Flag Salute & Invocation by
Bob JonesIn the absence of President Tim, our Meeting was opened by our most reliable President Elect, Tonja (and she didn't even tell a joke as does Tim!!)
Visiting Rotarians: One from our Big Daddy Club by the handle of Mike something or another, and that be it!!
Karen Haggen as a guest of Mike Kirkland, and by the way, Karen has been approved for membership, and she will be brought into the Club in the near future, and that will occur as soon as our peripatetic President, Tim, returns to his homeland!
Announcements: Brent Walker announced the wine that will be available at the Grapes & Gourmet bash will also be available to our Club members one week prior to the G & G, and he will have a list of those wines during the next two weeks. Just bring your check book, and save lots of simoleons. Wine will be for sale at a 10% discount and you can purchase one bottle, one case or one carload!
Another announcement by our wine Connoisseur, John Templeton: There will be a Mt. Baker Winery event on 12 October of this year (and that is a Sunday). The time is 1400 hours (for those that are not inclined to read correctly the military time, it would be 2:00 in the afternoon!). The cost is $25.00 per person, and you will be able to enjoy a 25% discount on any wines purchased on that date. The $25 will allow you to have lots of wine samples, lots of food and lots of enjoyment. John will want a definite commitment next Tuesday at our Club Meeting. Oh yes, you will also be able to watch a real 'wine crush' --- who knows, it might be accomplished by real individuals stompin' around in a big vat, barefoot!!
One more announcement included information about the Grapes & Gourmet event on 2 November at the Lakeway. General admission is 75 buckaroos and Preferred Tickets are going for something like $125, and the number of those babies are limited; so get with it. Zachary Jones and his side kick, Jenni Moore are hustling tickets in the foyer of our meeting spot every Tuesday. Each member is obligated to shell out $300 for this G & G, so, please help. As you know, the monies we realize with this event will go to assist some 30 or more local eleemosynary organizations--I do believe that we raised more than $60,000 last year.
Bucks in the Bay: Interim President Tonja Myers tossed in a buck or two to say thanks to Lesa Boxx for her great Sunday evening dinner enjoyed by about 30 of us; also, Tonja stretched her donation of a dollar or two to include the announcement that she was wearing the latest creative necklace that her daughter had made at school.
Alan Knudsen donated $100 bucks for our Foundation for his recent birthday (he really does not appear to be that old)!
Scott Walker gave up his last Twenty to announce that he and a relative or two had taken over the Company, Elements, on Baker View Road, and had hired 7 more employees.There is a guy who is helping out the bedraggled economy--thanks Scott!
Ron Hardesty donated some dollars to announce a Birthday, or close to that!
Eddie Hansen gave accolades to John Templeton for putting on that imbibing thing on 12 October, as well as noting that more fun events are in our future.
Tim Krell announced with a certain joy that his wife is now employed!
Other members who stood at the podium and confessed various infractions or goofs included Denise Bosman, Pete Rittmueller, Barry Kramer, Bill Gorman and Fandango Tom !!
Sergeant at Arms: Bryant Engerbretson stood at the podium, and with a certain amount of glee he nailed a few of us. Because of the plight that many are in, he took his troubles directly to any of the membership who are in the Financial World, and hit them for a pre September One dollar, and then he hit the Legal Profession because they will be making a lot of money on the law suits that are apt to be filed against some of those Wall Street scalawags. Bill Gorman was hit for suggesting that there was real drama on TV with the debates and all of the Political crap that is noted on an hourly basis (I can't even see Little Beaver any more because of the political ads!).
Ed Zech was hit for $250.00, and that came as a result of a very complicated formula that included when Ed would leave our area if he hadn't made his recent decision, and this was assisted by Eddie 'The Fun Guy' Hansen who said he had been nailed about 60 clams per year for fines and other poorly invested bucks. Then, Bryant, feeling a certain amount of remorse for this extraordinary fine, reduced it by 99.25%, and Ed placed his Two Bucks on the table. There were a number of fines given to the likes of Dan Washburn, John Templeton, Bob Becker and others for investing in Lehman Brothers, WaMu, Bear-Stearns and the like. There were more assessments allocated by the bad guy, Bryant, but most of those asked not to be identified because of some reason or another!!
How about the Boxx Blast? Lesa and Mike Boxx should be given a big hug and a hand shake (respectively identified, of course), for their great dinner they provided for about 30 of us at their place of business on Northwest Avenue. Their place is surrounded with about 5 acres of beautiful flowers, corn, strawberry and blue berry plants, and it is kept in perfect order. All of us enjoyed a great meal put on by Lesa and Mike with a lot of assistance by Kathy Cheldelin, Christine Palmerton and Stew Ellison. Also, Stew broke open that gigantic triple magnum of wine he had given to him at his one and only wedding (about 20 years in the past, that is!). According to Stew, there were many comments about the wine, and some of them were good and others were---oh well! Ron Hardesty and his side kick, Burt on the Bass, entertained us for about an hour with some great Country music---must admit that Ron does have a lot of musical talent---seems that he should get our Club started with some singing each meeting! Monies realized at this event go for our Scholarship Program at the High School. Those in attendance included: Lesa & Mike Boxx (of course!), Stew Ellison, Kathy Cheldelin, Ron & Pam Hardesty, Curt Smith, Jim & Ann Wells, Jim & Marieange Johnson, Christine & Chris Palmerton, Jane & Terry Carten, Tonja Myers & Rob Slater, Chuck Walters, Glendine Barley, Bob & Melinda Yost, Barry & Anne Kramer, Orphalee Smith, Stephanie & Paul Sadler, Burt the Bass Player and Stan & Carrie Dyer. Sign me up for next year's event!
Program:
Bill Gorman introduced our Program, and that was a presentation by Matthew Smith, Executive Director of Kidstown International. We were given a lot of facts and statistics regarding the many orphans that are living throughout the world, a number that exceeds 137,000,000! His Company has focused on three countries specifically, and they are Romania, India and Nepal. Their work includes providing beds for some of the orphanages; washer and driers for others; building projects, clean water; greenhouses, etc., etc., etc. Kidstown was started right here in Bellingham, and has another facility in the Tacoma area. A number of Rotary Clubs have assisted in the support of their many needs, and they have made presentations all over the country requesting funds. There was no direct solicitation presented, but it might be worth looking into for one of our Club projects.
Raffle:
Steve Berringer, who managed to shake down a number of members for their raffle ticket, had our nearly new member Karen Haggen pull a ticket to win the $28.00. The winner is unknown, and consequently there will not be a report to the IRS!!
Just a note: How often we must think about the needs of so many throughout the world: Orphanages, Tsunami victims, Floods, Starvation, HIV carriers, Polio, lack of education, and so many more. We are most fortunate in being who we are and living where we live---support our Foundation, the Rotary International Foundation, and our local groups who are helping others---dollars well spent.
A Final Item: So where is our President? We have learned that Tim, his wife Marcia and his mom are touring some of Ireland on a very worthwhile venture: a vacation, that is---then he has a Club Board of Director's meeting on Thursday, 16 October (at the IHOP Restaurant and that would be at 0730 hours), and all are invited--it is a 'make-up' if you attend. Then off to Africa to get involved with a worthwhile project that may very well be something our Club would like to claim as one of our projects --(World Vision, I think). After their return, then off to some place or another to be with an International Shell Oil Board Meeting, and of course after he leaves that group we should realize a great drop in the price of gasoline!!
Don't forget
---do your best to attend our meetings -- rules state that you must attend at least 60% of the meetings each Rotary Year!!