Meeting Notes, September 30, 2015

President Joyce Loveday rang the bell precisely at 12:30 PM, precisely as she was supposed to.  This point will be important below.

 

Guests included 2 Billingsley grandkinder, and one Tacoma 8 visiting Rotarian whose name was not recorded for history. 

 

 

The Theater Benefit is on Thursday!  Setup starts at 1630, and helpers will be welcomed.  Hors d'oeurvres are 1800, and then the show is at 1900.  Helpers are also welcomed to stay afterward for cleanup. 

 

Oct. 10 Clothing Exchange at Tyee Park.  1000 to 1500.  The idea is that school families can bring clean used clothes to exchange with others, which helps with growing kids.  Donations of clothes from Rotarians and others will be welcomed.  And volunteers to staff the event will also be appreciated.  More details to follow.

 

Foundation Minute, by Don Sosnowski

 

As of 30 September, $1406 has been donated to the foundation this year, against a club goal of $7000.  Contact Don to find out your giving record, and how close you might be to your first or subsequent Paul Harris award recognition.

 

23 October will be a Rotary International Polio Day event, to be streamed live by UNICEF at www.endpolio.org.  Key point: Nigeria is now polio free for a year!

 

Five reasons to donate to help end polio:

1. It saves lives

2. More than 10 million children could have been paralyzed over a 40 year period without this effort.

3. Good investment: Our donations to Polio Plus get matched 3 for 1 by the Gates Foundation.  And the avoidance of disease means avoidance of economic losses.

4. Polio immunization strengthens the system of disease surveillance, and leaves the world better prepared for the next pandemic.

5. The Rotary Foundation has a 4-star rating from Charity Navigator.

 

 

Barnes and Noble's Lakewood Towne Center store hosted this event.  15% of designated sales went to support the Tyee Park Elementary School library fund.  The total tally is not set yet, because it counts online sales through this Friday.  See pictures at http://portal.clubrunner.ca/371/PhotoAlbums/2015-tyee-park-book-fair-at-barnes-noble

 

 

General Ed got things going slowly, with a minor fine for Ken Sharp being an early leaver.  He went on to make note of Daidre West's unnumbered anniversary (and with whom?), plus Dee Ebsen's IOU on file but the former banker still does not have money to cover it.  That's like a lawyer not any having opinions, it was noted. 

 

Then things got more serious, as it was noted that Tom Faubion (who was not allowed to stand) had celebrated 43 wonderful years with Barbie.  What sort of years were they?  WONDERFUL, was the answer.  Noted by the meeting recorder as wonderful.  Gotcha. 

 

Maria Barth got ink, picking up The News Tribune's endorsement for her reelection bid to the Lakewood City Council.  Since there are no fines for future crimes (like getting reelected), the fine for the endorsement was surprisingly deferred.  Marie thanked everyone who has been supporting her.

 

Tom McClellan got a new boat, a 17' runabout to replace his 38 year old 17' speedboat, and in the process was the victim of a communist incursion.  The boat was supposed to be ready for pickup in Fife, WA, after having been transported down from Bellingham.  But the visit of Chinese President Xi last week pretty much closed down the highway system through Seattle, delaying the pickup until Saturday.   General Ed doubted that a 17' boat was appropriate on tiny Lake Louise where Tom lives, but Tom reassured everyone that yes, you can waterski in a circle when necessary, and he hopes to do so again next summer.  $100.

 

Bob Lawrence failed to sign in.  $2

 

President Joyce Loveday was given kudos for being the first club president in recent memory to make it this far into her year without screwing up her duties somehow, such as starting the meeting late.  It was subsequently noted that she had an accomplice in this string of competent performances, namely program coordinator Tom McClellan, who has been informing Joyce of the precise time so that she can ring the bell at exactly 1230.  Tom asserted that he had been offering these services to each of the last several club presidents, none of whom rose in Tom's defense, and not all of whom were as proficient as Joyce at taking such coaching.  General Ed opined that this practice was cutting into his expected level of profits from presidential missteps, and thus Tom was fined $5 and Joyce $2 for being too good. 

 

No discussion was offered about Air Force pilots who hit the green light on an airborne jump early or late, putting paratroopers into the trees or the water.  Hmmmm.  Evidently now punctuality is a flaw.  So is lack of punctuality.  Now you know the rules. 

 

 

 

Craig Kenworthy is the executive director of the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency.  His agency was formed by the agreements of 4 counties to come together into one regional agency.  www.pscleanair.org.

 

The agency's goal is "Clean healthy air for everyone, everywhere, all the time."

 

The EPA sets defined limits for 6 named pollutants.  The biggest problem in our area is from "fine particulates".  Pierce County did not meet the 24-hour standard for this item in 2012, and that resulted in mandatory action to address the issue.  As a result, there is a new rule mandating use of wood stoves that are EPA certified.  Uncertified stoves must be removed.  You have until tomorrow. 

 

Sources of wintertime fine particulate pollution in our area are:

 

53% wood smoke

20% gasoline engine exhaust

10% industrial

5%  diesel vehicle exhaust

5%  sea salt

4%  ships

2%  dust

1%  fireworks

 

Problematic air quality is concentrated in a corridor from Enumclaw to Eatonville.  But those particles originate in the more urban areas and then drift there.  If PSCA fails to act after a non-attainment of goal levels, it could risk our area's highway funding. 

 

 

Bryan Christensen had the winning ticket, but failed to draw an ace.