MEETING RECAP
Sunday, October 2, 2022
By: Eric T Quinn“Writing the Wrongs”
Aloha Friday began with the customary “Aloha” from President Whalen.
Because our presenter today is an excellent author, we decided to share some quotes from some of the greatest authors.
"We are cups, constantly and quietly being filled. The trick is knowing how to tip ourselves over and let the beautiful stuff out." —Ray Bradbury
Andrew Kruse gave us the thought for the day, and reminded us that we are lucky to be here today. AK is really thankful for Rotarians “not putting Band Aids on things” and looking out for the long-term good of the community.
Clint Johnson led us in the Pledge
Jason Whalen welcomed the “Zoomies”
Making our meeting happen: Rob Erb, James Osundwa, Terry Roarke and the rest of the setup committee. Walt Richardson took pictures. Chuck Hellar worked the $2 table. James Guerrero supervised the Foundation Table. John Lowney was our Sergeant at Arms. Eric Quinn wrote the bulletin. ???????
Visiting Rotarians:
Bob Zawilski introduced Gil, from Tacoma 8.
Guests:
Tony Camoroda was recognized as an ADG.
Dave Reames invited Ralph Lockhart (a distinguished honorary Rotarian) to the meeting—and he was there.
Steve Enquist introduced two guests, Lynn Brotsky and Lisa Brodoff.
As for Sunshine, Ed Shannon will be undergoing an initial round of immuno-therapy infusions for lung cancer. Monday he will begin radiation. We are thinking of Ed.
September 30 was Little Free Pantry Day! See more here: https://www.littlefreepantry.org/
We need new members on the member retention/recruitment committee.
Above: South Sound Wildlife Project: is that Mark Blanchard?
Bill Potter gave an update on the Major Project: There will be a work party tomorrow on October 1 at South Sound Wildlife Area. We will be weeding, pulling up scotch broom and doing many other good deeds, from 9AM to 1 PM. As for the Club’s Major Project, restoration of the swing set at Fort Steilacoom Park playground is moving along.
From the Fundraising Committee: On Saturday, November 5, we are doing a murder-mystery dinner at the Weyerhauser mansion. Details are being worked out and we will share more soon—but we will not share too much, because that would take away from the mystery.
Steve Enquist gave an update from the foundation. The foundation is asking every club member to give $25 or more between October and the end of November ($5 a week).
John Lowney made an announcement regarding the Lakewood Community Foundation Fund. We have budgeted $2000 for that fund this year but we need a motion to put money toward the fund. The motion was made, seconded and passed unanimously.
Tony Camoroda discussed the background and meaning of the Imagine Rotary logo. There is a very inspiring message behind it.
Phil Eng gave an announcement from Waikiki. He announced the next round of Rotary Picnic Dinners. This will take place on the week of October 10. If you are interested in joining as a host or guest, contact Phil.
David Swindale gave $20 for a trip. Phil Eng matched that for his trip to Waikiki. James Guerrero signed up for a 50K run but he made it about 40K. He gave $40 for that. Andrew Kruse gave $50 for his absence as of late. He put $25 toward the Foundation. Troy and Stephanie Wilcox went to the Bahamas. They dodged two hurricanes, so Troy gave $40, or $20 for each hurricane they dodged. Mary Marlin spelled a name incorrectly in the bulletin and gave $20 for that.
Anne Enquist introduced Amanda Dubois
Anne has been excited about this speaker today because she read Amanda’s book, The Complication, while on a flight home. She did not sleep at all on that flight home. She read the book instead. She found the book to be “the definition of a page turner.” The book takes place in the San Juan Islands and Seattle.
Amanda received her bachelor’s degree in nursing from PLU, and started her career as an RN before going to law school and becoming a lawyer. Her JD is from Seattle U. School of Law. She founded DuBois Cary Law Group, where she focuses on people who are going through a divorce or other family law-related matter. She has also practiced in the area of medical malpractice.
Amanda founded the Civil Survival Project, which focuses on encouraging people who were previously incarcerated, and she wrote the Civil Survival Series, which is used by high school
students and people who just got out of prison. Her most recent passion is the Full Circle Scholarship, which provides tuition assistance to law students whose lives have
been impacted by the criminal legal system. All of the profits from The Complication, the first in the Camille Delaney mystery series, go to the Full Circle Scholarship and other charities. Recently the Washington State Bar Association awarded Amanda the “Sally Savage Leadership Through Philanthropy” award in recognition of her philanthropic work.
Amanda wrote a first draft of the book and sent the manuscript to her writing coach. The writing coach put a lot of red ink on the book. Her coach pointed her to a book by Joseph Baker and other things to research. Once Amanda learned about story arcs and character development, it gave her a better foundation for writing the book. She discussed the story arcs of protagonists like Luke Skywalker from Star Wars and Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, and noted that both of them had “mentor characters” that followed them through their journey. Luke had Obi-Wan and Dorothy had the Tin Man, etc.
After we set the stage for the “ordinary life” of the protagonist, the protagonist goes through some kind of “ordeal.” Every book follows this pattern. For example, in a Few Good Men, Tom Cruise has a great case in the beginning but his star witness dies. As soon as the witness dies, Tom Cruise gets drunk and thinks he can’t win the case any more. But then people rally behind him. He ends up winning the case and then goes back to his “ordinary world.” All great stories include these story arcs.
Amanda opened it up for questions. Andrew Kruse wondered whether the concept of the story arc can show up in non-fiction. Amanda indicated yes because essentially, non-fiction is made up of story arcs. Chris Kimball actually went back to the beginning of her presentation about valuing a life. He asked the question: “How do we value a life?” Amanda discussed how nuanced that question is and therefore she could not give a “one-size-fits-all” answer.
Thank you to Amanda Dubois for an engaging presentation. You can buy a copy of the Complication here: https://www.amandadubois.com/ Again, the proceeds of the sale go to the Full Circle Scholarship and other non-profits.
Above: The Complication
The winner of the raffle today also gets two tickets to the Catapult at the Lakewood Towne Center. $250 was in the pot. John Lowney pulled out a white chip.
Bob Zawilski introduced Gil, from Tacoma 8.
Guests:
Tony Camoroda was recognized as an ADG.
Dave Reames invited Ralph Lockhart (a distinguished honorary Rotarian) to the meeting—and he was there.
Steve Enquist introduced two guests, Lynn Brotsky and Lisa Brodoff.
As for Sunshine, Ed Shannon will be undergoing an initial round of immuno-therapy infusions for lung cancer. Monday he will begin radiation. We are thinking of Ed.
"Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened." —Dr. Seuss
Announcements:September 30 was Little Free Pantry Day! See more here: https://www.littlefreepantry.org/
We need new members on the member retention/recruitment committee.
Above: South Sound Wildlife Project: is that Mark Blanchard?
Bill Potter gave an update on the Major Project: There will be a work party tomorrow on October 1 at South Sound Wildlife Area. We will be weeding, pulling up scotch broom and doing many other good deeds, from 9AM to 1 PM. As for the Club’s Major Project, restoration of the swing set at Fort Steilacoom Park playground is moving along.
From the Fundraising Committee: On Saturday, November 5, we are doing a murder-mystery dinner at the Weyerhauser mansion. Details are being worked out and we will share more soon—but we will not share too much, because that would take away from the mystery.
Steve Enquist gave an update from the foundation. The foundation is asking every club member to give $25 or more between October and the end of November ($5 a week).
John Lowney made an announcement regarding the Lakewood Community Foundation Fund. We have budgeted $2000 for that fund this year but we need a motion to put money toward the fund. The motion was made, seconded and passed unanimously.
"We are all broken, that's how the light gets in." —Ernest Hemingway
David Swindale mentioned that we are looking for members for the Publicity Committee.Tony Camoroda discussed the background and meaning of the Imagine Rotary logo. There is a very inspiring message behind it.
Phil Eng gave an announcement from Waikiki. He announced the next round of Rotary Picnic Dinners. This will take place on the week of October 10. If you are interested in joining as a host or guest, contact Phil.
"Sooner or later even the fastest runners have to stand and fight." —?Stephen King
Above: James Guerrero
Generous Giving:David Swindale gave $20 for a trip. Phil Eng matched that for his trip to Waikiki. James Guerrero signed up for a 50K run but he made it about 40K. He gave $40 for that. Andrew Kruse gave $50 for his absence as of late. He put $25 toward the Foundation. Troy and Stephanie Wilcox went to the Bahamas. They dodged two hurricanes, so Troy gave $40, or $20 for each hurricane they dodged. Mary Marlin spelled a name incorrectly in the bulletin and gave $20 for that.
“Life is a journey, not a destination.” —Ralph Waldo Emerson
Above: Amanda Dubois, our speaker today
Program: Amanda DuBoisAnne Enquist introduced Amanda Dubois
Anne has been excited about this speaker today because she read Amanda’s book, The Complication, while on a flight home. She did not sleep at all on that flight home. She read the book instead. She found the book to be “the definition of a page turner.” The book takes place in the San Juan Islands and Seattle.
Amanda received her bachelor’s degree in nursing from PLU, and started her career as an RN before going to law school and becoming a lawyer. Her JD is from Seattle U. School of Law. She founded DuBois Cary Law Group, where she focuses on people who are going through a divorce or other family law-related matter. She has also practiced in the area of medical malpractice.
Amanda founded the Civil Survival Project, which focuses on encouraging people who were previously incarcerated, and she wrote the Civil Survival Series, which is used by high school
students and people who just got out of prison. Her most recent passion is the Full Circle Scholarship, which provides tuition assistance to law students whose lives have
been impacted by the criminal legal system. All of the profits from The Complication, the first in the Camille Delaney mystery series, go to the Full Circle Scholarship and other charities. Recently the Washington State Bar Association awarded Amanda the “Sally Savage Leadership Through Philanthropy” award in recognition of her philanthropic work.
“And in the end, we were all just humans... drunk on the idea that love, only love, could heal our brokenness.” —F. Scott Fitzgerald
Amanda took the podium and discussed how this is something of a “full circle” moment for her, as she got her nursing degree at PLU. She discussed what makes people write fiction. She mentioned that it is often “something that makes you crazy.” What made Amanda crazy about the legal profession is that it values individuals, in the personal-injury context, based on the amount of money they make, and not their intrinsic value—and we all have intrinsic value, don’t we? Her book begins with a person’s ego distorting (complicating) the care he provided to another human being, and the ripple effect of that distortion.Amanda wrote a first draft of the book and sent the manuscript to her writing coach. The writing coach put a lot of red ink on the book. Her coach pointed her to a book by Joseph Baker and other things to research. Once Amanda learned about story arcs and character development, it gave her a better foundation for writing the book. She discussed the story arcs of protagonists like Luke Skywalker from Star Wars and Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, and noted that both of them had “mentor characters” that followed them through their journey. Luke had Obi-Wan and Dorothy had the Tin Man, etc.
After we set the stage for the “ordinary life” of the protagonist, the protagonist goes through some kind of “ordeal.” Every book follows this pattern. For example, in a Few Good Men, Tom Cruise has a great case in the beginning but his star witness dies. As soon as the witness dies, Tom Cruise gets drunk and thinks he can’t win the case any more. But then people rally behind him. He ends up winning the case and then goes back to his “ordinary world.” All great stories include these story arcs.
"To thine own self be true." —?William Shakespeare
Once Amanda learned this, it gave her great context for writing the book.Amanda opened it up for questions. Andrew Kruse wondered whether the concept of the story arc can show up in non-fiction. Amanda indicated yes because essentially, non-fiction is made up of story arcs. Chris Kimball actually went back to the beginning of her presentation about valuing a life. He asked the question: “How do we value a life?” Amanda discussed how nuanced that question is and therefore she could not give a “one-size-fits-all” answer.
Thank you to Amanda Dubois for an engaging presentation. You can buy a copy of the Complication here: https://www.amandadubois.com/ Again, the proceeds of the sale go to the Full Circle Scholarship and other non-profits.
Above: The Complication
“And in the end, we were all just humans... drunk on the idea that love, only love, could heal our brokenness.” —F. Scott Fitzgerald.
Drawing:The winner of the raffle today also gets two tickets to the Catapult at the Lakewood Towne Center. $250 was in the pot. John Lowney pulled out a white chip.
| Upcoming LR events: 10/21 Putt-Putt Golf Fundraiser at Harkness Furniture (Tacoma South Rotary) 10/22 “Make a Difference Day”- Playground Fix Work at Fort Steilacoom Park 11/5 Murder Mystery fundraiser 12/16 Tom and Jerry Party and President’s Roast |
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