Dave Coleman gave the invocation, while Tony "The Retired" Robinson led us in the pledge to our flag. It was then that El Presidente acknowledged the behind the scenes help: Sgt at Arms Bill Young, Paul Harris Desk Gary Fulton, and bulletin writer Dave Sclair. Except it wasn't Dave Sclair. It was and is Greg Rediske. But it was supposed to be John Magnuson, if you must know. It seems Ole played golf with Rediske, and put a wager on the game: If Magnuson won, then Rediske would write the bulletin. And if Rediske won, then Rediske would write the bulletin. Let this be a lesson to all of you: gambling does not pay.
Visitors: Dave Barkley from Sumner, Amy Goings from Tacoma South, Georgene Mellom from CP (PE); and Steve Enquist (guest of Greg Rediske, looking at service clubs in the area to possibly join), Ron Lucas (Mayor of Steilacoom, guest of Dave Sclair), and Cathleen (guest of GayleSelden).
Also paying us a visit was the Head Puffin, John Korsmo, whose infrequent attendance has apparently earned the ire of the sensitive President. John responded by lambasting Jim Bisceglia, who apparently was a little faster on the bidding sheet at the last auction, "stealing" from John a pole and reel he wanted. Jim so appreciated bugging John all this time that he volunteered to give it to John, thinking the whining must finally come to an end.
Sunshine Report: Dave Reames underwent successful 4-way bypass surgery at St. Joseph's Hospital Friday. From Dave Sclair's Saturday email: "According to Morris Northcutt, Dave is incredibly tough, brave and in good spirits. Continue to keep Dave and Barb in your thoughts and prayers." Larry Faulk continues to recover from surgery. Ann Tremaine's memorial service is at 2 pm on Saturday, October 24 at Little Church on the Prairie.
Presidential Musings: Given that 40 Rotarians or so were socializing at Rick Selden's 50th Annivesary party for Ed Selden Floor Covering, King Greg proclaimed it an official makeup. GayleSelden presented Greg with leftovers, certain that Greg would need it desperately, as Mary is out of town. And after all that: no fine for Rick. Or Gayle.......Bill Young was recognized for leading the way on raffle tickets: $900 plus turned in, with another $100 or so committed. Don't even think of trying to sell tickets at Burs or CP Rotary: Bill has cleaned them out......Stephanie Walsh vacationed in Zihuatenjo, Mexico, and endured beach massages by Pedro, while husband Greg received similar attention from Maria. $30....Georgene Mellom took President Horn's son drinking at the Marriott in New York City, and paid $10 for the pleasure, while pointing out that CP Rotary has their big Capri Night coming up: $125 per slot, each slot a guaranteed winner.
Educators of the Month: Tony "The Retired" Robinson presented Julie Nixon from Pioneer (6th grade teacher) and Deborah Hansen from Lake Louise Elementary. Both were clearly excellent subjects for the award. Thanks to Tony and his committee for all of their work in this very, very worthy endeavor.
Birthday Tidings:
Morris Northcutt put lips to mouthpiece for another song to celebrate October birthdays. And then came the tests: our lucky birthday boys and girls were required to identify the facts that occurred on their birthday, and receive a 25% discount. As Stephanie Walsh pointed out when she missed the Apollo splash down fact from her birth day: "I wasn't that aware what was going on at the time." Or words to that effect. Terry Fung missed the rise of the first elected Socialist to power, Allende in Chile. Joe Ghilarducci missed the original release date of SNOW WHITE, Uther Gruggett didn't remember that King Tut's tomb was discovered during his initial introduction to the world, Richard Simmons didn't know that Jesse Helms shared his birthday, and Gordon Quick seemed blissfully unaware that Al Capone's sentencing took place during his birth year. I think they all paid between $5 and $10, though who can be sure. (Amatuer reporters can't be expected to do much research. Who needs facts when you can make stuff up?) And WardFletcher felt bad at missing his birthday celebration last month, and ponied up some money. Again, an unknown amount. If you're going to be a lousy reporter, be consistant about it.
Speaker: Daniel Malarkey, Deputy Director Commerical Trade and Economic Development for Washington State's Department of Commerce, has been on the job but six weeks----which is probably how he drew the short straw and got to present the state of business in Washington to our group. He first started by asking of us who were in business, who were in government jobs, and who worked with non-profits. As regards working for non-profits, Rick Selden volunteered, "this year." 120,000 jobs were lost in Q4, though there were 400,000 new jobs started as well (meaning, I presume, that a total of 520,000 jobs were lost). Things are toughest in the rural areas. As bad as it may seem, Washington is actually in the top 10 for income per job, job growth, money/job growth and low poverty rate. The Department had seven meetings across the state, speaking with over 1000 people, and used this input to formulate their focus: 1. Foster the state's innovation, and competitiveness; 2. Be advocates for education and workforce training; 3. Be advocates for efficient regulation; 4. Work toward infrastructure investment. Questions from the crowd were critical of the Dept of L&I, prompting Daniel to remark that he has something to go back and work on.
Drawing:
Mark Blanchard won the opportunity to search in the blue bag for the red chip and win $838. He failed miserably, and received a $5 stipend for his efforts. And the Pot grows.
NEXT WEEK: Our exhange student, Anatole Verhaeghe, will speak about France, his impressions so far here, and anything else he deems fit. It will be great!
 And also next week: A mystery president. We know it will be someone with experience, as he/she was previously president of this group. We presume this person won't have an airhorn. We can further presume that this experienced person won't get into a matching fine game with Mike McGowan. And I'm guessing this person is very scary, as President Horn (gone to a funeral) won't tell us who it is for fear of having an empty room. I know what you're thinking: if he's scary, that must mean Magnuson. But he's in Hawaii, so it's someone else. There's about 20 potential candidates.
And also next week: After the regular meeting (1:30) is a tune-up meeting for new members. Veteran Lakewood Rotarians will be on hand to address any confusion the newbies may have, by further confusing them. But the intent will be good. Newer members: show up with questions, or just show up and be entertained.
And as Columbo used to say: Oh, and one more thing.....THE RAFFLE! Bill Young has discovered how easy this is: $1000 in sales in one week. The great prizes and the fact that it's for IB are a slam dunk. Not sure how to answer questions about IB? Here's what they say they are: "The International Baccalaureate® (IB) offers high quality programmes of international education to a worldwide community of schools. There are more than 752,000 IB students at 2,729 schools in 138 countries." Lakewood Rotary chose this major project after hundreds and hundreds of hours of research and marketing. The Club authorized the spending of $150,000 over 5 years, to help with the start up costs for the Clover Park School District. The program is a challenging one, designed to push our best students and inspire others, while making our teachers better at what they do, too. CP has chosen to start with the middle school program, and it is in place this year at Harrison Prep. If all goes well, this program will do a lot to influence the improvement of our school district and our community. Lofty goals, indeed, but reachable.
This is the first fund raiser we have used for this major project, as we needed to confirm that the program would indeed be adopted by the District. Now we need to pay for it!
A guy named Joe finds himself in dire trouble. His business has gone bust and he's in serious financial trouble. He's so desperate he decides to ask God for help. He begins to pray... "God, please help me. I've lost my business and if I don't get some money, I'm going to lose my house as well. Please let me win the 2006 Lakewood Rotary Raffle."
The 2006 drawing comes and....somebody else wins it.
Next year, Joe again prays...
"God, please let me win the 2007 Rotary Raffle! I've lost my business, my house and I'm going to lose my car as well. Plus, I need a vacation!"
The 2007 drawing for the Rotary Raffle comes and Joe still has no luck.
Once again, two years later, after having no raffle in 2008, Lakewood Rotary has another raffle, and he prays...
"My God, why have you forsaken me?? I've lost my business, my house, and my car. My wife and children are starving. And I still haven't taken a vacation! I don't often ask you for help and I have always been a good servant to you. PLEASE just let me win the 2009 Lakewood Rotary Raffle so I can get my life back in order."
Suddenly there is a blinding flash of light as the heavens open and Joe is confronted by the voice of God Himself:
"Joe, meet Me halfway on this. Buy a ticket."
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