Gettin’ Lei’d
THE LAKEWOOD KEY
The meeting of the Rotary Club of Lakewood “conched” to order at the hand of President Jason Whalen (“PJW”) and Spring was (and is) in the air. PJW first reflected on a great Rotarian that has passed: Ed Shannon. We miss him already.
Scott Buser gave the invocation. Dave Reames  (I think) led us in the Pledge of Allegiance.
PJW thanked various members for making the meeting happen: Tom George, Rob Erb, James Osundwa, Wynn Hoffman and Rick Selden. Staffing the $2 table and acting as Sergeant at Arms was Chuck Hellar. Linda Disney worked the Foundation desk. Walt Richardson snapped pictures and Eric Quinn drafted the bulletin.
 Patrick Terry was introduced as a visiting Rotarian. Steve Mazoff introduced his wife Ellen as his guest and Angela Connelly introduced Cathy Fredrickson as a guest. Cathy has done some great things for the community so we were happy to have her. Eric Warn mentioned that there were various educators at his table that he would be introducing later.
As for Health and Wellness, Eric Warn reminded us of the passing of Ed Shannon, who was an Army aviator and an avid golfer who became a great Lakewood Rotarian in 2009. Eric shared a story that he learned from Ed’s wife Jayne: that she was in the hospital at the same time that Ed was in hospice, and that he waited until she returned home before he passed. True love knows no bounds.
Eric Warn did double duty and introduced two Educators of the Month. He first introduced Principal Christine Firth, principal of Saltar’s Point Elementary. He then introduced Kristen Barton, our first educator, who works at Saltar’s Point Elementary School. Kristen began her career at Saltar’s Point 15 years ago as a fifth-grade teacher which evolved into her teaching 4^th and 5^th graders. She taught the Promise Program, a virtual education option offered to students during the pandemic. She currently serves as an Enriched Core Instruction (ECI) Specialist. In this role, she co-teaches, co-plans and designs math instruction that is engaging for all students. Kristen is described by her peers as being a self-driven, compassionate and dedicated educator. The Club congratulated Kristen and she said a few words. Kristen laughed at how easy it is to talk to her students and how hard it is to talk in front of adults. Thank you, Kristen, for your dedicated service.


Above: Kristen Barton with Eric Warn
Eric then introduced our second educator, Ben Shultis, who teaches at Lakes High School. He was joined by his lovely wife, Sarah, and Principal of Lakes, Karen Mauer-Smith, along with superintendent of secondary schools, Dr. Gloria Henderson. Ben has taught for 24 years in the Clover Park School District. Ben provides a welcoming and enriching environment for all of his students. Ben facilitates students in his Japanese class while creating and conducting their annual festival that celebrates Japanese culture. This festival has become a tradition that students and staff look forward to each year. After school, he oversees students as the Knowledge Bowl advisor. Ben was asked to speak, and greeted the Club in Japanese. Ben thanked the Club for welcoming and honoring him. He, like Kristen, was given $100 to spend on himself, because Lakewood Rotary routinely recognizes that our educators so rarely get to do that. Thank you, Ben for your dedicated service. Eric finished off the presentation of our Educators with “class dismissed.”
There were various Paul Harris awards to be given: Rob Erb got his 6^th PH; Wendy McGowan her 2^nd; Dave Reames his 6^th; Rick Selden his 9^th; Leon Titus his 5^th; and Bob Hammar’s grandson got his 1^st PH. Also, PJW mentioned that before Ed Shannon passed, he gave a final gift to the PH Foundation.


Above: Paul Harris honorees
Jason Whalen then inducted our newest member, Patrick Aravana. By PJW’s admission, he “winged it,” but gave our newest member a strong welcome. Patrick grew up in University Place and went to Curtis High School. Patrick works at Northwestern Mutual as a financial advisor. PJW gave Patrick his first invoice for dues and his Red Badge.  He also placed a lei around Patrick’s neck and stated that Patrick had just been “lei’d.”  A few Rotarians gasped!


Above: Patrick Aravana, our newest member, got lei’d
Then came the announcements:

1. Mary Horn requested a $2,000 disbursement for Emergency Food Network for break bags etc. A motion and second were made and the motion passed unanimously. Mary followed that up by reminding everyone about the upcoming Ladies’ Night Out, which takes place on May 5 at Farm 12 in Puyallup. At some point during her announcements, PJW graced Mary with a lei that he brought back from his trip to Hawaii, but he graciously stopped himself before repeating what he said to Patrick! Mary reminded us that guys can come to Farm 12 too and eat at the restaurant, then be chauffeurs to their inebriated better halves. Come on, guys, you know they deserve that! For further information: https://event.auctria.com/df6823c2-c7d6-441d-8dfe-9b9bb00ac381/

Above: Rick Selden at work in the Park

2. Rick Selden reminded us about Parks Appreciation Day taking place on Saturday, April 22. Now that this event is complete, here is a list of the folks that showed up and spread wide swaths of bark at the playground at Fort Steilacoom Park: Jason Whalen and Gael; Mark Herr; Troy Wilcox; Rick Selden; Bill Potter; David Swindale; Greg Rediske; Bob Martin; Mark Blanchard; Dick Ferrell; Joe Quinn; Leanna Albrecht; Ron Banner; Don Daniels; and Ron Irwin.  Hope no one was left out.

Above: Some of the crew

Apparently Bill Potter mentioned that there would be coffee and whiskey shots there. We are not sure whether that came to fruition.   (It didn’t.  Ed.)

3. Tony Camoroda presented a great statistic about our Club: We are the third best club in District 5020 at member retention.

As for Aloha Bucks:
 

1. Greg Horn said something about seeing his favorite Rotary president doing something cool, so he paid $5 for that.
2. Angela Connelly mentioned that the clan went down to Disneyland with their five granddaughters. She forked over $50 for the pleasure.
3. Barlow Buescher went down to Southern Utah because he always wanted to see rocks that didn’t have dirt on them. He paid $50 for that.
4. PJW paid $50 for his Hawaii trip.

THE PROGRAM:

Rachel Mazoff then introduced our guest speaker, Terri Card. Rachel works closely with Terri who serves as the Outpatient COO for the Multicare Behavioral Health Network and CEO of Greater Lakes Mental Health (GLMH). After 45 years at GLMH, Terri is retiring in May. Before Terri became the program coordinator at GLMH, she was a member of the youth suicide prevention team. In addition to her work for GLMH, Terri has also worked tirelessly as an advocate for improved behavioral health services in our community. On top of all of this, Terri is a cancer survivor.


Above: Terri Card

Terri spoke to us about the explosion of homelessness and substance abuse in our community. She noted the various homeless individuals and camps, and vehicles that are clearly “homes” for people, not to mention the obviously mentally ill or substance-impacted individuals. There is not one underlying cause for all of this, but Terri did underline the following potential causes:
 

1. Efforts to significantly reduce the census at Western State Hospital (WSH). That has resulted in persons that are seriously mentally ill ending up back out on the streets.
2. Staffing and provider shortages
3. Skyrocketing rents and home prices. In many cases, low wage earners cannot afford to rent an apartment on their own—individuals, couples and families have found themselves priced out of the market.
4. An explosion of addiction, with meth and heroin being the main culprits. Terri lost a brother to meth and a cousin to alcoholism. Consequently, she understands the havoc that substance abuse can wreak on the mind, body and spirit of individuals.
5. Untreated mental illness, and the combination of homelessness, untreated mental illness and substance abuse. Terri opined that she could not truly blame someone for turning to substances when they are “homeless and miserable.”
6. Being less tough on crime

Terri noted various social-service organizations that are operating on a shoestring budget and how that impacts our ability to reach out to the affected communities.
So the question becomes, what can we do?

1. Advocate for competitive pay rates for providers. We need more mental-health providers but we will not get as many if they are not well-compensated.
2. Donate to organizations that support individuals in escaping homelessness.
3. Don’t give out cash to unhoused persons. They are likely taking that money to get high. Instead, find McDonald’s gift cards or direct them to places where they can find food.
4. There is no one answer because there is no single underlying cause. Terri would be suspicious of anyone that claims they have THE answer.

Terri opened it up to questions and she gave informative answers. We all can do our part in helping prevent homelessness and substance abuse, but it’s people like Terri that remind us of how we can do that. Congratulations on your well-earned retirement, Terri!

PJW rang the bell and drew the raffle ticket. John Lowney strolled to the front of the room and drew the white chip.



Above: A recent picture of Lakewood Rotarians at City Hall with Mayor Whalen and other city council members, as a big check for $11,000 plus was delivered to the city from Rotary