May Meeting Minutes

Surfrider Meeting May 2012

Officers Present

Scott Willits – Treasure

MJ Mazurek – Volunteer Coordinator

Casey Schuetzle – Secretary

Treasury report 

After merchandise purchases, profits from the membership drive, Surfriders balance is $3529.00 with no outstanding debts. We had a successful fundraiser for Heather Bonser – Bishops family at Mays Ocean Night, raising $600.00 plus from donations and raffles.

Surfboard donation form mark McClendon

Surfrider is raffling off a Marc McClendon surfboard and an Matt Beards canvas print in efforts to raise more money for Heather Bonser-Bishops family.  Tickets are  for sale at your local surf shops, (Flying Fish in Eureka, and the Neighborhood in Arcata) and future Surfrider events.  A Raffle drawing will be held at Surfriders June 7 Ocean Night at Arcata Theater Lounge, and you do not have to be present to win.  Thank you to Marc and Matt for these generous donations in honor of Heather.

Rise of above plastics

The mission of the Rise Above Plastics (RAP) program is to reduce the impacts of plastics in the marine environment by raising awareness about the dangers of plastic pollution and by advocating for a reduction of single-use plastics and the recycling of all plastics.  Plastic pollution is a global problem requiring local action.  Most plastic pollution starts on land and then enters into the marine life, it’s our responsibility to stop it!  Check out Surfriders national website for resources and helpful info/facts about plastic pollution and its effect on the marine environmet.

Local efforts for RAP

Surfrider is pushing forward on local RAP efforts.  Beach cleanups have been helpful for creating awareness of plastic pollution.  Check out this photo from Hawaii  taken by Debbie Topping showing what can happen to the plastic you purchase and then dispose of.  In the future we want to have presentations ready to roll to show at high schools for educational outreach purposes.  Choosing to use or not or use disposable plastic products is where you start!  Surfrider is still collecting online signatures in support of a local plastic bag ban.  If you haven’t already signed the online petition the link is here. We love seeing local stores voluntarily banning plastic bags, so please remember to call and thank them when they do!

Events for summer schedule

The bag monster will be in high rotation this summer!!!. Look for Surfrider Humboldt at future events like oyster fest, Friends of the Dunes sand sculpture event, North Country Fair, Kinetic race at Halverson park over memorial weekend, a pints for profits evening at Redwood Curtin and much more!  We will have updated information on these events soon.

Upcoming Events

May 27 3:00 PM – Ban the Bag at Kinetic Grand Championship Day 1 @                              Halvorsen Park Eureka.  (Volunteers Needed!)

June 7 6:30 PM –    Ocean Night /Raffle for Heather Boser-Bishop

June 12 7:00 PM –  Members Meeting Humbrews

June 17 (TBA) –       Sand Sculpture Contest @ Manila/International Surf  Day

July 5 6:30 PM -      Ocean Night at Arcata Theater Lounge

To volunteer at any upcoming event email MJ Mazurek

mjhumboldtsurfrider@yahoo.com

Heather Bonser-Bishop Memorial Raffle

Heather Bonser-Bishop, a 39-year-old mother, nonprofit consultant and active community member in Trinidad, drowned April 28 while paddle boarding with her husband and two daughters on the Chetco River.

Surfrider donated all proceeds from our May Ocean Night event to the family.  Two magnificent items, generously donated by mark McClendon and Matt Beard are now being raffled in her honor.  Proceeds go to the Heather Bonser-Bishop Memorial Fund.

 

Matt Beard ‘Bird’s Eye View’

Print on canvas

Value $400

Mark McClendon Flying Fish Surf board

7’7”

Value $600

Need not be present to win.

Tickets for sale at Neighborhood Board Shop, 685 11^th St., Arcata, and Flying Fish Surfboards, 2006 4^th St. Eureka.

Drawing will be during Surfrider’s Ocean Night, Thursday, June 7^th, 7:00 p.m. at the Arcata Theater Lounge.

Surfrider Meeting Tonight 7pm at Humbrews.

Chapter Meeting Tuesday 8 May Humboldt Brewery 7pm – 8pm** **Please note change in start time for summer hours** Join us over a cold beer to discuss our current programs and campaigns. This month Surfrider will focus on our Rise Above Plastics (RAP) program. RAP is a Surfrider program with the mission to reduce the impacts of plastics in the marine environment by raising awareness about the dangers of plastic pollution and by advocating for a reduction of single-use plastics and the recycling of all plastics. This month we want to re-start the RAP working group, meeting every other month to plan strategy on the Ban the Bag Humboldt campaign and to develop plastics awareness presentations for youth and adults through education and outreach. This is a great opportunity to become involved in a local program that will help reduce waste in our community. Please contact MJ for more information at mjhumboldtsurfrider@yahoo.com.

Ocean Night benefit for Heather Bonser-Bishop a huge success!

We want to extend our thanks to everyone that came out last night to Ocean Night in support of the family of Heather Bonser-Bishop.  We raised a little over $600 for the family!   Some of Heather’s family was in attendance and we were honored to share a very special evening with them.

Mark McClendon of Flying Fish surf boards has generously donated a surf board that we will be raffled with all proceeds benefiting Heather’s family.  Mark, you are awesome!  Raffle sales and locations will be announced next Monday.  Stay tuned!

May Ocean Night dedicated to the memory of Heather Bonser-Bishop

Surfrider Humboldt is dedicating Ocean Night this Thursday at the Arcata Theater Lounge, to the memory of Heather Bonser Bishop.  Heather died tragically in a paddle boarding accident on the Chetco River in Oregon last weekend.  All proceeds from Ocean Night and donations from the public will be donated to Heather’s family.  Our regularly scheduled movie, Ocean Frontiers, will still be shown as well as surf movies, 7 p.m.

 

Please come out to Ocean Night, make a donation, and show your support for a fallen fellow surfer.  RIP Heather.

 

http://lostcoastoutpost.com/2012/apr/30/trinidad-woman-dies-while-paddleboarding-chetco-ri/

May Events

A huge thanks to everyone that supported and attended all the April Humboldt Surfrider events.  The Beach Ball 2, with Friends of the Dunes, was a blast and brought in a ton of support from local businesses and community members.  During Surfriders membership drive we gained 33 new/renewing members.  If you didn’t get an opportunity to signup/renew your membership for Surfrider Humboldt Chapter, just ask anyone working at our upcoming events to get you dialed in!  Earth Day beach cleanup was awesome and over 50 people came out to clean the beach. Thanks to our partners at the Tobacco Education Network and Humboldt Baykeeper.  In our cleanup efforts we removed a huge trailer full of trash off of the Samoa peninsula including a big ol’couch!  Check out pictures from all the events on our Facebook page.

Ocean Night
Thursday 3 May Arcata Theater Lounge
Doors at 6:30 First movie at 7

Featured flick for Ocean Night this month is Ocean Frontiers.   Ocean Frontiers takes us on an inspiring voyage to seaports and watersheds across the country—from the busy shipping lanes of Boston Harbor to a small fishing community in the Pacific Northwest; from America’s coral reefs in the Florida Keys to the nation’s premier seafood nursery in the Mississippi Delta. Here we meet an intermingling of unlikely allies, of industrial shippers and whale biologists, pig farmers and wetland ecologists, sport and commercial fishermen, reef snorkelers and many more, all of them embarking on a new course of cooperation, in defense of the seas that sustain us.

Chapter Meeting
Tuesday 8 May Humboldt Brewery

7pm – 8pm**

**Please note change in start time for summer hours**

 Join us over a cold beer to discuss our current programs and campaigns.  The meeting is open to the public. This month we will focus on our Rise Above Plastics (RAP) program.  Plastic is the most common marine litter worldwide and simple local actions can help solve this global issue.

RAP is a Surfrider program with the mission to reduce the impacts of plastics in the marine environment by raising awareness about the dangers of plastic pollution and by advocating for a reduction of single-use plastics and the recycling of all plastics. This month we want to re-start the RAP working group, meeting every other month to plan strategy on the Ban the Bag Humboldt campaign and to develop plastics awareness presentations for youth and adults through education and outreach.  This is a great opportunity to become involved in a local program that will help reduce waste in our community. Please contact MJ for more information at mjhumboldtsurfrider@yahoo.com.

Adopt-a-Highway Cleanup Trinidad

Saturday 12 May Seawood Drive exit Highway 101

10 am – 1130 am

Join Surfrider for our monthly cleanup.  Volunteers will meet north of Trinidad off of Hwy 101 on the Seawood Drive Exit.  HWY 101 is a beautiful route running along side our precious coast and lagoons.   Help keep our coast clean, and prevent trash from entering into our waterways by joining Surfrider and friends for a cleanup.  Surfrider provides all cleaning supplies and protective gear.  Event will cancel in the event of pouring rain.  For more information contact Casey at stonelagoon@gmail.com

Ban the Bag at Kinetic Grand Championship Day 1
Halvorsen Park Eureka
Saturday May 26
3 – 7 p.m.

Come celebrate the Kinetic Grand Championship and make a reusable bag out of a t-shirt!  We will have a table at Halvorsen Park, along side all the kinetic machines,  and we will show you how to make a reusable bag then screen print the Ban the Bag Humboldt logo.  Or, bring us a shirt of your own and we will screen print it for free!  Join in the Kinetic madness and show your support for the Bag Ban.  We need volunteers for this event.  Be a Surfrider hero and sign up to help! Contact MJ at mjhumboldtsurfrider@yahoo.com.
For the Glory!

Trinidad kicks off Ocean Week with Watershed Night, fun, art

From our friends in Trinidad:

Trinidad Bay Watershed Night will be held at the Trinidad Town Hall on Friday May 18th, 2012 from 6 to 9pm.  This casual event is a great way to connect with or meet new colleagues, volunteers, and friends. This event highlights and celebrates the efforts of local groups and agencies within the Trinidad Watersheds to maintain and improve our coastal waters and communities through poster displays and a slideshow.  Refreshments and beverages will be served.  This family friendly evening also includes a collection of artwork from Trinidad Elementary students and precedes our local Ocean Week.

Trinidad Bay Watershed Night 2012 Call for Posters

Surfrider April Meeting Minutes 2012

April Meeting Minutes 2012

The meeting was called to order at Humbrews in Arcata on April 8, 2012.

Officers Present:

Jen Savage – Chair

Scott Willits – Treasurer


Casey Schuetzle – Secretary

MJ Mazurek – Volunteer Coordinator

Treasury Report

Scott Willits reported the balanced at $2,008.58.  The current balance does not include recent funds raised from the week membership drive and the Beach Ball 2. 

Beach Ball 2

Jen Savage reported the Beach Ball 2 as a successful evening for everyone involved.  We had a variety of people who came to check it out and a ton of local support provided from volunteers to raffle donors.  What a fun evening!  Some of our major donations for the raffle came from the Nighborhood, Arcata Photo, Flying Fish Surf Shop, Patagonia,  Vintage Avenger,  The Tides Inn, Praxis Fitness, Justine Caywood CMT, Casey Skin Care Studio, Wood Foot Surfcraft,  Revolution Bicycle,  and Kayak Zacks.  THANK YOU!

Check out the Surfboard that was donated from the Neighborhood for the raffle!

Membership Drive

The membership drive was also a complete success.  We are 10 new members shy of our goal, but Surfrider Humboldt is still stoked to announce 33 new members have joined!  Outreach was also a key factor during the membership drive.  Folks learned about the programs and campaigns Surfrider is currently doing and the all the recent work we supported at Camel Rock through the Trinidad Land Trust.  Surfrider will be hosting another membership drive next year to boost more membership sign ups.  Currently there are 150 previous members and 33 new/renewing members; this includes only 8 in Trinidad!  Expanding membership is a big priority.  Memberships are helpful for greater political pull, provide support for programs/campaigns, and keep people involved within the chapter.  Surfrider Humboldt currently has a position open on the executive committee for Vice Chair.  Anyone interested in becoming VC should be prepared to invest time in outreach and building membership for the chapter.  A big thanks to KHUM, and Mike Dronkers from the Surfrider executive committee for ramping up the membership drive on the radio!

Bag Ban Update!

Surfrider volunteer coordinator and MJ Mazurek and Vanessa Vaquez of Humboldt Baykeeper are scheduled to meet with HWMA representative Brent Whitener on Thursday the 19th of April to discuss status of the bag ban ordinance.  When MJ will reports  back about the meeting we will update you!

 Hold onto Your Butts Campaign

Jen reported on the number one most littered item, cigarette butts.  A PSA has been created to raise awareness on the issue of cigarette butt litter.  Check out the video here! The next plan of action for “Hold on to Your Butts Campaign” will be a ground-up approach though education by putting posters near smoking areas at bars that warn of the far-reaching damage cigarette litter causes.

Cleanup Report/Earth Day!

The next cleanup is a collaborative effort with Green Week, Humboldt Baykeeper and Tobacco Education Network in celebration of Earth Day on Sunday, April 22 at the North Jetty from 10am – 1pm.  It gets even better!! Los Bagels has sponsored our cleanup and is providing Bagels and Coffee, and the Tobacco Education Network has free t-shirts.  We are encouraging volunteers to bring either a re-useable bag or five gallon buckets for picking up trash along with re-useable gloves in effort to create less waste.  During the meeting Beth Werner from Humboldt Bay keeper mentioned that Les Schwab tire center offers recycling for tires collected on the beach.  We also hope to get rid of the oversized beige couch that has been hanging out on the dunes near Bay Sreet.

Post-Meeting Volunteer Training

After the meeting, MJ trained future volunteers on how to do outreach for Surfrider Humboldt.  She also shared her expertise on how to screen print for Ban the Bag events, and how to make re-useable bags out of old t-shirts.

Sweet!

Upcoming Events April/May

April 22^nd 10am-1pm Earth Day Beach Cleanup at the North Jetty

May 3^rd 6:30pm Ocean Night featuring Ocean Frontiers

May 12^th 10 – 11:30am HWY 101 cleanup Seawood Drive Exit North of Trinidad.

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To volunteer at any event please email Humboldt@surfrider.org

Ray’s McKinleyville – No more single-use plastic bags at checkout!

Great news!  Ray’s McKinleyville has stopped offering plastic bags at checkout!  AWESOME!  This voluntary change in bag policy, if successful, will be adopted at other stores.  So far Ray’s McKinleyville shows a decrease in bag costs since consumers are bringing their own bags.  Let’s all let Ray’s McKinleyville know we are stoked with this new policy.  Call the store (839-4413) or stop by and give your thanks.  Way to go Ray’s McKinleyville!  (Wonder if the Day Without a Bag event was a helpful factor?)

 

 

Members Meeting/Volunteer Training Tuesday Night 6PM

Ever wondered how you could become more active in the protection of our oceans, waves, and beaches? Join Surfrider Humboldt for their monthly meeting Tuesday evening, April 10, 6pm – 730pm at Humbrews in Arcata.  This month Surfrider will discuss the plastic bag ban, Earth Day beach cleanup, and upcoming events.  Directly following the meeting will be volunteer training which includes screen printing the “Bag Ban” logo so remember to bring some t-shirts! Oh, and Free beer on us! Nice!