Northwind, April 21, 2011

MEETING TO ORDER: Marlene called the meeting to order at 12:30 and led us in the Pledge of Allegiance. Sharon gave the invocation.
 
VISITING ROTARIANS: Hillary Baumstarck - Gig Harbor
 
GUESTS: Sheriff Bill Elfo introduced by Scott Wallace
 
BIRTHDAYS & ANNIVERSARIES:  None noted.
 
RETURNING ROTARIANS: Tim Carpenter, and he presented a number of banners from other Rotary Clubs he attended while away.
 
ANNOUNCMENTS: (1) Marlene will be attending the Rotary District Conference on Saturday, May 7^th. (2) Gary Tomsic reminded everyone to email him back for the Club Retreat Assembly on April 28^th. Sue Sharpe will be facilitating the assembly. (3) Greg Iwasaki - May 19^th will be the Youth Service Awards meeting. He asked for 9 table captains and appeared to have them filled. Check with Greg. (4) The Hugh Bruce Leadership Conference position was filled with the Ferndale High School student, Mattie Genger. (5) Dan Baker has extended his leave of absence as the job he's on is on out of the area is not yet complete. (6) Laurie - District 5050 is looking for Group Study Exchange participants for the 2012 year. Candidates must be between 25 and 40, must have at least 4 years of work experience and cannot be related to a Rotarian.
 
HAPPY BUCKS:   Bill Grace - $1 - Attended memorial for Susie's father; Ken R was happy for his knee replacement; Tim Carpenter was $25 happy for 25 years in Rotary. Gary Snyder was happy for turning 70. Good for you Gary. Dick Donahue was happy for Tim's return; Jake was happy for being the oldest practicing lawyer in Whatcom County; Mel Hollinger was happy for Tim C's return, and for be able to sit with Sheriff Bill Elfo; Scott Wallace told us of his sister who is out of the hospital after having received treatment for throat cancer - good luck to your sister, Scott, and our prayers are with her; Nancy T was glad to be back from working out of the area so long; Norm was $5 happy for being able to stock goods in Haggen stores, and then went on to praise Paul and Tyler who were sitting with him; Ray was happy for the Mariners win, but relayed his familial experience for not properly making notification of being out of the Bellingham area; Julie was $12 happy for the end of tax season, $1 for Las Vegas, and $2 happy for other miscellaneous items; Marlene was happy because her Thursday after the Rotary meeting essentially starts her weekends.
 
FINEMASTER: Max Legg was today's finemaster. Hillary Baumstarck was fined for greeting the finemaster and remarking how awful he looked today. Ray was fined for his Mariner baseball game trip. Tim C was fined for his haircut. Greg Iwasaki was fined for all of the activity in the electronics industry that must be a boon to his business. Jake and Rome for fined for appearing to be taking over the George Tsakumis table since attendance at the old rowdy table has dwindled. Paul and Tyler were fined for sitting together conducting a Haggen board meeting. Paul was additionally fined for speaking too softly in leading the four way Rotary test recitals. Norm was fined for appearing to say something amiss to Paul and Tyler. Dick Donahue was fined for fouling up on some Mariner tickets raffled off.  
 
BANNERS: The banners celebrated National Parks Week. Entrance to all National Parks was free this last week. The banners today were intended to indicate some of the parks. 12 parks were specifically called out. Because so many parks are located in isolated areas, there are no Rotary Clubs within many miles. Pairs of banners were displayed to try and bracket a park where there are no on-site or abutting clubs. Nice job again Stan!!!
 
PROGRAM: Sharon Robinson and Rick Staeb of our own club tackled the tough job of "Shedding a Little Light on Rotary's Organizational Structure and Funding." They developed a great PowerPoint presentation, and club members really appreciated all of their efforts in researching this and putting it together in an understandable way. Here are a few highlights of their wonderful presentation. From the bottom up, the overall Rotary organization consists of clubs, districts and then Rotary International. Whatcom County North is a club and it also has a tax classified foundation to make charitable contributions deductible. Funds are spent on community projects, international projects and regular club events. Funds are raised through auctions, member donations, raffles, matching grants and other fundraising activities. It was intriguing to hear of how a $1 donation can be leveraged up into a $7 total match. If a member contributes $1 towards a qualified project, the club matches $1. Then the District matches $2. Rotary International matches the District contribution for another $2. RI also matches $.50 for each dollar given by the club and by the District. ($1 member, $1 club, $2 District, $2 RI to match District, $.50 RI to match the club, and $.50 RI to match the District) Each District also has its own "Share" program. Rotary International has its Annual Fund and its Permanent Fund. From time to time it will set up emergency funds such as the current one for the disaster in Japan. There was much, much more presented by Sharon and Rick. For more information, it's best to call RI employees in Illinois. In the end to get matching funds, there needs to be a champion to move a grant request through the system. Again, great job Sharon and Rick.
 
DRAWING: Tyler got the draw but pulled the losing card.