President-Elect Nathan Twining opened the evening meeting in President John's absence after a half-hour cocktail time. In a serious overestimation of our memories, he claimed we would remember that this was the more than four thousandth meeting of our club.
Brad Burdick shared a lovely poem in anticipation of the Super Bowl.
We sang along with Bob Kuenzel's rendition of "Over the Rainbow," a song from the WWII era, another dark time. I can never get enough of that song.
Guests:
George Halsell introduced our speaker, Toby Paterson, Regional Labor Economist, Washington State Employment Security Department
Spouses in attendance: Kelly Booker, Shari Burdick, Sunny Guillory, Gail Haines, Phil Thompson and Robin Williams
Club Events and Committee Announcements
Roland Trenouth announced our 2026 meal packing event which is scheduled on March 14, 2026 at Assumption Gym at 8:45-12:00. The goal is to pack 35,000 meals and raise $12,400 to pay for the materials. This is only possible through the efforts of partners and volunteers like you. The meals packed will be sent to Sierra Leone, providing over 1,000 students with nutritious meals, foundations to their physical and academic health.
We are way behind on the fundraising goal for this year's major project, according to Monty McAllister. He reminded us of the club's expectation that all members contribute annually to the major project and encouraged those who haven't done so to make their donations as soon as possible.
Project Purpose:
Skookum Kids is seeking $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 Skookum Kids' ability to serve more children and families throughout Whatcom County and Northwest Washington for years to come.
Our donation will enable the 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.
The December 31, 2025, Financials reports were approved as submitted. The MountainFilm net profit is $17,789.28. Thanks team for making this such a successful event!
Sandee is reminding members that immediately after the Board Meetings, Financial and Minutes from the month prior are placed on the RCOB Website homepage under “For Members” / Board Minutes & Financials.
The Board approved continuing to do the coffee bags as speaker gifts.
The new Standard By-Laws and Rotary Club Constitution were thoroughly reviewed by George Hassell and Bob Kuenzel, who made recommendations to the Board, which approved the initial changes on December 18, 2025. Since then, George has identified a few minor changes to the By-Laws that needed to be made; those changes were presented and approved.
The Rotary Club of Bellingham Policy Manual now needs updating to be in line with the new RI Constitution and the club's By-Laws. George and Bob made recommendations for those updates, and they were also approved by the Board.
The next step is to hold a Special Meeting for the membership to vote on the RI Constitution and the RCOB By-Laws.
The Board selected the regular meeting on March 9th to serve also as a Special Meeting for purposes of these votes. George and Bob will make a presentation to the membership highlighting the changes in lieu of a speaker, meaning the Special Meeting vote will take place at 1:15. As required, the membership will be notified 30 days prior to that date and sent the documents. That will be before February 7th.
Aaron Booker was presented his first Paul Harris Fellowship. Congratulations Aaron!
John Dunne presented a Paul Harris Fellowship to Doug Gustafson with Tiny House Villages. John used his available recognition points with RI to secure the award honoring Doug. Doug Gustafson has contributed to numerous efforts to expand housing for the homeless, efforts which are now showing high success rates.
Members were reminded that they have Paul Harris Recognition Points with Rotary International and that the points can be given to other members and non-members for the purposes of awards. Contact Sandee for more information
Aaron Booker & Nathan Twining
Doug Gustafson & John Dunne
Weekly Payment Reminder
VENMO:
@RCOB- Bellingham.
Give Sandee a call if you need help. 360-734-5532.
CASH / CHECK:
Yes, we still take these and saving on fees is appreciated.
Using graphs from WA Employment Security, Toby showed rates of job and business growth/decline in recent years, sometimes noting the effects of the pandemic, but saying little about tariffs and other contemporary issues. He claimed most stats were trending positively. He did note a recent decline in jobs of around 4,000 jobs, the same number of deaths from COVID, although the two are not contemporaneous. Since new statistics were to be released the next day, he encouraged those interested to check the website for the latest figures.
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.
