Northwind 1/17/08

Whatcom CountyNorth Rotary

Northwind

January 17, 2008

Meeting to Order:  President Greg Thulin called the meeting to order at 12:30, and Rick Staeb gave the invocation.

Visiting Rotarians:  Ron Vekved (Mt Baker Rotary), Harte Bressler (BellinghamBay Rotary), Fred Sexton (Bellingham Rotary) and George Tsakumis (Vancouver Rotary).

Guests:  Tim Villhauer introduced his guests Frank Ellars and Ray George.  Addie Brown introduced her husband Kerry.  Sharon Robinson introduced her guest Bob Hagedorn.  Dick Nolan introduced his guest Gary Tice and Tim Carpenter introduced his wife Lynn. 

Birthdays:  Bill Grace celebrates his birthday on January 18^th.  Happy Birthday Bill!!

Returning Rotarians:  Pete Ruese returned from a trip to Dallas to see his kids.

Announcements: 

-     Paul Cooley announced the list of committee members for the upcoming Career Fair:  the list will be emailed separately or included in an upcoming Northwind.  Volunteers are needed for the day of the event.  More to follow.

-     Dick Donahue announced that next Thursday at 11:15 a.m. the Fundraising Committee will meet at Northwood Hall prior to the regular meeting.  Be thinking about a spring fundraiser.

Happy Bucks:  Scott Piper was very happy to announce that Lori Pobuta became a US Citizen.  Bill Grace celebrates his birthday tomorrow and he is happy about his new glasses.  Addie Brown is happy to have her husband join her here today.  Jack Curnow is celebrating his moms 85^th birthday.  Paul Cooley previously shaved off his mustache for $20 and is growing it back so he can do it again.  Tony Cubellis had $25 for Larry Pollett for something about a ticket.  Bob Bowman had happy bucks for today's speaker.  Julie Johansen had nine happy bucks to celebrate her 9^th wedding anniversary plus a recent trip to Guatemala.  Winton Smith had happy bucks for the great smell in Blaine that he suspects is coming from the chocolate factory.  Doug Thomas had happy bucks for his parent's upcoming 50^th wedding anniversary.  Sharon Robinson had happy bucks for the smell in Blaine but she thought it was coming from the sewage treatment plant.

Finemaster:  Max Legg was our exalted Finemaster today.  Max saw a bumper sticker, which said something about Monika Lewinski's ex-boyfriend's wife's birthday.  I didn't get any more than that.  Hardy (?) was fined for being the last one in.  Bob Bowman was fined for wearing "nice" shoes.  Tim Carpenter was fined for his guest speaker arriving before he did and another buck because his wife also arrived before him.  Paul Cooley was fined for shaving his back?  Josh Wilund for the Sonics game he didn't attend.  Dan Parsons for wearing a long sleeved shirt or short sleeved shirt - he was just fined for wearing a shirt!  Tim Villhauer was fined because his guest arrived before he did.  Rome Sarwas was fined for wearing a Green Bay Packers jersey last week.  Maureen McCarthy was fined because WTA's Lakeway Route is called the purple route and Doug Thomas, who is a cougar, lives on this route.  Finally, WSU fans were fined for the cougars being "stoned" twice?

Program:  Tim Carpenter introduces today's speaker, Gene Vickers.  Gene is a former RCMP and has received many civilian awards including Mr. Millennian.  He has been a Rotarian for 20-years, an Assistant Governor for 2-years and is a member of two clubs.  He is a facilitator at the PETS seminars and has been married for 32-years to his wife Heather.  Gene grew up in Cranberry, Canada where the road into town had a Welcome to Cranberry sign with a Do Not Enter sign right below it.  He has two passions - rotary and toastmasters.  He believes all 1.2 million Rotarians are supermen and superwomen.  The Four Way Test is important and if you live by what it says it will change your life.  He told a touching story about a precious rotary moment - the funeral of his father-in-law.  His father-in-law had filled the role of his father, after his father passed away when he was a young man.  Many Rotarians attended the funeral as a show of support and he now calls all Rotarians his friends.  He believes Rotarians make a difference in the lives of others.  Their biggest deficiency is complacency.  He does not respect RINO's - Rotarians in Name Only.  Some will be remembered because of the way they made others feel.  Rotary has changed Gene's life dramatically and he would like to leave us with five things:

1)  Don't ever underestimate the power of one.

2)  If we see someone in this club not holding up their end of the bargain don't cast them off.

3)  Rotary Foundation - contributions are important.

4)  Quietly making a difference - we need to become loud and proud.

5)  Rotary shares - share this experience with other people - put your "ask" in gear.

He wants to leave us with one final comment: the end of all battles is peace - keep doing what we do!

Banners: There were no banners today.