MEETING RECAP
Monday, March 14, 2022
By: Gregory J. RediskeOld Fogies Rule!
The Lakewood Key for March 11, 2022
Recently at a program committee meeting, President-elect Whalen paid a curious homage to me. He said that it is a good thing to get input from old-timers: meaning me, Greg, in this case. Old-timer?!? I don’t think I look like an “old-timer”. As long as the light is quite dim anyway. And I don’t feel like an “old-timer” either. Not counting the pain getting out of bed in the morning, bending down, or exiting a chair. And it’s not like people are calling me at 9 p.m. and immediately asking if I’m still awake. Yet. But if he thinks I’m an old-timer, then by golly, I might as well act the part, and write the part. So here we go as I bite the bullet and strike while the iron is hot to give you an old fogie’s version of the bulletin. According to Jason, I’m long in the tooth, but I haven’t kicked the bucket yet!
We’d mostly finished another square meal at the Club when President Jim got us going balls to the wall with the invocation from Jan Gee, who advocated for living our lives with Service Above Self and asking for mercy for those in Ukraine. Past President (long, long ago) Dave Coleman led us in the Pledge, with Steve Enquist running the Paul Harris table ($799!) and Terry Roarke selling raffle tickets (including one winning ticket). Connie Coleman-Lacadie was our greeter today; she must not be an “old-timer” because I heard nary a “howdy” or “see you later alligator”. Walt Richardson snapped pictures with that gigantic camera of his. Jumping Jehosophat, that thing has a long lens. Rob Erb dolloped major praise on the work of his committee, especially Tom George and Kendra Riconosciuto.
Announcements:
--Eric Warn, Health and Wellness: Mick Johnson’s celebration of life service is at the Tacoma Country and Golf Club, March 26, 2-5 p.m. Mary hopes all can attend. President Rooks will be the MC. Eric also thanked Bill Potter and Ron Irwin for glasses to recycle. Eric is beginning to get more glasses than Carter’s got pills, I tell ya.
--Gayle Selden: #1: Break bag delivery, March 28, 9:15 am. Be there or be square.
#2: Club Auction, May 21. Multicare and Virginia Mason Franciscan Health are sponsors so far. The auction committee is taking a “kinder and gentler” approach, with teams being cooperative groups. Kinder and Gentler might turn much nastier as we get closer to the event. Wake up and smell the coffee and get going, folks.
#3: Puyallup-South Hill has a new fundraiser, a cornhole tournament at the Fairgrounds. A team for Lakewood Rotary???
--Rose Stevens: Bob Zawilski and Rose are conducting tours of the eight Little Free Pantries. Call either one to set up your guided tour.
--President Jim: The District Governor will be making an informal second visit to us, March 25. Her big push is raising money for Ukrainians. Rose Stevens has some contacts as well, so stay tuned for ways that you can give. Think big. Also, My Rotary (www.ri.org) has ways to give as well.
New Member:
Welcome, Hank Kerns! Hank is not new to Rotary: former member at West Seattle, and Past President at Covington. Hank has taken over from Ron Messenger at New Tacoma Cemetery. He started in Rotary very early, as an exchange student to Guatemala. It’s gonna be a beautiful thing having Hank on board, I predict. The only fly in the ointment was that Veronica Bronkema forgot to bring the Puffin! This after being told in no uncertain terms to bring it to each meeting. She was heard to say, “Heavens to Murgatroyd! And fiddlesticks! And this is a fine kettle of fish!”, or words to that effect.
Above: New Member Hank Kerns wins raffle right out of the box!
Generous Giving:
After greeting all the Zoomers (Carole Wier, Don Daniels, Mary Horn, Barlow Buescher, Chuck Hellar, David Swindale, Leanna Christian, Wynn Hoffman, Nicole Hancock), Jim “thanked” his favorite Alaska bush pilot, Barb Spriggs, for his fining hat, and got right to it:
The Program:
Anne Enquist introduced a former colleague from Seattle University, John McKay. A Seattle native, John was appointed by George W. Bush to be US Attorney for Western Washington in 2001 but was forced out a few years later in a political purge. He taught ethics and leadership at Seattle U, retiring in 2021; meaning he’s busy doing many, many other things. He did human rights training in Palestine from 2013-2015.
In 2019, John was sent to join the State Department in Dubai, where twenty Afghan government ministers would be meeting for three days. The assignment was to determine responsibility for ownership of a database of people investigated by the United States in Afghanistan. He discovered that there was no plan, other than this basic desire for resolution of the problem. John called the State Department person in charge “disputatious”, and well-known as a bully. No help. John expressed his desire to the assembled Afghans for them to become servant leaders. He suggested that the database should be cloud based and co-owned by them all. This was not received well, but eventually was agreed upon, with all signing off. John’s point: if those 20 from Afghanistan could accept servant leadership, then why can’t we all. Interactions need respect, humility, and empathy if we want to have a brighter future. As for the ministers: several are likely dead or under house arrest. He concluded by saying that the Afghan fall was likely a failure of US policy, dating back for several administrations.
(My comment: Anne Enquist brings excellent speakers to Lakewood Rotary.)
Above: Our speaker and former US Attorney John McKay (All photos thanks to Walt Richardson)
The Drawing: After just seeding the pot with the $250 minimum after the recent win by Steve Enquist, new member Hank Kerns hit the jackpot: red chip! I believe I heard Hank declare, “Well, I’ll be a monkey’s uncle!!” And just like that, he was in like Flynn.
It’s almost warm enough to golf, so here you go to finish up this wild goose chase of a tale. Rest assured, it all came straight from the horse’s mouth. Or some other part of the anatomy…..
An Old Golfer was hitting his ball from near a water hazard and his club fell into the water.
When he cried out, the Lord appeared and asked, "Why are you crying?"
The golfer replied that his club had fallen into the water and he needed the club to have a chance to win the tournament and supplement his meager pension.
The Lord went down into the water and reappeared with a golden club.
"Is this your club?" the Lord asked.
The golfer replied, "No."
The Lord again went down and came up with a silver club.
"Is this your club?" the Lord asked.
Again, the golfer replied, "No." The Lord went down again and came up with an old iron club. "Is this your club?" the Lord asked.
The golfer replied, "Yes, that’s it!"
The Lord was pleased with the golfer's honesty and gave him all three clubs to keep, and the golfer won his tournament and went home happy.
Sometime later, the golfer was walking with his wife along the water hazard, and she fell into the lake.
When he cried out, the Lord again appeared and asked him, "Why are you crying?"
"Oh, Lord, my woman has fallen into the water!"
The Lord went into the water and reappeared with Kate Upton. "Is this your woman?" the Lord asked.
"Yes," cried the golfer.
The Lord was furious. "You lied! That is an untruth!"
The golfer replied, "Oh, forgive me Lord. It is a misunderstanding. You see, if I had said 'No' to Kate Upton, you would have come up with Jennifer Aniston. Then if I said 'No' to her, you would have come up with my woman. Had I then said 'Yes,' you would have given me all three. And Lord, I am an old man not able to take care of all three women in a way that they deserve... so that's why I said 'Yes' to Kate Upton.”
And God was pleased. The moral of this story is:
If a golfer ever tells a lie, it is for a good and honorable reason and only out of consideration for others.
Calendar of Upcoming LR Events: (if you have an item send it to me—Joe Quinn, Editor)
3/27-31 Sunriver Rotary Ski Trip (sold out)
3/28 Break Bag Delivery on a Monday
5/21 Lakewood Rotary Auction
6/25 Rotary Installation Banquet
8/20-21 The Courage
9/11-13 Reeder Rotary Roadster Romp to Sun Mountain
12/16 Tom and Jerry Party and President’s Roast
Announcements:
--Eric Warn, Health and Wellness: Mick Johnson’s celebration of life service is at the Tacoma Country and Golf Club, March 26, 2-5 p.m. Mary hopes all can attend. President Rooks will be the MC. Eric also thanked Bill Potter and Ron Irwin for glasses to recycle. Eric is beginning to get more glasses than Carter’s got pills, I tell ya.
--Gayle Selden: #1: Break bag delivery, March 28, 9:15 am. Be there or be square.
#2: Club Auction, May 21. Multicare and Virginia Mason Franciscan Health are sponsors so far. The auction committee is taking a “kinder and gentler” approach, with teams being cooperative groups. Kinder and Gentler might turn much nastier as we get closer to the event. Wake up and smell the coffee and get going, folks.
#3: Puyallup-South Hill has a new fundraiser, a cornhole tournament at the Fairgrounds. A team for Lakewood Rotary???
--Rose Stevens: Bob Zawilski and Rose are conducting tours of the eight Little Free Pantries. Call either one to set up your guided tour.
--President Jim: The District Governor will be making an informal second visit to us, March 25. Her big push is raising money for Ukrainians. Rose Stevens has some contacts as well, so stay tuned for ways that you can give. Think big. Also, My Rotary (www.ri.org) has ways to give as well.
New Member:
Welcome, Hank Kerns! Hank is not new to Rotary: former member at West Seattle, and Past President at Covington. Hank has taken over from Ron Messenger at New Tacoma Cemetery. He started in Rotary very early, as an exchange student to Guatemala. It’s gonna be a beautiful thing having Hank on board, I predict. The only fly in the ointment was that Veronica Bronkema forgot to bring the Puffin! This after being told in no uncertain terms to bring it to each meeting. She was heard to say, “Heavens to Murgatroyd! And fiddlesticks! And this is a fine kettle of fish!”, or words to that effect.
Above: New Member Hank Kerns wins raffle right out of the box!
Generous Giving:
After greeting all the Zoomers (Carole Wier, Don Daniels, Mary Horn, Barlow Buescher, Chuck Hellar, David Swindale, Leanna Christian, Wynn Hoffman, Nicole Hancock), Jim “thanked” his favorite Alaska bush pilot, Barb Spriggs, for his fining hat, and got right to it:
- Don Anderson went on a DC visit with 200 of his closest friends and got elected to a board (helping our military) for his efforts. He was the recipient of a free meal at the Four Seasons from his mentor of several decades. $20, I think.
- Wendy McGowan went to LA to attend the bat mitzvah of her youngest granddaughter, $20.
- Barb Spriggs, the aforementioned bush pilot made a return trip, all the way to the Arctic Circle. Not a flawless trip: she kind of had to scold Alaska Airlines to straighten up and fly right, but it was worth $50 to our club.
The Program:
Anne Enquist introduced a former colleague from Seattle University, John McKay. A Seattle native, John was appointed by George W. Bush to be US Attorney for Western Washington in 2001 but was forced out a few years later in a political purge. He taught ethics and leadership at Seattle U, retiring in 2021; meaning he’s busy doing many, many other things. He did human rights training in Palestine from 2013-2015.
In 2019, John was sent to join the State Department in Dubai, where twenty Afghan government ministers would be meeting for three days. The assignment was to determine responsibility for ownership of a database of people investigated by the United States in Afghanistan. He discovered that there was no plan, other than this basic desire for resolution of the problem. John called the State Department person in charge “disputatious”, and well-known as a bully. No help. John expressed his desire to the assembled Afghans for them to become servant leaders. He suggested that the database should be cloud based and co-owned by them all. This was not received well, but eventually was agreed upon, with all signing off. John’s point: if those 20 from Afghanistan could accept servant leadership, then why can’t we all. Interactions need respect, humility, and empathy if we want to have a brighter future. As for the ministers: several are likely dead or under house arrest. He concluded by saying that the Afghan fall was likely a failure of US policy, dating back for several administrations.
(My comment: Anne Enquist brings excellent speakers to Lakewood Rotary.)
Above: Our speaker and former US Attorney John McKay (All photos thanks to Walt Richardson)
The Drawing: After just seeding the pot with the $250 minimum after the recent win by Steve Enquist, new member Hank Kerns hit the jackpot: red chip! I believe I heard Hank declare, “Well, I’ll be a monkey’s uncle!!” And just like that, he was in like Flynn.
It’s almost warm enough to golf, so here you go to finish up this wild goose chase of a tale. Rest assured, it all came straight from the horse’s mouth. Or some other part of the anatomy…..
An Old Golfer was hitting his ball from near a water hazard and his club fell into the water.
When he cried out, the Lord appeared and asked, "Why are you crying?"
The golfer replied that his club had fallen into the water and he needed the club to have a chance to win the tournament and supplement his meager pension.
The Lord went down into the water and reappeared with a golden club.
"Is this your club?" the Lord asked.
The golfer replied, "No."
The Lord again went down and came up with a silver club.
"Is this your club?" the Lord asked.
Again, the golfer replied, "No." The Lord went down again and came up with an old iron club. "Is this your club?" the Lord asked.
The golfer replied, "Yes, that’s it!"
The Lord was pleased with the golfer's honesty and gave him all three clubs to keep, and the golfer won his tournament and went home happy.
Sometime later, the golfer was walking with his wife along the water hazard, and she fell into the lake.
When he cried out, the Lord again appeared and asked him, "Why are you crying?"
"Oh, Lord, my woman has fallen into the water!"
The Lord went into the water and reappeared with Kate Upton. "Is this your woman?" the Lord asked.
"Yes," cried the golfer.
The Lord was furious. "You lied! That is an untruth!"
The golfer replied, "Oh, forgive me Lord. It is a misunderstanding. You see, if I had said 'No' to Kate Upton, you would have come up with Jennifer Aniston. Then if I said 'No' to her, you would have come up with my woman. Had I then said 'Yes,' you would have given me all three. And Lord, I am an old man not able to take care of all three women in a way that they deserve... so that's why I said 'Yes' to Kate Upton.”
And God was pleased. The moral of this story is:
If a golfer ever tells a lie, it is for a good and honorable reason and only out of consideration for others.
Calendar of Upcoming LR Events: (if you have an item send it to me—Joe Quinn, Editor)
3/27-31 Sunriver Rotary Ski Trip (sold out)
3/28 Break Bag Delivery on a Monday
5/21 Lakewood Rotary Auction
6/25 Rotary Installation Banquet
8/20-21 The Courage
9/11-13 Reeder Rotary Roadster Romp to Sun Mountain
12/16 Tom and Jerry Party and President’s Roast
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