Northwind 4/6/06
I covered a lot of information in a short amount of time last week when I made the presentation on the new website. If you have any questions on how to access certain information or use some of the tools available on the new website to make your specific jobs easier please do not hesitate to contact me by email. To make this process even easier I have added my name as Website Administrator to the left hand side of the home page under the Directors heading.
Whatcom County North Rotary Club
North wind
April 6, 2006
Meeting To Order:
President Scott Piper called the meeting to order at 12:33pm and invited Stan Brunner to provide today's greeting in the language that has made Lynden famous. President Scott then led the club in the Pledge of Allegiance. Winton Smith gave the invocation for this beautiful spring day.
Visiting Rotarians:
Dan Baker introduced today's lone visiting Rotarian from the Bellingham Club, Jim "have I got a lock for you" Voss.
Guests of Rotarians:
Chris Brown was Tim Villhauer's guest. Chris is a former Rotarian and Club President of the North Whidbey Club.
Returning Rotarians:
Jim McKeller is back in the fold after spending the winter months down south, as was Merwyn Murk.
Birthdays:
Since no one else had a birthday this week, we continued to recognize Winton Smith for his special day of 4/1.
Rotary Foundation Minute:
Adam Finfer gave us some very good information on how the Foundation provides matching grants for Literacy project that many club worldwide have participated in.
Announcements:
President Scott began the announcements by auctioning off 4 tickets to this evening's Mariner game (Mariners 6, Athletics 2) to the high bidder, Doug "I just got back" Thomas for $60. Dick Donahue donated the tickets and the proceeds went to the Dick Metcalf Teen Center Project.
President Scott also announced that 5 members of our club could attend this weekend's District Assembly in B.C. at no charge since our club was paying the registration fees. Those interested were to see Scott.
President Scott continued with praise for the unlikely team of Poncho and Lefty better known as Paul Cooley and Greg Iwaski for the great job they did with this year's Career Fair.
Maureen reminded the club of the April 15th Fun Run and Walk at Bloedel Donavan Park and that she still needed volunteers to help with race day registration, course monitors and body retrieval at our club's fund raiser for Blue Skies for Children. See Maureen if you can help out.
Lex Ludke announced a Fund Raising Committee meeting following our regular meeting on 4/13.
Phil "no I am not a" Bratt announced a Youth Service Awards Meeting also next week following our regular meeting.
Happy Bucks:
Marlene was $27 happy about being a child bride some 27 years ago. Tony was happy to have our Assistant District Governor Bob Morse with us today and also that Randy Carr's profession was able to do such remarkable work these days. Murk was $5 happy to be back with his buddies. Dick Donahue was $5 happy about a working/playing vacation in Puerto Rico. Jake contributed $5 of happiness for the improving health of the young Finkbonner boy. Timmy V. was $3 happy about his recent eye surgery. Bill Grace was a few bucks happy about springtime being here and the success of the recent Career Fair. The huge happiness of the day was Dan Baker's $1000 towards the Dick Metcalf Teen Center Project. Jim McKeller was $4 happy to be back up north but sad to leave his small wintertime club in California. Dan Parsons was happy to be one quarter Japanese on his father in law's side of the family. The club's Ethnicity Committee is still trying to determine what the heck Dan meant by his happy bucks.
Fine Master:
Max "ahoy matey" Legg was today's eloquent fine master. All non-participating members in the Career Fair were dinged a dollar. If you didn't have your tax return completed thus far, you paid a dollar. If you drive an SUV or play golf you were taxed a dollar for the recent drive by incident in Atlanta during Master's week. Adam Finfer was fined a buck for not wearing his reading glasses when he was reading the foundation minute. Addie Brown was nicked a buck for not having been seen lately by Max.
Program:
Today was presented by one of the hardest working Rotarians of our Club, Dave Engels who has put many hours into getting the Whatcom County North's web page up and running. The Website address is: www.wcnrotary.org
You might just go there before you read this program description so you will know what sections of the page Dave is talking about. Once you are at the web page, click it as one of your favorites for easy access.
The format of the page is similar to other rotary club websites that have used an organization called Club Runner to set up their websites. It provides clubs with easy creation of their website along with consistency with other rotary clubs.
The first section you'll want to check out are the Tabs along the top of the page. These include the Home, Forums, Stories, News, Events, Speakers, Login, About and Help. Click on any of these and see where it takes you. Under Stories you will find the entire Rotary Northwinds for our club including other items.
The next section is the Links along the left side of the page. Clink on any of these and see where they take you. You'll find Rotary Links, Club Links and Site Page Links.
Here are a couple for you to try: E-Makeups for doing a make up on line without having to get out of your pajamas. Under Club Links go to the Committee Link and check out what committees you may be on that you were unaware of.
The next section to check out is the Downloads on the bottom right hand side of the page. Everything you could possible want to download about our district is right there at your fingertips. You can print the registration form for this year's District Conference simply by clicking on the District Conference Registration Form button.
Other sections to look for are the icons right below the Rotary logo at the top of the page. Map, Duty Roster, View Club Bulletin and District Site. The Duty Roster can keep all of us informed each week of responsibilities such as Sergeant of Arms, Invocation, Fine Master and so much more.
Along the right hand side we can also list upcoming programs so you don't miss one of your favorite program topics.
As Dave Engels says, this website is a constant work in progress. Email Dave any changes or updates you believe are necessary at: or simply click on when you are on the website. If you would like to help maintain a small section of the website, please let Dave know. He sure could use the help. This website can be a very valuable tool but it will only be as good as the input that Dave receives. Next time you see Dave, give him a nice pat on the back for a job well done. And it is only going to get better, especially with your help.
Drawing: Lynn Seely drew the 6 of diamonds.
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