By Bert Goldstein

In the near future health conditions require that my wife and I leave the Olympic Peninsula Area after almost nine years of residence. I would like to take this opportunity to make this personal tribute to the Olympic Peninsula Bluebills. Of all the friends, organizations and activities we will miss the Bluebills most. You have been a unique group. Your accomplishments, without much of a formal structure and bureaucracy, is amazing. Sometimes I wonder if you all came out of the same industrial and commercial Boeing-type environment that I did. Didn’t we all have to deal with superiors, subordinates, peers and with customers and subcontractors in a very structured, contentious, frustrating and competitive atmosphere? None of that exists within our Bluebills activities. No harsh words, no pressure, no real complaints or finger pointing. And yet Bluebills, more than any other group I know has directly touched the lives of so many local people in need and accomplished so much in a relatively short time.

A short story told to me by Jack Hawker about a recent small ramp project really summarizes what Bluebills has been and is all about. There was a little old lady who lived in a little old house who had reached the stage in life where she had difficulty managing a few steps to enter and leave her home. Bluebills going through our usual procedure built her a small ramp. After completion the little old lady came out of her house and looked over the scene. She then covered her face with both hands. The Bluebills looked at each other in puzzlement and said, "Ma’am what did we do wrong?" She uncovered her face and said she was overwhelmed with gratitude. Here a set of strangers came out of nowhere, and did this deed for her without asking for anything in return. Where else can one obtain that afterglow for a task well done? No amount of donation of money and things can realize that inner satisfaction I have been privileged many times to receive, thanks to the opportunities offered by Bluebills.

There are many local groups that perform volunteer activities for the benefit of various charities, but none I know of that have so directly impacted the lives of so many people in need than our Bluebills. In a short six years of operations we have personally and directly touched the lives of over a thousand persons in need. Working with the social service agencies to help the elderly and families in need, through direct referrals, with the educational system, with kids-in-need and gifts-in-kind, with food bank operations, with repair of hospital equipment and bicycles and being responsive to various charitable requests. Our mantra on the Olympic Peninsula is if a social service agency or a person or persons in need, require assistance and can’t find anyone, call on the Bluebills. Within the Bluebills there is always someone to take on a task and meet the challenge.

It doesn’t matter if you devote only 4 hours or over 40 hours per month of your time to Bluebills activities. It doesn’t matter if you don’t directly participate in our "field work" but support our few "social events" and our other activities such as the EB or our short leadership meetings. That after glow feeling is contagious and you all deserve it. When I took early retirement and we moved to the Olympic Peninsula, Libby expressed concern about what I was going to do with my time. I was not much of a volunteer and did not consider myself to be a very charitable person. Initially I became involved in local community associations and activities like PLG (no not Port Ludlow Golfers but pot luck gluttony), bridge, hiking and other club and social endeavors. I noticed that I was dealing with a bunch of cranky old complainers whose main interests were protecting their perceived material possessions and participating in social affairs mainly for their own pleasure and benefit. I suppose many felt that after a lifetime of work they were entitled to indulge themselves in retirement. I know I did.

Jack Randall came along and I reluctantly agreed (with a push from my wife) to participate in a newly formed group of Boeing retirees. Their goal would be to help the elderly and needy in our county and support various charitable and social service organizations. We had no clear idea as to the extent and scope of our various activities and to the number of Bluebill members we might attract. The list is now long and we touched base with many groups and charitable operations. We spread our efforts to include Clallam and Kitsap Counties. Our presence was felt as far as Forks and Neah Bay, and with some involvement in activities in Seattle.

I again want to thank all the Bluebills, all the agencies, the Boeing Company and other organizations that allowed me to participate in this endeavor and showed me the way. Hopefully I can continue along this volunteerism path even if in a lesser role. Good-bye, God bless and good luck.