June 2, 2009

The only business we had at the opening bell was June birthdays. Lions Greg Grunn, Helge Erickson, Joan Smiley, and Paul Dean were their parents "spring offspring".  As Paul was the only honoree present, we sang his birthday tribute especially well.(?)

Announcements: Ocean Shores Lions Club's Installation dinner will be on June 18, 2008 at the OS Lions hall. Social hour starts at 6:00 PM with dinner at 7:00 PM......Central Park Lions Club's Installation dinner will be on June 20, 2009 at the CP Lions club house. Social hour at 6:00 PM with dinner at 6:45 PM......Aberdeen Lions Club is celebrating the 69th anniversary of their Charter on June 22, 2009. The venue for this gala event is the Grays Harbor Country Club. Social hour will begin at 6:00 PM with dinner to follow at 7:00 PM.  [ Note: Hopefully we will have some Hoquiam Lions Club representation at each of these functions. Contact Kogin at 532-0656 if you plan to attend.]

Lion David Irwin introduced Roger Lane as our speaker for this day.

  Roger - one of Grays Harbor's leading Diabetes educators - has spoken to us in the past regarding the diagnosis and treatment of diabetes. Today his focus was on diabetes prevention. As diabetes is one of the most preventable diseases, Roger gave us several facts (and regimens to follow) to help prevent diabetes. A few of his prevention facts were; Stay hydrated, eat smaller portions of well-balanced meals three times each day (also include a healthy snack between meals), and exercise regularly.

  As before, Roger's presentation was very informed and informative.

Lion Paula Dean's name was drawn for the attendance pot.

June 9, 2009

Another well-attended meeting today. Lion Joan Smiley was serenaded (and fined) in honor of her birthday this month. It was announced that Lion Helge Erickson is celebrating his 98th birthday today. They are having a small party for him at the rest home this afternoon.  We had two guests today; Joan Poulos and Lonnie Howell. (we have been actively soliciting Lonnie to join our Club)

Jerry Schaefer announced that the fireworks stand is scheduled to be set up at 10:00 AM June 26 in the Swanson parking lot. We need as many as possible to meet at the Lamb GH warehouse at 9:30 AM on this date, to load the trailer and set up the stand. The stand will be in operation from June 28 thru July 5. Operation of the stand is a very labor-intensive project, however a huge portion of our budget is derived from fireworks sales making our labors fruitful. Make time in your personal schedules to take at least one shift.  [note: Family members and friends are welcome - nay urged - to assist.]

Mark Vandenhazel, HHS principal introduced our Students of the Month honorees for the month of May 2009.

  For our program today, Lion Paul Dean reported - replete with pictures - on his last medical mission. The mission was to the Vanuatu archipelago with Tanna Island as their destination. The island is 25 miles long and 12 miles wide with a population of approximately 20,000.

  The medical missionaries "set up shop" in thatched huts to administer medical, dental, and visual  services to their patients. Having no electricity or running water, providing services required some innovative thought. However, the team provided services to over 500 residents and considered their trip a success.

  Mount Yasur located on Tanna Island, is an active volcano that has been erupting for centuries. It is the only active volcano in the world that can be approached with relative safety. One can stand on the rim and view the "belly of the beast" as it were. Paul visited the volcano and shared some outstanding pictures of it with us.

  Paul's presentation, as always, was very informative and made the Lions motto, "WE SERVE" more than mere words. Thanks Paul.

Helge Erickson's name was drawn for the carry-over attendance pot. Obviously Helge could not be present, so it was voted to present his winnings to him at his party this afternoon. (Of course we deducted the fine)

Reminder !!

Next week our program is a presentation regarding the new Westway Terminals currently being built at the Port. The speaker will be the terminal manager and perhaps the President of the Company. You are invited to bring guests...just let me know by Monday morning how many so that I may give the Elks a head count.

June 16, 2009

With only two more meetings as President I was particularly aggressive calling the members to order. Vibrations from a heartily struck bell reverberated well into the opening song. We had one visitor this day (and a darn cute one I must add), Jeannette Bruun.  Jeannette is the spouse of  "Lion of the Year" Al Bruun.

Before we proceeded further into the meeting, we had to correct an over-sight from the Installation. Due to a "glitch" in the printed program, the installing officer PDG Mike Gayda, failed to install Lion Pete VanderLinden to the Board of Directors. PZC Jack Strom (resplendent in a red vest with 48 years of Lions pins attached that must have weighed 48 pounds) performed the installation charge to Lion Pete. After correcting our mistake we acknowledged the highlight of the Installation Dinner....Lion Pete Hegg was named and honored as a Melvin Jones Fellow. A well deserved honor indeed.

Program: Lion Paul Dean introduced, Robert (Robbie) Johnson, Senior Engineer and Project Manager for the new Westway Terminals currently being erected in the Port area (95% of which is in Hoquiam).

  Robbie prefaced his remarks with regard to the new installation by stating, "Westway Terminals is a premier provider of bulk liquid storage and related services throughout the world." They have 18 facilities in the US, 12 in Europe, 1 in Mozambique, and 1 in South Korea. The Grays Harbor facility will consist of 4 - 80,000 barrel tanks (3.3 millions gallons).  He noted that due to soil conditions, 200 pilings had to be driven under each tank.

  As some of the materials stored will be potentially volatile...safety is job #1. The site will be surrounded by a retaining dike that will be lined to prevent seepage into the ground in the unlikely event of an industrial accident. Further, they are training Hoquiam and Aberdeen fire fighters in the techniques involved in attacking every problem that might arise. They are sending (at their expense) firefighters, from both Cities, to Texas to be trained by a world renown company specializing in this type of fire suppression.   Westway is also purchasing a new foam delivering fire truck for Hoquiam.

  Robbie introduced the President of Westway Terminals, Scott MacKenzie. He had been attending a GH Chamber of Commerce meeting and at it's conclusion he scampered to attend our meeting. Scott gave us some background information on Westway and noted that the Company was an offshoot of ED&F Man Company that has been in the commodities, logistic, and risk management service since 1783.

  Westway Corporation was formed to service a smaller, more specialized segment of the market. ED&F Man owns 50% of Westway stock.

  Scott praised the various local governments and the people of Grays Harbor County for the cooperation and acceptance that his Company has received. When the site is completed and in full operation, it will provide 8-10 locally hired people with a good wage and benefit full time job.

After fielding several questions, Robbie and Scott concluded their very informative presentation.

[ Westway has a very interesting - and as it is moving into our area - must read web site: www.westwayterminals.com ]

Lion Traci Sandstrom's name was drawn for the attendance pot. As today was the last day of school in Hoquiam, Traci's absence was excused. (She didn't get the pot however)

June 23, 2009

Pretty good turnout today...lots of banter and good natured ribbing was the theme of the day. We had two visitors: Lion Ernie Nelson from the Ocean Shores Lions, and Lion Kay Rotter from the Klaloch-Clearwater Lions. Kay reminded us of her Lions Club's Salmon BBQ to be held on July 18 at Clearwater. The hours are from noon until 4:00 PM and the coat is $15 per person (children are less, however I missed the price)  Kay "threw down the gauntlet" challenging us to a taste test for salmon fixin' and invited us to attend.

As I am late with this writing (as has been the norm the last few months?) the Fireworks stand is set up and ready. There are several spots that we desperately need filled. If you haven't already signed-up for a shift, PLEASE do so as soon as possible. Call 532-0656. There are several Lions and their ladies who have volunteered for more than one shift. Given the size of our Club, multiple shifts should not be necessary!

Program- Lion Dave Wayman introduced our speaker for today - Arnold Samuels. Arnold is an Ocean Shores Lion who immigrated from Germany to the United States in 1937 at the age of 14. His family was fortunate to get out of Germany before they were all conscripted to serve in Hitler's reign of terror.

  When the US entered WW2, Arnold enlisted in the US Army. Given his knowledge of the German language, Arnold was assigned to Military Intelligence. He was assigned throughout Europe questioning and investigating German soldiers.

  After the War was over, he worked all over the world with the Voice of America. He has many pictures in his portfolio and enjoys telling the stories behind each photo

  Arnold goes to schools in our area to share his experiences with the students. He believes that if our children know "the way it was", perhaps they are better prepared to insure that it never happens again. Arnold always tells his audience, "to be free, you have to vote".  He concluded his very interesting presentation by drawing the attendance pot.

Ray Pumphrey's name was drawn for the attendance pot.

NOTE

This will be the last update of the Nozey Lion until September. Ye Old Editor is taking his annual "re-charging" sabbatical. Any info that needs promulgating will be by email or phone call.

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