MEETING RECAP
Monday, June 13, 2022
By: Paula T. OlsonPlanningpalooza!
THE LAKEWOOD KEY
President Jim started the meeting a whopping five (5) minutes early because he said it was a special meeting in a couple of ways. First, Pres Jim was turning the gavel over to President-Elect and His Honor the Mayor of Lakewood and second because we would be chatting with each other to give input on a strategic plan. A murmur of excitement pulsed through the room. Pres. Jim then called on Bob Hammar to start the meeting with an invocation. Bob Martin led us in the Pledge of Allegiance. And then the gavel was officially passed to PE Jason.
Above: Our PE, Jason Whalen
PE Jason announced that there would be no time for fines or announcements. A groan of disappointment went up! Any pressing announcement should be sent to the Bulletin Writer, Paula Olson, and she would put it in the bulletin. I didn’t get any so there aren’t any. Other people doing their usual fabulous job of meeting setup were Rob Erb and company, Terry Roarke at the $2.00 table and Sergeant at Arms, Bud Montgomery at the Foundation desk, and Walt Richardson manning the camera for photos. Eric Warn was not with us so Jason shared that Bob Bruback was in the hospital ICU with a bad case of COVID. Remember him in your thoughts and prayers.
Visiting Rotarians included Pauline Wantate, the Change Maker President of the Rotary Club of Sunrise in Kampala, Uganda and several members of that club who were visiting family members in the Tacoma-Seattle area. Also with us were friends of James Oswunda - Cedric ? and Joseph ? from a Rotary Club in Nairobi, Kenya. Guests included Gretchen and Connie from the Pierce County Library District, and Shiru Osundwa, wife of James Osundwa. Ms. Wantate commented that she found our meeting very interesting and shared with us some of the projects her club and District 9213 are involved in such as addressing the high maternal mortality rate with the Maternal Child Care Project and also providing menstruation sanitary supplies for girls so they will go to school. Because they don’t have the proper supplies, they are teased at school during their periods and miss a lot of school.
PE Jason then told us how the rest of the meeting was going to go. As background he said that we had all participated in an internet survey about club goals and this session was a deeper, more detailed dive into similar issues. Jason is doing this with Mary Horn, our PE nominee, following Jason’s term of office. They want to have a strategic plan to grow our membership to 150 members within two years. The focus is on both numbers of new members but also diversity. That will take work and participation from all of us and making our club an exciting place for new people to join.
Above: President-Elect Nominee Mary Horn
Jason said to think of this as speed dating. Now I’m not sure if I was the only one who wondered how a long-time married man like Jason knew anything about speed dating but I’m sure he read about it in a book or saw it in a movie. Each table would be equipped with a facilitator who would keep the discussion moving and a scribe to write down all the important stuff said in response to five subject areas. Those areas included Membership, Fellowship, Programs, Community Service, and Fundraising. Each area had several questions to be addressed and the scribe would write the notes on large pieces of paper using specific colors of markers for each area. Since Jason was going to Hawaii tomorrow morning, he didn’t want to see a lot of fooling around at the table. Each area should be discussed for about seven to ten minutes with Mary announcing when to move on to the next topic.
By listening to the buzz in the room, each table jumped in wholeheartedly and those large pieces of paper filled up fast. Jason and Mary promised us that they would take all of those notes and compile them in a document and share them with us.
The rest of the meeting took place discussing the five areas. As we moved from one area to the next, the large pieces of paper were collected and posted on the walls. Jason gave us a little time at the end of the meeting to walk around and read what the different tables thought. It was very nice to have a chance to talk about our club and ways to improve it, ways to share it with new people, and some great ideas about spending time together getting to know each other better and to serve our community, both locally and internationally.
Above: John Korsmo said it was fun!
In case you were wondering, those participating on the Zoom, formed their own “table” and brainstormed too.
Bud Montgomery won the raffle.
Member Spotlight: Someone named Greg suggested that we keep including bios of our members occasionally, so here is another one for the guy who served as scribe at our table today!
Greg Rediske (By Kay Shinn, 1987)
Greg was a September baby….born in 1952…in Tacoma General Hospital. He is a son of Jim Rediske who was an active member of our group for 25 years until his passing some time ago. A lot of us remember him fondly. Greg scooted through Pacific Lutheran University….he served time in the Russ Klauser/Mike McGowan stores for 15 years and now is known as a “Video Consultant”, whatever that is! His firm is Video Management Company. He is interested in such things as baseball, golf, movies, music, among other things. And he takes delight in two sons, Lars aged 6 and Noah aged 5. Greg joined Lakewood Rotary in 1982. He’s been on an assortment of committees, chairman of some. They include Wild Game, Student Exchange and Bulletin and Magazine committees. He is a Paul Harris Fellow.
Update from 1987: Greg married Sharon in 1989 which added two more sons, Shawn and Brandon, and now five grandchildren. He is retired and is the current secretary of the Club and served as club president in 2006-07. He was awarded the Russ Klauser Rotarian of the Year award in 2008-09.
Above: Pic of Greg and Sharon Rediske
Upcoming LR events:
6/25 Rotary Installation Banquet
7/21 Floating Board Meeting (picnic)
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
PE Jason announced that there would be no time for fines or announcements. A groan of disappointment went up! Any pressing announcement should be sent to the Bulletin Writer, Paula Olson, and she would put it in the bulletin. I didn’t get any so there aren’t any. Other people doing their usual fabulous job of meeting setup were Rob Erb and company, Terry Roarke at the $2.00 table and Sergeant at Arms, Bud Montgomery at the Foundation desk, and Walt Richardson manning the camera for photos. Eric Warn was not with us so Jason shared that Bob Bruback was in the hospital ICU with a bad case of COVID. Remember him in your thoughts and prayers.
Visiting Rotarians included Pauline Wantate, the Change Maker President of the Rotary Club of Sunrise in Kampala, Uganda and several members of that club who were visiting family members in the Tacoma-Seattle area. Also with us were friends of James Oswunda - Cedric ? and Joseph ? from a Rotary Club in Nairobi, Kenya. Guests included Gretchen and Connie from the Pierce County Library District, and Shiru Osundwa, wife of James Osundwa. Ms. Wantate commented that she found our meeting very interesting and shared with us some of the projects her club and District 9213 are involved in such as addressing the high maternal mortality rate with the Maternal Child Care Project and also providing menstruation sanitary supplies for girls so they will go to school. Because they don’t have the proper supplies, they are teased at school during their periods and miss a lot of school.
PE Jason then told us how the rest of the meeting was going to go. As background he said that we had all participated in an internet survey about club goals and this session was a deeper, more detailed dive into similar issues. Jason is doing this with Mary Horn, our PE nominee, following Jason’s term of office. They want to have a strategic plan to grow our membership to 150 members within two years. The focus is on both numbers of new members but also diversity. That will take work and participation from all of us and making our club an exciting place for new people to join.
Above: President-Elect Nominee Mary Horn
Jason said to think of this as speed dating. Now I’m not sure if I was the only one who wondered how a long-time married man like Jason knew anything about speed dating but I’m sure he read about it in a book or saw it in a movie. Each table would be equipped with a facilitator who would keep the discussion moving and a scribe to write down all the important stuff said in response to five subject areas. Those areas included Membership, Fellowship, Programs, Community Service, and Fundraising. Each area had several questions to be addressed and the scribe would write the notes on large pieces of paper using specific colors of markers for each area. Since Jason was going to Hawaii tomorrow morning, he didn’t want to see a lot of fooling around at the table. Each area should be discussed for about seven to ten minutes with Mary announcing when to move on to the next topic.
By listening to the buzz in the room, each table jumped in wholeheartedly and those large pieces of paper filled up fast. Jason and Mary promised us that they would take all of those notes and compile them in a document and share them with us.
The rest of the meeting took place discussing the five areas. As we moved from one area to the next, the large pieces of paper were collected and posted on the walls. Jason gave us a little time at the end of the meeting to walk around and read what the different tables thought. It was very nice to have a chance to talk about our club and ways to improve it, ways to share it with new people, and some great ideas about spending time together getting to know each other better and to serve our community, both locally and internationally.
Above: John Korsmo said it was fun!
In case you were wondering, those participating on the Zoom, formed their own “table” and brainstormed too.
Bud Montgomery won the raffle.
Member Spotlight: Someone named Greg suggested that we keep including bios of our members occasionally, so here is another one for the guy who served as scribe at our table today!
Greg Rediske (By Kay Shinn, 1987)
Greg was a September baby….born in 1952…in Tacoma General Hospital. He is a son of Jim Rediske who was an active member of our group for 25 years until his passing some time ago. A lot of us remember him fondly. Greg scooted through Pacific Lutheran University….he served time in the Russ Klauser/Mike McGowan stores for 15 years and now is known as a “Video Consultant”, whatever that is! His firm is Video Management Company. He is interested in such things as baseball, golf, movies, music, among other things. And he takes delight in two sons, Lars aged 6 and Noah aged 5. Greg joined Lakewood Rotary in 1982. He’s been on an assortment of committees, chairman of some. They include Wild Game, Student Exchange and Bulletin and Magazine committees. He is a Paul Harris Fellow.
Update from 1987: Greg married Sharon in 1989 which added two more sons, Shawn and Brandon, and now five grandchildren. He is retired and is the current secretary of the Club and served as club president in 2006-07. He was awarded the Russ Klauser Rotarian of the Year award in 2008-09.
Above: Pic of Greg and Sharon Rediske
Upcoming LR events:
6/25 Rotary Installation Banquet
7/21 Floating Board Meeting (picnic)
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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