My friend Vic Draper sent me an observation by Peggy Noonan in the Wall Street Journal: “As a nation, we’ve learned that as a corporate entity of 330 million diverse souls we could quickly absorb, adapt and adjust to widespread disruption. I’m not sure we knew that. Crazy cowboy nation cooperated with the authorities. America has comported itself as exactly what you thought it was or hoped it was but weren’t sure: compassionate, empathetic, committed, hard-working, creative and, as a friend said, funny as hell. Under great and immediate stress there’s been broad peacefulness and civility."
Then again, I have been advised that half of us are going to come out of this quarantine as amazing cooks. The other half will come out with a drinking problem.
It is no news that all our lives have changed dramatically since this started.
Each of the Rotary clubs in East Jefferson County typically raise funds in the spring for various charitable projects they support. Clearly, they have changed course but have the same objective. East Jefferson sells about 400 dozen roses each year to be delivered this year on April 23, a week from tomorrow. Roses are still being sold to the faithful for $25/dozen for delivery sometime in the future. The club has also raised $11,000 for the club’s scholarship funds by selling the ubiquitous U.S. Flag subscriptions in Port Hadlock, Chimacum and Port Ludlow. The Port Townsend Sunrise Rotary Club puts on its annual “Running of the Balls” fundraiser as a big part of the Rhody Festival. Instead of 20,000 golf balls rolling down Monroe Street, they tentatively plan to mix the tickets in Chuck Henry’s recycled olive/rain barrel and randomly select the winners. Check with Chuck Henry or Lolo Sherwood to get your ticket.
The Port Townsend Noon Rotary Club holds an eagerly anticipated annual “gala” and auction in the spring. Not this year-well, yes this year. It will be held online the first two weeks of May. You will see more information soon. Nevertheless, the event and other fundraisers conducted by the club in the past put it in a position to already donate $25,000 to the emergency fund being managed by the Jefferson County Community Foundation. The Rotarians have quit moving around much, but they are still moving in support of our community.
You might remember former Leader Editor Dean Miller moved on to the Seattle Times. This past weekend his second contribution to the editorial page (that I know of) was published. Nice to see he is staying active and doing well.
Last week my 11-year-old grandson made a significant contribution to this column. As you probably suspect, I got several comments suggesting it represented a significant upgrade in quality and I should consider moving aside to make room for him. Hmmm. The really good news is that the Leader might have increased readership since the column was copied to all the sixth-graders in his school in Seattle, as well as his mother’s Facebook page!
I hope you had a great Easter whilst “social distancing.” We did a cocktail party with the family over Zoom. I couldn’t find any eggs Easter morning, but I did have Alexa play the “Hallelujah Chorus” and “Christ Has Risen Today” a few times.
Love a “virus free” curmudgeon and have a great week!
(Ned Luce is a retired IBM executive who is getting cabin fever in Port Ludlow)
