President Greg Lineberry opened the meeting at 12:00 pm, #5417 of the Rotary Club of Everett and 14^th of his Rotary year. The club participated in the Pledge of Allegiance.

 

After the pledge, President Greg asked Tom Koenig, PP to deliver the thought of the day.  Appropriate for Fall, Tom read the poem, The Road Not Taken, written by famous American poet, Robert Frost.  

 

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

 

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

 

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

 

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

 

No visiting Rotarians or guests.

 

President Greg remarked that he was wearing purple to increase awareness of Domestic Violence and its victims. He also kept us all current on the latest COVID statistics for Snohomish County – signs of improvement but still high. 

 

Kari Petrasek announced that the next Happy Hour will be October 14^th as an in-person meeting at the Courtyard Marriott. Be sure to wear a mask and be vaccinated for the protection of all. The October 7^th Happy Hour is being canceled so everyone can root for our Seahawks playing that night. 

 

President Greg gave a quick update on our club’s efforts to find a in-person meeting location. The current focus is on a temporary location once we can start meeting together.  He asked the club members to reflect on the idea that some clubs are possibly looking at acquiring their own facility. Please share your thoughts with Greg on that idea.  

 

Neil Angst reminded our members to pay your member dues as quickly as possible. 

 

President Greg then asked Bill Bavasi to read the Club Resolution for Judge Eric Z. Lucas who recently passed. Judge Lucas was a club member since 2012.  He had many career achievements and was a civic leader, pioneer in his field and was known for his love of family. The resolution was our Club’s devotion of high esteem for the judge and a moment of silence was held in his honor. 

 

Will McMahon, PP, started our Happy Bucks off with $25 as he is happy to be home. Will has been on two different Red Cross deployments including working with refugees. He is interested in acquiring more information on sponsoring refugee programs as result.

 

Rich Toyer is $100 happy as he and his wife celebrate their 3^rd wedding anniversary. 

 

Tom Koenig, PP, is $20 happy for his relationship with Judge Lucas and his work on the scholarship committee. He (all of us) will miss his presence.  Anna Marie Laurence seconded Tom’s sentiment.

 

Laura Zorick reported in the chat that she is $20 happy for recent PUD award. The PUD has received an award from the American Power Administration. Their Quarantine Cuisine cookbook was a winner!  https://www.snopud.com/Site/Content/Documents/custpubs/Quarantine-Cuisine_720-web.pdf

 

 

 

Our program today is an update regarding the Paine Field Terminal Update. Our speaker is Brett Smith, CEO of Propeller Airports. Brett gave a report on the successes and challenges over the past 18 months at Paine Field and the outlook in the near future for the terminal and air travel. 

 

Brett stated that he was struck by level of normalness with today’s challenges. As background, Brett reminded us that the terminal opened March 2019, finally being uses for its original purpose pre-WWII. Paine Field and its associations are responsible for 65,000 jobs with Boeing and the TSA with a majority. The field generates $40B in annual economic impact.  It has a 9,000 foot plus runway. When opened, it had 24 daily departures to 12 destinations. Paine Field is the nation’s fastest growing (started from zero). It started by serving most major cities on west coast and Denver/Phoenix. 

 

Paine Field’s mission: Accommodating the demand of commercial service without burdening Snohomish County resources and delivering as agreed upon. The goal is always to provide a quality product – more like a lounge than a terminal you may find in larger airports. It needs to be positive experience for our passengers. The Field did win a lot of awards in first year including one of the top ten Best Small Airports by the USA today.  Monocle made it the Best Small Airport in world. Our customers have agreed, and you can track that with all the positive social media the Field receives. 

 

Things were going well into early 2020 and then we were all hit by COVID. The original 24 flights suddenly were down to 4. All air traffic was in reactive mode and navigating uncharted waters.  The Field was able to avoid layoffs through its work with the County and the US government. The ramp was rebuilt during this downtime. 

 

Today, the Field is flying to 6 destinations, and they are steadily working on the other six locations as soon as they can get them confirmed.   Challenges include available workforce and rental car supply. Volunteer retirement programs had a lot of takers that weren’t planned, especially pilots. Loss of United Airlines and a flight to Denver are obstacles the Field is working to overcome. Brett fully expects to announce new airline in near future.   Adapting to times, the Field has implemented strong safety measures. Air travel is seeing traffic nationwide going up. Currently, SeaTac is at 2019 levels. There is little business travel currently. Brett anticipates a full Schedule in Q1 of 2022.  

 

After Brett’s presentation, he took some questions from our members.

 

President Greg thanked Brett for his informative presentation and the Club will be giving a donation to Domestic Violence Services of Snohomish County in his name. Brett will match and double it.

 

President Greg reminded all that the next meeting is our General Assembly, which will be lead by VP Kelli Thode. Greg thanked all our happy donor donors and Bill Bavasi for the Judge Lucas recognition. The District Conference is open for registrations.  The club will fund all first-time attendees. We had 47 members attend today. Greg also highlighted membership recruitment. Find those people who believe in service before self and invite them to attend. 

 

Meeting adjourned. 

 

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

Photos submitted,