The City of Seattle is growing at one of the fastest paces in the entire nation and it’s not slowing down. Our member, Tim Lenihan, one of the great experts on Seattle Real Estate will reprise his talk of last year on the prospects for the future of Seattle.
Tim has been in the Seattle real estate market for over 18 years as a top performing real estate broker… AND a University Sunrise Rotarian for 18 years as well. He was Windermere Real Estate’s top producing broker for many years and recently left Windermere after 15 years to start up his own Brokerage, Modern Den Real Estate + Development in March of 2020 (terrible timing). He manages this growing boutique brokerage of 11 brokers while still running his own top real estate practice. In addition, he co-owns a development company focused on building high end traditional style homes within the City of Seattle. When he isn’t working, he loves spending time with his family, wife Celeste, and two boys Rocco and Mercer (who now are 9 and 11 for all of you who have been here for a while).
Program Notes by Scott Jamieson:
Tim reviewed various demographics that showed that our real estate market is still “hot” despite increasing interest rates and a significant decline in the stock market. He reported that in the greater Seattle market, home prices have increased by a staggering 25% in the past 12 months. He indicated that this is not a sustainable situation and will be influenced, as before, by interest rates, the stock market, inflation and (normal) seasonal trends. This phenomenon was caused by supply and demand forces, with low inventory and high demand, low interest rates and an abundance of available capitol, especially in “tech industry” real estate shoppers. While he sees signs of a softening market, a real estate “bubble” is unlikely. He sees the upcoming “adjustments” as not only normal but healthy for the market overall. Tim briefly explained other issues (and problems) regarding zoning, especially in traditionally single family neighborhoods. He also briefly reviewed the likelihood of a softening of the rental market. He remains “bullish” on the Seattle market in general but expressed that the 10 year meteoric rise in home prices (and rental rates) will not continue.
At the time of the cataclysmic eruption of Mt. St. Helens, Joseph was the public information specialist for the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest based in Seattle. He had previous volcanic experience from planning the Forest Service response for the potential eruption of Mt. Baker at the head of the Skagit River. That would have impacted the Puget Sound area, Bellingham, Vancouver and the British Columbia growing area as well as Vancouver Island. It gave him the experience before the Mt. St. Helens eruption of working with the seismology and volcanology scientists at the University of Washington.
Joe Thomas
As well, during his previous years as a paratrooper and Public Information Officer of the 82d Airborne Division, he had parallel experience in events with wide national and international attention. He as well, graduated from the Defense Department´s specialty course for such officers, called DINFOS.
He applied those skills as the information manager for the Forest Service’s Regional wildfire fighting team and as an instructor for training information specialists at the national wildfire center in Boise, Idaho.
Together with his wife, club member and homeopathy therapist Claudia Thomas, they have lived for 28 years near the Continental Divide east of Mexico City. Their home is close to two volcanos, one of those typically has multiple eruptions or emissions daily.
Program Notes by Mike Madden:
A little over forty years ago University Sunrise Rotary club member Joseph Thomas was monitoring Mt. Baker, northeast of Bellingham, Washington for volcanic activity. Then he received an urgent call to join the response team at Mount St. Helens, which had just erupted.
For about 30 minutes at our Thursday, May 12 meeting, Joseph recounted for us the most significant elements of this historic natural disaster and his own experiences as a key member of the USFS communications team, having erected a makeshift communications center and taking inquiries from news organizations all over the USA and the world.
Joseph noted that as tragic as the loss of the fifty-seven lives was, a worse disaster was serendipitously prevented by the delayed reopening of the park around the mountain. The reopening had been scheduled for the morning that the eruption occurred and possibly hundreds more lives would have been lost had the park been reopened on time.
This and many other specific memories enlivened Joseph’s talk, along with videoclips of new reports from the days surrounding the event.
Join us from 7:00-7:30 a.m. on Thursday for informal discussion. The weekly meeting then runs from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. There is no need to register. Join our Zoom Meeting by clicking on this link: https://zoom.us/j/9863950724
Valeriy Goloborodko, Honorary Consul of Ukraine and fellow Rotarian, gave a fascinating presentation of the shared history of Russia and Ukraine. His role as consul is to champion local Ukrainian cultural events, support local Ukrainians, and advocate politically for Ukrainian ideals.
During the presentation Valeriy discussed Russia’s long history of imperialistic aspirations. It’s easy to start wars, but difficult to end them. A whole generation of Russians have been brought up under the propaganda that Russian ideals are constantly under threat from Western powers. Breaking these beliefs will take heroic efforts and sacrifice by Western nations who share the democratic ideals of the Ukrainian people.
Supporting Ukraine through this difficult time can be done through several charities. Rotary International has created an official channel for donors to support the humanitarian crisis throughout the region. To find more information please use the following link: Rotary.org
Valeriy Goloborodko was born and raised in Ukraine. When he was 24 years old, he married and moved to the United States to start his family. Since his first day on American soil, Valeriy has shown great interest in serving his community and being an active member of both the Ukrainian and American communities.
Valeriy is a board member of the American European Bethel Mission. He served as chairman and then as a board member of the Friends of Ukraine organization. Valeriy founded Goel Payment Solutions, a company that provides a full spectrum of electronic payment transferring services, and has functioned as its president and CEO since 2009.
He also started the Ukrainian Business Association, to facilitate starting up relationships between American and Ukrainian businesses, which has merged with Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce, for which Valeriy served on the board.
In 2014 Valeriy was appointed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine as Honorary Consul of Ukraine. Consular post headed by Honorary Consul Valeriy Goloborodko has in its jurisdiction Washington and Oregon states.
Since 2016 Valeriy serves as a board member of Slavic Department at University of Washington advisory board.
In 2016 Valeriy co-founded and started NW Ukrainian International Festival, the biggest Ukrainian cultural event on the West coast of USA and Canada. Event is done by the Pacific Ukrainian Society, a nonprofit organization co-founded by Valeriy Goloborodko along with pillars of Ukrainian community of Washington State, that is focused on development and maintenance of strong and friendly relationships between Ukraine and USA, including through promoting culture, education, economic relationships and freedom.
Valeriy holds a Master’s degree from Shevchenko University in Law and a Management Information Systems Bachelor’s degree from International Christian University. Valeriy lives in Bellevue with his wife and four children.
Lisa Mayfield, a certified Aging Life Care Processional, answered several questions regarding supporting aging parents and planning for our own care as we age. While there are many things to consider one of her main points was that no matter how healthy and active you are, you should start planning now as you don’t know what might happen.
The current cost of care for can range anywhere from $6,000 to $20,000 a month depending on the need and location. Genworth Financial has a fantastic calculator that will help give you a better understanding of your potential expenses based upon your location.
Steps that you should be taking now are as follows:
Review your finances with your advisor – Understand what your options are and what you can afford.
Complete estate planning paperwork – Be sure to have a Power of Attorney and an Advanced Medical Directive. End of Life Washington has several resources and templates to get these documents in place.
Be knowledgeable about your options
Determine your goals/desires are for care
Talk with your family
Build your safety net for resources before you need them
Lisa Mayfield founded Aging Wisdom® in 2003. She is trained and licensed as a mental health counselor, geriatric mental health specialist, and is a certified Aging Life Care Professional™. Lisa has over two decades of experience supporting and finding hope for individuals and families impacted by Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. She is a trained mediator and helps families find common ground when they might not agree on the best approach to supporting their aging parents. Lisa has a passion for helping baby boomers navigate unexpected health changes and proactively plan for their future. She is a recent Past President of the Aging Life Care Association and is an award-winning care manager. Besides her work with Aging Wisdom, she is a member of the Frye Art Museum’s Creative Aging Advisory board, Seattle 4 Rotary member since 2008, and is currently serving as Board President of the Rainier Club. When not working, Lisa enjoys yoga, Pilates, long walks, time with family and friends, and her very favorite activity is aerial yoga (her secret ambition is to run away and join Cirque du Soleil!).
On Thursday, April 14th, Lieutenant Stephen T. Nolan, of the US Coast Guard shared the important and fascinating missions of Coast Guard ice breaking ships and his passion for spending time at sea and on ships.
The primary goal of the ice breaker fleet is to create channels for other ships to transport critical cargo such as food and fuel to get through the ice. There are three geographic areas where they operate: domestic (primarily around the Great Lakes), Arctic and Antarctica. Coast Guard ice breaking has been operating since 1976, prior to which it was handled by the Navy. The Polar Star is a unique ship which allows a cutter to ride on top of the ice and cleave down to break the ice and has a higher capacity than other ships which push the ice.
Lieutenant Nolan demonstrated his enthusiasm through some incredible photos which included close encounters with wild seals, penguins, orca whales as well as icebergs, an active volcano in the middle of the ice and perspectives of life at sea. He shared stories of other interesting sites seen while at sea including the historic wreck of Ernest Shackleton’s ship the Endurance which was recently discovered in the Antarctic.
One of his most exciting and interesting missions was searching for and rescuing a fishing vessel stuck in the ice. It was dangerous because a fishing boat cannot break ice. In fact, the ice can crush the hull of a ship. Divers and equipment were deployed which enabled them to see the damage below and then towed them back to open water, which was dangerous due to the proximity of the two ships.
The Coast Guard plans to acquire new ships and develop a hub here in Seattle to create a larger presence in the Arctic. The U.S. only has two in the fleet compared to Russia who has more than 50. The newer ships will be equipped with more energy efficiency as well as radio, GPS and radar technology which will allow them to better communicate and navigate the dangerous icy waters safely. We look forward to welcoming the fleet to Seattle in the future and hearing the comforting sounds of the bells and fog horns.
Lieutenant Stephen Nolan serves as the Public Affairs Officer for the Thirteenth Coast Guard District headquartered in Seattle. He is responsible for all developing and implementing communication strategies, liaising with local media, and running social media platforms in support of all Coast Guard operations throughout the Pacific Northwest which encompasses the states of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Montana.
Lieutenant Nolan’s most recent assignment was as the Operations Officer and ship’s Navigator for the USCGC Dependable a 210-foot-long medium endurance cutter based out of Virginia Beach, VA. In this role he managed a department of 21 people and managed track-line development and shipboard navigation safety to support long-range missions including Counter Narcotics in the Caribbean Sea, Fisheries Law Enforcement along the US-Canadian Boundary line, and Search and Rescue Operations in the offshore waters of the Eastern Seaboard.
Previous assignments include: Search and Rescue (SAR) Coordinator for the 17th Coast Guard District in Juneau, Alaska, supervising all maritime SAR operations in the 49th state from 2017 to 2019; Operations Officer for USCGC Willow and Oak 225-foot-long sea going buoy tenders based out of Newport, RI where he was responsible for maintaining all floating Aids to Navigation from Rhode Island Sound to the Canadian border from 2015-2017; and Deck Watch Officer and Marine Sciences Officer for the USCGC Polar Star a 399-foot-long heavy icebreaker which deploys annually to the National Science Foundation’s McMurdo Station in Antarctica in support of OPERATION DEEP FREEZE from 2013-2015.
Lieutenant Stephen Nolan graduated with high honors from the Coast Guard Academy with a Bachelor of Science degree in Marine and Environmental Sciences in 2013. He is a 2017 graduate of the National Search and Rescue School’s Maritime Search Planning course and a 2021 honor graduate of the Defense Information School’s (DINFOS) Public Affairs & Communication Strategy Qualification course.
Lieutenant Nolan’s personal awards include the Coast Guard Commendation Medal (with Operational Distinguishing device), two Coast Guard Achievement Medals (with the Operational Distinguishing device), three Commandant’s Letters of Commendation (with the Operational Distinguishing device), the Armed Forces Service Medal, two Antarctic Service Medals, the Arctic Service Medal and various other team and unit awards.
Lieutenant Nolan is a permanent cutterman, having served aboard Coast Guard cutters for more than five cumulative years and is authorized to wear the gold cutterman’s insignia.
Lieutenant Nolan is married to the former Emily Johnson of Murrieta, California.
On Thursday Morning April 7th, Jon Fehrenbach, a retired Boeing engineer and docent at the Museum of Flight presented a fascinating history of the development of heavier than air manned flight from its inception to WW1. In the beginning, everyone in the “industry” was working on their own. Manned flight began with gliders and Otto Lilienthal who had over 200 glider flights prior to crashing for the last time in 1896.
Enter Wright Brothers, Wilber the thinker and Orvil the tinkerer,. in 1896 as well. They had a mission and kept at it changing history on December 17, 1903 at 10:35 AM. Orvil flew the 1st of 4 flights that day going 852 ft in 59 seconds. Future successes were the first oval in 1904, followed in 1905 with a figure 8 and the first 1 hour flight in 1907. In 1910 they flew over St Lewis at 50 MPH.
100+ years later, with over 100 years of development and buckets of technology, Alaska is having trouble even getting off the ground. Go figure!
Jon Fehrenbach is a retired engineer, having been a structural engineer and engineering manager at Boeing until his retirement in June 2014. Jon received his Bachelors Degree in Civil Engineering, and his Masters Degree in Engineering, both from Marquette University in Milwaukee, WI. In a 35-year career at Boeing, Jon worked in airframe structures engineering on numerous programs on both the commercial side (727, 737, 777, 787 Programs) and the military side (B-2 Stealth Bomber, Joint Strike Fighter Proposal, F-22 Fighter Program). He specialized in the design of advanced carbon-fiber reinforced composites for airframe primary structure.
After retiring, Jon completed Docent training at the Museum of Flight and now works as a volunteer Docent at the Museum, chairs the Museum’s Docent Training Committee, and does presentations in the Puget Sound community for the Museum’s Speakers Bureau. He is also interested in supporting and promoting STEM-related education programs and initiatives. In his leisure time, Jon is a bicyclist (road bike/touring), pickleball player, and long-suffering Seattle sports fan. He enjoys reading, with aviation history, biographies, and other historical non-fiction currently taking up most of his reading list.
Since 1985, Mainstay has been a self-sustaining department of the Seattle Central College. Serving thousands of job seekers with disabilities, Mainstay prides itself on high quality service, strong communication and a focus on social justice and equity. Mainstay goes above and beyond to ensure job seekers are prepared and ready for the world of work. Let us know if we can be of assistance to you, as a job seeker, employer, family member or advocate.
In 2014, Mainstay launched SAILS – Supported Academics and Independent Life Skills to support students with disabilities at Seattle Central. With academic tutoring, time management, executive functioning and communication with faculty, SAILS enhances the entire post-secondary experience. We help students reach their academic goals!
Rebecca Jansson is the Director of Mainstay and SAILS at Seattle Central College. Mainstay provides job seekers with disabilities opportunities to work in private and public sector careers of their dreams. SAILS is Supported Academics and Independent Life Skills, which mentors students with learning differences to reach success at Seattle Central. SAILS’ team provide supports such as executive functioning, academic tutoring and academic resource coordination.
In her 25th year at Seattle Central, Rebecca finds joy in helping people with disabilities have the opportunity to contribute to their community of choice, build relationships, have a sense of competence and feel included. Mainstay assists individuals who often are unable to access the competitive workplace through a pathway of education through college. In 2014, SAILS launched when the demand for access to college began to grow for more and more populations including those with Intellectual Disabilities and neuro-diversities such as Autism Spectrum Disorder.
Rebecca enjoys the client service piece of being the Director, but also, she finds fundraising, accreditation process and policy fun! As part of the Community Employment Alliance, Rebecca works to make a bigger impact in our supported employment systems through advocacy and legislative involvement.
Rebecca started her career focused on assisting individuals who are Deaf and Hard and Hearing navigate employment as a Certified Rehabilitation Counselor. She has served other non-profits such as Abused Deaf Women Advocacy Service and Hearing Speech and Deafness Center.
Rebecca lives with her husband Roger, two children Elliott and Dahlia and her Chocolate Lab Nutella. She is officially the holder of jackets and supplies every weekend for the family at soccer games or skiing weekends.
Sharon Breiner
Sharon Breiner has almost 20 years of Human Resources and Recruiting experience across a variety of industries including financial services, consumer products and professional services. Sharon is passionate about finding the right match for both the person and employer to ensure a mutual benefiting relationship.
Prior to joining Mainstay in 2019, Sharon was a Recruiting Business Partner at Amazon where she successfully partnered with hiring managers to strategically attract the best talent to fill positions.
After a brief work sabbatical to stay home with her young kids, Sharon wanted to take her corporate experience to work as a Job Coach for people with disabilities. Since joining Mainstay 2 years ago, Sharon assists clients to land their dream jobs as well as coaches clients in their jobs.
Sharon is an alumnus of Michigan State University (Go State!). Having moved from Boston 11 years ago she calls Seattle home. She lives in Queen Anne with her husband, daughter and son. Once an avid marathoner, these days she can be found trying to keep up with her kids skiing and cheering from the sidelines of soccer games.
Program notes from Hal Beals:
Rebecca Jannson and Sharon Breiner of Seattle Central College joined us on March 31 by Zoom to present a unique program – Mainstay & Sail a program that connects job seekers with disabilities to employers in the area with academic counseling. Sixty two percent of students with intellectual disabilities will never work if they don’t have a job by age 21. The goal of Mainstay & Sail is to reduce this number.
Started by the college in 1985 as a pilot program to train individuals with Intellectual/Developmental Disabilities as dishwashers, a necessary job with many openings. Today, Mainstay works with many employers in the private and public sectors in many job classifications including Walgreens, Safeway, Starbucks, McDonalds and Microsoft. Clients and employers are in regular contact with Job Coaches who are on the spot to resolve issues with clients, managers and co-workers. The average client of Mainstay has been on the job for 15 years.
The second part f the program – Sails was started in 2014 to work with students at Seattle Central College on the autism spectrum having difficulty completing their academic programs. Sails provides support with time management, executive functioning and staff-faculty communication to help students be successful in the classroom.
An important part of the Mainstay & Sail program is exposing students to the job interview process, which can be difficult and stressful. Rotarians have the opportunity to participate in mock job interviews as potential employers on April 20 and 21. Advance training and interview questions will be provided my Mainstay and Sail.
Her first book, Devoured: How What We Eat Defines Who We Are (William Morrow, 2016), is a journey into the American food psyche. It was named an Amazon Best of the Month in Cookbooks, Food, and Wine. Sophie’s writing has been featured in The Washington Post, TIME,Parents, The Wall Street Journal, Bon Appétit, WIRED, EatingWell, Edible San Francisco,FoodTank, and Sunset.
You can find her in the mountains, on Twitter @SophieEganM, and online at sophieegan.com.
John W. Lundin is a lawyer, historian and award-winning author, who after a career practicing law in Washington D.C. and Seattle as a trial attorney in federal court, turned to researching and writing about Washington and Idaho history. He is a founding member of the Washington State Ski and Snowboard Museum (WSSSM) and works with the National Nordic Museum in Seattle and the Center for Regional History at The Community Library in Ketchum, Idaho.
John is a Seattle native; a long-time skier, rower, sailor, and outdoorsman; and splits his time between Seattle and Sun Valley, Idaho. He is the author of four books: Early Skiing on Snoqualmie Pass, a history of skiing in Washington, published 2017; Sun Valley, Ketchum and the Wood River Valley, a pictorial history of Idaho’s Wood River Valley, published in June 2020; Skiing Sun Valley: a History from Union Pacific to the Holdings, the definitive history of our first destination ski resort that introduced skiing to the country, published in November 2020; and Ski Jumping in Washington State: a Nordic Tradition, published in February 2021, was the companion to an 2021 exhibit on ski jumping sponsored by the National Nordic Museum and WSSSM that John helped develop.
John is contributing his author’s profits from Early Skiing on Snoqualmie Pass to the WSSSM; from his two Sun Valley books to the Center for Regional History; and from Ski Jumping in Washington State to the WSSSM and National Nordic Museum.
In 2018, Early Skiing on Snoqualmie Pass received a Skade award the International Ski History Association as outstanding work on ski history. Skade is the Norse goddess associated with bowhunting, skiing, winter, and mountains. In 2021, Sun Valley, Ketchum and the Wood River Valley received a Skade honorable mention.
In 2021, Skiing Sun Valley: a History from Union Pacific to the Holdings, won three prestigious national book awards:
A Skade award from the International Ski History Association (ISHA);
the Harold S. Hirsch Award for Excellence in Snowsports Journalism (cowinner), given by the North American Sports Journalists’ Association (NASJA) to the best winter sports publication every three years; and
the Western Ski Heritage prize awarded by the Far West Ski Association, in recognition of the best effort in the prior 2 years that communicates the contributions of snowsports to the community at large.
The International Ski History Association said the following when Skiing Sun Valley received its Skade Award.
“There have been many attempts to tell the story of Sun Valley, but this book does so with a thoroughness and flair that this iconic resort deserves. With over 150 photographs and the benefits of extensive research, this book unfolds a history that dazzles with tales of celebrities…and icons of American skiing…Here is the storied past of a one of a kind place in a book that does its heritage justice.”
Dick Dorworth’s review of Skiing Sun Valley in Ski History Magazine was titled “A Must Read for Sun Valley Fans.”
“Skiing Sun Valley is a deeply re-searched, scholarly book about the connections between the Sun Valley of today and the people, places, cultures, economics, wars, inventions, wilderness, ecology, risks, and personal relationships in the 19th and 20th centuries that made it what it will be in the 21st. Every aspect of the story is accompanied by an abundance of photos that on their own are worth the price of the book. Every person with a connection to and love for Sun Valley will be better informed, inspired and wiser after reading it.”
John has written essays on Washington history that have been published on Historylink.org (the on-line encyclopedia of Washington history), and on the Central Washington University’s website, (Works by Local Authors, https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/local_authors/). His essays on Idaho and Wood River Valley history are available at the Center for Regional History. John has written articles that have appeared in a number of magazines and journals, including Skiing History, Nordic Kultur, Idaho Magazine, and Ancient Skiers newsletters; the Mountains to Sound Greenway Blog; the Far West Ski Association’s 90th Anniversary Publication; and websites including the Friends of Rowing History, International Ski Association, the Milwaukee Road Archives, and the Sahalie Ski Club.
John is a frequent lecturer in Seattle and the Wood River Valley, and has done a series of TV shows with Eye on Sun Valley on history topics. His Idaho lectures can be seen at https://www.slideshare.net/CommunityLibrary, and his TV shows at http://eyeonsunvalley.com.
Here is a video presentation that John used at The Community Library in Ketchum on March 17, 2022: “Early Sun Valley: Union Pacific, Averell Harriman and Alf Engen.”
