President John Moffat called the meeting to order on this beautiful Fall day, coming off the highs of Seattle sports teams this past weekend. The Rotary Brass, searching for something relevant for Columbus Day, opened with “Columbia, the Gem of the Ocean,” an old patriotic song once looked upon as favorably as our national anthem. Mike Diehl bridged the gap between honoring pioneering explorer Christopher Columbus’ discovery and subsequent colonization and subjugation of indigenous peoples on this continent. Noting the duality of the holiday, he offered a prayer of balance, that we might not climb the social ladder on the backs of others.
President John Moffat followed by highlighting the Rotary goal in Seattle of working on the eradication of sex trafficking in the Pacific Northwest. People of color, the poor, and foster children and their families have been targeted by exploiters for the sex industry. Rotarians there have been working within the legal system and with the police to close streets, file lawsuits to stop online advertising, and put pressure on hotels which have been profiting from the activity.
He then reminded us all to vote for our preferred meeting location and encouraged us to use the QR code on the screen to do that during the meeting.
Guests:
George Halsell introduced his wife Melanie and John Bosch, who played with the Rotary Brass and speaker Bryan Hennessey, Past President of the Ferndale Club.
Mark Knittel introduced Penny Rings, widow of Dale Rings and Chuck Snyder, former member and Past President of the RCOB currently with the Sun Lakes, Arizona Rotary.
Mike Mallory introduced Rosemary Mora
Guests on Zoom: Margaret and Mark Curtis
Members on Zoom: Bill Day & Dick Tucker
Club Events and Committee Announcements
Announcements:
Urgent Call to Rotarians:
Rotarians needed for the October 27th meeting with the Rotaract and Interact Clubs at WWU. We need a few members to participate in the Career Networking Roundtable event! The idea is for our club members to sit at various tables (grouped like ours with 4 persons per pod) and introduce themselves with their work experience at the start of the meeting. The meeting will be interactive with the students talking (in a small group) to someone of interest to them for 5-7 minutes and then move on to someone else. At the end of 45 minutes or so we will break for pizza supplied by the club. Please contact Sandee at rcob@comcast.net if you can help! CLICK HERE TO REGISTER TO ATTEND
Catherine Riordan, Chairman of the Social Committee has the following important announcements:
New Members Meet and Greet will happen on October 22, 5:30-7pm, at Catherine Riordan and Phil Thompson's house, 1117 St Paul St, Bellingham. There's plenty of street parking available.
All newer members are strongly encouraged to attend and to bring their partners and an appetizer to share.
All RCOB members are also invited, especially those who want an opportunity to get to know these newer members and their partners. Please register in ClubRunner.
Second, we are going to postpone until 2026 the Guess Who's Coming to Dinner event previously scheduled for November.
Larry Halgren made an announcement regarding the November 18th joint Brainstorming Club meeting:
Larry told us that there will be an important meeting of Whatcom County Rotary Clubs on November 18 from 5 pm to 9 pm at the Hotel Bellwether. All are invited. The topic will focus on the reduced membership of Rotary Clubs everywhere. The agenda will be to have a serious discussion about recruitment and possibly the consolidation of one or more Clubs. The meeting will include members of the Clubs from Whatcom North, Bellingham Bay, Sunrise, Mt. Baker, Ferndale and RCOB. The meeting will have a question-and-answer format, with no plans to make final decisions that day. Larry urged us to sign up through Clubrunner Events. CLICK HERE FOR LINK
QR Code for November 18th
Shauna Naf let us know that 75 tickets have already been sold for Mountain Film on Tour. Some impressive donations have been gathered for the silent auction, including some darling Christmas stockings, Evil Bike’s rental passes, and a Community Boating Center donation. She encourages members to get out there, engender support for this program, and get the word out about Mountain Film. CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE TICKETS
Finally, Monty McAllister reminded us to make our pledges for our major project, Skookum kids, by the end of the year.
Roland Trenouth presented a synopsis and review of Blood by Douglas Starr, a nonfiction exposé on how humans have used blood through the ages. The book covered three aspects of blood use – Blood Magic, covering bloodletting and blood transfusions, Blood Wars, explaining how blood has kept soldiers in combat alive and how scientific advances were made to make sure it was done safely, and Blood Money, exposing how private blood banks originally were unregulated, leading to the spread of Hepatitis and AIDS.
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.
Brian Hennessey, former President of the Ferndale Rotary Club, presented his concept “Free Native Plants for Everyone.” As an electrical engineer who has never stopped learning, currently working on environmental studies at BTC, he has given out free native plants to kids at events. He also pigeonholes their parents at those events to teach them the importance of preserving and propagating plants which are native to this area. Brian feels that this is another example of the Rotary four-way test, especially in that this practice is beneficial to all concerned. Working with Whatcom Land Trust and The Nooksack Salmon Enhancement Association, Brian spreads his passion to turning lawns back into meadows.
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.
Book Review
