After being greeted at the door by Ed Petersen and Shelley Smith, THE ROTARY CLUB OF EVERETT meeting on August 29, 2017, was called to order at 12:05 p.m. by President Will McMahan, who probably wished he was in Texas as a Red Cross volunteer.

 

The Thought of the Day was presided over by Judge Marybeth Dingledy, who talked about giving and helping others, which certainly has been emphasized by the citizens of Texas rising to the occasion and helping each other.

 

Introduction of Guests:  There were no visiting Rotarians for Ed Petersen to introduce.  Roy Yates introduced CPA Brian Evans; Judge Dingledy introduced Jason Greenfield; Gary Meisner introduced his grandson, Matthew; Ron Thompson introduced Michelle Schroeder; and Sean George introduced Karen Olson.

 

Announcements:

 

1.         Lyle Ryan asked the membership to recruit new members and was particularly looking for someone to fill the classification of steamship management last filled in 1921.  He also would like to have the Club find as a member a funeral director, who I think would be a great addition and might provide probate referrals to the member of the Club whose classification is probate law.

2.         Judge Janice Ellis introduced Claire, our new exchange student from Taiwan.  Courtney Hooks, our returning exchange student, was also with Judge Ellis.

3.         Sean George was pitching the Happy Hour Social on September 14 at Blue Water Distillery from 5-7 p.m.

4.         Joe Gaffney asked members to sign up for the fellowship event at the Bridgeways Manufacturing Plant on September 18, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

5.         Dave Schlosser announced that once again EBM would be holding an open house this year on September 21 from 4-7 p.m. and would again contribute to the Club's Foundation $10 for each member who attends the open house.

6.         President Will asked for participants in the Rotary Leadership Institute to be held in Mount Vernon on September 23 from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.

 

New Member:  Ed Petersen introduced new member, Suzanne Britsch, whose classification is business owner retired.  We look forward to meeting Suzanne, who owned several businesses in the real estate field.

 

Happy Dollars/Birthday Bucks/Raffle:  Parker Crompton contributed $100 for her birthday and an anniversary.  Steve Miller contributed $100; I did not hear why he was making the contribution, but I suspect it was because he had gone a whole week without being injured.  Howie Bargreen contributed $100 in honor of Ed Taylor.  Paul Stoot was happy that both his mother and sister, who live in suburban Houston, were safe and their houses were not flooded.  Tammy Dunn contributed to publicize the Snohomish County Hall of Fame Banquet.  Gail Larson was happy that Costco was collecting contributions to help the victims of Harvey.  Barbara George was happy that her daughter and three grandsons had visited her and that one grandson had been inducted into the Youth Hall of Fame, his claim to fame being that he took a pitch to the forehead.  Fred Safstrom was happy that his cousin, Jason Greenhill, was attending the meeting and that his wife's cancer was localized allowing surgery.  Marc Baker contributed sad dollars to announce the death of long-time teacher and coach, Paul Lawrence.  Judge Janice Ellis announced that you could participate in a friendship exchange in Thailand.  President Will interrupted the Judge, which, from a lawyer's standpoint is not a good idea, to accuse the Judge of being guilty of distracted driving.  Judge Ellis started to defend herself, but was interrupted by Captain Lineberry who told her not to say anything.  This is not surprising, since most police officers think they are attorneys.  Janice, like most judges, didn't follow the argument of the alleged attorney and proceeded to testify that the text which was sent while she was driving was in fact sent by Courtney Hooks.  Judge Bowden, who had been having a bad day on the bench, asked for a round of applause, which obviously made him feel much better.  Allison Warren-Barbour, the new President and Chief Executive Officer of the United Way of Snohomish County, was also happy.  Bruce Timm was unhappy that the New York Life conference in Austin, Texas, had been cancelled, but was happy the Company was contributing all the food that had been ordered to help the victims of Harvey.

 

Raffle:  The winners of the raffle were CPA Brian Evans, Tom Rainville, who had stolen Mark Nesse's tickets, and Judge Bowden.

Program:  The speaker for the day was Dan Stearns, the Outreach Director for Camp Korey, which recently purchased a 200-acre farm in Skagit County after operating in Carnation for several years.  The mission of Camp Korey is to honor the courage, strength and determination of children and their families living with life-altering medical conditions by providing them with a transformational experience in a fun, safe camp environment, with specialized medical support.  In 2012 Camp Korey became an official member of SeriousFun Children's Network, which was founded by Paul Newman, who, for you younger members, not only has his name on food products but in his day also was a wonderful movie actor.  Not only does the camp provide a wonderful camp environment for children with serious medical problems, but it also provides time off for their families from providing difficult day-to-day care.  The camp is staffed with counselors, nurses and health care providers to provide a safe environment for the participants.  The kids are nervous at first, but many times end up participating in activities that they never before had had the opportunity to enjoy.  In addition to the camp, Camp Korey also has family weekends and provides activities for the young patients in hospitals in both Seattle and Portland.  Mr. Stearns ended his presentation by stating that the camp was always looking for volunteers, particularly since they are in the process of remodeling and updating the facilities in the new location in Skagit County.  Since there is no fee for the young people to participate in the camp, Camp Korey is, of course, always looking for contributions.  After questions to Mr. Stearns from Judi Edwards and Lyle Ryan, Judge Ellis indicated that she is familiar with the camp and that it was a wonderful program.

 

President Will ended the meeting by thanking Mr. Stearns, the many Happy Dollar donors and the guests.  And that's the way it was at the meeting on Tuesday, August 29, 2017.