North Notes
Spokane-North Rotary Club Bulletin
March 28, 2022
Calendar:
April 4: Rotary lunch, Noon at the Bark. Topic: Club fellowship.
April 11: Rotary lunch, Noon at the Bark. Topic: Kathleen Smith, Mental Health Therapist Supervisor for District 81.
April 18: Rotary lunch, Noon at the Bark. Topic: Melissa Pettey, Lumen High School.
Happy Buck$:
John Mailliard paid $1 to display his “Rotary All-Star” baseball shirt.
Guest Charity Doyl, adding $1 “joining the welcoming group” for this meeting.
Jr. Lilac Parade Volunteers wanted
Spokane Valley Rotary member Charity Doyl invited club members to some spring events and asked for help with volunteers for the Jr. Lilac Parade put on by the Spokane Rotaract club.
Like old wine, Dave and Brian improve with age
Together they total 89 years of Spokane-North Club Rotary service.
Retired dentist, Dave Pedersen, who joined the club in 1976, and attorney Brian Hipperson, who joined in 1979, shared their wisdom and stories at the March 28 luncheon.
Their classification talks recalled the six different venues the club has moved to during their time, from Casey’s on North Monroe to the Bark now.
Dave said he retired in 2019 and he and wife, Patti, planned various trips, including one to France. But Covid intervened, so those plans are still on hold, he said.
Pedersen said he was born in Wenatchee and attended Washington State, where he played quarterback and defensive back. Dave and club member Dave Hayward, both Cougars for life, were in the same pledge class at WSU.
Dave Pedersen graduated in dentistry at UW and said he cheers for the Huskies, unless they are playing the Cougs.
After a stint in the Army in Texas and northern New York, they came to Spokane. Dave said he wanted to be in Wenatchee and Patti, born in Seattle, wanted to live there, so they settled on Spokane. Their son is a radiologist at Inland Imaging and their daughter took over Dave’s dental practice.
The Pedersens have a summer home on Lake Coeur d’Alene and Dave often plays golf. Dave said he has the longest tenure at the club, except for fellow retired dentist Art Rudd, who joined in 1969. Dave recalled the many club projects, especially the playground and cover at Franklin Park.
Brian Hipperson told the club “my story is extremely boring. I never really left Spokane.” He attended Willard Elementary, Salk Junior High and North Central High.
Brian said his dad, Roy, had the same first-grade teacher Brian had at Willard.
He met wife, Carol, at WSU and he said her first question was “do you have a corkscrew?” Brian responded, “No, but I’ll get one.”
While she was playing cards with a group that included the wife of a police officer, Carol said Brian should be a police officer. Brian said of that short-lived career in a rural community, “it was right out of Mayberry RFD. They didn’t have a police academy. The only question they asked was what would you say if they call you a pig?”
After a year of police work, he drew an unlucky “15” for the lottery to the Vietnam draft. But when his ulcer exempted service in Vietnam, Brian entered GU Law. Then a friend of Carol’s from Coulee City helped him get a job as a deputy attorney in Lincoln County. Carol taught in the Wilbur school.
When Brian’s dad’s golfing partner, attorney Jack Ripple, mentioned an opening in the Gordon and Ripple law firm, Brian moved to Spokane.
Jack Ripple became a superior court judge and was a founding member of Spokane-North Rotary. Roy Hipperson was an original club member. The club was established in 1954. Ripple was president in 1959-60 and Roy was president in 1968-69. Brian was president in 1990-91.
Brian and Carol, who is a writer, have two daughters, both in the health care field. Brian and Carol have a summer house in Newman Lake and he manages a farm.
In semi-retirement, Brian said he works three days a week and dropped his partnership to be “of counsel,” which he said “is like a Walmart greeter.”
Daughter Mary has sung the anthem at the Indians Park and at the Arizona Diamondback’s park.
Brian said, like Roy, Rotary “is part of my life. Our people help people. They make a difference.”
Bulletin editors: Chuck Rehberg and Sandy Fink