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Vol. 19, No. 17, OCTOBER 24, 2006 |
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| THE FRIDAY PROGRAM: The LeMay Museum & the Future of Tacoma (David Snow) | The Formalities | Corporate Business | Rotarian of the Month: John Martinka | Classification Talk: Elena Howell | PPE Re-Leaf Project | Call For DG Nominations | Web Fun | ||||||
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The LeMay Museum & the Future of Tacoma The late Howard LeMay grew up in the Yakima Valley. After service in the United States Navy in the Second World War, he started several garbage pickup and disposal companies in the Tacoma area which were very successful. The success allowed him to pursue a lifelong interest in automobiles and, over many years, he amassed the world’s largest individual automobile collection. At its height, his collection included over 3,000 vehicles. READ MORE 
President Jimmy Z called the meeting to order, and what a perfect President he was for the featured program on America’s Car Museum, the LeMay Collection in Tacoma. So many choices! Is Jimmy Z a 1969 Datsun 240Z? Is he a 2006 Nissan 350Z? Or is he a BMW Roadster Z8? So many possibilities. Jan Nestler delivered the invocation while Bob Bowen greeted visiting Rotarians and guests with the question, “Please recall the first car in your life.” The responses varied according to the ages of the guests. Your reporter recalls three cars that made an impression on him. The first was a post-war Oldsmobile owned by my aunt (she always owned Oldsmobiles except for a stray Packard that snuck in there in the mid-1950’s). It was in this car that I had my first recollections of going anywhere. The second was my father’s first new car, a gray 1952 Studebaker convertible with red leather upholstery. A classic car. Too bad it didn’t have an engine that could get you up a 5% grade. Too bad Pop had to haul around kids who destroyed the upholstery. The third was my first car, a used 1958 190SL Mercedes. I was moonstruck — it looked so beautiful. Too bad I was clueless about cars. Too bad there are evildoers quite content to take advantage of moonstruck youngsters. First, my exuberant Irish setter stuck his head through the rag top. The beautiful Blauplunkt radio failed. The accelerator pedal broke going down the infamous Vantage Hill. Then, on the eve of my wedding, the transmission broke into pieces near Northgate. What a money sump. But boy, was it pretty! And I was able to offload it to someone just as moonstruck as I was.
Richly deserving of this honor, John Martinka accepted the award of the BBRC for Rotarian of the Month for October 2006. John’s services, not only to the BBRC but to the District, are too numerous to mention. His affiliation with Computers for the World, which has taken him twice to Slovakia, and his other community services, make him most deserving of this award. Classification Talk: Elena Howell Be that as it may, Elena studied Japanese, English and French in Irkutsk. She is an avid ballroom dancer. Her husband, Danny, works for a geophysical instrument company in Mukilteo and is also an accomplished songwriter. The couple has an 11-year-old son who is a fervent football, basketball and baseball player. Elena has learned the fine points of Seahawks face and body painting from both her husband and son. Elena provided a pop quiz, giving away as prizes Russian dolls brought here by her mother who is living with the Howells while she undergoes cancer treatment. The first question was, “How deep is Lake Baikal?” The correct answer is, “Approximately one mile.” The second question was, “What do the three keys in the UBS logo stand for?” The answer is, “Security, discretion and trust.” The third question was whether Elena’s family, whose name was Smirnova, was related to the Smirnoff vodka family? I am not sure I heard the answer. Elena’s great grandfather was exiled to Siberia from Moscow during the October 1917 revolution. The family has some heirlooms which suggest that she might, indeed, be related to the Smirnoff family. I think it is close enough that she ought to buy anyone who asks a drink! 1. A majority of Rotarians are between the ages of 50 and 59. The BBRC has made it a point to look for and encourage qualified persons under the age of 35 to become BBRC members. Steve laid down a challenge prize: anyone bringing in a new member 35 years or younger, will receive a three-month fine-free badge. Steve’s presentation elicited a visit from Sergeant at Arms Andrew Face. Grousing as only an immature Sergeant at Arms can do, he mused that instead of fines, he would only be able to issue “time outs” if we really did recruit a bunch of kids. He did, however, pay for his keep by fining Frank Young $100 for the 100-pound fish story he recounted from his recent fishing expedition off Central America. To be sure, getting $100 out of Frank Young is not a difficult task, and is always most appreciated. This letter is the official call for nominations for the office of District Governor, District 5030, for the Rotary year beginning July 1, 2009, through June 30, 2010. The applications should be sent to PDG Kathy Johnson, no later than January 3, 2007. This is in accord with recent changes in the Rotary Manual of Procedure AND will gives future leaders more time to prepare for their positions. Principal duties of the District Governor include: Act as the officer of Rotary International in the District.
These duties are discussed in more detail in the Manual of Procedure, and in the by-laws of Rotary International, Article 15.090. Another way to look at it: the Governor’s job is motivating, leading, creating, building a team, training it, raising money for wonderful causes, and helping clubs be even more successful. Principal qualifications for a District Governor include:
These basic qualifications are discussed in more detail in the 2001 Manual of Procedure, and in the by-laws of Rotary International, Article 15.070 and Article 15.080. To place a nomination, a club must take the following actions:
The club will then send the following documents to the Chair of the Nominating Committee:
Each nominee will be asked to complete:
The Main Event : The late Howard LeMay grew up in the Yakima Valley. After service in the United States Navy in the Second World War, he started several garbage pickup and disposal companies in the Tacoma area which were very successful. The success allowed him to pursue a lifelong interest in automobiles and, over many years, he amassed the world’s largest individual automobile collection. At its height, his collection included over 3,000 vehicles. Today, that collection stands at approximately 2,400 cars, trucks and motorcycles, and 350 of them are on display at the current LeMay Museum located on the grounds of the former Marymount Military Academy in Spanaway, Washington. Approximately 300 cars are at the home of LeMay's wife, Nancy, which she describes as a “typical five-bedroom home with a 300-car garage.” The remainder of the cars are in storage. The museum board of directors is as high-powered as some of the cars in the collection. It is chaired by Michael J. Phillips, Chairman of Russell Investment Grou,p and includes many recognizable names in the automobile racing and manufacturing world, William T. Weyerhaeuser, and Nicola Bulgari, who is reputed to own the largest collection of US automobiles in Europe. The budget to build the new museum is as impressive as the collection. The proposed cost of the museum campus is just under $100 Million. A significant portion of that money has been raised, and within that amount is a gift of land from the City of Tacoma encompassing two of the parking lots next to the Tacoma Dome. Thus, the museum will have a commanding presence at the intersection of I-5 and I-705. Lastm but not least, the museum has a wonderful website which can be accessed at www.lemaymuseum.org. A history of the collection, the museum’s plans for the future, and a variety of articles on some of the rare automobiles in the collection can be seen on the website. Two of the BBRC’s serious car nuts, Kevin Jewell and Ron Healey, could not be present for the featured speaker. Ron Healy did provide two free tickets to the present museum at Marymount which were taken by Bob Moloney. Redneck Photo Album
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Second quarter invoices were emailed October 4. No hard copy will be (snail)mailed. If you cannot locate the email with the invoice attached, please contact your
immediately. 
Bob Vallat introduced David Snow, a member of Tacoma 8 Rotary (that is the eighth Rotary club established in the world). He grew up in Bremerton where his father, after a career in the Navy, became sales manager for the local Cadillac-Oldsmobile dealership. David has a number of significant Rotary experiences, but his mission for the day was to provide an update on the LeMay Museum and the LeMay automobile collection.
Rotarian of the Month: John Martinka
