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50 Years of Service!

Who Are We?

The Rotary Club of Arlington is a

group of business owners, professionals

and community leaders that are

dedicated to making our world and our

community stronger.

We are committed to the ideal of

"Service Above Self"

while enjoying fun, fellowship and friendships

We are meeting weekly using Zoom. If you would like to attend a meeting as a guest, email the host by clicking HERE to request an invite.

No Tolerance for Racism!

Exchange Student

Allesia Rama's Year as Our Exchange Student

With the suspension of the Rotary Youth Exchange Program by RI because of the Covid-19 pandemic, Allesia will be our last exchange student for awhile. Although her parents wanted her to return to Italy when the epidemic started, she wanted to stay here as long as she could.

Allesia

Allesia completed her year and will be leaving on July 16. Just like her classes went on line, she gave us a review of her year on Zoom at this week's meeting. While here she was hosted by 3 Rotarian families. She started out with Eric and Rose, then to the Peeters, and she is ending her year with the Jones.

Usually our exchange student has a lot of trips to Canada since our District encompasses areas of both Washington State and British Columbia. Unfortunately the border has been closed and thus she has missed out on gatherings of all the exchange students this spring including the normal attendance at the District Conference which was scheduled for Harrison Hot Springs. She did attend YAIL (Youth Adventures in Leadership), which was held at Alexandria House in Surrey, B.C. She reported that most attendees were from the US. It is leadership training for 15 to 17 year olds.

Allesia had a fair amount of traveling with her host families. In her presentation she told of trips to Seattle, Las Vegas, Idaho, and Cancun Mexico. Click on the exchange student logo below to see the video of her presentation that has been posted to our club's YouTube channel.

CLICK HERE!

Rotary's New Year

Each year on July 1, a new Rotary year begins. The change over occurs at all levels of Rotary--the club, the district and at Rotary International. The tone and direction of RI starts at the top with a new presidential theme. This year's theme is Rotary Opens Opportunities:

Our new Rotary International President is Holger Knaack from Germany, the Rotary Club of Herzogtum Launburg-Molln.. The new District Governor is Carol Tichelman from the Rotary Club of Chilliwack.

DG Carol with RIP Holger and Wife Susanne

To prepare for the new year, each club's president elect attends a weekend of training known as the Pacific Northwest President Elect Training Seminar (PETS). It is held each February at the Double Tree at Sea-tac. At this year's PETS, Holger attended and visited with Rotarians from the 9 Districts, including our own PE Bryce.

Holger & Bryce

Bryce presided officially as our president at our July 2 meeting. The club's first board meeting with our new officers and directors will be July 8. An installation had been scheduled to coincide with out 50th anniversary celebration. However, the Covid pandemic has prevented us from meeting in person. There is a tentative celebration scheduled for July 26.

Here is a list of our officers and directors for the 2020-21 Rotary year, with new officers/directors in bold:

President: Bryce Duskin

President Elect: Devin Brossard

President Elect Nominee: Joe Klein

Treasurer: Cindy Huleatt

Secretary: Jenie Jones

Foundation Director: John Peeters

Membership Director: Tony Warner

Public Relations Director: AJ Chippendale

Club Administration Director: Jola Barnett

Youth Services Director: Jessica Ronhaar

Community Funding Director: Eric Scott

Service Projects Director: Jim Kelly

At the Board meeting next week the Board will confirm Associate Directors.

June 25 Program

Congressman Rick Larsen

Congressman Rick Larsen--2nd Congressional District

We were fortunate to have home town boy, Rick Larsen, as our program on June 25. He was raised in Arlington and his mother, Yolanda, still lives here. Currently, he and his wife Tiia, live in Lake Stevens. He has been in congress about 20 years, serving the 2nd Congressional District. The District includes portions of Snohomish, Skagit and Whatcom counties, and all of Island and San Juan counties.

Rick spoke for about 15 minutes primarily addressing the CARES Act, and the Justice in Policing Act. With his busy schedule, he was a bit late for the program and he had another meeting that he had to leave for so questioning was not long. Questions included those relating the the Black Lives Matter movement and the looting that outsiders have injected into the demonstrations.

Areas of expertise for the Congressman are aviation, transportation and infrastructure, China and trade. He is the chair of both the Aviation subcommittee of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, and the subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation. He spoke of the funding for projects in our state including grants for the ferry system, the largest in the U.S.

With both Everett Station Everett and Whidbey Island Naval Air Station in his district, he is also on the Armed Services Committee.

The program was recorded and can be found on the Arlington Rotary's YouTube channel. Click on the image below to watch the program:

50 Years--1970 to 2020

Golden Anniversary June 20, 2020

We were supposed to be celebrating our club's 50th anniversary on June 20, 2020. Our club charter was issued on June 20, 1970. However, the pandemic made it impossible. Perhaps within the new Rotary year starting July 1, we can have a celebration. We were sponsored by the Rotary Club of Everett and our Charter Night was held September 11, 1970, at the Everett Elk's Club, where the Everett Club then met.

In honor of our 50th anniversary, Rotary International recognized us with the following certificate:

From the Marysville Globe, Thursday, April 9, 1970:

"MARYSVILLE-North Snohomish County Rotary is the name chosen for the new club being formed, with President Gordon Shea seen handing the club insignia over to Vice President Donn Wales. Other officers elected at Monday luncheon were standing left to right, Ken Smith - Sgt. at Arms, Jack Otto - two year trustee, Al Remington - one year trustee, Fred Bates - one year trustee, Frank Mallory - two year trustee and Father Tom Dobson - sec-treasurer. Shea is a Lieutenant with the Washington State Patrol, and was a Rotarian in another city. The "insignia bell" was donated to the group by Mrs. Alvin Mooris, whose belated husband was secretary of the Marysville Rotary when it disbanded about 1934. Rotary was believed first organized here in 1919."

....Editor's Note: The bell was given to the Marysville Noon Club when it was started by our club and the Everett club.

The following were the Charter members of our Rotary Club, which was chartered as the Marysville-North County Rotary Club:

Don Richards
John Mitchell
Gordon Shea
Donn Wales
Tom Dobson
Ken Smith
Frank Mallory
Jack Otto
Fred Bates
Allen Remington
Chester Williams
Bob Olson
Bob Bibb
Stan Schaefer
Paul Baker
Bob Buttke
Jack Gardner
Ron Kuehn
Kelly Kalstad
John Weber
Don Kirk
Bob Williams
Paine Shangle
Ivar Boe
Joel French

Important Dates in Club History

First Meeting--April 6, 1970;

Charter Issued (Rotary Club of Marysville-North County)--June 20, 1970;

First Board Meeting--July 13, 1970;

First Newsletter--July 16, 1970;

Move from Turkey House to Bob 'n Ann's ......(Weller's)--August 13, 1970;

Charter Night--September 11, 1970;

Name Change to Rotary Club of North Snohomish County--December 15, 1978;

Founded Marysville Rotary--1984;

First Duck Dash--July 4, 1989;

First Lady Inducted--January 26, 1990;

Founded Stanwood Club--1992;

First Lady President--1998-99 (Marcia Smothers);

First Million $$ Duck--July 4, 1999;

Vote to Change Name to Rotary Club of Arlington--June 22, 2000;

Name Change Official--April 26, 2001;

Weller's Family Restaurant Closes... June 20, 2005;

June 23 meeting at Stillaguamish Sr. Center; Meeting locations until present include Hadley Hall (Boys & Girls Club), GlenEagle, Eagle Crest Restaurant, and starting March 2010 back to GlenEagle under new management. We moved to our current location, Arlington Free Methodist Church, July 1, 2014.

March 12, 2020 was the last luncheon meeting we had before the Covid-19 epidemic closed down meeting in person.

March 19 & 26, 2020: Turned to Facebook Live for our meetings.

April 2, 2020, with all non essential workers ordered to stay home, we held our first meeting on the Zoom application.

April 6, 2020, the 50th Anniversary of our first meeting--logo introduced.

June 20, 2020: 50th Anniversary Celebration Postponed Because of the Covid-19 Pandemic

Exchange Student Program

Malia Reports on Exchange to Denmark

Malia Wayman

As part of the Rotary Youth Exchange program, our club sponsored Malia Wayman, a junior at Arlington High, to a year in Denmark. At our meeting on June 18, she shared her experiences with us.

The year was cut short because of the Covid-19 pandemic. She returned in May. She reported that while staying at her host's home after the school year was cut short, she shared her cooking skills and learned to cook some Danish recipes.

Language was not an issue. Most of her school mates wanted to talk to her in English. She learned some Danish, of course. She didn't spend much of her program telling us about her schooling, but instead about the friends she developed. She stayed with one family until November, and the balance of her stay was with her second host family. It was obvious that she had a much better experience with her second host family.

To hear about Malia's experiences as an exchange student in Denmark, her program in posted on our club's YouTube channel. Just click on the below image to hear about her experiences.

June 11 Program

Sherwood Community Services

By: Corrie West

When Corrie West joined Sherwood Community Services as its Investment and Partnerships Associate, she didn't realize that services provided to her younger brother Jesse, years ago, were from Sherwood. Corrie joined Sherwood in 2018. Because of the experience with her brother who had disabilities, she is passionate about assisting others with similar backgrounds. She earned a BA in Community Psychology from the U of W, with a MBA in Human Resources from Walden University. Her personal motto is: "Life is too short to be grumpy!"

Corrie West

Sherwood was started in 1958 by Hazel Venables along with seven other families. At the time the Arlington School District operated a school for special needs students in Silvana. The Venables moved to Silvana Terrace because they had a daughter who could get help at that school. However, she wanted more since the public school system didn't meet all of the needs of persons with special needs and it segregated them from other children.

Hazel with Her Daughter

Together, they created Sherwood to prove that their children not only had the right, but the ability to learn. People with disabilities were segregated and isolated due to the societal expectation that they would be cared for out of the public eye; there were in effect considered 2nd class citizens and deemed incompetent without any rights.

Most all of the therapy and assistance is done in the home of the person who needs assistance. However, the organization has facilities in Stanwood and in Lake Stevens. Its CEO, Lance Morehouse, is a member of the Rotary Club of Lake Stevens. Service are provided in Snohomish, Skagit and Island Counties.

Corrie told us about her brother Jesse. Below are photo of the two of them. He suffered from encephalitis following the chicken pox. Her parents were told that he probably would never be able to function. It proven wrong.

To hear more about Sherwood and Jesse's story, click on the image below to see the video of Corrie's presentation.

One More Scholarship Recipient Recognized

One of the scholarship recipients was unable to attend our meeting last week to be recognized. She joined us at our Zoom meeting on June 4. Here is the photo she provided with the application.

Abbey Dammann, Lakewood High School
GPA: 3.821
Honors: honors English; honor roll all four years; distinguished scholastic award; outstanding science grade.
Intended Area of Study: Nursing
College: Washington State University

Weekly Program

Public Hospital District 3

Tim Cavanaugh, DVM, Commission Chair

Dr. Tim Cavanaugh

Tim Cavanaugh, DVM, is the Chairman of the Board of Commissioners of Snohomish County Hospital District #3. It formerly operated Cascade Valley Hospital, but now is the landlord with the hospital being operated by Skagit Regional Health. He is one of 5 commissioners along with John Meno, a member of our club, and Tina Davis, a former member of our club.

Following the change in the operation of the hospital, the public hospital district has developed a new strategic plan and it is now doing business as Stilly Valley Health Connections. Here are its areas of focus:

Mental Health
Drug & Alcohol Awareness and Abuse Prevention
Health and Wellness

The district has acquired the former Alfy's Pizza building in Smokey Point. When remodeled, the district's offices will be moved from the White Horse Medical Center. It will have conference and meeting spaces including the kitchen for teaching.

All of our programs are now being recorded and made available through our club's YouTube channel. To see the Tim's complete presentation including questions and answers to Tim and to commissioner Meno, click on the image below:

Scholarship Presentations

Scholarship Recipients Recognized

Eleven of the twelve recipients highlighted in the story below joined our meeting on May 27 to tell us about their plans. So that their family and friends could see the presentations by the students, for the first time we streamed our Zoom meeting using Facebook Live on our Facebook Page. Each student was introduced by the chair of our scholarship selection committee. The committee consists of seven members of which four are non-Rotarians.

Narda Schulz-Committee Chair

To see the complete video of the Facebook Live stream, click HERE. As you will see, we are still working out the kinks and the timing. There is also the Zoom recording of the presentations that starts with the second presenter, due to operator error. To see that video, click HERE.

Rotary Club of Arlington Awards $60,000 in Scholarships

Rotary Club of Arlington announced the recipients of $60,000 in scholarships to graduating students from Arlington, Darrington and Lakewood last week. Each 2020 graduate will receive $5,000 for continuing education. The 2020 scholarship recipients are:

Arlington High School: Naveed Arang, Megan Barnett, Isabella Leighton, Sienna Leighton, Pearl Leon Guerrero-McInally, Machilia (Chance) Pearston, and Megan Scott

Darrington High School: Hannah Anderson and Jorjah Johnson

Lakewood High School: Abbey Dammann, Phoebe Klingman and Kallie Yargus

Local Businesses Donate 100% of Sponsorships to 2021 Scholarships

The Rotary Club of Arlington’s Board of Directors made the determination to cancel its Great Stilly Dusk Dash event on the Fourth of July for 2020.

“Each Fourth, the Duck Dash brings crowds of people to Haller Park,” said Duck Dash Chairperson Devin Brossard. “Following the cancellation of the Fourth of July Parade and other activities in Arlington, we felt that the best decision for the health and safety of our community this year was to forego this year’s annual fundraiser.”

The Rotary Club of Arlington has many business partners that sponsor the event each summer. Last year, the Club dedicated half of all sponsorship funds raised to go to scholarships to graduating students from Arlington, Darrington and Lakewood - $60,000 was just awarded to graduates. This year, several local business partners that had committed sponsorships to the event have agreed to put all of those funds towards scholarships for 2021 graduates – totaling $46,000 so far. These donors are:

Dwayne Lanes - $10,000
Symmetry Chiropractic Wellness Center - $10,000
B&B Fabricators - $5,000
Farmers - Klein Insurance Company - $5,000
Arlington Health and Rehabilitation - $2,500
Edward Jones/John Meno - $2,500
Heritage Bank - $2,500
Arlington Hardware - $1,000
Asgard Massage - $1,000
Banner Bank - $1,000
Columbia Bank - $1,000
Langabeer McKernan Burnett & Co, PS - $1,000
LeaderOne Financial/Jenie Jones - $1,000
R.L. Chippendale Accounting - $1,000
State Farm - Jim Minifie - $1,000
Ben Wells and Associates - $500

Several other businesses are considering donations, as well. The Rotary Club of Arlington expects to give out at least ten $5,000 scholarships for 2021 graduates.

The Duck Dash is typically the Rotary Club of Arlington's only fundraiser each year. Since 1987, the Rotary Club of Arlington has raised over $3 million dollars through Duck Dash ticket sales to benefit our communities. The Club is planning additional fundraising efforts in 2020-21 to support organizations that enhance the lives of kids, seniors and community members in Arlington, Lakewood and Darrington. The Rotary Club of Arlington and its members are looking forward to making a big splash at Duck Dash 2021.

Marc Hayes, Community

& Economic Development Director

Marc Hayes

Those of us who live in Arlington certainly know that there are many new buildings being constructed. Marc Hayes, Community and Economic Development Director of the City of Arlington was our program on May 14. Marc is one of the longest tenured employees of the City, having started in the Building Department over 30 years ago.

To aid in his presentation of development in the City, Marc relied upon the current activity map that can be found on the city's website (link below). This is the description of the map that appears on the website:

The Current Activity Map identifies the location of all permitted projects within the City, and provides the public with information as to where the project is in the process. If you see a Notice of Land Use Action (the orange/white sign posted on the property) you can use the map to provide all the information to date regarding the proposed project. As the project progresses you will be able to view the site plan and any architectural renderings showing how the finished project will appear.

Before the Covid-19 epidemic hit, there were many projects in the pipe line. Marc reports that it hasn't really let up. Many of the developments are mixed use. The Cascade Industrial Center, partially in Arlington and partially in Arlington has been designated an opportunity zone with special tax advantages. It is designed to help spread development to more places than the New York City and Los Angeles areas.

In addition to telling us about projects that have been permitted, Marc answered many questions from those in the meeting including questions about infrastructure to serve these new developments. In the pipe line are over 1400 new residential units--mostly apartments with a lot of them designed for seniors. Most all of them are in mixed development.

Below are two links, one to the ZOOM video of Marc's program and the other to to the interactive map. To see the Zoom video on YouTube, click on the YouTube logo; and to access the City's interactive map, click on the map image.

Covid-19

Staying Connected!

The Brady Bunch Look of Our Future Meetings

We had our last lunch meeting on March 12. The hot topic at that meeting was how we were going to function during the Covid-19 epidemic. The church where we meet had announced that if we wanted to continue to meet there, that we would have to pay to have the space sanitized after each meeting. Little did we know that we would soon have no choice.

Washington Governor, Jay Inslee, signed several executive orders on March 13.

Schools, statewide, were closed from March 12 to April 24.
Social distancing—6 foot spacing was encouraged.
Gathering in excess of 250 people was banned.

The gathering size was reduced to 10 and on March 24 all residents were ordered to stay at home for 2 weeks except for essential jobs and for trips to buy essentials or go to the doctor.

In response to these meeting restrictions, our club created a Facebook private group, “Arlington Rotarians” for members to stay connected. This is in addition to our Facebook public page. Only members and their spouses/significant others have the right to access Arlington Rotarians. Items posted there can only be seen by members of the group. There is no sharing from the group site. However, members can share to the group.

On March 19, in lieu of our normal meeting, President Simona used Facebook Live on Arlington Rotarians to communicate with those on the site. The only way that members could interact with Simona was by typing in comments. In response to President Simona’s request, members individually gave happy bucks.

Our Board of Directors had a special meeting using a conference call on March 25. The Board made a decision to suspend the Duck Dash sponsorship drive for now, and to give credits to members for the cost of meals included in our dues.

Keeping things fun, in lieu of our luncheon meeting on March 26, President Simona used Facebook Live for group members to play Rotary Quarantine Bingo. The grand prize was a coveted roll of toilet paper. The competition was fierce! Although Dale thought he was the first to have a bingo, it was a false alarm. With the next call, Bob was the first to bingo.

Simona in Upper Left Calling; Bob's Winning Card in Upper Right; Grand Prize Delivered on Lower Left; Bob With His Coveted First Prize Lower Right

To keep connected, Saturday evening our club had its first Zoom cocktail party. Prizes were given for the ugliest hat and for the best coronavirus cocktail recipe. Winners of $25 gift certificates were Mel—the ugliest hat and Jola—the best coronavirus cocktail recipe.



	Jola's Winning Cocktail Gin, Tonic and Zicam! A combination of quinine, a malaria drug, with soda water, and a Zicam tablet to add fiz and a rapid melt clinically proven to clear out all the nasty respiratory goop associated with a common cold! Add the gin and lime and BAM! you'll be feeling fine.

The cocktail party was a good precursor of moving to having Zoom meetings starting April 2. On April 9 we are looking forward to having our first online classification talk by our newest member Chris Kuhn. He and his wife Angela operate a video production company—A Huge Production.

Hopefully you'll find the below research helpful in preparing for our Zoom meetings!