Rotary Club of Bellingham Tattler - NOVEMBER 6, 2023
Tattler Reporter Catherine Riordan
Tattler Editor Steve Ban
Photographer: Mike Diehl
Drew Zogby
EnerSys Energy Systems
IMPORTANT MEETING LOCATION CHANGE FOR NEXT WEEK, NOVEMBER 13TH! WE WILL NOT BE MEETING IN THE SYRE BUILDING MONDAY BUT THE PHYLLIS & CHARLES SELF LEARNING COMMONS AGAIN AT 310 W. KELLOGG RD. ROOM #160. JUST PAST THE WEST KELLOGG RD AND CORDATA PARKWAY ROUNDABOUT.
CHECK THE SPECIAL EMAIL FOR A MAP.
Opening Welcome:
President Doug rang the meeting to order at 12:30 PM. Hewelcomed us and congratulated us on finding our way to this new delightful but temporary location, which is in the Phyllis and Charles Self Learning Commons on the WCC campus.
Doug announced that there will be a Board of Directors meeting this Thursday, November 9 at 4:30 PM at Paula McCandlis' office, 200 W. Chestnut St. Club members are welcome to attend.
To inspire and encourage us, he shared this quote from Henri Nouwen
"Did I offer peace today? Did I bring a smile to someone's face? Did I say words of healing? Did I let go of my anger and resentment? Did I forgive? Did I love? These are the real questions. I must trust that the little bit of love that I sow now will bear many fruits, here in this world and the life to come."
Guests:
John Moffat introduced the speaker Drew Zogby
Rick Kaiser introduced Jim Lemerond with BTC
Doug Cole introduced George Halsell, Twin Falls Rotarian
Catherine Riordan brought her husband Phil Thompson
Members on Zoom: Steve Hager, Loch Trimingham and Chuck Snyder from Arizona
Visiting Rotarian Bryan Hennessey with the Ferndale Rotary Club
Club Events and Committee Announcements
We are sponsoring Future Bellingham, a City of Bellingham Comprehensive Plan Listening Session, hosted by the Rotary Clubs in Bellingham and Whatcom Community College.
December 4th from 4:00-600pm
in the Syre Theater.
Please sign up through Clubrunner.
Every 10 years, Bellingham creates a Comprehensive Plan – a vision for what the city should strive for over the next two decades. The 2025 plan is being formed now and your voice is needed! What should we be working towards in terms of housing, neighborhood makeup, parks, transportation, diversity and inclusion, public health and safety, and the economy? The City of Bellingham Comprehensive Plan team will be onsite and actively collecting your thoughts and ideas to weave into future plans for the city.
Rotary Moment by Ron Jepson
Ron has had a lifelong fascination with aircraft. Growing up, Ron lived by an airport, near Manchester, England, and heard lots of bombers taking off. He would watch four or five searchlights converge on a German aircraft; then the shooting would start. The aircraft that were shot down were later placed in the city center and the Manchester community was allowed to view them. The kids even had a chance to play on them!
That area was bombed heavily between 1940 and 1941.
In 1953, Ron and his immediate family moved from England to Bellingham, where he had extended family who sponsored their immigration. His dreams of becoming a pilot were quickly squelched when he tested positive for green/red color blindness.
Instead, he began his 55-year education and career in civil engineering. One of his early jobs was at Moses Lake, where they were testing a European supersonic passenger aircraft. Apparently, the weather (ice) conditions at Moses Lake were terrible for flying/landing but perfect for testing this new aircraft.
Ron’s Engineering office is across from the main Bellingham library and has other aircraft models hanging from the ceiling, including one of these supersonics. He invited all members to stop by to view this model and have some tea. (oops he didn’t say tea but wouldn’t that have been kind of him?).
2023-2024 Major Project - Lighthouse Mission Medical Center presentation
by Hans Erchinger-Davis
The Lighthouse Mission seeks to break the cycle of homelessness throughout Whatcom County. Their mission is a broad one, beginning with outreach to needy individuals, then offering recovery services surrounding spiritual growth, addictions, and healthy relationships.
Concurrent with their recovery, those working through the mission model may seek jobs, education, life skills, and enhanced community connections.
Hans’ experience has shown him that crises in individuals’ relationships and a loss of hope are what drive people to living unhoused, rather than financial poverty, as is commonly believed.
This time of year, the Lighthouse sees roughly half the homeless in Bellingham, a high demand that led The Lighthouse to begin planning (and fundraising) to build a new facility. Included in that facility will be a medical clinic; RCOB’s 2023 and 2024 Major Project fundraising will create that clinic. The medical and psychological needs of this population are tremendous. Living in the encampments can be very dangerous and threatening and many need immediate access to medical and psychological services.
The clinic will include a nurse on staff and exam rooms for providers of medical and mental health services. The hope is to get mental health care readily available and provide a direct line to hospital when needed for all services.
Hans thanked the RCOB for helping to support the lives of “these people who have nothing.”
Announcements
The Community Boating Center (our Major Project recipient 2 years ago) work party is this Sunday, November 12, 10AM to 2PM. Let's have a large Club member turnout!
Brian Hennessey visited us to announce that the Ferndale club is hosting environmental hands-on work sessions and encouraged us to join them on Saturday mornings.
Mark Knittel noted his/our continuing involvement with the ARES Project in Kenya. He let us know that Jan and DC are funding an entire school on their own. Very generous and heartwarming!
Doug took a minute to recognize pilots in our group. Quite a few were at today’s meeting Bill Day
Daver Morse
Rick Kaiser
Mike Diehl
Del VandeKerk
Mike Bradburn
Paul Grey
Mark Knittel
Doug Cole
Also pilots but not in attendance were Rud Browne, Tim Farris, and John Huntley
As an aside, Doug suggested we should all be driving Aviators. Is this a car?
A car designed for aviators? Wasn't sure.
Mystery Photo: Felicity Dye
When asked for the story behind that cute little photo of her at 10 years old, Felicity said, "Doug’s house was built by my father Patrick Moran. He was an Architect and builder- he would design a house and then build it himself – literally- all the windows, doors, and cabinets were all handmade. We would live in the houses while they were being completed, I think the photo was taken in 1978. My bedroom is now Doug’s office."
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.
Drew came to Bellingham from San Diego to lead Alpha Technologies after working in many energy/business enterprises, often as a COO. He lives in Blaine with his wife. He has two grown children and drives an Aviator like Mike Diehl.
Alpha Technologies grew from $160M to $550M under his leadership, before the Bosarys decided to sell for $750M to EnerSys.
Drew now works in the same building but for EnerSys Energy Systems, which has over $4B in annual revenue and projects/products on most continents. Drew shared the astounding worldwide reach of their products – batteries and power systems. For example, 90% of the cable systems in this country depend at least in part on their technology. Microsoft has rooms full of their batteries as do many of its industry peers. They specialize in designing energy systems and services to meet the specialized needs of their customers.
The grey boxes we’re seeing around urban areas in the US were designed by EnerSys Energy to amp up the power needed by the proliferating 5G systems. So glad this avoids digging up neighborhoods to run cable!
EnerSys Energy has 308 Employees in Bellingham who still make some products in the facility by the airport. They also manufacture batteries in plants around the world. AI, with its high electricity demands, has been great for their business.
A big push for them right now is Extended Run Time Power Systems. Because of the fires of previous years, California now mandates that energy companies can provide 72 hours of backup. These systems are integral to those backup systems.
Drew recalled supply chain nightmares from pandemic times. The critical nature of the services their customers provide meant there were times when Enersys had to turn to the black market to sustain the supply line.
EnerSys receives over 1M phishing/cyber threats a month. They haven’t had a breech yet. Hackers have attempted to enter through some bizarre back doors so active vigilance is required.
Drew is optimistic about future battery technologies and sees advanced battery banks proliferating in the future. He knows of many critical technologies that are on the bench right now and likely to be deployed at enterprise-level soon and then move to large-scale market applications in the not-too-distant future.
Closing:
Before ringing the meeting to adjournment at 1:30 PM, President Doug thanked all who helped with the meeting and once again reminded us of the efforts needed to set up and take down our meetings and asked us all to contribute to these efforts. This we can do!!!
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.
2023-2024 Major Project - Lighthouse Mission Medical Center presentation
