President John opened the meeting ...with no ribald joke orinvolved attorney tale. He merely smacked the bell and announced that we're starting. The song was My Wild Irish Rose led by Rick. The invocation by Rob Olson. The Pres then updated us on the Rotary Code of Conduct.
Guests:
President John Moffat introduced Bob Tull, former member of Bellingham Bay Rotary.
Members on Zoom: Shauna Naf & Doug Cole
Club Events and Committee Announcements
Last week, John Dunne introduced Connie Sparks, with Road2Home, who spoke about Volunteer Opportunities there. Her agency manages the Garden View Villa, a group of tiny homes, at the corner of Woburn and Lakeway. It is a place for unhoused people aged 55 years and older – many with health issues. They have three full time case managers and they are seeking volunteers who would be willing to cook meals, transport residents, work a three hour shift once a week supervising residents and teach life skills. There are training videos to orient new volunteers to the program.
Homeless Volunteering information with Road2Home: https://road2home.org/
Also, last week Kat Chawkins, representing the Bellingham Food Bank, spoke about a current fundraiser, with a goal of raising $1,000 for the Food Bank. It is running from March 9th thru April 12th. They are also hoping to receive kid's clothing and shoes and various donation sites located around the city, still to be determined.
Ward Naf announced upcoming projects with the Community Boating Center and the Ken Imus Clean Up in Fairhaven (4-11-2026). Details to follow. Our Club is looking into other groups joining us, including Rotaract.
District Events
The Rotary 5050 District Assembly will be held Saturday, April 11, 2026 at Kwantlen Polytechnical University, 12666 72nd Ave., Surrey, B. C. with registration beginning at 8:00 am and running till 2:30. All officers are encouraged to attend as this provides leadership training, goal-setting for the upcoming year and networking opportunities
The District 5050 Conference will be held at Harrison Hot Springs May 1-3, 2026. Members were urged to consider attending. This link will take you to additional information:
2026 Meal Packing Event this week-end
Roland Trenouth reminded us of our 2026 meal-packing event, scheduled for March 14, 2026, at Assumption Gym from 8:45-12:00. Roland requested help with set-up at 7:30, contact Roland if you can help.
Over 140 people have signed up to volunteer to pack some 35,000 meals. We have raised the $12,400 to cover materials costs.
The meals packed will be sent to Sierra Leone, providing over 1,000 students with nutritious meals and a foundation for their physical and academic health. See you Saturday!!
George Halsell started off with an explanation of why we are changing the Club Constitution and Bylaws. Rotary International updates its Constitution and Bylaws every three years and mandates that each Club also update their documents. George reported that, while reviewing our Club's documents, he noted several areas of conflict within them.
One RI Constitution change is that the RI BOD can now terminate a Club member for cause. (Kinda ominous). The only change needed in our Constitution is that North Whatcom Rotary Club is now the Ferndale Rotary Club. Our only variance to the RI Club Model is that we have an executive secretary who is also an employee of the Club.
Bob Kuenzel covered the changes in the Bylaws. The updates are:
All decisions by the Board of Directors be made in a whole group meeting (face-to-face, zoom), not by email.
Elections involving more than two candidates shall be decided by ranked choice voting.
Created language that says “the Vice President, with the assistance of a Program Committee, will arrange speakers for our weekly meetings."
We will allow our members to join a second Club. The Board must agree and that member has restricted membership in the other Club (cannot hold office, can only join another local Club.).
Meeting attendance rules are no longer mandatory; they are only suggestions.
The required number of sponsors for a bylaw change is changed from 25 to 10% of active members.
A question of multiple members with same job classification arose. In the past, this was not allowed. However, RI now recognizes so many different job classifications, even within a specific profession, that this is no longer considered a problem.
The Prez closed the regular meeting.
Two bell-ringings occurred.
And then he opened the special meeting for the purpose of voting on the above proposed changes, with a show of hands.
First, the amendments to the RCOB Constitution, as presented, passed unanimously.
Then, the changes to the RCOB Bylaws, as presented, also passed unanimously.
President John closed the meeting after thanking those who helped put the meeting on and asking for help to restore the room to its previous condition.
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.
