Northwind, April 12, 2012
MEETING TO ORDER: President Gary called the meeting to order at 12:30 and thanked Bill Grace for being the Greeter. Jim Blaney gave the invocation. Gary put our newest member, Alina Coonc on the spot to lead the Four Way Test, which she did wonderfully.
GUESTS: Randy Carr joined us, as Brian Finnegan’s guest. (No one else seemed willing to claim him.) It was great seeing Randy, although sad to contemplate the loss of the Mental Floss.
VISITING ROTARIANS: Frank Jarvis from the North Delta Club was visiting as well as giving the program.
RETURNING ROTARIANS: Tim Villhauer returned from his long-awaited trip to Hawaii. Long awaited because Pati (NOT Tim) won the trip at our last auction/raffle event.
NO BIRTHDAYS or ANNIVERSARIES
IMPORTANT DATES:
- 4/17/12 Board meeting. 4:00 pm, Metcalf Hodges Office.
- 4/28/12 Rotarian Work Day, for which we will be painting the Boys and Girls Club in Blaine.
- 5/5/12 Cinco de Mayo party,
- 5/19/12 at 10:00 am. Signups circulating. Meet at the Bob’s Burgers at the Birch Bay Mall. 10-12 people are needed.
- 6/28/12 Installation Dinner,
- 8/25/12 Running of the Ducks.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Gary said there is still a day or two if anyone has a nominee for RYLA.
Meals invoices for the April/May/June are out. Please pay promptly to avoid public humiliation.
Laurie is collecting Rotarian Magazines when we are done with them.
Now that Dale is back from recuperating in Mazatlan, Gary again recognized the great job that Dale Holt and the Career Fair team did in organizing and running the fair last week.
Norm discussed the Cinco De Mayo party, and circulated a sign up for the Chili contest, although it appears to already be rigged. He also said pre-paid tickets are available if anyone want to give some to friends.
SPECIAL EVENT: Ray George and Bill Grace formally inducted Alina Coonc to the club. Alina was born in Kazakhstan, formerly part of the USSR. She became a US citizen in 1997, at the age of 19, and has been a Bellingham resident since 2000, and is married to KC Coonc. In addition to her career as a banking manager at Whidbey Island Bank, she has served and continues to serve on numerous non-profit boards, including the Humane Society and the Whatcom Symphony Orchestra. She is owned by two Rhodesian Ridgbacks, whose names I missed. Welcome to the Alina, we’re happy to have you here!
HAPPY BUCKS: Many members were happy to welcome Alina to the club, and to see Randy visiting. Rollo enjoyed being a Youth Fair Judge with Ray. Brian was back from the McDonald’s University, he’s apparently going into the hamburger business. Tim V. was happy about his trip. Greg T was happy for a trip to the Bay Area with his son where they visited Stanford University. His son was doubtful about being able to attend such a prestigious institution, but Greg reassured him he could always be a janitor there. Way to build confidence Greg!
Tyler was happy that the Meridian Haggen’s will finally be remodeled. Max was happy for someone named Bubba winning the Masters Golf tournament. Scott Wallace was happy for a day off. What?? Aren’t they all, Scott? Rocky was happy that he is getting so healthy he can start to go off the blood pressure and cholesterol medications. Ken was unhappy about the small number of members at the meeting, but happy to welcome Alina and see Randy. Jim Sands was happy for a trip, and an anniversary. Laurie for her 45th anniversary,
Bill mentioned that Randy must really think of his boat as a hole in the water to throw money into, now. He also noted that the Whatcom In Bloom event will not be held this year, due to funding problems, so we can use the money raised by the bench sale for other uses. Randy was happy to have had a good trip to Mexico and glad to see the club again. He feels confident the Port will buy him a new boat. Dale was happy for a trip to Mexico, but noted that he started out the trip in the dog house with his daughter and wife for choosing a flea-bag park-n-ride hotel. He thinks it was call the Sea Tacky Inn. Ray is glad that he has RV hookups, power and water to his new property on the east side. He also was happy about the Youth Fair, and for 35 years of marriage. Alina was happy to be a new member.
FINEMASTER: Tim V. was fine master. Alina was fined for being prepared to be fined. Ray was fined for giving a long program, not using the microphone, not being able to read Alina’s biography, and just generally for being Ray. Jim Sands was fined for being early to next week’s meeting, and wearing short sleeves. Group fines were handed out for NOT buying a bench from Bill, NOT bringing back a banner, NOT being a CPA or financial advisor, NOT going to Hawaii in the past month, NOT participating in the career fair, and NOT being involved in the Yourth Fair.
BANNERS: The banners were from all the clubs of the Salish Sea, the not-so-common name for the body of water including Puget Sound, the Strait of Georgia and the Juan de Fuca Strait.
DRAWING: Laurie’s number was drawn, but she did not get the Ace.
PROGRAM: Our Program was Frank Jarvis from the North Delta Club. Frank is the District 5050 New Generations Chair. He discussed the importance of “New Generations” as the 5th Avenue of Service in Rotary. Because in North America, Rotarians in general are aging, it has become clear we need to make a special effort to reach out to the next generation of business leaders, and introduce them to the great work that Rotary does. RI recommends that every club have a NG chair, and get involved in NG projects on the district level as well as in our own club.
Some ways to work with youth include a mentorship program, a dictionary program, involving youth groups in our own projects, or sponsoring a club within one of the existing RI youth programs. Some options include:
- Interact – The name derives from “international” and “action.” These clubs are for youth ages 12 -18 an dare typically affiliated with a school, but can also be community based. The clubs are self-governing, and self-motivated, but Sponsored by a rotary club. A member of the sponsoring club attends every meeting. There are only about 7 of these clubs in our district, and most of them are on the Canadian side of the border.
- Rotaract – “Rotary” + “Action.” This program is for youth ages 18 – 30, and are typically affiliated with a college or university, and also sponsored by a club. There are over 7,000 of these clubs worldwide, but only about half a dozen in district 5050. They have been described as “like Rotary, but with better parties.” More than one Rotary club can come together to sponsor a Rotaract club.
- Rotary Youth Exchange is another district program, which involves youth ages 15-19 spending a year studying in each other’s countries. Typically the student enrolls in the local school, and lives with four different families for about 3 months each.
- A shorter-term exchange program, only about three months, is called the Rotary Overseas Student Exchange. The students are expected to pay for their own transportation to the host country, but all other expenses are covered by a local Rotary club.
- RYLA is a three-day leadership program that has been established in Rotary since 1982. In district 5050 the program is for ages 17 -25, takes place in May, and costs about $375 per student. Clubs that do not have a RYLA participant to send can sponsor an “Orphan” student who wants to attend but doesn’t have a sponsoring club.
- YAL is Youth Adventures in Leadership –a two-day program for younger students, sophomores and juniors in high school. It takes place in in February and costs about $275.
YES – Youth Experiencing Leadership is a program begun by Rotarians in the Burlington club. It is not an official Rotary program yet but they hope it will be soon. It involves high school students earning “credits” for doing service work in their communities. The “winner” with the most credits is sent on an international service trip. Beverly Harrington bev_harrington@msn.com is the director of this program.