Whatcom County North Rotary
Northwind
September 14, 2006
MEETING TO ORDER: President Ken called the meeting to order at 12:30 and led us in the Pledge of Allegiance. Rick Staeb gave the invocation.
VISITING ROTARIANS: Paul Cooley introduced our visitors: From the Bellingham Club we had Ron Vekved and Shannon Terrell. From Bellingham Bay, Mike Kirkland.
GUESTS: Jim Bliss introduced his guest Patty Quanz.
BIRTHDAYS: Larry Pollett will celebrate his birthday on September 19th. Happy Birthday Larry!
RETURNING ROTARIANS: None
ANNOUNCEMENTS: President Ken announced the following: the Fellowship Dinner scheduled for September 30th has been cancelled; there will be a short Board Meeting following the regular meeting today and he reminded everyone that committee meetings, board meetings and club functions count as make-ups because several members received notices about their attendance dropping below 60%. Jim McKellar announced that he has the Pledge Cards in his possession, not Doug Thomas as previously reported. Also, he recently received four pledges totaling $400.00 and his cousin Ken, who was visiting from England last week, left a pledge card behind with $50.00 attached. Thank you Ken McKellar.
HAPPY BUCKS: Brian Finnegan was $5 sad/happy. Sad because he had to leave early and happy because he had to make a shameless plug for his wife, who received a call from Home & Garden that 12th Street Shoes will be featured on their show. Bill Grace was $2 happy that he and his wife were able to visit their Coupeville property and $2 happy because he parked his 28' 5th Wheel the first time. Maureen McCarthy was $2 happy that her sister moved to Chicago and now she has a new city to visit. Larry Pollett was $2 happy because he brought his 31' Ford Coupe "hotrod" and parked it next to Bill Grace's 31' Ford Coupe. Scott Wallace was $20 happy for his 20th wedding anniversary. Stan Brunner was $2 happy because the water department turned his water back on after turning it off because they were waiting for the new owner to call for service. Major fauxpas because Stan has lived there for 50-years. Jim McKellar was $2 happy to correct the story last week about the T-pot he bought back at the Garage Sale and gave to Stan. It seems it was his mothers T-pot not Stan's mother's T-pot (I think I got that right). On the same $2, Jim went on to say that he had a colonoscopy and everything came out okay. Marlene Sexton was $2 happy to celebrate her birthday last week with some wine and fine dining. Hilary Baumstarck was $2 happy to send his son off to college. Gary Cordrey was $5 happy for buying a new boat. Paul Cooley was $2 happy for the barbecue held at the Haggen Store in Barkley, which raised $300 for the Dick Metcalf Memorial Project. Stan Brunner remembered that he was also $2 happy for someone (I didn't get who) in his family who received a Merit Scholarship.
FINEMASTER: Randy Carr was today's Finemaster and although it pained him to fine fellow Rotarians he'll do his duty. He started out by fining himself $2 because Dan Parsons (who wasn't here to object) took all the hits last week. Jim McKellar was fined $2 for mentioning the colonoscopy. Randy fined Gary Cordrey $2 because he bought a new boat then cautioned him to keep an eye on the "kill switch". Brian Finnegan was fined $2 (this is just the start) for not connecting the boat starter and costing Randy $250, which he thinks Brian should pay half (I'm sure we haven't heard the end of this). Jerry Landcastle was fined $2 for not following Mark Asmundson's lead to resign as mayor. Paul Cooley was fined $2 for causing Mel Hollinger to turn his hearing aid down. Jim Bliss was fined $2 for something about advertising with his guest? Brian Finnegan was fined another $2 (to which he asked if the $5 rule was applicable here) for having no friends. Greg Iwasaki was fined $2 because Randy was advertising for him when he tells everyone that Greg did a great job for him recently. He fined everyone $2 for dental cleaning but I didn't get why? Rick Staeb was fined $2 to either explain the following quote or remove it from the radio airwaves, "chicks love the long ball, and unfortunately they hate shrinkage". Rick paid the fine with the following quote, "I'm not responsible for content" or something to that affect. Scott Wallace was fined $5 for originating the "Wallace Rule" and for not wearing the Cougar colors. Gary Cordrey was fined another $2 because a recent newspaper article quoted him as belonging to the Rotary Club of Bellingham.
BANNERS: Someone (I didn't get who) correctly guessed the banners represented the "fall colors"
PROGRAM: Today's program speaker, Ham Hayes, was introduced by Tim Villhauer. Ham gave a very interesting presentation on Cambodia and the need to help this country rebuild its educational system. In January 2006, Ham and several others traveled to Cambodia to dedicate the Bellingham Community School. More than 100 Bellingham individuals, businesses, schools and organizations contributed to the building of this school in rural Cambodia. The Bellingham Community School is only one of three middle schools in the region and provides a key gateway for these Cambodian children to go beyond an elementary education in a country still struggling with the legacy of genocide, land mines, disease, human trafficking and extreme poverty.
If anyone is interested in becoming involved in these efforts please contact Hamilton Hayes at 360-319-1936.
DRAWING: David Engels had the lucky ticket but drew the seven of diamonds.
Editor this week: David Engels