April 20th Meeting Notes

Guests were Gordy and Sharon's  son Kyle (from Rotary Columbia Tri-Cities) and his wife Melissa.

Melissa Cates is still considered a guest, Ray Green came from morning club and Tracey’s husband Brad also joined us.

Happy Thoughts included many on the success (and hard work) of the car wash on Saturday. George gave a $20 donation to the car wash for each time he drove by, he informed the Club that his mom had taken a fall and will be in surgery on Friday. She is doing OK right now.

Both Jerry and Ashley talked of their visit with family and 7 month old grandchild. Gordy simply said something about cherry pie; Lyn told us she is becoming self-sufficient and even found time to work on her Jeep; Melissa and Delling went on a whale watching cruise and survived the rouge waves from a passing cruise ship; Hank said he is recovering well from an out-patient surgery and thanked the club for the flowers; Clyde announced he took his math group from the school to the state competition and brought home a Best in State award plus others; Chet reminded us that 6 of the 7 dwarfs were not Happy.

Announcements.

Ashley reported that the Car Wash raised $732 on washing cars and $115 on hot dog sales.

Gordy suggested perhaps a monthly car wash during the summer months.

Tracey offered to pay Rotary for deliveries done for Mother’s Day flowers by members and got sign-ups.

Doug reminded us all that next Monday is at Enso House, be ready to do yard work and some will do repairs to the greenhouse floor and a bathroom sink.

Our special guest was Cary Peterson, our recipient for the honorary Paul Harris Award for “Service Above Self” for 2015. Cary is an outstanding community member who was the driving force behind the Good Cheer Community Gardens to offer healthy foods to those who need it and now at the South Whidbey Schools, providing fresh food for the cafeteria and education for the students. She is also a member of the Langley Cemetery Board and active in the affordable housing efforts on South Whidbey. Cary thanked the Rotary Club for the recognition, saying it was very meaningful to get an award for community service from an organization whose main purpose is community service and exemplifies that.

Gabrielle Shearer gave her classification talk, telling us of the influence of her ancestry, starting with Grandmother Connie and Grandfather Harry, who met because Connie began correspondence with Harry as a fan of his writing. Harry kept the correspondence going for years before meeting Connie when she and family returned to Wisconsin (where she had moved from and he still lived) for a visit. They married and moved to Idaho, where her family had previously moved to in 1914.

They had four children before Harry took his life, and Connie raised them on her own in Bonners Ferry, Idaho. Gabrielle talks of her grandmother and the influence she had on the family, and how important culture was to them. One strong influence was from writer James Thurber. Another important part of growing up was the interaction with local Native Americans, and accepting them as equals.

Gabrielle’s mother was both a classical and blues guitarist, her Uncle Ken was also a blues guitarist but was also CIA. The two were often at odds, and Gabrielle referred to her mom as a “hard ass”. Unfortunately her mother died of cancer, only 3 weeks after being diagnosed. It caused Gabrielle to take stock of what is really important. She had attended grad school, she got married, had three children. She decided upon free lance technical writing as her focal work.

When Gabrielle’s marriage came apart she needed to find a place to call home, and chose Greenbank. Whidbey Island had not been one of the options she ever considered, but she was drawn here. She loves the community, the sense of family and the will stay. She recently purchased a home in Greenbank. What a great experience to learn so many interesting things about one of our fellow Rotarians.

The Meeting ended with Jane’s words of the day: Never miss a good opportunity to shut up.