Our speaker February 4th was Dr. Stanley Stamm, pioneer in cardiology at Children’s Hospital. He gave a concise history of the specialty at that institution. He participated in its growth to its present state, a mecca for sick children from points near and distant. There is now a large staff of pediatric cardiologists in place, as well as three fulltime cardiac surgeons. They are steadily at work. Their success record in heart surgery, particularly transplants, is exemplary.

 

He also mentioned the summer camp that bears his name, which he originated years ago. Located near Mr. Rainier, it provides a week of recreation for sick children, inclusive of the seriously ill. They enjoy swimming, horseback transport, games, and do their own skits. Dr. Stamm mentions that, even in cases of children on respirators, horseback rides are provided. Special needs such as diabetes are carefully planned in advance. The endeavor requires volunteers who must do strenuous work. The children are monitored on at least a 3-1 ratio. Some 200 volunteers regularly attend.

Dr. Stamm, although retired, remains active at Children’s, attending a few meetings a week. Quite obviously, his voice is heard and respected. Residencies and fellowships are integral parts of the teaching program.

Comment: Many of those at Children’s as well as numerous teachers and practitioners locally and around the country are Dr. Stamm’s trainees. This confers on him an immortality in his own time and beyond. His residents not only experienced his teaching, but accompanied him in runs, swimming, skiing, and probably more. Anecdotes in numbers resulted from this. Finally, could there be a better place to consider allocating some funds than Dr. Stamm’s camp?

At University Sunrise Rotary today, the greatest UW Football Coach, Jim Lambright, spoke on his Life after Football and his participation in the UW Medicine Study on concussions and brain injury after a lifetime of playing football.

Jim Lambright served as the head coach at the University of Washington for six seasons from 1993 to 1998, compiling a record of 44–25–1. The Huskies played in four bowl games during his tenure and were nationally ranked twice. Prior to becoming head coach, Lambright served as an assistant on the Huskies coaching staff for 24 seasons. Lambright was born and raised in Everett, Washington, the son of a fisherman. He earned a scholarship to the UW, where he lettered as an undersized defensive end for head coach Jim Owens, earning all-conference and All-Coast honors as a senior for the Huskies in 1964.

 

There are several meanings for the phrase, “get your hands dirty”!

We are honored to have in-residence a true humorist in Dr. Hall Elner, the following is a sample of some of his humor.

#1. “I’m ashamed of you,” the mother said. “Fighting with your best friend is a terrible thing to do.”

“He threw a rock at me!” the boy said, “So I threw one at him.”

The mother stated emphatically, “When he threw a rock at you, you should have come to me.” The boy quickly replied, “What good would that have done?

My aim is much better than yours.”

#2. A newsboy was standing on the corner with a stack of papers, yelling, “Read all about it. Fifty people swindled! Fifty people swindled!”

Curious, a man walked over, bought a paper, and checked the front page. Finding nothing, the man said, “There’s nothing in here about fifty people being swindled.”

The newsboy ignored him and went on, calling out, “Read all about it, Fifty-one people swindled!”

#3. Two elderly gentlemen were talking over coffee.

“I guess you’re never too old,” the first one boasted. “Why just yesterday a pretty college girl said she’d be interested in dating me. But to be perfectly honest, I don’t quite understand it.”

“Well,” said his friend,  “you have to remember that nowadays women are more aggressive. They don’t mind being the one to ask.”

“No, I don’t think it’s that.”

“Well, maybe you remind her of her father.”

“No, it’s not that either. It’s just that she also mentioned something about carbon 14.”

#4.  A man and a woman who had never met before find themselves in the same sleeping carriage of a train.

After the initial embarrassment, they both go to sleep, she on the lower bunk, he on the upper.

In the middle of the night the man leans over and says, “I’m sorry to bother you but I’m cold and I was wondering if you could possibly pass me another blanket.”

The woman leans out and says in a sultry voice, “I’ve got a better idea. Let’s pretend we’re married.”

“Hey, terrific idea!” says the eager man.

“Good!” she replies, “Get your own blanket!”

Jeff Mushen selected photos and Kyle Bergquist made them into this video for the Rotary District 5030 Conference. It will play silently during meeting intermissions along with videos from other clubs.

Thanks again to all that supported this year’s Debuts & Discoveries Tasting Event. When all is said and done, we believe that the net fundraising total should be about $15,000 to support the University District Packs for Kids program. Well done, all!

We welcome your ideas on what worked well and what could be improved from this year’s event. Please send your suggestions to Nancy & Ed (nancybolin@windermere.com and edbronsdon@outdoorsforall.org ). We’ve already compiled some ideas and we will be looking for ways to further involve you and other club members to step up to make next year’s event a fun and successful one, too.

 

Our speaker March 12th was Bill Bryant, Port Commission President and Seattle 4 Rotarian, who has long advocated a merger between the Ports of Tacoma and Seattle. The consolidation into a single seaport would keep jobs in Seattle. Some 200 thousand jobs are at stake in an industry whose marine cargo accounts for 1/3 of Washington’s GDP. The competition between the two ports has to cease. If cargo is divided between them, shippers would often decide to use Vancouver. Moreover, if each overbuilds to stay ahead of the other, the unsustainable result would land in the laps of the taxpayers. Note should be made that Elliott and Commencement Bays offer deep water that needs no dredging.

The overriding reality is that if one of the 4 huge merged shipping companies is lost to us, the job loss would be calamitous. Our ports are not ready for the larger ships and their larger cargoes. We must make ready for this, with limited time remaining. The merger would entail not only consolidating the single terminals of each port, but the necessity of offering four to the shipping companies. To that end, Terminal 5 is closed for the time being as it undergoes refurbishing. It is ideally situated: deep water, proximity of I-5 and I-90, the nearness of the airport (where Delta is to move its international hub from Tokyo to Seattle), and location at the terminus of transcontinental railroads.

Drawbacks to the merger, expected soon to get federal approval, consist of deficiencies in:

—Education. The appalling high school dropout rate and poor qualifications for community colleges leaves vital jobs in high numbers going wanting. Also it deprives people of the chance of a good living.
—Transportation. There is a crumbling infrastructure in regard to bridges, antiquated rail system, and worsening truck routes. If the merger is to reach all that it promises, these must be corrected. An impetus for us is that B.C. is seeing to its rail system in a tidy fashion. Then there is the airport. It needs to be greatly overhauled in regard to baggage, the North Satellite, elevators, escalators, arrivals facility, and replacement of the center runway. (Not cheap).

Summing up: From what Bryant tells us, this implementation is a must, as is the matter of expediting it

University Sunrise Rotary presents a tasting smorgasbord of the latest local beverage creations. Complementing these new flavors in the historic Sandpoint Naval Air Station Hangar in Magnuson Park will be the varied bites of five of the hottest new food trucks. Purchase bottles of the beverages that you liked best as you leave!

Buy tickets now!

• 30 of the newest Washington state wineries, breweries, distilleries and cideries
• 5 new Seattle food trucks

For a full list of participating businesses, click here.

All benefits go to the University District Food Bank’s Packs For Kids program providing age-appropriate, nutritious meals and snacks to children at risk of going hungry on weekends when free or reduced school meals are not available.