Home Page | Rotary Club of Shelton Skookum

Scholarship Committee Hard at Work

Denis Leverich, Chair of the Scholarship committee, has wrangled committee members and the first of many Scholarship meetings has begun. So many well deserving students have applied that the committee will have its work cut out for them. Thank you to all scholarship committee members for participating in this important process.

Many of the scholarships that will be awarded this year are named after Skookum Rotarians or their spouses. The Doug Larsen scholarship recognizes students pursuing veterinarian or health related careers. Doug was a founding member of Skookum Rotary, community leader and the person that named the Huff'NPuff trail.

The Janis Byrd scholarship honors students pursing business degrees. Janis was a passionate Skookum president and leader in our community. The Dick Oltman scholarship honors students studying tourism or environmental studies. Dick was the founder of OysterFest, the original GOO.

The Lee Gillis scholarship honors students pursing educational arts. Many remember Lee's passion for our senior gardening projects, reading education and the founder of our Academic Excellence program. The Terry Shaw scholarship honors students for their academic achievement. Terry was always the person with a smile and the words 'I can help with that'.

The Joy Doescher scholarship honors a student pursing a degree in human services. Joy was the Rotarian we always knew had our paperwork in order, submitted on time and a joy to alongside.

The Terry Olsen scholarship honors a student pursing a vocational career. Terry was the 'can do' Rotarian always willing to lend a hand or an ear to better our community.

The Harvey Farrimond scholarship honors a student for their academic achievement. Harvey, the spouse of Skookum Rotarian Linda Farrimond, was at every single Skookum Rotary event and project lending a hand and a good laugh (I wish we had photos of him helping me create the crawl through septic system as an OysterFest exhibit, it was priceless).

It is with honor that we recognize and honor these amazing people. Scholarships are a large portion of the Skookum Rotary service budget each year. These awards help propel our graduating seniors to continue learning and exploring their possibilities. If you are interested in contributing to the scholarship fund, please reach out to Denis or a board member of the Skookum Foundation. No donation too small or too large.

Sound Learning Spell-E-Bration

Skookum rotarian Shannon Klasell was our speaker on Wednesday and beyond sharing all of the great work of Sound Learning she told us to save the date for Spell-E-Bration! There is plenty of time to look at forming a team and practicing your spelling. Skookum Rotary has been a supporter of Spell-E-Bration for many years. It would be great to see a Skookum team entered this year.

Music in the Park 2021 style

Music in the Park chair, Justin Baze and committee member Heidi McCutcheon are hard at work making plans for a COVID safe Music in the Park series this year. Please contact Justin to learn how you can help at the weekly events this summer. Many hands will be needed to insure the safety of our guests.

Remembering Darryl Cleveland

It is with sadness that I share that Skookum Rotary charter member Darryl Cleveland passed on April 1, 2021.

A proud Skookum Rotarian for 45 years, Darryl served three times as Skookum's president and Grand Old Oyster. Keeping our club connected was something that Darryl did with humor and ease. He was the long term editor of the SNAG. It is in his honor that I resurrected the SNAG a few months ago. He was active in the retention and recruitment of members, constantly reaching out and checking in with those he hadn't seen at breakfast.

At OysterFest Darryl held many roles, but his most infamous would have been as a Kids' Day at OysterFest tour guide. He loved to tell me that station 3 was followed by station 5. 'That is true Darryl, but we need to stop at station 4 first, okay?' I would always chide. On Saturday and Sunday you would catch Darryl chairing the wine pavilion making sure that wine tasting and wine by the bottle sales were running smoothly. He also served as publicity chair for OysterFest, assigning us all clubs within the District and beyond to visit so that we could share the OysterFest news. He even arranged for television appearances to promote our premier event.

Darryl was well organized, inclusive, family and community minded. A man of action, he served in pretty much every role and on every committee that Skookum has ever had. He and his wife Peggy hosted many Rotary Exchange students and participated in Rotary Friendship Exchange traveling abroad. Darryl's dedication was evident in his words and actions. He was a Paul Harris Fellow five times over, a sustaining member of the Rotary Foundation, and a Rotary Foundation Benefactor. We will miss you Darryl. Rest in peace.

Left to Right, Jerry Obendorf, Darryl Cleveland, Jill Himlie, Vince Himlie

Quarantales and Other Stories

Wednesday Peter and Esther Jones took us on a writing adventure from their first stories to their latest pandemic collection, The Quarantales! Owning a publishing house, attracting writers and cover artists and editing are just a few of their amazing talents beyond their own twist and turn of a tale. Their work has been covered in anthologies too such as Dragon Writers and Straight Outta Deadwood with other notable authors. COVID-19 hasn't slowed the duo down as they continue to participate in conventions virtually sometimes spending 15 hours during a weekend engaging with fans. Thank you Peter and Esther for being part of the Skookum Rotary family and sharing your stories with us!