Whatcom County North Rotary
Northwind
August 2, 2007
MEETING TO ORDER: President Greg called the meeting to order at 12:30 and Tim Carpenter gave the invocation.
VISITING ROTARIANS: Jerry Landcastle introduced the visiting Rotarians. We welcomed Chuck Standen from Spokane. From Bellingham Bay, we welcomed Stephanie Sadler and from Bellingham, we welcomed John Moles and Fred Sexton.
GUESTS: Tim Villhauer introduced his guest and intern, Taylor Wade. Jim Bliss introduced his grandsons, Wilson and Corbin Proxell.
BIRTHDAYS: Tim Villhauer celebrates his birthday on August 7th and Jim Bliss celebrates his on August 8th. Suzy also celebrated her birthday. Happy Birthday to all!
RETURNIGN ROTARIANS: Doug Thomas returned from a business trip to Washington D.C. where he did NOT get to play golf. Tim Villhauer returned from 2 weeks in Scotland where he also did not play golf despite going to St. Andrews. Mel Hollinger returned from White Rock where he joined an overflow crowd of Rotarians to welcome the District Governor, John Bosch and his wife, Maxine. Mary Kanikeberg returned from the Grand Canyon and reported, after studying such, that there are over 1,000 ways to die at the Grand Canyon. We are happy to report she was able to avoid all of them. Welcome back to all the returning Rotarians.
ANNOUNCEMENTS: Lex Ludtke announced that he needs volunteers on Saturday morning to meet at Value Village to help unload the Rummage Sale extras. By the time you read this we can only hope he succeeded in finding those volunteers. Mel Hollinger announced that the District Governor (John Bosch) will be here on August 16th and we are hoping for a big turnout of members and spouses to welcome John and his wife Maxine. Mel states that the reception for the Bosches in White Rock was a great event and we should set our sights on repeating the warm welcome. Apparently, the Canadians had a big turnout AND the men were in suits and ties! Be sure to attend on August 16th to welcome John and Maxine Bosch. Randy Carr reports a huge ground-swell of interest in participating at Golf-fun on Aug. 17th and registration is at 11:30 (shortly after Randy enjoys his breakfast) and the golfing begins at 1:00. The deadline for registering is August 10th. Bill Grace is updating the roster so any corrections or additions need to go to him ASAP. Greg Thulin announced the Board Meting will be at 7:30 am at Zervas Bldg. (209 Prospect ST.) on August 9th. New members may attend to complete their checklist. Rick Staeb needs one more volunteer for the Tour de Whatcom. This is a 4 ½ hour commitment and proceeds go to the Ferndale Boys and Girls Club. Call Rick for details.
HAPPY BUCKS: Phil Bratt gave Happy $ for his 2 week trip to Southern California where he married off his son. He also went to the Queen Charlotte Islands where he caught his limit of salmon. Mary Kanikeberg gave $ to thank the members who worked the Rummage Sale and Auction and she was grateful for a job well done. Bill Grace had happy $ for his niece and nephew who are building a house. Rick Staeb gave happy $ for a clean bill of health after having skin cancer and is also very glad that his wife, Deb is coming back from a trip as he is tired of cooking for himself and particularly tired of cleaning the cat box. Rome Sarwas had happy $ for Dick Donahue donating Mariner tickets. Rome was able to take his grandson and enjoy a very exciting game. Tim Villhauer had $20 for his trip to Scotland and some guilty $ for missing the Rummage Sale. Max Legg had happy $ for the Mariner's game he attended where they enjoyed a sunny day and a WIN! Lynn Seelye was $5 happy for a kindness he witnessed at the auction. It seems there was a little boy bidding on a remote controlled speed boat he had his heart set on. Unfortunately, the boy only had $9 to spend and the bidding soon escalated. The little boy looked heartbroken until one of our members bid $100 (to guarantee a win) and when the auction was over, our member handed the speed boat over to the boy. Lynn reports being as moved by the incredible gesture as the little boy was. Jim Bliss gave $5 for having his grandsons with him and he gave $5 more from his daughter who won the high stakes at last week's meeting and wanted to give something back. (Good people are everywhere!) Dan Parsons had happy $ for all the running that he and the "Big Guy", (Randy Carr) have been doing the last 4 months. Jim McKellar had happy $ as he has had all kinds of work done by Dr. Dover and since he is doing well, he does not have to go back to the Dr. until next month. Jim also reiterated that Mary Kanikeberg did indeed like the Orbison concert a few weeks ago and that she can bust a move! Winton Smith had happy $ for the lost Lynden teen who returned to safety after being lost in the woods for a couple of days. Bob Bowman had happy $ for Jim Bliss's birthday and would give more if he knew how old he is. Jim is not telling, but Stan Brunner reports that Jim's age can be found out as Stan's sister had Jim in her English class many years ago. When told that Jim was in Stan's club, she was surprised and remarked that she thought he would be in prison. (Editor's note: English teachers can be so skeptical.) Others remarked that it will still be hard to tell Jim's age as he was "held back" in school about 5 years. And last but not least, Doug Thomas had happy $ for his daughter's good grades and reports that she takes after his wife who is finishing her college degree and is Phi Beta Kappa.
FINEMASTER: Phil Bratt was the finemaster today and began with a fine for Max Legg (chair of the Fine master committee). Seems Phil was not given any notice that he would be at the podium today. Jim Bliss was fined because he is getting too much attention for his birthday. Tim Carpenter was fined for his "lawyer like" invocation. Randy Carr was fined because he has breakfast at 11:00 and he didn't know the true schedule for Golf-fun. Anyone who didn't know that the lost teen was from Lynden was fined. Mary Kanikeberg fined because Roger Lehnert was not there. (She suspects he was on a golf course somewhere.) Dan Parsons was fined because he "spilled" something on his shirt. (It was the U-Dub logo). Anyone who had not been fishing in the Queen Charlottes' was fined. Lex Ludtke was fined because he is so tall and blocked Phil's WHOLE view of the flag during the salute. Tim Villhauer was fined because he has the same birthday as Phil's wife. Maureen McCarthy was fined because in comparison to California's transportation system (12 lane freeways), Whatcom County's looks pitiful. Because Pete Kremen probably is responsible as well, he was fined, too.
BANNERS: Either the banners represented a white rabbit in a snow storm or there weren't any this week.
PROGRAM: No program today, but Tim Carpenter gave thanks to all who worked on the Rummage Sale. You should have received a separate mailing covering the material discussed.
DRAWING: The ace was not drawn and the pot grows.
Edited by: Marlene Sexton