MEETING RECAP
Looking Forward...and Back
Sunday, July 18, 2021
By: Paula T. OlsonLooking forward…and Back
THE LAKEWOOD KEY for July 16, 2021
Our newly minted President Jim Rooks started the meeting on time. No tricks, no rap music, no dad jokes, just a nice, pleasant “okay folks let’s rock and roll” or something like that. Paula Olson read an invocation as a prayer for travelers. President Jim did a bang up job leading the Pledge of Allegiance. Leanna Christian was at the zoom helm and John Lowney was ready to take any “donations.”
Pres Jim thanked Phil Eng for a very successful Floating Board Meeting the day before but the bad news was that Jim’s wife, Penny, lost her wedding ring. Pres Jim was offering a reward for its recovery. Mike Murtha came to the rescue by donating a metal detector to look for it. Look for an update next week.
Above: One of the Floating Board boats
Leanna had a special announcement: Hybrid meetings! Oh boy. That means that you can show up in person or stay in your hot tub and zoom into the meeting. Thanks to Sally Porter Smith taking the pulse of the club in terms of who would come in person and who would zoom; it turns out 69% of us will do either. Leanna, Rob Erb, Tom George and others have formed a committee to figure out what equipment is necessary to carry this out. The team asked the club to approve $7,000 to buy the right equipment. A motion was made, seconded, and passed with no discussion and the vote approving the request was unanimous. Go forth and buy!
Pres Jim is bringing back a tradition started by Chris Kimball to spotlight a member. This week was Sally Porter Smith. Sally told her story with pictures from her life. She grew up in Southwest Washington in view of Mount St. Helens, Mount Rainier, and Mount Adams. Her dad ran a small lumber mill in Randle and then they moved to Centralia. Sally was a skeet shooter as a kid and cleaned so many small birds from her hunting family that she refuses to do it ever again. Her family was big into hunting, fishing, camping, and hiking. When Sally was 10 years old, she was in third grade and walked into a library for the first time. That was all it took. Her career as a librarian took her to many communities and many kinds of libraries. She is retired now and enjoys the outdoors with hiking and spending time in cabins around the state. She ended with a picture of Mount St. Helens taken from the roof of the family lumber mill and a beautiful picture of Spirit Lake as it is today. Thank you, Sally for sharing your story with us! President Jim called on members to sign up for the spotlight…. or he’ll call on you.
Above: A Before Picture of Mount St. Helens
Anthony Veliz was a guest at the meeting. Puffins in attendance were Carl Bronkema, Rachel Mazoff, Steve Saalfeld, James Osundwa, Wendy McGowan, and our honorary Puffin, Carole Wier. There was no Sunshine report but Don Daniels announced that Mr. Dennis (a dear friend of the club) and his family are struggling with health issues. Don said they need our thoughts and prayers but no calls or visits. He was a basketball coach for Clover Park and director of the driver’s ed program.
Pres Jim asked the club to approve a budget of $8,000 for the Partners by a show of hands. Everyone’s hand went up because we know we aren’t nearly as effective without the participation of our Partners. Tom George continued his plea for help setting up the meetings once we are in person. He said that it will be about an hour before and after the meetings to deal with the hybrid equipment but that once we get used to the new system, it won’t take as long. So sign up, people!
Steve Mazoff reported that he is getting started with the ring recovery and asked if anyone left a pair of sunglasses.
Warning, club members! President Jim is trying to change “fines” into “generous giving.” Nice try, Prez! It’s still fines. And we had some nice fines. Chris Kimball kicked in $100 for achieving a secret dream in his career: to earn a Top of the Table award, which he did last year. Congrats, Chris! And his son Donny got married so Chris put in another $100. Rachel Mazoff donated $50 for her promotion to Quality Manager for Behavior Health and proud dad, Steve, matched it. Steve Enquist pledged $48 for his and Anne’s 48th wedding anniversary, which they celebrated at the Floating Board meeting. Hhmmm, Steve, gotta work on that romance thing. Anne matched Steve and rounded up to $50. So Steve matched that to make it an even $100.
Above: What a cake! What a Year!
Phil Eng thanked everyone for the successful Floating Board meeting and talked about how much work went into it. He thanked Rick Selden, Bud Montgomery, Gayle Selden and John Lowney, who cut those steaks. Greg Horn thanked everyone for the surprise celebration of his ending year as District Governor. He paid $100.
Above: The District Gov and his Chief of Staff
David Swindale just got back from three weeks in Hawaii but not lying on the beach. He was helping his dad recover from surgery and Dad is now doing well. Sally Porter Smith paid $100 because last week she paddled a kayak for the first time in four years and after her hip replacement surgery! Jim Rooks (yep the President) paid $50 because he scored a late ticket to the Seamus cocktail lesson on Sunday. Mike Murtha and Andrew Neiditz also paid fines.
Now to the program. Phil Eng introduced Puffin Steve Saalfeld who works in donor relations. He was previously with Good Samaritan Foundation and now works with Mary Bridge Children’s Foundation. Steve met his wife, Jennifer in biology class. They live in Fircrest with their four children. Two are in college, and the twins are still at home. Steve likes to read, spend time with his family, hide away in his treehouse, and lots of sports. He was training for the Courage but got blood clots in his leg and had to stop. He’s hoping he can resume so he’ll be ready. Speaking of the Courage, we need volunteers to work at our rest stop. The Courage is August 28th and 29th.
Steve told us the history of Mary Bridge Hospital which is celebrating 100 years. Back in 1921, the Tacoma Orthopedic Association (TOA) was formed to help children get medical care in Seattle by driving them up there for appointments and paying the $2.50 a day for a bed in the hospital. That organization later became the Mary Bridge Brigade, which is still in existence today. In the early ‘40s, guilds were formed and at their height had 2,500 members. They were primarily stay at home moms who would organize events to raise money. For example they would have roller skating parties and passed out wishing candles at taverns and restaurants for people to donate change. Over the years, they raised $50 million.
In 1947, a local physician named Albert W. Bridge passed away. He had amassed a surprisingly large estate and intended that the money would be used to build a children’s hospital in Tacoma. He wanted it named after his mother, Mary, because of her support in helping him become a doctor. Dr. Bridge partly earned his money by practicing in Eatonville with loggers as patients. He charged them $1.00 a month for care. He was the Mayor of Eatonville for a while and once chased down robbers and lectured them sternly for their wrongdoing. In 1953-54, his hopes were realized when plans were announced for the building of a 60-bed general children's hospital. It was built in 1955 and in 1987 expanded into Tacoma General Hospital. The first Festival of Trees was held then and other than 2020, has been a key fundraiser ever since. In 1994, Mary Bridge was the only emergency room for pediatric trauma with a helipad coming in 1996. Steve told the story of a nurse who was so proud of these services for children.
In 2005, the Mary Bridge Children’s Health Center was opened in celebration of the 50th anniversary. In 2008, the Treehouse program started giving out of town families a place to stay so they can be with their sick children at no cost to them. 2011 brought the first separate emergency department to care for children. Steve gave us many amazing statistics showing the number of children helped and the range of services provided to children. 70% of that care is paid by Medicaid so no child is turned away.
One of the key partners for Mary Bridge is the Rotary Clubs of Pierce County including the Lakewood Rotary. There is a plaque on the Safe and Sound Building dedicated for the Child Abuse Intervention Department announcing the donation of Rotary Clubs. In 2020, Mary Bridge received for the third time an award as one of the top children’s hospitals in the country. They are rated by the Leap Frog Group and it is a great honor.
What’s next? Coming at the end of 2024 is a new stand-alone hospital with 82 private rooms, lots of technology and services, and much shelled space for future expansion. Steve showed us some pictures of what they hope it looks like, including some purple lighting that will change color with the seasons and special events. Mary Bridge Brigade has donated $10 million for the project and the Emergency Department was named in their honor. To help, you can donate $200 and get a special Mary Bridge recycling cart.
Several members commented on Steve’s presentation. Pres Jim said that he had many cases at Mary Bridge in their old operating room. Members talked about what a great thing Mary Bridge is for the community.
Thanks Steve for an informative program.
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