Past President Kelli Thode, filling in for our president, Kari Petrasek, started the 2nd meeting of the year and the 5,653rd meeting of the Rotary Club of Everett with the Pledge of Allegiance.

 

Michael Kvistad spoke about Martha Lellard who was the last known US polio survivor who still relied on an iron lung. She contracted Polio on June 8, 1953, after attending her 5^th birthday a week before at Joyland, an amusement park in Kansas. On June 17, 1953, she woke up with a sore throat and pain in her neck. She was diagnosed with polio and spent 6 months in the hospital when she was place in an iron lung to help her breathe. She chose to use the iron lung for the rest of her life, sleeping in it nightly. In a large part, due to Rotary’s work, Polio was nearly eradicated worldwide.

 

Mark Valentine played a wonderful Carole King song from her 1971 album Tapestry - You’ve Got a Friend. “You just call out my name…”

 

Steve Miller introduced Daniel Bosa who is a software consultant. This is his second visit. Ed Peterson introduced Kat Opina who is the new CEO of Housing Hope. This is her second visit. Henry Janicki introduced his daughter, Veda.

 

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Kelli Thoede announced a membership social coffee hour will be held on the 2^nd Wednesday of the month from 8:00AM to 9:00AM.

 

Michael Kvistad announced he has Seattle Mariners tickets to be auctioned off at the meeting next week. The game is the last of the regular season against the Los Angeles Angels September 27th. They are great seats Section 128 Row 30 seats 1 and 2. Go Mariners!

 

Tammy Dunn had birthday bucks and a shoutout to Kari Quaas for her help with World Cup Watch party.

 

Steve Miller had happy and sad dollars. His mother passed away. She was one month shy of 100 years old. He is happy because now he has a new angel to watch over him.

 

Ed Petersen was happy that past member, Todd Murrow, is the President of the Oak harbor club and their club plans to join forces with our club by donating $5,400 for the Literacy Project in the Dominican Republic. George Bowden, from the Arlington Rotary club, is also joining forces with a $3,000 donation to the Literacy Project in the Dominican Republic. Finally, Ed is happy Paul Stoot has written his memoirs about his experience on the trip to the Dominican Republic, and he encourages club members to read it.

 

Paul Stoot was happy the Rise Up Academy Celebrity Golf Classic is July 19^th and 20^th at the Mill Creek Country Club. Guests include Hall of Fame basketball player Gary Payton, Shawn Kemp and Hall of Fame football player Steve Largent. Chris Tucker will headline the Comedy Night Kickoff Event July 19^th at 5:00.

 

Jim Staniford was $500 happy for his 72^nd birthday, Silver Tips great season making it to the championship game and the sale of his building on the corner of Hewitt and Hoyt.

 

Jim Schrader a bell ringer happy to celebrate his one anniversary of retirement and has decided to sign on for another year.

 

RAFFLE: Michael Kvistad

There was a reminder to donate more prizes to the Raffle Committee.

 

Winner Number 1 – Andy Hall selected Malt beverages.

 

Winner Number 2 – Jim Schrader selected sparkling wine and chocolate.

 

Winner Number 3 – Steve Juntwait selected Wild Mountain chocolate and Lifted Co. incense.

*Note: All three winners are members of the Rotary Fishing Committee.

 

Kari Quaas introduced our speaker, Don Eernissee, from the City of Everett, Director of Economic Development. Don spoke about housing and the linear increase in population in the Puget Sound area. Due to adoption of the Growth Management Act, most of the population growth must come within the major urban areas to prevent urban sprawl. The demand for more housing has seen a large increase in multistory apartment buildings, townhomes and Accessory Dwelling Units (ADU) in Everett. There is a need for 36,000 new housing units in the next 10 years.

 

Dan also spoke about jobs in the City of Everett. Everett has a net increase in the number of people coming to work in Everett each day than the number leaving Everett for work. The population of Everett is around 114,000 people and there are around 95,000 jobs in Everett. Boeing is the largest employer in Everett, but the percentage of Boeing jobs compared to all jobs in Everett is at a new low of 17%. This means there is more diversification in jobs and less overall dependency on Boeing as in the past. High tech power manufacturing companies like Helion, Terra Power and Zap Energy have moved to Everett with higher paying employment.

 

The South Everett area near Boeing houses around 42,000 people who work more in the service sector than in manufacturing and Boeing. Nearly 67 percent of the population in this area rent instead of own homes. The rent paid in this area is similar to overall Everett rent but the prices of homes are significantly less than overall Everett.

 

The light rail is coming soon to this area with 4 new light rail stations and 2 to 3 billion dollars of investment in the light rail.

 

Downtown Everett continues to add more multistory apartments making the Everett Downtown busier. The City of Everett has invested in beautification and safety in the area, and it is helping to encourage more people to move there. Riverfront Boulevard near the Snohomish River has been a long-awaited addition after a massive cleanup effort with a new park and a pier onto the river coming in the near future.

 

The Everett Outdoor Event Center will host both Minor League Baseball and Soccer and is hoping to be completed in 2028 if all goes as planned. The program was very interesting and informative with several great questions from the membership.

 

NEXT PROGRAM: Katie Tormohlen from the American Cancer Society

 

Respectfully Submitted,

 

Photography Submitted,
Walt Greenwood