President Sandy McIntire greeted the Club and asked all members to rise and sign God Bless America. Rather than the regular piano accompaniment, we joined Brian Griffin and the Ukulele All-Stars of Pat Manson, Rick Wright and Judy Coons in a rousing yet peaceful and lyrical version of this American classic
Reverend Al Archer then gave a moving invocation followed by Brian Griffin delivering a heartfelt tribute to Bob Gibb, who passed away last week at the age of 95. Among the highlights – which were many – was the fact that Bob was the longest serving Rotarian in our club, having joined in 1954 and serving as President in 1972. He became an honorary Rotarian in 2013 when he could no longer attend meetings. 64 years in total.
Bob was a MD, a pathologist to be precise. He owned and operated the Pathology Lab that had been started by his father, Earl Gibb, in 1932. Bob grew the lab into a significant factor in the PNW, providing service to a number of regional hospitals and providing a level of professional pathology that had not been previously seen in our community. He also operated the Blood Bank for many years.
Bob also had a unique professional arrangement with Whatcom County Coroner Bob Rood, who was confined to a wheelchair due to Polio. Bob Gibbs worked alongside Dr Rood to perform the forensic duties, autopsies, etc. and did so all the years that his friend Dr. Rood was the Coroner.
In Brian’s words, Bob was a man of strong convictions and firm loyalty. He and his wife, Ruth, were both graduates of WSU and among the most loyal and passionate Cougar fans. He served on the Board of Regents at WSU for 6 ½ years, having been appointed by Governor Dan Evans. Every one of their children graduated from Washington State.
Bob met his wife, Ruth, on a blind date at WSU, and fell for the “gorgeous red head”. They married in 1945 while still at Washington State. Bob was a devoted family man and they started on that family while he was in medical school. Six daughters in a row and then one son rounded out the Gibb Clan. Incredibly, four of the 7 became MDs (and I’m sure the others are equally special).Brian recorded an oral history interview with Bob in 2005, and it’s available for loan at the Bellingham Public Library. Bob lived a rich, full and long life. He will be missed but surely remembered by his legion of friends.
Announcements:
It is time to sign-up to be a website sponsor for 1 year at a cost of $300.00 for a rotating ad on our home page. Your link takes people to your personal business website easily. There are 3 spots remaining. Contact Sandee Lindhout for more information.
Rotary Club seeking Major Project Proposals
The Rotary Club of Bellingham is seeking proposals for Major Projects for the coming year. The club has created a lasting impact in the community through major projects over the years, including Bellingham Food Bank, YWCA, Hospice House, BTC Fisheries Facility, Pickford Theater, Boys & Girls Club Kitchen, RCOB Foundation Scholarships, Lydia Place and many others. Over $1.2 million has been awarded to major projects in the last 10 years alone.
Club members are asked to provide Major Project Proposals now through August 17 for review by the Selection Committee. The basic criteria for Major Projects include:
Tax Exempt Organization
Capital Projects and Programing
Benefits Whatcom County (priority Bellingham)
Preference for Human Benefit, Youth-Focus
Hands-on Opportunities for Rotary Members
Public Recognition for Rotary
Ann Jones had a great thought, Could we do something about homelessness?
President Sandy announced the 2nd Annual Rotary Rally. On Sunday August 19th car happy members will again join in a fun afternoon of driving through the country side, with driver and navigator and we presume giddy passengers-all ending up at a restaurant somewhere in the county for a fun get together and dinner. Sign up sheet cites, Bentleys and Corvettes, but Fords are welcome too. Contact Jack Westford
Brewers By the Bay; is scheduled for July 29th at Depot Market Square.The beer brewers of Bellingham put on a huge show and you can taste all their beers.$30.00 pre-sold tickets, $35.00 at the gate.You might want to bring a designated driver. President Sandy then put up for auction two tickets to Brewers by the Bay, which last week were donated by our sister Tuesday Club, Bellingham Bay Rotary. Past-President Teri Treat saved us from the indignity of no bidders. Guess we are all wine drinkers. In any event, thank you, Teri!
Golfun on August 17th. There are still spaces for 5 more teams. Come on golfers, sign up. Contact Del VandeKerk
Guests of Rotarians:
Brian Griffin introduced his Ukulele Ensemble members Judy Coons, former member Rick Wright and Pat Madsen
Paula McCandlis brought her husband Joe Dozal
Paul Grey introduced visiting Rotarian, Sadie Green, from Rotary Club of Kasthamondap (Kathmandu) Sadie is a former Bellingham resident. She works with the Himalayan Children's Charities-Director of Nepal program Development.
Presentations:
New Member certificates and the coveted Blue Badges were then awarded to six new members: Isaac Burrrows, Eric Richey. Shauna Naf, Rob Olson and James Pyles. Welcome all!
Dominique Zervas then gave a presentation of the Michael K. Mischiakow International Service Award, which begged the question, what is International Service?
“Comprised of all things a Rotarian can do to advance international understanding, goodwill, and peace by getting acquainted with people of other countries, their cultures, customs, accomplishments, aspirations, problems -- through personal contacts, travel, and attendance at conventions, through reading and correspondence, and through cooperation in all Club activities and projects -- including those of The Rotary Foundation -- that will help people in other lands.”
As a reminder, Dominique gave a brief outline of RCOB Member, Michael K. Mischiakow.
He was a native & expatriate of Bulgaria; American citizen; professor economics including 24 years at Western Washington University, and helped found Huxley College. Throughout his life, he was active in projects furthering international understanding and peace. The RCOB established the “Michael K. Mischaikow Freedom Fund” in his honor, an Endowment at the Foundation to encourage Bellingham Rotarians to assist Russia in its transition to a free democratic society vs. the totalitarian society it had been.
At the end of her presentation, Dominique let us in that this year’s recipient is Dr. Loch Trimingham. A Rotarian of nearly 20 years, two-time Paul Harris, and prior recipient of the Major Service Award. Loch was born on Christmas day in Minnesota and is a beloved husband, parent, and grandparent. He is a graduate of Bellingham HS and did his undergraduate in at UW. Loch completed medical School and his internship in Canada, completed his surgical residency in Seattle, and developed a practice in orthopedic surgery – with foot/ankle specialty residencies in Washington DC. This was followed by 2 years in the 60s as a Physician with the Peace Corps in Brazil, in 1970s as Attending Physician, Kassab Centre d’Ortopédie, Tunisia, as Chief of Orthopedics, Phoenix Indian Medical Center (IHS), then in late 70s Loch returned to Bellingham and opened Private practice in orthopedics that lasted more than 20 years. His career included about 10 years with Madrona/Peace Health as Orthopedic Surgeon and another 10 years at the Wound Healing Center for PeaceHealth here in Bellingham.
Loch’s volunteer Medical experiences are extensive and consist of large amounts of volunteered time, and payments for his own trips. They include:
½ dozen times to Brazil (Goiania, Manaus, Santarem)
Vietnam (AOFAS American Orthopedic Foot & Ankle Society) – at Viet Duc university hospital
Uganda (HVO- Health Volunteers Overseas) – Kampala
Haiti – Port au Prince (Project Medishare)
½ dozen trips to Addis Ababa Ethiopia (SIGN - Fracture Care – specially designed steel implants) Black Lion Tikur Anbessa – public hospital, Addis Ababa University school of Medicine, College of Health Sciences,
Santiago de los Caballeros, North Central Dominican Republic- (ILAC – Institute for Latin American Concern)
Interfaith Medical Services, Bellingham, WA (began Feb. 2013)
Finally, Dominique provided personal observations of Loch’s commitment to service and his approach to the world. Loch is personally involved, not just with other surgeons, but through personal contacts with other hospital personnel and other individuals throughout the community. He advances international understanding, goodwill and peace by encouraging and supporting others’ world vision and offering them assistance. While doing service abroad, Loch treats everyone - students, peers and local community members - with utmost kindness, respect and patience. And he is sure to travel to different areas and hospitals to offer more. For example while in Addis Ababa, went with one of the other surgeons to assist at another nearby hospital, and on the weekend went to the Fistula Hospital south of Addis Ababa for more service.
Loch Trimingham is a very worthy recipient of this year’s Michael K. Mischiakow International Service Award. Congratulations Loch!!
Program:
Finally, our featured speaker, Whatcom County Prosecutor Dave McEachran, addressed the club. Mr. McEachran is the longest serving prosecutor in the State of Washington, and is nearing completion of his eleventh 4-year term of service. He started as a Deputy Prosecutor in 1972, and will be retiring later in 2019 when his latest term expires. At our request, his comments focused on the growing homeless population on the streets of Bellingham (mostly downtown), and the connection to drug use and mental illness.
The Prosecutor’s office is focused on serious crime in our community, all of which are personal and property related felonies. These include all violent crime, and he personally reviews each one of them. He confirmed that the street-based homeless population was having a noticeable impact on the levels of serious crime and cited several examples of assault, rape and murder from the last few years.
Mr. McEachran spoke about the origins of the current mental health crisis that contributes to the street homeless, tracing it back to political decisions in the 1970’s to close State Hospitals for the mentally ill and move treatment to local jurisdictions. This was thought at the time to improve outcomes for the mentally ill population but the local services were never funded.
Although Mr. McEachran complemented Bellingham as very generous and focused on really helping the homeless mentally ill, he noted that it impacts the community as a whole. First is a resulting migration of homeless, and the biggest problem for law enforcement has stems from those who came to Bellingham from elsewhere. He described these homeless as wanderers, and discussed the bounce-back effect that occurs when migrant homeless are turned away at the Canadian border and land in Bellingham. While sympathetic to their circumstances, Mr. McEachran concluded that the social fabric of our community begins to break down when there are people living in tents and doorways. And our community is increasingly a destination of choice, noting that his office has heard of posters saying “Come to Bellingham” in places as far away as California, Arizona and even Florida. When asked about the push to add more beds for the homeless here, he warned of increasing migration as a side-effect and opined that full enforcement of existing laws about park camping, storefront squatting and the like need to be a component of the solution.
The Prosecutor then moved on to hard drug use (opioids, cocaine and methamphetamines) and especially the resulting serious crime used to fund the addictions. Surprisingly, he noted that that overall levels of serious drug crimes had not risen during the period between 2007 (564 felony cases) and 2017 (577 cases) – noting that 2017 had a much larger overall population. What is changing is the mix of drug use, with heroin rising dramatically and cocaine falling. Meth remains the most popular and available hard drug in our community.
In his final remarks, Mr. McEachran dispelled the popular notion of “mass incarceration”, at least in our community. When an outside NGO focused on excess imprisonment for minor drug crimes called on his office earlier this year, they assumed that 60-70% of our jail population was made up of convicted drug offenders. The truth is that they represent just 7.2% of the overall jail intake. He urged us to take the stories and news reports about mass incarceration with a grain of salt.
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