President John Olson rang the bell at 12:00, calling to order meeting #5391 of the Rotary Club of Everett, our 38^th virtual meeting.

 

He then led the club in the Pledge of Allegiance.

 

Laura Zorick presented the Thought of the Day, reflecting on Earth day, Easter and the renewal that the season brings.

 

There were no visiting Rotarians. Rich Toyer would later introduce his wife, Karen Shearer, when she joined the meeting.

 

President John asked club members for some patience as the club deals with replacing Theresa Frothingham. If anyone knows of someone who might be a good fit for the position, let John know.

 

 

Kelly Shepherd read thank you notes from The Everett Schools Foundation and Cascade High School CTSA program.

 

Kari Petrasek announced the next Rotary Virtual Happy Hour – Thursday, April 8^th at 5:30pm.

 

President John mentioned that he is researching the possibility of a hybrid meeting in the future, with both in person and virtual attendees. He also stated the board had approved three membership applications.

 

Betsy Baker-Bold gave the club an update on RYLA. This year the meetings will be conducted online via Zoom June 19-20 and June 26-27 from 10:00am-4:00pm. They will be free to attend. Registration is open. More information is available on the District 5050 website.

 

Garth Fell announced that Rotary International has cancelled its youth exchanges this year.

 

President John announced the board’s approval of the Dajabon garden projects. He was also checking into whether the Rotary Park cleanup will be possible this year.

 

 

Kari Petrasek led off with $50 birthday/baseball bucks!

 

Laura Zorick had $40 birthday bucks, April fool’s Day.

 

Tammy Dunn had $100, for hosting of the first sporting event since March 2020  

 

Ed Peterson was $5 happy that Laura Zorick’s favorite day is April fool’s Day!

 

Rich Toyer said HI to his wife who had just joined the meeting. 

 

President John had a few more announcements. The district golf outing will be held in September. John will get information out to club members about district training.

 

Laura Zorick stated that the City of Everett may allow the cleanup at Rotary Park.  She also mentioned the planting of trees at the Food Forest at Woods Creek, and delivering pollination kits to the Everett Library.

 

Fred Safstrom had some sympathy dollars for program chair, Sean Kelly, understanding how difficult I can be when the program speaker fails to show up.

 

 

PP Ed Petersen did a fantastic job with an impromptu program, updating the club with the progress of the Dajabon garden projects. Ed stated that the funds for the project are now in the bank account in Dajabon. They are now in the process of recruiting farmers in the area to become entrepreneurs by producing vegetables. The program will target nine villages with 60 separate gardens. Irrigation systems and sunblock nets will be utilized. A 50% sunblock net appears to be the ideal level needed for the gardens.

 

Ed mentioned three partners involved in the project: Central de Madres, Banfondesa (the local bank, I believe), and Infotep.

 

Many of the farmers will grow many different types of vegetables, while others will specialize in certain types of vegetables. Many Haitians cross the border to the Dominican Republic to buy the vegetables. The program will also target selling the produce to supermarkets and restaurants. Other markets will include creating a value added product, such as relish, etc. Two of the villages involved in the program are looking to also form a co-op type of operation.

Ed and George Bowden will be in Dajabon in April, meeting with the various partners involved with the program. They will also explore the idea of bringing in the local Ministry of Agriculture as another partner in the project. The money in the local bank account will serve as security to cover any loan delinquencies or defaults.

 

Ed stated that the South Everett/Mukilteo, Port Gardener, and Lake Stevens Rotary were all partner Rotary Clubs in the project.

 

Ed then asked Greg Lineberry if he had anything to add. Greg stated that Ed did a great job in covering the subject and added that it is a great project. Ed then entertained questions from the membership.

 

President John thanked Ed for the impromptu presentation. He stated that next week’s program would be Mood Management/Mood Control: Maintaining Optimism & Positivity, presented by Dan Haygeman. He then adjourned the meeting.

 

Meeting adjourned.

 

Respectfully submitted by

 

Photographs by

 

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