Meeting Notes, February 4, 2015
Posted by Tom McClellan
on Feb 06, 2015
Meeting called to order by President Sheri Hodson
Alan Billingsley provided the invocation
Jeannie Hill led us in the Pledge of Allegiance, and, because our District Governor was visiting, in the singing of Oh Canada
Special guests: (visiting Rotarians and visitors)
Jim Hairston introduced visiting Rotarians –
District Governor Michael Proctor from the Qualicum Beach club, Asst. District Governor Greg Horne from the Lakewood club, and our guest speaker Richard Bagine from Kenya.
Other guests – Karen George (Gen. Bill’s caregiver) who is fresh from the hospital where she had her appendix removed; Hazel Billingsley, granddaughter of Alan Billingsley, and Grant Blinn’s sister-in-law, Darcy Blinn, who was visiting from Seattle.
Sunshine report: John Munn was hit by a truck in a parking lot over the weekend and is recovering.
As a side note, not mentioned at the meeting: You may have seen the video of the horrific airplane crash in Taipei this week. Happily for all of us, George Lin emailed to say that neither he nor anyone in his family was affected by that terrible tragedy.
Upcoming events and/or commitments for our club:
Future Programs:
Feb. 11 - Frank Yukon, Boy Scouts of America, Pacific Harbors Council
Feb. 18 - Bob Zawilski, Rotary Foundation Community Grant Process
Feb. 25 - Fred Willis, Classification Talk on being a published author
Alan Billingsley reported the Spaghetti Feed, Literacy Night and Book Fair will be held on March 5. Please sign up if you can help with any or all of these events. There are 600 Southgate students and they and their families are all invited for a free meal, so we need all hands on deck to make this event a success. David Cotant will bring the CP Rotary aprons for us to purchase at the Feb. 11 meeting, and will also have shirts and other items for sale from the Rotary Store.
Performance of Lakewood Theater event will be on March 21. The 11:00 a.m. performance will be for Rotarians and the 2:00 performance will be for Southgate families. Headsets will be available for those who need help to hear the performance.
District Governor Michael Proctor and Asst. District Governor Greg Horn presented to Foundation Director Don Sosnowski and PP Bob Lawrence the award from the district for a 100% participation in Rotary Foundation giving.
District Governor Michael reminded us that there will be changes to how Foundation grants are awarded. He also stressed the importance of growing our membership and participating in the District Leadership Training Assembly (DLTA) March 28-29, and the District Conference, June 19-21 in Nanaimo, BC.
Judy Maier reported that Morgan, our club's former exchange student from Belgium, recently received a PhD in neuropsychology.
Two truths and a lie. General Bill Harrison shared the following:
1 – When Bill was in high school and his classmates voted that he was most likely to become a minister (True)
2 – Recently bought a home and got all possible Rotarians involved so he could implicate them all – Teresa Nye, Marie and Sheri (True)
3 – There might possibly something noted about General Bill in his home town (True). Signs on main streets going into Pembrook, Kentucky stating that it is the home town of General Bill Harrison.
The object of this game is to fool as much of the club as possible concerning which of the 3 assertions is the false one, but Bill fooled us all with 3 truthful ones!
Memorable fines and stories with General Ed
General Ed had been carrying IOU’s from Judge Grant Blinn, Heidi Wachter, and Teresa Nye. Teresa and Grant paid off their IOU’s – Heidi is still in the red.
Hazel Billingsley won the bidding war for 2 orphaned raffle tickets.
Don Sosnowski celebrated the 3rd anniversary of his and Corinne's first date with a great dinner in a Seattle steak place. $10.00 to the club and $40.00 to Paul Harris.
Alice Peeples ratted on whoever published the bulletin with a mis-quote by Bob Lawrence. Alice paid $6.00 and Jim Hairston (note taker) paid $4.00. [ed. note: if anyone would like to take over bulletin duties, just say so]
Bonnie Kern returned from Palm Springs where she enjoyed the sun and scored well – on the golf course. She paid $5.00 a night for a total of $55.00.
Joyce Loveday - $5.00 for being an early leaver and $10.00 for walking out on the District Governor’s presentation.
Jeannie Hill paid five happy dollars for her mother having her physical therapy reinstated.
Today’s speaker: Dr. Richard Bagine shared information with us about life in Kenya, the challenges of managing wildlife in Kenya and surrounding African countries and his Rotary Club – the Club of Ngong Hills, Kenya.
Richard earned Bachelor and Master of Science degrees at the University of Nairobi, and a PhD in zoology from Makerere University in Uganda. He is currently the Chief Research Scientist for the National Museums of Kenya. His presentation covered the efforts in Kenya to establish and maintain several categories of wildlife protection areas.
His club was just started in 2012 with 27 charter members, and they have already engaged in water projects in their country, plus spawning 2 other new clubs. Richard says that Kenya is a peaceful country, despite violence and other problems in neighboring countries of Ethiopia and Somalia, and that it is a great place to come for a safari. If you do go to Kenya, you are all invited to visit Richard's club, the Rotary Club of Ngong Hills.
Drawing: Marie Barth had the magic ticket, which it was noted had been sold to her by Tom Faubion. Marie failed to pull an Ace, and settled for $5.00.