President-Elect Nathan Twining, as President John is out of town, opened the meeting greeting all of our Rotarians and Guests.
The Rotary Brass entertained us for 20 minutes with Christmas songs and a personal rendition of a new song George Halsell wrote especially for the occasion.
Nathan mentioned with the recent flooding, I'm sure many of us are wondering how we can help. Rotary is not set up to handle these kinds of emergencies, but the Whatcom Community Foundation has the Resilience Fund (https://wcf.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/create/fund?funit_id=1455), where 100% of the donations are directed to flood relief and recovery efforts in Whatcom County. Here is a breakdown of the fund utilization for the 2021 flooding: https://whatcomcf.org/resilience-fund-flood-resources-update/
There is a Board of Directors meeting this Thursday, December 18th on Zoom at 3:00. Contact Sandee Lindhout if you would like the link.
There is no meetings the next 2 weeks, December 22nd and December 29th. See you January 5th at Whatcom Community College.
Nathan introduced a game to select the table that goes first in the buffet line utilizing tongue depressors and small marshmallows. The winner was ScottHerman's table aided by Janka, our exchange student, wife Jen, Paul Grey and Mary.
The winners with 52 marshmallows.
Guests:
The following guests were welcomed:
Cheryl Blair
Kelly and Augustus Booker
Gail Bove
Shari Burdick
Joy Dunne
Exchange Student, Janka Eszik from Hungary
Leslie Farris
Mary Gray
Gail Haines
Sandi Halgren
Melanie Halsell
John and Kori Bosche, member of the Rotary Brass and member of Bellingham Bay
Jennifer Bowden
Jeanette Morse
Bonnie Trenouth
Susan Trimingham
Lisa Twining
Willy VandeKerk
Club Events and Committee Announcements
Upcoming Events:
We need your help!
Bell ringing will be December 20th at Lakeway and Bakerview Fred Meyers at both doors. Rick Kaiser has taken over as Chairman for Dick Tucker in lieu of Dick's hiking accident on the Rotary hike. It will be 10:00am-6:00pm with 2 hour shifts, but you can always sign-up for more than one shift :) We currently have 8 spots that need to be filled!
CLICK HERE to register for your preferred time and location.
2025-2026 Major Project - Skookum Kids:
Project Purpose:
Skookum Kids is seeking funding of $140,000 to assist with the purchase of three slightly used vans. RCOB would contribute approximately $85,000 of this total with the remainder obtained from designated donors. While currently serving 200+ families each year, acquiring these vehicles will significantly improve the ability of Skookum Kids to serve a greater number of children and families throughout Whatcom County and Northwest Washington for years to come.
Your donation will enable his organization to replace aging minivans which are used to transport children to and from appointments, sometimes across the state! Eighty percent of foster children have court-mandated visitations.
Monty McAllister nagged us about getting those pledges in before the end of this calendar year.
Pilot program for the 2026/2027 Rotary calendar year, specifically focused on how we manage our weekly speakers.
Currently, the designated future President (two years out) serves as the "VP of Programs." This individual carries the heavy workload of finding and managing speakers for the entire year. A group of current and former Club Presidents has reviewed this process and proposed a new committee-based approach—one that is already standard practice in many other clubs.
The New Approach Instead of one person shouldering the load for 12 months, we are forming a Program Committee.
Structure: We are looking for 3-4 members to join the committee.
Commitment: Each member will be responsible for a specific segment of the calendar (likely a 3-month block), rather than the full year.
Role: During your block, you will manage speaker selection and coordination, supported by the VP of Programs.
Why We Are Making This Change
Reduced Burnout: It lowers the barrier to entry for members interested in becoming President by removing the massive first-year workload.
Flexibility: It accommodates members who travel or have fluctuating schedules.
Diversity of Thought: A committee ensures our speaker lineup reflects a broader range of interests, ideas, and contacts.
Call for Volunteers We are looking for volunteers to launch this committee. Please note: You are only signing up for a ~3-month assignment, not a full year.
Initial planning will begin in early February, with scheduling starting in April for meetings beginning in July with the new Rotary year.
If you are interested in helping shape our programs, please let Sandee or Mark Knittel know as soon as possible.
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.
