Van Sawin - Aug 1

Dianne Stoehr - Aug 1

Rick Triggs - Aug 3

 

We will be celebrating all of the August Birthdays this week, and expect some interesting answers to the questions posed by our birthday announcer George Pilant. Remember to bring your birthday donation of $1 for each year you are celebrating! Your picture will be included in the slide show before the meetings throughout the month, so I hope it's a good picture!!

 

Karena Kirkendoll -1 year  Aug 3

President Linda Kaye Briggs introduced Jim Henderson who presented a eulogy for Paul Gingrich.  Jim shared that Paul would be remembered for many things including his service to Rotary, his classy bow ties and his contribution to the arts as a collector and benefactor. A memorial service will be held July 30^th, 11:00am, at the Mountain View Garden Chapel. A moment of silence followed.

President Linda Kaye rang the bell and invited Dr. Jamie Brooks to provide the invocation. Don Hansen led the club in the National Anthem and the 4-Way Test, or rather the 5-Way test with Don’s addition of “will it be beneficial to health and wellness.”  President Linda Kaye then thanked meeting sponsor Mike Dunbar who donated the sponsorship time to Carolyn Weyrick, Lindquist Dental Clinic for Children.  She also shared the sad news that Bill Baxter passed away on Sunday night.  A card was passed round for his family as well as for Lee Gingrich, Paul Gingrich’s brother, and Gordon Pickering who has chronic bronchitis and has not been able to attend meetings.

Visiting Rotarians and guests were announced and introduced with the help of Jennifer Wedderman, Wedderman Architects and Stacey Ogle, Cole Graphic Solutions.  Next the anniversaries of Becky Fontaine (26 years) and Deb Robinett (27 years) were recognized.

President Linda Kaye invited Rusty Hersey to introduce our newest member, Maddie Merton, Vice President of Business Retention and Expansion with the Economic Development Board of Tacoma Pierce County. Maddie shared that she was drawn to Rotary because of her interest in community service. She grew up and works in Tacoma, she lives in South Hill with her husband and 10-year-old Yorkie.  She enjoys hiking and is excited to participate in the club.

Linda Kaye called forward Carolyn Weyrick for the meeting sponsorship announcement. Carolyn shared the mission of Lindquist Dental Clinic for Children and some health facts including that dental problems are the number one reason low income children miss school. She also thanked Rotary for the recent grant to support dental services for 40 kids.

Several club announcements were made: Gil Quante reminded club members to sign up for the EFN repack on July 28^th and announced that t he first “habitat build day” is scheduled for August 18^th from 8:30am – 3:30pm.  Linda Kaye added that the ceremony to bless the land for the habitat home with Mark Anderson and Carol Duris was one of her most amazing Rotary moments ever, and she encouraged club members to sign up. John McMasters invited members to stay after next week’s meeting to help stuff 500 backpacks for the Communities in Schools school supply drive.  Carolyn Weyrick reminded the club that the Courage event was coming up and volunteers were needed to help at the beer garden on August 25th. Monique Nadeau shared four reasons to join the auction committee: 1) opportunity to serve 2) many hands make light work 3) if not you, who? 4) wine and appetizers are served at committee meetings. Linda Kaye followed with a few more announcements: A memorial for Nancy Davis will be held on Sunday, July 29^th at the Asia Pacific Cultural Center from 2 – 5. The club’s first Thursday at 5 meeting will be at KBTC in two weeks. Please register via the link in the Gearshift and also consider becoming a Thursday at 5 sponsor.

President Linda Kaye then called up Conor McCarthy who gave an irreverent introduction of his father, Port Commissioner John McCarthy and Pamela Transue who introduced Beatles fan and Senior Manager of Communications for the Port, Rod Koon.

Claiming that he was John McCarthy’s “opening act,” Rod shared some key moments in the port’s 100 year history including that the first ship to call at the port arrived in March 1921 and that during WWII the port employed 30,000 people. He also gave an overview of how the port adapted to accommodate employment once WWII ended.  John McCarthy shared how the port has grown, invested and changed in recent years including through the Puyallup Land Claims Settlement and partnership agreements establishing the NW Seaport Alliance.  The port is currently the 4^th largest port in the nation for container volume. John ended by acknowledging Rod’s contribution to the port over the last 35 years and shared that his father and Rod’s mother had both worked for the port. As the port celebrates it’s 100 year history with the theme: Celebrating the Centennial – Our Ties Run Deep, John invited Rotary members to share their own ties to the port with photos or stories at portoftacoma.com/100. 

Linda Kaye thanked Rod and John for sharing their time with us and presented them with an original gift of art designed by students at Hilltop Artists.

Linda Kaye ended the meeting extending appreciation to Mike Dunbar for being the meeting sponsor and generously donating his time to Carolyn Weyrick, Jamie Brooks for being our invocator and Don Hansen for leading us in the national anthem.   She announced the social that evening was at the Lobster Shop, reminded the club to welcome District Governor Craig Gillis at next week’s meeting and to make sure to schedule time after next week’s meeting to help stuff backpacks.  And finally she expressed her hope that the club members would leave with inspiration to “Reignite your Rotary.”