Foxy Davison is a lifelong resident of the Pacific Northwest. She is an educator and activist, serving as community coordinator for the Metropolitan Seattle Sickle Cell Task Force and community outreach coordinator for the Progress House Association.

It is estimated that:

• SCD affects approximately 100,000 Americans.
• SCD occurs among about 1 out of every 365 African-American births.
• SCD occurs among about 1 out of every 16,300 Hispanic-American births.
• About 1 in 13 African-American babies is born with sickle cell trait.

Presentation Notes by Claudia Gutiérrez de Thomas

Presenter Foxy Davison described sickle cell disease (previously known as sickle cell anemia, one of its symptoms) as a genetically inherited disorder. In this, the body`s red blood cells take the shape of a sickle or banana rather than the healthy form of rounded or donut shaped. It occurs mainly in AfroAmericans, but as well in those of Asian descent. In AfroAmericans, one in four people have the traits while about one in a hundred develop the disorder. With the increasing tendencies in marriages of mixed descents and adoptions, the traits appear more frequently, she indicated.

This abnormal shape of the hemoglobin causes them to be damaged and cannot deliver to the brain and other organs enough oxygen to función, causing death of the cells and pain. This inherent pain is one of the indictors of the disorder and a major challange for those that have it, especially in minors transitioning to adults where medical providers cut back or cut off their antipain medications. It can start as early as in infants 6 months of age, after which it develops with their maturing into brain stroke, heart problems and deterioration of limbs, their bones and the major organs,

This mother of a child with sickle cell disorder works to promote awareness of the condition and raises funds for awareness programs, camps with the affected children and their siblings, and retreats for parents of affected children. Those wanting more information can reach her at foxyandjason@g.com

Per District Governor Howard Cohen:

“The significant negative impact of COVID on our conference plans cannot be overstated.  Over the past ten days, the team that has worked tirelessly for nearly a year in planning the conference evaluated the covid-related news and the concerns expressed by members in our district and keynote speakers.  We conclude that canceling the conference is best for its members and the district.”

The University Sunrise Rotary Club, as clearly described by three of our long-time members this morning, is the world’s greatest Rotary Club. 

Thanks to Joseph Thomas, Lee Raaen, and Jim Miller for providing their perspectives in this morning’s presentation.  Our Club has expanded significantly in the past year, and we wanted to reflect on where we have come from.

Our Club was founded in 1984 as a spinoff from the University Rotary Club.  We tried something new—a breakfast club—and it worked.  We now benefit from nearly 50 members from diverse backgrounds—and even two nations—while remaining true to the original idea of Service Above Self.

As Joseph Thomas put it, from the start, we were about fellowship and service.  Two big and important ideas.  And we didn’t want to be a ‘checkbook’ Club.  We wanted to get involved.

We have been engaged in an enormous number of projects over the years.  Our members have done everything from engaging in international understanding efforts to selling wrapping paper to eliminate polio to holding community event to bring people together.

All these efforts have begun with a single idea generated by a few people in the Club that wanted to make something happen—and did it.  Here is a short summary of some of the projects in which our Club had played a leadership role.

Community Service:  Projects and Activities to Improve Lives in Our Community.

• Feeding the Hungry
  • Sand Point Block Party:  An annual event designed to bring together diverse communities in the transitional housing neighborhood.
  • Feeding the Hungry in our Community:  Supporting food drives for food banks.
  • Teen Feed:  Feeding homeless University District youth.
  • Turkey Baskets during the holidays, Ronald McDonald House dinners, food and water drives, Food Pantry at Mercy Housing, Breakfasts to Tiny Homes village, clothing drives, drives to support Urban Rest Stops, Street Teens, and others.
• Caring for the Environment:  Trail and street cleanups, street end park adoptions.
• Promoting Literacy:  Dictionaries to third graders led by Ron Espiritu and Paul Weibel.  We made one of the first donations to TAF (Technology Access Foundation) and supported Books for the World.
• Housing:  Actively supported the Christmas in April program and build Tiny Houses for the homeless.
• Special Holiday Events:  Steve Barton provides Santa services to El Centra de la Raza and other programs.
• Sharing and Caring Tree:  A project collecting thousands of gifts for needy children during the holidays.
• Tutoring for kids at Sand Point/Mercy Housing.

International Service:  At first, we supported initiatives of other Clubs.  Then branched out to take on our own projects.

• Built housing in the Philippines.
• Brazil:  Under the leadership of Lee Raaen, the Club engaged in several significant projects, supported by Rotary International funding to support people in need in Brazil.  Our Club helped secure the first Rotary Foundation funding for projects in the Brazilian Amazon and sponsored projects in Northeast Brazil: 
  • A matching grant supporting Green Garden elderly and disabled residents in Belem.
  • Furniture and fixtures for cancer patients in Casa de Apoio in Port Velho.
  • Equipment for disabled kids in Joao Pessoa, Paraiba.
  • The closed Paus Branco Town Medical Center, in very rural Brazil, was re-opened as the result of grant support initiated to by our Club.  Further, for the first time, computers were brought to the people of the town.
  • We spearheaded the funding for a water project in Gurjao, Paraiba.

• Polio:  Over the years, we have raised thousands of dollars and had members participate in efforts to vaccinate people against polio.
• Goodwill Games:  In 1990, at the end of the Cold War, we housed Russian visitors attending the Goodwill games.
• TINFA:  The Club is a leading supporter, under the leadership of Mike Madden of TINFA, a program to bring computerized learning to rural Guatemala.
• The Club has been a leader in international exchange programs over the years, Bahia Street, Shelter Boxes, and working with Mexican schools.

Club Service:

• The Big Taste is our big annual event to raise funds for important efforts.  In 2022, we expect more than 500 people will participate in an effort to raise money for Outdoors for All.  This effort brings together dozens of new wineries, breweries, cideries, and others that enable participants to sample and purchase, as well as have a great time with live music and comradery.
• The President’s Dinner and Auction raises money for many of our efforts—and is a great night for building friendships.
• Our weekly meetings have some of the best speakers anywhere that allow us to learn and hear other people’s points of view.  In addition to our online weekly Thursday morning meetings, we meet in person twice a month for a service project and a social outing.

Vocational Service:  Promote and foster high ethical standards in business and professions and promote the recognition of the worthiness of all useful occupations.  We have been a leader in Exchange Programs and ambassadorial scholarships, as well as learning through our weekly programs.

Youth Service:  Recognizes the importance of empowering youth and young professionals through leadership development programs such as Rotaract, Rotary youth Leadership Awards, and Rotary Youth Exchange.  We created the first Rotaract program in our District at the University of Washington and actively support high school student participation in the Rotary Youth Leadership Award program.

Other:

• We excel at developing personal friendships through our fellowship events
• We are one of the leaders in per capital support for the Rotary Foundation.
• We have been known to excel at certain tavern and bar ‘inspections.’
• We were an early advocate of women in Rotary in our early days, supporting the International District Club in Seattle that pioneered the change.

Finally, we wanted to honor and recognize some of our passed members over the nearly four decades of our existence:

• Alan Hovland
• Chuck Atcheson
• Dave Storm
• Jim Daly
• Jim White
• Joe Porter
• John Rose
• Keith Prince
• Larry Laycock
• Otto Waniczek
• Pat Fakuda
• Richard Rotter
• Walt Weber

“Reinforce the concept of SERVICE: Breathe IN Suffering; Breathe OUT Compassion”

Although Howard Cohen has been a Rotarian since 2001 when he first joined the Renton Rotary Club, it was not his first connection with a service club. In high school in upstate New York, Howard joined the Leo Club, the Lions’ Club version of Rotary’s Interact Club. After college, he joined a local Lions Club, as there was not a Rotary Club in the area. Years later, he found Rotary.

Howard continues his 44 year history in hotel management. He earned his undergraduate degree from the State University of New York at Buffalo and his MBA from the University of Washington. When Howard changed jobs to move to downtown Seattle, he joined the Queen Anne Rotary Club and became the President shortly after that. Howard then found his eventual home in the Emerald City Rotary Club, where he became President of that club.

Meeting notes by Jeff Danforth:

Announcements:

1. Walker Lafleur provided an update on Haiti and the current aid being provided to the country two weeks after the earthquake.
2. Mike Madden provided an update on Hamid Stanikzai and getting his family out of Afghanistan. He was notified he will get a interview scheduled for his asylum within 30 days by the US government. His application has been expedited with his family still be in the country.

Our speaker was District 5030 governor Howard Cohen. Mr. Cohen started with discussing the Rotary International conference in Houston, TX (June 4-8, 2022). He then went into discussing the upcoming District 5030 conference in Coeur d’Alene, ID (October 1-3, 2021). The conference will focus on  the acronym PCWEEED.

P: Peace and Conflict Prevention/Resolution

C : Child and Maternal Health

W: Water and Sanitation

E: Education and Literacy

E: Economic and Community Development

E: Environmental Sustainability

D: Disease Prevention and Treatment

He went on to discuss the Rotary theme 2021-2022. Main topics included:

1. Ignite your Passion with Action.
   1. Which Area(s) of Focus captures YOUR heart?
2. Each One – Keep One
   1. Membership Retention: Each Rotarian introduce one person to Rotary.
3. Grow New Clubs
   1. Traditional; Cause-based; E-Clubs; Corporate
4. Break Down the Silos of Clubs and Service Organizations.
   1. Learn what other clubs are doing and combine to grow impact. Grow awareness of service organization’s impact in the community.

The conference will be held in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho from October 1st to October 3d.  Let’s come Together for Rotary.  This will be an opportunity to reignite old friendships and create new friends through our shared PASSION for SERVICE.  For details, visit the website 5030conference.com.

Key Points Summary by Michelle Lee

A lot of governments’ financial health were hurt in the 2008 downturn and some still have not recovered yet to these days.  In 2010, the governments started to realize large multinationals were not paying taxes to countries they conducted operations.

In the 1970s, multinationals were usually manufacturers, had physical presence and tangible goods.  Their income could be easily traced and taxed by local and home countries.

In the digital economy, although multinationals earn income overseas, the essential operation such as infrastructure, strategic decision and major deal making are done in home countries.  Their foreign subsidiaries’ income is service based and provided remotely, can easily be shifted to tax havens.  These subsidiaries generate stateless income which is taxed by nobody.

The proposed worldwide tax agreement has two pillars.

1. Countries will be entitled to income tax revenue on pro-rata basis.  Some countries, such as India, have started to charge digital service tax on gross revenue.  With this agreement, those countries will give up digital service tax in lieu of the pro-rata income tax.
2. A minimum tax rate will be implemented.  If the local countries do not participate, the home countries can charge the multinationals up to the minimum tax rate.

140 countries are interested in this inclusive framework proposed by OECD.  If agreement reached, each country will put the guidance into its own tax laws.  For the US, they have to be passed by the House and Senate.

Jeffery M. Kadet spent over 32 years in public accounting and 2 years in Finance, US Army.  He was engaged extensively in the structuring of cross border transactions involving both U.S. and local country tax laws and initiated, managed, and grew several tax and legal practices. Over his career, he served numerous industries including financial and other services, telecommunications, oil and gas, natural resources, real estate and hospitality. Of his 32 years in public accounting, 22 years were spent living and practicing outside the U.S. in Hong Kong, Singapore, Tokyo, Moscow, Istanbul and Shanghai. From his first retirement in 2003, he has taught several international tax courses as an adjunct lecturer in the Tax LLM program at the University of Washington School of Law in Seattle, Washington. He has also authored numerous articles on various tax topics.

Submitted by Lee Raaen

The club was privileged to have Dr. Gupta of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center present an encore performance regarding research and advancements in the treatment and prevention of COVID-19 and cancer.

He pointed out that when he last spoke to the club about 11 months ago, a vaccine for COVID-19, particularly mRNA vaccines were mostly a theory. In a short time not only have vaccines been developed, but a large percentage of the population of the country has been vaccinated. King County is fortunate to have approximately 74% of people over the age of 16 vaccinated. Of course far more needs to be done to vaccinate unprotected populations not only in this country but around the world.

South King County has a lower vaccination rate than other areas of the county. This segment of the population has not yet reached the 70% level. Systemic racism and related its economic and other consequences are factors.

While Fred Hutchinson is known for its research into cancer, it is also very involved in the research and development of COVID-19 vaccines. Approximately 20% of their research resources are devoted to COVID.

Dr. Gupta explained the process of the development of COVID variances, and the relative concerns of the A, D, B and G variances first noticed in different countries around the world. The D variance is now the one most of concern here. Approximately 50% of new infections in the US are of the D variance. This is particularly true in low vaccinated areas. The good news is that the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines appear to be effective against this variant.

He explained that it is unknown if or to what extent someone who is fully vaccinated can still transmit the virus. As a result, safety precautions are still advisable by people who are vaccinated but interact with those who are too young or medically unable to receive the vaccines. He personally wears a mask around people indoors who may not be completely vaccinated.

Dr. Gupta for the second portion of his talk offered four alternative topics. The “winning topic” by a poll of the membership was “Harnessing the Immune System to Cure Cancer.” He presented a fascinating look into the use of the modification of T cells and T cell receptors in the fight against cancer. He pointed out that a normal function of T cells is to identify and destroy individual cells in the body which are in some way defective. They are researching  the use of that function to target cancer cells. The Hutch has had success in using this approach in blood cancers, but because of the structure and environment of solid tumors, it does not work well with those cancers. Research into modifying cells, including the use of Crispr technology, is attempting to reengineer cells to use the T cell function in solid tumor cancers.

Once again, “Guppy” provided an interesting and informative presentation to our club membership and visitors.

Dr. Amitabha (Uh-Myth-aabh) “Guppy” Gupta got his Ph.D. in Cellular, Molecular, and Biophysical Sciences from Columbia University before moving to the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center to do his post-doctoral research. While he was doing his American Cancer Society-funded research and applying to be a teacher at a small liberal arts school, the Hutch convinced him to stay and talk about their research. He currently serves as the Scientific Content Strategist for the Philanthropy Department, where he keeps his finger on the pulse of the research going on at the Hutch, and helps translate it to the general public.

Marvin Charles of DADS was a speaker at our club last summer.

ONE WEEK AWAY! Father-Full Families 2021 DADS Fatherhood Virtual Event   Launch June 12, 2021, 5:00pm, look out for the link in your inbox on June 12th. JOIN THE FUN OF OUR CREATIVE RAFFLE       You can win a $100 gift card to Top of The Hill Produce and a swag bag!  There will be two opportunities to win.  Look for more details in your confirmation page or contact Rosa TODAY.     We look forward to seeing you on Saturday, June 12th, where you will hear stories about Father-Full Families during the week leading up to your own Father’s Day celebration!   VERY IMPORTANT! – If you are a Watch Party Host, make sure your friends and family watching with you REGISTER for this event as a watch party guest – remember it’s FREE– click the link NOW www.aboutdads.org. By registering, you’ll be signed up to receive details to the RAFFLE and the private video link when we launch.    HOW TO HOST A WATCH PARTY:  CALL ROSA NOW! IT’S NOT TO LATE (206) 949-1219 Sincerely,    Rosa Nicole Booker 206-949-1219 info@aboutdads.org   P.S.   Cost: FREE!     Several sponsorship levels are still available.   Call or email for Registration and Sponsorship questions.           Helpful Links   Register as: An Individual, Watch Party Guest, or Watch Party Host   Register as a Virtual Event Sponsor   Donate   Questions

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5709 Rainier Ave S
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Bud Ransom grew up in Bellingham, WA before moving to Seattle to attend Cornish College as a music composition major. Through college and after graduating he worked as a craft cocktail bartender, until 2016 when he founded Ravenna Brewing Company with his sister and brother-in-law. As owner and operations manager he’s guided their growth from a tiny nanobrewery into the award-winning distribution microbrewery and taproom they are today.

Key Points Summary by Michelle Lee

Bud did bartending while going to Cornish College.  He and his sister, Elise, had been thinking about starting some sort of eatery like a café, while his brother-in-law, Tommy, was a home brewer accumulating recipes and winning awards…… thus the three of them founded a brewery.

They found a location in the Ravenna neighborhood.  The space was in rough condition and no plumbing, but it was cheap.  They did not have any cash flow and basically did the tenant improvement themselves through watching YouTube videos.  Bud and his dad did the drawing themselves with an architectural scale ruler to apply for permit.  During construction, Bud made sure he would stop and talk to anybody who came by, showed them the progress and talked about what beer were being brewed.  This interrupted the progress but helped build neighborhood support that growlers were filled even before the official opening.   

Thanks to a post on Seattle Reddit, the line went out the door and around the block on the grand opening date April 15, 2016.  The brewery only opened from Thursday to Sunday in the beginning, then added Wednesday in August and then had its first trivia Tuesday in January 2017.  After the first year build out and six months in operation, Bud, Elise and Tommy finally got their first paychecks.

In mid-2018, their landlord told them the next door space was available.  They might not be ready to expand and they also knew that they had to take over the space which might not be available again.  The extra space could also help solve the capacity problem, they could not brew fast enough especially for the very busy summer.  In August 2019, their expansion was completed.  Their fermentation capacity increased almost 3 times from 868 gallons to 2,263 gallons.  They thought that they would have a smooth and easy summer in 2020.

Then it same the pandemic shutdown on March 15, 2020.  They knew that they needed to continue the momentum and served their customers.  They did not shut down for one day and kept working on the growler machine. With the loyal neighborhood support, they had beer-to-go.  To survive the pandemic, they did not rest and stayed aggressive.  In August and October 2020, they further increased their fermentation capacity to 3,441 gallons and added automatic canning line to meet the pandemic induced demand for to-go beer and diversify to wholesale.

Again in November 2020, during the second big wave of pandemic, another next door space became available for sale, they knew that they needed to make it happen.  The additional space will serve as a brewing space, a private party space and office space, so that Bud and Elise do not need to work from their backpack anymore. The fermentation capacity will be 5,983 gallon, almost 7 times the original capacity, when this expansion is completed in August 2021.

Why it worked:

• Service at the forefront of everything – Bud is sensitive in cultivating a warm and welcoming atmosphere and in building the community.
• Partnership with opposing strengths, but equal drive – Tommy and Bud are different people, “without Tommy, they could not open the brewery; without Bud and Elise, the brewery would have been burnt down by now”. 
• Hire the person, not the resume – only 3 people quit in their 5-year history due to moving to Colorado or finding a full time job for what they went to college for.
• Don’t be afraid to be trendy – they brew what people want and have not repeated a recipe.
• Empower, reward, and retain talent – employee are allowed to have flexible working hours to go back to school or part time, can move to operation management or distribution if interested.

According to one review on Yelp:

Excellent beer, excellent people. This neighborhood brewery worked hard to spruce up a small shop into a great place to enjoy some beer. As of opening weekend they have come out with some inventive brews such as a Jalapeño Kölsch, a Peach Hefeweizen, and a Bourbon Vanilla Porter. Don’t let the fancy names scare you off though. Clean, balanced flavors and reasonable prices rule here; they pour both 16oz pints (around $5-6) and 5oz tasters (around $2-2.5). Growler fills coming soon; their supply needs to catch up with their overwhelming opening weekend demand.

While they don’t have a kitchen, they have partnered with food trucks who park right outside and serve their wares.

Come by, say hello, have a beer, and enjoy!