Soundings (7/25/06)
ANNOUNCEMENTS: ...EDDIE HANSEN will be having his yearly CRAB FEED on Thursday 27 July, in front of the Yacht Club from 5-7pm.
...Taylor Dock dedication will be happening on the 22nd day of August.
...A letter of thanks came in from Big Brothers/Big Sisters for our continuous involvement with that great organization.
...Rotarian guests were announced by RON HARDESTY and they included two from the Bellingham Club, one from Whatcom North Club and one from the Sunrise Club---no out of town Rotarians!
...Also, introduced (along with three or four others), was our new member (yet to be installed), TIM KRELL of First American Title Insurance Company.
FLAG SALUTE AND INVOCATION: ...Done well by member, JEFF KOCHMAN
BUCKS in the BAY:
...TONJA MYERS, about $25 to announce the latest theatrical productions by the Skagit River Shakespeare Festival, HAMLET and THE COMEDY OF ERRORS - 3 August thru 20 August - contact TONJA for details.
...BOB MOLES, a Ten Dollar Bill, to announce that he, CY LINDBERG and DONNA EDQUIST attended a District Grants Seminar, and came away with a copious amount of information that will assist our Club when we request a grant for some project in the future.
...JOHN TEMPLETON. a few bucks for his recent trip;
...BRYANT ENGERBRETSON, a fat 37 buckeroos for that many years on earth;
...PAUL LEUTHOLD, some dollars for a recent trip to Portland (checking on the parks, no doubt) and the 104 F Degree weather
...CURTIS DYE, a doubloon or two for seeing the production, Pirates of Penzance;
...CHRISTINE PALMERTON, 41 Bucks for a birthday (or two) and her new grandchild;
...SCOT SWANSON who announced that he would be getting hitched on the 5th day of August, 2006;
...MATT ROSE (soon to be a thespian of note), for his soon to be DEBUT as one of the stars in Sound of Music;
...STEPHANIE SADLER, some pesos for a recent trip to Mexico and seeing those grand kids;
...RON HEARDESTY, a few pounds of silver for something or another with his HD two wheeler;
...FRANK CHMELIK, $100 for his birthday and a romp to Torrey Pines (near San Diego), Calif -- let's say that hundred was split down the middle for the two events.
SERGEANT at ARMS RON HARDESTY came up with a multiple choice questionnaire regarding president BARRY, and that included many aspects of BARRY's most interesting (and questionable) past---all of this info came from GOOGLE.COM (yeah, right!!). Each table was asked to identify the correct answer of the four possibilities, and if they goofed, then it cost the table occupants a mere ONE DOLLAR each.
TODAY'S PROGRAM Mike Cohen, Exec Director of the Bellingham Food Bank and our own BILL GEYER, presented many bits of information regarding the Food Bank, its history in our community as well as some of the statistics regarding the number of individuals in Whatcom County who go hungry during the year. As a note, the numbers were staggering and heart wrenching. Also, information was presented as to the involvement our Rotary Club has taken on with the food Bank. One of our major efforts for the next year or two will be to assist financially (our total will be $100,000) the construction of a new Food Bank building, and this will be done through our Club and two of the other Rotary Clubs in Bellingham, to wit, Bellingham and Whatcom County North. A heartfelt THANKS to BILL GEYER, our Club and others who have taken on this project -- truly, Rotary in Action. We are 'Leading the Way' as this year's Rotary Theme suggests. By the way, the approval of this very large project came as a result of former President UNREIN and his Board of Directors giving their approval (and the Club seconded their action).
FUTURE PROGRAMS
...1 August, Rep Doug Erickson and his political views for the 42nd District;
...8 August, Laurel Baldwin, a botanist, will reveal many interesting thoughts on the flora around Whatcom County;
...15 August, Lorenzo Lomar, U-DUB Basketball coach will talk about -- well, guess what!!?
...22 August, Senator DALE BRANDLAND will give "...the real story..." as to why he is running again for the Senate;
...and on the 29th of August, another politico (probably the Democratic side).
ROTARY NOTES
...District 5050 Golf tournament at Homestead (in Lynden) on 11 August. We have a foursome signed up, and that includes RON H., BILL U., BARRY K. and ALAN K. Other interested golfers, contact President BARRY.
...RI President BILL BOYD suggests that as Rotarians, we should
1. Assess what members want;
2. Emphasize the social aspects of Rotary,
3. Market our Club,
4. Bring new members into the Club with dignity and class,
5. Involve your entire family in Rotary,
6. Mentor the new members,
7. Educate our members all about Rotary and,
8. Show enthusiasm openly---ROTARY should be FUN.
...Did you know that there are 1,001,563 PAUL HARRIS Fellows as of 1 May 2006---Have you thought about being included in the future PHF count?
Respectfully submitted in Rotary, STAN DYER