Rotary Club of Bellingham Tattler - OCTOBER 23, 2023
Tattler Reporter Tim Farris
Tattler Editor Tom Grinstad
Photographer: Del VandeKerk
Dianna Konrad
"Mended Hearts"
Opening Welcome:
President Doug welcomed us to our meeting with a quote from Earl Nightingale:
"Getting along well with other people is still the world's most needed skill. With it...there is no limit to what person can do. We need people, we need the cooperation of others. There is very little we can do alone.”
Guests:
John Moffat introduced speaker Dianna Konrad
Visiting Rotarian: Doug Cole introduced George Halsell from Twin Falls, Idaho
Doug reviewed the new book by Timothy Egan, “Fever in the Heartland”. It was published in April of 2023. The Roaring Twenties--the Jazz Age--has been characterized as a time of Gatsby frivolity. But it was also the height of the uniquely American hate group, the Ku Klux Klan. Their domain was not the old Confederacy, but the Heartland and the West. They hated Blacks, Jews, Catholics and immigrants in equal measure, and took radical steps to keep these people from the American promise. And the man who set in motion their takeover of great swaths of America was a charismatic charlatan named D.C. Stephenson.
Stephenson was a magnetic presence whose life story changed with every telling. Within two years of his arrival in Indiana, he’d become the Grand Dragon of the state and the architect of the strategy that brought the group out of the shadows – their message endorsed from the pulpits of local churches, spread at family picnics and town celebrations. Judges, prosecutors, ministers, governors and senators across the country all proudly proclaimed their membership. But at the peak of his influence, it was a seemingly powerless woman – Madge Oberholtzer – who would reveal his secret cruelties, and whose deathbed testimony finally brought the Klan to their knees.
Doug showed us slides of Ku Klux Klan marching in parades in Bellingham. Brian Griffin also noted how one of the staunch opponents of the KKK was one our club’s founders, J.J. Donovan.
Presentations
WCC Foundation Scholarship check Presentation $3,000 for venue use.
Speaker Deborah DeWees and Laurel Messenger, Scholarship Program Coordinator. They reviewed the important role of scholarships at Whatcom Community College. We were told that students often have to confront difficult decision of whether to pay tuition, rent or child care. The average scholarship is approximately $2,500. The Club, presented a check for $3,000, for which we were thanked by the representatives of WCC.
Weekly Payment Reminder
VENMO:
@RCOB- Bellingham.
Give Sandee a call if you need help. 360-734-5532.
CASH / CHECK:
Yes, we still take these and saving on fees is appreciated.
President Doug noted that October24th is the day we note Rotary’s goal of ending polio. Rotary along with the Gates Foundation have helped fund some $2.6 billion to end polio.
A Get-Well Card was circulated for John Pedlow.
President Doug announced a work party for the Community Boating Center will be held on November 12 from 10 am to 2 pm to do clean up around the Center. About 11-12 members have already signed up and the project could use a few more.
Diana Konrad reviewed the history and work of Mended Hearts. It is an international organization, founded in 1951, that supports heart patients and their families. It has grown from four members to over 200,000, including some 200 local chapters and satellites world-wide.
Mended Hearts provides support to some 350 hospitals and rehabilitation clinics. Eighty-Two (82%) of their funding is used for education, support and advocacy. They do this by visiting patients in pre-op awaiting surgery, doing hospital visits and catheterization labs to heart patients, providing care giver support, education classes and providing an extensive on-line library of information for heart patients and their families.
Locally, Mended Hearts has grown from 33 original members to over 200 who made some 3,000 patient visits per year pre-covid. We were told why their work is important. Heart disease claims some 928,000 lives a year, 1% of new-borns have some kind of congenital heart disease and there are millions suffering with some form of heart disease.
As part of their education program, Dianna noted that local cardiologist, Dr. Peter Beglin, is giving a presentation on November 4th about improvements to the catheterization lab and “how to avoid going there”.
Closing:
President Doug closed the meeting thanking those who helped make the meeting happen.
Guess Who?
Rick Kaiser - Music
Mike Plenkovich - Invocation
Whatcom Community College Foundation - Deborah DeWees and Laurel Messenger
RCOB apparel, including polo shirts, dress shirts, vests and hats is now available. These are items that every Club member simply must have in his/her wardrobe! Besides looking great, Club members will be contributing to branding for the RCOB as well as supporting our Club's Foundation, which will receive part of the proceeds.
Click on the button below for the the clothing catalogue, with the Order Form on the last page. Fill out the order form, turn it into Vinson Latimore at a meeting or email a scanned copy to embroidery@choicesscrubs.com.
Book Review
