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Get ready to trim your beard and shave your legs...
Vaan Wolfe, the Education and Outreach manager, stepped up to make this presentation when executive director Meg Quinlivan was unable to attend. He began with some of the statistics of domestic violence in Kitsap County. One in FOUR WOMEN and one in NINE MEN are victims of violence from an intimate partner. He shared the history of the YWCA, whose humble roots date back to 1948, when coffee was 5 cents! In 1978 the first Emergency Shelter opened, in partnership with Olympic College. 
Joe Bettridge gave his New Member Talk also, but he’s not new to Rotary! Joe has been a Rotarian for 35 years, and he noted that this club is very positive and happy. His first club was in Wasilla, Alaska, and his “classification” was “Clergy.” He relates more to the titles of pastor, preacher, or minister. He does “not know how to clerge.” 
Don Russell shared spectacular photos from his trip to Brazil, where he “shot” jaguars (with his camera!). Don’s trip took him to the Pantanal wetlands — 350 square miles — the largest in the world. His group drove 150 miles, only half of which was paved, stopping every 15 minutes to photograph birds. They traveled over 25 bridges, some of which were not in good shape. He went in 3 boats, on two rivers and three streams, and saw jaguars in the natural setting, from 100-200 feet away. Some were identified well enough through unique patterns on their forehead spots, that they had been named: Jaju, Medrosa, Juru, Patricia (what a coincidence!). Don was surprised to find that jaguars are very comfortable in the water. They look for fish or caiman, and even kill crocodiles by grabbing behind their heads and smothering them. Jaguars are 250-350 pounds when grown.
Each new member to our club gives a "classification talk" to tell other members something about his or her life and work. Mary Gorman gave a very rousing New Member Talk! Suffice it to say there is NOT enough room here to to it justice! She grew up in Brownsville, but has travelled extensively, and has eaten an impressive array of crazy foods (horse, porcupine, road kill— twice— and snake!) She graduated from Western Washington University with a degree in Mathmatics and Economics and has taught across the world. She earned a Doctorate in Education, and is now a Real Estate Agent with John L. Scott. Her daughter is a nurse, and her son is in the Construction Management program at WSU, and she’s been married to Joe Hulsey for 13 years. 
It turns out that in addition to Service Above Self and Rotary’s 4-way Test, there’s one more key element in Kim McKoy’s DNA: THE GIRL SCOUT PROMISE (On my honor, I will try: To serve God and my country, To help people at all times, And to live by the Girl Scout Law), and it makes for the perfect mix. Kim began her Girl Scout journey 36 years ago in Seattle, and returned as the Regional Director of the Peninsula Region, Girl Scouts of Western Washington. This region serves 2500 girls, across a wide expanse of our state: Bainbridge to Neah Bay, and Gig Harbor to Westport. Over the past 107 years, Girl Scouts have become famous for their cookies, camping, and crafts — but the are keeping with the times and excelling in STEM programs, winning national championships in robotics, and producing piliots as young as twelve! Rest assured, cookie sales are coming soon, but there is much more to Girl Scouts than cookies! 
Liz Brown shared her journey Girls Scouts. First her daughter hit kindergarten and brought home a flyer, but nothing came of it. Then her daughter brought a flyer home from first grade, and the stars seemed to align. As a mother of a son with autism, Girl Scouting gave her something special to do with her daughter, and it allowed her to meet other moms who had children with medical needs. She now co-leads a troop of over 40 girls, and they keep busy. Liz has a mad passion for people who are at risk to “become a statistic,” and she strives to help empower at-risk girls and help bring balance to their lives. Liz currently serves the region’s membership committee as a Community Engagement Manager (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion). In particular, she looks for kids who are under-represented; cost does not need to be a barrier, because girls from low income families qualify for free membership. 
Yodsapon Boonrat (aka Mc), our inbound exchange student from Thailand, started with his weekly update: He went to a cabin near Stevens Pass and had a good time taking pictures and snow shoeing. He said he tried sledding, but had “no luck.” It sounds like he got a face full of snow. 
January 12, 2019 was magical. On a most glorious day, John Pyles, Ardis J. Morrow, D Rand Hillier & I (Ann Pyles) headed to Two Ravens Studio - a full service art foundry in Tacoma. There we met up with artist, Jeff Oens, Sue Oens, his partner, David, Gale Kirsopp and her partner, John, Brian & Susan Patton. We all came to witness the bronze pouring of the Eli Sculpture. 
Emily shared thoughtful commentary and stunning pictures from her time in Croatia last school year. She had two host families, which she loved and misses. She spoke fondly of vineyards in the middle of the city and beautiful cemeteries and churches. She described going to the market voted “The Best Christmas market in Europe”, which had many colors and lights, plus food and trinkets.
During the Q & A portion, she elaborated on the Christmas Markets, which are part of Advent, with shops, trinkets, food, and lights throughout December and the start of January. 
President Tim Nichols gave Emily a well-earned Be the Inspiration pin. Thank you, Emily! 
PK Maclean was awarded her Paul Harris Fellow plus 6 (ruby), and a beautiful Legacy Award and medallion. These awards, given in the name of Rotary Founder Paul Harris, are for Rotarians who donate a total of $1000 to the Rotary Foundation, the charitable non-profit of Rotary International. PK shared how easy legacy giving is. By including Rotary in her estate plans, she will continue to do good in the world beyond her lifetime. 
Brenda Wall shared that the inspiration for this fundraiser came from Ardis about three years ago, when she asked what Rotary was doing to help girls across the world who miss school due to menstruation. Wendell Verduin had been doing projects through Side by Side South Africa, and their Game-Changer for girls proposal included microloans for women, health classes for girls and training sewists to make washable, reusable menstruation kits so girls could stay in school. Our International Services Committee held their fundraiser at My Girl in Kingston, and although their goal was to raise $5,000, they raised over $53,000 They turned the money over to a Side by Side staff member in South Africa. The sewists are now making 800 kits per month, the mothers and grandmothers often attend the health trainings, and Coca Cola is now ordering from Side by Side in S. Africa, to distribute the kits. In 2019 the International Service Committee wants to secure a global grant, find a donor willing to match funds, and ask to do the highly successful fundraiser again! 
Wendy Hinman, author of Tightwads on the Loose: A Seven-Year Pacific Odyssey, the light-hearted story of her seven year voyage aboard a 31-foot boat with her husband, Garth, and Sea Trials: Around the World With Duct Tape and Bailing Wire, the gripping story of Garth’s voyage around the globe with his family when he was a teenager, shared stories and pictures that inspired her two books. She grew up moving every few years as a child because of her father’s job as a dentist in the Navy. During her childhood, she had the opportunity to live in multi-cultural environments in Guam, California, Hawaii and Washington D.C. and meet people from all over the globe. She loved travel so much she’s devoted her life to exploring as much of the world as possible. She used her degree in Economics from the University of Michigan to found a successful international business, which, along with her insatiable curiosity, has taken her to over 30 countries. Her stories were both riveting and inspiring. 
Dr. DeCamp is a vascular surgeon who strives to provide competent state of the art surgical techniques, He grew up in a small, economically depressed Texas town, far from any population center. He worked on the farm, played sports, and served as a volunteer 911 paramedic. His county had no hospital, nor did the surrounding counties. He was in EMT school and was one of the youngest paramedics in Texas. He carried a dispatch radio all the time and responded to emergency calls, sometimes driving patients 90 minutes in the back of his pickup to a hospital or clinic.
Each new member to our club gives a "classification talk" to tell other members something about his or her life and work. John grew up in a small eastern Oregon town and attended Oregon State. He became a teacher, and his 1st job was in NK schools. He’s been here 28 years: 14 as an agriculture teacher then 8 as assistant principal. He recently became Assistant Director of Assistive Technology (and other duties as assigned). His oldest son, Trevor, is a CKHS grad now working as a game warden. His younger son Evan is in the environmental program at WWU. His wife Christy is a pharmacist at Central Market. 
Donna Pledger presented Dr. Paul Kremer with a check for $2,000 from the International Committee. Dr. Kremer is a corneal surgeon in Silverdale who has worked at a medical clinic in the Dominican Republic performing surgery and providing medical care for immigrants, the poor, and adults and children in need of care. The check from Rotary will go toward the purchase of spectacles to give to children. 
Greg Wheeler retired from the U.S. Navy after 34 years as a boiler technician, saying he had skills he felt like he was responsible for sharing with his community. Since 2010, he has served on the Bremerton City Council, and in 2018 he was elected Mayor of Bremerton. “Everyone just wants an opportunity,” he explained regarding the housing crisis in Bremerton. Mayor Wheeler is ready to change his community by explaining that his position on affordable housing is “moving from [a] political issue, to a moral one.” He presented his many plans for Bremerton now and in the future. He plans to take on a rental assistance program for the underprivileged, incentives for those undergoing displacement, and analyzing the “lost opportunity” of the Wheaton Way corridor. Working with the Department of Community Development (DCD), he hopes to change accessory dwelling unit codes to create more habitable spaces on existing properties, and he hopes to give “more authority to [the] Director for on-sight decisions.” He has also spoken to the DCD about reducing setbacks and the ability to analyze zoning for more living-space opportunites. Along with the housing crisis, Mayor Wheeler plans to implement a program on the Harrison Hospital Campus and the existng site to help the economy by acknowledging the new healthcare and research field emerging in the city. Further informaton can be found on the City of Bremerton Web site at this link.
Mary Jones has spent her life caring for babies born to alcohol and drug-addicted mothers, most suffering from the effects of withdrawal from birth. Caring for ailing newborns while they survived this withdrawal is the difficult mission that Mary has embraced, and many of these children have stayed in touch as they went on to live healthy, strong lives. But it was a call in 2003, when a social worker told her that one little girl Mary was fostering might have HIV, that propelled her onto her next challenge, where she would go on to change laws and, in her way, change our world. She remembers whispering in this sweet child’s ear, “I will be your voice, and I’m going to do everything I can do correct this wrong.” And that is precisely what she went on to do.
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