President Chuck Snyder opened the meeting at 12:28pm. Don Anderson played America the Beautiful.
President Snyder then directed our attention to the video screen, where we watched a one minute recorded message by RI President, K.R. “Ravi” Ravindran, who provided an update on the Rotarian fight against polio, which is down to only one country in the world, Nigeria, and it has been one year since there was a case there. Although he expressed how proud we should be of our efforts to create to a polio-free world, there is much work yet to be done, and victory is close at hand, and he encouraged us to remain steadfastly committed to this goal to eradicate polio once and for all.
Al Archer provided the invocation.
Announcements:
We have one Website (and Tattler) Sponsorships remaining, at a cost of $250.00. Contact Sandee if interested.
Upcoming events:
Pam Kiesner provided an update on the Wacky-Wickets event scheduled for Saturday, September 26 at Hovander Park at 2pm. Team are comprised of 6 members. She encouraged volunteers to sign up for those who are not participating on a team but may want to help.
Margaret Curtis, chair of the Sponsorship committee (a one-person committee), indicated that there are 8 sponsors right now, with the possibility of a 9th person, however, there is a need for more sponsors.
Cathy Buckley provided an update on a Ski trip scheduled for Feb. 8-12, 2016 at the Sun Peaks Delta Resort in Canada. Transportation is available by bus charter and folks are encouraged to sign up soon.
Guests of Rotarian
Dewey Desler introduced his nephew and Rotarian from Vancouver, Washington, Bjorn Hess and his wife Emily is in the Rotoract Club.
Debbie Ahl brought Diane Kamionka with North West Innovations Resources.
Presentations:
Introduction of new member:
Tim Farris gave the introduction for new Rotary member, Scott Wallace. He was proposed by President Chuck Snyder and Tim to fill the classification "Banking-Commercial (Retired). Scott received his BA in Economics from WSU and an MBA from WWU. He spent of career in the banking industry, where he retired as Northwest Region President for U.S. Bank a few years ago. Interestingly, he never changed banks during his 38 year career, however the bank changed around him. During his working years he served on several boards including, but not limited to, Chamber of Commerce, WCN Rotary, St. Joe’s Hospital Community Council, United Way of Whatcom County and several others. He met his spouse, Marge Laidlaw, on a United Way Committee. They are both Paul Harris Fellows; are retired; and enjoy boating, travel, hunting, fishing, community activities, and of course having their world revolve around their 6 year old granddaughter, Teagan. Tim shared some additional kind words about Scott, including semi-lamenting the fact that Scott should have been invited to our club a long time ago.
Service Grant:
Debbie Ahl presented a service fund grant check of $1,400 to Diane Kamionka of NWIC innovations and entrepreneurs. Diane expressed her appreciation of the funding and emphasized that their main focus is to help entrepreneurs and inventors get their ideas out into the market place. She also shared how we all benefit when innovation and entrepreneurship is integrated into the local schools, government and the broader community. She also shared a story of how they supported a group of Lynden high school sophomores on a project titled, “Self-Balancing Recumbent Bike”, which they presented at an event at MIT.
Past President, Brad Burdick was recognized for recruiting two new members.
Minister of Fun: Rud Browne
With the primary elections literally around the corner (Tuesday, August 4), Rud collected funds using a variety of election-themed trivia questions unique to Whatcom county and so forth.
Program: John Jenkins - "Spark Museum"
Arlie Norman, who currently serves as Board Chair of the Sparks Museum, introduced John Jenkins, President/CEO and Co-Founder of the Sparks Museum. Established 14 years ago, John highlighted the original vision and evolution of the Sparks Museum to what is today. The initial focus was on the American Museum of Radio, and then, in 2012, they underwent a re-branding process which eventually led to a greater emphasis on “the wonders and mystery of electricity.”
The re-branding effort has been successful. In 2011, for example, they had roughly 4,000 visitors a year. Today, they now have 18,000 visitors a year. The museum is now the #2 indoor attractions in Bellingham along with the Mount Baker Theater. Furthermore, the museum also generates $400,000 to the local economy.
The core of their mission, as John noted, was simply to get kids excited about science. John noted that virtually every scientist or engineer can point to a pivotal point in their childhood which generated a curious excitement about science. That is the same experience that John hopes to create for kids when they visit the museum. John also highlighted some of the rare and unique features of the museum including the fact that they have the largest display of electrical apparatus in the country, and a rare, classic book by renowned scientist, William Gilbert, which is considered the second most important book in science for its contribution to the scientific method. John also shared that they have numerous hands-on activities and experiences for visitors, the most popular of which is the “MegaZapper”, which produces nine-foot electrical bolts! The MegaZapper occurs every Saturday/Sunday at 2:30pm.
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