Soundings (1/29/08)

Bucks in the Bay : CURTIS DYE for his 52 years' on earth!, STEPHANIE SADLER, for another great Auction and Fund raiser for her school; MIKE KIRKLAND for the announcement that ROBIN SCHMIDT had joined his Hospice Organization as head of fund raising; DONNA EDQUIST giving a Rah, Rah for WWU graduates and the school that many of our members attended; ROBIN SCHMIDT for her recognition of the Boys & Girls Club; SCOT SWANSON for his 32 years here on the Planet; DICK STARK in honor of one of Bellingham's finest; BOB NEWELL tossed in a big $8.00 in honor of his 80th Birthday, and that breaks down, according to BOB, a BIG dime for each year on this Globe (what a spender!); KEN OPLINGER announcing that the very noticeable change of color of his face came from spending a very difficult three weeks' time in Cabo San Lucas (or some place south of the border). There were more admissions of interesting events, but we will just let you guess or surmise what they may have been!! Oh yes, ORPHALEE SMITH commenced the Bucks in the Bay with a very 'healthy' donation in recognition of the excellent attendance this week and last week, and it is our hope that this will continue

Student of the Month: GEORGE BOWEN, over the past many years, has been working with the High School (Squalicum, that is), for the purpose of bringing another monthly Honoree to our Club for the presentation of a very professional looking plaque and a Big $100 Bill . This month it was a very talented young lady with a GPA of more than 3.93 by the name of Kensey Burdick. Kensey gave us a brief resume of some of the things she has done regarding the giving of her time to others, and her comments were well received by the membership. Sitting by her side for lunch was her mom, Sherry Burdick, with a big smile, and a very proud Counselor, Steve Wylie. Our Rotary Hats off to GEORGE, and a very BIG THANKS for all that you do with (and for) these deserving students

Sergeant at Arms: FRANK CHMELIK took the podium and proceeded to hit the unsuspecting with money fines, humor and a sense of Lawyering that will be remembered by us all for at least a day or two!! First of all, our immediate future president TIME McEVOY was nailed a buck for his lack of 'dressing up' when attending a Rotary Meeting -- well, he did have on clothes that were somewhat casual; ED ZECH was asked to discuss the exodus of the Cardiologists from the community, and did this mean more shekels in the hands of ED with their going bye-bye; MATT GROENIG and MIKE HAMMES were given the big dollar fine for having more than one 'bald' member at a table (hey, are we getting nasty now?); KEN OPLINGER was asked to drop a few pesos on the table because he was gone for three weeks from his work station as the Chief of the Chamber of Commerce, and evidently, not a soul missed him!; SCOT SWANSON was compared to CURTIS DYE and STAN DYER as to the number of years' he has been a Rotarian, and FRANK felt that he should have spent at least one half of his time on earth as a Rotarian as has CURTIS and STAN---well, he is now 32, isn't he?. All of those who own property in addition to their own residential property were asked to settle the 'tax relief' because of the recent action by the City Fathers and Mothers; Anyone who would admit to going skiing this past week was asked to place a dollar bill gently on the table so as not to cause an avalanche or other disastrous event; A buck to be placed on the table if you managed to have a fender bender during this past raging snow storm that literally engulfed the Town and the County -- well, sakes alive, we did have nearly three inches out there, didn't we? And if there were any fender benders, we are in hopes that you have contacted our own personal injury attorney, DEAN BRETT, and he would be happy to discuss same. Is that considered advertising? PLEASE NOTE: if you feel you were overlooked by the Sergeant at Arms, feel free to toss a few bucks on the table at the next meeting, which is 5 February of 2008.

And now, the PROGRAM: As has been noted in the past, some of our best programs are generated thru our own Members, and Tuesday was a definite example of that fact. CHIP HILARIDES presented a 30 minute program on what just happened to Georgia Pacific, and how CHIP, as the General Manager, was able to work with his employees on closing this plant down. Obviously, it is not just a matter of saying that we are all thru on 24 December, and that is it---rather, it is a very delicate situation that must be recognized continually so that all existing employees at the end of this Company would be treated fairly, and so that they would treat their employer as gentlemen and gentlewomen should. Well, it was an intricate, time consuming effort, and it went very well. According to FRANK CHMELIK who was involved with some of the legal aspects of this situation, CHIP was outstanding in the work that was accomplished. CHIP will be staying with the Company, focusing many of his hours down at Fort Bragg, California---the good thing about all of this is that CHIP will be staying in this Community, so we will retain a great Rotarian in our Club.

Other Bits of Info: We noticed that our member, TODD RAMSAY has been appointed as Interim Chief of Police while the City and the Mayor are looking for a permanent Chief. I think that we should push for our Member TODD to take over the Big Job, if he is interested!! Well!! Oh yes, there still will NOT be any Ticket Fixing , so just drop that thought from your agenda.

Today's Editor for this Rag is STAN DYER, and he was asked this question by one of our members: "There is a friend of mine whose recently deceased husband was a PAUL HARRIS FELLOW. This friend of mine has the PH Medallion and Pin, and does not want to keep them---does RI want them returned?". Well, I did contact Rotary International, related the story, and wondered if they would like to have the Medallion and Pin returned. To say the least, the Rotary Foundation Rep. was astounded at the question, and he could not understand why the person would not want to keep these very worthwhile items. His answer was that they need not be returned, and whatever the person wants to do with them, they should.

ROTARY INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION This year, the RI Convention will be held in Los Angeles, June 15-18, and if you peruse the February Issue of 'The Rotarian', you will have some Info on the Convention that will be helpful. It is only 1,200 miles from here to there, so it would make a nice jaunt,and you would learn a lot about Rotary. Probably our next Club President, TIM McEVOY would love it if you joined him at this event. Incidentally, in this February issue, on Pages 25 and 29, you will notice some information about two Rotary Clubs in the vicinity of Los Angeles, to wit, Westchester and Santa Clarita; both Clubs in Los Angeles County. I know that you will be delighted to know that I was one of the Past Presidents of both of those Clubs--Santa Clarita in 1969-70 and Westchester in 1979-80!! Well, put a feather in my cap!!

Respectfully Submitted by,
STAN DYER, Interim Editor and Braggart