Brian Kennedy, who works at Blue Sea Systems in Bellingham, and his wife put together a team of 61 people to participate in The Seattle Big Climb, raising $20,238 for the Leukemia Lymphoma Society.
It was their third year participating in the March event that is a race/walk to climb the 69 flights of stairs in the Colombia Tower.
Brian's Team Charlie/Extreme Fitness was named after his son, who completed his cancer treatments for leukemia in 2010.
In 2010 his team of 40 raised about $6,000; in 2011 his 65-member team raised $16,000.
Brian says a team member placed second in the event in 2010. Last year was the first time that Charlie (now 9) was healthy enough to participate.
FOUNDATION HONORS TEACHER OF THE YEAR
Steve Lawrence, 2012 Washington State History Teacher of the Year, received a $1,000 cash award from Meridian Public School Foundation, according to a press release.
Steve has taught U.S. history and government classes since 1994. He also coaches girl's golf and the mock trial team, and is the adviser for the teen court program. He plans to attend a history-though-music conference in Mississippi.
Paul Kratzig is president of the Meridian foundation, which was established in 1997. It awards close to $40,000 each year to graduates pursuing post-secondary education, and to alumni returning to their education years after high school or seeking continuing education related to their current career. For information, go to meridianpublicschoolfoundation.org.
COMMUNITY FOUNDATION RECOGNIZES YOUTHS
Whatcom Community Foundation has recognized 16 students with three scholarship award funds in 2012, according to a press release. They are:
• The Cole Student of the Year Award, a fund established by Sue and Craig Cole, for inspirational and hardworking Whatcom County middle school students, went to Courtney Waytashek of Assumption Catholic School, Katherine Barrett of Baker View Christian School, Tabitha Hinners of Blaine Middle School, Natalie Hofford of Cornerstone Christian School, Elaine Morado of Horizon Middle School, Roberto Mendez of Meridian Middle School, Bassoumi Najib Boulos of St Paul's Academy and Madison Jones of Whatcom Day Academy.
• The Clayton D. Millage Scholarship, established in memory of beloved Lynden Middle School Science teacher Clayton D. Millage, for Lynden elementary and middle school students interested in science, went to Elizabeth Shook, Harmeen Kaur, Brock Benner, Joshua Doerksen and Daylon Knight to attend 2012 MIT Eureka Fest.
The 2011 Millage scholarship recipients attended an MIT "All Hands on Deck" program and were the only ones out of 16 schools to receive a $9,985 MIT grant for the 2011-12 school year. They spent more than 1,400 hours outside of class to create a prototype tricycle for a fellow student with spinal bifida. They were invited back this year to reveal their invention and received a second year 2012 Millage scholarship to attend the "reveal."
Also winning a Millage scholarship this year is Andrew Camacho, who will attend WWU's Odyssey of Science Robotics Engineering and Computer Science summer classes.
• The Roy Georgeff Scholarship, established in memory of Roy Georgeff of Lynden, who bequeathed a portion of his estate to establish a scholarship fund for graduating Lynden High School and Lynden Christian High School seniors, went to Lynden Christian graduate Kaitlyn Brown to attend Seattle Pacific University and to Lynden graduate Abigail Hortegas to attend Seattle Pacific University.
MOUNT BAKER THEATRE ADDS BOARD MEMBERS
Bob Brim, Dennis Cattrell, Rick Luke and Megan Thorpe Stanfield joined the Mount Baker Theatre board of directors July 1, 2012, for three-year terms, according to a press release.
They join board members Jane Carten, Brad Cornwell, Brian Finnegan, William Gerrie, Ann Kaiser, John Templeton, Mark Thoma, Susan Delana Walker and Edwin Williams. Ex-officio members are Seth Fleetwood, Dave Graham and Daniel G. Guyette.
Officers are Daniel Larner, president; Matt Rose, vice president; John Pedlow, treasurer; and Wendy Bohlke, secretary.
Janice Butler and Jan Marchbanks are retiring from the board June 30, after each serving six years.
Brad Burdick, the theater's executive director, sent me these bios of the new members:
• Bob Brim is CEO of Dealer Information Systems Corp., known as DIS, a computer software company he and several others founded in 1980. He graduated from Western Washington University in 1970 with a degree in math and physics. While working for the Navy after graduation he earned a master's in electronic engineering at UCLA.
In 1989 he graduated from the University of Washington with an MBA. Both Robert and his wife, Gwen, grew up in Lynden and moved to Bellingham in 2000 to eliminate the "long" commute to work. Robert and Gwen have four children and seven grandchildren; sadly only half of them live in the area. But since traveling is one of their passions they see the rest fairly often.
Bob serves on the advisory board for the College of Science and Technology at WWU and on the board of the Downtown Bellingham Partnership. Besides traveling to exotic places, he enjoys piloting his Cessna 172, scuba diving - preferably in warm water - and running. He especially enjoys live performances, and he and Gwen have been season ticketholders at Mount Baker Theatre for many years.
• Dennis Cattrell graduated from the University of Michigan in 1961 and Northern Illinois University in 1962. He taught at a community college in Michigan for five years before coming to Western Washington University in 1966. Dennis taught theater arts for 33 years before retiring in 1999.
While at WWU he worked to form the College of Fine and Performing Arts; was the first chairman of the Theatre Arts Department (for 12 years); worked in virtually every aspect of theater teaching and production, except costuming; co-founded a long-running summer stock program; and directed nearly 100 plays and musicals. After his retirement he has continued to direct regularly and is a lead director of radio theater for Midnight Mystery Players, associated with SPARK Museum, and directs the Chuckanut Radio Hour, produced by Village Books. He is also directing "Flowers for Algernon" for Bellingham Theater Guild.
• Rick Luke was born and raised in Bellingham, graduating from Bellingham High School in 1972. He attended Skagit Valley Community College before he was hired by the city of Bellingham as a police dispatcher. He later worked in Whatcom County Jail before being hired as a police officer. Rick retired as a motorcycle traffic officer in January 2009 after 35 years with the city.
Rick loves to fly and he earned his private pilot's license when he was 17. Over the course of years he has added commercial, sea, instrument, multi-engine, flight instructor, ground instructor and ATP ratings. In 1989 Rick became the FAA-designated pilot examiner for this area, an occupation he continues in retirement. In 2003 he was named Flight Instructor of the Year and was inducted into the Washington State Aviation Hall of Fame.
He is an active member of Christ Lutheran Church and volunteers with Interfaith Coalition. He and his wife, Linda, enjoy traveling, both nationally and internationally. They have been Mount Baker Theatre members and season ticket holders for many years, and love sharing theater experiences with family and friends. Rick has two daughters and three grandchildren.
• Megan Thorpe Stanfield is a private banker with Wells Fargo. She holds a degree in communication with an emphasis on public relations, and an MBA from Pepperdine University. By the age of 20 she was an accomplished pilot, with her commercial, instrument, multi-engine and flight instructor ratings.
After moving to Bellingham in 1990 from Ventura County, Calif., Megan was hired by Whatcom Community College as a business instructor. In 1991 she started her banking career with Security Pacific Bank. Through subsequent mergers over the next 11 years she worked for Seafirst and Bank of America. In 2002 Megan joined Sterling Savings Bank where she held the positions of private banker and team leader in Lynden. In 2009 she accepted a position as private banker for Wells Fargo in the wealth management department, serving Whatcom, Skagit and Island counties and lower mainland B.C. out of her office in Fairhaven. She holds her Series 7 securities, investment advisor and insurance licenses.
She is a past president and board member of the Lynden Chamber of Commerce and currently serves on the Whatcom Family YMCA board of directors. In addition, Megan is a member of the Western Washington University President's Club, WWU's At Home Committee and the Rotary Club of Bellingham. She is married to Perry, a veterinarian with Kulshan Veterinary Hospital in Lynden. They live in Lynden with their 13-year-old daughter and their menagerie of dogs, cats and a bird. They have two sons who attend WWU.
Reach JULIE SHIRLEY a julie.shirley@bellinghamherald.com or call 715-2261.
