President John began his 27^th virtual meeting and our 5,380^th meeting of the Rotary Club of Everett.

President John delivered a heartfelt Pledge of Allegiance.

 

 

Anna Marie Laurence gave us this wonderful Thought of the Day inspired by the events that took place of last Wednesday in Washington DC.  Happiness is a pursuit. But truth is a fact. We must remain committed to act upon the truth as established by fact. Or we shall find no happiness.

 

We reach truth by questioning and evaluating facts, and how they fit together. So we need suspicion. We should question. That’s how humankind advances. That’s how progress is made. But we cannot make up our own truth based upon our emotional feelings. More importantly, we cannot let those emotions cause us to upend a society built on a sober pursuit of truth. 

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Thugs stormed the US Capitol last Wednesday. They were misguided by the false belief that Joe Biden didn’t win the election, and/or their wish that they could stop the confirmation of electoral college votes and thus prevent President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration.

 

This hurt my soul.  I sat in shock as I watched the news footage of these domestic terrorists smashing Capitol windows, busting doors, trashing Congressional offices and taking over the House and Senate floors. It was not only an assault on our democracy, but also an assault on all of us.  It was an assault not only on truth itself, motivated by a failure to acknowledge that truth requires demonstrable fact, but also as disturbing, a flat rejection of the political process we have agreed upon, as a nation, to determine fact.

 

The Capitol is the People’s House. For me it was my home away from home.  As the child of a U.S. Senator, I frequently roamed the halls of the Capitol, in awe of the history, the political figures who shaped our country, the exquisite artwork, detailed architecture, heated debates on the House and Senate floors, State of the Union addresses to Congress, inaugurations and the peaceful transitions of power.  The Hill was the place where my father worked for 43 years of his life. He loved what he did - drafting and passing legislation,

working across the aisle - because he knew that the work that he and his congressional staff did bettered our country as a whole.

 

I was so proud of our Congress last week that despite the chaos, terror, vandalism, and disruption, they came back and stayed up all night to finish certifying the electoral college votes.  Democracy - sanity - won out.

 

January 6, 2021 will go down in history as a terrible assault on our democracy. However, these attacks can unite us by reminding us how critical the fundamental importance of truth is to effective governance.

 

How our leaders communicate with the American people needs to change if we are going to heal as a country.  If untruths are repeated often enough, people start believing that it is in fact the truth.  That is because they shortcut the facts to reach their emotions.  If we stop relying on demonstrable fact, even we can fall victim to lies telling us that the truth is a lie.

 

As Rotarians, we can continue to set the right example.  Rotary demands the truth. The four-way test asks:

 

Let’s hope that from this tragedy last week we can agree not to tear down what has served us well in our pursuit of happiness for 244 years. We can disagree on political goals, priorities, and policies, but if we do, let’s resolve those differences in a civil process, based on facts, as determined by agreed rules regardless of outcome. Based on truths. Based on facts.

 

Dr. Paul Stoot shared his memories of giving the opening prayer to the U.S. House of Representatives in June of 2001, at the invitation of Representative Rick Larsen, and he reflected on his sadness of what he witnessed on TV last week as that very same Capital building was under siege by a riotous angry mob. Paul also reminded us that those same types of people are also in our Washington and in our communities and that we can’t deny it.  Paul then sang a beautiful tear jerking a cappella version of God Bless America.

 

Fred Safstrom introduced his guest, Sean King from TLC Insurance. 

 

Kari Petrasek announced that there will be a virtual Happy Hour this Thursday the 14^th at 5:30 pm. Information will be sent out on Wednesday on how to connect.  

 

President John reminded us that Valentine Day is fast approaching and that in the past our club was very supportive of the Providence General Children’s Association by purchasing a variety of candy that was sold to us in the foyer of our meeting location prior to the big day.  President John will email the order form so that we once again will have the opportunity to purchase Valentine candy and help out the hospital at the same time. 

 

Greg Lineberry gave us this, most recent, outline of the COVID vaccine distribution plan for Washington State.

 

We are currently in the A1/A2 Phase.  In this phase the targets for vaccination are; in order:

1.   Frontline health care workers that are working in our clinics and hospitals

2.   Fire and police first responders, dispatchers, other emergency services

3.   Long term care facility residents and staff

 

Sometime later this week or next week we are expected to move into the B1 Phase.  That phase will cover:

1.   ANYONE that is age 70 or above

2.   Anyone that is age 50 or above and there are multiple generations of family members living in the same Household.

 

Sometime in February, Phase B2 will open. This will serve a very large population:

Workers that are age 50 and older that work in certain high risk, congregate settings.

1.   Teachers

2.   Grocery store staff

3.   Childcare staff

4.   Agriculture and food processing

5.   Jail and prison staff and those in their custody

6.   Public transit staff

 

In March we should be in Phase B3, anyone aged 16 or greater that has two or more significant health conditions (comorbidities).

 

April showers bring Phase B4 vaccinations.  This is essentially the same as phase B2, except that it removes the age restriction and opens vaccination up to any adult in the listed congregate setting employment (teachers, grocery staff, etc.)

 

May should see the start of Phase 2, and there are no decisions yet as to what groups will be included in Phase 2.  I expect, based on current outlines, that this group will be any adults age 50+, regardless of employment or living situation.

 

Sometime after that, Phases 3 and 4 will be implemented which should cover everyone else.  

 

In terms of finding out about when a phase is open and where eligible individuals can get the vaccination, there will be an online "tool" available very soon (estimated January 18th) that will collect data to help identify what phase an individual belongs in, where the individual lives (by zip code), and how the individual can be contacted.  Once the online form is completed the data will be stored and when that individual is eligible and there is a clinic in the area, they will get information sent to them about the clinic(s) so they can go and get their vaccination. 

 

Details will follow as soon as Greg knows the site is live and working.

 

Finally, be aware that there are constantly changes in this plan.The new policy states that production should be able to keep up with the need for booster inventory so it is more important to get current stock injected.  This should greatly improve the supply available for vaccination and help get us moving into phase B1 sooner rather than later (if there are B1 options available prior to the online tool and Greg becomes aware of those then he will get

the information out to members).

 

A few notes from a few people Greg knows that have had the first injection (himself included):

HAPPY DOLLARS AND BIRTHDAY BUCKS:

Rich Toyer, our esteemed treasurer, was $100 happy that for the first time our Clubs investments have exceeded $5,000,000.00.  Thank you, Rich, and thank you to the committee that oversees our investments.

 

Theresa Frothingham was delighted that her 23-year-old son recently graduated from WSU with a BA in Political Science.  I did not hear how delighted Theresa was, sorry.

 

Janice Ellis gave $61 happy dollars for her birthday, which is today, and another $100 happy dollars for our Rotary Community and for the words and music from Anna Marie and Paul that inspired us all.

 

Roy Yates, PP, was really disturbed of what went on in Washington DC last week but he feels so much better after hearing what Anna Marie and Paul said and sang today. 

 

Tom Koenig, PP, gave $20 for Theresa’s son who just graduated from WSU.  In the picture she shared of her son, with his diploma, he was wearing a football jersey.  To Tom that picture looked like the Cleveland Browns quarterback.

 

Heather Barnhart accidentally raised her hand so she was $20 happy anyway.

 

Will McMahon, PP, was $25 happy that Sheldon Johnson stepped in at the last minute to fill in on a career day commitment.

 

Julie Herber was $100.00 happy for two reasons. She wanted to thank Anna Marie and Paul for the reminder how the concept of critical thinking is so important. Thank you Greg the information you shared with us about the vaccine.

 

RAFFLE:

leeetttt’s get ready to rafffffllllleeee! Wick Temple’s theme today is Cheer’s to 2021.

 

Winner No. 1 - Will McMahon - A Hamilton Beach electric wine opener, A box of Girl Scout cookies, The book “Who Really Cares”, A new face mask and a fine bottle of red table wine (thank you Howie Bargreen)

 

Winner No. 2 - Mike Holcomb, A solid brass wine opener for your wine cellar table (Mike has a crawl space), A box of Girl Scout cookies (Samoas), A box of Paperwhite bulbs for spring planting, a new face mask and a bottle of Pinot Grigio (thank you Tammy Dunn).

 

Winner No. 3 - Cat Wilson, An electric wine cooler, A box of mint Girl Scout cookies, The book “The Coddling of the American Mind”, a new face mask (thank you Tammy) and a bottle of fine red wine (thank you George Bowden).

                   

PROGRAM:  Strategic Plan Update

President John and Greg Lineberry put together a very quick alternate Program covering our Strategic Plan.

 

“The Rotary Club of Everett is the pre-eminent professional service club, known for its core values, support of youth education, and for successfully identifying and addressing community and international issues.”

 

The Rotary Club of Everett is an opportunity to build lifelong friendships and experience the personal fulfillment of providing volunteer service to others.

 

Reach and maintain 160 active members in three years, with diverse membership reflecting the Everett area demographics and supports a culture that is fun, friendly and effective.

Conduct monthly professional networking opportunities for members.

Implement and expand job shadowing to high school students contingent on schools re-opening and social distancing recommendations.

 

Involve non-members in community projects annually.

 

Distribute $250,000.00 in annual scholarships for graduating high school students and award 22 students to receive $600.00 annually for college essentials shopping spree.

Involve youth in international service projects annually contingent on schools re-opening, relaxing of social distancing and travel restrictions.

 

Conduct a celebrity entertainment event in the Spring of 2022, then annually, open to the public and raise $25,000.00 to $50,000.00+ per year.

 

Conduct yearly education programs to the membership that promotes giving to the Foundation fund.

Club members use social media to promote the Club outside of membership.

Every board member attends District events

 

President John asked the membership to think about and provide ideas of what future meetings may look like once we can get back together in person.

 

MEETING ADJOURNED:

 

President John adjourned the meeting at 12:53 PM

 

Respectfully Submitted,

            

Photography Submitted,