Northwind 3/27/08

Whatcom CountyNorth Rotary

Northwind

March 27, 2008

MEETING TO ORDER:  President Greg called the meeting to order at 12:35 and led us in the Pledge of Allegiance.  Winton Smith gave the invocation.

VISITING ROTARIANS:     Shannon Terrell from BellinghamBay Rotary Club and George Tsakumis from Vancouver.

GUESTS:  None

RETURNING ROTARIANS:  None, but it was noted by President Greg that Doug Thomas has been in attendance for three weeks running.

BIRTHDAYS:  Dick Langabeer, Julie Johansen and Winton Smith celebrate birthdays in March and April.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:        

1.  President Greg announced the Board Meeting will be next Thursday, April 10^th at 7:30 a.m. followed by the Rotary Foundation at 8:30 a.m.  He also announced the District Conference May 15 through May 18 in Everett.  Golf on Thursday and the Boeing Flight Museum on Friday.

2.  Career Choices at WhatcomCommunity College - March 28 - Paul Cooley has every category filled.  He also read the names of volunteers, which will help between 7:00 a.m. and Noon on Friday March 28th.

3.  Brian Finnegan updated us on the planned auction May 9.  Two key points:  (1): Everyone plan on attending and (2) Donate good items.  Think of all the fundraisers you've attended over the past year, and bring those people to our event.

4.  Bill Grace announced that the Antique Car Show will be held Sunday May 25^th at BoulevardPark.

5. Dick Donahue announced there will be a committee meeting after today's regular meeting on the Bay 2 Bay Bike Ride.  Also, Dick donated two sets of Mariner tickets for Gary Tomsic to raffle off.  Tickets for the April 1st game with the Rangers were bought by Jake Smith for $100 and tickets for the April 11^th game with the Angels were bought by Dan Baker for $100.

HAPPY BUCKS:  Bill Grace apologized to Max Legg because a relative was accepted into the Air Force Academy.  Jack Curnow for Max not bidding on the Mariner Tickets.  Doug Thomas for the Sweet 16.  Gary Tomsic for his Mother in Law going home yesterday.  Rome Sarwas for the Sweet 16.  Dick Donahue for his mother keeping his wife busy and because he will be near San Antonio if a certain basketball team makes the Sweet 16. 

FINEMASTER:   Tim Carpenter held a table competition where if you give a wrong answer everyone at the table pays a dollar.  1st question: name the four countries where polio is still endemic - correct answer is Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Nigeria.  Sharon Robinson at my table got three of the countries, but we all had to pay a buck.  2nd question: before Polio Plus began what was the average number of polio cases per day - choices were 50, 400 or 1,000.  A couple of tables guessed correctly at 1,000.  3rd question: after Polio Plus began what was the average number of polio cases per year - choices were 1,000, 2,500 or 5,000.  A couple of tables again guessed correctly at 1,000.  Anyone not volunteering for the career fair paid a buck.  Anyone who did not sign up on Brian Finnegan's list for the auction paid a buck.

BANNERS:    None today.

PROGRAM:   Dick Nolan introduced today's speaker, Brian Griffin.  Brian is a Bellingham native and self proclaimed historian who talked about the origins of BoulevardPark.  The land currently occupied by BoulevardPark was purchased in 1972 by Dutch Macbeth and Pete Zuanich.  Their original intent was to develop the property into apartment buildings.  They failed in that attempt in large part because zoning issues brought the transaction to the attention of a former Rotarian Bob Moles.  When the two developers ran into difficulty with the city planners, Bob stepped in and helped acquire the land with the help of former mayor Ken Hertz.  The park was finally established in 1980.  Brian then related many interesting stories he has come across during his research of land ownership in the Fairhaven area of Bellingham.  Anyone interested in knowing all the details should buy his book, which is on display at the back of the room.

DRAWING:   No winner again.