Northwind 6/21/07

Whatcom County North Rotary

Northwind

June 21, 2007

MEETING TO ORDER:  President Ken called the meeting to order at 12:30 and Gary Tomsic gave the invocation.

VISITING ROTARIANS:   Chuck Tull introduced this week's guests Pete Ruese from Sedro Woolley, Mimi Ferlin and Mike Kirkland from Bellingham Bay and George Tsakumis from Vancouver.

GUESTS:  Ken introduced his guest, his mom, Mary Lou Richardson.

BIRTHDAYS:  John Aubert turned 89

RETURNING ROTARIANS:  Greg Thulin returned from the Rotary International meeting held in Salt Lake City and was grateful to the club for the opportunity to attend.

ANNOUNCMENTS: Congratulations to Dick Nolan getting his permanent badge; Reminder of the Installation Dinner next week 6/28 to welcome new officers; starts at 5:30 p.m. with a choice of salmon or prime rib; Saturday Evening concert at Mt. Baker Theater needs more support as they are only a bit above break-even; July 21st Rummage Sale is not far away, so please sign up for a job and request to gather your items sooner than later, contact Dick Donahue or Jerry Landcastle about sign locations, start collecting boxes and wrapping paper/newspapers to bring on day of sale, Central Elementary is rented for the week of July 16 so bring in your things starting Tuesday the 17th, work parties will likely be organized for Tues, Wed, Thurs and Fri for 2-4 hours each, anyone who can is asked to please stay to work after that week's rotary meeting, July 19 which will be held at the elementary school, anyone can work including kids and spouses, call Larry Pollett if you have items to be picked up, there is an all department chair meeting July 12 at 1:30 p.m. after regular Rotary meeting.  Friday, August 17 Homestead Golf Course for golf fun.  Randy Carr and Dan Parsons are the coordinators.  Please sign up.

HAPPY BUCKS and FINEMASTER:  Rich Jacobson celebrated 22 years of wedded bliss with Jerry Landcastles' daughter Robyn.  Winton Smith celebrated his 35^th wedding anniversary.  Jerry Landcastle was happy that Rich is doing a fine job looking after his daughter.  Bill Grace just returned from a wonderful family celebration.  Jake Smith went to a fun-filled class reunion in Seattle and saw the original Gates/Allen computer.  Greg Thulin expressed thanks again for his trip to Salt Lake City and told about his adventure on the bob sled ride at Park City Olympic Park going 67 mph at 4G's.  Lynne Seelye was happy that his wife and her 3 sisters are traveling for 2 weeks and he hasn't heard from them since Montana.  Bob Bowman is happy that he wore his new Pinkie Winkie shirt.  Tim Carpenter wished John a Happy Birthday and noted that while he was club president the annual trip was not paid for.  Gary Tomsic is happy about his Surprise birthday party, the highlight of which was a lively jitter bug dance.  Tim Carpenter was fined for whining about Club trip allowances.  Jerry was fined because there were no bombs from the Bellingham Herald this week.  In honor of record high oil profits, anyone with vehicles that get less than 20 mpg paid $1; anyone with vehicles that get less than 15 mpg paid $2.  Due to record inflection in real estate prices, all realtors paid 2 bucks.  Boeing shareholders paid because the stock value tripled in last 4 yrs.  Mariner's fans paid $1 each if they watched last night's game.  Mel Hollinger was fined for too much banana-spam email.  Gary Tomsic was fined because the Gray Harbor Road was not finished.  Anyone not attending the concert on Saturday night was fined and Greg Iwasaki paid because he was the last one to arrive.

BANNERS: none today

PROGRAM:  Today's presentation was by Jeremy Jones from Washington Divers.  Jeremy shared that he started diving in the swamps of Louisiana when he was 8 years old.  The sport of scuba diving is approximately 60 years old and he has been an instructor for 15 years.  There are a number of misconceptions out there about the sport:

1.  That it's dangerous: he explained that with current advances in equipment and technology there are fewer concerns.

2.  That's it too difficult for the average person: Jeremy indicated you really only have to be able to breath and have a desire to learn in order to be a successful diver.

3.  That it's too expensive: The up front costs are high but similar to the up front costs to be a skier, and there are no costs to dive and most dives pay for themselves by all the seafood that is collected.

4.  That cold water diving is boring: actually, the local diving scene is some of the best in the world.

Jeremy showed slides of various marine encounters that he has had with moray eels, sharks, rays, seals, and an 8 foot wolf eel along with sea urchins, anemone and coral.  The local water clarity is from 80-160 feet and winter is the best time to dive in our area.

Drawing:   King of diamonds, no winner

Editor this week:  Nancy Tieman