MEETING TO ORDER: President Ken called the meeting to order at 12:35 and led us in the Pledge of Allegiance. Gary Snyder gave the invocation.
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VISITING ROTARIANS:Â Â Duane Calahan and Myra Howe from Juneau, Alaska Rotary; Pete Ruese from Sedro Woolley Rotary; and George Tsakumis from Vancouver Rotary.
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GUESTS: President Ken introduced his wife Susan and daughter Robin. Randy Carr introduced his guest David Young and Bob Bowman introduced his brother Paul from Portland.Â
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RETURNING ROTARIANS:Â None.
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BIRTHDAYS: Hilary Baumstarck celebrates his birthday on the 14th, Tony Cubellis on the 15th, Stan Brunner on the 16th, Addie Brown on the 21st and Rose Abbaspour and Rich Jacobson on the 22nd. Happy birthday to all!
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ANNOUNCMENTS:Paul Cooley announced the career fair, which will be held on March 30th. They now have 43 total presenters in 28 categories, but they do need one more photographer. Collating will be done on Wednesday night the 28th at 6:00 p.m. in room 202 of the LaidlawBuilding. Sign-up sheets are being passed around. President Ken reminded everyone to pay meal invoices by March 31 and to make checks payable to Whatcom County North Rotary NOT the Rotary Foundation. Tim Carpenter announced that the Fundraising Committee will meet next week after the regular meeting.
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HAPPY BUCKS: Ken Richardson for his wife and daughter being guests today and $38 more for his 38th Wedding Anniversary. Marlene Sexton for her upcoming trip to California with hope for lots of sun. Jake Smith is back from a fabulous week of skiing where he learned a new ski term, "Liftee". Rick Staeb for Lex Ludtke doing his duty holding the WCNR Banner on the bridge for the big Ferndale Photo last Monday night. Maureen McCarthy for her dad's recent visit from Chicago. Jack Curnow for USC making the Sweet 16. Stan Brunner for Greg Iwasaki fixing his computer for no charge.  Patty Quanz for her recent marriage last Saturday (congratulations Patty!). Tim Villhauer for a recent anniversary (sorry, I didn't get which one). Bill Grace for our banner being in the Ferndale photo and for Patty Quanz providing a photo of her new husband almost before the ceremony was over. Doug Thomas for WSU making it to the NCAA Tournament and not ending up in last place and for his daughter's 15th Birthday. Roger Lehnert for UW firing a winning coach and for law enforcement doing such a great job. Dick Nolan for a recent trip to San Francisco, great weather and being able to wear shorts. George Tsakumis for a daughter who lives in Arizona and complaining about 98 degree weather when it's very cold here. Adam Finfer for his daughter being accepted at both UW and USC. Brad Peterson was happy to see Kris Kringle here today (our visitor from Juneau, Alaska).
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FINEMASTER: Today's Honorable Finemaster was Randy Carr. All Cougar fans for their one win in the NCAA Tournament. President Ken for the Ferry "apron" drop last night? The Bowman family for having a reunion at their table. The fine was tripled when they complained. Lex Ludtke for not coordinating with the Bellingham Herald to get the Club Banner in the Ferndale Photo. Whoever gave Mel Randy's email address? Tim Carpenter for hiding behind his wife's email address. Greg Iwasaki for not charging for fixing Stan's computer. Stan Brunner for invading Randy Carr's dreams last night. Dr. Lehnert for violation of the "four way test", sitting with a co-worker and poor email spelling, but then he got his Doctorate at WSU, so what do you expect. Â
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BANNERS:Â Â None today.
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PROGRAM:Randy Carr introduced today's speaker Ross Hewing, who is in charge of Spiritual Care at St. Joseph's Hospital. Although Ross has never been a Rotarian he got in the spirit of Finemaster and fined Randy Carr $5 for canceling a dental appointment when his wife had her baby. He started his presentation by quoting Woody Allen, "I'm not afraid of dying I just don't want to be there when it happens". His presentation today will center on Four Principals, (as developed by Mochamp and Childress for Healthcare Ethics): autonomy, Malfeasance, non-malfeasance (I'm not sure I got these last two right) and justice. Autonomy deals with a person having the capacity to determine what they want. He recommends having a durable Power of Attorney. It's important to talk about end of life issues with family members. At this point questions about a "Living Will" trumping a families desires if they are to the contrary. It was a very lively discussion.