Whatcom County North Rotary Club
Northwind
January 26, 2006
Meeting Called To Order: President Scott Piper called the meeting to order at 12:35pm. The invocation was given by Tim Carpenter.
Visiting Rotarians: George Tsakumis (Vancouver). Patty Imhof, Mimi Ferlin, Jerry Simmons and Lynn Templeton (Bellingham).
Guests of Rotarians: Scott Piper introduced Rotary District Governor Harv Jubie, Roger Lehnert introduced Dawn Fairchild, a new principal in the Ferndale School District and Bob Bowman introduced Marlene Sexton our newest proposed member.
Returning Rotarians: None
Birthdays: None
Rotary Minute: No one was prepared to give the Rotary Minute so Harv Jubie stood up and gave a brief introduction of the Donor Advisory Fund.
Announcements: Harv Jubie, District Governor presented President Scott Piper with a pair of gloves in recognition of his hard work as President this past year and he also reminded us of the District Conference scheduled for May 18th through May 20th at Whistler, British Columbia. Any club that signs up 10% of its membership will receive a Paul Harris Fellowship and 20% will get you two Paul Harris Fellowships. The scheduled speaker is Ambassador Scholar Jean Irwin. Bill Grace passed out an update sheet to the Roster. Rick Staeb announced that the fun run is scheduled for April 15th starting at Bloedel Donovan Park, with proceeds benefiting Blue Skies for Children. We have four event sponsors and two corporate sponsors but still need eight more corporate sponsors. Contact Rick or Hilary Baumstarck if you are interested in becoming a corporate sponsor. Doug Thomas got up to speak about Bruce Brabec's continuing work in Bonaire (?) and announce that he is still lining up his ducks for the Dick Metcalf Memorial Project. Anyone interested in helping out can meet with the committee after today's meeting. Bill Grace remembered to mention that he received a Thank You note from Jim Scott for receiving an update to the Roster.
Happy Bucks: Brian Finnegan had promised his wife that if the Seahawks ever got to the Super Bowl he would take her. He's happy he found tickets but they're flying to Detroit and back in the same day! Greg Thulin is happy he attended the Seahawk's game last Sunday when they won the NFC Championship and his new house is not totally done but he's happy he'll be in by next Tuesday. Jack Curnow is happy/unhappy (?) the wrong guy won the Heisman Trophy. Bill Grace is happy to see Harv Jubie and happy he received word back from Jim McKellar. Rich Jacobson was happy about the Seahawks. George Tsakumis was happy to be here and left a copy of a letter on each table describing what an American is. Rose Abbaspour is working in Seattle and in Bellingham and will only be able to make club meetings about once a month. Tim Carpenter was happy about the national elections in Canada. Rick Staeb is happy about the Seahawks and put in a plug for KPUG, who will broadcast the Super Bowl. Sharon Robinson wanted more information from Bill Grace on the date festival? Dan Baker was happy about the new Canadian government. Winton Smith made money in the playoffs by betting on the Steelers, but I'm sure he'll bet against them in the Super Bowl. Bill Grace told Sharon Robinson he knew something about the sex life of a date, but Sharon didn't want to go there.
Finemaster: Phil Bratt was Finemaster. Rick Staeb was fined $3 for plugging KPUG's broadcast of the upcoming Super Bowl. Roger Lehnert was fined $2 for looking so fine and being surrounded by attractive women. Tim Carpenter was fined $1 for letting his guest, District Governor Harv Jubie, provide the Rotary Minute â¿¢ then when Tim tried to explain why, the fine was increased to $5 (there's a message here). Everyone who watches the television show Survivor was fined $1 because the naked fat guy (Richard Hatch, Survivor's first winner) was found guilty of tax evasion. All of the women who own businesses were fined $2 because women owned businesses grew twice as fast as other businesses. All of the accountants were fined $1 because the City of Bellingham received an award for excellence in financial reporting. Everyone who drives something other than a GMC or Ford had to pay a buck. Bob Bowman was asked how many Seahawks are going to the pro bowl (his answer was 2) and Mary Kanikeberg was asked the same question (her answer was 5). They were both fined a buck for not knowing the correct answer is seven (Matt Hasselbeck, Sean Alexander, Mac Strong, Walter Jones, Lofa Tatupu, Robbie Tobeck and Steve Hutchinson). Sharon Robinson was fined a buck for leaving her guest waiting. Gary Tomsic, Pete Kremen, Mel Hollinger and George Tsakumis were each fined a buck for the big Blaine border crossing brouhaha that damaged public property, shutdown commerce and caused the Canadian border guards to flee their posts. The day was saved by Deputy Stu "Big Guy" Smith. Finally, Phil Bratt apologized to Maureen Camandona and Paul Cooley for turning the lights on when he arrived to find them sitting in the dark. They responded by saying they were trying to be romantic. They were each fined $2 for the lame answer.
Banners: Robbie Burns, a Scotsman born on this day in 1759, who was best known for "Auld Lang Syne", correctly guessed by Winton Smith.
Program: Introduction by Sharon Robinson. Our speaker was Tracy L. Coskie, MD, who gave an excellent talk about How Families Support Children Literacy Development. Tracy's message was: families matter, support reading, be a role model, share books and read aloud, encourage independence, develop the "big 5" and support writing.
Editor of the week: David Engels