Mc Talk (not Smack Talk!)
Mc is Poulsbo Rotary's Thai Exchange Student
• He participated in Viking Fest, liked the Viking tent displays, and got to touch the soft sheep. His favorite food was a Hot Dog!
• Helped out at the Viking Tour
• Helped out at the Viking Tour
Important Announcements
• 5/31 Friday: Wine Tasting at Joe Hulsey and Mary Gorman’s house
• Upcoming trips to Spruce Goose and King Country Library? – Steve Garfein
• Poulsbo Rotary is sponsoring TWO exchange students next year and looking for host homes!
• Outgoing exchange student to Italy, Chris Carthum, announced that he needs summer work to help pay for his trip / year.
• Guest Briana Ryan – Days for Girls (and previous Interact Student), encouraged everyone to go to https://daysforgirls.org/advocate and pledge to talk about menstrual hygiene so the next generation of girls can grow up without shame or embarrassment.
• Upcoming trips to Spruce Goose and King Country Library? – Steve Garfein
• Poulsbo Rotary is sponsoring TWO exchange students next year and looking for host homes!
• Outgoing exchange student to Italy, Chris Carthum, announced that he needs summer work to help pay for his trip / year.
• Guest Briana Ryan – Days for Girls (and previous Interact Student), encouraged everyone to go to https://daysforgirls.org/advocate and pledge to talk about menstrual hygiene so the next generation of girls can grow up without shame or embarrassment.
Check Presented to Side by Side
A partnership for South Africa's Children
Brenda Wall, International Service Committee, presented a $5,000 check to the Side by Side organization to support South Africa Micro-Enterprises that make the menstrual kits for Days for Girls.
New Member Induction
Patti Dudley, Director of Fishline, was inducted as a new member of the club by Amy Schmidt. She was sponsored by Steve Garfein and will be mentored by Cindy Garfein. Welcome to the club Patti!
Seaing Green: Diving the Salish Sea
Presentation by Laurynn Evans
Not only is Laurynn the Superintendent of North Kitsap Schools, she is also an avid diver and underwater high-definition videographer. She provides stock footage to many organizations, including National Geographic. She shared with our group incredible still shots and video of some of her diving experiences, as well as her incredible journey of how she came to love it!
How it Began
20 years ago, she visited the Caribbean and afterward, decided she would take diving lessons. She was terrified at first, cried all the way to her first lesson. Laurynn is from Texas, so diving in cold water (50 degrees) did not sound inviting. She got hooked! She was so invested, that she accomplished 200 dives in one year, and just on the weekends!
Why She Loves it!
How it Began
20 years ago, she visited the Caribbean and afterward, decided she would take diving lessons. She was terrified at first, cried all the way to her first lesson. Laurynn is from Texas, so diving in cold water (50 degrees) did not sound inviting. She got hooked! She was so invested, that she accomplished 200 dives in one year, and just on the weekends!
Why She Loves it!
- It’s a way of life!
- Amazing opportunity for world experiences, to Iceland, Micronesia, viewing amazing sea life and historical artifacts! She described seeing WWII artifacts from Operation Hailstone in Micronesia (planes, trucks, etc)
- Always something new to learn.
- Started out as a novice, but has since become Nitrox Certified, Advanced Certified, Technical and Cave Certified.
- Favorite diving is in the caves of Mexico, where the caves resemble how Dr. Seuss would draw caves, all drippy and weird.
- Decompression – science, chemistry
- 200-foot dive with oxygen requires 4 hours for dive, due to lengthy decompression requirement
- Same dive only requires 90 minutes with a combination of gases, like Helium / Oxygen to offset the affects of Nitrogen build up.
- Safety
- Use of lines to attach to wrecks or outside caves, to ensure the diver can find way out.
- #1 failure in diving is due to loss of light, so divers carry extra sources to ensure success.
- Diving has made Laurynn a better leader and educator. She realizes there is no emergency that cannot be solved.
So why Dive Here?
Local diving is challenging, and most divers do not take to the Pacific Northwest!
Local diving is challenging, and most divers do not take to the Pacific Northwest!
CONS
- Cold temperatures
- Limited visibility
- Difficult currents and tides
- Huge equipment requirement
PROS
- PNW offers the most accessible (easy walk in) dive sites
- PNW has LOTS of dive sites
- Ship wreck at Port Wilson
- Avenger aircraft in Lake Washington
- Incredibly colorful and beautiful sea life unique to the area
- Laurynn highlighted pictures and video of the Wolf Eel, a very social fish that can grow between 8-9 feet long, and The giant Pacific Octopus, that starts the size of a grain of rice, and at maturity can reach 100 pounds. (Laurynn is sometimes called the Octopus Whisperer, because she can coax them out of their hiding places for VERY interesting video).
Extra: Here’s a cool article about Local Diver Laurynn Evans, 2011:
https://polaris93.livejournal.com/3262926.html
Viking Tour Post-Mortem – Nick Johnson
Nick provided some overall statistics of the 5th Annual Viking Tour!
ZERO Waste Campaign – The final numbers:
- Compost 66.2 lbs.
- Landfill 9.0 lbs. (including a soggy blanket and trash picked up from the local creek)
- Bottles and Cans 9.7 lbs.
- Non-Compostable Cups, Lids, Straws 4 lbs. 10 oz
- Snack Wrappers 2 lbs. 10 oz
- Plastic Film 2 lbs. 13 oz.
- Cardboard 8.8 lbs.
- Paper 1.3 lbs
- Styrofoam 0
- Gloves 15.9 oz
- Tyvek bibs 12.5 oz
TOUR Event - The final numbers:
- 327 Riders – slightly down from last year, mainly due to poor weather leading up to the
- event (although the actual ride day was FANTASTIC!)
- 95 Volunteers – a new record! And 24 Volunteers were non-Rotarians
- Overall Satisfaction score from participants was 4.5 / 5 STARS!
- And…drum roll please…$20,000 Net Revenue (up from prior years, even with fewer riders!)
In addition, Nick gave us a peak into the future goals for this event.
1. Limit to 500 Riders, 2. Become More and More efficient, 3. Obtain More Outside sponsors
1. Limit to 500 Riders, 2. Become More and More efficient, 3. Obtain More Outside sponsors
Travels and Travails of a Field Ornithologist 
Dr Leen is a glaucoma specialist that went to Brown. 
They see the children at the local school which is just a roof, but yet the nicest structure in town. All the children want glasses and are sad when they don’t need them. The teachers are super happy to get them too. They can see the text books that they teach from. 
Eric Nieland, NKHS engineering teacher, was presented the Paul Harris Fellow Award as a gift from Rotary. Eric’s classroom was the recipient of Rotary funds several years ago and he purchased a kit to build a 3-D printer for his classroom. Once built, the students brought the 3-D printer to Rotary and made Rotary logos for our members. The students then used the 3-D printer to make additional 3-D printers. He thanked Rotary for supporting his NK High School students.
Rob Thomas and his wife moved to Poulsbo in June 2016 after he retired from the Navy. His service in the Navy included assignments in Japan (twice), Florida, US Naval Academy (learned to be a ship captain), and Virginia.
Jim shared a fascinating video (shot in 1950 and narrated by his Grandfather) that provided background on how the Cod Fishing industry was conducted, focusing on the years between 1911 and 1950. It was during this period that his grandfather worked on the “John A,” a lumber schooner converted to a cod fishing vessel. John A was 165 feet in length and now resides as a museum in the San Francisco area.
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