Northwind May 5, 2016

Posted by Marlene Sexton 
on May 11, 2016
 
 
 
Call to Order:  President Sharon tried to call the meeting to order, but missed the bell, somehow.  She then led us in the flag salute.  Jake provided the invocation. 
 
Visiting Rotarians:  No visitors today.   No guests, either.
 
Returning Rotarians:  Rocky  returned from his medical “leave.”
 
Birthdays and Anniversaries:  No Birthdays or Anniversaries this week.
 
Announcements:   The Slate of Officers was approved.  They are as follows:                  
OFFICERS:    President…Dale Holt 
President Elect…Tim Villhauer
 Past President…Sharon Robinson 
Treasurer… Julie Johansen 
Secretary…TBD 
BOARD MEMBERS:   Marlene Sexton (Yr 3 of 3 Yr Term)  
  Bill Grace (Yr 3 of 3 Yr Term)
 Jake Smith (Yr 2 of 3 Yr Term)              
Deb Wiggs (Yr 1 of 3 Yr Term)                                                                                                                                                                                            
 Eric Battles (Yr 1 of 3 Yr Term)            
Rollo Van Slyke (1st Yr. of 2nd 3 Yr. term.)
One of these Board Members will become Secretary.
 
Star Park day is coming soon, (June 4th)  Only 45% of the building slots have been filled.  Let’s make this a fun and productive day and encourage friends and family to join us.  Go to the City of Ferndale website to sign up.  May 26th is the YSA lunch at Northwood Hall.  Give a check to Julie for a special assessment of $40.00.  June 23rd is the Outgoing President’s Picnic at Hovander Park.  Hamburgers and Hot Dogs will be provided, but bring sides and desserts.  No noon meeting that day.  Sell your Duck Tickets!!  Dale announced the need for Volunteer Food Packagers for a Boys and Girls Club project.  This event will be earlier in the Rotary year and all who attended last year declared it “good fun!”  More announcements to follow. 
 
Happy Bucks:  Bill started the ball rolling with HB for the 125th Anniversary of the Elks Club. They will be hosting a big family event on May 21st at 710 Samish Way.  (You can call 733-3333 for more details, but they will have hamburgers, hot dogs, a Putting green, Hoop shoot, and “Horse races.”)   Stan was happy for his daughter’s success in another race, where she finished 7th out of 93 in her age category, (72-79 year olds.)  Congrats, Janella!  Rick had “semi-sad” bucks which had nothing to do with Jake.  He and Deb are heading to Michigan until August, but he will be selling Duck Tickets!  Jake was happy for his granddaughter, Naomi, who won a 1 mile race at her middle school.  Laurie was $6 happy for the Mariners winning 6 in a row and $4 happy for her 12 week knee check-up which indicated she does not need to return for 1 yr. Ken was $20 happy to see cousin Rocky back and that Sue was able to go to CA to see their daughter.  Rocky was $5 happy to be back from foot issues.  Dale was $5 happy that his dad is on the mend from hip surgery and no longer hallucinating.  Julie was $5 happy for the Italco decision and that she will be a Great Aunt any minute thanks to her niece, Rita.  Marlene gave her last few dollars to celebrate the opening of boating season and Stan finished up, blaming a Senior Moment,  stating that his youngest daughter finished 1st in the Seattle Garden show.   
 
Finemaster:  Jim Blaney (to great applause) began by fining the innocent, Marlene for not letting him know he was this week’s finemaster.  (However, Marlene did email him this information.)  If at any point, you happened to shoot a cousin in the eye with a BB gun, you were fined.  If you were not wearing pins or badges, it cost you.  We all had to kick in a buck because of low attendance.  There was a fine if you did not know who hit the longest homerun this year and Jim fined himself $5 for being unprepared, but Rick picked up the tab because it is not every club that has Santa as a finemaster. 
 
Banners:  Stan did a great job with the Cinco de Mayo banners. Thank you, Stan…the banners are always fun!  
 
Program: Ron Lewczinski, the CEO of The Lighthouse Mission was our guest speaker today.  (He will be leaving on July 1st for Lincoln Nebraska to be closer to his 3 daughters and 6 grandkids.)  He discussed all the many services of the Mission and the concerns regarding homelessness in the state of WA.  It was noted that the shelter survives on donations from the community and does not get any government or United Way money.  Funding comes from churches, individual businesses, and service groups, such as Rotary.  Last year the mission provided 6,000 nights of lodging for kids! (Children are the fastest growing group of homeless, with the average age of 9.)    The Lighthouse Mission typically houses 160 people a night and provides over 400 meals a day.  Of interest is that in the 2 states that legalized marijuana, (WA and CO), homelessness has surged. As homelessness grows, so does the need for additional housing and programs.  It should also be noted that the Lighthouse Mission puts 90% of its funds into housing and programs and only 10% goes to administration.  We thank Ron for the great program and wish him well in Lincoln.
 
Drawing:  The door prize this week was a desk clock that perfectly matched Marlene’s TV room!  (Good thing Marlene won it!)  Rocky was not so lucky and drew the 8 of clubs…the pot grows! 
Next week’s finemaster:  Greg and Northwind is Tim, if he returns from Italy.