Hi-Jinx Bulletin-Mar. 9, 2026 Mtg

 

President Jim Brubaker opened the meeting, Yvonne Finocchiaro led the Pledge; We skipped the singing since Ken Clark and Ed Rouquette were absent. Guests were introduced, including several potential members.

 

(More details in the text below)

• Mar.  19 - North County Food Bank

• Mar.  21-22 - Model United Nations/Del Mar

• Mar.  28 - Work Day: Hospice of North Coast

• Apr.  10-12 - RYLA Weekend / Idyllwild

• Apr.  25 - Rotary/NAMIWalks San Diego

 

Our next regular Monday meetings will be March 23, April 13, April 27 (Scholarship Drawing), May 4, May 18, all at the Holiday Inn. Pres. Jim will send details prior to each. RSVPs are needed to keep our lunch costs down. 

 

       • Happy Hour: Thurs, Mac. 26 at Tower39 Rooftop Lounge, 3136 Carlsbad Blvd. Happy hours will occur the fourth Thursday of the month. Phil Urbina (Apr. 9), Yvonne Finocchiaro (May 11) and Rick Huenefeld have signed up to host three of the future happy hours.

       • CHNR and Carlsbad Rotary Mixer: See photos at the bottom of this edition.

 

President-elect Kori Dolkas asked for a vote on the slate for the 2026-2027 CHNR board, Nominees were:

The slate was approved. The annual Demotion Dinner will be held Sat., Jun. 27, when this new board will be installed and annual awards will be presented.

 

Mimi Gaffey presented Paul Kartzke with his Paul Harris pin+2 for his contributions to the Rotary International Foundation.

 

Pres. Jim awarded Yvonne Finocchiaro as Rotarian of the Month for March for all the hard work as executive director.  She does a lot of behind-the-scenes work to make sure the club runs smoothly, including all media/press releases, marketing and social media posts.

 

       JoAnn Ross announced we just passed $25,000 on our way to our goal of raising $50,000 for Carlsbad college and vocational scholarships: Tickets are $20 each, or 6 for $100. Time is short, with the drawing to be held at our Apr. 27 meeting. Top prize is $5,000; 2nd prize: $2,500; 3rd prize: a gift basket valued at $1,000. Ross encouraged members to continue to sell tickets so we can reach our final goal.

 

       • CARLSBAD 5000 volunteers needed: Beth Garrow said the Carlsbad 5000 is seeking volunteers for the Apr. 11-12 event, especially the latter date. There are many volunteer options. Volunteers will receive a race t-shirt, light refeshments and proof of service hours. To sign up:

       • SAVE THE DATE: Sat, Mar. 28: CHNR painting project at Hospice of the North Coast: Rick Huenefeld, Tommy Hersant and Tom Applegate will be painting stripes on asphalt plus some woodworking projects. They welcome help. Info: Huenefeld: rick.huenefeld@gmail.com

       • RYLA Facilitators Needed: Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) camp needs more adult facilitators. Mike Metts again is the district RYLA chair, and he is seeking some fellow CHNR members as facilitators. RYLA, for District 5340 high school students with leadership qualities, will be April 10-12 in Idyllwild. A facilitator training session will be in March. Contact Metts: mmetts@dudek.com

 

       • North County Food Bank, Thur, Mar. 19, 1-4pm. Beth Garrow is sending out sign-up information for this monthly club service activity. Advance signup is required.

       • Rotarians At Work, Sat, Mar. 28, 8:30-11:30am. Hospice of the North Coast (painting, woodworking, parking lot striping). SignUp Genious info has been emailed.

       • Brother Benno’s Food Service, Wed., Apr. 8: To help serve breakfast at Brother Benno’s in Oceanside, contact Paul Kartzke, prkartzke@gmail.com

       • NAMIWalks SD: Our Rotary District 5340 is again supporting this fundraising walk for mental illness programs. Rotarians are invited to participate: Sat. Apr. 25, 7-11am at NTC Park at Liberty Station. Contact Bob Stonebrook, bob@aesynergy.com, to sign up or go to www.namiwalks.org/sandiego

 

       • Model United Nations, Sat-Sun Mar. 21-22 in Del Mar: Our club is hosting two teams of students, each team representing a different nation. The students research their nation and will be prepared to represent its point of view on two different issues.

       • What Grown-ups Do for Work: Bob Kreisberg is looking for more speakers willing to share their experiences and knowledge in their own field with local students. Contact Kreisberg, Bob@OpusProductivity.com

 

President & CEO, Carlsbad

Chamber of Commerce

 

Schanzenbach began by reviewing some of James Douglas’ 100-year predictions made in 1926. Some, but not all of them did come true. He also noted a couple recent predications: Elon Musk stating more surgeries will be performed by Tesla robots than human surgeons by 2030, and Jeff Bezos predicting there would be more than a million people living in space by 2045.

 

He said the chamber was founded in 1923—30 years prior to Carlsbad being incorporated as a city. In the early days, there were complaints from Carlsbad, TX, and Carlsbad, NM, claiming rights to the name, but as of today, Carlsbad, TX, has a population of 622, and Carlsbad, NM, has 31,000— compared to 113,000 for this city. Schanzenbach noted the chamber still gets many calls seeking information on the Carlsbad Caverns. Chamber membership slowed during COVID but is now growing, with more 1,100 members which is the second-largest in San Diego County and 10th largest in California.

 

Schanzenbach noted some things to look for here in 2026. Chick-Fil-A, which opened in June 2024 on Avenida Encinas, has submitted for a drive-thru permit which would be the first new drive-thru in Carlsbad in 30 years. Due to environmental concerns and the city council wanting to avoid development similar to Anaheim/Disneyland when Legoland was started, a drive-thru permit ban was put in place.  Carlsbad currently has only nine drive-thrus in the city and no coffee shop drive-thrus.

 

Schanzenbach also noted how Legoland help spur the tourism industry in Carlsbad: now there are more than 50 hotels in Carlsbad. There is significant competition, which has led to recent significant renovations at many local hotels, including the Hilton Garden Inn, Omni La Costa, Park Hyatt Aviara and recent change from the Sheraton to Autograph Collection.

 

He predicted parking in the Village will not get better, especially with more development planned, including the project at the Smart & Final site, Carlsbad Alkaline Water Spa, possible development at the NTC train depot, and unused properties with parking lots, such as the BofA site.

 

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