President Bryan to exit, stage left.
Before the meeting began Bryan made an announcement that he will only have 2 meetings left where he can perform duties as President. He will complete his term and participate in activities that aren’t in the middle of the day. He has accepted a position as a teacher in Tumwater at the New Market Skills Center. He is closing his auto repair business in Lakewood. He will join us during the summer and breaks. Best of luck Bryan!!!
Heidi Wachter is stepping up early to cover the meeting responsibilities.
With that big news out of the way, an invocation was offered by Jeannie Hill. The Flag Salute was led by Becky Newton.
Visiting Rotarians: John Unfred introduced Don Daniels, President of the Lakewood Club and Mark Woodham, President of the Puyallup Club.
Visitors: Tim Puryear, our guest speaker, and Ingrid Willis, wife of Fred Willis
Upcoming Meetings:
March 28 – Club Assembly with Heidi Wachter updating us from PETS, and what to look forward to in the upcoming year.
April 4 – Congressman Denny Heck
April 11 – Mary Forbes from the State Office of Veteran Affairs
Announcements:
Don Daniels reminded us there is still time to sign up for the District 5020 re-packaging program during the District 5020 conference. Go to District 5020 website to sign up for a shift. Each year at the District meeting there will be an opportunity to give back to the hosting community. They hope to package 50,000 bags.
Mark Woodham had come to sell last minute tickets to last Friday’s Crab feed at the Washington State fairgrounds. Tickets were $45 for all you can eat Crab feed.
Rose sale update- The rosebud committee continues to meet Tuesday mornings at 0700 at Carr’s. Wednesday, the 28th is the first deadline for the Rose Sale. Yellow and Pink orders are due. A few extra will be ordered so if you feel you are going to sell some let the committee know on Wednesday. We will continue to take red rose orders. Email Heidi or Teresa if not at today’s meeting.
When club members attended the Lakewood meeting they sold 20 dozen roses. There are still opportunities for others to attend other meetings. Becky Newton has sign up list.
Alan Billingsley was this week’s winner for the Rose contest. He chose to answer a question about baseball player Pete Rose and the question was - - What player did the Expos trade Pete Rose for to put him back on the Reds? With help from the club Alan got the right answer and a gift card for coffee. It was Tom Lawless.
Sheri Hodson shared that Kurt and Linda Graff stopped by herself. Kurt wanted to let everyone know he says hello and is alive and kicking. They have moved from their home in Tacoma to Toby Jones Senior living in Tacoma.
Bryan read a thank you note from Bellarmine and their Robotics program. We donated $500 to help with their program and it helped them reach their challenge of raising $25,000. When they reached the $25,000 goal there was an anonymous donor that would match the $25,000. The donations to date were just shy of that $25K goal, and so our little push threw them over the line, releasing the matching donation.
Board recap - The board approved the committee’s recommendation to approve $500 for a Young life scholarship, Boy Scout Pack 32, a $500 summer camp scholarship, and Glacier District Boy Scout Day camp scholarship for $200. Check was presented to Riley for their Summer Camp.
Fun and Fines with General Ed assisted by Riley
Bryan was fined $5, because he has 2 meetings left and he was 3 minutes late giving General Ed his time. [ed. note: Ed Math]
We sang Happy Birthday to Alan Billingsley, and were assisted by the kazoo-playing Dave Hall. Alan paid $50. Alan also shared this year family challenge - - It is to visit all 39 counties in the state. Prior family challenges have included visiting the most waterfalls, and the most state parks.
Tom Faubion shared he went to Ellensburg to receive his backcountry horseman award (more details in a future meeting). He shared that he borrowed a tent from Alan, and it was fine for summer camping but it did not do very well in 22 degree weather. Alan shared a 22-degree tent is a cabin [ed. note: It is hard to remember what this assertion meant. Cold is cold. Your editor has been cold, with the Canadian Army, with the U.S. Army, in Grafenwoehr Training Center in Germany... There is little glory in being cold, if there are other choices.]
John Unfred shared he will be working on his masters degree in Homeland Security. He was accepted into the 18-month program with classes to be held in Maryland, and orchestrated by the Naval Post Graduate School [ed. note: the NPS is in Monterey, CA. So John, what are you doing going to Maryland?!! I mean, Monterey, for cryin’ out loud, where it is hardly ever all that cold.]. John will have to travel back east a few times to attend classes.
Becky Newton talked about her speaking engagement at the Chamber of Government Affairs- no fine levied.
Today’s speaker
Guest speaker Tim Puryear is the Pierce County Asset Manager for Northwest Building LLC. He handles the day to day operations and leasing for 35 buildings and 4.5 million square feet of industrial property.
Instead of talking about the industrial park, he changed gears and talked about the way products get to us and how the dynamics have changed.
He gave us first a historical perspective of the railways and the ports. How everything ran through Chicago. He shared about the Panama Canal opening and did that make a big impact? Answer was no – ships were too big to go through it.
He cited Walmart as a great example of distribution, showing us the stores and all of the distribution locations, including the Prosser location in WA. It is tough for anyone to compete with this model.
Then he discussed Amazon and has that changed everything. Gave us some of the history starting in 1994 as a bookstore to current day delivery within in a couple hours. 322 Distribution Centers (3 a month are being opened) Local ones include Kent, Sumner, and Dupont. Warehouse rents in Kent area have increased by 17%. There is only a 2% vacancy right now.
New warehouse in Georgetown that is 3 stories and there are ramps on 2 levels. So the warehouse footprint is smaller since it is multiple stories.
Who can compete???
Walmart converting Sam’s stores into Walmart Distribution Centers. Target dividing their stores for soft goods and distribution. Kroeger is everywhere. Costco would need to take on a partner.
Raffle:
Tom McClellan tried for the $916 pot but fell short with a 5 of diamonds.
And Finally...
Sometimes there are warnings. And sometimes those warnings make you scratch your head, which can only lead to premature baldness. For example, if the sign is correct, is this really a good place to put a bench?
And what type of reptile is it that merits a freeway sign warning? Yikes!
