Whatcom County North Rotary
Northwind
March 1, 2007
MEETING TO ORDER: President Ken called the meeting to order at 12:35 and led us in the Pledge of Allegiance. Mel Hollinger gave the invocation.
VISITING ROTARIANS: John Moles from Bellingham Bay Rotary and George Tsakumis from Vancouver Rotary.
GUESTS: Jerry Landcastle introduced his guest Elie Samuel, owner of Samuel's Furniture in Ferndale.
RETURNING ROTARIANS: Adam Finfer returned from a business/pleasure trip to Palm Desert. Tim Villhauer returned from a trip to South America where he visited Buenos Aires, Argentina and ran into Doug Thomas at the airport, (I didn't get which airport). Doug Thomas returned from a golf/business trip to Carmel, California and Hilary Baumstarck also just returned from a trip to Carmel, California.
BIRTHDAYS: Recent Birthdays are Rome Sarwas, Gary Snyder and Merwyn Murk.
ANNOUNCMENTS: Paul Cooley announced the career fair, which will be held on March 30th. Out of 30 total presenters, 12 are confirmed. Those who are lining up presenters are asked to get them confirmed as soon as possible. Praise to Dan Baker and Jerry Landcastle who have lined up and confirmed all of their speakers. He also needs volunteers to take fliers to the schools. Jerry Landcastle announced the upcoming Centennial Event for the City of Ferndale, scheduled for March 19, 2007. The theme is "Honoring Our Past, Creating Our Future" and everyone is invited to join the City of Ferndale in a community group photo at 6:00. They are hoping for 3,000 to 5,000 people for the group photo and Jerry promised a gift if you come.
HAPPY BUCKS: Bill Grace paid $5 apology dollars because he has to leave early and because the recent snow didn't stick around. Tim Villhauer had $20 happy/sad dollars, happy because he and his wife just got back from a spectacular vacation to South America and sad because his father passed away. Tim also presented his first check for 2007 to the Dick Metcalf Memorial Fund. Scott Wallace had a buck for this morning's snowy mess on the Hannegan Road. Jack Curnow had a happy buck for the upcoming Ferndale Centennial. Elie Samuel had a happy buck from the Ferndale Boys & Girls Club for our contribution and for the capital campaign being approved. Jerry Landcastle had a happy buck for his fine guest today. Paul Cooley had a happy buck because an employee survived being hit by a drunk driver and is back in Bellingham for rehab. Doug Thomas had a happy buck for the #13 Cougars, golfing in California and the Boys and Girls Club capital campaign being approved. Dick Donahue also had a couple happy bucks for the #13 Cougars and an upcoming vacation. Sharon Robinson wanted to know what happened to the #9 Cougars, but she's a Syracuse alumnus anyway and she had a couple of happy bucks for the snow. Roger Lehnert wondered about the legal profession dress code but had a happy buck for Oregon State beating the UW. Phil Bratt had a happy buck the Lynden Christian girls made it to the state basketball tournament. Rome Sarwas had a happy buck for the Ferndale Boys and Girls Club and Tim Villhauer had a happy buck for all Ferndale Boys and Girls Club members and asked them to think about joining rotary.
FINEMASTER: The Honorable Finemaster Jim Bliss implemented the $5 Rule. Jerry Landcastle was fined $2 for the Ferndale Centennial announcement, which was matched by Jim because he thinks it's a great accomplishment. All Blaine residents (Mel Hollinger, Rose Abbaspour and Adam Finfer) were fined $2 for getting rid of the airport and liquor store. Anyone who didn't know the name of the Rotary International President was fined a buck, (It's William Boyd from Auckland, New Zealand but I had to look it up). Next, anyone who doesn't know where the 2007 Rotary International Convention is being held had to pay a buck, (it's being held in Salt Lake City, Utah, June 17-20). Scott Piper was fined a buck for not knowing that Mt. Baker High School won a big basketball game. According to the Bellingham Herald, a study in Denmark said a half a glass of liquor a day will add two days to your life and a glass of wine each day will add 3.8 years to your life. Anyone who didn't know this had to pay a buck. Finally, Deb Wiggs was assessed a $5 IOU for not having Sergeant at Arms lined up for today's meeting (thanks to Patty Quanz for filling in).
BANNERS: No Banners today.
PROGRAM: Randy Carr introduced today's speaker Dr. Vincent Foster, Director of Health Promotion Northwest Employee Assistance Program. Health Promotion Northwest EAP is a program of St. Joseph Hospital. They provide EAP services to Northwest business including: face to face and/or phone sessions for assessment, brief counseling and/or referral for employees and family household members; training support for supervisors, managers and team leaders; consultation, intervention and referral for workplace problems; corrective action support; worksite orientations for all employees and management; drug free workplace support and critical incident stress management. In addition, they provide 24-hour on-call support, rapid access to services (most appointments within 24-72 hours), phone and email consultation and counseling for employees convenience, fee for service training, violence in the workplace prevention and response consultation, sexual harassment prevention and post occurrence staff training, and policy and procedure development. For more information contact Dr. Foster at (360) 715-6565 or (800) 244-6142.
DRAWING: No winner.
Editor this week: David Engels