President JohnMoffat opened the meeting remotely via Zoom from his winter quarters in Kona. President Elect Nathan Twining served as John’s onsite proxy. The Rotary Brass played Auld Lang Syne and Teri Treat offered a New Year-themed invocation. The president shared highlights of the December 18 board meeting and read off January birthdays, anniversaries and club anniversaries.
Lunch options for next week, January 12th will be the WCC Canteen or bring your own. We have a Holiday January 19th No Meeting.
Guests:
George Halsell introduced our speaker Gina Stark, Interim Executive Director, Marcelo Pratesi, Development Director and Kelli Fulton-Ratliff, Events & Donor Relations Manager with Habitat for Humanity
Roland Trenouth introduced Take a Vet speaker, Donna Winkley and Paul Pelot with WorkSource Whatcom.
Aaron Booker brought his son Augustus
Rick Kaiser introduced Major Shevaun Malone with Salvation Army
Members on Zoom: Dennis Williams,Monty McAllister, Tom Grinstad and President John Moffat
Visiting Rotarian: Bryan Hennessey, Ferndale Rotary Club
Club Events and Committee Announcements
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 and Doug are encouraging members to get their pledges and payments in ASAP.
Roland Trenouth announced our 2026 meal packing event which is scheduled on March 14. Last year 100 volunteers packed 44,200 meals and we raised $13,000 to cover the associated expenses.
Salvation Army Major Shevaunj Malone thanked RCOB members for their day of bell ringing on December 20th. Fred Meyer Lakeway brought in $1741.14 and Fred Meyer Bakerview brought in $1241.35 for a total of $2982.49.
Board Briefs for December 18, 2025
The Board of Directors approved holding MountainFilm for next year after a very successful event this year.
The Board approved a Christmas gift to our Exchange Student, Janka. She is trying to raise money for an Exchange Student trip to Las Vegas, so the Board approved giving her $200 toward that trip. Sandee will get a card to her host, Felicity Dye, from the club stating the gift and we will give it to her closer to the trip.
The Board continued discussing upcoming evening meeting dates for January 26 and February 23, 2026, and they will be held at the Holiday Inn at the Airport at 5:30 as a social hour and we will have speakers. The March 30th meeting will be a social, and location has not been determined yet.
The Board discussed Larry Halgren's Recap of Joint Club Meeting and felt that a committee needs to be formed to go forward with the recommendations. George Halsell, Rick Kaiser and Steve Ban volunteered to be on the committee. Nathan Twining will also be asked. Bob Kuenzel thought the Presidents of the other clubs should be contacted to find out their thoughts.
The new Standard By-Laws and Rotary Club Constitution format from RI update were studied by George and Bob Kuenzel and have made recommendations. The Board reviewed their recommendations and approved the changes in both documents unanimously. Bob will create the final document to be sent to the membership for a vote, the date yet to be determined.
The biggest changes to the By-Laws are:
Meetings of the Board of Directors and the Executive Committee shall be conducted in person, by zoom or other video meeting platform, or by conference call among the participants, as the Board may determine from time to time. (No email voting)
For offices for which more than two candidates have been nominated, election shall be ranked by choice voting.
Dual Membership: A person may simultaneously hold active membership in this and another club, subject to Board approval.
George also pointed out that after those are approved, there are changes that will need to be made to the Policy Manual which the Board approves.
The next Board meeting will be on January 15, 2026, at 4:30pm
Take a Vet to Lunch coordinator Paul Pelot introduced five-year Army Veteran, Donna Winkley who shared information about her background, training and skills in the area of office administration.
Detail oriented and dedicated accounting graduate with a strong academic background and five+ years of experience in accounts payable, handling confidential paperwork and making routine office tasks as efficient as possible. Seeking a position to develop additional practical accounting skills, gain knowledge and experience in financial analysis and contribute to the financial success of a progressive organization
Gina Stark, interim Executive Director for Habitat for Humanity, provided background information on both the national and local organizations. Habitat was founded in 1976 with a goal of providing hope and community by building affordable homes. They also offer an affordable home repair program. The Bellingham chapter operates the Habitat Store to help fund their various programs. They have 35 employees and lots of volunteers. Volunteers are needed at the Habitat Store, in the Habitat office and at construction sites. “Everybody brings different skills and abilities. We need them all.” Habitat has built 58 units in Whatcom County with 8 more planned in the near future. Most are stand alone units. The Telegraph Road project features four multi-unit homes. The Mateo project in Everson also features multi-unit homes. To meet the projected deficit of affordable homes in Whatcom county 32,000 home need to be built, thus multi-unit structures are the most efficient means of addressing this deficit. Applicants for homes are expected to contribute 200-500 hours of sweat equity.
Closing:
With a mighty swing of a tinkle bell, President John ended the meeting promptly at 1:30. (That's our time, not his).
Rotary Brass: Doug Cole, John Dunne, George Halsell, Del VandeKerk & Brad Burdick
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.
"Take a Vet to Lunch"
