President Teri Treat opened the meeting with a sunny proclamation that the Rotary Club of Bellingham is "the most vibrant, fun, dedicated club in Whatcom County".
A belated Happy St. Patrick's Day greeting was giving and Happy Birthday wished to Jack Mulhern.
Announcements:
There is an upcoming Rotary Youth Leadership Awards, RYLA, Leadership Camp, May 24-27 in Washington State. This is open to friends and family of Rotarians, who are between the ages of 18-30. Please go to the www.ryla.5050.org for more information. These leadership camps are life changing for many.
Dues are due! Dues are due! Dues are due! So “due” it!
The only committee report was introduced by Peter Theisen of the Major Project Selection Committee. He said this year's committee focused on a club generated project that would be supported not just financially by the club but also giving members a hands-on opportunity. More on this further down...
And this in from the folks at Habitat for Humanity:
We are organizing yet another work party to restore the streamside salmon habitat at 1050 Telegraph Road on Saturday March 24th, from 9:00 to noon . The RCOB supported the project by contributing to the purchase of plants. This event will give your members the opportunity to actively participate in the mitigation. Thank you again for supporting Habitat for Humanity and this project in particular.
Guests of Rotarians:
Mark Knittel introduced Garrett Jeffery with Peace Health
Scott Hume brought Nathan Conant with Blue Kayak Marketing
John Dunne introduced his wife Joy
Scott Wallace brought former member Dave Bradley
Presentations:
Brian Griffin introduced the proposal for the Club's major project for the coming year, restoration of estuaries at the mouth of Padden Creek.
Brian gave a brief history of how he discovered two estuaries associated with Padden Creek while researching his book "Boulevard Park". One estuary has been paved over but the other remains and has filled with silt over the years essentially creating a swamp. Estuaries are essential for salmon development as fry become smolt with their exposure to salt water provided by a tidal estuary. Brian also mentioned that Native American artifacts have been discovered around the estuary.
The committee has decided that our club, in collaboration with the City of Bellingham will develop and create Estuary Park, just like we did with Boulevard Park. The goal will be to restore the ancient large estuary and Padden Creek to their original tidal state by removing the accumulated silt, thus repairing the environmental damage caused by our civilization and optimizing the stream as a producer of salmon and trout. We will also build, on the western bank of the estuary, a modern version of a Coast Salish Longhouse that will house a number of public amenities. This will be a multi-year project funded by donations by club members as well as possible groups that would have a stake in the project. For example...local Native tribes, the Nooksack salmon enhancement group, the Nature Conservancy, US Army Corps of Engineers, WA Dept of Ecology, WA State Dept of Fisheries to name just a few. Community fundraising will likely be necessary, (we are so good at arm twisting). And good old fashioned sweat equity where applicable in the form of landscaping or construction.
This Saturday, the 24th, anyone interested in touring the site can meet at 10:00 on Harris Avenue where it crosses Padden Creek. We will walk the trail up Padden Creek to the estuary and Brian will show the possibilities for this project.
Program:
Next up was Terry Crump from Samson Rope. Samson is the largest producer of high performance rope in the world. They have two factories. One locally in Ferndale and the other in Lafayette, Louisiana. The are a privately owned company with 330 employees. Their products are sold in over 50 countries world wide. Samson has been in business since the mid 1800's and is the oldest registered trademark in continuous use in the United States. The company began by manufacturing sash cords. The name came from the founder's wife, who said that the name had to connote strength, and suggested Sampson, the Bible's strong man.
They invented the double braided rope and currently hold many patents for rope making. Their business is diverse, supplying ropes to commercial shipping, commercial fishing, construction, and mining industries to name a few. Their products can replace traditional steel wire cables because the Dyneema polymer used in their ropes is stronger yet lighter than steel when woven into braided ropes. For further information about Samson you can find it on their website, SamsonRope.com. It was an interesting program as evidenced by the many questions that followed.
.jpg)
.jpg)