President Peter rang the weekly meeting of the RCOB to order at 12:30 pm. This was Meeting # 4713, the 70th virtual and 16th hybrid during the pandemic. Peter announced that the Paul Harris Plus 1 Award, which Jim Cunningham had previously earned, was delivered to his home.
Book Review:
Lincoln on the Verge: Thirteen Days to Washington by Ted Widmer (A synopsis by Ronald Jepson)
This book describes the thirteen-day train journey from Springfield, Missouri to Washington D.C. after Lincoln’s successful election in 1860. Because of concerns for Lincoln's safety, the route needed to circumvent the Southern States and essentially stay north of the Ohio River.
Lincoln was the first elected Republican president and considered to be a western outsider unfamiliar with government operations. Prior to this, the South had controlled the government in Washington D.C. and was generally known in the North as Buchanan’s corrupt administration entirely favoring the South.
The media spread very derogatory statements directed at the Republican party all through the pre-election period. The population increase in the North, however, supported Lincoln’s efforts. Illinois, for example, as the new 1860 census disclosed, had added more residents than eight Southern states combined. New York and Pennsylvania provided the electoral votes that assured his election.
Throughout the train journey, Lincoln spoke to large crowds, who came out to hear his speeches during the many stops he made in key cities. His advisors knew, however, that his enemies and opponents did not intend for him to reach Washington D.C. Pinkerton, the private detective agency, had people who had infiltrated the dissident group and learned that Baltimore was the chosen site for an assassination attempt. There, to continue a train journey South, one needed to cross town to another station. Lincoln was transported secretly at night in the back of an old wagon and the plot was thwarted.
Once in Washington D.C., Lincoln prepared for his inauguration, while Jefferson Davis was also being made President of the Southern States.
The Civil War ensued, but the discovery of petroleum in the North fueled a large increase in its industry, which produced armament at a much higher level than the South anticipated, which contributed to the South's defeat.
In 1865, after a second successful election, Lincoln was assassinated, and a reverse train trip carried him back to Springfield.
Club and Committee Announcements
1. Doug Cole announced a volunteering opportunity for our members:
Bellingham Rotary is supporting the Whatcom Refugee Resettlement Project by sorting and assembling welcome kits on Saturday, Nov 20, 9am-12pm. 8 to 10 people are needed to help. Contact Doug Cole to sign up. A matching financial partner has also offered to match donations up to $2,000. This includes cash or gift cards.
2. Paul Grey announced that the International Partnership Alliance approved our International District Grant for our adopted village, Las Penas, a village in Copan, Honduras, in the western region of the country. The $10K grant will support the construction of latrines and washing stations in the village. A big thank you to Catherine Riordan for helping to secure the grant. Also, a March 19 – April 4, 2022 trip to the village will be available to our club members. Please contact Paul Grey for details.
3. Rotary Wreath Making Social at The Garden Spot Nursery
Let's get together to celebrate the holidays!! Here is a wonderful opportunity!!
Sunday, November 14th at 11 am. $50 per person includes one fresh or grape vine wreath and all the bits and pieces to make them beautiful. We can have up to 20 people for this private event, so invite your spouses and family. We will be outside, so dress warm! Please send Felicity Dye an email (fd@cf-voice.com) to reserve a spot. Please include your best phone number, and let her know if you want a grapevine wreath (they have to make them up ahead of time). Payments will be made directly to The Garden Spot.
4. Football Pool
Mike Plenkovich announced the football pool winners of the past week, from the Seahawks-Jaguars game, which finally yielded a Seahawks victory: 1st and 2nd quarter, John Pedlow, 3rd Q Jack Mulhern and 4th Q Sandee Lindhout. Checks will be held by Sandee until you attend a meeting or mailed at the end of the season. For the rest of us, there was consolation in the fact that UW, WSU and the Seahawks won.
Here are the details of the RCOB football pool for the benefit of newcomers (and old members who may have forgotten!):
There are 100 squares, costing $20 each, for a total income of $2000. All of the squares have now been purchased. $500 is retained by the club and $1500 is distributed to pool winners (those who come closest to predicting the score after each quarter), as follows:
$20/quarter for all college games and regular season NFL games, $25/quarter for NFL playoff games, and $35/quarter for the Super Bowl.
This fall Whatcom Community College is launching its first bachelor of applied science (BAS) in business management degree. This degree is specifically geared for the workforce needs of businesses that make up the majority of Whatcom county's employers. Bellingham Bay Rotary is leading a mentorship program with the college and is asking for volunteers. Mentors will work with students in an Organizational Leadership & Teamwork class in winter quarter 2022. The mentorship program will be approximately 8 weeks long, occurring between January-March 2022. Details about the time, days, and topics would be mutually agreed upon between mentor and student.
If you are willing to participate in this short, vocational service mentorship program, please contact Mike Bate (mikebates9@aol.com<mailto:mikebates9@aol.com>), past-president for Bellingham Bay Rotary or Tresha Dutton(tdutton@whatcom.edu<mailto:tdutton@whatcom.edu>), past-president and current faculty at Whatcom Community College, by the end of September, 2021.
Please also contact President Peter or Sandee if you are interested!
You will still receive an email from Sandee each week prior to the Monday 12:30 meeting if you are unable to attend in person (you can start logging in at 12:00 for short socializing) with the link for that privacy protected meeting. If you have not done so, please download the Zoom app on your computer (you need a camera and microphone on it), iPad or phone. There is no cost to you. If you do not have either, you can also call in. On the invitation, there are US phone numbers you can call and enter the meeting ID number also indicated on the invitation. HERE ARE ZOOM INSTRUCTIONS.
Four Points is not requiring a Contract thru 2021 and need only 72 hours to cancel an event. We will continue to evaluate other locations for a permanent location. Lunch will be $22 for a sit down meal. We must notify them by Wednesday at 4:00 pm each week prior to the Monday meeting as to the number of members attending. We are sending out meeting “Invite's” weekly and members are asked to sign-up ASAP. You can also sign-up by going to the event section of our website at bellinghamrotary.org. If you sign up for a meal at the meeting, you will need to pay the $22 even if you don't wind up attending the meeting after numbers are turned in. If you plan to attend but not eat, PLEASE indicate that on your sign-up so we don't overorder meals and still make sure there is enough seating.
Four Points also will not collect the payment weekly, so the Club will collect payments prior to the meeting or at the door.
We urge members of the RCOB has set up a Venmo account for ease in payment of Meeting lunches, Happy Bucks, Minister of Fun, Dues or donations to the club. Our account is @RCOB-Bellingham. If you do not have a Venmo account you can set up an account with your computer then download the app. on your phone (just Google "Venmo" and you will find all the information you need) You then attach it to a debit or credit card (a fee on your end) or attach to your checking account at no cost. Payment will be sent directly to the RCOB checking account. When you use it for the first time it may ask you the last 4 digits of the RCOB phone number which is 0282. Give Sandee a call if you need help. 360-734-5532
Other payment options are to bring a check in the correct amount to the meeting made out to RCOB or cash in the exact amount to speed up the payment process. There is also the PayPal option as usual and we are set to take payments at the meeting. We have a QR Code that you can simply click on to pay thru paypal also.
Website and Phone App instructions:
Here is a tutorial on how to login for the first time. (Click here) In order to login you need to know your user name and password in your Clubrunner account. The user name is Yourfirstname.Lastname.264 unless you have changed it. Example: Sandra.Lindhout.264 The password is initially set by Clubrunner at 264 unless you have changed it. Sandee can see your Username from her computer but not the password. She can also change your password for you from her computer at your request if you run into problems.
Once you have originally created your User Name and Password you can download the ClubRunner Mobile app on your phone:
Today's program began rather dramatically with a 2 minute video showcasing the natural beauty of Governor's Point. Program Chair Doug Cole then introduced our speaker, Rand Jack, whose topic was the current plan for the development of Governor's Point. Rand is a founding member of the Whatcom Land Trust (founded in the Dutch Mothers restaurant in 1984), an organization which has acquired 76,000 acres of land in Whatcom County for the purpose of preserving and protecting it for future generations. Rand is an attorney who has handled most of these land acquisitions. He taught for many years at WWU's Fairhaven College.
Rand noted that Governor's Point, the Northwest’s last intact coastal forest, has been difficult to develop over the years due to a lack of water access. Largely because of this obstacle, the family that had owned it since the 1960's declared bankrupcy in 2015 and had to sell the property in order to pay creditors. First time developer Randy Bishop purchased it for $5.7 million and brought in the Land Trust to help develop it. Randy raised his kids on Chuckanut Drive and fell in love with the area. He owns a large international lighting company and puts a high value on design. He wants the land to be a place for artistic expression. Rand stated that the Whatcom Land Trust is extremely fortunate and delighted to be working with a developer who so completely shares its vision for land preservation.
Randy has donated 98 acres (more than 3/4th of the property) to the Land Trust as a nature reserve, using the Stimpson Reserve as partial inspiration. In the proposed reserve, there will be 3.5 miles of trail for public use plus two beaches, which will be publicly accessible by trail and non-motorized watercraft. The rest of the property will consist of 16 lots on the western coast line, where homes will be constructed, melded into the native landscape and not visible from the trail system, Chuckanut Drive or Chuckanut Bay. The homes will be no larger than 2900 square feet and will be designed by top level architects and built one or two per year, with an Open House held each year for the public. The lots will be sold with houses already on them.
The Bellingham City Council recently approved extending city water to the area because the large natural reserve will provide excellent public recreational opportunities, which will meet the requirement that such extension be in the best interest of Bellingham citizens. There are 150 conditions that need to be met before the Long Plat Application for the property gains final approval. However, construction of the public trail (as well as a concrete road next to the house lots, required by the Fire Department but not visible from the trail) has begun. The hope is that the trail will be open to the public a year from now.
Covid Report:
The news continues to be troubling: St Joseph Hospital currently has 42 inpatients with Covid-19. Of these, 11 are requiring ICU care, with 3 of those on ventilators.
Final Announcement
President Peter thanked all those who contributed to the meeting and rang the bell for adjournment at 1:30 pm.
