Northwind 8/10/06

Whatcom County North Rotary
Northwind

August 10, 2006

MEETING TO ORDER:  The meeting was called to order by President Ken Richardson who led us in the pledge of allegiance. Pete Kremen provided the invocation, reminding us of the need for people of all faiths to find ways to live in peace with each other throughout the world.

VISITING ROTARIANS:  Dave Bradley from the Bellingham Rotary Club and our old friend and past president of WCNR, Graham Harris, visiting us from New Zealand.

GUESTS:  Tracy Maxwell was a guest of Deb Wiggs, Patty Quanz was a guest of Dan Baker, Marty Harris is the son and guest of Graham Harris, Bandy Christie a business partner and guest of Rose Abbaspour and Marlene Sexton brought her daughter (Bob Bowman's grand daughter) Audra and Audra's boyfriend, Jacob as guests. A big day for guests and please excuse the misspellings of names.

BIRTHDAYS:  Jim McKellar celebrates his 80th birthday this week.

RETURNING ROTARIANS:  Dave Engels is back from a back roads motorcycle tour of Washington and Oregon. Adam Finfer returning from Phoenix and also delivering one of his kids to USC for fall quarter.  Nancy Harrison seemed to have had the most fun; hiking and fishing in Montana and Wyoming, learning to fly fish and catching a walleye in the Yellowstone River, maybe not in that order?

ANNOUNCEMENTS:  The Garage sale will be held on 8/26. Everyone is needed to help with it!  The silent/live auction is on 8/25 from 5-7 and 7-9 respectively.  We should be there around 4 to do the setting up.

Actually, I we need as many as can help to be there all day Friday the 25th.

Thursday's regular Meeting on 8/24 will be held at noon at the Ferndale Boys and Girls club.  Lex and\or Tim asks us to sign up for times during the week prior, to be stationed at the B&G club to accept donations and provide receipts to donors. There is a sign-up sheet going around. Dates are the 19-23 and we need many more volunteers.

District Governor Rod Thomson will visit our club on 8/31. We want a strong turnout that day, so everyone put it on your calendar!  All reports are that he is a good speaker and we will like him.

Dues.  Some still outstanding, so if you have not paid, please send your checks.  Also if you have not yet paid for a fellowship dinner that you attended, please send your check.  This reminds me, the Lori Pobuta\Sharon Robinson dinner on 9/30/06 still has room for four more guests. Check your calendars and sign up. The dinners are a wonderful way to get to know your fellow Rotarians and support our projects and have a great dinner.  A can't loose proposition!

Bill Grace reports 11 benches made and delivered but he will make more for anyone who wants one, for $250. He is donating the proceeds to the Metcalf Teen Center.  Bill also reports that the roster is going to press today.

Tim Carpenter reports Golfun is tomorrow at Homestead and they were looking for another player, but by the time you read this, it will be too late. Tim also picked up 15 tickets from Jerry Chambers this morning, that are available to all golfers, or anyone who is interested, to attend the Boeing Greater Seattle Classic Golf Tournament from 8/14-20. The tickets get you in free on any day of the event and were provided by the Cadillac Company.  So, if anyone wants to attend this tournament call Tim Carpenter for tickets.

HAPPY BUCKS:  Marlene Sexton was happy to have her daughter and her boyfriend home for a visit and attending with her today, Bill Grace is happy his benches have been such a success and allow him to support the Metcalf Teen Center and for a vacation to their Oak Harbor property. Scott Wallace is happy that in all his years of boating in and out of the Sandy Point Marina channel he has avoided putting his boat up on the beach as happened to another boater this week. Those of us who come through that channel regularly are dumbfounded as to how that boater could have missed the channel! It's not like you can't see it. Paul Cooley was happy for his recent vacation where he made 14 sky dives into 3 drop zones and took his nieces on their first jump. Jim McKellar is happy about celebrating his 80th birthday with a good (but costly) birthday party for his friends and family. Rose was happy the S of A folks covered for her today; apparently she missed her turn at the desk. Dick Langabeer and Deb Wiggs had apology bucks for early leaving (too bad, they missed a very interesting program) as well as Roger Lehnert and Mary Kanikeberg.you all are working too hard!  Lex was happy he took his daughter to WSU to begin her sophomore year, Dan Baker was happy to have his guest with him today and that her employer, Peoples Bank is allowing us to put a Garage Sale sign up in front of their office.  Phil Bratt is happy he survived his 40th birthday party and a fishing trip to the Queen Charlotte Lodge and something about Kojak (aka Jack Curnow). Mel Hollinger was happy to attend Jim McKellar's birthday party and something about Jim doing something in a kilt! Bob Bowman was happy his granddaughter is here for a visit and his dog's dental work went well. Dick Donahue is celebrating his 23rd wedding anniversary this weekend and happy Larry Pollet found the lost keys to his rental car, lost while placing the garage sale banners around town.  Tim Carpenter was happy to see Graham Harris and Graham's son Marty, Graham was happy that our new RI president, Bill Boyd, is from New Zealand and now we all must get used to his "accent". Lots of happy people today!

FINEMASTER:  Kojak (aka Jack Curnow) was fast and ruthless as usual. Bob Bowman was fined for raising his daughter with a democratic persuasion and then Marlene Sexton (daughter) was fined for raising her daughter (Audra) with similar persuasion and then Tim Carpenter provided a few comments on the inappropriateness of such a fine as Rotary is a non-partisan, non-sectarian organization but Jack fined him anyway for bringing free tickets to a golf tournament that was being held at the same time as our garage sale, except that it isn't, as Jack had the dates wrong, so Jack owes the fine?  Nancy Harrison was fined for being the last one in the door; Maureen McCarthy for her hair style (may be a backlash on the Kojak thing?) Dick Donahue was fined for starting the "Kojak" commentary and Phil Brat as well, Scott Wallace was fined for saying accountants are anal retentive, but it turns out he was just agreeing with Jack and Rose was fined for bringing her business partner to lunch. Dick Langabeer was fined for disrespecting the fine master, except Jack paid it, and finally Paul Cooley was fined for jumping out of perfectly good airplanes because Jack has always wanted to do that. Sounds like there is a parachute jump in his future as Paul offered to take him. The banners today were all pictures of states or a map of the state where that rotary club resides. I lost track of the dollars at the "get go". Not a numbers person?

PROGRAM:  Art Choat, the Port of Bellingham's Director of Aviation provided an update on what is happening at the Bellingham International Airport with regard to expansion of services and facilities. He provided lots of statistics that boil down to "they cannot keep up with the demand". The terminal, after last year's 2 million dollar remodel, has capacity for 9,000 passengers per month and accommodated 12,500 passengers last month. This presents scheduling challenges. They calculate that they are loosing 50% (leakage) of the passengers that would fly out of Bellingham, if they could, with the current planes flying at 80% load (full) all the time. 

The number of flights has been increased to accommodate the demand, but still not enough. Allegiant Air has six flights per week (soon to grow to 8\wk) to Las Vegas running  90% full, Horizon has 8 RT daily flights to SeaTac,  80% full and Delta Connections has similar experience with its flights to Salt Lake City. Delta is considering adding direct flights to Denver and San Francisco soon and Allegiant may add a direct flight to Palm Springs. Horizon will be bringing in a larger plane next year that holds 70 passengers and makes the trip to SeaTac in 15 minutes. It will take longer to get through screening and on the plane than it takes to get to Seattle!

There are two new commercial carriers considering Bellingham but the terminal needs to be expanded yet again to accommodate the traffic. The original terminal was built during World War II by the government and has many upgrades and remodels since that time. We currently have "state of the art" technology with a newly constructed tower (2005) operating 16.5 hours per day that handled 98,000 operations (does that mean landings?) in 2005 and is on track for 110,000 in 2006. Art attempted to speak English and apologized for lapsing into Aviation jargon but said with 19 pages of small type acronyms, it is a language of its own. All planes flying within a 5 mile radius of the tower and at or below 3500 feet must radio the tower and Bellingham is actually in Canadian airspace, so the radio contact comes through Canada air traffic control tower.

Next on the agenda is to expand the commercial ramp system in 2007 ($3.5 mil) to allow for more terminal space to be constructed in 2008. After this is completed, the $1.5mil X-ray machine that is sitting in a crate in Seattle can be installed to be the EDS Electronic Detection System for checked luggage.

In addition to the commercial aviation, there is another area for corporate and general public aviation. The Port is negotiating with the US Air force to re-acquire 14 acres of ground to expand the hanger space and tie-down area for the private planes. Art said there are many private planes using the airport and when he checked the tail numbers, 55% of them were investment bankers. He wonders what they are doing here.

The airport is home to the Heritage Flight Museum owned by Bill Anders an Apollo 8 astronaut. His son operates the museum and it houses vintage aircraft. There will be an air show of the vintage planes on Saturday, August 19th.

Editor this week:  Julie Johansen