LWVHC Calendar

The League of Women Voters
of Humboldt County

NEWS

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Mark your calendars for the 2015 State of the Community Luncheon on Friday, April 17. Join us as we celebrate the accomplishments of this year's Civic Contribution Award winners!

Our speakers this year: Estelle Fennell, Chair, Humboldt County Board of Supervisors. Keynote Speaker – Merv George, Jr., Forest Supervisor, Six Rivers National Forest.

SOCL Honoring Boys & Girls Club of the Redwoods

Helping Humboldt Youth Since 1938

It is always so inspiring to meet and hear about our Civic Contribution honorees! The organization being honored this year at the State of the Community Luncheon on April 17 is the Boys & Girls Club of the Redwoods. This youth development program, which serves 3,000 youth ages 6 to 18, includes the Teen Center and the Club House in Eureka, the Loleta Club at Loleta Elementary School and the Humboldt County Teen Court.

The program focuses on five core areas of development: Sports, Fitness, and Social Recreation; Character and Leadership Development; Health and Life Skills; The Arts; and Education and Career. Activities are designed to foster a sense of competence, usefulness, and belonging, and to provide a chance to participate in decision making.

The majority of youth who attend come from single parent homes. Ten percent are homeless. Members performed over 4,000 hours of community service last year. Through the National Youth Outcomes Initiative, the Club is now tracking how much fun members are having, how safe they feel, and the progress being made in academics, health lifestyle, and good character and citizenship.

The Boys & Girls Club, which has no guaranteed income stream and relies on donors and grant writing for funding, is strongly supported by the local community. The support of local construction-related businesses and hands-on labor by many Rotary Club volunteers were keys to accomplishing recent renovations to the Teen Center.

Meet Our Individual Recipients of the 2015 Civic Contribution Award

Two Amazing Nonagenarians

Ruth Mountaingrove has been described as an activist, feminist, artist, writer, musician, photographer, poet, mentor, and icon. Locally she is known as a founder of the KHSU program Through the Eyes of Women, a book reviewer for the L-Word, a contributor to the Senior News, and a volunteer with the Ink People. She also served on the Humboldt County Grand Jury.

Ruth put her artistic skills and educational training to use in the first heady days of feminism in the late nineteen seventies. She moved from Pennsylvania to Oregon, where she joined an intentional community of women. There, she conducted week-long workshops for feminist photographers over a period of six years and published a nationally distributed magazine, Womanspirit for ten years. Her photographs have appeared in shows all over the U.S. Having earned two masters degrees at HSU after the age of 80, she continues at 92 to take photos, paint, and maintain her connections with fellow poets.

At the age of 97, Helen Person is astonishingly bright-eyed and energetic. After she retired from her career that started with teaching in a one-room school in Willow Creek in 1939 and went on to include administration with the Humboldt County Office of Education, she began serving dinner weekly at St. Vincent de Paul, where she continues today, over 30 years later. About the time she turned 90 she also began helping with food preparation for the homeless with Betty Chinn's program. Her volunteer activities have included service with the Humboldt County Retired Teachers and serving on the organizing committee for the Author Festival that brings well known writers of children's literature to Humboldt County every two years. She continues to be active with her church, drives her own car, and tries to get in two good walks each day.

Guest from the LWVC

The LWVHC Welcomes Mony Flores-Bauer

In March we are pleased to be hosting a LWVC Board member, Mony Flores-Bauer, at a reception on Friday evening (6 to 8 P.M.) March 13, 2015 in the meeting room at Casa Blanca, 1436 2nd Street, Eureka. This will be in place of our Thursday evening member meeting in March.

Mony is bilingual in Spanish and English, and works throughout the state helping League members reach out to the Spanish-speaking community. She will speak at the LatinoNet General Meeting at noon on Friday, March 13, at the Community Wellness Center, 908 Seventh Street in Eureka, and members of the League are welcome to attend that meeting, too.

We will have the chance to talk with Mony on Friday evening and pick her brain about how we can interact most effectively with Spanish speakers, the fastest growing group in Humboldt County. More details about the reception will be in the March VOTER, but be sure to save the date.

Join Us On The Avenue

Looking for Volunteers for the LWVHC aid station at the Avenue of the Giants Marathon

This year's marathon will be on Sunday, May 3. Here are the basics:

• Our station is 2 miles north of Meyers Flat on the Avenue of the Giants.
• Be there between 8:30 and 9:00 a.m. until shortly after noon.
• Stay to tail-gate a picnic lunch (or not!).
• Help earn $$$$ toward meeting our next year's budget.
• Help keep the runners hydrated and safe.
• NO experience necessary.
• Get better acquainted with other Leaguers.
• Be MUCH appreciated by runners.
• Enjoy the beautiful redwoods in the spring.
• Have fun!

If you can volunteer, Pleasssse respond even if you have told me that you are interested. I need a "body" count! Want to car pool? Call Kay or email: Kay Escarda 442-7495 or k.escarda@sbcglobal.net (email may be changing!)

-Kay Escarda Marathon Fundraiser

Welcome New Board Member: Lilach Assayag

You may be aware that the President(s) can appoint directors to the League board for a one-year term, with the approval of the rest of the board. It is with great pleasure that Amanda and I announce that Lilach Assayag has agreed to serve on the board until the end of June (and we hope she will like us enough to run for a two-year director position at the Annual Meeting in May!) We welcome Lilach and look forward to her expertise and help with publicity and public relations. Thank you for your willingness to serve, Lilach!

~LWVHC Co-President Byrd Lochtie