Fox trot and swing would certainly be well-displayed
And more than that, the Twist, Macarena, and YMCA
Yet that experience remained several hours upcoming
Now ‘twas Dr. Rooks’ time to get the show humming!

And hum it did, starting with the courtly invocation of Clint Johnson, and followed by the flawless leading in the Pledge of Allegiance by Jim Bisceglia. Thanks aplenty went out from President Jim to Jan Gee (ticket sales and Sgt at Arms), James Guerrero (Paul Harris desk), Walt Richardson (photos), and the assorted setter-uppers (especially the techno whizzes, James Osundwa and Tom George).

Guests included two current or former Rotarians looking to see if we measure up to our legend: Linda McDermott (via Zoom) and Hank Kerns (Covington Rotary). Phil Eng introduced his guest, Dwight Williams. (We bulletin reporters never stop gathering the news, and after the meeting and after the dance, this reporter was able to learn during an in-depth interview with Phil Eng that he was very pleased that so many of our members came up to say “Hi” to his guest, Dwight. Kudos to all.)

 Puffins in attendance included Carl Bronkema, Bob Martin, Wendy McGowan, James Osundwa, Steve Saalfeld, and Anthony Veliz. Head Puffin John Korsmo was in attendance as well, cracking the whip on his crew ahead of their big day on December 17. Look out, President Jim.





Above: Puffins Bob Martin and Anthony Veliz warming up for the 12/17 Roast
Photo by Walt Richardson

Announcements:
--Bob Martin and Anthony Veliz took the podium to announce the Puffin food project, a little different from previous years due to changes at EFN. Questions and sign up for the below three projects at: bw@northwestmilitary.com (Bill White)

1. December 11 at Thomas Middle School, 9 am, need drivers to deliver food baskets. These are holiday baskets from Caring for Kids, going to four school sites.
2. December 18 at Communities in Schools.  Will need drivers to deliver to families that couldn’t pick up the first batch. Perhaps 20 locations.
3. Caring for Kids would like volunteers to put together the gift bags on December 10 and 11, and is seeking donations as well. Meet at Thomas Middle School. Email to Diane at carekids@comcast.net.

--Gayle Selden thanked all the drivers that helped deliver food from the Clover Park School District to schools, and needs more assistance on Monday, December 13. Contact Gayle.
--Steve Saalfeld: Festival of Trees has a $1 Million goal from auctioning off some incredible Christmas trees (one has bidding up over $100,000 already: but they’re not all that spendy!). Go to: https://festival.maxgiving.bid/about-us
--Bob Bruback asked for and achieved unanimous approval from the Club for a $2000 donation from the Community Concerns Committee for a diversity festival in 2022, sponsored by the Lakewood Multi-Cultural Coalition.
--Greg Rediske asked for and achieved unanimous approval for our Club’s annual donation to the Lakewood Community Foundation Fund of $2000. He also reported that the LCFF endowment is now at $1.3 Million dollars. They are currently giving away more in grants than they are receiving in annual donations: the beauty of endowments.

--Rose Stevens announced the latest projects from the World Community Service Committee. A global grant by RC Honolulu of $55,000 is being supported by $1000 from us, $1000 from the District, $800 from RI ($2800 total). This is for water and sanitation serving 2000 students and teachers in 9 schools in Nepal. (Seven don’t have any water, eight don’t have hand washing facilities, zero have menstrual hygiene facilities.) She also announced our contribution of $1800, which with matching grants comes to $5400 for an educational global grant in Botswana. Tacoma Sunrise is our partner in this, as well. This will provide a variety of technical systems to allow computer learning. (This committee headed by Rose continues to astound in their ability to access grants for maximum benefit. Thoughts of all that paperwork make my head hurt!)

--Anthony Veliz and Bob Martin paid $5 for receipt of their well-earned blue name badges.

Sunshine Report:
It is possible that this will be the last time this will be called the Sunshine Report. President Jim has declared a more appropriate name is the Health and Wellness Report. Eric Warn told us that Bill Price has some serious medical issues, possibly caused by a stroke. Currently in a recovery center, he should be returning home shortly. And Mo Sarram was back with us, in the building (and later at the dance!) after recent brain surgery. Wow.

New Member:
Angela Connelly is our newest Lakewood Rotarian and also our most recent Bernie Ootkin Non-Rotarian of the Year awardee. (Timing is such that she gets to keep the Bernie Ootkin Award!). Angela is on many, many community boards, but she is most impressed with Lakewood Rotary’s hands-on approach to service. “You guys are heroes about making things happen. It is my great honor to be a part of Lakewood Rotary” (as the collective audience of Rotarians blushed in unison…). Angela has 9 children and 4 grandchildren with husband Jack Connelly. Welcome aboard, Angela, and roll up those sleeves with all of us!




Above: Angela Connelly Inducted, with Walt Richardson photo

Fines and Generous Giving:
A busy, busy meeting (and overflowing, with a need to add chairs!), but President Jim managed to extract some money:
--John Lowney, Phil Eng and Terry Roarke showed up in Kona, HI, virtually simultaneously, and coordinated $20 fines each along with a couple of lovely gifts for the President. Terry mentioned that the “natives were friendly, but greedy” for his overheated credit card.




Above;  President Jim enjoys a laugh with Phil Eng and Terry Roarke; Walt R.photo

--Dave Coleman was overjoyed to announce that their eighth grandchild was born at St. Joseph’s Hospital (where his previous seven grandchildren were born as well), on November 2, at a light-weight 5 lbs (named August Eugene). Coleman-math provided a $36 fine.

Program:
Anne Enquist introduced Ketul Patel and Lois Erickson from Virginia Mason Franciscan Health. Ketul was up first and thanked both Anne and Jim Rooks for past service on the hospital’s board. The first St. Joseph’s was founded in 1891 and the Tacoma location was founded in 1899. Virginia Mason was founded in 1920, and on January 1, 2021, Viriginia Mason and the Franciscan system merged. The Franciscan hospitals have greater identification statewide, but Viriginia Mason’s nationwide fame led to the name choice. They are the only hospital system to cover all of Puget Sound. They have treated over 6500 Covid patients, with a further 425,000 virtual visits, 14,500 vital urgent care visits, 350,000 Covid tests and 384,000 vaccinations. Lois spoke of our entry in the system, St. Clare. They recently received the Prism Award, one of only two hospitals in the state to receive this prestigious recognition. They are one of only four in Washington to receive the 2021 Critical Care Special Award. Other recent awards include the Orthopedic Gold Seal of Approval, while the Leapfrog Quality and Safety people raised St. Clare’s grade to “A”, after being at “B” for several years (and “D” many years back). Currently 10% of beds are devoted to Covid, down from the previous 30%, though there are still restrictions on the ability to do elective surgeries. She emphasized our need to follow the guidelines about minimizing the chance of getting Covid (Vaccination! Masks!). One question noted the sometimes-poor reputation for St. Clare, given all these awards, and Lois responded that they are diligently working on improving their marketing efforts. Another question concerned the lack of mental health and addiction resources here, and Mr. Patel noted a new 120 bed facility recently opened in Tacoma to address this (though they are experiencing staffing issues).
This writer, for one, was duly impressed by their presentation. Great work, all.

Drawing: the bulletin writer himself eventually managed to dig in his pocket for a ticket that turned out to be the winner, and promptly drew a white chip to the cheers of a grateful crowd. $5.00 to Mr. Rediske, instead of $329.

Tireless Reporting by the Bulletin Staff, again.
In researching “Dancing Rotarians” via Google, I discovered nary a reference to Lakewood Rotary. Colleyville, Walla Walla, Seguku, even Tacoma #8 came up. Not Lakewood. Just goes to show that you can’t rely on the internet, because Lakewood Rotarians do dance, have danced for more than 60 years, and hopefully will continue to dance. Many thanks to the Country Club for an incredible meal again, and especially to the Partners led by their Energizer Bunny President Stephanie Wilcox. Many won bottles of wine (but not everyone, as this writer can attest….), beautiful poinsettias were everywhere, and Troy Wilcox spun those tunes like Wolfman Jack. I personally learned to dance at a very young age. I am one of three brothers and having only one bathroom brought out the dance in me. Fortunately, Sharon has improved my technique a bit.





Above: Rotarians danced and danced!  Jan Gee leads the charge.

I asked Fred Astaire once when he was about my age if he still danced, and he said 'Yes, but it hurts now.' That's exactly it. I can still dance, too, but it hurts now! (Dick Van Dyke)


I don't dance, even at weddings. I'm the grumpy one sitting down drinking wine. (Ricky Gervais)



Above:  Sue Hellar gives that loving look to Chuck, who really can dance!


And finally, I leave you with something to ponder from Confucius:
Never give a sword to a man who can't dance.