President Sandy opened the meeting with two hats, a verbal tour of the Middle East, and details about the country of the day, Egypt. President Sandy also notified us of the recent passing of member Jim Wilson. Bob Diehl reflected on some of the lighter moments in Jim’s life:
"Jim was born in October of 1937, and at age 34, joined Rotary Club of Bellingham. He had founded Wilson Engineering in 1967. Jim loved his family - wife Cindy, kids Jenny and Scott, and his grand kids. He also loved tinkering. In fact, there wasn't much he couldn't do, or fix. Maybe because of his "engineering" mind, Jim loved cars, motorcycles, and airplanes. He also loved working on them. Cindy once wanted to distract Jim from working on his old cars one night so she made bikini our of aluminum foil, put it on and went out to see him in the garage. It worked for a while, but he soon went back to work on the car. Jim also enjoyed skiing, camping, and boating and was a very active guy. He had a quick wit, and a dry sense of humor - his smile was contagious! His friends also remember his honesty, and integrity. He was practical, and knowledgable and gave excellent advice when asked. He was an excellent role model for any person in any walk of life. We should all be so lucky as to have a life as well lived as Jim's. He will be missed."
Announcements:
Rotation Day details for March 11, 2019:
Please join us for our annual Rotation Day on March 11, 2019, for a fun and informative lunch presentation at one of our fellow Rotarian’s businesses! This is a dayin lieu of our traditional Rotarian meeting at Northwood Hall, and an opportunity to join together in smaller groups for inspirational camaraderie and learning more about our individual Rotarian Host’s businesses and interests.
A very special thank you to our volunteer Hosts this year: Brian Griffin, of Griffin Ukuleles; Felicity Dye, of Interconnect Systems; Gary Goldfogel, County Medical Examiner’s office; John Dunne, PeaceHealth Pediatric Clinic, and Byron Manering, Brigid Collins Family Support Center.
To sign up to attend and to order your lunch, please either send an email to colleenb@whatcomtitle.com , or register on the sign-up sheets which will be provided at our Rotary Meeting on Monday, February 25th. Please provide your first and second preferred Host sites, and your choice of sandwich options provided by the Sandwich Odyssey. Host lunches are provided by Rotary, so please send your choice of lunch or lunches for presenters to colleenb@whatcomtitle.com. We will do our best to assign guest Rotarians to their preferred Hosts. Please sign up to attend Rotary Day no later than Monday, March 4, to enable our caterer to prepare for our event and to coordinate your Host/Guest site locations.
Your choice of sandwich options are: fresh roasted turkey, ham, roast beef, or vegetarian served on a large freshly baked hoagie roll with mayonnaise, cheese, lettuce and tomato, and the boxed lunches are $13.00 including tax and tip. The lunches are served together with homemade potato salad and chocolate chip cookie. Bottled water will be provided. Lunches will be individually wrapped and labeled. Guests should provide a check payable to Rotary Club of Bellingham, or exact cash directly to their Host. The Hosts will pay the money directly to Sandee at the next Rotary meeting following Rotation Day.
Dominique and assistants will deliver the lunches to the Hosts between 11:30 and 12:00 on the day of the event in large baskets with all utensils and napkins.
Las Vegas Night is next Thursday March 14th in lieu of the weather predictions. Ticket sales are still opened The proceeds from this event support RCOB projects including Student Exchange. This signature Rotary event always offers a great evening of entertainment and comradery and shouldn’t be missed. Along with the performances from UpFront, gambling and “Elvis”, there are a number of prizes to be given away as well as a silent auction. To purchase tickets at: https://mountbakertheatre.com/online/article/vegasnighton line or call the box office at 360-734-6080 for $100 each. The lineup includes the Up Front Players, lounge singers and more! You can also fill out the attached Ticket Order Form and bring it to a Monday meeting and we will process it for you. Contact Brad Burdick if you can help.
Major Project Update:
You can go to bellinghamrotary.org to make your payment or mail a check payable to The Rotary Club of Bellingham Foundation, 2200 Vining St., Bellingham, Wa. 98229 and/or email your pledge amount to Scott at scott@salishwm.comClick here to watch a video of our project https://vimeo.com/297997121
Lisa Saar - Rise Against Hunger - April 27th
Lisa Saar announced that the Club will participate again this year in the Rise Against Hunger (RISE) project to be held on April 27. Members are asked to volunteer to help fill food packages on that day. Those who have participated in the past report that it is a fun and very rewarding event. To register or donate here is the link
Guests of Rotarians:
Scott Wallace introduced his wife Marge Laidlaw
Lisa Saar introduced this months Vet - Jennifer Enriquez Click Here for her resume She will make her presentation next week March 4th.
Lynda Hinton brought Rosale Ronquillo with Silverado Memory Care
Byron Manering introduced Andrea Harrison, Development & Outreach Mgr. and Barb Lupo, Donor Development Officer with Brigid Collins Family Support
Cathy Buckley introduced Mary Elliott with Officer Support Officers
Robin Halliday introduced Mary Elliott representingTech X
Presentations:
Cathy Buckley introduced Kendra Cristelli from the Support Officers program who received a Service Fund Award for their programs to provide 24 hour response to families experiencing tragedy and trauma in our community, and the First Responders who serve them. Tech X, received the Second Service Fund Award. Robin Halliday introduced Mary Elliot Keen who described that the money would go towards a pilot project to help homeless teenagers gain skills that might lead to meaningful employment.
Jennifer Enriquez was our guest from the Take a Vet to Lunch program. Jennifer served in the California National Guard and has a wide variety of work experience including data entry and reception to go along with her BA in Humanities and Culture Studies. She is hoping to get an interview in order to further describe her strong work ethic and commitment to people and organization.
Program:
Paula McCandlis introduced our guest presenter as a judge committed to justice being heard, being a true role model, and leaving a legacy of ground breaking work in the Whatcom County court system. That Judge is the recently retired Chuck Snyder who left the bench last Thursday after 29 years of service.
Judge Snyder, or Chuck as we all know him, gave an overview of the court system, described the humorous side of being a judge, and emphasized trends in the court since 2018 including a decrease in juvenile offender cases and an increase in cases related to dependency and child abuse and neglect. At the end of the day, Chuck said that a judge’s duty is to look at each case uniquely, avoid bias, and to explain their decision by stating what, how, and why the decision was made and to do so with compassion, mercy, and sometimes sternness when needed.