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Thursday, June 25, 2020
VOL. NINETY SIX,  Issue 52
 
TURNOVER DAY
 
Live, from Tacoma, WA, well mostly live, it's Rotary Night Live!  Join us and some amazingly talented Rotarians for a turnover day not to be forgotten as we present a Rotary version of Saturday Night Live!
 
Time: June 25, 2020 12:05 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)
 
To join the meeting this week cut and paste the address below into your browser
 
 
We will also be streaming the video using Facebook Live on our Private Facebook page. 
 
If you haven't joined our private page here is  the link
 
Meeting ID:  980 4470 6664
 
Please only use this phone in number if you do not have computer audio  253.215.8782
UPCOMING MEETINGS
 
July 2
Kathryn's first meeting!
 
July 9 
Speaker of the House Laurie Jinkins
THANK YOU TO THIS WEEK'S MEETING SPONSOR - Jeremy Simler
 
 
 
 
 
Welcome New Member Dan Wirth
 
 
 
Dan was introduced at our meeting on June 18.  He was born in Indianapolis, IN and moved to Washington in January to accept a position of the Executive Director of the American Red Cross, South Puget Sound and the Olympics. Dan has worked/volunteered in the nonprofit landscape for over 20 years, believes in living a life of service and is grateful for the opportunity to be engaged with Rotary, an an incredible local and global organization. He has been with the Red Cross for 6 yrs. moved here most recently from Louisville, KY;  Dan went to college in Durango, Colorado & completed his masters at the University of Montana. His wife is Phoebe, daughter Luna (5), son Orion (4) & baby due in September. Phoebe and Dan served together as a married couple as Peace Corps volunteers in the Dominican Republic from 2010-13. Phoebe’s uncle, has been a Rotarian for many years in Pennsylvania. His brother in law, completed a rotary exchange in Argentina in the early 2000’s. Dan is a great new addition to the club and we look forward to seeing him again (he has visited us for meetings and helped with our comfort kit packing on March 5.) 
A Statement from your Executive Committee
We are shaken by the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Manuel Ellis and many others. At Rotary, we denounce racism. We celebrate diversity and demand ethical leadership. BLACK LIVES MATTER
We have a long history of funding grants to non-profit organizations in Tacoma to serve low-income youth and elderly, for ALL in need.  We come together as a Rotary Club to provide food, build homes, give scholarships to local high school youth, and serve others. We also fund international grants to all races in our work to eradicate polio and bring clean water to communities.   We are committed to bringing people together to do good in our community and the world. 
We have evolved over our 110-year history, but we know we have more work to do to help create a more just, open, and welcoming Tacoma.  We are committed to take action immediately, working with individuals and organizations towards long-term solutions to dismantle racism.
We invite and include all passionate people in our efforts to deliver “Service Above Self”. We live by the 4 Way test in our personal and professional lives and will apply this to influence the necessary changes that will bring justice to all.
  1. Is it the truth?
  2. Is it fair to all concerned?
  3. Will it build goodwill and better friendships?
  4. Will it be beneficial to all concerned? 
A True Confession from Jim and Enid Harris
 
 
Received a call from  Jim on 6-24, he wanted to pay a fine of $65 for their 65th wedding anniversary.  Enid chimed in from the background that she wanted to pay $65 as well. Congratulations to these 2 wonderful members!
 
 
We have a volunteer opportunity on July 24th and 25th to Paint Tacoma Beautiful!  Well, one house actually.  Program improvements have been made to stay healthy and take care of ourselves while supporting homeowners in our community led by the Associated Ministries.  John Schneider is leading the preparation and painting efforts with coordination assistance by Diane Kelleher.  Please let the office know if you’d like to join them for one or two days – or a partial day - and we’ll send you a volunteer application and a short orientation video. 
Saturday Sorting at St. Vinnies
St. Vincent de Paul is in need of volunteers to help sort through donations. They have an abundance of product and need assistance to help sort so they can open the store and serve persons in need of affordable clothing and household goods.
Volunteers are needed Saturday June 27th from 10 am – 1 pm
 
Additional details:
  • Background check required.
  • Volunteers must be at least 16 years old.
  • PPE and hand sanitizer will be provided for volunteers. Social distancing measures are in place.
If you have any questions or are interested in volunteering, please email volunteer@svdptacoma.org or contact Jim Whitacre at  whit@wamail.net
Tacoma Rescue Mission Sack Lunch Project
Tacoma Rescue Mission is seeing an increased demand for meals and due to limitations with social distancing in Phase 2 they are looking for volunteers to make sack lunches.  We would like to be able to provide 50-80 lunches to them every other week, if we enough interested volunteers.
If you would be willing to put together 10 meat sandwiches (with no condiments) and deliver them to the office we will have volunteers standing by to fill the sacks with chips, juice, cookies and a piece of fruit. Please contact Seth Kaplowitz at seth.tacoma8@gmail.com or call or email the office at 253-473-7723, clubadmin@rotary8.org of you will make sandwiches or help with the packing. 
Our first date for delivery will be June 30 please deliver the sandwiches, or the entire sack lunch by 10.  What a fantastic way to end our Rotary year!
 
For those of you still looking for ways to serve here are some resources for volunteer opportunities for COVID -19 relief
Let us know what you decide to do and we can share with others who may want to join you (virtually, of course).
Red Cross Military Comfort Kits
 
Becky Fontaine, Rusty Hersey and Kirsten Willis made a trip to the office on June 19 to do another comfort kit packing project.  Our club was fortunate to receive a district matching grant to double the number of kits we could make available.  Given the huge needs during this time we are happy to help the Red Cross in their service to our wonderful military community. 
Membership Proposal
Unless written objections are submitted to the Board within 10 days of this posting, the following individual will be invited to membership: 
 
Barbara Wyatt
REAL ESTATE - Property Management
CFO - Larsen Commercial-Industrial Realtors
Sponsor: Linn Larsen
 
Arrangements for your 2020-21 must be made right away. The invoice due date was June 19 and we will be charged for all members on the roster on June 30, so we need confirmation of your renewal now.  We can wait until July 1 to run your card if that is your wish.  Although the invoice offered a pay online option, we do not have that set up at this time.  Dues remain the same as last year and given the stresses that many are facing we want to work with you on a payment plan if needed. We want each and every one of you to help us remain a strong and vibrant club. Please let us know right away if you have not received an invoice. 
MEETING VOLUNTEERS 
 
Meeting Moderator- Chris Serface
Reflection- Christina Turner
National Anthem  & 4 Way Test- Elliot Stickstad
Meeting Sponsor - Jeremy Simler
Storywriter-  Brenda Gasper
   
 
WANT TO HELP AT A MEETING?
Please contact Kathi to volunteer 
--Leading the National Anthem & Four Way Test
--Giving the Moment of Reflection
--Assisting with Audio/Visual
--Greeter and Roving Mic
--Sponsoring a meeting
--Check in Assistant
 
Birthdays This Week
 
Ivan Harrell - Jun 21
Jeff Lovely - Jun 21
Sharon Benson - Jun 23
Julie Foley - Jun 23
Larry Gaffney - Jun 24
 
Anniversaries to Celebrate
 
Gus Martin - 1 year
Tyler Sollie - 1 year
Brenda Gasper - 2 years
Rick Triggs - 2 years
Julie Foley - 5 years
Jennifer Weddermann - 4 years cumulative
Jeremy Fogelquist - 6 years
Christian Anderson - 7 years
Christine Cason - 20 years
John B. Dimmer - 31 years
Reflections from the June 18 meeting by Barry Benson
12:11 our incredible zoom meeting “producer”, Chris Serface, explained the procedures for participating in a zoom meeting—muting, unmuting etc.
A few seconds later, President Carol Duris rang in the meeting with the Scarlett bicycle bell and thanked members for joining today.
Robert Modarelli, Bellarmine Prep provided the invocation, reminding us that love and service should be part of our response for our blessings. 
Jennifer Weddermann, Weddermann Architecture, and her musically talented children, Lily and Bobby, performing on the violin and cello, provided a beautiful rendition of the National Anthem. Then Jennifer led us with the 4 Way Test.
President Carol Duris introduced Betty Capestany, Pierce County Economic Development,  as today’s the meeting sponsor.  Betty shared some of the many ways Pierce County is helping businesses to deal with COVID 19. For example, over 5200 businesses received PPE items. Pierce County also offered a Business recovery loan program even before the Cares program. In addition, there is the Adaptation Grant Program, which is a reimbursement program that will match 50% up to $8,000 for expenses incurred to meet COVID. protection steps.  
President Carol invited everyone to check out the following club anniversaries; Phil Carter-1 year, Molly Peterson-1 year, Angela Connelly-2 years, Jack Connelly-2 years, DeAnne Hamilton-2 years, Linda Kaye Briggs-21 years, and Cap Pearson-24 years
Past President Becky Fontaine then introduced our newest Member, Dan Wirth. Becky met him when he applied for the Executive Director Position for our local South Puget Sound Red Cross as she showed him around Tacoma. Dan is the latest to the long list of distinguished past Red Cross ED’s, including the late Dick Zamjahn, Carter Taylor and Tracy Peacock. 
Dan moved here in January with his wife and two kids, a 5 and 3 year old. (And another is on the way!) Dan has been with the Red Cross for 6 years in disaster services. He is attracted to Rotary’s mission of service, both local and international. His wife’s family are Rotarians, and his brother in Law was an exchange student in Chili and Argentina.
As a fitting kick off for announcing our scholarship recipients, Tacoma School Superintendent, Carla Santorno, offered an inspiring video to these new high school graduates.
President Carol then introduced Alex Trettin and Bob Fredrickson, co chairs of our dedicated Scholarship Committee, to introduce our Scholarship recipients. They described the functions of scholarship committee and the process. The 25 scholarship committee members interviewed over 30 kids in teams of 3 (via zoom!)  in the worthy effort to distribute $52,000.
Then each student told the club a little bit about themselves, and why they appreciate the award, the school they will attend in the fall, what they will be studying, what job or career might they pursue in the future. Every one of them commented on how important and meaningful the scholarship is in helping them achieve their educational goals
Here they are!
ANNETTE RAY, Bellarmine. This scholarship goes beyond monetary value. Encouraged her to pursue higher education. She is inspired by what Rotary does, advocating values similar to hers. She plans to study Psychology at U W and then go into clinical psychology.
LORAINE IGNAO, Bellarmine. Her parents are Immigrants from the Philippines. Hopes to pursue elementary education at Chapman University and then “pass forward”  opportunities like those that her parents have given her.
JASON PATTERSON, IDEA, Will attend Renton Technical for culinary training. He would like to go into the restaurant business, hopefully as an owner.
ELYSSE LOYOLA,  Life Christian. Will attend U W with a major in biology with plans to become a radiologist.
ANNA GERALD, SAMI, Her dad just passed away, so the financial help is especially meaningful to her. She will attend WSU in Pre-veterinary medicine with hopes to specialize in radiology or cardiology.
IAN FREDRICKSON, SOTA, will attend UC Berkley, if covid issues do not prevent it. He will study pre-law with an emphasis on business administration.
CARTER ROJECKI, Stadium, feels that this scholarship reinforces students’ hard work and dedication. Will study at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City after which he hopes to enter law school.
RACHEL TAO, Stadium, will attend UW Seattle. She is a first generation American, planning to study business. This award inspires her to give back to others.
KYONGRYOON SO, Tacoma Baptist,  is headed to Seattle University to study Business Analytics and Marketing. He hopes to be a Business Analyst for a company in Seattle or be on the marketing team for Disney. 
JEREMIAH LYNN, Tacoma Baptist, will be attending WSU where he will be studying to become a computer scientist.
SAVANAH OLSON, Wilson, will attend Montana State to study land rehabilitation. Wants to work for the City of Tacoma in resource management
KATIE BECKNER, Wilson, plans to attend WSU in animal science (pre-vet program) and eventually move into large animal work
MARISOL RIVERA, Lincoln, will attend Northern Arizona U, studying psychology. Prior to this award, she wasn’t sure she would be able go on with her education, but now will  attend college debt free! 
CASSIE REDDING, Foss, will attend UC Berkley, studying pre-law. Wants to be a legal advocate.
Alex and Bob then wrapped up with comments about how inspirational the students are and that we are grateful to them for being our future leaders. They also wanted to acknowledge their counselors who are with us today, as well as their families, parents, grandparents and siblings.
President Carol called on Seth Kaplowitz for a request from the Tacoma Rescue Mission. The pandemic has severely curtailed their mission. Can any of us provide sandwiches? They are serving in excess of 300 meals each day and cannot keep up with demand. If you can you put together, say, 8 bags with a sandwich, fruit and drink, that would be most welcome and needed.  You may contact Seth directly on his cell 858-345-7323, or email seth.tacoma8@gmail.com. Seth will put together a list of the items to put into the packages.
Past President Jim Whitacre made an announcement for St, Vincent dePaul. They will be sorting goods on June 27th.  St Vincent’s has almost nothing left on the shelves. On Saturday, June 27, 10 to 1, they will do a sort in the warehouse with all workers spatially separated. St. Vinnies will provide PPE. If you want to do this, meet at 56th and Tyler at 9:45 AM on the 27th. There is a contact phone number in the Gearshift. They currently have 4 people and need 10 or 12 more.
President Carol mentioned that many members may have received a note from RI to remind us that we have until the June 30 to make a donation to the Polio Campaign that will be matched 2 to 1 by the Gates Foundation.  Our Club has already raised $12,500 this year to date for Polio.  President Carol is so grateful for your generous hearts!
Another little reminder-- some of you recently received an email from President-elect Kathryn reminding you about dues payments.  We received feedback that many members didn’t recall receiving an invoice so if you need the office to send an invoice please let us know.
True Confessions …Becky Fontaine reported former Exchange student Abegale McDermott is back in Tacoma. Her Mary Bridge internship cancelled because of the pandemic, so she will do an internship at Red Cross.  Greg Rolsma announced a new granddaughter. President Carol told us that new baby, Harper, is 6 month old. Jim Whitacre received a call from. Julia Fitzner, who was an exchange student 33 years ago. She now works for the World Health Organization. She volunteered to create a video to tell how the Rotary’s exchange program benefited her and changed her life. Jim also confessed to 50 years of marriage.
President Carol closed by saying It’s hard to believe that next week will be her last meeting as club President.  For her It’s been a year of surprises, and she is so grateful to have had this time to work with each and every one of us.  She knows that our talented members have been working on a fun turnover meeting and hopes you will join her next week. (She is a little nervous!)
She finally reminded us one last time  to be People of Action.

A thought for the week

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The Gearshift is a weekly publication to inform you about current happenings in the Rotary Club of Tacoma #8. We are currently holding virtual meetings.
 
 
Our address is. 
1001 Yakima Ave, Suite 9A
Tacoma, Washington 98405

MAILING ADDRESS:
PO Box 1777
Tacoma, Washington 98401-1777

Phone:  253.473.7723
info@rotary8.org
www.rotary8.org
 
 
Virtual Office Hours 
Monday - Friday 
830-5
Speakers
Jul 02, 2020
Rotary Opens Opportunities
Jul 09, 2020
Remarks from the Speaker of the House
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Projects Committee Meeting
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Jul 03, 2020 8:30 AM
 
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Vocational Service Co-Chair
 
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World Community Service Co-Chair
 
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Fellowship, Leadership and Service Above Self since 1910