North Notes
November 29, 2021
 
Calendar:
Dec. 6:  No luncheon meeting. Potluck at Fossum home in the Spokane Valley.  Gifts will be collected for the Holmes Holiday Drive. 
 
Dec. 13: Rotary lunch, Noon, at the Bark.  Speaker: Dr. Francisco Velazquez, Spokane County health officer.
 
Dec. 20, Dec. 27: No meetings.  Rotary lunches resume Jan. 3.
 
Briefly:
 
            Potluck and presents: As noted, the club’s annual holiday dinner will be a potluck gathering on Monday, Dec. 6 at 5:30 p.m. at the home of Michelle Fossum. (Map details will be e-mailed.)  All members and spouses are invited.  Let Michelle know what you are bringing, such as salads, appetizers and desserts.
            Remember to bring your wrapped gifts and tags for the Holmes Elementary Christmas Drive for 40 families.  Please contact President Lenore Romney before Dec. 6 if you cannot attend.
 
            Leader(s)—ship: As the calendar year concludes, the club still is seeking a president for Rotary 2021-22.  Club President Lenore Romney said a leader is needed soon to prepare for RI’s president-elect role early next year.  Romney said some clubs are organizing a small president’s cabinet where members can share some of the duties, including leading weekly meetings.  In those clubs a president-designate leads the club.
 
Happy Buck$:
 
          John Mailliard was happy that kids in his family helped bake holiday apple crisp.  Michelle Fossum enjoyed 14 guests for Thanksgiving and Steve Perry likewise had 12 guests. In the sports column, Dave Petersen cheered the Cougs’ Apple Cup win, Steve Boharski loved the Zags and Bill Simer toasted the Eagle football win. Chuck Rehberg noted the passing of Lee Elder, age 87, who was the first Black golfer The Master’s at Augusta, Georgia.
 
Class talks: Steve and Michelle
             Continuing the fine presentations of club member classification talks were Steve Boharski and Michelle Fossum. 
 
            Steve, born in Kalispel, MT, joined the club in 1999 after he and wife, April, bought the practice of the Garland Animal Clinic on West Garland from Roger Harder, a long-time Spokane North club member.  Steve served as club president in 2009-10.
 
            Noting tremendous change in recent years in veterinary care, Steve said dogs and cats are no longer just pets, “they are family members.”
 
            Most of the same types of diagnostic tools, like MRIs, which are used on people now are used on pets, he said.  Steve added that some obese people not usable in smaller MRIs are taken to WSU for the same machines used to work on horses.  There also are pet psychologists and naturopaths for pets, he said.
 
            From the small clinic, Steve and April moved to a larger clinic a few blocks west.  They now have 10 veterinarians working there, he said.
 
            The pet mania now includes several forms of insurance and there are types of veterinary law to deal with, he said. 
 
            Steve and April have four children, two sons and two adopted daughters.  Steve said he hopes the older son, now at WSU, will take over the clinic at some point so he can continue with his three recreation passions, fly fishing, bird hunting and travel.
 
            The family plans to go to the Galapagos Islands for Christmas. 
 
 
            Club Secretary Michelle Fossum was born in Minot, N. D. and lived there through high school.  Michelle joined Spokane North in 2006.
 
             “I was a complete tomboy,” Michelle said, adding she helped her dad install heating and air conditioning units and loved stock car races.
 
            She said her mom said the races “were no place for a girl” and preferred dance, which Michelle thought “silly.”
 
            She said she moved with her mom to the Spokane area and Michelle picked EWU, planning on becoming a dental assistant.  But she “hated chemistry” and loved a good class on governmental law, which led her GU Law. 
 
            Michelle worked in estate planning and probates and one major client is the Spokane County Health Office which has often been in the news media during the Covid pandemic and the departure of one health officer who was replaced by Dr. Frank Velazquez, scheduled to visit our club Dec. 13.
 
            She and husband, Terry, have three boys, two work at Yokes Grocery and one is a "Fusion Analyst" working in Baltimore.  
 
Editors: Chuck Rehberg and Sandy Fink