President Steve opened the meeting with a ring of the bell which was neither remarkable nor memorable. Bob Kuenzel led us in an a cappella rendition of “What a Wonderful World.”
Teri Treat offered an invocation which included a reminder us that our individual membership as Rotarians is what makes a difference.
Guests:
Felicity Dye introduced our Exchange Students Haset and Keisuke
Members on Zoom: Greg Grant and Loch Trimingham
Club Events and Committee Announcements
Committee Announcements:
Meal Packing
Roland Trenouth announced that people should sign up to help with the food packing event 5 April in the Assumption Gymnasium, scheduled 9:15 - noon. We hope to pack 35,000 meals, which translates to $12,000 cash to raise.
About 10 members are needed to show up early at 8:00 am to help set up. Contact Roland if you can help with set-up at 360-201-1090 or rstrenouth@comcast.net
February 23rd, 1954. 71 years ago today, Dr. Jonas Salk hosted the first polio vaccination clinic in Pittsburgh, PA. The effort ultimately became Rotary’s 40 year trek to eradicate polio worldwide. Imagine: ten billion vaccinations to three billion children in just the last ten years. Imagine: just three cases of Wild Polio Virus year-to-date in 2025. But when the Taliban stopped its Afghanistan 2024 vaccination program, wild polio virus jumped to 95 cases. Clearly, without vaccination programs, the virus can and will return with a vengeance.
Miss Vicky Rides Again! Locked inside our 1931 Model A Ford is a pledge to contribute $25,000.00 to PolioPlus WHEN ROTARIANS RAISE A MATCHING $25,000. Simple as that. Mr. Gates further matches each dollar with two of his own. $25 thousand becomes $50k which becomes $150,000, thanks to you, an anonymous PolioPlus donor and the Gates Foundation. Your gift to this "challenge grant" is fully tax deductible, moves you toward Major Donor status and comes with matching TRF points to use as you desire. Rise to the challenge! Contribute generously to the 2025 Miss Vicky Challenge for PolioPlus.
The meeting took on a different theme than usual without committee reports, Minister of Fun, Happy Bucks or speaker. Somewhat in response to the recent survey, and coached by RCOB board member Catherine Riordan, individual tables discussed four questions: Their aspirations for the club, i.e., what we would like to see or have accomplished by year end, evaluation of meetings, membership issues and service projects. A facilitator at each table helped steer discussions and took notes. After 30 minutes findings were shared amongst the members in attendance.
There was agreement that meetings could use some changes in style and perhaps even a change of day or occasional change in time, such as evenings. There was the usual lament about lack of diversity and younger members. A few felt the music selections were off track, though there was a request for the Rotary Brass to perform more often. Regarding service projects, there was concern that beyond the annual meal packing event (coming up April 5), member participation was less than stellar. One suggestion was to engage in a project that might be completed during an actual meeting such as letter writing to a sponsored student in Honduras affiliated with our IPA program.
Teri Treat commented at the close that many of these ideas had surfaced previously but had never been implemented. “Let’s try them. We can always go back if necessary!”
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.
