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Dale Hemphill Update
BBRC standout Dale Hemphill has been fighting illness problems these past few weeks, causing him to miss several meetings. His major problem is his inability to swallow. Therefore, he wasn’t able to take in nourishment. The doctors have remedied that with a feeding tube. Dale’s wife Hellen reports, “He’s got more energy than he’s had for many weeks, and even did some work during the last several days.”
One of the great stories to come out of Dale’s condition is the visit of an old friend last week. Dale’s high school buddy Bob thought that Dale had been killed long ago in a car accident. But, through the website Classmates.com, others learned that Dale’s demise had been exaggerated and informed his friend. Bob appeared on Dale’s doorstep last week and they had quite a reunion. They had not seen each other in 54 years, dating back to their days in Geneva, Ohio. Hellen further reported that Bob’s visit made him even more energized, so much so that Dale is planning to visit the BBRC this Friday. We will all welcome that!
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Joe Gaskins
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Wheelchairs for Vietnam
Throughout the war-ravaged areas of the world, landmines and disease lurk, taking their toll on innocent people. One of these places is Vietnam – the site of heavy fighting from the mid-fifties until the war ended in 1973 – a country that attracts Joe Gaskins, a paraplegic himself.
Joe is the husband of Jane Porter (Gaskins), the BBRC’s guest speaker on Valentine’s Day who told of her blooming career writing romance novels. Rourke O’Brien, who introduced Joe, read the bio of Joe from his wife’s website. Needless to say, it was written like a romance novel!
Because of his own situation, Joe became interested in the plight of others who may require a wheelchair for transportation. He became involved in the Wheelchair Foundation and agreed to travel to Vietnam for a distribution of wheelchairs during the week of March 16-23, 2003. MORE
The Retreat is HERE!
After nearly a year in the planning stage, the 15th Annual Club Planning Retreat opens on Friday with a round of golf for the golfers and a round of shopping for the shoppers. Golfers will tee off shortly after noon at the Loomis Trail Golf Course near Semiahmoo. As they work their way north, the energized shopping team will stop at LaConner to try and perk up the economy. MORE
Biking to Victoria
Ray Brook, the venerable bicycler, having just returned from a two-wheel trip through the Baja, invited Rotarians to take a Bicycle ride to Victoria for the District Conference. The flotilla plans to leave at 8:00 a.m. on Thursday, April 24, cross the Sound to Bainbridge, and then cycle to Port Angeles. It’s a 70-mile ride. After an overnight at Port Angeles, the group will take a ferry to Victoria. Contact Ray through the Mercer Island Club.
Thought for the Week
Helen Keller: "Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it."
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Another of our members provides eyewitness views of a far-off land. Rourke O’Brien spent three weeks traipsing all over the Emerald Isle. He arrived in Dublin on February 11 with a backpack and no itinerary other than to be back at Dublin airport on March 6. Rourke traveled around the entire Island with a bus pass, visiting several cities, towns, and sites. He stayed in hostels with people from all over the world, and researched several pubs. If you like travelogues, you’ll love walking in the footsteps of Notre Dame’s own, Rourke O’Brien. Breakfast at 7:00 a.m., meeting at 7:30 and Travelogue at 8:00. Bring a guest or prospective member. This will be fun! Glendale Country Club in Bellevue.
ADMIN CORNER
Quarterly billing is in the mail. Thanks for all your cooperation during the previous three quarters of this Rotary Year. It’s a pleasure doing business with you!!
ADMIN THOUGHT
Most people would like to be delivered from temptation but would like it to keep in touch. – Robert Orben
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