Prior to the official meeting there were a few minutes of “greeting” and a book report by Paula McCandlis of Bad Advice written by John McIntyre. It is a witty rejection of traditional rules of grammar, a perfect gift for that insufferable, condescending grammatical perfectionist on your holiday list.
Opening Welcome
President Gary called the meeting to order at 12:30 PM after Sandee rang the bell. Music was a Rotary Brass recording of God Bless America. Mike Plenkovich provided the invocation, which examined the concepts of abundance, scarcity and gratitude.
Club Announcements
Shauna Naf from the membership committee reminded us to invite guests and potential new members to our virtual RCOB meetings. She also announced that, starting now, each new member will be assigned an active Club member as a mentor to be a resource and provide guidance regarding Club responsibilities and activities.
Frequent guest and former RCOB member Dale Rings is recovering from recent successful heart surgery. His address is: 10230 E. Coopers Hawk Drive, Sun Lakes, AZ. 85248.
URGENT: We are looking for Website/Tattler sponsors for the next Rotary year starting July 1st. It is a great opportunity to advertise your business and support Rotary. $350.00 for the year. Please check out the current sponsors on our website by going to www.bellinghamrotary.org on the home page. If you "click" on a sponsor it will take you to their website. It also shows up in the Tattler. Contact Sandee if interested. We have 3 spots remaining.
All Rotary meetings will be held Virtually on Zoom until at least January 1, 2021 due to Covid-19 social distancing. You can look for an email from Sandee each week prior to the Monday 12:30 meeting(you can start logging in at 12:15 for short socializing) with the link for that privacy protected meeting. If you have not done so, please download the Zoom app on your computer (you need a camera and microphone on it), ipad or phone. There is no cost to you. If you do not have either, you can also call in. On the invitation there are US phone numbers you can call and enter the meeting ID number also indicated on the invitation.
RCOB has now set up a Venmo account for ease in payment of Happy Bucks, Minister of Fun, Dues or donations to the club. Our account is @RCOB-Bellingham. If you do not have a Venmo account you can set up an account with your computer then download the app. on your phone (just Goggle "Venmo" and you will find all the information you need) You then attach it to a debit or credit card (a fee on your end) or attach to your checking account at no cost. Payment will be sent directly to the RCOB checking account. When you use it for the first time it may ask you the last 4 digits of the RCOB phone number which is 5532. Give Sandee a call if you need help.
Here is a tutorial on how to login for the first time. (Click here) In order to login you need to know your user name and password in your Clubrunner account. The user name is Yourfirstname.Lastname.264 unless you have changed it. Example: Sandra.Lindhout.264 The password is initially set by clubrunner at 264 unless you have changed it. Sandee can see your Username from my computer but not the password. She can also change your password for you from her computer at your request if you run into problems.
Once you have originally created your User Name and Password you can download the ClubRunner Mobile app on your phone:
Please contact Sandee at 360-734-5532 or rcob@comcast.net if you run into any trouble.
Guests:
Paul Grey introduced speakers Hart Hodges and James McCafferty
Catherine Riordan introduced her husband, Phil Thompson
Kirstin Hunt introduced our exchange student Aramis who is officially leaving for home in Peru on August 31st.
Former member Bruce MacCormack
Presentations:
Doug Cole was presented with his third Paul Harris Fellow award and was honored by Club members with a rousing sitting ovation.
Captain Ruairi Ward was inducted as our newest RCOB member by Past President Bob Morse. Bob pointed out that this was the first ever virtual RCOB new member induction. He plans to provide Ruairi with a full in-person induction and instructions post- Covid. Ruairi was proposed by Paul Grey and Shauna Naf to fill the classification “Community Service – Salvation Army.” Shauna will be his mentor.
The following information was provided: “Ruairi (Rur-ee) Ward is originally from Northern
Ireland, and moved to the United States in 2010 to begin working with The Salvation Army in Spokane, WA. Initially, Ruairi worked as a College Ministry leader, but felt God calling him into full time ministry as an Officer in The Salvation Army. Ruairi married the love of his life,
Sarah, in 2011 and they have four little boys, Seamus (Shay-mus) aged 7, Cillian (Kil-lian) aged 5, and twins Ronan & Pearse (Peerce) aged 3. Ruairi and Sarah entered The Salvation Army’s College for Officer Training in 2012, and graduated with honors in 2014. Currently, they hold the rank of Captain, and have served in Olympia WA, the Bay Area CA, Seattle WA, and Marysville WA.
Moving to Bellingham in 2019, Captains Ward are responsible for the work of The Salvation Army in Whatcom County. It’s Ruairi’s passion to look out for the hurting, be a friend to the friendless and to help those in need.” Welcome, Ruairi!
Program:
Hart Hodges and James McCaffrey from the WWU Economics and Business Departments provided analysis of the effect of the Covid pandemic on the local and national economy, titled, Zombies, Gamblers & Mostly Employed.
Surprisingly, there was an income and spending spike in the 2nd Quarter of 2020.
The Covid-19 economy hasn’t affected all incomes equally. Clothing, entertainment, travel, restaurants and bars have been hard hit. Other sectors, such as groceries and tech, have not.
The national economic forecast is that the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) might not return to pre-Covid levels until the 4th Quarter of 2021, assuming that most of the population has received an effective Covid vaccine by the Fall of 2021.
Because of the dramatic reduction in spending, the public sector has been hit hard due to a corresponding reduction in sales tax revenue. Normally, in Whatcom County, the public sector provides 16-17% of the jobs and 20% of the wages.
Low end jobs (under $14/hour) are down by 32%.
Higher end jobs are stable or have increased slightly. However, this population segment is still showing a reluctance to spend onmeals out or travel.
The typical homebuyer/seller is little affected by Covid; however, the rental market (both renters and landlords) has suffered greatly.
Whatcom County unemployment is at 11.5%, slightly less than the national average.
Whatcom County spending is 7.4% higher than the national average.
Of the current business closures nationwide, an estimated 58% are likely to be permanent.
Two reasons the stock market is disconnected from the Covid economy are that restaurants, which have been devastated, are not included in the S&P 500 and the five largest corporations in the S&P 500 are tech giants (Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Facebook and Google), which comprise 20% of the S&P 500 performance and have reaped huge rewards in the Covid economy.
There will likely be no major economic recovery until publicconfidence improves and a vaccine becomes widely available.
Covid-related economic data can be viewed at TracktheRecovery.org
COVID-19 Report – President Gary
President Gary’s Weekly Covid Summary:
- There were no hospital Covid admissions or deaths.
- The percentage of positive test results is trending downward.
- There were 27 positive tests, most as a result of contact tracing.
- St. Joseph Hospital has a 9% open bed rate. It’s busier now with
non-Covid patients.
- Widespread community testing is available without doctors' orders.
