North Notes
October 18, 2021
Calendar:
Oct. 25: Noon lunch at Bark - Classification talks: Bob Romney and Chuck Rehberg.
Nov. 1: Noon lunch at Bark – Chris Cargill – Washington Policy Center
Nov. 8: Noon lunch at Bark - Fellowship
Nov.15: Noon lunch at Bark – Holmes Christmas wishlist tag pickup
Announcements:
Tom’s Turkey time: KREM’s annual holiday drive will not be staged at Rosauers stores this year because of Covid, but club members can help out at 2nd Harvest on Tuesday, Nov. 23 at the Spokane Fairgrounds. You need to sign up for a shift at http://vhub.at/TomsTurkeyMainPage or Contact club President Lenore Romney for assistance.
Potluck: Five couples will be gathering on Oct. 19 at Ron Schurra’s home. Another potluck dinner is planned in November.
Happy Buck$: No contributions this time.
What a crowd! What a meeting!
In the best club meeting of the year, 23 Rotarians jammed the back room at the Bark to honor a major donor, a past club president and the new principal at Holmes Elementary.
Club President Lenore Romney offered special praise and a club gift to former Club President Melinda Keberle, whose own parting ceremony was canceled due to the first Covid lock down in March of 2020.
John joins a very special club
Lynn O’Connor, District Governor, praised John Mailliard for his “substantial contribution toward the goal of international understanding and peace.”
Mailliard received diamond pins for he and his wife, who are both Paul Harris members.
O’Connor said of John, “As a Major Donor, you are among a dedicated group of humanitarians who have committed themselves to helping others less fortunate.”
“This special group of persons, are changing lives of children, young people and adults through a legacy of hope.”
O’Connor added, “In appreciation for this investment in the future of humanity, the RI Trustees wish to express their gratitude by presenting these diamond pins.”
John said his dad joined Rotary 45 years ago and John still has his dad’s first Rotary pin – “a lapel pin the size of a fingernail.”
Joining the meeting to honor John and offering their words of thanks to John for his cumulative contributions to the Rotary Foundation were Lynn’s husband and District Polio Plus chair, Ed; former District Governor Bev Reed; District Governor-elect Linda Bauer and her husband and District Annual Fund Chair, Jim; Assistant Governor Gary Stokes; and District Treasurer Gary Bowe.
Amazing crowd and an amazing new principal
As every chair filled in Bark’s back room, Kale Colyar took his seat in a back corner, where he started his talk. The new principal at Holmes Elementary joked: “I’ll stand in the corner. That was me as a kid.”
Next to Colyar was Stephanie Lundberg, the Club’s good friend and past Holmes principal. She will be principal at the new Denny Yasuhara Middle School. Colyar said he learned everything about Holmes from her.
Sandy Fink, introducing Stephanie’s post at the new middle school referring to construction underway, said “and it will open maybe in the Fall?” Lunndberg replied: “There’s no maybe about it.”
Colyar said he went to WSU as an undergrad in K-8 Elementary Education, then worked two years in Grand Coulee and then four years in Rathdrum teaching the 6th grade. He worked at West Valley’s Pasadena Park and received a master’s degree in administration at Whitworth. He was an Assistant Principal at Whitman for one year and then at Homes for two years, Kale then became principal at Woodridge for five years before returning to Holmes this year.
At Woodridge, he said, free and reduced lunches totaled 31 percent of the enrollment. At Holmes the total is 94 percent. “They know poverty and they know grit,” Colyar said
Despite the continuing Covid and the poverty and bus schedule chaos, Colyar said “These kids are amazing.”
“Every day, the kiddos are smiling and excited to be at school,” he said. “Many of the kids wear Holmes T-shirts provided by the Rotary Club, rain, shine or whatever.”
Colyar said he was amazed by the large amount of school supplies which the club provides each year. “Many of these students do not have money for pencils or crayons or art supplies or even tissues,” he said.
“These kids have expectations and want to set a picture of what their future can be,” Colyar said.
He said the faculty members stay late, often until 5 or 6 p.m. to help. “They feel it is a calling, not a job.”
Colyar said if one Covid-positive student is found, the entire class must be quarantined. “But we have a rock-star nurse,” he said, and the classes have stayed intact.
Holmes now has 380 students, about 20 down from typical years. But the mobility issues remain, with half of those who start school in September leave and half more arrive during the year.
Asked about mentoring programs and other club volunteering, Colyar said until Covid subsides the opportunities may be limited although the need is there. Volunteers need to be vetted through the District office and provide proof of vaccination.
Fink, a former North Central principal, said the club has been closely associated with Holmes since 2002.
President Lenore presented Colyar with a book for the Holmes library from the Character series about Benjamin Franklin.
The continuing connections also might be called “amazing.”