

"Big wheel keep on turning! Rotary keep on burning!"
PO Box 94
Anacortes, WA 98221
United States of America


Wrapping things up, our own house band, Sea Level (Rick, Tim Garrison, Dan Worra) romped with an expanded line-up including Lindy Reno on percussion and, keeping it presidential, Curtis Payne on guitar / vocals. Then Kiwi (Mark Lascelles) brought us into a toast with another of his amazing poems. By the time the last reveler rolled out into the snowy evening and Mayor Miller had finally locked up the building, I'm sure everyone would have agreed that it had truly been a night to remember.


Team members responsible for the design and installation of the interpretive panels are Bret Lunsford and Adam Farnsworth, Anacortes History Museum; Jackie Ferry, Samish Tribal Historic Preservation Officer; Brian Tottenham. Sky Guthrie and Bob Vaux, Anacortes Parks and Recreation; and Jack Darnton, Anacortes Rotary.
Cap Sante offers one of the best panoramas on Fidalgo Island, with sweeping mountain, water, island, valley and forest views. The park is enjoyed by hikers, dog walkers, boat watchers and casual strollers, all drawn to the park’s variety and its summit’s splendid scenery. Looking toward the future with the City of Anacortes, Anacortes Rotary is examining design options for a new summit viewpoint looking east toward Mt. Baker. that will include easy ADA access at parking lot level, seating, more interpretive signs and multiple view locations. Final design and engineering work will follow, guided by further community input and approvals from the city.



At our November 30 luncheon meeting, those present witnessed a very creative and unique, if somewhat questionable, legal maneuver. Whereas Raj, our District Governor (DG), was unable to meet with us in person, visiting via ZOOM instead, and whereas special DG presentations were to be made at this luncheon meeting, and whereas a couple of our members are creative, and whereas quick-thinking action was required, Jim Anderson, acting in a legal fashion, and Mark Lascelles, acting as a DG want-to-be conspired to “officially” swear-in Mark as our DG for two minutes – long enough to carry out the required duties. It all worked out great, and DG Raj even suggested that Mark’s tour of duty should last for more than two minutes.
Those few minutes of fun reminded me of a delightful and clever legal PRANK that was carried out during a joint meeting of Anacortes and Oak Harbor Rotarians in June of 1960. The complete story is recorded in the June 17, 1960 edition of the “Anacortes Rotarian.” I’ve attached a copy of the two-page record of that meeting. The story begins midway through the first page, but, in fact, the entire report is a great read, opening a window into the topics covered in a typical 1960s Anacortes Rotary meeting. 50-year Anacortes Rotarian Paul Luvera was the bulletin editor at the time. President Ben Van Deusen and Sergeant At Arms, Earl Morgan, who by the way, was the grandfather of current member Christine Cleland-McGrath are shown in the 1960 scrapbook picture below.
Enjoy,


Salvation Army Lieutenant Shane Ingram reached out to project lead Jack Curtis to express how grateful he and his team are for the club's support. He said the $1500 haul is the largest he could remember for an opening weekend! If you think about how little it costs the Salvation Army to fill one of the food boxes our club packed a few weeks ago, you can see how far these funds can go!
If you’d still like to contribute, bell ringing continues throughout the holiday season and the Salvation Army now has its “Virtual Red Kettle” where you can learn more and donate online.



For the second year Anacortes and Fidalgo Rotary Clubs teamed up to hold the “Pints for Polio” fundraiser to cure polio under the big top at the Rockfish Grill. $4,700 was raised from members and guests while Monday Night football played on the big screen.
Better yet, each of those dollars was matched by TWO additional dollars by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, meaning every dollar collected at Rockfish provided one dose for one child. Multiply by Rotary’s 35,000 clubs around the world and the collective impact is huge. Rotary launched its polio prevention drive in 1979 and has partnered with the Gates Foundation since 2007. Polio cases have been reduced 99.9% and nearly 3 billion children in 122 countries have been protected.
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October is Rotary’s “End Polio Month”, which is why the Anacortes and Fidalgo clubs along with many others around the world hold polio awareness events this time of year. We are happy to do our part as part of this broad global effort.

- Finding and maintaining sponsors for 30 primary schools and 400 individual secondary students (via its Adopt-a-School and Adopt-a-Dream programs)
- Creating library systems for village schools
- Providing health care for students
- Ongoing construction and repairs for schools, village power, water systems and home latrines
- Equipment for health clinics and emergency services
- Economic development and microfinance
Dear Rotary Club,
I greet you affectionately wishing you are in good health and your dear family. The reason for my letter is to thank you for all the help that you have given me as I know: I use for my study, uniform clothes and shoes. I and my family are very grateful because with my study I am ensuring my future. Without more than tell you I say goodbye to you with much affection.
Erik Fainardo Ramirez
Dear Rotary Club,
I am grateful for the support that you give my children, it is a great blessing since we are a low-income family, thank you very much for the uniform and supplies and we know that when our children get sick they will have help.
Good day beloved sponsor hope you are well I hope you are having a great time with friends and family. I want to tell you that I am in 5th grade and I have seven classmates and I thank you for the supplies you give us, thank you very much. It was a pleasure to write you this letter. I hope to be able to write you again soon.
Sincerely,
Francis Solis

The Club held this Wednesday’s lunch at Anthony’s Cabana where we honored none other than “Mr Anthony’s” himself, founder Budd Gould, for his service to the community.
Anacortes Rotary & Anthony’s have been working together since 2011. The first Rotary dinner was hosted on January 17th and actually took place BEFORE Anthony’s official opening a few days later. Then as now, ALL proceeds from dinner—not just the profits—went to the community. That means Budd & Anthony’s have been generously donating the venue, the food, and their staff’s time to Anacortes for the last 11 years!
10 dinners have raised a total of $200,000. The money has supported a wide range of projects, causes and organizations, everything from the American Legion, Fidalgo Pool and the Anacortes Family Center to the Salvation Army, Hospice of the Northwest and the Anacortes Library. Money has gone to the Anacortes Senior Center, the Anacortes Waterfront Alliance and the Ready to Learn Fair.
Many grants have gone to programs at our elementary and secondary schools. They include but are not limited to:
• Support for the Robotics program and the Metals Club at Anacortes High School.
• Literacy nights at all Elementary schools.
• Ovens to support the Garden to Kitchen program at Anacortes Middle School.
Donations have been large: We gave the Boys & Girls Club 21,000 in 2014. And some have been small: We gave the AHS Spanish Dept. $169 in 2018 for supplemental Spanish magazines. Most grants fall in the $2,000 to $5,000 range.
There have been 32 recipients over the 10 years - some groups have received more than one grant - and 48 grants in all. The Giving Committee, led by Rotarian Jack Darnton, has been overseeing the grant program since 2016 and making recipient recommendations to the Board.
All the grants have touched people in our community. Anthony’s generosity has made Anacortes a better place in so many ways. The gorgeous summer weather and the the Cabana provided the perfect day and place to thank Bud and Anthony’s once more for this wonderful partnership.