Rotary Log – Meeting of August 25, 2015 (#5117)
Meeting # 9 of Presidente Wright was gaveled to order precisely on time at 12:08, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.
Thought for the Day was drawn from the Thought Box by Walt Greenwood in which we heard the true tale of a dentist with a unique manner of taking patient’s minds off their dental pain. The ADA is withholding adoption of this technique as a standard practice however.
Visiting Rotarians and Guests – introduced by Jim Staniford which included Olivia with mom Andrea Sekora, two Puget Sound Regional Council staff members with John Olson, and Dylan with dad Dale Newman.
Announcements:
* Board Meeting (8/27/15) 7:30 AM Bethany of the NW- 3rd Floor Chapel
*BBQ at Forest Park (9/13/15) from 10:00 – 5:00PM – Serve at 11:00,
* Wheeler’s Meeting (9/15/15) 11:00 AM at Boys & Girls Club
* Fireside at Bob Biel’s home – (9/15/15) 5-7 PM – 5717 88th St Mukilteo
Happy Bucks:
*Bill Dobler recently celebrated 58 years of matrimonial bliss with wife Bev, and celebrated with $100
*Steve Ellis won a close contest with Dale Newman in the weight loss sweepstakes
*Julie Herber had $50 to celebrate some back to school good dental news with her kids
*Greg Tisdel was pleased with the turnout on a recent Rotary event at Spada Lake, and shared some of the fascinating details about how the whole project was designed and built in the 1930s with slide rules and drawings. Watch for an upcoming tour of Paine Field.
Membership- PDG Lyle Ryan announced a new initiative to approach our declining membership issue by studying open classifications. Of note – the committee is looking for potential candidates – and wish to emphasize that the committee will decide who and how to best approach potential members. This process now needs just potential names.
*Chiropractic
*Elementary Education
*Funeral Administration.
Yes, folks. There was a time when our club had representatives of all three. AT ONCE! Can you name them???
Raffle Winners!
*Sonja Kraski won pickles and wine, Rich Toyer won free range red, and Will McMahon won wine and movie tickets. (Winnings included lots more stuff, however we don’t want any finks from the IRS to have evidence in case the above members do not fully report winnings.)
Program – PSRC – Puget Sound Regional Council. Executive Director, Josh Brown.
Well friends – if you missed this meeting you missed a good program. Introduced by PRRC Board Member Glen Bachman, Josh Brown gave us an overview of our part of the world and where we appear to be headed over the coming 25 years. Needless to say, the Puget Sound area has been growing at a rapid pace – and will continue to do so. Population topped 4 million last year – a number that is due to grow to 5 million by 2040. Unemployment is now down to 3.7% which is regarded as full employment. Good jobs with low unemployment – what could be wrong? Well we are all whining about transportation. But it is a good problem to have! Other parts of the country would LOVE to have our problem. (A robust economy resulting in too many people trying to get to work at the same time.)
Questions from members: Lyle Ryan asked about a bet he had with his wife PJ. Judi asked why construction during the summer couldn’t be coordinated. Gary Meissner asked what is the threshold for sales tax that voters will accept. Scott Forslund commented on the health impacts of a dysfunctional transportation system, Gail Larson asked why more emphasis wasn’t put on the mud slide problem that impacts the Sounder trains between Everett and Seattle. Marc Baker asked why there wasn’t better coordination between and among the regional transportation systems [A natural consequence of a universal desire to have local control.] Walt Greenwood asked about the willingness of folks in Eastern Washington paying for Western Washington transportation solutions. And OLIVIA asked the last and one of the best questions – What about pollution!
There are solutions out there – but they cost money. Duh. Question is whether voters will grasp this fundamental fact of life. We will be smart to make investments in our future to preserve a very enviable place to live. [Editorial Comment.]
