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Over the Holidays and Through the Snow ...
Due to holiday fever, we didn't get a column launched on our website following our December meeting. But it was an unusual meeting, and I want to tell you what occurred.
A Seattle Times reporter, Bill Dietrich, was our special guest. He is very interested in learning about Bluebills as part of a larger story that would describe how community services have benefited from The Boeing Company. Due to the changes within the company, he assumes it will not be as it was in the past and he wanted to talk about the company's relationship to the community and its impact on Seattle in the future.
We devoted our session to introducing him to the inner workings of Bluebills, giving him brief reports from our chapters and our committee chairmen. Then we had an opportunity to chat on the topic from our own perspectives. There was unanimity that the Boeing culture of encouraging community service had contributed to our own desires to continue these activities after retirement as volunteers.
We don't know when - or if - such a story will be published. Bill is editor of the Sunday Northwest magazine. We'll keep you informed as we learn more.
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New Board Members Welcomed --We held our 2004 Central Leadership Council (CLC) officer elections at our January 13 meeting, and I have been chosen to serve another term as chairman. Norma Vaughn and Bob Lambert will serve as vice chairs and we'll be announcing our committee appointments in February.
We bid a fond goodbye to outgoing board members Lyle Foltz, Jeanne Haase, Bob Lee and Roger Bouck. Lyle was a vice chair and one of the co-founders of the Bluebills back in 1994. He will remain active in the organization, but needs time to recover from some recent surgery. Jeanne was chair of the Heritage chapter and Bob chaired the SnoKing chapter. Roger resigned from the board in mid-2003 to pursue other volunteer activities. These fellows have made significant contributions to the health of our organization. We thank them and hope they'll continue to help at the CLC level.
Our new board members are Jeanette Fields, Marion Lockleer, Rose Johnson and Richard Vaughn. Rose Johnson has been elected chairman of the SnoKing chapter and Richard Vaughn will chair the Heritage chapter.
Continuing on the board from last year are Ed Bartels, Howard Syder and Guy Younie. Jack Randall will continue as chair of the OlyPen chapter.
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| January Snows Slowed Activities – The snow and ice of the first week of January served to put many Bluebill activities on hold. The Kids in Need Resource Center postponed its opening for a week due to school closings. The warehouse operation got a great boost from several hundred World Vision volunteers during the Christmas season. They came down for a party and went to work, sorting and packing supplies into hundreds of reading, geography and other work packs, which are now ready for distribution. The volunteers were flabbergasted at all the good stuff in the inventory, and want to make the event an annual affair! |
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Contemplating a Recruitment Video – We have been approached by Catholic Community Services about the possibility of combining efforts to develop a short video designed to encourage people to volunteer. It is a big project to undertake without a well thought-out marketing plan. As a first step, we talked a bit at our board meeting about recruitment issues. The first question we need to answer is: "Why would you want to join the Bluebills?"
(It would be great to get your answers to this question. What would you tell someone who was thinking about whether to join us? What do you think would be a good way to get that message in a video? Please send your e-mails to me at
mervshetler@comcast.net)
Our newest board member, Marion Lockleer, had some insight. He says we are living in a new society, with more of us having free time and the good health to do volunteer work. The U.S. is far ahead of other countries in organized volunteering. In Russia not too many years ago, one of our board members said the people couldn't even understand the concept of volunteering.
And, if people are already volunteering, what would be the point of doing similar things through Bluebills…? The answers may be that 1) you get to continue to enjoy the association with the Boeing family and other retirees with common experiences and 2) you have access to many more volunteer opportunities that may be a better fit for your preferences. As an aside, it also gives the company an understanding of the big role that Bluebills play in its annual $50 million community services budget. Counting gifts, materials and our volunteer hours established at a worth of $16 per hour, I figure Bluebills' contribution is about 10 percent of that budget. I would say that is a good effort for this organization.
These issues will need to be sorted out as we proceed. As always, your comments are welcomed. You are also invited to attend our board meetings, held the second Tuesday of each month, 10 - 11:30 a.m., at South Park's 15-35 Bldg.
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| Elsewhere in this site you can see:
Santa's Bluebill Helpers. See stories & pictures from SnoKing and Olympic Chapters about their Christmas outreach efforts.
Create Your Own Reality Show. Bob Lee's piece about getting involved in High School senior projects ("Culminating Exhibitions") as a panelist. He talks about the SnoKing schools, but this will be a statewide mandate by 2008.
Chapter meetings and information programs for the members.
Volunteer opportunities.
Bluebill Voyagers
Reference information sites for seniors.
We are always ready to publicize Bluebills. Please, if you come away from a volunteer assignment that leaves you with an unusually warm fuzzy feeling, think about sharing that experience with all of us. It's worth its weight in gold, recruitment-wise. It will also help us get recognition from Boeing executive offices. Alert your chapter chair, or email Nancy Wright (nancylwright@earthlink.net) or Mike Yanega (myanega@bowfinprintworks.com). And don't forget good pictures.
And finally, let me ask you to critique our efforts. Tell us what you want, what interests you and how you use the information we provide or could provide. The unique age of electronic communication offers us the ability to make rapid updates and changes
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