PresidentSteve opened the meeting by commenting on the abnormally crummy weather.
Steve said there would be no Hungarian lessons today due to Shauna Naf’s presentation on the VIP Challenge. Shauna, sitting in her car near Sea-Tac Airport, said she had practiced some of her Hungarian there, but it was eliciting hand gestures from folks that possibly denoted disapproval.
Shauna presented a new club project (unanimously approved by the Board at its meeting last week) to quantify club participation for the 2024-25 Rotary Year. From July 1, 2024, to June 25, 2025, club members are to keep track of their participation in various club activities to accumulate points: one point for each meeting attended, 5 points for bringing a guest to a meeting, 5 points for a service project, points for contributing Happy Bucks, points for attending a club social event, points for sponsoring new members, points for donations. Each member will have a card kept by Sandee, which should be updated by the member at each meeting the member attends. Once the member accumulates 150 points, he or she gets a nifty and attractive Rotary shirt. Thank you, Shauna, for this great new project! (And no, Nathan, sitting with the weekly speaker does not count for bringing a guest to the meeting,)
Guests on Zoom: Dawnlynn Chadwick, our Exchange Student leaving 8/5 to Mexico
Members on Zoom: John Moffat, Dick Tucker, Pete Kirkman and Monty McAllister
Club Events and Committee Announcements
Board Briefs, July 25, 2024
President Steve will be sending out a membership satisfaction survey to the membership soon.
There will be an RI Webinar on August 29th at 9:00 am, our time, on membership Steve would like the board to sign-up for.
Rotary Friendship Exchange with District 1911 Hungary visit has been postponed to June 2025 but the group from here will leave in October including our own President Steve.
Steve reported that the RCOB Foundation Board of Directors added Daver Morse as director replacing his father, D. C. Morse
recommended by RCOB Foundation President Teri Treat and appointed President Steven Ban.
SHAUNA NAF attended to make the following presentations to the board with both suggestions were approved enthusiastically by the board:
Gamifying the 2024-25 Rotary year: The board approved this V.I.P. Challenge for the membership to kick off Monday, July 29th with an announcement from Shauna. It will begin retroactive to July 1, 2024 thru June 16th, 2025. Shauna has designed very special prizes.
MountainFilm fundraiser idea: This was also approved very enthusiastically by the board. Mountain Film on Tour is a travelling festival that is comprised of short documentary films, focusing on some aspect of the outdoors, activity, overcoming adversity, expanding understanding of others or building community. These films cover many aspects of the Rotary Areas of Focus. We are looking at holding it at Fishman’s Pavilion Zuanich Park, September 26-27, 2025 with a capacity of 500 People but we will need tables and Av space. Shauna estimates event could roughly net $22,051 in revenue, holding it for the two shows. 10-12 movies per night will be played.
This would also be a great opportunity to tie this event into our major project for the year i.e. project at the new proposed waterfront park and club service donations.
Shauna is proposing a 2024 soft rollout possibly in October, no food truck, serve baked goods and alcohol, possibly using WCC, do a raffle with a goal of 250 people at $25 per head. Super-Rough estimated Revenue net of $4,250.00.
Next Board meeting is Thursday, August 15, 2024
Felicity Dye said that our outgoing Rotary student, DawnLynn Chadwick, attending the meeting on Zoom while traveling to Moses Lake, earned the $7,500 to cover the cost of her year abroad. However, she just found out a week before she is leaving that she needs to have a computer for her classes in Mexico. Felicity asked for donations. (At the end of the meeting, it was reported that the club raised $790 during the meeting. What a great club!!)
Join us for a summer evening service project by the water at the Community Boating Center. We will be helping out with mid-summer chores and making sure the equipment and facilities are in tip-top shape for the remainder of the season. If you haven't checked out the new Wheelhouse building up-close (which our major project funds helped complete), now is your chance. Sign up and bring your friends!
August 9th - Friday
Work Party at WCEL Blue House
2001 H. Street, Bellingham
2:00-4:00 pm
Paint the playhouse in the children's outdoor space.
Nathan Twining welcomed back Dylan, who spoke to us not too long ago. Dylan acknowledged our own Teri Treat of the Inn at Lynden for her service as a two-term board member of his organization.
Dylan began by showing a slide of photos of members of his organization, helping us put a face to a name.
Whatcom County ranks fifth in the state for counties where tourism dollars are spent (by visitors, defined as people living at least 50 miles away). While Whatcom County had healthy growth up to 2019, the Pandemic made tourism dollars crash in 2020. Tourism has rebounded strongly since then. Following two years of 30+% gain in 2021 and 2022, Whatcom County had a 9% gain in 2023 and is at a level far higher than 2019, and is positioned well again this year. Tourism dollars include those spent on food, transportation, lodging, recreation, arts and culture.
Dylan spoke at length on the various marketing tools Whatcom Tourism uses, primarily advertising in the Seattle and Vancouver areas. These include the Visitor Newsletter, sent to 25,000 folks. Information on their website includes Farm to Fork, a newsletter explaining how farming and tourism meet. There is also information on recreation for all seasons and a travel advisory page, with updated information on border waits and wildfires in the area. A section on media relations has updated information, including currently a Forbes magazine article on a local restaurant.
Whatcom Tourism also produces various guides, a Go Guide, a birding guide and a Mt. Baker snow guide among others. These are available at the Cruise Terminal, the Airport and the Whatcom Tourism office on Potter Street. People can also access the Quest Pass, getting a digital itinerary on their phone.
Whatcom Tourism works with 176 local businesses. Recently, it partnered with the Bellingham Bells to sponsor the league All-Star game here at Joe Martin Field. It is looking forward to FIFA 2026, with soccer games in Seattle and Vancouver, and seeing how to maximize tourism dollars from that event.
In response to questions, Dylan:
-commented that Galbraith Mountain is a major mountain biking hub that brings in lots of tourism dollars;
-said he would like to see the waterfront continue to develop;
-hopes to get more airline carriers here because the airport has the capacity for more air travel;
-hopes Amtrak routes will increase, at least in time for the 2026 FIFA competitions.
Thank you, Dylan, for an informative presentation.
Closing:
Steve thanked all who participated in the meeting today. John Dunne is thankful Steve did not forget to award the raffle winner (him).
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.
