North Notes
Spokane-North Rotary Club Bulletin
September 12, 2022
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Calendar:
Sept. 19: Noon lunch, at the Bark. Speaker: Club member Eric Johnson, real estate report.
Sept. 26: Noon lunch, at the Bark. Speaker: Q1 Club President Steve Bergman, first quarter report.
Oct. 3: Noon lunch, at the Bark, Spokane County Sheriff candidates, John Nowels and Wade Nelson.
Oct. 10: No meeting: Indigenous Peoples federal holiday.
Oct. 17: Noon lunch, at the Bark. Spokane County Prosecuting Attorney candidates, Larry Haskell and Deb Conklin.
Oct. 24: Noon lunch, at the Bark. Speakers TBA.
Oct. 31: Noon lunch, at the Bark. Rotary District 5080 Gov. Linda Kay Bauer.
Happy Bucks:
Longtime Coug Dave Hayward donated $10 to celebrate WSU’s win over the Wisconsin Badgers (even if Dave was born in Rhinelander, Wisc.).
Lenore Romney celebrated her para-sailing adventure with husband, Bob.
Michelle Fossum celebrated a son’s wedding and the large family gathering for the festivities.
Steve Boharski loved his Alaskan visit, which included viewing of grizzly bears.
Colin Prestesater celebrated wife, Shelley’s passing the state bar exam, and Steve Bergman, who works in the same law firm, joined in.
Chuck Rehberg added $2 to help celebrate a fellow namesake – Charles – as the new king of England. Chuck now asks the club to call him Chuck the First.
The Boy Scout Way: Honor and Duty
If there is a merit badge for energy and enthusiasm, Terry Fossum and Anthony Escobar earn top rankings.
Terry, a former club member, serves as board president of the Inland Northwest Council of the Boy Scouts of America. Wearing a chest full of badges and awards on his BSA shirt, Terry introduced Anthony, the Inland Northwest Council Scout Executive and CEO at the Sept. 12 luncheon. Boy Scouts have a long tradition in Spokane. The Council headquarters is located at 411 W. Boy Scout Way, just a block away from the club’s lunch spot at the Bark. The Cowles Camp scout on Diamond Lake was donated as an 80-acre site in 1920.
Escobar came to Spokane in August 2021, following administrative scouting positions in Fresno, Roswell, N. Mex., Amarillo, Tex., Kansas City and Texarkana, Tex.
While scouting total in many areas has been declining – nationally from 500 councils to 253-- he said the Inland Northwest Council has increased in the last three years. “That’s best in the nation,” he said, adding, while some scout councils are merging, some are asking to join this council.
He said scouting is so immersed in the language that when he recited the Boy Scout Oath an 8-year-old boy interrupted to say that “you missed a word.”
Escobar said experiences in scouting “help the boys make good decisions in life that go far beyond scouting.”
In addition to Camp Cowles, the Inland Council also operates Camp Easton at Gotham Bay on Lake Coeur d’ Alene and Camp Grizzly, 12 miles east of Potlatch, Idaho on the Palouse River. Escobar said when the camps have open availability, the facilities are rented to help revenues.
A major effort, Escobar said, is to reach out to underserved youth. That includes the Holmes Elementary area, where scout leaders work with West Central Community Center staff to reach scouting programs.
“With the uniforms, camping and other activities, Scouting is not cheap,” Escobar said, “but we let them work on odd jobs to pay off the costs.”
He said the goal for underserved youth is a scout pack with 200 boys. Former Rosauers’ executive Jeff Phillips has raised $12,000 toward a $28,000 goal for the effort, Escobar said.
He recalled one notable result: When a young man met him at a local diner, the scout hugged Escobar and said simply, “You saved my life.”