Rotary

At our meeting today we enjoyed classification talks from our newest and one of our oldest members.

Ally Baehr filled us in on her life and exploits as a lifelong volunteer with everything from Girl Scouts to Make Way for Books, a literacy support program based in her old town of Tucson. She has a family member who was stricken with polio so Rotary’s worldwide Polio Plus program hit close to home. Ally has a long history in working with non-profits and has been an active member of Rotary for about three years. Her move to Woodinville will undoubtedly be a good thing for our club.

Bob Guide filled in with a talk about his slightly longer history. Bob emigrated from the Czech Republic in 1940 and was fortunate enough (and worked hard enough) to get his Masters and Ph.D. before working in chemical engineering for most of his career. Later this year he will be celebrating 50 years as a Rotarian. He told us about some of his Rotary activities, including a Country Store run by Longview Rotary that worked well to raise funds before EBay, Google, and some other new services put a serious dent in their business. That Club also sponsors the Tour de Blast bike ride, something that would clearly be more fun on a Harley or, as Pat Ford suggested, on an electric bike. Bob mentioned that our breakfast club is more relaxed than the noon club he was in before.

We enjoyed the company of Isaac Everett, who is visiting a few clubs to consider becoming a Rotarian. He was a guest of Pat Ford.

Our 35th anniversary soiree remains in a date-pending status. We really want to celebrate but will wait until we can do so safely.

There is an upcoming District 5030 project to improve the Duwamish River Riverbank on April 16, 2022 from 9:00am-1:00pm. There is a volunteer information and sign-up page that you can find here. Our resident expert is Erv DeSmet who can fill you in.

Our annual auction fundraiser is still set for April 23 and the committee could use some additional members. Please contact Marilyn McGill to sign up to help.

Our Board of Directors meeting will be next Wednesday, January 26th, 6:30PM at Andy’s house. Please let me know if you need the address. Those who are apparently healthy and feel safe and comfortable attending in person are welcome and encouraged to do so. For those who wish to attend via Zoom, that link will be the same as for our weekly breakfast meetings: https://zoom.us/j/95542099576?pwd=MlFHcnk4RUQzdjhENktkTUpDVkJIUT09

See you next week.