Anacortes Rotary Club Information
Anacortes

"Many Hands Make Light Work"

We meet In Person
Wednesdays at 12:00 PM
Majestic Inn & Spa
419 Commercial Ave
PO Box 94
Anacortes, WA 98221
United States of America
 
 
Today the club enjoyed listening to passionate accounts of last month's visit to half a dozen villages in and around Copan, Honduras.  Duane Clark, Peggy Flynn, Nancy Wong, Mark Lascelles, and Marty Pease (LaConner Rotary) shared experiences, pictures, and keepsakes that highlighted the amazing impact of Skagit County Rotary Clubs' programs that include sponsorship of education for individual students, schools, and infrastructure.   Also quietly in attendance were Copan fellow travelers Mary Lascelles and Tom Decker.  Click here to learn more about the club's ongoing history in Copan.
     
 
Just a note of sincere thanks and gratitude to you all for your hard work and perseverance in making our work party yesterday such a success!  Our yard looks picture perfect and we couldn’t be more thrilled.  Special thanks to Mark Lawrence and Simply Yards, for not only coordinating that coveted “fine, dark mulch”, but also for shoveling all morning to get the job done.  We are truly grateful for our community of hard working Rotarians.
 
Cindy and Tim Garrison
 
(Note:  Cindy & Tim were the proud winners of the A-Team Landscaping prize from last fall's Rotary Roundup fundraiser, and we thank them for their generosity.)
 
     
 
 
 
Approximately 120 Rotarians, friends, and community leaders enjoyed a fantastic evening at Anthony's, hosted by general manager (and future Rotary President!) Kasey Baker.  As in years past, Anthony's donated the entire restaurant, staff, and food while partnering with Rotary to raise funds for many worthy causes in Anacortes. 
 
In 2025, the club will provide support for:  Anacortes Boys & Girls Club, Anacortes Family Center, Anacortes Robotics Club, Anacortes Sister Cities Romania Trip, AHS Digital Media Program, AHS Future Business Leaders of America, AMS Band, AMS Hawk 200 Club, Anacortes Luminary Parade, ASF Ready to Learn Fair, ASD Literacy Night, Cap Sante High School, Cap Sante Rotary Viewpoint Project, College Scholarships, Community Action of Skagit County, Fidalgo Danceworks, Fidalgo Seed Share, Friends of the ACFL, IPA Adopt a Village- Copan, Honduras, IPA Adopt a School- Copan, Honduras, Mt Erie Running Club, Procession of the Species, Pints for Polio, Rachel's Closet, Reading is Fundamental, Skagit County Meals on Wheels, The Salvation Army, Transition Fidalgo and Friends, Wreaths Across America, and more...
 
Click here if you'd like to add your contribution.   
Thursday evening BOTH of Anacortes' Rotary clubs got together at the Rockfish to enjoy each others' company while raising money for Dolly's Imagination Library.  Miss Parton, herself, was kind enough to pose for photos!  More than $1700 was raised to help put a new book into the hands of Anacortes' early readers every month. 
A Rotary tradition that is the perfect prescription for the winter doldrums.  On Friday evening four hosts welcomed their "surprised" guests (you don't know who's going to be there until you show up!) for camaraderie, conversation,  and sumptuous dishes from the four corners of the globe.  Thank yous go out to the Worras, Garrisons, McClintocks, and Hays.
 
 
 
Anacortes' very own "Essential Element" ukulele troupe led our Rotary congregation in holiday favorites and merriment.  Lindy Reno won the ugly sweater contest in a runaway, while Jack Curtis' Celtic-inspired ensemble was voted most festive. And it wouldn't be a celebration without Peggy Flynn heading up a conga line of Christmas clad dancers between the tables and around the Majestic ballroom.  Thanks to Vicki Stasch for putting it all together, and Happy Holidays!
 
 
With Kiwi as our auctioneer, Dan & Rick as emcees, plus music from Sea Level and Pacific Twang,  Anacortes Rotary's cowboys and cowgirls turned out in force to raise lots of gold dust for the Boys & Girls Club,  and mined additional gold nuggets for other worthy causes.  Thanks to the many, many folks who helped create "Rotary at the Ranch" and many more who dug deep for our community the evening was a huge success.  Check out all the fun here.
 
 
Sponsored by Anacortes Sister Cities, our Klapa Vela Luka friends combined two groups of performers and performed in numerous venues during their nine-day stay.  Their official group names are:  1. Klapa F. D. Kumpanija, directed by Janes Vlasic, and 2. Kvartet Portun, directed by Mario Prizmic.  They thoroughly enjoyed the time they spent with our Rotary club. 
 
They performed at Brodniak Hall, for Anacortes High School students, and later for the general public.  They performed at the Slovanian Hall in Tacoma, CroatiaFest at the Seattle Center, at the Anacortes Senior Center, at City Hall, on the streets of downtown Anacortes, aboard the Island Explorer 5, and other spots as well.  In addition, they enjoyed watching an AHS football game, rowing with OARS, touring the popular spots on Fidalgo Island, and visiting the W. T. Preston and the Maritime Museum, where most saw familiar family faces in historical Anacortes photos.
 
The timing of their visit is important, as Anacortes and Vela Luka celebrate the 20th anniversary of their sister cities relationship – September, 2004 to September, 2024.  Rotarian Duane Clark, who is also a charter member of Anacortes Sister Cities, described how this visit was 19 years in the making, and what a fantastic experience it was to at last host his longtime friends in beautiful A-Town.
 

     

Many of us are sponsors for students (kindergarten through university) in schools in various villages surrounding Copan Ruinas, Honduras as part of the IPA project.  It is a remarkable opportunity to support these young village students, helping them to find a path to a better future.

I want to tell you about a university student, for whom I am one of the proud sponsors.  Fanny Giron is in her fifth year of medical school (impossible without IPA support), currently studying at the Roosevelt Hospital in Guatemala City.  She is a remarkable student – smart, articulate, compassionate, and driven, laser focused on her goal.  The updates she sends to me are filled with detailed information about her duties, her fellow students and staff, her family, and the occasional unexpected events that come her way.  Her current medical rotation is with infants.

In her own words, “I deeply love my elective.  I spent a week in the labor and delivery area, and on the first day, I received my first baby, and I loved it!  Then, the following week, I moved to the neonatal intensive care unit.  It’s tough and sad to see the babies in oxygen chambers and intubated, but the care the doctors provide is excellent.  My mentor is the head of the neonatal intensive care department, and he is incredible.  He is so kind to the babies, but also to the parents, the resident doctors, the nurses, and the students.”

“My day starts at 4:20 a.m.  I attend classes with the residents at 6 a.m. and then at 8 a.m. we start the rounds.  The doctor is tough on the residents and also on the intern.  I like to write down all the questions and interesting information he shares; it’s always very useful and straightforward.”

Fanny talks about a bomb threat that caused the evacuation of the hospital.  “Everyone was running around like crazy, and no one was leaving the premises because they didn’t know if it was safe or not.  In the neonatal intensive care unit, where I am, the doctor asked us to leave the hospital as soon as possible, and so we did.”  A small staff remained to care for the babies who could not be moved.  Fortunately, no bomb was found.

Fanny is profoundly grateful for the support she receives.  “Thanks for helping me achieve my dreams, and thank you for getting involved and making such a positive impact on my life.”

I believe there are many more young men and young women in Copan who, like Fanny, are highly motivated, and are sitting on the edge of their chairs, ready to take flight if we continue to provide the support that they need.

 
In preparation for next month's awards to Rotary grant recipients, Grants Committee Chairman Jack Darnton "tests" members on their knowledge of the club's varied grant activities,  including community, vocational, and international causes.  Did you know there were 30 Anacortes Rotary grant beneficiaries during the past year? 
 
Jack also provided insights on the mechanics of fundraising and selecting recipients, highlighting the major spring fundraiser at Anthony's and the upcoming Rodeo Roundup fall fundraiser. Also noteworthy are the hundreds of hands-on hours members devote to directly assisting a number of of the recipients.  Finally,  Jack imparted words of inspiration for the upcoming season and the Cap Sante Overlook project--and extra candy for the quiz winners ;-)

Our members tend to be a motivated bunch, often participating in multiple community organizations.  Club Historian, Duane Clark, is also the Past President and a current board member of the Anacortes Sister Cities Association. This week he and Sister Cities President John Lovric hosted a golf tournament (where the Rotary team continued its improvement!) and provided Wednesday’s lunch program with more than a dozen exchange students and teachers from our Romanian sister city, Comarnic.

Next year, our Romanian friends will host a contingent from Anacortes,  no doubt with a Rotarian or two in the mix.

 
The Rotary Quick and Dirty Boat Building Team of Jeremy Graham, Jerry Ladd, and Ralph Petty constructed a dashing outrigger style boat, decorated in brilliant Rotary blue and gold by Loalynda Bird, Peggy Flynn, and Duane Clark.  Fundraising nails were sold by Stephanie Hamilton and Rick Starr.  Strong overall leadership was provided by Commodore Krista Oicles, who again organized Rotary's team for the annual event.  Graham and Ladd were selected as rowers for the big race competition owing to their youth and swarthy physiques.  At the blast of the starting horn our rowers arched their backs mightily against the sea, and * snap – snap! * in an instant broke both oars!  Undaunted, they plunged hands and arms into water and rowed anyway, turning said ocean into a boiling froth.  It was a herculean effort propelling that boat using only their human limbs while their competitors enjoyed the luxury of oars. One would expect nothing less of a Rotary operation! Our boys persevered when all others would have surely crumpled and finished the race.  Though not a victory in title, the blue and gold received far and away the loudest, most boisterous cheers from the multitude of onlookers. We took third place overall, a fine achievement considering the adversity endured.
 
Apr 30- "News From Copan", International Committee
 
May 7-   "Leading with Intentionality, Consistency, and Perserverance", Dr Lisa Graham 
 
May 14- "Tuskegee!", Curtis Payne
 
May 21- "Farmyard Chickens: Eggs, Ecology, and Everything in Between", Kevin Meenaghan
 
May 28- "The Great Anacortes Rotary Joke-Off Finale", hosted by Tim Garrison
 
June 4  - "From Normandy to Bastogne", John Chambers
 
June 11 - "Skagit Valley College President's Update", Dr Christopher Rivas
 
June 18 - New Rotary President Troy Kunz's Induction
 
June 25 - "Port of Anacortes News", Director Brett Greenwood
Club Banner Buddies
 
Club Executives & Directors
President
President Elect
Vice President
Past President
Treasurer
Secretary
Centennial Project
Club Service Chair
Club Workforce Chair
Community Service Co-Chair
Community Service Co-Chair
Fellowship Chair
Grants Chair
International Service Chair
Membership Chair
Public Relations Chair
Rotary Foundation Chair
Vocational Service Chair
Eco Action Committee
Fundraising Chair

 Member  Spotlight 

Back to Anacortes
 

Some of us found Anacortes in retirement.  Some of us were born here and never left. Eric Werttemberger did a little of both.  While working in Everett as a Pharmacy Director responsible for a number of Providence/Swedish hospitals, Eric and wife, Wendy, began to think about retirement. As well-traveled WASU grads, they considered Arizona, California, Sequim and other warm weather havens (okay, Sequim not so warm but supposedly sunny), yet found themselves drawn to Anacortes, where had Eric lived for 8 years as a youth, attending AHS and Anacortes Middle school.

Jim & Joyce Anderson were friends of Eric’s parents back in the day, though Eric’s dad was a Kiwanian at the time, later joining Rotary after moving from Anacortes. At any rate, those connections stuck, and Eric determined to explore Rotary and exercise his passion for community projects upon moving back to Anacortes last year. 

Eric still commutes to Everett a few times a week overseeing pharmacy operations that include dispensing and sterile compounding medications for patients within the hospital and providing pharmacist services in outpatient clinical settings. His grandfather was a pharmacist as well, and Eric decided early that pharmacy would be more exciting than engineering.  

Other interests include hiking, travel, biking (including multiple Seattle—>Portland races), regularly hitting the gym, and setting out on a to-be-acquired fishing boat once he figures out how to break loose of the 2? (of 4) grandkids currently residing at the Werttemberger household. With Jim Anderson as his sponsor, of course Eric golfs as well. We’re hoping Duane Clark’s upcoming Sister Cities tournament will be the impetus for Eric to dig the clubs out of the moving boxes.  Welcome Eric!

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