Decade Seven: The 1990s

Published 1:30 am Wednesday, April 29, 2020

In early 1990s the club was seeking a new fundraiser to assist specifically in financial support for the Boys and Girls Club. Joe Hawe, then the Rotary Club President and Clallam County Sheriff, found the idea of running a Duck Derby as a viable project. At the same time, members of the Olympic Medical Center Foundation came up with the same idea. Rather than compete, it was determined that a partnership between the groups would be better for both organizations and our community.

That successful partnership lasted for a quarter century.

The first Duck Derby was run in the Dungeness River with environmental complications from run-away ducks so it was determined that a more controlled environment be secured. The photo above is from the second duck derby run in the ponds at Carrie Blake Park which also came with complications of little current.

For many years the running of the ducks alternated between Sequim and Port Angeles locations, settling for the last several years in the pond at Lincoln Park in Port Angeles and “little” current has been corrected with the assistance of firemen and their fire hose.

This fundraiser was fun and successful financially, allowing the club to contribute tens of thousands of dollars each year toward the operations at the Boys & Girls Club.

In 1999, the club help fund the purchase of the old Methodist church, now Olympic Theatre Arts, as their “new” location and when membership out grew this location, a capital campaign, chaired by Rotarians Joe Hawe and Rochelle McHugh was kicked off to build the current Carroll C. Kendall Unit of the Boys & Girls Club at 400 W. Fir St., on the Sequim School District land.

Rotarians continue to support the Boys & Girls Club, both personally and as a club. More than $1.6 million were raised in the capital campaign through the generosity of our community to build this important building.

If you’d like to know more or join us in the fun as “People of Impact” in assisting our community, please visit our Facebook page at Facebook/Sequim Noon Rotary, look up our website at www.sequim rotary.org or drop into a lunch meeting in person or on the web via Go-To-Meeting.

Meetings are held almost every Thursday at the noon hour at Baja Cantina and last about an hour and a half.

Celebration moved online

Rotary Club of Sequim members had planned to celebrate its nine decades of community service through the remainder of the year culminating with a Celebratory Tea on June 18.

However, because of the nation’s ongoing 2019 novel coronavirus pandemic and a need to continue social distancing for the unforeseen future, the club’s 90th birthday celebration will be postponed until Aug. 20.

Join members of the club from noon-1:15 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 20, via the Zoom app on an electronic device or in person at Pioneer Memorial Park, 387 E. Washington St. To get a Zoom invitation by email, send a request to sequimrotary@gmail.com at least one day prior to the meeting.

The club has prepared a PowerPoint presentation that highlights its 90 years of service to the community of Sequim, the nation and international projects. A member will share experiences in becoming a Rotarian and a guest presenter will discuss the club’s current community project: providing adaptive bikes to youth in the Sequim School district who have physical limitations and are unable to ride a traditional bicycle.

All are welcome, including former members, spouses of former members, former exchange students and club members.

Editor’s note: This is the seventh in a series of nine articles highlighting the Rotary Club of Sequim, whose byline is, “People of Impact.”