Whatcom County North Rotary
Northwind
September 28, 2006
MEETING TO ORDER: President Ken called the meeting to order at 12:30 and led us in the Pledge of Allegiance. Tim Carpenter gave the invocation.
VISITING ROTARIANS: Paul Cooley's visitor introduction performance today included "the wave" and the "fight song" played with the assistance of Rick Staeb. I'm not sure what to expect next time. Visiting us from the Bellingham Club was Duane R., Fred Sexton, Ron Kelley and Michael Bradford; and from the Vancouver Club, George Tsakumis.
GUESTS: Dan Baker introduced his guest Patty Quanz.
BIRTHDAYS: Rick Staeb will celebrate his birthday on September 30th and Dick Donohue will celebrate his birthday October 1. Happy Birthday Rick and Dick!
RETURNING ROTARIANS: Mel Hollinger returned from a trip to Canada where he heard the District Governor speak. He thinks the District Governor is a good speaker and has a good message. He also thinks that when he visits our club in the month of October we should dress up for the occasion to show the District Governor what a classy group we are.
ANNOUNCEMENTS: Tim Villhauer announced that we continue looking for new members and he has some neat "membership cards" which can be passed out to prospective members. Tim will leave some on the back table for anyone whose supply is low. Sharon Robinson left a card on each table, reflecting a picture holding a "rock" that looked like the earth, to announce a meeting to be held on Wednesday 25th at the Metcalf Conference Center (sorry Sharon, I missed what the meeting was about). Doug Thomas announced there will be a meeting on the Dick Metcalf Memorial Project immediately following today's Rotary meeting. All of those required to attend the meeting received an email to that effect prior to today's meeting.
HAPPY BUCKS: Jack Curnow was $2 happy because Doug Thomas paid off a bet he made about the USC game, obviously USC must have won. Tim Villhauer was $2 happy because he attended the Seahawks game last Sunday and it was a fabulous day and a great game. Rick Staeb was $20 happy that KGMI was the recipient of the Small Market of the Year Award, meaning they were #1 out of 4,000 stations who qualified for the award. Tim Carpenter was $50 happy for being 25-years sober and for recently celebrating his 24th wedding anniversary. Rich Jacobson was a $1 happy for Ferndale's win over Idaho and $1 happy for a recent stock split. Cathy Vander Giessen was $3 happy for the Seahawks win last Sunday.
FINEMASTER: Tim Carpenter was today's Finemaster. Ken Richardson was fined $1 for referring to Tim as Mr. Carpenter. Rick Staeb was fined $1 for receiving the Small Market of the Year Award. He then went on to mention something about Debbie Does Dallas, which most of us know references Deb Wiggs recent trip to Texas, but then the conversation started to go downhill so I stopped taking notes. Jack Curnow was fined $10 for gloating after USC beats WSU. Everyone was asked to stand up for enjoying the wonderful weather we have been having and when everyone stood no fines were levied. Everyone who complained that it was too hot was fined a $1. Sharon Robinson was fined $1 for being happy. Everyone sitting at the "happy table" was also fined a $1. All Eagle Scouts were asked to stand up and all three were fined a $1 (Tim Carpenter, Greg Thulin and Duane R.). All of the visiting Rotarians from the Bellingham Rotary Club were fined $1for sitting at the same table. Everyone wearing a shirt that advertised their business was fined a $1. Mel Hollinger was fined a $1 for not wearing a tie. Dave Engels and Doug Thomas were asked to explain an email to the membership announcing a meeting about the Dick Metcalf Memorial Project after today's meeting and the explanation was that Doug wanted everyone to know there will be a meeting about the Dick Metcalf Memorial Project after today's membership meeting. For some reason I was let off the hook and Doug Thomas was fined $1.
BANNERS: The banners reflect on the beautiful "Indian Summer" we have been enjoying and it was correctly guessed by Brian Finnegan. Brian's name will be entered in the Banners Hall of Fame.
PROGRAM: Today's program speaker, Debbie Craig, was introduced by Ken Richardson. Debbie is the Director of "Summit Assistance Dogs", which is based in Anacortes. Their motto is "Empowering People with Disabilities to Greater Heights". Debbie brought "Rocky" (a therapy dog) with her. They train dogs to serve people with mobile disabilities. The dogs are purchased or donated from breeders. There are four dogs who train well for this kind of service: Golden Retrievers, Labradors, Poodles and German Shepard's. They have a list of foster families that provide basic obedience training, potty training, good manners and socialization. Advanced Training takes six to nine months and the dogs can learn up to 60 commands. Placement is usually made when the dog is about two-years old and the dogs are specifically matched with the person. Twenty-seven dogs have graduated the program since 2002 and they currently have 20 people on the waiting list. The average wait is 2 to 3 years. It costs between $15,000 and $20,000 to train a service dog but the clients are not charged. Funding comes from individual donations, foundations and service groups. Summit Assistance Dogs is located at 7575 Chestnut Lane, Anacortes, 98221. Phone number is 360-393-5609 and website is www.summitdogs.org.
DRAWING: Jack Curnow had the lucky ticket but drew the five of clubs.
Editor this week: David Engels