Northwind September 1, 2011
WHATCOM COUNTY NORTH ROTARY CLUB
NORTHWIND
MEETING TO ORDER: President called the meeting to order at 12:36 p.pm. The invocation was provided by Rick Staeb. Dan Parsons led us in the recitation of the 4-Way Test of the things we think, say and do.
GUESTS: Sadly, none with the exception of our distinguished speaker.
VISITING ROTARIANS: George Tsakumis of the Vancouver, B.C. Rotary Club; and Wayne Langei of the Bellingham, WA Club.
RETURNING ROTARIANS: Jim Blaney returned from a visit to the land of his youth.
BIRTHDAYS: Nancy Tieman, whose age was announced as 29 (BOO!).
ANNOUNCEMENTS: Maureen announced that the so-far unnamed committee on appropriate discourse would be meeting for the first time on Tuesday, September 13th, at New York Pizza. Several people have volunteered to work on the committee, and everyone is welcome. Please RSVP to Maureen so we can reserve an appropriately sized table.
President Gary passed around an attendance summary for July and August for the members’ perusal.
T-Shirts imprinted with the WCN logo are available at the upcoming meetings for the modest price of ten dollars.
The District 5050 picnic will be held September 17th at Peace Arch Park, commencing at 10:00 a.m. Bring a side dish or $5?
The Rotary Leadership Institute is kicking off again, with sessions at level 1, 2 and 3 to be held in Mt. Vernon on September 24, 2011. For those who have finished those seminars, there will be a graduate class to be held November 19th.
Each month of the year has a Rotary theme. September’s theme is New Generations, the newest avenue of service. October is Vocational Service Month. President Gary would like the Program Committee to present a themed program each month.
HAPPY BUCKS: Greg for getting rid of his kids with the start of school; Brian for his little princess bedroom project (what about the Princes?); Marlene for a new representative of the third generation; Maureen for September, her favorite month; Bill for 44 years of marriage and blood donation; Julie, with an update on Char Hart; Rome for trying to compete with purse seiners; Dick gave a large number for two major life events; his health scare which had a happy ending, and days of sunshine in Hawaii; Laurie, commiserating about a friend in Marlboro, Vermont whose bed and breakfast business was hampered by the lack of power and washed out roads; Rick for using his auction item, Marlene’s guest house on Lummi Island; and lastly, but by no means leastly, Stan for his and Margaret’s 68th wedding anniversary.
FINEMASTER: Maureen had the nasty task, but seemed to revel. The fines were limited by something called the McCarthy Option. The Old Guys’ (BOO!) table for a wardrobe redundancy, spoiled by latecomers; Marlene for wearing a turtleneck; Rome for shorts (can we get some consistency here?); Those who had never done the Northwind; Scott for advertising his retirement; Anyone who is not a bright, tall, talented woman whose birthday is September 10th; Tim V. for something I missed, but am sure was positively innocuous and undeserved; Randy for not remembering Derek’s daughter’s name (correctly recalled by Marlene (not fair – that a female thing); those with an attendance record worse than George T.’s (at our club); Ray for misnaming the east coast hurricane “Glorene” instead of Irene (Ray: you better hide this edition from your wife).
BANNERS: From clubs effected by Irene.
PROGRAM: Bob Jacobson is Volunteers Coordinator for Whatcom County, after an Air Force career and a stint with the National Weather Service. Bob described the significant damage from the modest 5.8 earthquake on the east coast, and what would happen with a larger scale earthquake, like those likely to hit our area.
Bob focused on the northwest, noting that we are not immune to any weather pattern other than hurricanes: Typhoon residue from the western Pacific; flooding; winter storms; tornados; landslides; earthquakes; wildfires; volcanoes; not to mention hazardous materials.
The northwest suffered a 9.0 earthquake in (the year) 1700. These things come in three to five century cycles, so we are potentially on the cusp of another such event. Such an event would cause a twenty foot tsunami (it they named tsunamis like they do hurricanes, perhaps one day we could have a Tsunami Tsakumis) and a fifteen foot tidal surge in Bellingham Bay.
Mt. Baker has been expected to erupt for the last thirty-five years, extruding lava that would melt all the snow, and cause flooding, most prominently in Skagit County where all the bridges would be washed out.
Bob emphasized knowledge and preparation, including having an emergency plan for your family and an emergency kit with the proper essentials.
Whatcom County has an extensive volunteer program for emergency responders. If you are interested in participating and learning more, there will be a volunteer training and introduction seminar at the St. Joseph Health Education Building on September 19th, from 1:00 until 3:00, and repeated at 6:30 to 8:30. Federal, state and local representatives will be putting on the program. Thanks for cheering us up, Bob.
THOUGHT TO PONDER: “You don’t know what you don’t know.” (Courtesy - Taylor Swift)
HUH!: Guy is walking through an airport and sees a guy carrying a long, thin, round package. So he goes up to him and asks: “Are you a pole vaulter?” The guy replies: “No, I’m German, but how did you know my first name?”
DRAWING: Nope.
Scribe this week: Tim Carpenter.