MEETING RECAP
Let’s Play Lakewood Rotary Squares!
By Horn, Gregory S.Edited By Horn, Gregory S.Sunday, September 29, 2024
Let’s Play Lakewood Rotary Squares!
Last week, Lakewood Key writer and publisher, Paula Olson, mentioned that President Carl “kept the Zoomers in their squares.” So that got me to thinking…. what if Carl abandoned the normal Friday procedure, and ran the meeting with the Zoomers? It would be like Hollywood Squares, with the stars in their little square cubicles. Instead of host Peter Marshall asking questions of Paul Lynde, George Gobel, Charley Weaver, and Rose Marie, it might go something like this:
President Carl: John Magnuson, do female frogs croak?
John: If you hold their little heads under water long enough they will.
President Carl: Ralph Johnson, if you’re going to make a parachute jump, at least how high should you be?
Ralph: Three days of steady drinking should do it.
President Carl: Carole Wier, according to Anne Landers, there are two things you should never do in bed. What are they?
Carole: Point and laugh.
Last week, Lakewood Key writer and publisher, Paula Olson, mentioned that President Carl “kept the Zoomers in their squares.” So that got me to thinking…. what if Carl abandoned the normal Friday procedure, and ran the meeting with the Zoomers? It would be like Hollywood Squares, with the stars in their little square cubicles. Instead of host Peter Marshall asking questions of Paul Lynde, George Gobel, Charley Weaver, and Rose Marie, it might go something like this:
President Carl: John Magnuson, do female frogs croak?
John: If you hold their little heads under water long enough they will.
President Carl: Ralph Johnson, if you’re going to make a parachute jump, at least how high should you be?
Ralph: Three days of steady drinking should do it.
President Carl: Carole Wier, according to Anne Landers, there are two things you should never do in bed. What are they?
Carole: Point and laugh.
The regular meeting did, in fact, take place, beginning with the Thought for the Day from James Osundwa, quoting Robert Frost, while Gary Fulton led the Pledge. Linda Disney collected Paul Harris money (aka The Rotary Fondation), Leon Titus sold raffle tickets reasonably well (at least Rick Selden thought so), and Walt Richardson used his photographic talent to make us look good in the photos.
Visiting Rotarians: Mike Boltz from University Place-Fircrest, and another Mike from some Rotary Club somewhere arrived late.
Guests of Rotarians: Lia Knight, guest of Bob Zawilski; Jennie, guest of husband Jim Weinand; Sarah from Good Neighbor Village, guest of Angela Connelly; Song Shin from McGranahan Architects, guest of Angela Connelly; Lori, wife of Tyler Parker.
And then: the unthinkable happened! Another phone went off! Actually, it was a watch and it wasn’t Dick Tracy’s, but almost-District Governor Tony Camoroda’s. He paid $20, but not before extracting the same from President Carl for momentarily forgetting about LFP Friday. Carl thanked Steve “Pain in the Ass” Mazoff and paid $20.
Zoomers: they’re listed in this here bulletin elsewhere.
Paul Harris Awards: Steve Enquist presented Mark Herr with his first, and Jim Sharp with his second.
Sunshine from Wendy McGowan: Rose Stevens broke her wrist!! Surgery Tuesday.
And back to our show:
President Carl: John Magnuson: True or False, a pea can last as long as 5,000 years.
John: Boy, it sure seems that way sometimes
President Carl: Barb Spriggs: It is considered in bad taste to discuss two subjects at nudist camps. One is politics, what is the other?
Barb: Tape measures.
President Carl: Liz Heath, according to Movie Life magazine, Ann-Margaret would like to start having babies soon, but her husband wants her to wait a while. Why?
Liz: He’s out of town
Announcements:
Tacoma South Rotary’s annual Putt Putt fundraiser at Harkness Furniture is Friday, October 28. We need at least 3 foursomes. Very fun! See Greg Horn.
The Harvest Hoedown happened, happily. It was Saturday, September 28. Dave Betz secured Tom George, James Guerrero, Bob Martin, Mark Blanchard, and I think Don Daniels to help with the set-up.
The Puffins Are Coming!! Mark Blanchard warned all Puffins to clear their calendars as much planning is afoot for the big Roast of President Carl in December. All “dirt” is welcome.
Connie Coleman-Lacadie warned all of a club survey coming soon.
Gayle Selden requested that a Rotarian volunteer once a week every week to take Jeffrey, our exchange student from Taiwan, out to dinner. Mary Horn and Angela Connelly raised their hands. Everyone else, contact Barlow Buescher to schedule. And Tom George kept the exchange program in the news by promoting our need for at least one more family, May to June or whenever you can. Think about it! It is the opportunity of a lifetime.
Financial Generosity and Forced Hand-overs:
More Rotarians published by Debbie McVicker! A couple of typos cost Debbie dearly, $20. Those with the free publicity were asked to make it not free with a donation of their choosing: Quinns, Horns, Engs, and Veronica Bronkema.
Scott Buser celebrated 49 years of marriage and a visit to a granddaughter in California, $100.
Tyler Parker appeared for the first time this year, and was pounced upon for it. Publisher’s note: Sadly, we lost our only twenty-something member recently, as Tyler turned thirty. He is still bringing our median age down, though.
Gael and Jason Whalen were similarly noticed and recognized, I think for Jason’s newest job, $20. Jason commented, “It’s in Auburn, where they still like me!”
Angela Connelly has what must seem like a million sons, but so far nothing but granddaughters since! Seven so far, for $70, in honor of the recently-arrived #7.
David Swindale used his African Safari Wine Fest purchase, along with stops in Iceland, Amsterdam and Munich. He returned with thoughtful gifts: a miniature puffin, and the practical gift of paper money: Euros and a South African bill with Mandela on it. He drank all the beer, at Oktoberfest, with none to bring back. $100
Terry Roarke and Walli visited Newfoundland, where he took the Screech Challenge, kissing a fish and drinking rum. $20
Mark Blanchard celebrated his 48th wedding anniversary, and his birthday on 9-11, which he has celebrated as a Crappy Birthday since 2011. $119.
And more Lakewood Rotary Squares:
President Carl: Rose Stevens, Jackie Gleason recently revealed that he firmly believes in them and has actually seen them on at least two occasions. What are they?
Rose: His feet
President Carl: Shiru, in what state was Abraham Lincoln born?
Shiru: Naked and screaming like the rest of us.
President Carl: Ralph Johnson, diamonds should never be kept with the family jewels. Why not?
Ralph: Because they’re so cold.
Program:
Fire Commissioner and Puffin Scott Casebolt reported that Jim Sharp started his fire career as a dispatcher, then as a fireman in University Place, then Assistant Chief at the merger of the fire departments, and Chief in 2013 for West Pierce. Jim described a ballot measure for November, called Prop 1. The proposal, currently used by many other fire departments in the State, changes the fire protection component to a fee (Fire Benefit Charge (FBC)).
Currently, our property tax includes an EMS levy, a regular levy, and a Maintenance and Operations (M&O) levy. If approved, Prop 1 will reduce the regular levy immediately by a third and do away with the M&O levy. In its place will be the FBC, which is not a tax but a fee. It will be calculated by the size of the structure, use of that structure, and risk factors. Jim used examples from three recent fires, a residence, a multi-unit dwelling, and a commercial building:
Residence Multi Unit Commercial
Fire vehicles used 12 19 40
Personnel 24 36 78
Unit Hours 20 75 315
Staff Hours 29 145 619
In this example there was 401% more staff time for Multi than Residential, and 2033% more for Commercial. And yet property tax does not address this inequity. Moreover, a $500,000 valued home and $1.5 M valued home of the same size have paid markedly different M&O taxes, but will be about the same (M&O portion) with the new FBC. The change would start in 2025, if approved by the voters. You can email FBC@westpierce.org with questions, or to get an estimate of the charge to your business or residence. Jim also explained that multiple vehicles often show up to an emergency situation. The interest is in getting their as fast as possible, and this often means a fire truck is the closest. The truck can depart if another higher priority call comes in.
I love programs from Jim Sharp!!
Raffle: 13 white, 1 red, $329. Next week it will be 12 white and 1 red. But Rick Selden did get $5 for his effort!!
Visiting Rotarians: Mike Boltz from University Place-Fircrest, and another Mike from some Rotary Club somewhere arrived late.
Guests of Rotarians: Lia Knight, guest of Bob Zawilski; Jennie, guest of husband Jim Weinand; Sarah from Good Neighbor Village, guest of Angela Connelly; Song Shin from McGranahan Architects, guest of Angela Connelly; Lori, wife of Tyler Parker.
And then: the unthinkable happened! Another phone went off! Actually, it was a watch and it wasn’t Dick Tracy’s, but almost-District Governor Tony Camoroda’s. He paid $20, but not before extracting the same from President Carl for momentarily forgetting about LFP Friday. Carl thanked Steve “Pain in the Ass” Mazoff and paid $20.
Zoomers: they’re listed in this here bulletin elsewhere.
Paul Harris Awards: Steve Enquist presented Mark Herr with his first, and Jim Sharp with his second.
Sunshine from Wendy McGowan: Rose Stevens broke her wrist!! Surgery Tuesday.
And back to our show:
President Carl: John Magnuson: True or False, a pea can last as long as 5,000 years.
John: Boy, it sure seems that way sometimes
President Carl: Barb Spriggs: It is considered in bad taste to discuss two subjects at nudist camps. One is politics, what is the other?
Barb: Tape measures.
President Carl: Liz Heath, according to Movie Life magazine, Ann-Margaret would like to start having babies soon, but her husband wants her to wait a while. Why?
Liz: He’s out of town
Announcements:
Tacoma South Rotary’s annual Putt Putt fundraiser at Harkness Furniture is Friday, October 28. We need at least 3 foursomes. Very fun! See Greg Horn.
The Harvest Hoedown happened, happily. It was Saturday, September 28. Dave Betz secured Tom George, James Guerrero, Bob Martin, Mark Blanchard, and I think Don Daniels to help with the set-up.
The Puffins Are Coming!! Mark Blanchard warned all Puffins to clear their calendars as much planning is afoot for the big Roast of President Carl in December. All “dirt” is welcome.
Connie Coleman-Lacadie warned all of a club survey coming soon.
Gayle Selden requested that a Rotarian volunteer once a week every week to take Jeffrey, our exchange student from Taiwan, out to dinner. Mary Horn and Angela Connelly raised their hands. Everyone else, contact Barlow Buescher to schedule. And Tom George kept the exchange program in the news by promoting our need for at least one more family, May to June or whenever you can. Think about it! It is the opportunity of a lifetime.
Financial Generosity and Forced Hand-overs:
More Rotarians published by Debbie McVicker! A couple of typos cost Debbie dearly, $20. Those with the free publicity were asked to make it not free with a donation of their choosing: Quinns, Horns, Engs, and Veronica Bronkema.
Scott Buser celebrated 49 years of marriage and a visit to a granddaughter in California, $100.
Tyler Parker appeared for the first time this year, and was pounced upon for it. Publisher’s note: Sadly, we lost our only twenty-something member recently, as Tyler turned thirty. He is still bringing our median age down, though.
Gael and Jason Whalen were similarly noticed and recognized, I think for Jason’s newest job, $20. Jason commented, “It’s in Auburn, where they still like me!”
Angela Connelly has what must seem like a million sons, but so far nothing but granddaughters since! Seven so far, for $70, in honor of the recently-arrived #7.
David Swindale used his African Safari Wine Fest purchase, along with stops in Iceland, Amsterdam and Munich. He returned with thoughtful gifts: a miniature puffin, and the practical gift of paper money: Euros and a South African bill with Mandela on it. He drank all the beer, at Oktoberfest, with none to bring back. $100
Terry Roarke and Walli visited Newfoundland, where he took the Screech Challenge, kissing a fish and drinking rum. $20
Mark Blanchard celebrated his 48th wedding anniversary, and his birthday on 9-11, which he has celebrated as a Crappy Birthday since 2011. $119.
And more Lakewood Rotary Squares:
President Carl: Rose Stevens, Jackie Gleason recently revealed that he firmly believes in them and has actually seen them on at least two occasions. What are they?
Rose: His feet
President Carl: Shiru, in what state was Abraham Lincoln born?
Shiru: Naked and screaming like the rest of us.
President Carl: Ralph Johnson, diamonds should never be kept with the family jewels. Why not?
Ralph: Because they’re so cold.
Program:
Fire Commissioner and Puffin Scott Casebolt reported that Jim Sharp started his fire career as a dispatcher, then as a fireman in University Place, then Assistant Chief at the merger of the fire departments, and Chief in 2013 for West Pierce. Jim described a ballot measure for November, called Prop 1. The proposal, currently used by many other fire departments in the State, changes the fire protection component to a fee (Fire Benefit Charge (FBC)).
Currently, our property tax includes an EMS levy, a regular levy, and a Maintenance and Operations (M&O) levy. If approved, Prop 1 will reduce the regular levy immediately by a third and do away with the M&O levy. In its place will be the FBC, which is not a tax but a fee. It will be calculated by the size of the structure, use of that structure, and risk factors. Jim used examples from three recent fires, a residence, a multi-unit dwelling, and a commercial building:
Residence Multi Unit Commercial
Fire vehicles used 12 19 40
Personnel 24 36 78
Unit Hours 20 75 315
Staff Hours 29 145 619
In this example there was 401% more staff time for Multi than Residential, and 2033% more for Commercial. And yet property tax does not address this inequity. Moreover, a $500,000 valued home and $1.5 M valued home of the same size have paid markedly different M&O taxes, but will be about the same (M&O portion) with the new FBC. The change would start in 2025, if approved by the voters. You can email FBC@westpierce.org with questions, or to get an estimate of the charge to your business or residence. Jim also explained that multiple vehicles often show up to an emergency situation. The interest is in getting their as fast as possible, and this often means a fire truck is the closest. The truck can depart if another higher priority call comes in.
I love programs from Jim Sharp!!
Raffle: 13 white, 1 red, $329. Next week it will be 12 white and 1 red. But Rick Selden did get $5 for his effort!!
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