Peninsula Daily News
PORT ANGELES — More than 300 Rotarians representing clubs from the tip of Vancouver Island to the Columbia River — plus an additional 60 spouses — will converge on Port Angeles this weekend for a training conference.
The conference on Rotary functions and procedures for future Rotary Club officers — usually held annually in Victoria — is so big that the District Leadership Training Assembly will be held simultaneously at the Red Lion Hotel and Elks Naval Lodge two blocks apart.
Some of the 340-registered delegates are staying in private homes of Rotarians in Port Angeles and Sequim as a fundraiser.
And because many of the attendees are coming from Vancouver Island, the conference is timed around arrivals and departures of the MV Coho ferry.
‘Great event’
“It’s a great event for Port Angeles,” said general chairman Chris Koenig, a member and past president of the Port Angeles Rotary Club.
“We feel lucky that we have this many Rotarians coming to Port Angeles and to visit the local businesses in Port Angeles and Sequim.”
One of those businesses, the Red Lion — the North Olympic Peninsula’s largest hotel — is already sold out for Saturday night.
Rotary District 5020 — one of the largest in 1.2-million-member Rotary International — is made up of 81 clubs stretching from Port Hardy, British Columbia, to Longview-Kelso in Southwest Washington and includes the population center of Tacoma.
Seven of those clubs are on the North Olympic Peninsula.
Training sessions
Each of the 81 clubs has officers and directors responsible for club, community, world and vocational service efforts in their towns, as well as secretary and treasurer functions.
This weekend’s training assembly is designed to brief and motivate them toward those responsibilities in advance of the July 1 start of their terms.
Sessions will start Saturday about 90 minutes after the noon arrival of the MV Coho from Victoria, and end about 90 minutes before Sunday’s 2 p.m. Coho departure to the provincial capital.
Koenig, who is general manager of his family’s Bill Koenig Chevrolet Subaru in Port Angeles, said he and his committee are pleased at the large conference turnout, which didn’t taper off despite the recession.
“Owing to the economic times, it’s testament to the Rotarians to seek the training to serve their communities even better,” he said.
Economic move
The economy is a big reason why this year’s assembly was moved across the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
“The event has been held for many years in Victoria because of the disparity in the U.S.-Canadian dollar and because of an excellent facility at the [Fairmont] Empress Hotel,” said Bob Martin of Gig Harbor, who is incoming District 5020 governor.
“However, this last year, costs at the Empress escalated markedly and our dollars are now closer to parity.
“In an attempt to deal with these issues, I chose to move the training event to Port Angeles.”
Martin noted that the “atmosphere and training” in Port Angeles will be different.
Instead of a formal dinner, Rotarians on Saturday night will have “dinner out” on their own at local restaurants.
Many Port Angeles eateries and shops have prepared for the event, and Barbara Frederick, executive director of the Port Angeles Downtown Association, advised merchants of where they can calculate exchange rates and exchange Canadian currency.
At least two banks — Chase and First Federal — will exchange folding Canadian currency, and the Victoria Express office at The Landing mall, 115 E. Railroad Ave., will exchange paper and coin money, Frederick said.
Special coupons for the Rotarians are included in complimentary editions of the Peninsula Daily News to be given out at registration.
Vocalist to sing
Port Angeles Rotary and Nor’wester Rotary of Port Angeles will provide staff support for the conference, and vocalist Amanda Bacon, a member of Sequim Sunrise Rotary, will sing the U.S. and Canadian national anthems at the opening session, Koenig said.
Keynoting will be John Blount of Sebastopol, Calif., a member of the board of Evansville, Ill.-based Rotary International and veteran Rotary trainer and motivational speaker.
North Olympic Peninsula clubs will also promote individual fundraisers during the assembly.
Port Angeles Rotary will be selling tickets for a cash raffle with a $5,000 prize in the spring, Nor’wester will be selling tickets for its raffle of a 2010 Chevrolet Camaro car, and Sequim Rotarians will have a display of ShelterBox materials.
The ShelterBox program provides immediate tents and survival kits for victims of disasters worldwide, most recently earthquake-stricken Haiti.
The Sequim Rotarians will be accepting donations to provide more ShelterBoxes for current and future disaster relief during the district assembly.
Koenig said Martin and about 40 district officers for the next fiscal year arrived Thursday at the Red Lion to discuss planning and strategy in advance of the assembly.
