Dr. Michael Mallahan, from the Rotary Club of Mill Creek, and fellow audiologist of our own Laura Day, has for more than ten years served the children in Guatemala with Healing the Children, providing hearing aid services due to the large number of hearing impaired children in the country. His presentation told the story of Alejandra a young child whose parents noticed she would not respond to loud sounds.  Her parents saved three months of their salary to take her to the city where she was diagnosed as being deaf. At age eight her parents learned a team from Healing the Children was in the country to see children with medical issues. With over 100 families in line it took all day to be seen but once seen she was able to receive a hearing aid allowing her to hear for the first time.  Now at age 18 she is doing well and in college despite the major challenges of not hearing until after her earliest years. . 

Even with the action of many volunteers the services of Healing the Children trips are costly.  Hearing aids, even at the discounted price, cost about $250 each and over 1,400 hearing aids have been provided in Guatemala over the last ten years. The Mill Creek Rotary Club has applied for a Rotary International and District Matching Grant.  After his presentation, in a surprise to Michael, the Rotary Club of Gig Harbor- Midday presented him with a check for $500 in support of Healing the Children.

Scott announced he has commitments for all 38 foursomes for the annual charity golf tournament but not have all paid.  It is only when all teams have paid that he will declare the event sold out.  Scott is anticipating the event will sell out in the next few weeks.  If anyone has a team that wants to be in this fabulous tournament, turn in the fully paid application to Scott quickly.  Cheri told us Golferitaville is still in need of raffle prizes and she distributed the wish list of needed prizes.  We are looking to continue the practice of having over $10,000 of raffle prizes, so please help and contact Cheri with prizes or cash donations.

Joe Flach presented a check for $750 to the Northwest Spay & Neuter Center (formerly known as Coalition Humane Spay & Neuter Clinic).The center provides affordable spay & neutering, helping to save animal lives through prevention. The funds for this contribution were from proceeds from  the annual charity dog walk, Harbor Hounds.

Gig Harbor Rotary Club - Midday presented a $6,000 check to Tami McDaniel, Development Director, Harbor History Museum, as a continuation of the club’s five year commitment to contribute $25,000.  Tami, on accepting the check, was thankful for the great community support in making the dream of a museum a success.  Since opening in 2010 the Museum has had in excess of 30,000 guests.

Our club will celebrate yet another year on June 26^th at the 11^th Annual Installation Dinner and Awards Event, Hawaiian Style! This year, ‘Ohana Harbor Coffee, right at the foot of Peacock Hill has graciously offered the use of its corporate headquarters in their beautiful “lodge style” compound.  The site includes an outside deck with a fire pit and view of the Harbor.  There couldn’t be a better place to celebrate and do RSVP to nrimel@hotmail.com.     

5:30 Cocktails, Appetizers and Live Music 

6:15 Catered Island Harbor BBQ Dinner, Island Dessert and ‘Ohana Kona Coffee

7:30-8:00  MC President Scott, of course, with presentations/awards and passing of the gavel

Attire: Hawaiian, $10.00 for guests/no cost for Members

Reminder, all Rotarians are encouraged to meet June 22^nd at 8:30 am at the Kimball Drive Park and Ride lot to assist with the cleanup.  Only children over the age of 15 are allowed to participate. With a good turnout it should take about an hour.  To insure a good turnout, Joe has offered to buy breakfast for all members who show up at 7:30 am at the Harvester restaurant

Joe was pleased to announce the use of the display case at City Hall to showcase Harbor Hounds, thanks to the fantastic job done by Gunda. He also noted that Harbor Hounds is still looking for more sponsors.

Gabby has had a busy time since her last club update.  She attended a couple of Rainers and Mariners baseball games and went to her last exchange student conference.  The conference was a mix for her of being happy to see her fellow exchange students, yet sad knowing it would be the last time she would see some them. Visiting the students from Europe will be hard, as Gabby noted the very high cost of flights to Europe from Chile. Gabby has recently visited other Rotary Club meetings and clearly concluded our club was the best club. 

Gabby had what she referred to as the ultimate American experience with the prom. She felt like a princess with her gown and the flowers and had a great time. It has been ten months since Gabby was home, so it will be a big event this week when Gabby’s parents will be visiting from Chile. A reception is planned for Tuesday evening at Nancy and Bill’s house on Fox Island, and her parents will be attending our regular lunch meeting next week.  RSVP to Nancy if you plan to attend the reception.  

Exchange student, Gabby and Gig Harbor High School Interact advisor Stephanie Sagle proudly announced that out of more than 40 Interact clubs throughout Rotary District 5020, our club was awarded, on behalf of the Gig Harbor High School Interact Club, the District’s first award as Outstanding Interact Club.  The Interact Club sponsored by the Rotary Club of Gig Harbor Midday won this award for “Actively Working Peace through Service”.  Congratulations to the Interact members and their advisors for a job well done.  All are welcome, Thursday, June 12^th at 7:45 am at Gig Harbor High School where the award will be presented to the Interact Club.

All club members are asked to help obtain raffle prizes for Harbor Hounds and Golferitaville.  Harbor Hounds needs a single large item to encourage dog walkers to register for the charity walk, as only registered walkers can win the raffle prize.   Golferitaville uses as many prizes as possible to raise more funds at the event.  It was noted that service prizes do very well, e.g. a dinner cooked at your home or the use of a vacation condo.  See Cheri or Joe with any items you may be willing to contribute.

Jannae Mitton and Joe Flach met with the Gig Harbor City and scheduled the clean-up of Kimble Drive.  All Rotarians are encouraged to meet June 22^nd at 8:30 am at the Park and Ride lot to work the clean up.  With a good turnout it should take about an hour.  Joe has offered to buy breakfast for all members who show up at 7:30 am at the Harvester restaurant to insure a good turn out

Scott said he was not counting, but today’s meeting was his last Club Assembly and he has only two more meetings after today before he turns over the gavel to President Elect Joe.  His smile was very noticeable.  The meeting today was a club assembly with the focus on finishing the year strong.  Each committee met for the second half of the meeting looking at possible uses for any year end funds. 

Rotarian Denny talking to the 1st grade class at Sydney Glen Elementary near Port Orchard. They are studying Africa.

Ms. Whitmarsh gave a very passionate presentation about being a female videographer in a male dominated field and spoke of her passion for India. She showed an eight minute take from a recent film produced for Empowering Spinal Cord Injured Persons, “ESCIP”, and entitled More Than Walking. The film is an award-winning short film: a quadriplegic college student returns to India to tell the inspiring stories of four of his quadriplegic friends. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ou8_BbgPosk

Her artist statement notes “her passion in art and in life is to capture the essence of people, to discover the dignity and glory that exists in all of humanity, and to bring that essence into the public sphere where it may be appreciated.”  The film, More than Walking is clearly is an example of this passion.

This first generation Mexican-American growing up with many challenges has developed interest in the plight of the disabled men and women in India and through the lens of photography she shares it with others though her filmmaking. 

Thank you Karina for your good work and your giving and caring passion for others.  You would make a good Rotarian. 

Club President Scott Bush presented a check to Denny Wilford, on behalf of the Denny Wilford Foundation, to fund the new Hydrotherapy Pool at Cheshire House.  The Cheshire House is home to about 40 children at a time, ages 6-16, in various stages of polio rehabilitation.  Operated by the Leonard Cheshire Disability Foundation for more than 40 years, Cheshire House offers post-op medical care, as well as physical and emotional rehabilitation, to children who are on-site from several weeks to several months following surgery.  Since opening, Cheshire House has housed and helped more than 30,000 Ethiopian children with polio. The Hydrotherapy Pool project is the first Rotary project to ever to be done at this facility, even though it has been in operation for 40 years.  Swimming pool therapy is a prime therapy for children and adults with disabilities, but swimming pools are virtually unheard of in the area.  By bringing hydro-therapy to Cheshire House, many children and adults alike will have a vital new tool to help with both their physical and emotional recovery.

Four scholarships were presented to local seniors on behalf of the Rotary Club of Gig Harbor Midday.  Mary Gorman announced the presentation of to the two seniors at Gig Harbor High School who were awarded the scholarships based on their considerable service to the community.  Tawnee Guinn, active with the Interact and student of the month and principal volunteer for the Gig Harbor Basket Brigade, and Andrew Piacitelli, who in addition to an impressive record of sports and academics, had hundreds of hours of community service at Franciscan Health Systems, NW furniture Bank and a Mexican Mission. Other scholarships were awarded to Lily Shkarina at Peninsula High School and Skye Bible at Henderson High.

Surayia Rahman tapestry: "The Colonial Times"

A Gig Harbor couple was so inspired by a woman in Bangladesh who helped give women a lift in life through tapestries that they are producing a documentary film about her.

Cathy Stevulak and Leonard Hill spoke to the Midday Rotary Club on Tuesday, May 21, about the legacy that Surayia Rahman has left in Bangladesh, a heavily populated country on India's east border.

Stevulak and Hill explained that Bangladesh has 160 million people in an area much smaller than Washington state. The film, now being produced, shows how the work of Rahman helped inspire women to produce detailed, artistic tapestries that tell a story. First, the design is traced on the cloth, and then the women stitch the designs.

Rahman was a self-trained  artist who guided hundreds of underprivileged women in Bangladesh to create masterworks. The embroidered nakshi kantha tapestries have been given to dignitaries and are admired in collections throughout the world.

Prior to the early 1980s, there were not many work opportunities for the women of Bangladesh, Stevulak said. The garment industry has expanded widely since then, getting women out of the house and into the work force. The artisan industry also has given women a boost.

For more information on Stevulak and Hill’s effort to honor Rahman with the film, see their Website at: http://kanthathreads.com/

In another matter at Tuesday’s meeting, Midday President Scott Bush asked Rotarians for a show of hands on those planning to golf in Golferitaville on July 19 or put together teams. Several hands were raised. He also urged more sponsorships for the annual Midday  Club-sponsored event and donations of raffle prizes. The suggestion was made to go door-to-door to Gig Harbor businesses requesting prizes.

New Member, Clyde McDade, began his talk expressing his appreciation for Rotary and the fact that members are “givers”. He was impressed by the work the club does and the Denny Wolford Foundation’s work.  Growing up in the inner-city of Seattle, his background was a mother on drugs and brothers in gangs.  His younger years were dominated with “takers” and hatred. However, his mother did teach him that the way out of a poor situation was education. Clyde had a love for books, writing and libraries.  Clyde used his education to move out of that poor situation and now lives in Auburn working in Gig Harbor for Peninsular Gateway as a Multimedia Consultant and has one young son and two older boys.  Clyde enjoys singing Christian Rap. Welcome to the Rotary Club Clyde. Your classification talk was especially heartwarming in hearing your story of making a major change in your situation. We appreciate getting to know you. 

New member, Bob, gave his classification talk (with his shirt on) and giving a plug for CASA. We learned that Bob grew up in a small town in Iowa with less than 3,000 people and only 27 students in his high school class.  Getting an education was not the norm in his family, with over 20 uncles and aunts, only three of which graduated high school. As a student the only people he knew who were educated were the teachers, yet Bob wanted an education. He went to the University of Iowa on grants and loans to earn a BA and MA and became a high school journalism teacher for ten years.  Bob continued a history of public service including years in the Iowa Legislature and as the State Lieutenant Governor.  He left political life the “old fashioned way” by losing an election. Next, he was a founder and executive director of the Iowa Peace Institute. He created the IRIS, Inc. (Iowa Resource for International Service) in 1993. Those organizations have brought more than 800 people from the former Soviet Union, Central Europe, Asia and Africa to Iowa and have organized travel by Iowa leaders to those parts of the world. IRIS arranged for more than 400 high school students from Nigeria and Tanzania to spend a cold winter attending Iowa high schools through the Youth Education and Study (YES) program.

Bob came to Gig Harbor to be closer to his grandchildren and has become active in many local organizations, including CASA and now Rotary. He has become involved in the Interact Club and recently agreed to be the club’s new Youth Protection Officer.  Thank you Bob for all your service and humanitarian work.  You are a welcome addition to the Rotary Club of Gig Harbor- Midday.

Scott Hall proudly presented Dave Stave a pin with a Sapphire stone representing Multiple PHF donations.  Dave encouraged others to donate as he did, online or through the club’s quarterly billing.

Four members of the Interact Club joined us for lunch and sold tickets to their upcoming car wash fundraiser. Proceeds with go towards the Denny Wilford Foundation.  Please mark Saturday, May 18th, 10 am to 1Pm as the day your filthy car will finally meet its match.  $5 donations are suggested for the wash.  The Interact advisor complimented the students who now number 55, up from only 7 a few years ago and have an average GPA of 3.6.  WOW impressive!

The table question for today was unique in that each table was told to ask the next table a question for them to address. A wide range of questions were asked and even stranger answers were given.  One example of was “what did you do as a crazy teenager?”  We learned that Nancy experienced sliding down a hotel laundry chute only to be met by the local police. 

Scott gave a brief summary of the golfer’s experience at Golferitaville. Being a golfer at the annual fund raiser, Scott credited it as a key reason that he joined Rotary.  After experiencing the tournament he came to lunch and got involved in the club to the point that he is now the club President. Golferitaville is noted as the premium charity tournament in the South Sound, where players get hands down the best time dollar for dollar.  In addition to great prices, the event offers many extras including a putting contest, activities at each golf tee or hole, adult beverages and more.  Scott is responsible for getting the golfers and is willing to help club members sign up others to play in the tournament.  

The installation Dinner is now planned for June 24^th or 26^th to insure Scott is able to attend. The members voted in favor of having the event at Babich-Pond Net Shed at 2700 Harborview Drive past the Green Turtle Restaurant.  There is enough money in the budget to cover the cost of the event and the planning committee will be finalizing plans and will announce the details in the coming weeks.

Dick Bennison owner of Rainier Collision was installed as a new member of the club Tuesday.  Dick is a local Gig Harbor Business owner and also lives in Gig Harbor.  Welcome to the club Dick

Cheri Johnson was today’s presenter with a good overview of Golferitaville, the annual premier charity golf tournament.  Planning is well under way with opportunities for members to get involved  supporting this important fundraiser.  Cheri told us that Comcast with be the naming sponsor this year and other sponsors have been signed up.  There is still room for more sponsors and also golf foursomes.  For more information on being a sponsor or a golfer see www.golferitaville.com

Joe updated the club on the new sponsor for the annual charity walk.  He proudly announced we have secured a Presenting Sponsor for this year's event, New Tacoma Cemeteries and Funeral Home with a Pet Memorial Park.  Joe gave a big shout out thank you to Carrot Stick Marketing for their creative work on this year's logo.  It is a dog walk and we are never sure if it is the owner walking the dog or the dog walking the owner.

After several weeks of not updating the club, Gabby listed many things she has been up to. She did tell us she has moved from Mary’s house to Ralph’s.  She is enjoying the opportunity to be a big sister to Ralph’s children who are seven and ten.  At home in Chile she was always the youngest child and now is enjoying the experience of being the oldest.  Gabby’s parents will be visiting her here in June and she is looking for recommendations for things to do with her parents.  Both her mother and father are Rotarians and will be joining us for the weekly Tuesday lunch.  Gabby told us her father speaks English whereas her mother does not.

President Scott informed the Club that Mark Hoppen’sone man campaign to eliminate the hyphen in Midday from all Rotaryrecords continues. He has successfully convinced the Rotary District andRotary International to correctly spell Midday without a hyphen and nowwants to correct the club banner.  Mark presented Scott with a checkfor $250 to get the banner corrected.  Thank you Mark! 

In Get to Know Your Fellow Rotarian, Scott asked eachtable to come up with a list of three items they would take with them ona deserted island.  A majority of the members recommended practicalitems, including solar power and a boat or helicopter.   A couple of notso practical items included famous models of the opposite sex.  

Scott reminded the club of the June DistrictConference, encouraging more members to attend. The club also voted toconduct the Annual Installation dinner on Tuesday evening, June 25^th, replacing the normal meeting that day. More information will be forthcoming.

Scott announced the club’s need for a new YouthProtection Officer (YPO) replacing Lynne who has held the position forsix years.  It is import that the club has a trained member to performthe role as the club is actively involved with youth at many levels,including exchange students and Interact.  Anyone interested pleasecontact Scott or Lynne for more information.

Mel, Hillary and Dennis from the Gig Harbor Rotary Club gave an excellent presentation on their relatively new six week, 30 hour training course they conduct for the women inmates soon to be released from the local correction center.  This program, developed as part of the Rotary vocational Avenue of Service by the Morning Club, was the creation of Rotarian Buc with the support of various club members.  A comparable program is not longer offered by the State. The women, who have all been incarcerated for at least a year, learn skills on how to get and keep a job, including how to write a cover letter and resume, interviewing skills and networking.   Some of the women have never had a real job and learn how to write a thank you letter and practice with mock interviews. 

They showed a very informative ten minute video on the program with heartwarming stories of how meaningful the program is to the women and they  encourage more Rotarians to volunteer.  They are in need of more volunteers to meet the demand and provide training to prepare volunteers to administer the program.

Thank you and congratulations to the Rotary Club of Gig Harbor for this outstanding and valuable program, which is being nominated for a District vocational award.  Clearly Service above Self!

Joe encouraged ALL members to help bring in more sponsors for the two events.  Tri-fold brochures are available to hand to potential sponsors to explain the various sponsorship levels.   Cheri informed the club that next week’s program will be Golferitaville briefing.  

Chloe’s Mother and Grandmother joined her at today’s luncheon to recognize her success and where she was presented with her Certificate of Achievement. A senior at Gig Harbor High School, Miss Bethke maintains a 3.4 grade point average. She is involved with the Gig Harbor High School Key Club, the Chapel Hill Soar Club, American Sign Language Club, DECA, is a Humane Society Volunteer, Camp Coleman Counselor, and she is involved in dance and ballet. Chloe has also been awarded the Student of Distinction Award from the Peninsula Gateway for overcoming adversity. Her senor project was learning to sew crib quilts for expectant mothers and mentoring other novice seamstresses along the way.

After two weeks away, President Scott was excited to be back leading today’s Club meeting. The question of “where in the world was Scott?” was quickly answered by a fellow Rotarian who Scott had just told he had been in Dallas.  After Scott bragged about being able to stay on the mechanical bull for the full eight seconds, a voice from the club, Treasurer Phil, asked if they turned the bull on.  Scott declared it was on but admitted it was not on the high speed.

Scott shared a recent email and pictures he received from former club member, Mike Williams, who is on his mission trip to the Vanuatu Jslands in the South Pacific Ocean.  Mike’s pictures showed an ambulance and other items with the Rotary Wheel being donated around the islands.  Mike will soon be moving islands to Ambae which is the island visible on the horizon from Espiritu Santo Island, where James A. Michener was stationed in World War II. Michener is the author of Tales of the South Pacific which is the basis for the musical South Pacific.

President Scott reminds the club we need to plan for the late June Installation dinner of Joe.  The committee of Virginia, Nancy and Cindy welcome club members to recommend a location to hold the dinner.  It will be one of the last two weekends in June, in time for the July 1^st new Rotary  year.

Council on Legislation approves dues increase

Representatives at the 2013 Council on Legislation on Wednesday approved a US$1-a-year increase in per capita dues that clubs pay to Rotary International, starting in 2014-15.

The increase was proposed by the RI Board of Directors based on a five-year financial forecast presented to the Board last week and shared with delegates on Sunday. According to the forecast, if there were no dues increase, RI’s deficit would grow to $9 million in 2018 and reduce the General Surplus Fund below the level required in the RI Bylaws.

With the dues increase, the deficit will fall to $5 million in 2018, according to the forecast, and the surplus fund will then stand at $88 million, above the mandated level.

Supporters of the dues increase maintain that it will be sufficient to keep pace with inflation without necessitating cutbacks in service. Dues are the primary source of funding for Rotary’s operations.

The Council action raises Rotary clubs’ annual per capita dues paid to RI to $54 in 2014-15, $55 in 2015-16, and $56 in 2016-17. Dues for 2013-14 are $53, and they have increased $1 a year for the past three years.

Delegates from Rotary’s 532 districts are meeting in Chicago 21-26 April to consider 174 proposals submitted by Rotary clubs, districts, and the Board of Directors — for changes to the policies that govern Rotary International and its clubs. The council is held every three years.

In other action this week, delegates:

• Approved a measure Thursday creating the office of vice governor, who would fill in if the governor becomes unable to serve. The vice governor would be selected by the district's nominating committee from among the district's past governors. 
• Increased the number of clubs that can take part in pilot projects to 1,000, up from the previous limit of 200. The RI Board uses pilot projects, which last for up to six years, to test new ideas, methods, and organizational frameworks for clubs. Pilot clubs that take part in these experiments are fully functioning Rotary clubs that are exempt from some requirements in the Standard Rotary Club Constitution. 
• Approved a measure allowing Rotarians outside the United States and Canada to receive an electronic version of their official Rotary regional magazine, if one is available. Rotarians within the United States and Canada were allowed the option of receiving a digital version of The Rotarian by the 2010 Council. 
• Approved changing the name of Rotary’s Fifth Avenue of Service, currently called New Generations, to Youth Service. The 2010 Council on Legislation approved this avenue of service for youth, which joined Rotary’s Four Avenues of Service (Club, Vocational, Community, and International). The name New Generations was meant to reflect the need to build up the next generation of Rotarians, but proponents of the name change argued on Wednesday that the word “youth” is more universally understood, both inside and outside Rotary, and clarifies the fact that these programs encourage Rotarians to empower youth.
• Approved allowing a district to have an unlimited number of e-clubs, removing a previous restriction of two e-clubs per district. E-clubs meet electronically, conduct service projects, and sometimes also hold in-person meetings. 
• Approved a measure, aimed at increasing membership, that provides for satellite clubs, whose members meet at a different time and location from their parent club but who are also considered members of the parent club.
• Approved a measure allowing participation in club projects to count toward club attendance requirements. The measure amends the Standard Rotary Club Constitution to provide that a member must attend or make up at least 50 percent of club regular meetings or engage in club projects for at least 12 hours in each half of the year, or a combination of both.
• Removed the travel reimbursement policy from the RI Bylaws. This will enable the RI Board of Directors to develop a policy that is flexible, able to address emergency travel situations, and able to take advantage of cost-saving opportunities.
• Defeated two measures that would have allowed clubs to meet less frequently. The delegates also rejected a measure that would have allowed a club to cancel six regular meetings a year instead of four, for holidays, the death of a club member, disasters, or other emergencies.

Get vote totals and download proposed legislation . Watch a video of delegates talking about the process and read updates all week on www.rotary.org . Follow the Council on Twitter at #col13

Jennifer Kilmer, Executive Director, Washington State Historical Society, and past Gig Harbor Midday Rotarian was the speaker today.  Jennifer gave an outstanding and fun talk about the Historical Society. She has been working there for about 18 months since leaving her post as executive director of the Gig Harbor History Museum.  We learned that the State Historical Society is funded two thirds by state money and one third by revenue and fees it earns, resulting in it being both a state organization and a non-profit. 

The State Historical Society has three main physical locations:

1.     Washington State History Museum.  Located in the heart of Tacoma's Museum District, the Washington State History Museum brings history to life through multimedia presentations, interactive exhibits, walk-through dioramas, and oral histories of life in the Evergreen State.

2.     State Capital Museum and Outreach Center. Housed in Olympia's Lord Mansion, it first opened as a museum in 1942. In addition to featuring exhibits documenting the political history and culture of Washington, the museum also serves as the home of the Heritage Resource Center, the Women's History Consortium, and the Washington History Day program.

The depth and breadth of the Society that Jennifer shared with us was impressive. A big part of the programs offered by the Society are developed to offer history knowledge for non-historians including its quarterly publication, COLUMBIA Magazine which has a rich, 20 year history of producing scholarly and entertaining issues capturing the essence of Northwest history through engaging prose and striking image.

The Society offers numerous educational programs including school field trips, History Boxes, COLUMBIAkids, and History Day.  History Day, a favorite of Jennifer,   through a state run competition introduces students to the exciting work of historians - detectives who delve into the past. Along the way, they develop research, analysis, presentation and social skills.  An impressive ten minute History Day video sample was shown to the club about the Seattle fire, surprising all that it was done by middle school students.

Jennifer concluded by sharing with us the upcoming featured exhibits:

·       Let’s Ride! Motorcycling the Northwest, a century of motorcycling as Northwesterners have experienced it.

·       IN THE SPIRIT an exhibit containing an exciting and diverse selection of contemporary Native American art representing many cultures, both traditional and innovative works.

·       Upcoming in August, Cooper, about the infamous hijacker DB Cooper.

·       Upcoming in September, David Douglas: A naturalist at work, who the Douglas firm is named after.

Wow, what a rich experience Jennifer shared with us about the Washington State Historical Society and how lucky the Society is to have her as their Executive Director.  Thank you Jennifer, you are always welcome to come back to your Rotary Club

Commissioner Bacon, who is completing her fourth four year term and will run again this year for a fifth term, gave a very informative talk about the Port of Tacoma.  In a show of hands very few members knew much about the Port.  She told us the Port is owned by Pierce County, has among its workers about 70 longshoremen who live in Gig Harbor, and is the economic engine of Pierce County. Even during the past recession the Port remained strong.  The publication the Commissioner handed out showed the very specific and quantifiable objectives that have been established for the Port.  Their plan is for the Port to remain a Gold Standard of all ports and rank in the top ten in the US. 

Thank you Commissioner Bacon for your service in leading our Port.

Golferitaville is having a “light” planning meeting after lunch on April 30^th; all interested should attend.

Joe gave an update on Harbor Hounds and is looking for all members to help “Hound the Harbor for Harbor Hounds” by getting more sponsors.  With the closing of Donkey Creek this year the route will be shortened to go only to Eddon Park.  See Joe if you want to help in planning Harbor Hounds.

Mary Gorman inducted new member, Bob Anderson, who was introduced to the club by Howard Svigals who “pinned” him.  Bob spoke briefly about his passion for preventing teen Suicides and building CASA, which align with current projects of Gig Harbor Interact and the Club’s recent contribution to Sue Brayton, recipient of the Rotary Club of Gig Harbor Midday Business Person of the Year Award.  Bob surprised Mary and club members by taking off his blue dress shirt to display a T-shirt supporting CASA.   Bob, who is an active volunteer, was a past Rotarian in Iowa and will be a great new member of the club.  Welcome Bob.

President-elect Joe Urvine filled in for President Scott, who was on Spring break with his family.  To encourage  getting to know our fellow Rotarians, Joe had each table talk about past momentous spring breaks.  Strong laughter was heard from various members sharing their past spring break experiences.  Scott was not the only Rotarian off on break as a smaller than usual crowd was at lunch.

Treasurer Phil made a quick announcement that he uses ClubRunner to send out the quarterly dues invoices but does not use it to apply payments. Therefore dues balances shown in ClubRunner are not correct. See Phil if you have a question about your dues payment

Spring Tart, a Make-A-Wish of Alaska and Washington volunteer, gave a very personal and heartwarming presentation about the Foundation.  She had the personal experience of being a 15 year old diagnosed with cancer and benefiting from a wish from the Make-a-Wish foundation. Spring and her family went on a very special week- long Caribbean cruise.  Her personal story gave us a real world example of the “power of a wish”.    The organization’s  mission is “We grant the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions to enrich the human experience with hope, strength and joy.”  Spring told us the ideal of hope, strength and joy is magic to a child suffering from a life threatening condition. Children’s wishes come in four basic types: 1, I want to go …, 2, I wish to have…, 3, I wish to meet …, and 4, I wish to be…..  It all began in 1980 with the simple dream of Chris, a boy from Phoenix, who wished to be a police officer for a day. Chris' friends and family made his wish possible, and after seeing the impact the wish had on him, his family and even the community, his friends formed the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Locally, since 1986, the foundation has granted 5,200 wishes with the support of 500 volunteers and grants more than 300 more wishes each year. 

Spring concluded with a request to get involved in this very worthwhile organization which is in need of more volunteers and donations.  More information can be found at  http://www.makeawishwa.org.

Thank you Spring for sharing your story and your ongoing support for Make-a-Wish Foundation.

The Gig Harbor Rotary Morning club presented a check for $6,867 to support the Water Project-Quecchoch Caserio, Guatemala.  Led by the Rotary Club of Gig Harbor Midday, the funds raised were matched by funds from Rotary District 5020 and funds from the local club in Guatemala.  Denny’s Welford Foundation and others, including the Google Foundation also provided funding.  This is the 6^th water project the group has undertaken in the area.

President Scott’s Message

President Scott began the meeting showing a David Letterman show TV clip which demonstrated a silly human trick and asked each table to share their own silly trick with table mates as part of getting to know your fellow Rotarians.  Much laughter was heard as the silly tricks were shared, including  Gunda being able to balance a salt shaker over a full water glass with a folded paper bill.  Loud applause were given when she was successful in her second attempt.

Scott spent more time than he had expected getting the club to vote on potential new Rotary rules that will come up at the Rotary rule making forum.  The club’s voting on the various questions gave Scott the input he needed to pass on to our District Representative.  Reminder, the District Conference will be held May 31 to April 2 in Sidney BC.

Harbor Hounds & Golferitaville

Cheri, representing Golferitaville, and Joe, representing Harbor Hounds both requested help from club members in identifying sponsors for the two important club fundraisers.  Everyone in the club needs to help.

Community Service

Joe announced that he is moving forward to organize our efforts to clean Kimble Drive.  Joe will be meeting with town officials to receive training in how the club needs to undertake our responsibilities in keeping the drive clean.  President Scott encourages anyone interested in supporting the Courage Classic to attend the April 11^th kick-off meeting in Tacoma.  April 20^th is Gig Harbor Park appreciation day. The Rotary Club of Gig Harbor will be assisting the Gig Harbor Interact Club in their efforts to make certain a trail is ADA compliant. Contact Mary Gorman for more information.

Mary Gorman and Howard Svigals gave a briefing on the recent DLTA held in Victoria, BC. Both were very complimentary of the assembly and felt it was a worthwhile experience and highly encouraged others to attend in future years.  There were many more sessions they were interested in attending than time would allow.  In June the annual district conference with be held in Sidney, BC which should be an equally worthy conference to attend

Sue Brayton, recipient of the Rotary Club of Gig Harbor Midday Business Person of the Year Award and the recent Rotary Star Award was at lunch today to receive a check for her designated charity.  The award goes to the business person in the community who best demonstrates the Rotary motto of Service Above Self.  The short video produced for the Star Awards was shown at today’s meeting detailing Sue’s outstanding contributions to the community.  Sue is an active twenty-five year CASA volunteer and her myriad other volunteer efforts are truly amazing and well deserving of the award. She chose to give her check to Build CASA. CASA stands for Court Appointed Special Advocate. Build CASA, a 501(C) (3), supports CASA and the children who have been neglected or abused in Pierce County, WA. Bob Anderson, soon to be a new member of the club, was a founding member of Build CASA and was with Sue to receive the check.

Gabby shared her excitement at visiting Victoria, BC along with Mary Gorman and her fellow exchange student, for the Rotary DLTA two weeks ago.  Gabby told us she was very nervous before she gave a speech today in English class, but after completing the speech she was congratulated by her teacher and told by fellow students that she gave a better speech than some native English speakers.  She told us that Easter in Chile is much more a religious holiday than in the US. Going to church with Mary Gorman she did enjoy all the singing but missed eating the special chocolate eggs, one gets during a traditional Chilean Easter.   Gabby also enjoyed her first experience with April Fool’s day by surprising her sister in Chile with a wild story only to later tell her it was a April Fools.

Gig Harbor Midday Rotary Club’s February Student of the Month, Jessica Bylin, received her certificate today accompanied by her mother and sister. A senior at Gig Harbor High School, Miss Bylin maintains a 3.7 Grade point average. She is an officer of the Gig Harbor High School Interact club and has participated in TideFest, Harbor Hounds, Polio Car Wash, Etta bracelet fundraiser and the Basket Brigade. Jessica is also actively involved with sports (Cross Country and Track and Field varsity letters) and rec soccer for the past 11 years. She was awarded the WIAA Outstanding Scholastic Award during the GHHS Cross Country 2012 season. Jessica was also the RYLA participant in 2012. Jessica was recognized for her success and was presented with the Certificate of Achievement.

Karen Mckay Bevers and Tracy Peacock told us about the services of The American Red Cross which was created by Congress and although not funded by the government, exists to provide compassionate care to those in need.  They provide four key functions:

2.     Supporting America’s Military Families: helps military members, veterans and their families prepare for, cope with, and respond to the challenges of military service.

3.     Health and Safety Services: the nation’s leading provider of health and safety courses, such as CPR, First Aid and Lifeguard training. Each year, more than 9 million Americans participate in our training programs, including first responders, educators, babysitters, and people who want to be prepared to help others in an emergency.

4.     International Services: part of the world’s largest humanitarian network with 13 million volunteers in 187 countries.

They showed some very moving pictures of the impact of Super Storm Sandy and examples of other support services provided by the Red Cross, include helping to reconnect people around the world and a language bank to help translate and interpret in more than 70 languages to support non-profits and individuals. In closing, they encouraged all to be ready for a potential disaster by building a kit, making a plan and being informed.  A key message was that a small disaster can become big when you are not prepared. 

Club members appreciated hearing their message and the support they give to our community and around the world.

Amy Long, a close associate of Nancy Rimel, and a mother of a young daughter with Juvenile Diabetes, shared a touching story about dealing with her four year old daughter, Megan, who has the autoimmune disease. Type 1 diabetes occurs when the body's own immune system destroys the insulin-producing cells of the pancreas.  Amy is raising money via "Megan's Team," at the 2013 JDRF Walk May 11, 9-12 at Cheney Stadium in Tacoma, WA.  It is a stroller friendly walk that starts and ends at Cheney Stadium.  Amy’s team is made up of friends and family who are helping raise money to fund a cure and support this family with 3 generations of diabetics ranging from Megan (4), Amy (38), Mike Jr. (43), and Mike Sr. (62).  After raising $8,700 last year, their goal this year is $10,000!  A brief video about their struggle living with the disease, and starring Megan, was shown https://vimeo.com/53960984 .  The Rotary Club of Gig Harbor Midday passed the basket and collected nearly $300 to support the cause.  You can Join the walk or make further contributions to her walking team via the web site http://www2.jdrf.org/goto/mteam.

Cheri Johnson announced the kickoff of the planning for Golferitaville, the greatest charity golf tournament. She is looking for club members to sign up for the several committees.  The committees each need about three members to share the responsibilities and help plan the most profitable tournament ever. 

Scott announced he has met his 2013 personal goal of losing 40 pounds in 12 weeks.  A voice from the club thinks his next goal will be to buy new clothes to better fit his svelte figure.

Rotary Club of Gig Harbor Midday outbound students gives us an update on her Rotary Exchange Student experience:

I have lived in Thailand for seven months. Writing this doesn’t even feel real. It still hasn’t even set in. How am I supposed to describe these past months of my exchange? Well, I could tell you the things every exchange student would say; this year has been the best year of my life, it’s been unforgettable, too short and life-changing. These things are all true but they don’t necessarily describe what I’ve been through and what I’ve accomplished on exchange. So I guess my exchange has been indescribable. But I’m going to try to explain at least some of it.

Well, I’m proud to say that I’ve met a lot of people from many countries. Many of which are exchange students, but some I just meet on the street. Yes, I do know not to talk to strangers but when you are walking down the street and haven’t seen a non-Thai person in a month, you go up and talk to them. At the beginning of the year, I would’ve been afraid to walk up and talk to somebody or try new and scary things, but now, I literally don’t have any fears. I’ve tried new foods like bugs, baby squid, different types of fish, parts of duck, and I accidentally tried pigs’ blood once. I’ve pet tigers, ridden elephants and seen spiders the size of my face. You can say that it’s been an exotic year.

But I think what I’m proud of the most is that I can say that I found myself this year. Living in a new culture and society gives one an opportunity to figure out what one’s character is and I subconsciously took that opportunity, and I’m glad I did. I know that I’m braver, stronger and more confident than I could have ever imagined.

It’s been seven months and I just can’t believe that I only have four months left in Thailand; actually it kills me that I don’t have more time! There are so many more places I want to see and things to do! How about Rotary does a two year exchange?

Report from South Pacific

Hi Scott,

Just thought I would write and say hi to the Rotarians in Gig Harbor. We've been pretty busy here doing financial audits of the churches here in Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands. We have also traveled to some of the outer islands of Vanuatu and seen some beautiful scenery. The people here are very friendly and we love it. We have nice accommodations here in Port Vila but some of the places we have stayed in our travels have been pretty primitive. There are other missionary couples here from America that we get to associate with and they are busy with their humanitarian projects. One couple travels all over evaluating sites for water collection systems and then coordinates efforts for the installation. Anot her works with young people to help them get a secondary and college education funded by a program through the church. Public education here is provided only through the 6th grade, there are others that work with hygiene education, providing prosthetics for people who have lost their legs, and help in building new church buildings. It's pretty impressive to see the resources that the church pours into these areas. There is a Rotary club here and they too do a lot of humanitarian work locally such as providing hospital equipment or building a youth center. I haven't been able to attend a Rotary meeting here yet with all the travel we have been doing but plan to do so. I met a lady from Australia who belongs to the club on Guadalcanal. They have an evening meeting.

We leave next week for another of the remote islands and after that will go to New Caledonia which is French speaking and much less third world. I am attaching a few pictures showing the contrast of meeting houses and also some WWII relics from Guadalcanal in the Solomons. Give my best to everyone.

Mike

Joe Urvina, the President-elect shared with the club his excitement about being a member of Rotary and addressed the three key issues that will be a focus of his upcoming presidential year. 

The first area is an increased emphasis on public image so others in the community know what we are doing and the good work performed by Rotary.  Continuing to grow our presence on social media and publicity around  our major events will help increase Rotary’s public image.

The second area is an expanded understanding by the club of the availability and use of grants from Rotary International. 

And the third area is  growing membership to strengthen the club.  The club is at 46 members including the addition of two new members today, with several new people interested in joining in the coming weeks.  Joe learned at the recent President Elect Training seminar that overall in Rotary only 15% of the members invite someone to join them at a meeting.   Joe is hopeful we will all share our enjoyment of Rotary with others and offer them a chance to become members. Rotary will sell itself with an understanding of the good work done by the club in many local causes such as the needy children on Key Peninsula, international projects in Ethiopia and Guatemala, and women inmates at the prison, to name only a few.   Membership growth would be amplified with expanded focus on retaining members, so we all need to be attentive to keeping everyone actively involved in the club with friendship and support. 

Joe’s inspiring presentation makes us all excited about the upcoming Rotary year which begins July 1^st. 

Two new members were inducted by Howard Svigals and President Scott Bush into the Rotary Club of Gig Harbor Midday today. Clyde McDale, Multimedia Consultant at The Peninsula Gateway, was sponsored by Darcy Brand.  Returning founding member, Patricia Scott, rejoined the club and was sponsored by Andy Ritting. Patricia, a former local principal, has recently moved back to Gig Harbor.  Welcome to Rotary, Clyde and Patricia.  We all look forward to the enrichment of our lives as well as that of your own, by your association in this, the world's oldest, largest and finest service organization. Congratulations!

Today the club was entertained by our special guest and Happy Talk Host, Al Abbott, President of the Rotary Club of Gig Harbor Morning, who joyfully worked the club for Happy Talk bucks wearing the special Happy Talk hat in place of his wife Virginia who was AWOL.  Thanks Al for doing a great job and wearing the hat.

Rotary Club of Gig Harbor exchange student, Gabby, updated the club on her current activities.  She is back to talking with friends and family in Chile which she had given up for the month of February.  Her best friend in Chile called at 12:01 March 1st to talk to her and she has also since talked to her mother. This past week she went to an international festival on Mercer Island where ASC and Rotary exchange students from the Seattle area were meeting.  Not knowing anyone at first, Gabby ended the day with many new friends and has plans to ask her father for a ticket to Europe for her next birthday so that she can visit all the friends she has met.  Gabby also began a glass art class, suffering a bloody cut on her finger. Because of her busy schedule she did not go to the hospital to have it checked out.  As of now it looked ok.

Al Abbott, Rotary Club of Gig Harbor Morning club President, invited  everyone to their 22^nd annual auction on April 6^th at the Gig Harbor Boys & Girls Club.  This is that club’s major fundraiser, which in the past earned them over $100,000 benefiting the causes and programs of their club. Many local restaurants will be participating in the Taste of Gig Harbor including Moctezuma’s, Morso, Tides, Gateway to India, Canterwood, Green House, Art House Cafe, Ohana Harbor Coffee and Sweet Melissa's.

Scott Hall updated the club members on the club’s status for this year’s Rotary Internationals EREY campaign.  The club is currently slightly behind in our run rate to hit the club commitment of more than $4,400.  Scott encouraged all members to help by contributing to the Rotary International Annual or Polio Plus funds.  Contributions can be made either via the clubs quarterly dues payment, by a check given to Scott, or directly on the web site http://www.rotary.org/en/Contribute

David Duea President and CEO of the non-profit HopeSparks spoke today.  HopeSparks was one of the first human service non-profit in Tacoma in 1895. They have been known by many names over the last 100-plus years, but their primary focus has remained unchanged: address the needs of people and families in the community with the intended outcome of long-term, positive change. David gave a brief overview of their four programs:

1.     Healing Hearts Counseling which provides the most crucial, preventative and accessible mental health care for children, teens, individual adults and families.

2.     Tacoma Learning Center Program which provides early intervention therapy and education support services for children ages 0-5 in their natural environment as well as clinic based services.

3.     Family Support Program which assists families with developing problem solving skills, parenting education, linking them with resources, encouraging ways to support their children in school.

4.     Relative’s Raising Children Program which keeps children with family members and connects them with community resources.  They help kinship caregivers provide children with the tools to become healthy, self-sufficient adults through a stable and loving home life.

Today we had Frederik Würtz Sørensen the Gig Harbor Rotary Club Morning exchange student spoke briefly to the club. Frederik is from Demark and goes to Peninsular High School and has become active in sports including American football, Track & Field and Rugby and is happy to be here in Gig Harbor. 

Nancy Rimel encouraged members to join her and other club members for a fund raising dinner on March 27^th at Joeseppi’s Italian restaurant in support of finding a cure for Juvenile Diabetes.  President Scott noted he went last year and it was a good  time for a good cause. Nancy also offered cakes for sale to support the cause. Our speaker on March 19^th will be about this cause.

Are you reading the weekly news stories here on ClubRunner? Do you share the stories with your spouse/partner, family or potential new members?  What recommendation do you have for new stores or other information?  How can the stories be more useful to you or in attracting members?  I appreciate any comments to make the write-ups better.  You are welcome to email me your comments or tell me at lunch.

Thank you, Howard

The Rotary Club of Gig Harbor Midday presented a $2,000 Check to Beth Rivard, Executive Director of Prison Pet Partnership, from the funds raised at the Harbor Hounds. Prison Pet Partnership is a non-profit organization located on the grounds of the Washington Corrections Center for Women in Gig Harbor. They rescue and train homeless animals to provide service dogs for persons with disabilities and operate a boarding and grooming facility to provide vocational education for women inmates. The program benefits all involved — the animals who are given the chance to lead lives of service, the inmates who learn valuable skills so they may find gainful employment upon release, and the individuals with disabilities who receive well-trained dogs to help increase their level of independence.

Beth shared with the club a few success stories of recently released women inmates who are now fully employed as  groomers and going back to school.  The Prison Pet Partnership program helps the released inmates to become contributing members of the community and to stay out of prison.  Their 2013 charity “Bark and Bid’ auction will be held on May 11^th at the Greater Tacoma Convention and Trade Center.  See the web site http://www.prisonpetpartnership.org  for more information.

Annual Harbor Hounds Charity Dog Walk is run by the Rotary Club of Gig Harbor Midday.  Hundreds of people and their dogs participate in a leisurely walk along the beautiful Gig Harbor waterfront.  In addition, a number of fun contests are conducted to show off the dogs.  Categories include: Best Tricks, Best Kisser (the dog), Best Tail Wagger, Best Dressed, and our fun musical Sit and Stay contest.  See the web site www.harborhounds.org  for more information on registration and how to become a sponsor. The 2013 Walk takes place on Saturday, September 14th, from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm.

President Scott had each of the four committee chairs give an overview of their accomplishments since the beginning of the current Rotary Year in July, and plans for the remaining year in order for the club to finish the year strong.  

Stephanie Sagle, New Generation/ Vocational Chair spoke about the strength of the Gig Harbor High School Interact Club. Her committee will be working on a community service project that club members and Interact members could jointly work on together. 

Andy Ritting, on behalf of Denny Wilford, International Chair, numerated the various projects the committee was involved in including the hydro therapy in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; a water project in Guatemala; Rotary International Polio Plus; our Rotary exchange Student and a potential future project of a birthing center in Uganda.

Joe Falch, Community Service Chair, is looking at finishing the year strong with a new participating project that is more than just writing checks.  Members should budget time to be involved in one or more of the club projects such as the Kimble Drive clean up, Backpack Brigade, or Courage Classic.

Nancy Rimel, Club Service Chair, summarized the past year’s club service (social) events beginning with the very successful ten year anniversary celebration, the trip to see the Seattle Men’s Choirs, the Holiday

Lt. Col. Jason Wing, Commander, Joint Base Lewis-McChord’s Warrior Transition Battalion was the speaker at today’s meeting.  Lt. Col. Jason explained that the mission of the Battalion is to provide command and control, primary care and case management for Warriors in Transition to establish conditions for healing and promote the timely return to the force or transition to civilian life.  They implement a triad of care concept, ensuring that each Soldier's case manager, primary care manager and squad leader meet and communicate on an official basis to ensure the best possible transition. Their innovative programs and comprehensive care evolves to meet the physical, emotional, and intellectual health needs of our Soldiers of all components, whether they are active duty, Army National Guard or Army Reserve Soldiers. The Warrior Transition Battalion is involved with numerous community partnerships and receives an incredible level of community support such as adaptive sports from skiing to kayaking and doing a Habit for Humanity home build.

Jason shared with us several good news stories of the major accomplishments of the soldiers in the unit in skiing, running, and archery events. Thank you Lt. Col Jason Wing and all from the Warrior Transition Battalion for the support provided to the 572 JBLM soldiers who have given so much to our country.

Jud Morris, Director, Key Peninsula Family Resource Center received a check for $1,305 from the Rotary Club of Gig Harbor Midday on behalf of all three Gig Harbor Rotary Clubs (Morning, Midday and North) from funds raised at the Holiday Social desert dash.  The KP Family Resource Center, also known as the Children's Home Society of Washington, offers home visiting programs, toddler groups, support and mentoring groups as well as resources that give families the tools to thrive and raise happy, healthy children. Seasonal programs, like the Holiday Helpers, provide extra assistance to families during critical times in the year when they need help the most.  All of this support is delivered to allow the recipient hope, dignity and respect.  In 2012 the Center provided support to 3,785 individuals, up from 800 individuals in 2005.  90% of these Individuals are below the poverty line and 80% are children.

Rotary Club of Gig Harbor Midday’s exchange student. Gabby, summarized her spring break as really really good. She began her week by going skiing with Gunda and Karen.  Gabby had not skied in four years but had a great time.  Following the ski trip she traveled to San Francisco with Mary and had an amazing time. Seeing all the sights in the city by the bay she got her hair cut and shopped until she almost killed Mary.  After returning from the three day trip, Gabby was off to Canada with a group of 35 exchange students.  Gabby has become good friends with the group and realized this would be her last group gathering before her exchange student year ends in four months.  Gabby, at her six month anniversary of living in Gig Harbor wants to stay forever but knows she will miss her friends and family at home, although she is not at all home sick now.

Cheri and Howard announced a new fund raising part of Golferitaville that will generate a sizable step up in the proceeds raised in the annual golf event.

Cheri showed a video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6YbjxP8zaI&feature=share&list=PLE79704B463D12536) of a helicopter golf ball drop closest to the pin raffle.  Members are being asked to sell two dozen gold golf balls at $10 each which will be dropped from a helicopter at Golferitaville.  The gold ball dropped from the helicopter that ends up closest to the pin wins a large monetary prize. Other cash prices are given to the next several close balls.  We are hopeful a successful event will help us generate close to $10,000.  More information will be shared with the club after the necessary paper work is completed and the club receives a Washington State raffle license.

 Joe gave a brief update on HarborHounds and is looking for members to join the planning committee. The planning committee held a short meeting after lunch today.  The group is preparing to get the club ready to “Hound the Harbor” to get the word out and increase sponsorship.

Gig Harbor’s Midday Rotary Club has named Joe Lausten as its January, 2013 Student of the Month. A senior at Gig Harbor High School, Mr. Lausten maintains a 3.8 Grade point average. He is an officer of the Gig Harbor High School Interact club and has participated in TideFest, Harbor Hounds, Polio Car Wash, Etta bracelet fundraiser and the Basket Brigade. Joe is also a Washington Aerospace Scholar, and for his senior project is tutoring freshman. Out site of the classroom, Joe demonstrates leadership and athleticism by playing goalkeeper for Gig Harbor Varsity Soccer and Westound F.C.  Joe and his parents have been invited to a Rotary-hosted luncheon to recognize his success and to present him with a Certificate of Achievement. 

 Hannah, Allie, and Joe, Gig Harbor High School Interact leaders gave the club an update on the club’s activities.  These three club leader shared a very impressive story of all the great work the club has accomplished already.  The interact club has grown to 60 members, with  40 very active, up from the prior year of only 20 members.  Allie is in charge of recruitment and her skills in gaining members are the envy of any club.  Hannah listed the various projects already completed this year including helping with Harbor Hounds, the Turkey Trot, Tiefest, BackPacks Brigade, Basket Brigade, Fish Food bank, and the Forgotten Child Fund.  Hannah told us that in the coming year the Interact club will focus on youth suicide prevention, an important area to the many concerned students.  Stephanie Sagle, club adviser, closed the talk with saying she is pleased to help bridge the Rotary and Interact clubs.    

Joe Urvina, Gig Harbor Midday President-elect, spent last weekend at PETS (President Elect Training Seminar) along with 700 other presidents in waiting.  Joe told us he was somewhat nervous before he went to PTES, which was held in Seattle this year, but said the weekend was “amazing” with several great speakers including past Rotary International President Rick King and Ramesh Ferris, who was paralyzed by polio at the age of six months and later adopted into a Canadian family.  Ramesh is a Rotarian with the Whitehorse Rendezvous club and released his first book entitled, Better than a Cure, One Man’s Journey to Free the World of Polio. He shared his personal journey of surviving polio and invited fellow Rotarians to join in the effort of making our global community polio free!

Joe told us the focus on Rotary next year will be 1. Public Image, 2. Changes in the RI Foundations grants and 3. Membership.  Joe felt PETS was a great experience and an amazing weekend. He will Share with the club more about PETS in the coming weeks. 

 Scott asked again what DLTA was and Julie quickly got it right, earning a promise of the cherished Midday Rotary coffee cup.  He encouraged more members to sign up for the weekend in Victoria to learn about Rotary leadership.  Scott handed out new club badges to new members, although, somehow forgetting to order Howard’s.  It was announced that Scott is closing in on the end of his year as Club President and “wants to finish strong”.  Joe Flash, Community Service Chair, and New Generations Service Chair, Stephanie Sagle, will announce in the coming weeks a hands on project for club members to actively participate in to help the club finish strong this year. 

 Lauren Lund, Marketing Director Gig Harbor, gave a most interesting talk about her job in marketing the city of Gig Harbor.  Lauren, a founding member of the Rotary Club of Gig Harbor, is in her fourteenth year in this key job whose department is funded 75% by the lodging tax and 25% from general funds. A major focus is to encourage visitors from around Washington, the country and the world to come, visit and stay in Gig Harbor.  She communicates the message in various forms including video, print, and social media.  With social media she is active with the web sites gigharborguide.com, meetingGigHarbor.com, and on the web and Facebook.  Throughout the year, her department is responsible for the summer concerts, Christmas Tree lighting and the outdoor movies.  She informed the club that the summer concert schedule will be announced shortly. Her busiest time is January through April getting ready for the summer, and in the late fall preparing the next year’s budget.  In additional she communicates to the public regarding major town activates such as the enhancements to Donkey Creek Park and the surrounding roads.

Thank you Lauren Lund for an excellent presentation and an outstanding job marketing our great community of Gig Harbor.

Gabby informed us she had given up talking to anyone from home in Chile for the entire month of February.  Surprisingly she is not homesick and it should help her to speak only English during the period of not speaking Spanish.   Gabby went to the school dance, where the girls ask the guys ,with a group of exchange students. The students represented from around the world: one Chilean, two Fins, one Dane, one Moldavian and one Nigerian.  One exchange student was staying in Port Angeles and Gabby is very happy she is in Gig Harbor.

President Scott’s question for the day was --- Who has a birthday in February?   Dave Stave answered Abe Lincoln.  Scott accepted Dave’s answer or would have accepted no one in the club. Dave received a cherished Rotary Club of Gig Harbor coffee mug as a prize for the right answer.  February has no club member birthdays or wedding anniversaries.  Scott only found out at the meeting that February is Stephanie’s husband’s birthday month.  Scott reminded all to update the ClubRunner records so we would all know. Stephanie wasn’t sure her husband’s birthday was all that important. 

Scott announced how good it was to be a Rotarian this past week with the Past President of Rotary International, Rick King, speaking and the Rotary Club of Gig Harbor Star of the Year Awards.  He felt both events were excellent.  Nancy Rimel noted about $1,600 was raised by the dessert dash and raffle at the Star Awards for the three charities of the winners.  

The three Rotary Clubs of Gig Harbor awarded the annual Star of the Year Awards on February 8, 2012.  Rotary Club of Gig Harbor - Citizen of the Year went to Jean-Louis Gazabat for his work with gifts for foster children; Rotary Club of Gig Harbor Midday - Business Person of the Year went to Sue Braaten for her work with CASA, foster children and Purdy Women; Rotary Club of Gig Harbor North - Service Above Self award went to Marla Morgan for her program Hands on Arts.

Shown with the three winners are the three club presidents. The award dinner included excellent videos about the winners.  Each winner was also awarded a Paul Harris Fellow award.

Rotary Club of Gig Harbor Midday Business Person of the Year winner Sue Braaten with club nominator Julie Tappero and President Scott.  Sue Braaten is the Owner/Operator at Best Western Wesley Inn & Suites of Gig Harbor and a very active volunteer. She is a long time Court Appointed Special Advocates "CASA" volunteer where she is appointed by judges to advocate in court for foster children. After acting for twenty years as a “voice in the court” for foster children, and after adopting a child of our own through the system, she  has come to understand the real need that exists for a place like the Homestead for these very special and deserving kids.  To make this happen Sue is working on her dream at the Homestead at Alder Cove. The dream is to protect the dignity, the innocence, and the futures of the thousands of children in the State of Washington foster care system. Her message was "one child at a time".  Sue is also the lead support of the Steppin’ Up Women’s Conference. Steppin Up’ is a fun and informative event held at The Best Western Wesley Inn & Suites in Gig Harbor. Its mission is to educate, and empower women. This women’s conference offers community and connection, information and inspiration, motivation and momentum. Women come together to network, share stories, and make new friends, while learning how to be healthier and happier in mind, body, and spirit. In addition, Sue is part of the Purdy Women, a group that supports the women inmates at the prison as they reenter the community.

Thank you Julie for nominating an excellent Business Person of the Year who clearly demonstrates the Rotary motto "Service above Self".

President Scott Bush, Howard Svigals, Mary Gorman, and Rotary exchange student - Gabriela Gerter (Gaby) at the Puyallup Pioneer Park Pavilion after hearing a very interesting and heartwarming speech by Rotary International Past President, Rick King at a special luncheon. Rick King was one of the finest public speakers anywhere who made you proud to be a Rotarian.

Club member Denny Wilford presented an outstanding video on his trip this past October to Ethiopia on a polio vaccine trip. His group was able to vaccinate 300 children in the very isolated areas of the border region of Ethiopia. Denny who as a child had polio has been traveling with Rotary International, World Vision and the World Health organization with the goal of immunizing every child in Ethiopia.

The Denny Wilford Foundation works toward the prevention and elimination of polio worldwide along with the ongoing rehabilitation of polio sufferers. At this time, his focus is in Ethiopia where there are hundreds of thousands of people still affected by this disabling disease, limited to a life of crawling and begging.  Denny in the Q&A gave us a brief update on the Cheshire Home Rehabilitation Centre in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia which the club has contributed towards.  His next trip this summer will be to celebrate the opening of the hydro therapy unit. He also plans to return to Ethiopia for another immunizing trip in October.  Denny is also in the planning stages of helping a clinic in Uganda as his next project..

Cheri Johnson briefed the Club on the other major club fundraiser golf tournament planned for July 19^th. She noted that she and Joe are working together to avoid conflicts and capitalize on synergies in obtaining sponsors.  Cheri is also in the planning stages and is looking for more members to help the planning committee. A short planning meeting was held after lunch today.    

Joe Flach gave us an update on the planning for this year’s club fundraiser, Harbor Hounds. Joe is looking for more members to be on the planning committee for the September 15^th event. Joe’s message this year is for us to be “hounding the harbor” for sponsors and participants.

The first question was: Who was the founder of Rotary International?  It was correctly answered as Paul Harris.  Next Question was what does PETS stand for?  After several tries is it was successfully answered as President Elect Training Seminary.  The last question was: Who was the Rotary International President for the year 2001-2002?   Scott answered it as Rick King who led the largest growth in Rotary membership during his year term.  Rick King will be the Rotary Club of Downtown Puyallup very special lunch speaker, noted as one of the finest public speakers anywhere, February 5^th at noon at the Puyallup Pioneer Park Pavilion.  As we will not be meeting Tuesday February 5^th  it would be a great makeup opportunity for those not able to attend the Friday evening Star Awards dinner which is the club’s meeting for the week.

No meeting next week, February 5^th, hoping all will attend the Star Awards dinner Friday, February 8^th 5:30 at Canterwood.  There is no cost for Rotary Club Midday members and guests are only $25.  Gig Harbor's three Rotary Clubs honor three local "star" citizens from the Gig Harbor Peninsula. The Star Awards to be given out are:  1.Citizen of the Year, Rotary Club of Gig Harbor 2. Business Person of the Year, Rotary Club of Gig Harbor Midday 3.Service Above Self, Rotary Club of Gig Harbor North.

Rotary International

On July 1st, The Rotary Foundation will launch its new grant model, theFuture Vision Plan. The new grant model streamlines grants and will helppromote Rotary as a leader in global development and humanitarianservice.

Download a guide to the new Foundation grants at www.rotary.org/ridocuments/en_pdf/global_outlook_1211_en.pdf .

Today’s presenter was Bob Martin, past President of the morning club; who spoke to us about the Olson Foundation.  The Foundation was founded to recognize past Gig Harbor Club President, District Governor and Rotary International Director, Floyd Olson and his wife Sandra’s work to further their mission; "Providing clean water and alleviating hunger, disease, illiteracy and poverty in the developing world”. Bob noted how the “Rotary bug” bit Floyd and he became one of only two Rotarians from Washington advancing to the upper levels in Rotary. The Foundation, with an endowment of $160K has help with projects totaling more than $500K. One project our club contributed to is a water project in Barillas, Guatemala which will provide water to 24 homes representing over 100 people. This matching grant project is funded in part by $1,000 from our club and a very generous $1,000 donation from the Denny Wilford foundation.

Golferitaville, our annual golf tournament held at McCormick Woods Golf Course, is set for Friday July 19^th. 

A committee meeting will be held after Rotary, Tuesday, January 29th.  Please plan on coming. 

Harbor Hounds is set for Saturday September 15^th.   Due to construction the usual Donkey Creek Park as one end of the walk will not be possible this year but an alternative location will be found.  Joe Flach has been doing a lot of very good postings on Harbor Hounds Facebook page. Check it out: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Harbor-Hounds/208308170109

President Scott announced a quick quiz and promised more in future weeks. Today’s question was “what is DLTA?”  After a few close answers it was deemed correct as District Leadership Training Assembly. DLTA is March 23 & 24 in Victoria BC.  See Scott if you want to go. Don’t forget to study up for the next quiz!

Our Rotary exchange student shared her excitement with us about having her BFF (Best Friend Forever), Isidora Matta, “Izzy”, visit her for a couple of weeks.  Izzy and Gabby have been BFFs for 13 years and spend much of their time in Chile together at school, home and vacations. They have already visited many of Seattle tourist spots including the “gum wall” one of Gabby’s favorite.  Lizzy was sporting a nice tan coming from summer in the Southern Hemisphere, making Gabby jealous.  Visiting Costco and shopping have been favorite activities of the “girls from Chile”.

President Scott announced the normal lunch meeting on February 5^th will be replaced with the Star Dinner Awards at 5:30PM on February 8^th at Canterwood.  All members and their guests are encouraged to sign up with Nancy and come to the Tri-club Rotary Awards dinner.  The cost will be subsidized by the missed lunch fee and only cost Mid-day Club members $5 ($25 for guests).  Try to attend as we will award the Gig Harbor Businessperson of the year award.

Mark Hoppen and Ann Knapp gave us an excellent presentation on progress made by several key individuals’ efforts to bring to Gig Harbor a regional arts center that would bring together multiple facets of the arts, from performing and visual to literary. A coalition of arts and community groups from the Gig Harbor area has been working on effort to design a first class center that could enhance the community and businesses of Gig Harbor.  A board of influential local people has been formed and they have filed paperwork for a 501(c)3 nonprofit to raise money and operate the facility. The Gig Harbor Regional Center for the Arts is planned to include several performing spaces; large group conference space; separate studios for recording, writing, broadcasting and filmmaking; classrooms and a dedicated children’s studio; a commercial kitchen and a hot and wet arts studio. The design also includes a community theater, a performance hall with 1,250 seats and orchestra pit, an amphitheater with flexible wall that opens to see the orchestra, and a “black box” theater with configurable space. An 11-acre location in across from the YMCA, has been identified for the 88,000-square-foot facility. The next goal is to complete the feasibility study to determine the potential for revenue, operating costs and the economic impact on the Gig Harbor area.  The very informative presentation was well received by the club with great anticipation for favorable results of the fund raising plans and the feasibility study

A first was accomplished with Treasurer Phil emailing this quarter’s dues invoices to each member. Contact Phil if you did not get your invoice.  Scott also was encouraging members to attend the March 23 and 24 District Leadership Training Assembly “DLTA” at the Grand Pacific hotel in Victoria BC.  This is a great opportunity to learn more about Rotary leadership. The club also has the need to train another member to be a Youth Protector Officer “YPO” in addition to Lynne.   With the club working with youth at Interact, exchange students and backpack brigade to name a few it is important to be supported by a YPO.  See Scott if you are interested. Rotary International awards only 100 worldwide  non-Rotarian spouse/partner a special award based on the service they provide. If you are interesting in nominating someone see President Scott.

Nancy reminds us all of the upcoming Star Awards dinner at 5:30PM February 8^th at Canterwood costing $25 per person. Nancy without naming the club’s awardee by name noted that she was an amazing women business person of the year.  Nancy passed around a signup sheets and is hopeful we get a large turnout of members for the dinner.

President Scott had members think of possible Rotary Grants for the club to request in the coming months.  A wide range of opportunities were put forth ranging from supporting returning Vets, building on Backpack Brigade, Safety equipment for the community to supporting Denny’s new international project.  Scott will have the board begin to address the possible areas,

Kim or Kimberly, she is welcome to being called either, is the Director of Operations for Summit Packaging in Gig Harbor.  After being employed as an investment analyst in Tacoma for a number of years she was looking for a change and wanted to have a job she really liked and a great boss and found her way to Gig Harbor.  Her family with her husband is a blended family of five teenage daughter and several dogs. As her youngest daughter turns 18 she has more time to get involved with the community and after meeting with Laura Day decided Rotary was the right place. Kim and her dogs have been participants in Harbor Hounds and is looking forward to helping to organize the event.

Wisconsin born former professor announced it would be difficult to speak for only ten minutes when he is use to speaker for hours.  Jack was former Rotarian in  El Paso and Oklahoma City.  As a former professor he taught at multiple major university in the states of California, New York, Texas, and Ohio after getting his PhD in Minnesota. Jack is an active volunteer with the Chamber, Harbor WildWatch and Medical Service Corp. Jack is well prepared to support our club and he kept the talk to only ten minutes.  

Howard Svigals was presented an award by President Scott on behalf of Howard's prior Rotary Club in Vienna, Virginia for his leadership on the club's annual fund raising festival.

Mary gave Laura Day a special ignite pin for bring in Kimberly as a new member. "IGNITE" is an official Rotary Membership growth program for Rotary

Our Rotary exchange student from Chile shared with the club her activates over the last several weeks.  Gabby told us how happy she is to be here in Gig Harbor and when speaking with her mother at Christmas she knew she felt good to not be home-sick.  Gabby was thankful for the Christmas president of the camera. Gabby’s resolution for the new year is to become a better bowler.     

President Scott reminded us all that “membership is not a secret”  He encourages everyone to invite potential members to lunch so we can grow our club.

President Scott proclaimed a Food or Five collection day for each of the remaining club meetings in the month of January. 

This link to the Gig Harbor / Key Peninsula Fish Food Bank Needs Page (http://www.ghpfish.com/FISH-Needs.html) to show the types of items that they collect.  This is an up-to-date list of current needs.

 Akiko Oda and Eric of Gig Harbor Patch.com gave an interesting presentation on Patch.com's growing role in informing the community about local news and businesses.

Dave Stave and Gunda Meissner gave the club a report about their recent travel 

Stephanie Sagle introducing the November and December Students of the month. Stephanie also prepares detail press reports on the students and issues them to the local press.

November and December Students of the Month, Bjorn and Tawnee with their families receiving their certificates.  

Gig Harbor’s Midday Rotary Club has named Tawnee Guinn as its December, 2012 Student of the Month. A senior at Gig Harbor High School, Miss Guinn maintains a 3.8 Grade point average. She is the President of both the Teens against Tobacco Use and Students Against Destructive Decisions Club. Tawnee and her club give anti-tobacco presentations to middle school students. Tawnee is also involved in Interact, is a Math Tutor at Discovery elementary and is actively involved in writing Prom Letters, as well as bringing awareness to Teen suicide prevention week. This past fall, Tawnee was heavily involved with raising funds and collecting food for those in need with the Basket Brigade, as this was her Senior Project. When Tawnee is not in school, she is volunteering three days a week at Harbor Urgent Care MultiCare center in Uptown. Tawnee is trying to gain as much experience as she can as she aspires to be an E.R. Nurse. Miss Tawnee Guinn, her parents and brother were quests of he club for lunch at today's meeting. Congratulation Tawnee.

Gig Harbor’s Midday Rotary Club has named Bjorn Brynestad as its November, 2012 Student of the Month. A senior at Gig Harbor High School, Mr. Brynestad maintains a 3.85 Grade point average, has been actively involved in Young Life at Harbor Ridge Middle School and for the last four years has participated in building homes for the less fortunate with Chapel Hill. He also mentors freshmen at Gig Harbor High School. Throughout the last four years, Bjorn has taken on leadership roles as one of Gig Harbor High School’s Varsity Tennis Captains, has earned four varsity letters for GHHS soccer team, and plays for the Washington Premier Football Club. Mr. Bjorn Brynestad and his parents were guests of the club at today's meeting. Congratulation Bjorn.

See more pictures from 2012 Rotary Holiday Party in a new Photo Album

Gabby spoke today with a PowerPoint presentation about her home country of Chile. She educated us all on the Chile’s political environment, economy, geography and her family and friends. Chile is a long narrow country with many sandy “beaches” and beautiful mountains.  Gabby has been interested in being an exchange student since she was ten years old and her older sister was an exchange student in Ohio.  She is a cat lover and at home in Chile has a cute cat uniquely named Gato  (Spanish for cat)  

Scott announced no meetings will be held December 25^th or January 1^st.   The Holiday party cost will be offset by the normal meal cost for members for the missed Christmas meeting and part of the New Year’s day meeting meal cost will be used to give a tip/bonus to our servers and part for an informal casual after-work social ; date and time to be announced soon.

Scott held a vote of club members for the 2013-2014 officers.   Mary Gorman will be President Elect, Howard Svigals, Membership chair; and Stephanie Sagle,New Generations/Vocational chair.  All other officers will continue in the same positions.   All positions were unanimously approved by the membership.  The Club is also looking for the new position of Assistant Treasurer, see Scott if interested.  

Nancy announced today was the last day to reserve a place and pay for the Rotary Holiday party to be held at Canterwood this Saturday (December 15^th) The event begins at 5PM and goes to 9PM.

Scott Hall encouraged all to make donations to The Rotary Foundations soon to make sure it is the current calendar year for tax purpose. You can make your contribution directly on the Rotary Foundation web site or by giving a check to Scott.

Dana Haley from Community in Schools of Peninsula spoke briefly today asking for more mentors.  Our local schools have needs for more volunteers for mentors to help students to avoid any student from being left behind.   George Sharpe is already an active volunteer for the group.  See Scott is you need more information.

Rotary District 5020 Governor Judy Byron was our program speaker.  Judy is from North Saanich BC.  She shared with the club her history with Rotary as first a member of  GSE team member that visited India and later a GSE team leader to a trip to Russia and also a member of a Rotary group to vaccinate children for Polio in Africa.   She carried the annual message from Rotary International President Tanaka of "Peace via Service".  Peace is more than just no wars and is with each Rotarian as we service.

Governor Judy spoke of the need to think of Rotary with a business model. And the business is service.  She noted the District is here to help the clubs and encouraged all to visit the District 5020 web site and to attend the District Leadership Training Assemble 3/23-3/24, the District Conference in Sidney BC 5/31-6/2 and  the Rotary International meeting in Lisbon.  

Nancy shared with the club the great time that was had by all at the recent outing to see Seattle Men's Chorus Holiday Concert.  She also passed around a signup sheet for the upcoming December 15^th Holiday party at Canterwood.  Please contact Nancy with your intent on attending. The price for members is $21 and guests $35.

 President Scott announced there will be a short board meeting prior to lunch on December 12^th to put forth the new officers for the 2013-2014 Rotary Year and finalize the Budget.  Scott reminded us we are seeking nominations for Business person of the year as part of the February Star awards.  December 11^th is also another food or $5 week.  Please bring a donation next week for the FISH food bank.

District Governor Judy Byron installed the clubs two new members.  Kimberly Clemens and Jack Conway were warmly welcomed into the club.  Jack's sponsor was George Sharpe and Mary Gorman stood in for Kimberly’s sponsor Laura Day. Jack had previously been in Rotary and this is Kimberly first Rotary experience. Governor Judy message was very encouraging for them to become involved in Rotary.  Following the installation membership chair Mary Gorman gave and an Ignite pin to George and will give one also to Laura.   The Ignite program is a Rotary comprehensive membership recruitment, retention and extension program.  In the coming weeks we will hear more about our new members at their classification talks.

 Rotary Club of Gig Harbor Midday exchange student, Gabby, gave her weekly update.  Gabby enjoys the current book she is reading and wants to read it to know the story but it is difficult for her as it is in English and takes her a long time to read each page.  Now that winter is here Gabby is expecting her birthday soon. However her July birthday at home in Chile is a winter month in South America. Gaby is enjoying her home with Mary Gorman.  Gaby gave the banner from her home club in Chile where her father is President to the District Governor.

Judy was introduced to Rotary through the Group Study Exchange Program. ; She was selected as a Team Member and travelled to India in January, 1998. ; The GSE experience was the beginning of her Rotary journey. ; Judy joined the Rotary Club of Sidney in May of 1998 and has been an active member ever since. ; She has held most offices, including Club President 2003 - 2004.

Judy has served in a number of capacities at the District level from 1998 to the present. ; She was GSE Team Leader to the Russian Far East in 2002, District GSE Chair 2003-2006, DLTA Chair, 2003 and 2009, District Council Chair, 2009/10 ; and Assistant Governor, Area 4B 2006 - 2010.

Judy recently retired as a Program Officer with the Correctional Services of Canada. ; Her career with the Correctional Services of Canada has been both challenging and rewarding. ; She spent 23 years facilitating treatment programs for male offenders.

Retirement will give Judy the time necessary to serve Rotary at the Governor level. ; What began as a dinner conversation about a program entitled Group Study Exchange has led to an exciting partnership with the family of Rotary.

Judy and her husband Dave were married in 1965.
They have two adult children and 3 grandchildren.
They are fortunate to have both children and grandchildren living in the Greater Victoria area.
Judy and Dave live on a small acreage in North Saanich, B

Shawn and Jeff from the Forgotten Children Fund spoke today about this 100% volunteer non-profit with zero administrative costs.  They find families in need and arrange for a Santa and Elves visit providing needed items for the family. They are in need of funds and volunteers; see their web site for more information www.fogettenchildfund.org   

Nancy Rimel reminded all of the upcoming three club Holiday Party at Canterwood on December 15^th beginning at 5PM. Information will be available next week on the final costs.

 Marilyn Jensen invite all to attend the Gig Harbor Chamber of Commerce 32^nd Annual Award Dinner on December 1^st. Act quickly reservation close November 28^th.

 Cheri Johnson was happy with the toys and sports equipment already collected to be donated to the Children’s Home Society on the Key Peninsular and distributed to local children in need of Christmas gifts.  She encouraged all to bring the gifts in at next week’s meeting as they will be given out prior to the Holiday party.

 President Scott reminded all the District Governor will at the December’s 4^th meeting for her official visit. He encourages all members to attend and brush up on the American and Canadian National anthems.  The meeting will be preceded with a club board meeting and all members are welcome to attend

Our exchanged student, Gabby, shared with the club her experience celebrating Thanksgiving for the first time. Our annual holiday is not celebrated in her home country of Chile giving her the opportunity to enjoy turkey and pumpkin pie for the first time.  Her most exciting part of the weekend was the “black Friday” sales.  Gabby was pleased with her high score on the calculus test and a high grade on her speech presentation.  Gabby is also looking forward to her new family as she moves to Mary Gorman’s house.   

 Lori Tsugawa Whaley, a third generation Japanese American and descendant of the Samurai Warrior gave an inspirational speech at today’s meeting. Her talked was titled “Courage of the Samurai”.  In addition to pictures of her recent trip to Japan she spoke of the Bushido Code of the Samurai, the last Samurai Warrior and Chiune Sugihara, the Japanese Schindler, Sugihara was a Japanese diplomat during World War II, who helped several thousand Jews leave the country by issuing transit visas. Ms. Whaley’s key message which is similar to the Rotary 4-way test is “Do the right thing all the time”.  Mark Hoppen was the lucky winner of her book.  

 Gunda Meissner  was very happy and contributed $100 in honor of her mothers’ 100 birthday which she is flying off to celebrate.  She received a rounding applause

 Mary Gorman asked for members to volunteer to support the Interact Club at TideFest Fine Arts & Crafts Celebration December 1st & 2nd at Gig Harbor High School. Help is needed in both setup on Friday afternoon and during TideFest on Saturday and Sunday.  Contact Mary if you are available to help.

Cheri Johnson announced we would be collecting gifts for our Gig Harbor Midday Rotary Santa Project at the December 4^th meeting in place of doing it at the Holiday Party. Our gifts will support the Children’s Home Society Christmas “store” .  An email with more details will be forthcoming from Cheri.

 President Scott announced the new formation of the ClubRunner advocacy group.  He wants to encourage greater use of ClubRunner to enhance the communication and knowledge within the club.  For example you can use ClubRunner to find important dates such as the holiday party (December 15^th) or a summary of a missed meeting which you are reading now..

Scott also reminded the members of the December 4^th official visit of the District Governor.  He hoped  we will have a large turnout members and noted the meeting would be a touch more formal that normal meetings.  We should all stand when the DIstrict Governor is introduced and we will be singing the national anthems of both the US and Canada.

 Ralph gave a short sequel to his presentation last week on the Rotary Grant Seminar concluding Gig Harbor Rotarians have choices in giving to the Rotary International Foundation or the Rotary Club of Gig Harbor Midday Foundation, or to both as part of ones Rotary giving.  

 Ralph Flick gave the club a short 20 minute explanation of the SIX hour District Rotary Foundation grant seminar.  The charts Ralph used have been posted to ClubRunner.    

Nancy & Scott informed the club of the need for nominations. As part of Gig Harbor’s STAR awards the Rotary Club of Gig Harbor Midday awards this award.  This non-Rotarian business person will be given the award at the annual three Rotary club dinner in February.

 Rotarian Dr. Tim Holmes made his annual visit to seek support and volunteers for the TURKEY TROT ANNUAL THANKSGIVING RUN and Pre-Feast Run and Fund Raiser for FISH Food Bank. Pre-race number pickup is Saturday November 21st at St. Anthony Hospital from noon – 6:00 p.m. You can also pick up your bib number the day of the race. Arrive early.  Both a 5K and 10K will be run. The route begins at Skansie Brothers Park and goes out Harborview, Vernhardson and then right along the East side of Gig Harbor.

Volunteers are also needed. If you are interested in helping, sponsoring or have additional questions contact Holmes Chiropractic at (253) 858-5152.

  Gabby, the club’s exchange student gave an update on her first Halloween experience. We now know being and exchange students allow you to trick or treat at any age.  Gabby’s grades for the recent period were all very strong with A’s including calculus except for English which did not go so well for the very talented Spanish speaking student.

Tawnee, a senior at Gig Harbor High School, for here senior project is supporting Gig Harbor Thanksgiving Basket Brigade with fellow Rotarian David Cathers who has lead the worthwhile project for 19 years. Tawnee and David told the club about this endeavor including the fact that In 2011, there 516 families representing 2,024 people supported by the Basket Brigade.  In 2012 the demand for support is already over 400 families with a couple weeks to go. See their web site if you are willing to donate or volunteer time.

 Ralph Flick handed out copies of the club’s annual survey results which will be part of the input into the next strategic plan.  See Ralph if you have questions of needs a copy of the survey results.

 Mike Williams shared in Happy Talk his happiness for the end of all the election commercials  

President Scott reminded members of the ClubRunner briefing at his office, November 14^th at  5:15PM;  cheese and wine will be served.  Scott also informed members if you ordered Rotary apparel via the morning club he has it in his car. He also announced that Joe Flach will be stepping in as Community Service Chair in place of Dorothy who has not been able to regularly make meeting due to ongoing conflicts.  

Also noted that next week’s meeting, November 13^th, is “Food or Five” campaign week. Please bring either food staples or $5 for the local food bank. 

 Nancy updated the club on upcoming events:

December 1^st the Seattle Men's Chorus Holiday Concert, If you still want tickets see Nancy Rimel who may be able to get more.

December 15^th Gig Harbor joint Rotary holiday party at Canterwood.

Hannah Long, Gig Harbor’s Midday Rotary Club, was presented a certificate as the October, 2012 Student of the Month by Mary.  Her parents join Hannah as quests for lunch.  Mary shared Hannah’s outstanding accomplishments including President of the Gig Harbor High School Interact Club, Senior Captain for the Gig Harbor Cross Country Team and Hannah is also a National Merit Scholarship Semifinalist.

Gig Harbor’s Midday Rotary Club has named Hannah Long as its October, 2012 Student of the Month. A senior at Gig Harbor High School, Miss Long is a member of the National Honor Society and has earned the honor of AP Scholar (which is a designation awarded based on AP test scores). Hannah is President of the Gig harbor High School Interact Club, is Senior Captain for the Gig Harbor Cross Country Team, runs track, has served on four mission trips, and has served as a team captain for Relay for Life. Hannah is also a National Merit Scholarship Semifinalist for her high standardized test scores from her junior year. Miss Long and her parents have been invited to a Rotary-hosted luncheon to recognize her achievement and to present her a Certificate of Achievement.

Lindsey Johnson, Director of Development, and Rachel Easton, Lead Naturalist, with Harbor WildWatch    http://www.harborwildwatch.org/ was our program for the meeting

Harbor WIldwatch’s mission is to inspire stewardship of the Puget Sound by providing learning opportunities about the environment to the people of our local communities. The very interesting presentation showed the Big, Beautiful and Buzzard creators of our Harbor and Sound.   

 Myra from the Gig Harbor High School Meistersingers  told the club about the  2011 Poinsettia and Meister Mix Fundraiser.  If interested in helping fun their trip to sing at the Vatican see Virginia Abbott and get a special free delivery available to Gig Harbor Midday Rotarians

Cheri Johnson announced the pending naming of a new title sponsor and the kickoff of  the 2013 Golferitaville A kickoff date to be set  for  November with the need for volunteers to make the fund raiser another success

Joe Flach and Gunda Meissner will be the cochairs  for the 2013 Harbor Hound with Mike Williams, away on a church assignment for the next 18 months. Joe is looking for volunteers and will kick off meeting planned for NOW 11/15 7PM at Joe's house.

 Our Rotary exchange student, Gabby, shared with the club about his first haunted house experience with Halloween

 Club President, Scott Bush translated to the club an email received originally in Spanish

Dear Rotary Club Aurelio and Barillas: It is my great pleasure to announce the approval of funds in support of the Water Project-Quecchoch Caserio, Guatemala by Rotary District 5020. While I would extend my deepest thanks to all of you for your kind cooperation with the Gig Harbor Midday Rotary Club in preparing the grant application submitted to the Rotary District 5020. Please notify the Mayor and the City on the project. Your direct contact project in Gig Harbor Midday Rotary Club is Lord Denny Wilford, Head of International Projects Committee (Denny is' copied on this email, as the president of Club Gig Harbor Midday Mr. Scott Bush). Greetings all, Buck Frymier

 Howard Svigals gave his classification talk

 Nancy Rimel told the club about the date of Holiday dinner/dance with the other Gig Harbor Rotary Club's will be on December 15th. She also looked for interest from members for other Holiday events such as the Holiday show in Seattle.

 Scott Hall gave a simplified explanation to the club about annual giving to Rotary International and Paul Harris Fellow's

 Our Rotary exchange student, Gabby, shared with the club about being able to celebrate her first Halloween. In her home country of Chile, Halloween is not celebrated.  Gabby has chosen to wear a Waldo customer from "where in the world is Waldo?"

 Gig Harbor Mid-days Rotarian Sydney Rittenberg answering questions to a sold out crowd after the presentation of his movie Revolution at the Gig Harbor Film Festival.

Club members at LeLe’s for a social hour after viewing the Rotarian Sydney Rittenberg’s movie Revolution

Our Rotary exchange student, Gabby, told the club about her recent history class presentation. She finds some English words difficult to pronounce although her classmates love her accent.    

The speaker for the October 16^h meeting was Kurt Schley President of St. Anthony Hospital in Gig Harbor who updated the club on the significant accomplishment of the hospital in its first three and half years.

Also speaking on October 16^th was David Snow, Director Major Gifts, St. Anthony Hospital, who informed the club of Hospital’s comprehensive Joint Camp program for patients who are undergoing surgery to replace hips and knees affected by trauma or arthritis.  This very successful program is in the need of new facilities and is looking to the community and our Rotary Club to help support the new funding.

Mark Hoppen received his second Paul Harris Fellow award pin.  Mark using quarterly payments has now contributed $2,000 to the Rotary International Foundation.

Scott Bush

Bush shares California roots
with club's past president

But unlike Ralph Flick,  who moved from the Los Angeles area with his family to Gig Harbor as an adult and recently wrapped up his year as club president, Bush arrived in the community as a youngster.

The Gig Harbor Midday Rotary Club got its start 10 years ago but not without some controversy within the organizing club.

The idea for a new club was born in the large Gig Harbor Rotary Club, which meets on Friday mornings. The idea of a noon club had been discussed for some time, but not everyone in the morning club agree. Finally, two groups were set up to debate the idea in front of the members.

The luncheon, featuring Clive Rainey, begins at noon at Anthony’s Homeport restaurant on North Harborview Drive,Gig Harbor. Members are encouraged to invite friends, other Rotarians and former members of the Midday Club to hear Rainey discuss how Habitat for Humanity has for 35 years helped provide simple, decent and affordable housing for those who need it.

Click to enlarge photo: Denny Wilford pulled a shovel full of dirt from the ground as Rotarians watched. (For more photos of the event see the “Denny groundbreaking” photo journal on the top left corner of the Midday Club’s Web page: http://www.clubrunner.ca/Portal/Home.aspx?cid=793 .)

Club lands at home port
after debating location

The Gig Harbor Midday Rotary Club set sail this summer to look for a possible new meeting location, but has decided to return to the home port.

The board of directors agreed Oct. 4 to follow the members’ recommendation and stay at Anthony’s restaurant on the harbor, the club’s meeting site for most of its 91/2 years.