Whatcom County North Rotary
Northwind
February 15, 2007
MEETING TO ORDER: President Ken called the meeting to order at 12:35 and led us in the Pledge of Allegiance. Rick Staeb gave an emotional invocation expressing our sorrow at the loss of former member, club president and great Rotarian Jerry Chambers. We all hope and pray for his family's comfort.
VISITING ROTARIANS: John Sleeth from Bellingham Bay, Pete Ruese from Sedro Woolley and George Tsakumis from Vancouver.
RETURNING ROTARIANS: Tim Carpenter was in Mexico and Sharon Robinson was in Honduras.
BIRTHDAYS: Roger Lehnert, Jim Anderson, Bob Bowman and Greg Iwasaki.
ANNOUNCMENTS:
1. Bill Grace is circulating the Roster for corrections and updates.
2. Stan Brunner brought pussy willow cuttings â¿¢ free for the taking.
3. Paul Cooley is coordinating the career fair: Praise for Dan Baker who has lined up all his speakers already and encouragement for those who have not yet done so. He also needs volunteers to take fliers to the schools.
4. President Ken invited ideas on how our club could best memorialize Jerry Chambers. He suggested that we take some time to find out what other clubs are doing and then to decide what would be best for us.
HAPPY BUCKS: Mel Hollinger paid tribute to Jerry Chambers as a good friend and good Rotarian. He expressed regret that the newer members of our club never had the opportunity to get to know Jerry. Maureen McCarthy was happy to see Mel here and healthy and also apologetic to Julie Johansen and Doug Thomas that she has not been more helpful on the Metcalf committee thus far. Jack Curnow was happy that CPA's (he and Julie) are able to take vacations during tax time. Jack was also happy that he got his Rescue Diver certification in Key Largo, which was more fun than work in Houston. George Tsakumis told a touching story about Jerry Chambers helping him fix a flat tire. Bill Grace remembered Jerry, who was president when Bill joined our club. Rome Sarwas was happy for the Cougars being ranked number 10 in the nation and also pleased with Wisconsin and Marquette's rankings. Addie Brown was sorry for being the last one to arrive, but was saved by Jake Smith showing up about 12:45. Doug Thomas was happy for the Huskies (why?) and also sad about the loss of Jerry Chambers. Sharon Robinson was happy for her vacation and the Lynden City Hall project and apologetic for causing the Board to meet in the rain on the sidewalk outside her office while she was on a tropical island.
FINEMASTER: The Honorable Finemaster was Max Legg. Jake Smith was fined $6 for his late arrival, in a new variation of "the Wallace Rule plus One." All Husky fans were fined $1. Randy Carr for "trash talk" of an indeterminate nature. Although we usually don't fine guests, John Sleeth was fined for having a beard. John pointed out that this was the only thing he didn't shave when he had his recent surgery. Max attempted to fine women who did not do something nice for their significant other on Valentine's Day, but only Rose Abbaspour was left standing. Scott Wallace was fined for being the only banker without a tie and Sharon Robinson for being a Finemaster wannabee, and trying to get Maureen McCarthy in trouble over the bus schedule. Patti Quanz was fined for not quite getting Max's name correct, and all CPA's who went on vacation during tax season were fined.
BANNERS: A very creative presentation of Hearts, Flowers, Music, and other things Beautiful represented Valentine's Day. President Ken pointed out that Valentine's Day was also an important anniversary for Stan - 66 years since his first date with Margaret. Congratulations!
PROGRAM: Randy Carr introduced Doug Thomas who gave us an overview of Bellingham Cold Storage and presented a video of the company's work. We learned a lot of fascinating things about all the work done right here in Bellingham. BCS was founded by Arch Talbot who built the first ice house in 1946. There are now 17 warehouses with over 1 million square feet of space and 22 food processing tenants. In 2006 they handled 1.3 billion pounds, which is equal to 32,500 semi-truckloads. This is up from 1.1 billion in 2005. Products include 65% seafood, 20% fruits and vegetables, and 15% "other" such as sauces and baked goods. Over 30 million pounds of cranberries are handled for Ocean Spray between October 5 and November 5. TransOcean products specializes in artificial crab, including the entire product for Subway's seafood sandwiches nationwide. Seafood species processed include halibut, cod, salmon, tuna, herring, pollack, sardines, squid and crab. A high-tech bar coding tracking system enables BCS to track every item's arrival, departure, and storage location. Some of the most unusual things that ever came through the warehouse were a 28 foot whale, and (unbeknownst to BCS) several 55 gallon drums of marijuana.
DRAWING: No winner.
Editor this week: Sharon Robinson