Ryan Willis started the 230^th meeting of the year and the 5,630^th meeting of the Rotary Club of Everett with the Pledge of Allegiance.

John Olson spoke about the evolving history of projects and procedures of the Rotary Club of Everett and the importance that we continue to adapt with changes of time. One function, starting in 1977, is the Wheelers Committee. The Wheelers is an orientation program for new members to the club to help them become more informed about the club, district, and Rotary International, and all the good works we do. Due to COVID, the program was discontinued. There is hope there will be a replacement that adapts with the changes of time.

 

John Olson introduced Minh Ly and Ken McClure from BECU. They are both in the process of becoming new members. Welcome!

 

Ed Peterson introduced Francis Arougbilla who is an intern working on developing affordable housing.

 

Ashley Bolden introduced Chris Otto who is the new director of the Mount Baker Council of Boy Scouts of America.

 

Ashley Bolden announced the New Member Coffee hour is February 6^th at 10:30 and February 10^th at 10:00. The next Rotary Coffee hour in February 11^th at 9:00AM at Bargreen’s Coffee Company located at 2819 Rucker Ave.

 

Janice Ellis announced that Club members are treating Hakumi, our Rotary Youth Exchange Student, to a “Sushi Crawl” in honor of his birthday.  We hope you, your families, and your sushi-loving friends will join us. 

 

There is no need to RSVP if you don’t want to, just come.  And, if you can’t join us for every stop, join us where you can.  Thursday, February 12, 2026 from 6pm to 8pm.

 

Stop 1: We will start at Artisan’s Books & Coffee, 1802 Hewitt Ave., at 6pm.  

Stop 2: Kai Sushi, 2811 Colby Ave., Everett.  We will walk to Kai Sushi from the bookshop at approximately 6:10.

Stop 3: Katana Sushi, 2818 Hewitt Ave., Everett.  We will drive to Katana at approximately 7:10. NB: Katana closes at 8pm.

 

We will each pay for ourselves (the club will pay for Hakumi).  

 

Finally. Hakumi is still selling raffle tickets to fund his Rotary YES program service trip to Guatemala.  They will be available at Tuesday’s club meeting and at the sushi crawl.  This is a perfect birthday gift for Hakumi, if you would like to offer him support in that way.  The tickets are $10 each.  He must raise $1500 by selling 150 tickets. 

 

Janice Ellis informed the members to be on the lookout for “up and comers” 18 to 30 years old who would like to attend Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA). RYLA is an intensive leadership experience organized by Rotary clubs and districts where you develop your skills as a leader while having fun and making connections. Next event is May 28-31 in British Columbia.

 

Kari Petrasek informed the members about the District Grant Writing Seminar scheduled March 7 and March 28. The event is scheduled from 9:00 to 1:30 and will inform you on how to write grants to fund local projects as well as international projects. Contact Kari for more information.

 

Ryan Willis encouraged the membership to join the District Conference May 1-3^rd in Harrison Hot Springs, BC. Come celebrate the impact of Rotary.

 

Kay Fantin invited the members to attend the Everett Public Schools Foundation fundraiser “The Big Give Showdown”, scheduled March 18^th at 7:00PM at the Everett High School gym. The Game Show format features twenty-seven school teams who will complete in the game show with one team at each of the three events winning the inaugural “Everett Cup”. They are looking for sponsorships for team’s shirts and donations to support the foundation. Please see their web page at: www.epsfoundation.org.

 

Larry O’Donnell had a bell ringer in memory of Bill Hoffman who was a longtime Rotary member and very active in the club. His wife, Everlynn, has a Rotary scholarship for future English teachers at EHS.

 

Neil Angst had a bell ringer to report he will start radiation therapy for prostate cancer soon. Best of luck for a successful treatment.

 

Ed Peterson had sad dollars to report longtime Rotarian Fred Safstrom’s wife, Diane, passed away last week at home with her family.

 

RAFFLE: Ashley Bolden

There was a reminder to donate more prizes to the Raffle Committee.

 

Winner Number 1 - Andy Hall selected a tree ornament and a signed copy of “Celebrating 100 years of Service” a History of the Rotary Club of Everett book, written by our own Lawrence E. O’Donnell.

Winner Number 2 – Steve Miller selected “Bring me some beer” socks and chocolate.

Winner Number 3 –Kay Fantin selected white wine and lifesavers.

 

Ed Peterson, Kari Petrasek and Julie Herber presented an update on the World Community Service Committee and their recent trip to the Dominican Republic. Kari spoke about the 11-year history of service with Dajabon Rotary and the Rotary Club of Everett. To date there have been twenty-three trips to collaborate with the Dajabon Rotary Club. Thirty-seven individuals have participated in the five major projects undertaken in the partnership.  The projects are focused on four areas. Entrepreneurship with the greenhouse gardens, literacy creating a culture of reading, water projects supplying clean water to the towns during the dry season, and education using school gardens as learning laboratories as well as supplement their food supply.

 

November of 2025, Ed and Carol Peterson, Kari Petrasek, George Bowden, donors to the project Johanna Kellerand her daughter Sofie, and Ed’s granddaughter, Julie, attended the most recent trip to Dajabon.

 

May 17-23, 2026 Kari Petrasek, Julie Herber, Janice Ellis and George Bowden are planning another trip to deliver books for the literacy project, help with the water project, and work on the greenhouse gardens.

 

Ed presented the benefits of using Rotary Matching Grants to leverage funds from multiple individuals, the Rotary Club of Everett, Arlington Rotary, Dajabon Rotary, District 5050, and The Rotary Foundation. Together they were able to amass around $80,000 to fund these projects. Joanna Keller, in memory of her husband David Keller, donated $10,000 to help fund several of the gardens.

 

Julie presented the Literacy Project. In partnership with Dickerson Literacy and the Dajabon Rotary they delivered Spanish and English books to eleven schools in the Dajabon school district. The plan is to add the project to all thirty-four schools in the Dajabon School District to encourage a culture of reading at a young age. The ability to read has been shown to predictor in breaking the cycle of poverty. They also provide bookshelves to create a library space in the school. The goals for future trips are to support the initiative to establish libraries in our cohort 13 elementary schools in conjunction with our Literacy Project which is focused on reading proficiency and English language acquisition.

 

All Rotarians are encouraged to join the World Community Services committee on these trips to Dajabon in the future.  The trips promise to be a life-changing event.

 

 

Respectfully Submitted,

 

Photography Submitted,