Rhydian an autistic 6 year old military dependent was upset that the Silverdale Rotary Duck Race was canceled. In response the Rotary  Dressed up their Silverdale Duck and conducted a “Birthday Parade” at the Seabeck Conference Center. In Support Jon Buesch organized a group of 20 old cars to participate.

 

Rotarians pledged $6,703 and with the $4,000 club Foundation match, the total donation for World Polio Day was $10,793. This generosity resulted in 17 new or next level Paul Harris Fellows and three first time Rotary Foundation Polio Plus donors.
 
Tina Robinson - PHF
Bill Dean Benson – PHF + 1
Robert Washbond – PHF + 1
Jonathan P. Buesch – PHF + 2
Patty Murphy – PHF + 2
David J. White – PHF + 2
Dr. Kenneth Lee Hegtvedt – PHF + 3
Sue Ann Shipley – PHF + 3
John (Sonny) Loidhamer – PHF + 4
Kim W. Zook – PHF + 5
Jerry LeTexier – PHF + 6 & 7
Steve Fabry – PHF + 8

President Donna and her Sweetheart Auction Team did it again, and another successful fundraiser is in the books. A big thanks to all club members for helping out by making donations, volunteering your time, inviting friends and showing up to bid. From the looks of these photos, a good time was had! 

 

Thanks to everyone who came out to Gold Mountain for another great Christmas Party, and thanks as always to John Armstrong for his talent in organizing a great event. Our dessert dash raised $1,900 that will go to a good cause, John's son-in-law Jeremy Cross served as emcee, and the entertainment was provided by Mark Pearson of the Brothers Four, who attended UW with John. 

 

Jim Aho presented his Classification speech at our Weds Nov 27 breakfast meeting, espousing his love of Illahee Preserve, Nature and his Community. He also presented his Thanksgiving wish. This is the same person who presented his obituary with his application.

 

 

Each year on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving members from five service clubs in Bremerton -- Bremerton Rotary, East Bremerton Rotary, Bremerton Kiwanis Club, Bremerton Central Lions, and Bremerton Soroptimists. gather for a turkey lunch at the Admiral Theatre. The Admiral Theatre has donated the lunch so the money raised can establish a fund to start a project we work on with our fellow service organizations. This year we raised $1042 dollars to support the Bremerton Backpack Brigade.  

  
 
 

 

The Bremerton Backpack Brigade exists to provide a supplemental food source on weekends for children in need throughout the Bremerton Elementary School District. Due to homelessness, financial struggles and an array of other issues prevalent today, food provided at school often make up the most nutritious meals children will receive all day. For some, those meals may be the only ones they will receive that day. 
 
Each week during the school year, volunteers fill backpacks with practical kid friendly foods; including fresh fruit and vegetables, shelf-stable milk and juice.  Those backpacks are then delivered to the schools, where the staff discreetly distributes them to the students enrolled in the program.  The students return the backpacks to their school on Mondays, to be picked up and refilled for the following weekend. 
 

 

Oct 16 2019: Doug Fairbanks, President Donna Evans, and Tom Brobst provide East Bremerton Rotary Scholarship information to Olympic High School Seniors at "It's your Future" Vocational Fair.

 

Work continued last week, rain and shine, at the Stella Maris women's shelter, where our club is rebuilding a storage shed for residents and staff. The project was scheduled to finish up Tuesday, Sept. 24, so listen for potentially a final update at Wednesday's meeting. 

 

Fall arrived right on cue after Labor Day, but the cooler and rainy weather doesn't have to send you inside just yet. There are several social events and volunteer opportunities for club members to get September going. 

 

Starting this Saturday, when our Illahee Preserve leadership team is offering a morning walking tour of the forest that East Bremerton Rotary has been closely involved with for years (pictured above). Meet at 8:30 a.m. at the Almira Drive parking lot for a really interesting walk and lesson about this special place. 

 

Then on Sunday, the annual EBR Golf Fellowship tees off at Rolling Hills Golf Course, just next door to Illahee Preserve. If you aren't signed up for a tee time yet, talk to Doug Fairbanks or Justin Paquette. As always the golfing is followed by dinner at McCloud's, which non-golfers are welcome to attend. 

 

Our club work project with Stella Maris women's shelter began last week, and will continue with a few upcoming work days. We are helping the shelter build a storage shed on Tuesday, Sept. 12 (4-8 p.m.), Wednesday, Sept. 18 (4-8 p.m.), Saturday, Sept. 21 (10 a.m.-3 p.m.) and the finishing up with a painting party and restocking on Tuesday, Sept. 24 (4-8 p.m.). If you are interested in helping or need more details, contact Sue Shipley. Also, this week our club will hear a request for a donation of up to $10,000  to the women's shelter to reimburse the cost of the supplies for the storage shed. Any donation of $5,000 or more requires a club vote and approval by the EBR board. 

 

Finally, sign up now for the "Fifth Wednesday" club social at Hale's Barrelhouse, scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 25. We'll meet at Hales, at the corner of 15th and Wycoff in West Bremerton, at 5:30 p.m., and we've got the director of the Washington Youth Academy lined up as a guest speaker. Look for a sign-up sheet at tomorrow's meeting. 

 

Whew, what a month. It's going to be a fun fall!