LUMMI ISLAND NEWSLETTER
MAY 1968
NEXT GENERAL MEETING WEDNESDAY EVENING SEPTENBER 25, 1968
The club is discontinuing the general meetings for June, July and August, but the officers and committee heads will meet in executive sessions at least once a month during the interim ‑ probably for mint julips and any other important business that might come up. There will be at least three “pancake feeds” during the summer put on by the club and the Fire Auxiliary. The men, however, have yielded to the pressures of the women and are allowing them to help this year. It really doesn’t matter, you know, ‑for the men have proved their point of excellence in all things ‑ even pancakes ‑ or something??? The dates of these proposed gormet delights are as follows: June 16th, August 4th (the Auxiliary effort) and August 25th.
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The all-island reception honoring our retiring School Marm ‑ Edith Granger ‑was well attended by her many, many friends and her many, many, many relatives on Sunday last. The school gym was transformed into a picturesque panorama of the finer and daintier arts designed and constructed by our local catering and artistic types representing all the organizations on the Island. (This writer found out afterwards that some of the table decorations were edible ‑ Gee! How Hoity Tolty can we get!!) We think Mrs. Granger’s tenure as the dominant force in the education of the cherubic Island progeny was a marvelous accomplishment what with the mediocre and oftimes inadequate equipment she was forced to use. Imagine! No psychiatrist in attendance even. If we but had several thousand carbon copies of Mrs. Granger we wouldn’t need all the mu1ti‑nillion dollar educational complexes being built. This writer believes that he speaks for all who know her when he offers his humble thanks for a job done far better than well.
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Andy Luke is retiring as Fire Chief ‑ a job he has held since the department’s inception some 6 years ago. He deserves the thanks of all Islanders for his tenacious devotion to the duties and obligations of the position. He has spent many hours of his own time maintaining the equipment and welding both men and materials into an organization of which there is none better. As a specific honor to Andy, the men of the Department have voted him their Fire Chief Emeritus ‑ guess that means he can now do the “don’t call me ‑ I will call you” bit. Floyd Tuttle has been appointed the new Fire Chief and will try to fill Andy’s boots ‑ wonder if he plans on any better fires than Andy had??
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The Fire Department is apparently going to construct an addition to the Fire Hall to house the new ambulance type emergency vehicle. This minimal building is badly needed and some of the funds are available but more donations are needed to complete it as noted in the attached sheet which shows the immediate and anticipated costs of the purchase and housing of this facility.
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At the request of the Club, Galen Bentley, a local architect, has designed an additional structure to be known as a civic center, which will be connected to the Fire Hall as a future facility for the equipment and personnel needs of the Department or other civic units. The intent of this move being the economically feasible possibility of securing a structure that could be used for several years as a temporary community hall for business and social functions by various organizations and groups on the Island. It was felt that through a united effort this could be accomplished by fund-raising activities in the near future. Galen has donated his talent to the project and we assure him that it is deeply appreciated. There is considerable enthusiasm among the various organizations about trying to raise an amount sufficient enough to allow this to be built as soon as possible and the club has voted to spark a drive of fund raising to take effect immediately. Various and sundry social functions, dinners, shows, etc. are being planned to this end. The housing of the emergency vehicle is to take precedence however. It is hoped that at some future date an adequate community center will be made available which would encompass all the recreational and cultural needs of the Island community. The various sites where this would be possible and practical have been under consideration by the Planning Group.
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In reference to the armed generation we regret having to bring you a report about Sid McFarland being wounded in Vietnam during a sortie as a helicopter pilot. He is being sent to Madigan Hospital near Tacoma, but the extent of his Injuries has not been determined as of this writing. Michael Ellingboe is in Pleiku, Vietnam where he is already busy repairing aircraft ‑ understand Gary Roughton and Norman Boyd are also in the thick of things in Vietnam. Mike Granger stopped off here for a few days on his way to the same embattled country. Maybe if we get enough Island fellers over there the war would be over in a hurry. Incidentally Mike and Rich Granger met up in Germany recently.
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Pete Granger was recently initiated into a national honorary scholastic fraternity ‑ “Pi Omicon Sigma” ‑ at the University.
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Some of the creative types on the Island are showing samples of the results of their dedicated labors at the Whatcom County Art Guild Fair this week ‑ guess if they put the prices high enough their works will be better appreciated. Understand Beth Hudson is the president of said guild and as such, ably represents the high caliber of the Island craftsmen.
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The members of the local scout troop have diligently been attending weekly troop meetings conducted by Scout Master Don Essex, and they are about half way to earning their second class ratings. The activities programmed for the summer include cookouts, hikes and a week-long camping trip.
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At approximately 8:00 p.m. on May 28th, a brush-up course in First Aid will be conducted at the Grange Hall under the sponsorship of the Fire Department. Everyone is welcome. This is a must for anyone not having learned the newer methods and techniques developed in the last ten years. Apparently about everything this writer learned some 30 years ago (after three full courses of first aid) is not acceptable at the present time. Wonder how we ever lived through it?
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Again we warn all you migrating types ‑ the Ferry will be off after the 8:00 a.m. run Monday, June 10th, and will presumably be back for the 10:00 p.m. run Friday, June 14th. Check your last letter for the schedule of the passenger boat which will run during the interim.
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Have fun on your vacation ‑ and ours!!
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Your Community Club
Gus Johnson, President
AMDULANCE TYPE EMERGENCY VEHICLE FUND
Donations through May 20, 1968 $2,307.00
Paid outs:
Cash paid out for ambulance $750.70
Expense of getting ambulance ready for trip from California,
wheel balancing, new tires, grease job, gasoline for trip to Lummi 114.65
Gordon’s Auto Wrecking 3 new tires 90.72
Wella Hanson, County Auditor – Change of title and sales tax 36.95
A‑1 Auto Body Rebuild – paint ambulance 98.33
Ireland and Dellingar Insurance Co. insurance until Juno 15, 1968 23.10
Bills to be paid:
Lettering on Vehicle “Emergency Rescue” 25.00
Insurance for one year. (6‑15‑68 to 6‑15‑69 about) 150.00
Resuscitator about 47.00
Masks about 8.00
Fittings for oxygen lank 15.00
Oxygen bottle 22.00
Total cost of vehicle & Equipment $1,381.45
Anticipated cost of housing for ambulance if all labor is donated $2,000.00
Total $3,381.45