Monday, August 11, 2008

Olympia Farmers Market-Annual Club Picnic

President Elect Larry Poplack called the meeting to order and welcomed members and guests. Paul Creighton, the pledge by Dan Lehuta, led the invocation, Gloria Strait led us in song and Michael Motte led the 4-way test.

Visiting Rotarians: Jon Tuinhem & Shelly Foltz from West Olympia and Clement Leslie from Phoenix , AZ

Happy Bucks:

Steve Bean happy to be back after 15 hours at O'Hare airport and he is back to swimming after rotary cuff surgery. Phillip Hall was thrilled to announce he won a 2008 Corvette in a raffle drawing-it is a limited edition red 427 model and the 2 nd one off the assembly line. Joan Houchen made quilts for her grandchildren and entered them into the Thurston County Fair and came away with winning ribbons. Gerald Pumphrey and Trent Hart both back from a great vacations and Jonathan Pleger put a plug in for Morningside's road rally. Kim Dinsmore reminded everyone about the upcoming Jazz meeting at Sunset Air and he was leaving to drive to Norman , OK where his daughter will be going to school.

Announcements:

President Larry recognized John Clees for his 2nd Paul Harris Fellow. Craig Ottavelli announced further plans for the Mariners Fan of the Year game, September 26, 7:10pm, honoring Oscar. Tickets are $11 each and a motor coach is being rented for those that would like to have door-to-door service and good fellowship on the ride to and from the game. Prices for the bus will be forthcoming.

Pat Rants spoke about spaghetti bowl. Each member is responsible for selling a book of 20 tickets at $7.00 each.

Larry announced several workshops that might be of interest: September 6, a micro credit workshop in Victoria , BC about loans in 3 rd world countries and world community workshop in Chehalis on September 20. See Larry if you are interested in attending.

Program:

Gerry Alexander introduced Farmers Market vendor and local organic berry grower Jim Johnson. Jim, a native Olympian, owns Johnson's Organic Berry Farms on the Wiggins Road and harvests 30 acres of fruit.

Jim has been part of the market for many years and serves on the board of directors. 50% of his income comes from the market. There are 90 plus small businesses that produces gross revenue of 4.2 million dollars. It is the 2 nd most successful Farmers Market on the West Coast with Pike Place Market in Seattle being number one.

Jim explained how the market worked with vendors and the policies of how someone can become a vendor. Questions were asked about hours and days open that Jim said the board has under discussion.

The food was great even though BBQ can sometimes be very messy!

Larry announced that the Group Study Exchange (GSE) process would take place soon so if you know of someone who is between the ages of 25-40 and a non-Rotarian let Larry know. The Australia exchange is specific to the lumber/timber industry but the Dominic Republic is general professions.

Reporter: Connie Lorenz

The meeting of the Rotary Club of Olympia, Washington was called to order by president, Larry Poplack on Monday, August 4, 2008.

Invocation: Seth Goldstein

Pledge of Allegiance: Christina Daniels

America the Beautiful: Andy Crow

4-Way Test: Brian Cockrell

Visiting Rotarians:

Larry Johnson, South Puget Sound

John Turnheim, West Olympia

Verle Ketchum, Lacey

Kim Wyman, Lacey

Guests of Rotarians:

Mark Jacobs (guest of Tore Nielsen)

Lisa Ann Creighton (daughter of Paul Creighton)

Christy Peters (guest of Ed Holm)

Happy Bucks

NORMA SCHUITEMAN

Thanked everyone involved with the 11 th annual Community Foundation golf tournament held on July 16 th . Special thanks to all of the sponsors, including L & E Bottling, Lucky Eagle Casino, RSM MC Gladry, and the Rants Group.

MARTIN MEYER

Happy buck honoring Oscar Soule's article in last Sunday's Olympian .

Marty held the room in sweat-producing suspense regarding the outcome of his son's Babe Ruth Championship game for 12 year olds last Saturday. After being down by three runs, with time running out and chances looking slim for a possible recovery by Marty's son, the team overcame the odds by winning the game 7 -6, earning them the right to represent the Pacific North West region, August 14 th in Jamestown, New York.

It was conceded that Marty exhibited excellent play-by-play announcing talent.

SHARON WEINBERG

After acknowledging years of mind-numbing loses to fellow Rotarian, Colleen Gillespie, Sharon happily announced that she finally beat Colleen at a game of golf last week. A cry came from the defeated that she had been “blindfolded.” A grudge match is in the works.

DENISE KEEGAN

Denise regaled the audience with tales of the recent festivities at the Governor's Mansion where guests dressed in period costumes celebrating the 100 th anniversary of the Governor's Mansion. Gerry Alexander presented a history of the mansion at the event.

Announcements

Larry reminded Olympia Rotarians that next Monday's meeting will be at the Farmer's Market.

Seth Goldstein was introduced as the chairman of a new committee, the Rotary 4-Way Test Committee. The purpose of the committee is to be a means of using and promoting the standards of the 4-Way Test within and outside of our club. It is also a way to engage people in a dialogue about ethics and to share a variety of ideas. For those interested in this committee, please contact Seth or Holly Mason.

Larry asked that everyone return their committee forms back to Dan Lehuta as soon as possible.

Speaking on behalf of Pat Rants, Larry announced that Spaghetti Bowl tickets are now available to sell. You can get your tickets from Dennis Adams. Each ticket sells for $7.00 each.

Larry announced that there will be a budget meeting following today's meeting.

Larry asked Oscar Soule to comment about Oscar's article in The Olympian, while also congratulating him for mentioning “Rotary” in the article.

Oscar noted that he was enjoying his 15 minutes of fame, wryly commenting that, “It was have been a slow news day.” Oscar met with reporter, Gail Wood, for several hours. Imagine Oscar's disappointment in not finding his article in the sports section of The Olympian. It was by chance that he discovered his article was actually on the front page of the paper!! There are 100 tickets available to Rotarians for the 26 th game of Seattle vs. Oakland. Craig Ottavelli is looking into buses to transport the Oscar/baseball fans to Seattle. Oscar will have an idea of what the cost per person will be in about a week. However, seats are on the 300 level at $11 a ticket.

Oscar also reminded us that the weekly raffle will be funding the Fred Balz fund. An overhaul of the current raffle system was previewed. In the future there will be “Rotary Roulette” aka “Mr. Snappy.” Every week there will be 24 #'s on the Rotary Roulette representing 24 possible prizes valued between $20 - $150 or more.

PROGRAM

Colleen Gillespie introduced the speaker's for today's program: Nick Handy, State Director of Elections, and Kim Wyman, Thurston County Auditor.

Nick pointed out that the timing to be at Rotary was good since ballots had gone out over the weekend. He gave an historical overview of we got to the current “Top-2 Primary” system and reminded everyone that it has been a “saga of many years of litigation.” Highlights of the continuing sage include:

1935-2003

Washington State's “blanket primary” system is established in 1935. Under the blanket primary system, citizens may vote for a candidate of one party for one office, and then vote for a candidate of another party for the next office, and engage in cross-over voting or “ticket splitting.”

June, 2000

U.S. Supreme Court rules California's blanket primary unconstitutional as violating the political parties' freedom of association; constitutionality of Washington's blanket primary is challenged by the state Democratic, Republican and Libertarian parties.

September 2003

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals holds Washington's blanket primary system unconstitutional.

March, 2004

Washington State Legislature enacts a bill which provides for two alternative primary systems. The bill establishes a Top Two style primary system – the voter doesn't declare a party affiliation and may vote for any candidate in each race, regardless of the candidate's party preference. Top two candidates advance to the general election, regardless of political party.

April 2004

Governor Gary Locke vetoes portions of bill that establish the Top Two primary. As a result, the pick-a-party primary takes effect.

September 2004

Pick-a-party primary in effect for September 2004 primary election. By early September the office of the Secretary of State receives more than 14,000 calls and letters from voters opposed to the pick-a-party primary. Following the primary election, surveys reveal that only 21% of voters supported the pick-a-party primary.

November 2004

Initiative 872 (proposes a “top two” primary system”), approved by voters by nearly 60%.

July 2005

Federal court strikes down Initiative 872 in its entirety and specifically states that Washington returns to the pick-a-party primary used in 2004.

August 2006

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirms that Initiative 872 is unconstitutional.

March 2008

United States Supreme Court overturns the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision, and upholds the constitutionality of Initiative 872.

Kim Wyman gave an explanation of the Top-2 Primary system and indicated that most likely, other Western states will follow Washington State's lead. To view a Top-2 Primary fact sheet from the Thurston County Auditor's office log onto www.thurstonvotes.org .

RAFFLE

After two attempts, Jamie Will held the lucky ticket to pull the yellow ball from the bag to win $368. Alas, Jamie's streak of luck ended when he pulled up a red ball. Rotary Roulette will not be implemented until there is a winner of the money.

Rotary Meeting, Monday July 28, 2008

President Larry Poplack presided

Visiting Rotarians:

Tom Jones – Higher Education Consulting –South Sound Rotary Club

Bob Lovely –former Distr Governor & Business Dev – South Sound Rotary Club

Major Clement Leslie – Salvation Army – Avondale, AZ

Shirley Buttenhoff – HR Management – Sun River , OR
Bill McGregor – Pt Commissioner – Lacey

Kim Wyman – Co Auditor – Lacey

Gerald Moczynski – Red Cross – Tacoma #8

Karen McCarthy – Asst District Governor – Capitol Rotary Club of Olympia

Brian Beagle – District Governor –

Barbara Beagle – wife of District Governor

Guests of Rotarians: Visiting Rotary Moczynski introduced his guest, Lori Manot, an associate from the Red Cross

Invocation : Paul Creighton

4-Way Test – RJ Burt

Happy Bucks: Jim Larson was happy to invite fellow Rotarians to Morningside's upcoming auto rally on September 28 th . Dick Blinn was delighted with the turnout, weather and performance of the Olympia Symphony Orchestra and her 2 nd annual Concert at the Capitol. Dale Hedden is proud of his kids: son working on Master's degree in Accounting and daughter on Doctorate in Psychology.

Announcement:
Pat Rants talked about the upcoming Spaghetti Bowl and orchestrated the SPAGHETTI BOWL cheer to get everyone in the mood. T-shirt orders will begin next week and tickets will be at that same meeting.

Oscar Soule announced that the Mariner's Administration has named him the “2008 Fan of the Year” in lieu of throwing out the first pitch as originally requested by friends and fellow Rotarians. The announcement will occur on Friday, 9-26-07, which is also Fan Appreciation Night. There will be 100 tickets available to witness this momentous occasion and we hope to see many there to witness this honor, in spite of the fact that the M's will likely lose to the Oakland A's that evening, as is their habit.

Gary Marx presented his interesting Classification Talk and received his Blue Badge.

Program:
District Governor Beagle's comments expanded on the International 2008-2009 motto “Make Dreams Real”. In that vein, the district conference theme is “Celebrating Our Dreams”. The conference will be held in Bremerton April 24 th thru 26 th and all Rotarians are invited to attend.

DG Beagles key focuses are:

Further efforts at the eradication of polio by contributions to the effort, including raising the $100 million challenge grant presented by the Bill & Melissa Gates Foundation to this purpose.

Celebrating our role as Global Neighbor through continuing efforts in International Water Projects

Literacy—a personal priority for DG Beagle and wife, Barbara.

A new award to be given at the District Conference in April: A Best Community Project Award to be given to the club in this District that best emulates our devotion to our local community.

In conclusion, President Larry gave a donation to Polio in the name of our DG and wife.

A new Raffle “wheel”, Mr. Snappy, will be introduced shortly. Dale Hedden won the raffle but failed to pull the yellow ball.

At 1:25, the meeting adjourned.

Respectfully submitted by Scribe-of-the-Week Renee Ries.

Rotary Meeting July 21, 2008

Neighborhood Free Medical Clinic – Donna Mack

President Larry Poplack called the meeting to order. Earl Hansen gave the invocation. Judy Blinn led us in the Pledge of Allegiance, Andy Crow provided a stirring “God Bless America ”, and Steve Bean led the Four Way Test (this time in the normal order).

Visiting Rotarians

Special Guest (and the only visiting Rotarian for the day) was Karen McCarthy, Assistant District Governor for Region 9B.

Happy Bucks

• Phil Hall announced that donation receipts are now available for members' Happy Bucks donations. Phil's donation celebrated his wedding anniversary and longevity wit his firm.
• Kim Dinsmore was on the winning golf team at the Community Foundation tournament (and was nearly a winner in the “mixed” division when “Kim” was thought to be a woman's name)
• Martin Meyer's son's team won another Babe Ruth tournament
• Sean Padget' s daughter participated in the “Kick in the Grass” soccer tournament and her team reached the final. He also noted the number of great civic projects going on around the City of Olympia .
• Don Chalmers had a birthday yesterday
• Dick Blinn announced an upcoming free concert by the Olympia Symphony Orchestra this coming Sunday at 5:00 PM at the Capitol
• Peter Stroble and his wife will be welcoming a third (and final) child to their family
• Allen Miller announced that Nadine Planzer and her family had arrived safely back in Switzerland . Allen and his 19 year old son climbed Mt. Rainier last week.
• Seth Goldstein had his 35th birthday
• Craig Ottavelli had $$$$$ for birthdays
• Denise Kegan's daughter arrived safely back from France , and her son celebrated his 21 st birthday

Announcements – Larry Poplack

Extra Directories – Extra club directories are available for $10.00 each, which will be donated to the Fred Balz Fund. See Dan Lehuta if you are interested.

Spaghetti Bowl - Pat Rants announced the Spaghetti Bowl will be held September 12, 2008 with the dinner from 4:30 to 7:30 PM . This is a major scholarship fund raising event for the club. Tickets this year will be $7.00 instead of the past $5.00. Sign up sheets for volunteer activities are on the tables. Most people want to work the kitchen line and typically we have more there than we need. Think about another area, such as set-up or clean-up as an alternative.

Committee Sign Up – Please return your committee sign up sheet to Dan Lehuta as soon as possible.

District Governor Visit – Next Monday District Governor Brian Beagle and his wife Barbara will visit the club. He will meet with the board at 11:00 AM , and then will greet members as they enter the room. New Rotarians, please introduce your selves as a new Rotarian as Brian is interested to meet you. Brian will be the program for next week. Brian will remain following the meeting the chat and answer questions. Stan Arnold will show Brian Rotary Point Park after that.

Jazz Festival – The Jazz festival will be November 22 nd .

Board Meeting Highlights –

• The board is supporting South Sound Reading Foundation with a donation of 500.00. Literacy is a very important program to Rotary, and July is Rotary Literacy Month.
• Kurt Meier is leaving the club and will be leaving the Olympia area
• Rotary Foundation credits are available for Paul Harris fellows
• Fellowship events were discussed. More on that in future meetings.
• We have updated or replaced about 60 badges to comply with Rotary International classifications
• One of our major goals remains the endowment of the Fred Balz Fund

Program

Upcoming Programs

President Larry Poplack introduced Program Chair Colleen Gillespie. Colleen announced that next week (as previously discussed) District Governor Brian Beagle will be the program. The following week, Nick Handy will discuss Washington 's “Top Two” primary. August 11 will be the annual picnic at the Farmer's market.

Neighborhood Free Medical Clinic – Donna Mack

Colleen introduced today's speaker, Donna Mack, Board President of the Neighborhood Free Medical Clinic. Donna provided some historical background on the Neighborhood Free Medical Clinic. The program is located in a church on Carpenter Road in Lacey. The clinic typically sees about 19-25 people each day they are open.

They began operation in October 2004. They serve a need in the community to provide medical care for groups that are not served by other programs, and who (1) do not have health insurance and (2) cannot afford to see a doctor. Another growing area of service is for children who need (but cannot afford) fall sports physicals for school.

The initial thought was that they would be providing services to homeless persons who had bronchitis and foot infections. In actuality, many clients have jobs and are affected by chronic illnesses such as hypertension and diabetes.

All clients see a social worker as part of their visit. Another advantage is that clients are typically able to leave the clinic with a medication or prescription voucher in hand (as opposed to leaving with prescription they might not be a able to afford.) They are working with the pharmaceutical companies and Choice Regional Health Network to get donated or low cost generic drugs.

Donna suggested the best ways to get involved to it let people know about the program and assistance with fund raising.

Raffle

Bill Lahmann drew the red ball on this week's $254 raffle, and donated the $5.00 to the Fred Balz Fund.

Reporter – Nate Naismith

July 14, 2008 Rotary Wheel

Today marked the first official meeting for our new president, Larry Poplack. Seth Goldstein stepped in at the last moment to provide the invocation. Michelle Shoemaker led us in the Pledge of Allegiance, Andy Crow played America the Beautiful, and Dennis Peterson guided us in the 4-way test.

Visiting Rotarians: From West Olympia- Dan Berschauer and from Lacey – Van Van Jepmond.

Guests: Judge Gary Tabor. Christine Webb, a candidate for congress in the 3 rd district. Renetta Wilson, State Farm agent. Carolyn Van Jepmond from Executive Office Interiors. Susan Keith and Mary Williams from Harmony Hill.

Happy $5 Bucks: Judy Henderson gave “thankful bucks” after participating last week in the clean-up following the devastation in Iowa . Linda Spain has brochures for the upcoming schedule for the Olympia Symphony and a blossoming artist in her granddaughter who recently won the University bookstore bookmark design contest as a 2 nd grader. Paul Creighton gave a special thank you to Riley Moore whose recent quick action during their trip to Hungary may have saved Paul's life. Kim Dinsmore witnessed a hydro flip 360 ° and continue racing this past weekend on Black Lake .

Announcements :

Fellowship: Craig Ottavelli has been charged with making this a great year of Rotary Fellowship. There are many opportunities for members to get involved:

•  Talent Show – Caroline Manger, chair

•  Wine tasting – Ed Galligan, chair

•  Friendship exchange – chair needed

•  Dine Around – chair needed

Contact Craig, Larry, or the event chair to learn more about these great activities and ways that you can get involved.

Rotary Foundation: Norma Schuiteman spoke on the ways that Rotarians can donate to the Foundation. At least $100 given each year qualifies one as a Paul Harris Fellow sustaining member. These gifts can be used for our annual programs such as the GSE, youth exchange, or designated in support of our humanitarian grants such as the Malawi clean water project. Norma received her 3 rd award today and presented it to Gretchen Schodde, director of Harmony Hill.

Classification Talk: Matt Littwin recently relocated to Olympia from Manhattan where he worked on Wall Street in the investment business. He started the South Sound Group, an investment company looking for medium size, local private businesses that might benefit from outside investment.

Jazz Festival: Kim Dinsmore reminded us that not only has the Festival helped to raise $300,000 to support the clean water projects in Malawi, but has also purchased hundreds of musical instruments for local students who might otherwise not have an opportunity to participate in our area's wonderful music programs.

Today's Program: Harmony Hill Cancer Treatment Center

Established by Gretchen Schodde in 1986, Harmony Hill's mission has been “to improve the quality of life for those affected by cancer, providing support and resources that inspire renewal.” It is the Pacific Northwest 's only retreat center that is dedicated to providing life-giving retreats for people with cancer and their caregivers.

Operating on the strength and dedication of its many volunteers, Harmony Hill combines delicious food, beautiful landscapes, and a stunning location along Hood Canal with educational programs for stress reduction, self-care, and physical, emotional, and spiritual well being. Participants learn to recover quality of life despite their physical conditions and diagnoses.

Harmony Hill also offers meeting facility rentals for groups of all kinds. The proceeds from these rentals help to provide important revenue to help support the cancer and wellness. Club members were invited to drive out to visit Harmony Hill.

Raffle: Fred Adair had the lucky ticket, but again the winning ball eluded grasp, so the pot grows ever bigger.

David Auvinen, Wheel Reporter

  Olympia Rotary Wheel Report – July 7, 2008

  Red Lion Hotel Olympia

President Oscar Soule called the meeting to order at 12:25 p.m.

Invocation: Led by Oscar Soule

Pledge of Allegiance: Led by Steve Bean

Song: Andy Crow led the club in the National Anthem

The Four Way Test: Led by Larry Poplack

Visiting Rotarians: Although we didn't have an visiting rotarians Oscar insisted that the club sing “Members of Rotary – We Greet You!”

Guests:

• Guest Barbara Soule – Oscar Soule's wife
• Guest Susan Poplack – Larry Poplack's wife

Happy Bucks:

There were lots of happy Rotarians today below are several:

• Steve Bean – put in $70 happy bucks for the 7 rotarians who have become president of the rotary

• Larry Poplack – announced that his granddaughter got some press in the South Sound section of the Olympia this past week

• Allen Miller – Announced the upcoming sister city trip to Japan and encourage those interested to sign up. The trip cost is $2,000

• Jim Haley put in $10 happy bucks – announcing that his CFO is back from a back injury

• Riley announced that Paul Creighton recently had a stroke while in London but apparently is doing well. Please keep him in your prayers.

Announcements and Club Business:

Introduction of Board of Directors

Program: Changing of the Guards

This program represented Oscar Soule outgoing presidency and Larry Poplacks new role as incoming president of the Olympia rotary club.

Oscar talked about all the changes in the past year:

• Gas went from $2.64 to $4.25
• We said hello again to Linda Spain and Mike Sharrar and good-bye to Bill Leonard and Wes Estes

Oscar gave a special thanks to his fellow board members

Successes:

• Dan Lehuta did an outstanding job in coordinating this year
• Chet Wetson – was an outstanding sergeant at arms
• Cristina for her faithful cashiering week after week
• Renee Reis for being such a great raffle queen
• Strong committees
• Good programs
• A successful spaghetti bowl and jazz event

Oscar shared that this was his most meaningful year in his 20 years. He offered a very special thank you to Steve Bean for bringing him into the club.

After giving his last three quotes of the year, Oscar gave the gavel to new president Larry Poplack.

Fellow rotarians responded by giving outgoing president – Oscar Soule a standing ovation.

Larry thanked Oscar for his inspirational leadership and presented Oscar with a letter from the Mariners inviting Oscar to throw out the first pitch at an upcoming game date TBD. Larry also presented Oscar with a past presidents pin and plaque.

Larry shared his first encounter with rotary in 1971 as a guest of his father-in-law. He realized early on that if he was to join a club this is what he would want.

Larry then shared his goals for the year

• Continue to develop committee involvement – have members belong to one or more
• Rotary Point
• To reach 100% sustaining member – (members who give $100 or more)
• Develop GSE Study exchange team leaders from our own club
• Develop Friendship exchange opportunities
• Increase benefactor program
• Stay informed about Rotary international
• Have fun