomplishments, they have earned over three hundred thousand dollars ($300,000.000) that they have donated to the local schools. On top of that, they have earned and donated in the excess of one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000.00) in scholarships to worthy students to attend College. They have helped rebuild the local hospital, and helped with many needed hospital repairs.

The Rotary club tries to set and example for the local youths by earning their money rather that asking for it. That's why they asking you join their party, and help the local schools, and the local hospital, both of which this fundraiser is keyed to.

True of all the Garberville Rotary fundraisers, this one is based on enjoyment and having a good time while having plenty of time to socialize with your friends.

Greg Drops Harley Raffle! He talks about "New Idea".

2007-07-20T14:15:00.001-07:00

Greg Pfau recommended to the Rotary Board of Directors that we drop the Harley Raffle. His reasoning was that the raffle had run it's course, and we have run out of new and creative ways of pushing it. He explained that it was the same people selling all the tickets , and it was the same people buying all the tickets, and it was time for a change.

His new idea for a fundraiser is still in the formative stages, but he says that it will be less work for the club, because it will be done by an outside contractor. The fundraiser will focus on a different group of people than normally support our club projects. It will be a new and refreshing change for everyone.

The project is being held confidential at this point, just to protect Greg's idea from being used by other groups. It will probably be held in the spring of the year, when not much else is happening about town. It was voted unanimously that board of directors, and Garberville Rotary club, support Greg in pursuing his "New Idea". Greg has worked tirelessly on the Harley Raffle, and almost single-handedly brought us the very successful "Garberville Rotary Golf Classic". It was decided that even if this "New Idea" fails it is worth a try due to Greg's phenomenal success at his other projects. The support that the board showed for Greg was heartwarming... That and the thought that we might get out of a bunch of work that we do to sell Harley Raffle tickets. Thanks Greg, "You the Man"

New web site "up and running".

2007-07-05T09:27:00.000-07:00

Our Web-Site administrator, Seth Johannesen, has announced that Garberville Rotary's web site is functional again. Our old web site was owned by a previous member of our club and was out-dated. You will not notice any difference in the site itself, but it will now be able to be updated on a regular basis.

There is a link to the Web-site in the upper left-hand corner of this Blog-site called "Garberville Rotary Club Main Page". Just click on it and check it out. The Bulletins are up to date and the upcoming programs are listed.

If you see Seth, tell him thank-you! It has been a long and difficult process, but a very important part of bring able to announce and archive club information. You can check-out the Club bylaws, the activities of the board of directors, and projects that the Club is involved in. If you would like information to be posted on the Web-site please let Seth or Ernie know.

Willison Wins Harley!

2007-07-05T09:14:00.000-07:00

Clover Willison of Redway won the Harley Sportster given away by the Garberville Rotary club. Richard and Ginger Rotbergs of Redwood Towing won the $1000.00 prize. Congratulations to all!

Greg announced that all the tickets were sold and the drawing was done on the spot at the Benbow 4th of July Celebration.

Dennis' Debunking goes fine, "thank-you verra mush!"

2007-07-02T08:50:00.000-07:00

The weather was great, as you know. There was about 45- 50 happy people in attendance. The pool was icy, but the kids enjoyed it immensely, especially the water slide.

Nancy told two good fishing jokes and bad one. Elvis flew in from Nashville. We ate hamburgers. We drank...
Elvis wiggled out of his belt, it was a good thing that he was wearing a jump suit.
It took a half an hour to get the barbecue crew to hold still long enough to take their picture.
I didn't hear the joke but the people at the table did.
Pres Dennis and the first family.

Pres Dennis opens his numerous gifts, all Elvis memorabilia.

Dennis' debunking, July 1st.

2007-06-25T10:14:00.000-07:00

Garberville Rotary President Dennis Abshire will be debunked at the Coombs Ranch on July 1st, and not a day too soon. It will be Suzy Matilla's First day as Empress of the Garberville Rotary Club.

Dennis O'Sullivan And Nancy Wilson have a great party Planned for Pres Dennis, so be there!
Invite guests; Be sure to register how many that you are bringing with O'Dennis.
The Party starts at 2:00pm.
Bring HorDuvers... ordurves.... oduvers.... SNACKS.
Syd will have the bar open.
Bring your swim suit if you are up for a chilly swim.
Dinner at 5:00 or so. You can't rush good food.
There will be suprize entertainment after dinner.

From Dennis O'Sullivan:
"Gate and bar open at 2:00 p.m. with the meal and program beginning at 5:00 p.m. This Garberville Rotary event enjoys the tradition of the Coomb's place on Reed Mountain. Please come and thank Dennis for his year and wish Susie well in hers. The meal will be picnic style with desert provided by Megan Johanneson. Bring your family or friends and enjoy a beautiful day. Bring a suit for swimming. If you missed signing up on Tuesday please let me know. Thank you."

Dam! It's in!

2007-06-24T22:08:00.001-07:00

I went for a walk yesterday and guess what, the dam is in and filling as of Sunday the 24th '07. I couldn't resist taking a few photo's. So the Benbow lake should be full for the 4th of July Fireworks show. Please click on photo's for larger view.

Fireworks at Benbow on the 4th of July.

2007-06-22T20:24:00.000-07:00

The Garberville rotary club will have their "Heider's Cook Shack" at Benbow for the big fireworks show. The stalwart team of dedicated Rotarian's will be serving up hamburgers and hot dogs, all slathered up with the proper fixings, made to your order.

The show will be staged by Pyrospectacular out of Sacramento this year, and it is billed as being "The Best Ever". The show is sponsored by The Garberville Redway Chamber of Commerce. For more info Their Number is 923-2613

Come join the fun, July 4th, all day long. Fireworks in Benbow's crisp clean sky starting at the beginning of complete darkness.

Garberville Rodeo Parade Saturday At 11:00 A.M Sharp!!! Be There.

2007-06-15T17:08:00.000-07:00

The Garberville Rotary Is sponsoring the Fiftieth Annual Rodeo Parade.
Parade starts 11:00 am.

Friday Bull-o-rama 7:00pm at Greycliff Acres.
Saturday morning 7:30am. pancake breakfast in the middle of Garberville (You'll find it).
saturday 1:30am. Kids Games. Greycliff Acres.
Saturday 10:00am. Queen judging.
Saturday 11:00am sharp!!! The parade starts. On the main street of Garberville.
Saturday 4:30pm. Rib-eye Steak western style barbeque. Greycliff Acres.
Saturday 6:30 the Rodeo starts. Greycliff Acres.

Saturday Night 10:00pm. The Rodeo Dance will be held at The Garberville Community park. Also know as The Old Tooby Ranch. On Sprowel Creeck Road. Sponsored by the Southern Humboldt Technical Resue Team. Staring the Roadmasters Band.

Here's the joke I forgot today-

2007-06-05T21:10:00.000-07:00

HAVE YOU HEARD ABOUT THE TWO DUCK HUNTERS FROM WISCONSIN?
ABSOLUTELY A TRUE STORY HEARD ON A WISCONSIN RADIO STATION REPORTING ON THE INCIDENT.

A guy buys a new Lincoln Navigator for $42,500.00 (with monthly payments of $560.00).

He and a friend go duck hunting in upper Wisconsin. It's mid-winter; and of course all of the lakes are frozen. These two guys go out on the ice with their GUNS, a DOG, and of course the new NAVIGATOR. They decide they want to make a natural looking open water area for the ducks to focus on, something for the decoys to float on.

Now making a hole in the ice large enough to invite a passing duck, is going to take a little more power than the average drill auger can produce.

So, out of the back of the new Navigator comes a stick of dynamite with a short 40 second-fuse. Now our two Rocket Scientists, afraid they might slip on the ice while trying to run away after lighting the fuse (and becoming toast, along with the Navigator), decide on the following course of action: they light the 40 second fuse; then, with a mighty thrust, they throw the stick of dynamite as far away as possible.

Remember a couple of paragraphs back when I mentioned the NAVIGATOR, the GUNS, and the DOG...???

Let's talk about the dog: A highly trained Black Lab used for RETRIEVING; especially things thrown by the owner.
You guessed it: the dog takes off across the ice at a high rate of speed and grabs the stick of dynamite, with the burning 40-second fuse, just as it hits the ice.

The two men swallow, blink, start waving their arms and, with veins in their necks swelling to resemble stalks of rhubarb, scream and holler at the dog to stop. The dog, now apparently cheered on by his master, keeps coming.

One hunter panics, grabs the shotgun and shoots the dog. The shotgun is loaded with #8 bird shot, hardly big enough to stop a Black Lab. The dog stops for a moment, slightly confused, then continues on. Another shot, and this time the dog, still standing, becomes really confused and of course terrified, thinks these two geniuses have gone insane. The dog takes off to find cover, UNDER the brand new Navigator.

The men continue to scream as they run. The red hot exhaust pipe on the truck touches the dog's rear end, he yelps, drops the dynamite under the truck and takes off after his master.

Then " "" "" "" "" " BOOOOOOOOOOOOM "" "" "" "" "" ! ! ! !

The truck is blown to bits and sinks to the bottom of the lake, leaving the two idiots standing there with "I can't believe this just happened" looks on their faces.

The insurance company says that sinking a vehicle in a lake by illegal use of explosives is NOT COVERED by the policy. And he still had yet to make the first of those $560.00 a month payments.

The dog is okay...doing fine.

Huricane Katrina Two years later

2007-05-29T14:59:00.000-07:00

Rotarians still helping victims of Hurricane Katrina
By Vanessa N. Glavinskas Rotary International NewsPhotos by Miriam Doan/RI Images
18 May 2007
Almost two years after Hurricane Katrina devastated the U.S. Gulf Coast, Rotarians are still on the scene, helping communities rebuild.
In Long Beach, Mississippi, Rotarians from districts 6440 and 6450 (Illinois) and 6360 (Michigan) are working together with Mississippi Rotary clubs to construct a 30,000-square-foot recreation center that will double as an emergency shelter in the event of another Category 5 storm.
"Today, both District 6440 and 6450 are giving $50,000 each to the project," explained Jack Blane, a member of the Rotary Club of Wheeling, Illinois, and past governor of District 6440, on 16 May. According to Blane, the amount will be matched by Mittal Steel, one of his club’s partner organizations. Other groups have also made contributions, including a $2 million grant from the South Mississippi Planning and Development District.
"It will be a place for first-responders and a place of last resort for those who don’t evacuate in time," says Bob Kranz, of the Rotary clubs of Gulfport and Long Beach, Mississippi, USA. He says he realized that a venue for first-responders was desperately needed when his local police department was destroyed during Katrina.
After the 2005 storm, almost every structure up to a half mile inland from the Mississippi shore was destroyed. Thousands of homes were washed away, and Long Beach lost its recreation center, fire station, two schools, and hundreds of businesses. Because of changes in building codes to make structures more weather resistant, recovery has been extremely slow, nearly eliminating the tax base in many communities.
"You can see in the people who still live there that their spirit is gone," says Brian Andersen, a member of the Rotary Club of Darien, Illinois, and chair of District 6450's fellowships committee. "Rebuilding this recreation center will give them some encouragement that the community is coming back," he adds. "It's a star that people can hang their hat on."
The center, named the Long Beach Senior Recreation Shelter, is scheduled for completion in June 2008 and will house areas for craftmaking and meetings, as well as a cafeteria, basketball courts, and a gym for seniors and local residents alike. It will be a gathering place and emergency refuge for the communities of Gulfport, Long Beach, Pass Christian, and Pineville.
"With the Boomers coming along, there's a need for recreational areas for this age group," explains Kranz. "However, we also expect community youth will use the basketball courts and running track."
"Were it not for the Rotary network, this project would not have worked," adds Blane. "We estimate the project will be worth $6 million, with zero long-term debt when we're done. And there will be a 60-foot Rotary wheel painted in the parking lot."
How you can helpIf you'd like to contribute to this project, contact Rotarian Bob Kranz at leavealegacy@bellsouth.net.

This article is © Rotary International and is provided for the non-profit use of Rotarians worldwide; commercial use is prohibited. The article may be quoted, excerpted or used in its entirety, but the information should not be changed or modified in any way. Read more information in the RI copyright notice.

Garberville Rotary Doles out Achievement Awards.

2007-05-23T09:38:00.001-07:00

Garberville Rotary Club President Dennis Abshire steals the show!

Dennis approached the podium with zeal, placed his sparse notes on the desk top, grabed the edges and sprang forth with an oratory that would fill William Jennings Bryant with envy. He waxed and waned eloquent, he stood on his tip-toes, he rocked on his heels, he punctuated his speech with perfectly timed poundings on the podium, he delicately made his more minor points by gently underlining them with the point of his finger. He smiled, grinned and frowned in all the right places. He had the crowd weeping, then he had them laughing, then he had them sitting in stunned silence as he made his salient points.

With the help of his Rotary minions, Dennis proceeded to give away five thousand five hundred dollars to the deserving scholars of South Fork High School, and one award to a Leggett Valley High School student.

We dined on fried chicken and barbecued pork ribs with all the appropriate fixings on the side, and for desert we had strawberry short cake, all prepared by the South Fork High School Culinary Arts Class. Yummmm....

And the award winners are:
Laurel Phelps for the Harrold Murish award. $1,000.00
Jesse Eldridge for the second Harrold Murrish award. $1,000.00
Teresa Ristow for the Roxanne Futrell award. $1,000.00
Michela Hernandez for the David Prinz award. $1,000.00
Rebekah Horvath for the $1,000.00
Bridget Yount from Leggett for the Todd Sveien award. $500.00

Redway Fire Department Barbecue

2007-05-21T14:08:00.001-07:00

Thirty-Sixth Annual deep pit barbecue at 155 Empire street behind Shop smart In Redway.

Saturday, May 26, 2007.

The Globe trotting Garberville Rotarian, Chris Brannan will be at the dinner playing with his band, Twango McCallum. He will be playing a variety of music including all of the old barbecue favorites. It's great that Chris could do this for the Redway fire Department. Not only does he make good music, but it gives us an opportunity to tie the Barbecue to the Rotary club, that way the Fire Department can get free add space on the ever popular Garberville Rotary Blog!

The meal will be barbecued pork and beef with the super-secret-sauce, Redway fire department beans, that are kind of like boston beans only with more ingredients and better, salad, bread, coffee, milk, and optional extras like beer, and sodas. Desserts are a home made speciality.

Adults meals are $12.00. Other discounts may apply.

Service from 12:00 noon sharp, until seven sharp.

Game over!

2007-05-21T13:34:00.000-07:00

Game over!
Greg Pfau announced that the Garberville Rotary Club netted a cool nine thousand dollars for their efforts at The First Annual Rotary Club Golf Classic.

The Margaritas were cool, the weather was cool, the golfers were cool. The balloon was hot while it lasted, but the wind made flying to treacherous and it had to be stowed.

The big "Low Score" was Jim Truit, Bruce Collins, Jim Michaels, and Greg Pfau. Greg said that if I listed the winners that I should put his name last, because he was embarrassed by winning his own event. He said that he had to play "his best" because he didn't want to let his team down! I did notice that he had an awfully big grin on his face, and that he did offer to "store" the trophy!

Fun was had by all, and the contestants were pleasantly surprised by the free drinks at several of the sponsors tee-offs. There were many prizes that given away in the drawing after the game.

Strangely, no one took the Ford Mustang or the Yamaha Rhino home for making a "Hole in One".... That was the whole purpose of the event. Oh well, maybe next year. Also, Greg says next year he may add a one million dollar "Fifty Foot Putt".

Golf Classic work day

2007-05-11T09:53:00.000-07:00

President Dennis Abshire leading the charge. His Motto: "We fear no weed. Damn the crabgrass, Full speed ahead".

Thus began the work party Thursday afternoon at the Benbow Golf Course.

About a dozen enthusiastic workers showed up to trim and polish the course for Saturdays big event.
Dennis' enthusiasm quickly waned after about four hours of trimming weeds. His "work party" turned into a "work partly", and he mentioned something about some things he had to do at home. I suspect it had something to do with lemonade and a lawn chair.
The golf course sounded like a swarm of honey bees collecting nectar, and it smelled like new cut hay drying in the sun.

This is a photo of our Garberville Golf Classic chairman Greg Pfau doing his part to "make pretty".

"look, I told you that I'm not ever going to look at the Blog Site no matter whether you put my picture in it or not!'

So if you see Greg, tell him how good he looks, and tell him what a good job he is doing for our project!

Rotaplast in Guatemala 2006

2007-05-10T11:47:00.000-07:00

Hi Everybody,

I though I would write a few words about my recent trip to Guatemala…..It was nothing short of a life altering event.

As many of you know, I was selected to work with a Rotary surgical team that was traveling to Guatemala City to perform cleft lip and palate operations for the disadvantaged poor and Indian populations in the area. Some of these families had to walk for many hours just to get to a bus that they may have had to ride for a day or so just to get in to the city.

Our group consisted of 25 people. 16 were surgeons, doctors, nurses and anesthesiologists. Nine of us were Rotary volunteers. Our jobs were translators, medical records, sterilization, photography….mine was quartermaster. I was in charge getting our two tons of supplies and equipment down there and keep everybody supplied with whatever they needed. I sure learned a lot about specialized medical equipment and supplies when later during the first week we ran low on a few critical items and I was sent to comb the labyrinth which is Guatemala City. Everyone on the team was incredible. Wonderful people who worked amazing hours….no complaints, just a “Let’s get as many done safely and professionally as we can while we are here” attitude.

A typical day…..Up at 5:30…..the bus leaves for the hospital at 6:15. If there was no traffic…we could get to the military hospital by 6:35. There was only no traffic during weekends and holidays….the rest of the time, traffic was a zoo where lanes were “merely a suggestion” and thousands of buses belched out a phenomenal amount of think black exhaust with every acceleration. Super polluted downtown and we choked through the haze and confusion. Normally we would roll in around 7:15. I would unlock all of the various doors and make sure all of the operating and recovery rooms were supplied. Then it was time to bring up the first two sets of three children. It was almost comical sometimes because we would have two or three surgery schedule revisions by 8:00am due to some people not showing up the night before, or they might have a fever….or the worst….the children had eaten within the 8 hour window. After the first three were taken in to surgery, I would guide the trembling or teary eyed mothers to the waiting room. Usually after an hour or so…the first kids were coming out of the operating rooms. Since the nurses were so busy collecting all of their vital signs and getting the reports from the doctors/anesthesiologists…we were asked to hold all of the children from about four months up to 7 or 8 years old.

That was a magical time….because you knew what they looked like when they went into surgery, (some of these poor children had such unbelievably deformed mouths and noses, I could not imagine how they would ever be put back together…..plus as cruel as kids can be….some had never played with other children due to the constant ridicule and physical abuse.) When they came out….it was just amazing! The gifted surgeons had worked wonders. Most would wake up gently and not have a clue what was in store for them when they were going to look in the mirror for the first time. Other woke up as if just ejected from hell. So we would continue calming them until they settled down enough for their worried and anxious mothers to be led into the room. Some mothers burst into tears, others were weak in the knees, and still others were in shock. Mom would gently be placed in a chair, and then I would carefully place their child in their arms. More often than not, as I turned away to greet the next mom or child, I too was in tears.

This would go on until someone said…”these are the last three of the day!” It always surprised me to look up and see the clock saying that it was 8 or 9 in the evening. Never had I worked so long or hard and had no idea that time was passing. I never even felt tired until the bus ride back to the hotel. The actual surgeries that I was able to observe first hand were truly works of art.

(On the first day we were told to expect 175 families for the 110 possible slots. There were 243 families all with hope in their eyes. We were met by an Army General who ran the hospital, the wife of the Defense Minister, a slew of TV and newspaper reporters…..and of course the huge presence of the 243 families. The first day was clinic, or a screening of all the children there to determine; who could be operated on….who was too sick or weak for surgery, who might need only some dentistry, or who would be referred to the next mission in the Fall. This was a very long day that was finally finished about 10:00pm that night.)

Two other memorable events….on one of the Sundays, the local Rotarians, (who were just wonderful and very generous.), took us on a day trip to Antigua, a beautiful city in the mountains. Great historical architecture, ruins, art galleries, nice restaurants and plenty of children selling their handcrafted items in very comical ways. They did not know much English, but the words they did know were priceless…. (One girl who could not have been more that six worked on me for about a half an hour in Spanish to buy a necklace….and finally out of nowhere she said, “Look, business is business”…it was so funny that I caved in and bought it.)

The other was my last day….I had just gotten back to the hospital from the airport where I was obtaining everybody’s’ boarding pass for the flight out the next day…..when the head matriarch of the Guatemalan Rotarians came up and said…”You’re a pilot right? Do you want to go on a helicopter ride to look at Mayan ruins, beautiful lakes and volcanoes?” Yeah baby!!!! That was great. The scenery was spectacular, the pilot-ex military, and a real pro that did not shy away from extreme maneuvers and I was already on cloud nine when he asked…”I hear you fly….do you want to take it for a while?” “I’m in heaven”, I thought…It was soooo much fun and a day I’ll never forget.

Yes, I know, I said a few words…but I have really only scratched to surface of an incredible experience. I hope I have not bored you in telling the tale…..Oh, one last thing for all you tailgators out there….During the closing ceremonies, the General of the hospital was awarding certificates of appreciation, as is often the case…The whole party exploded in laughter when my name was announced as “DR. Christopher Lange Brannan”…..with a “diploma” to prove it.

Love,

Chris

Theresa Whitchurch, interesting young lady.

2007-05-09T09:39:00.000-07:00

Photo and story from Times-Standard:
Fortuna Sunrise RotaryFortuna Sunrise Rotary awarded scholarships to three Fortuna Union High School students at its annual awards dinner last week at the River Lodge. Pictured, from left, are students Rachel Olkin, Theresa Whitchurch and Ryan Houtby with Fortuna Sunrise Rotary President Jon Sapper. Olkin is the senior class president and co-president of Interact, Rotary's high school program; Whitchurch is the senior class valedictorian and co-president of Interact. Both received a $1,000 Paul Harris Academic Scholarship.

Garberville Rotary Club's Program 5-8-07 was Theresa Whitchurch. She delivered a program on what an Interact Club does. She is also a Varsity Cheerleader, and plays the trombone. She has succeeded in in everything she does. Her Parents and Fortuna must be extremely proud of her!

Hospital funding tax passes!

2007-05-08T20:53:00.000-07:00

According to Southern Humboldt Health Care District board member Steve Bowen, the Hospital funding tax passed by a margin greater than 73%. The issue required a 66% margin to pass.

In keeping with Rotary's policy of non-involvement in politics. Please ignore this announcement.

ROTARY GOLF CLASSIC, MAY 12 2007

2007-05-08T15:43:00.000-07:00

Lest you forget where we live! These photos were taken on the way to the Garberville Rotary Club Golf Classic. The top one is Bear Butte.

The next photo is Tooby Flat, now the Garberville Community Park. Photo taken from Benbow Hill.

The fabulous Benbow Inn, one of the premier hotels in Humboldt county. We are very lucky to have it located in Garberville!

A view of Benbow Valley from Benbow Hill.

Another photo of Tooby Flat.

All photo's were taken with a Motorola RAZR mobile phone, e-mailed to my mail account, and transferred to this blog-site for your enjoyment. I don't claim to be a photographer, but how can you miss with country like we have around here!

All of the Golf teams are full, and all of the holes are sponsored. All that is left to do is have fun. All drinks and food during the games are free. The contestants will have a chance to win a brand new Ford Mustang from Harper Motors and a brand new Rhino from Dazey's Motor Sports. There are too many prizes to mention, but all of the contestants should leave knowing that they had a good time. We are already looking forward to next year, where we will be adding a One Million Dollar Putt.

The food and drinks at the Benbow Inn reception following the golf games will be at the contestants expense. But by then the contestants shouldn't care. Did I mention that Blue Star Gas will be providing Hot Air Balloon rides during the day?

May the 4th Be With You!

2007-05-04T17:00:00.000-07:00

Update on Rotoplast Blogsite.

2007-04-27T19:34:00.000-07:00

If you click on the following url it will open the complete Rotoplast blogsite and all the heart touching photos. I was hoping for more details but alas.....

http://rotaplast.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2007-01-01T00%3A00%3A00-08%3A00&updated-max=2008-01-01T00%3A00%3A00-08%3A00&max-results=25

1st Annual Garberville Golf Classic, or Greg's Baby!

2007-04-25T11:18:00.000-07:00

Greg Pfau has been working diligently to put together the first Garberville Rotary Club's Golf Classic at The Benbow Valley Golf Course.

He has sold all of the available hole sponsorships. The holes went for the price of five hundred dollars apiece. Much to his pleasure, the hole sponsorships were grabbed up fast. He will only be accepting nine Rotarian teams. The teams will consist of four players each, for a total of only thirty-six players to have a chance at the bootie.

Greg say’s that at this point, he still has team spots open, and that he hope’s to fill them soon. He also mentioned that the only way he has of knowing for sure who is going to play is by signing-up. He want’s people to avoid the last minute confusion of everyone signing-up at once, and having to squeeze people out, but right now, there is plenty of room.

When asked about who would be allowed to play, he replied; “Well, we want to limit the teams to only Rotarians, because the reason for this whole event is to have a little interclub fun, but if other teams have a ringer or two in them, we sure aren’t going to check”. So, if Tiger Woods shows up on a team, Greg wont kick him out!
Greg say’s that the hole sponsors are in charge of what they do at their hole, but he is expecting many sponsors to be doing gifts and giveaways. Rumor has it that there will be icy and frothy beverages! Maybe some hot dogs! Blue Star Gas will be giving hot-air balloon rides . That sounds exciting!

The enthusiasm over this event has built-up to a frenzy. Dazey’s Moto Sports has agreed to give away a four wheel drive “Rhino” for a hole in one, in addition to the chance to win a brand new car from Harper Motors in Eureka!

Thanks Greg Pfau, it sounds like it is going to be a fun event!

For more info: Just click on the comments line and ask away.
Or call Greg at 707-496-2817

Walker Report on Rotoplast

2007-04-25T09:09:00.000-07:00

Brian called this morning, very excited and loves the work. Plans to be home in a week or so. He had many stories and told me of a blog site documenting the work. The first story is of a young girl he has become fond of. The short recount is of Brian and Dennis traveling to locate the family of a patient, they have put on 1500 km and some in the group were worried for their safety, which he says was not warranted. The blog sit http://www.rotaplast.blogspot.com/, it's wonderful.

bunny blogs too!

2007-04-23T14:33:00.000-07:00

I'm sitting here and Ern's showing me how to use this site. At this point I've erned a silver star. I'm comin' Carolyn.

PolioPlus

2007-04-22T08:49:00.000-07:00

Photo by Jean-Marc Giboux

DG Erna has asked each club in District 5130 to raise an additional $10 per member for the Rotary International Polio eradication project.

The goal for our club is $460.00. We currently have collected $336.00. Thank you to those who have contributed. If we can collect from the tweleve members that have not yet donated, we'll be at goal. Please join DG Erna and Rotary International in the effort to eradicate this crippling disease.

Despite tremendous progress in reducing the incidence of polio, it still exists. Polio will continue to threaten children everywhere as long as it exists somewhere. In this age of global travel, a new outbreak of polio might only be a plane ride away.

Did you know that . . .

Polio is a highly infectious disease that primarily affects children under the age of three and can cause paralysis within hours.

Before eradication efforts began in 1988, polio paralyzed more than 1,000 children a day, which totaled about 350,000 children annually. The incidence of polio has since declined by more than 99 percent.

Vaccinations easily can stave off polio. Vaccinations have prevented an estimated 500,000 children per year from contracting polio. A child can be protected against polio for as little as 60 cents (US) worth of vaccine.

Only four countries are still polio endemic — an all-time low: Nigeria, India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan.

Rotary International is the spearheading member of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative and is the largest private sector donor. It has contributed more than US$600 million to the polio eradication activities in 122 countries. In addition, tens of thousands of Rotarians have partnered with their national ministries of health, UNICEF, the World Health Organization, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and with health providers at the grassroots level in thousands of communities. A polio-free world is within our grasp.

Everybody Loves a Parade

2007-04-16T14:38:00.000-07:00

This will be the fiftieth annual Garberville Rodeo Parade. The Garberville Rotary club will, once again, be in charge of the parade. Everyone is making a special effort to make it the biggest and best yet.

Dennis O’Sullivan has been sending letters of invitation to everyone who has participated in the past, and also invitations are been sent to those who might be interested in becoming part of the big event for the first time. Dennis has even invited outside of the area participants to be involved this year. In the past, just to be involved in the parade, people used to send floats from as far away as Fort Bragg. It was quite common to have floats from Eureka and Fortuna. The Applications to Enter the Parade will be available on the second week of May.

Dan Healy will be providing the sound system and announcing. Dan has done the announcing for so many years no one remembers how long ago he started. And we expect he will be outdoing himself this year.

It should prove to be the best year ever for the kids. Parade participants are being encouraged to bring gifts of candy and balloons, and maybe some other surprises to hand out during the parade.

The Parade will be held on June the 16th 2007. There will be a pancake breakfast at the Redwood Mall starting at 7:00 am. The parade will start at 11:00 am sharp. Everyone knows that when the Rotary Club say’s that they are going to start on time, they start on time! So be there!

The parade will be followed by a Steak Barbecue and Rodeo at Greycliff Acres on East Branch road.

The Pres' Banner Project.

2007-04-05T10:50:00.000-07:00

Garberville Rotary Club's President Dennis Abshire has announced that his project for the year will be to erect two poles on Sprowel Creek Road. The poles will be used to stretch a banner, side to side, across the road. The banner will be at least 18' above the roadway.

The banner will be used for announcing town events like the Rodeo, Harley Run, Reggae on the River, the Redway Fire Department Barbecue, and other local events.

It is hoped that the Garberville Chamber of Commerce will agree to administer the use of the banner. Each organization that wishes to advertise will have to manufacture their own banner, which must adhere to strict engineering and design requirements. The poles will become part of a local public utility.

The poles will be either concrete or steel, and they will incorporate a lanyard system that will raise and lower the banner from the ground level. The lanyards will be tamper proof to prevent vandalism. The placement will be just this side of the orange building, and the flowerbed across the street. The banner will stretch at about the level of the roof on the white building in the middle of the photo. The banner will be visible to all traffic coming to, or leaving Garberville.

At this point the plan is still "in the hopper", but engineers are busy as you read this. President Abshire has requested that you comment on his project. Dennis is very excited this improvement to our community. Keep your eyes on this space.

Wow! Cul-de-sac project complete!

2007-04-04T17:25:00.000-07:00

The Garberville Rotary Community Service committee has completed the Cul-De-Sac Project. When is the initiation party? There seems to be plenty of places to break the champagne bottle.

This bloggist would like to apologise for the long delay in posting. As is usual with most things technical, I had technical difficulties. I had my cell phone camera set to a higher resolution then my e-mail would accept. Once I reduced my resolve things went much better! There might a lesson for life in that little bit of information.

Meanwhile, I should be placeing a new post at least once a week, and I will start asking a lot more questions about our projects. Until then , please feel free to post comments, or more info by clicking on the "Comments" box below.

Ernie

Got Rocks?

2007-03-17T11:38:00.000-07:00

Garberville got rocks! Got shrubs, got flowers! Thanks to Nancy Wilson and Brian Walker (ladies before gentlemen)of the Garberville Rotary community service commitee.

Progress is being made in what has become euphemistically known as the “Turn Around Project”. Some do not think it is technically a “Cul-De-Sac” because it is not a dead end street.

The project included removing old shrubs and debris, terraforming and adding rocks and plantings. A few minor obstacles were provided by the weather, and some of the equipment destroyed the electrical service. (darn tools anyway!) The panel was repaired and set in concrete, so it could be bashed really good the next time!
Irrigation pipe has been installed. The wiring for the lights and irrigation controls has also been installed. The only thing needed to complete the project is a couple more loads of rock, and then the spreading of the same.
The major bone of contention, of the whole project, was which rocks were going to be used, and where they would be placed. Some felt that the rocks looked really great right where they landed, when they fell of the back of the truck. Others felt, as always seems to be the case, that they had to be moved around a lot, then put back where they fell of the truck. Maybe we should have used those rocks from Death Valley, that move themselves. The movers always win! Get used to it!
One wise sidewalk superintendent suggested that we sell the rocks to people, to have their names carved on them before being set in place, thus paying for the whole project, and maybe funding the next one!
The project has caused much positive comment.

Harley tickets on sale!

2007-03-16T15:52:00.000-07:00

The Garberville Rotary club is starting to sell tickets to to new Harley Sprint that Greg Phau has purchased for the Club. I hope to get some better photo's later, but this gives you an idea of what it looks like. Anyone would be proud to win it!

At the board meeting Tuesday mar. 13 2007 it was decided that all Rotarian's would get their fair share of tickets.So come prepared to pick up your tickets and start selling them.

There is a big reduction in the amount of tickets to sell this year, and we were able to keep the purchase price down to that, magic number, twenty dollars.
With the great riding weather we've had lately, they should sell fast.

One for the O'Sullivan Clan!

2007-03-14T13:02:00.000-07:00

The Catholic Church is having a Corned Beef and Cabbage feed.

The Masonic Hall, locust street, Garberville.

4:00pm "til 8:00pm

$10.00 / adult

$6:00 / child

Thursday March 15, 2007 (Not St. Patrick's Day)

Rotary Blog-Site to remain open to the public.

2007-03-14T12:26:00.000-07:00

At the meeting of the board of directors, on March 13, 2007. It was decided to keep this blog-site open for public viewing and comment. It was suggested that it might become an avenue to communicate with other clubs.

Strenuous, and valid comment was made for keeping it a private site, where only members of the Garberville Rotary would be able to access and comment. The issue of the Blogs privacy will be revisited if it becomes apparent that we need to do so.

Until then, the comments don't seem to be getting out of hand. If any comment is inappropriate for this site it can be "vaporised" with one little click of the "Administrators" mouse button!

It is hoped that at some point our timid group of stalwart business and professional people will take an interest in posting a few comments here.

If secretary Carolyn would E-Mail me the "public" results of the board meeting I would post them here.

If Bunny or Brian would like to publish something about or "Super school fund raiser" it would be okay.

Those Garberville Rotarians with valid Google accounts can, already, post articles such as this one you are reading. All the "Authorisations" are in place. And, I will help you if you get confused. I've already been there!

Notice from the Vocational Services Chairman.

2007-03-12T17:55:00.000-07:00

I would be remiss if I didn't mention that I know of a company that needs a part time employee that is capable of working under houses and can pull wires.
Must be able to work unsupervised.
No experience necessary, company will train.
Construction skills a plus but not necessary.

Contact me; Ernie Branscomb

The job is NOT with me if that makes a difference! I didn't think it would!

Super School Fundraiser.

2007-03-12T17:38:00.000-07:00

It was a wonderful evening. A Dennis sent me this picture to post. I wish I had the story and proper thanks to go with it.

From left to right Megan Johanneson, Seth Johanneson, Ernie Branscomb, Janis Branscomb.

The weather was more than nice, the food was outstanding, and the company was delightful.

I will be posting the full story and the proper thank you credits at a later date!

Until then keep checking.

If you ever learn to post comments, I will be glad to add features that you request. I will not always be able to respond right away, Janis still makes me work sometimes.

Ernie

Okay, I hear some of us can't find where to comment.

2007-03-12T17:20:00.000-07:00

Assuming that you got to this page, the next step to posting a comment is to click on the line right below this writing. Where it says "comments" , place the cursor over "comment" then right click the mouse. All of the recent comments will pop up and you can read them.

To write a comment, write your comment in the box provided to do that. Then, below the box, select an option as to how you want to post your comment. I suggest you select the "anonymous tab" because it is easier to use. you can sign your name in the box.
Then click on "publish" to post your comment. Be patient sometimes it takes a minute or so to publish.

Keep trying you will get it!

Ernie

To those that have called me to say that they can't leave a comment.

2007-03-12T11:24:00.000-07:00

Click on the little round circle in front of "Anonymous", then you can type and publish anything. Then sign it if you want.

Don't worry we will get the "hang of it" together.

Ernie

Third time a "Charm"!

2007-03-12T10:18:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Carolyn, Radar, Bunny and maybe others that have been trying to access this blog-spot. Thank-you for pointing out the mistakes in attempting to format this site.

It was not my intention to make this spot available for use until it was fully formatted, but unfortunately, as soon as you type in who is allowed to access this site, the site automatically sends out an e-mail inviting every one to start using it! The site was not ready for use at that point and it got very confusing for everyone. Most of all me!

I attempted to make it available anyway which, as it turned out, was another mistake. Sooo Sorry!

So, for now, this site will be available for anyone who has the web-site URL, and can be read and replyed to by anyone. I have made the site "unlisted" so it won't be addvertised as a public site. But, for now, please be aware that this is NOT a privite medium!

So be careful what you say and expect "outsiders" to leave weird comments.