The participants in the photo by Dwight showing the certificates left to write are Marty Walters, Wyatt Hollister, Elita Hutchins, Jennifer Hoffman, Che Rubaclava-Cunan and MC John Sheehan.
Rotary March 24, 2014
Rotary hosted the annual Rotary Music contest organized by Rotary member Marty Walters on Monday, March 24 featuring four contestants vying for cash prizes and the opportunity to go on to a regional and district competition where the grand prize will be $1000. The contest is part of our youth services program. The contestants were Elita Hutchins on flute playing a Minuet for Flute from L’Arlesienne by Georges Bizet, Jennifer Hoffman playing Claire DeLune by Claude Debussy on piano; Che Rubaclava-Cunan playing Granada Serenata by Isaac Albeniz on classical guitar, and Wyatt Hollister playing a violin arrangement by Fritz Kreisler followed by a French folk piece. Johnny MacDonald was the accompanist.
Each contestant was required to play between 3 and 8 minutes of music and was judged on five criteria – musical ability, musical sound, musical selection, musical empathy and stage presence. We were honored to have as judges Alice King, Angela Elliott and Dave Johns. While waiting for the votes to be tallied, MC John Sheehan asked each student to comment on what they hoped to do following high school graduation. Elita said laughingly, that she was going to sit on the side of the road and play flute. In fact she hopes to attend Sonoma State University. Jennifer plans to attend a private university and major in chemistry. Che plans to attend University of California at Santa Barbara. Wyatt hopes to attend film school at University of Southern California, but if that doesn’t work out he says he will consider studying law.
It was a delight to be entertained by such talented young musicians. First place was awarded to Wyatt Hollister, second place to Che Rubaclava-Cunan, third place to Jennifer Hoffman and fourth place to Elita Hutchins.
After a great meal of corned beef and cabbage, John Steffanic our St. Patrick ’s Day speaker presented a program that began with as his ideas about the role the County fairgrounds might play in the economic development of Plumas County and ended with an update on the County Fair.
John began with his ideas of what he feels are viable options for infusing the economic development of our County, specifically Quincy. “We have a beautiful fairground site that is already being used as an event center for the High Sierra Music Festival,” he said. This is a business that draws 10,000 people who spend an average of $200 bringing in $2-3 million in four days. Some of the money they spend benefits the community in taxes and local purchases, particularly gasoline. John proposes we develop other special events, both large and small that would draw significant numbers of people to our town. A side benefit of such events, especially now that fiber optics is being brought to us, would be to let people who come from the crowded Bay Area or other places see what a beautiful place this is to live and raise families while allowing them to commute on-line.
John offered several suggestions for possible events – Americana Festival, Jazz Festival, Horse Shoe Tournaments, Film Festival. “We just need to be creative.” John remarked that just a few years ago in one day, three things captured media attention – President Obama, the death of Michael Jackson and the Ugly Dog Contest in Sonoma. He suggested we need a signature event.
As far as the County Fair, he stated firmly, “We are going to continue to have a fair.” Though state funding to help county fairs has been cut, we will continue to have a fair. The theme for this year’s fair will be “Fun and Games”. The plan is to have beach volley ball, bingo, giant games and other fun events. Mr. Steffanic asked the Rotary Club to consider putting on a one-day cribbage tournament during the fair. They are also bringing back the Sweetheart of the Mountains, though it will be a scholarship competition that includes talent, poise, community service to help raising funds to be split half and half between the winner and the Fair Foundation. They also hope to have a tie-in with the 150th Anniversary of State Parks in California.
Last Monday we were joined by the Team from ENACTUS of Feather River College.
Enactus stand for,
Entrepreneurial—having the perspective to see an opportunity and the talent to create value from that opportunity;
Action—the willingness to do something and the commitment to see it through even when the outcome is not guaranteed;
Us—a group of people who see themselves connected in some important way; individuals that are part of a greater whole.
The Group was lead by Team President Brad Marquette and Advisor Amy Schulz. Also joining them were Amy’s daughter Alicia Bagley, Timothy Kauffman, Lauren Cancilla, Naoki Matsumoto, and Manrupt Sandu.
The group discussed their trip to Uganda and their water project there. They recently visited the village of Mabare were they collaborated with local villagers on supplying water to the village. The village already had a water well in place, but the well was two kilometers uphill from the village. Being so far from the village it would require the women and children to make the daily trek to collect water for usage. Their plan was to trench 2 km down to the village and run pipe so the villagers would have easier access to that water. With a team of seven it was no easy task. The people turned out from Mabare and the neighboring village. With the 50 plus people they were able to accomplish installing the line to the village in three days. They installed six taps down the line to provide water for the villagers. This water project has provided clean water to 700 people. It has also decreased the children sent to the health officer by 25%. With the women and children not making the daily 2km hike the women have more time to farm in gardens and provide for their family. 70% of children attend more school than before the projects.
The group has done wonderful things in Uganda. They are not finished though. They plan to return in early June. They will lay an additional one kilometer pipeline to the neighboring village. The cost of materials to undertake such a project is approximately $1,000. We will look forward to the group returning to Rotary to tell us of the continued work to provide accessible water to people who need it so much.
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