We kicked off the ticket selling phase of Duck Dash 2018 at our meeting on May 24. Interim chair, John Peeters, unveiled (hardly a secret) our shirt design.  Community under construction is this year's theme, as illustrated by our shirts and hard hats.

 

The Crowning of the Ducks this year was done, as is the tradition, by Ron Love, who helped hatch the idea of having a rubber duck race 30 years ago. 

Ron Love

Ron started with this proclamation: Let’s thank everyone for being a Rotarian and it takes courage to be a Rotarian because we are leaders in the community.  

When the duck dash was started, regulations were changed by the gambling commission to allow alternative format raffles including random selection of winners in a duck race.  Our race was the first in the State, so we had commission members viewing how it was done.

The first year, there were many funny mishaps with the ducks. The first year our club spent $17,000 to put on the Duck Dash with no sponsorships with a profit of $5000. We almost saw all the profit lost when the rubber ducks, which were rented  for 50 cents each from a Canadian charity, went over the boom and down the river. Members and other community members were successful in recovering the ducks! Here is a link to this history:  DUCK DASH HISTORY.

As Ron, as we launch our 30th Great Stilly Duck Dash, stated: Thank you for being courageous! 

Ron went on, in his typical fashion, to tease a few "wanta be" ducks, before crowning the new members of the Royal Order of the Duck.

And the Ducks Are:

This Year Our Ducks are Fitz Couhig, Top, and Jennifer Holocker, Bottom.

Tickets were distributed at the meeting and Carla, our high seller last year, and Dale, runner up last year, our ticket selling co-chairs, went over the game plan.

 Dale Duskin & Carla Gastineau

Remember that the Duck Dash is a time to have fun. Each team is asked to raise $7500, that is $1500 per person for a 5 member team.  Remember that with fun we will sell tickets! We will have prizes each week.

We have to account to the gambling commission for every ticket issued--sold or unsold. Rotarians can sell tickets and anyone under your supervision can sell tickets. Information is in each packet that were distributed. 

When the construction theme was adopted, we thought on July 4 that construction would be in full swing with completion to be this summer.  Unfortunately, with the tight construction time line ,there was only one bid.  It was rejected and new bids, using a different time line, have been sought.  New splash pad bids are due by June 14 with construction to be done by March and open by next 4^th of July.  

25 years ago our club, then the Rotary Club of North Snohomish County, sponsored a new club in Stanwood.  it was not an easy task.  Ron Love, who lived east of Stanwood and whose children attended school in Stanwood, was recruited by our club to lead the effort. 

Ron Love Speaking at Celebration

The first meeting to recruit new members was just Ron and one other person.  They met at Helen's Kitchen (where Ixtapa is now located) and stood up and recited the flag salute and said a prayer.  Slowly the numbers increased until they had the number of persons necessary for a charter.  

What a great move we made to extend Rotary through other than just adding members to our club.  Stanwood-Camano is so lucky to have this great service club.  Just look at the playground that was built on Camano with the leadership of their club.  The club always leads District 5050 in giving to the Rotary Foundation.  It puts on the Stanwood Fair parade, buys coats for kids, gives scholarships, sponsors the Dolly Parton Library, and much much more!  Congratulations Stanwood-Camano Rotary and kudos to those members of our club who led the effort to extend the greatest service club in the world to Stanwood and Camano Island

Childhood Obesity

Ogie Shaw spoke to the club about child obesity. 

Ogie Shaw is part of a national group that gives talk about health and fitness.   30 years ago 57% of children failed the “functional fitness test” just performing basic movements.   America created the Presidential Council to attempt to get our kids healthy.   Children are now even unhealthier.  Our children will have a shorter life expectancy than their parents.  Major cancers are prevalent due to the way we eat.   We are getting more obese every year.  Physical education is the first thing to get cut when budgets are cut.  Children’s behaviors are substantially effected by the parents and adults in their lives. 

Most people are not getting the exercise they need.  Make exercise fun!  You must work every muscle in the body to get real results.  The recommendation is to work out 7 days a week.  You are more likely to stick to the plan if you do it every day.  Work until muscle failure, do as many reps until you can’t anymore.  Injury rate goes down if you work out every day. 

Work against resistance.   Eat for nutrition do not eat for weight loss.  Do not make changes to the way you eat that you won’t make permanently.   We are a confused nation about the proper way to eat. 

One of Mr. Shaw’s colleagues has rated and assigned points to over 3,000 foods.  If you eat over 100 points you will reach the goal and reduce cancer risk.  Cantaloupe is the best breakfast food.  Romaine and spinach is better than iceberg lettuce.

Your body measurements can tell you if you may be at risk for cancers and other diseases.

Fitness majors in college are becoming scarcer.  If exercise can’t be fun it better be fast. 

5 minutes of exercise with controlled resistance is a great way to begin a routine and a great way to get in shape.  Separate fitness from fun.

Stay motivated by accountability and measurement.  Measure your fitness level once a week and exercise seven days a week. 

New Embedded Social Worker Program

The mission of Camp Korey is to honor the courage strength and determination of children and their families living with life altering medical conditions by providing them with a transformational experience in a fun, safe camp environment with specialized medical support.

All campers, no matter what limitations, can do any of the activities.  The camp has specialized equipment and counselors to assist.  Doctors and nurses on site.  The kids get to focus on being a kid.  Challenge by choice is a theme.  The child gets to choose the adventure, where they start and where they end.  They challenge the child but the child gets to determine what success means to them. 

Rock climbing, horseback riding, painting, archery, zipline, and more are offered activities. 

The children can relate to the other children at camp and be proud of their scars for the first time in their lives. 

Camp Korey was founded in 2005 by Tim Rose and his family to honor the life of their son Korey who lost his battle to bone cancer age 18.  The camp is part of SeriousFun children network with sister camps with the same mission, founded by Paul Newman.  There are 30 camps throughout the world.  The camp is dependent on private funding.  All children can attend for free.               

Camp Korey provides services for over 4,000 individuals with more than 30 different medical conditions each year.  They are 80% volunteer driven and have trained medical professionals on site 24/7 during programming.

The camp offers residential summer camp, family weekends (families connect with other families), Camp to You (outreach program that brings the camp to the hospitals and healthcare facilities in the Puget Sound), and family day adventures. 

Positive outcomes result from the week at camp.  Some children’s providers attend camp to build relationships and increase comfort with the providers.  Easier to form friendships, increased coping skills and resilience, increase in openness and self-esteem. 

It costs about $2,500 per kid to host a child for the week of camp.  Camp is open to children ages 7-17.  There is a lengthy application process.  Doctors review the children’s medical needs to ensure they can serve them.  The camp has to turn away some children due to capacity.

The property for Camp Korey is located near Lake McMurray, just north of Arlington in Mount Vernon. It's the property that was once know as Camp Brotherhood.  There are 23 existing buildings and there is a plan to add more and renovate.  They want to expand their capacity.  There are many volunteer opportunities year round. 

Josh was a social worker and learned about SeriousFun through college.  He started volunteering at sister camps and got hooked.  Once he found out about the job with Camp Korey he knew it was perfect for him.  

Before purchasing the property, the camp was on leased property in Carnation.

There are many volunteer opportunities and the non-profit is always looking for donations.  For more visit Camp Korey's website: Click on Camp Korey