WWURA NEWS
Western Washington University Retirement Assoc.
Retired WWU Faculty, Staff and Others
JULY 2022
. .INSIDE: . Notes from the President
. . . . . . . . . .Annual Meeting and Picnic
. . . . . . . . . .Interest Groups
. . . . . . . . . .Book Review / Cooking for One
.. . . . . . . . . Writing Note / Health Notes
. . . . . . . . . .Getting to Know Members
President's Notes . . . . . . . . .
In the midst of flying back and forth across the country, taking care of the grandkids, and
keeping up with our flower garden…I’ve taken some time to muse about the state of WWURA after 3 years of restricted activities and much more “Zoom” contact than the human touch. Some thoughts:
The current Board and Officers have been functioning overtime throughout the pandemic with dedication and creativity in crafting activities to help members maintain contact under significant health restrictions. I believe it is important that WWURA formally recognize that commitment by the Board members and I’ll be proposing a “Resolution” to that effect at the Picnic.
But we also need to think about the membership stepping forward to take their turn on the Board (…and for many returning to Board service from their past involvement). The mix of “new blood” and “old-timers” is very important to the good health of our organization.
WWURA members have stood by the Association during this difficult time, maintaining
membership and participating in our “safe” activities. However as an organization we have not been growing our membership at a high enough pace…we all share the responsibility to help new people find this great group!
For myself, I’m finding joy in “carefully” reaching out to others and reconnecting face-to-face while still maintaining an attitude of safety. The annual picnic/meeting is a part of that outreach.
Please stay safe…and I hope we’ll be seeing you at the Picnic.
Kevin
(360) 733-8145 ____________________majkut.kevin@gmail.com
FOR YOUR CALENDAR:
SATURDAY JULY 16th - 1:30 am to 2:00 pm
* * * * * . . . . . . . . * * * . . . Annual Meeting/Picnic . . . * * * . . . * * * * * * * *
Fairhaven Park Upper Picnic Shelter
[Optional: BYO chairs and table for outside seating]
Provided: Fried Chicken and Charlie Way's ice cream !
$5 per person bring Potluck Dish or, $10 no dish
Last name; . . . . . . . .
A - G bring Salad
. . . H - P bring Side dish
. P - Z bring Dessert
* Bring prospective members *
Please reserve by July 8th;
* * * * * * * * * RESERVATION for July 16th PICNIC * * * * * * * * * * * *
Name(s)___________________________________________________________________
$____________ Enclosed
Make check payable to WWURA, send to;
Margaret Loudon
2611 Mill Ave, Bellingham, WA 98225
360-733-6052 PeggyLou99@Gmail.com
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
WWURA Membership Application or Renewal for 2022-2023
Name _______________________________________
Spouse/Partner's name (if applicable)_______________________________
Address _____________________________________
City ______________________State ___ Zip _______
Phone(s) __________________________________Email _____________________________
Year retired ____ Years of WWU Service ___ Department _______________
*If not a WWU Retiree, check one:__ Friend of WWU, __Spouse/Partner of Retiree
. . . . . Retiree of what institution/company? ________________________________
* Select Membership (includes spouse or partner); . . . . .. .$____________
. . . . .Contributing Membership $50.00 or more
. . . . .Regular Membership $35.00
. . . .. Surviving Spouse or Partner $10.00
* Contribution to WWURA Scholarship Fund (Deductible) . $____________
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..Total amount enclosed. . .. $____________
Signature _________________________________ Date _________
Please mail form and check (payable to WWURA) to;
WWURA Membership, c/o Barbara Evans
715 North Garden Street #502
Bellingham, WA 98225
TRAVELOGUES
As usual, WWURA travelogues will take a summer vacation.
Our next event will be A Guess Where? program on Wednesday, September 21st.
Before then, YOU CAN HELP:
Where in the world have WWURA members traveled? The challenge will be to identify where the picture was taken. Send your memorable travel photos/pictures to Evelyn Ames (eames18@comcast.net). To send photos, use jpegs or copy photo onto a Word doc. How many pictures should you send? As many as you think might be fun to guess, with a maximum of 15.
. . . . . . . . . . INTEREST GROUPS . . . . . . . . . . . .
If you are interested in one of the groups please call or email the contact person.
BOOK GROUP
Donna Moore, 360-733-5769 dfmoore12@gmail.com
We will meet at 2 PM on Tuesday, July 19th
. . . . . . . . . by Zoom - Lina will send the link.
July book: One Long River of Song by Brian Doyle
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . - Gail Adele/group discussion
August book: The Hidden Life of Trees by Wohlleben - discussion leader - Carol Rice
September book: Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi - discussion leader Barbara Davidson
INFORMAL DINING - To be revived when we can!
OPERA GROUP
Evelyn Ames, 360-734-3184, evelyn.ames@wwu.edu
Opera Radio (10 am KING FM and 1pm on CBC radio 2):
Upcoming opera productions in our area:
Pacific Northwest Opera (Mt. Vernon): 2022-21 season:
Otello (Nov 4, 6, 11,13)
Der Rosenkavalier, April 14-23.
Vancouver Opera:
The Pearl Fishers Oct 22-30. Listen to famous temple duet with Björling and Merrill. https://youtu.be/5PYt2HlBuyI
Seattle Opera:
The Elixir of Love: Aug 6-20; Tristan & Isolde: Oct. 15-29;
Samson et Delilah in concert form Jan 20 and 22.
Humor for your day: Andy Griffith’s rendition of Carmen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyGFx8Wzz6c
WRITING GROUPS
- The first writing group of has an opening for one writer.
We have decided to keep our group all female. We meet on second and fourth Thursdays from 2p.m till about 4 p.m. If you would like to be part of a supportive group where your writing can be heard and receive feedback, as you wish, at every meeting, we welcome hearing from you.
. . . . . . . . . . . .Contact: Lynne Masland: Lynne.Masland12@gmail.com (36
- The second writing group has started and is accepting new members. Any gender.
Meets every two or three weeks.
. . . . . . . . .Contact: Bill Smith 360-920-5390, billsmith1545@yahoo.com if interested.
BOOK REVIEW
~~~ ~~~ by Minda Rae Amiran
French Braid, by Anne Tyler (2022, Alfred A. Knopf)
The latest Anne Tyler, French Braid, takes its place in the author’s long line of compassionate portraits of ordinary people. Here the story concerns a centrifugal family: a father deeply in love with his wife but busy with the plumbing store he inherited from her father; a wife and mother more committed to her unfashionable and untalented painting than to her children, whom she loves, but at a distance; an elder daughter who takes over management of the household by default, and enjoys it; the wildly boy-crazy younger daughter scorned by her sister; and the sensitive much younger brother, who realizes, on the one family vacation away from Baltimore, that his father doesn’t love him. We see these people as they grow up, marry (the younger sister three times), and have children of their own, the cousins increasingly out of touch with one another. Tyler explores the ways in which the family members still are connected, however, and respects the complexity of all of them.
Tyler is not an experimental or innovative novelist, and we should not expect high style from her. But we need authors with her sharp eye for everyday details and her ability to portray people’s fallible understanding of themselves. There are novels that take us to unknown lands, and those that reveal our own land to us. Tyler is an expert in showing us ourselves.
COOKING FOR ONE (or TWO)
. . . by Suzanne Krogh
A short time ago, Chris Gerhold and a few friends were lunching, (safely outdoors), at Skylarks Café in Fairhaven. Checking out the menu, Chris found herself attracted to the Ancient Grains Bowl. After just a few bites, she realized that it was a version of a dish she enjoyed making at home. Not long after, while reading Evelyn Ames’ May “Health Notes”, she realized further that the bowl recipe provided a way to get all the nutrients Evelyn wrote about. What follows are two versions of the bowl. Chris enjoys making them both.
CHRIS GERHOLD'S "BOWLS"
Ingredients Bowl #1 (traditional): ancient grains such as spelt, barley, buckwheat, or quinoa; arugula or other green, toasted almonds, tomatoes, chickpeas, sliced boiled egg, cucumber, chicken or salmon.
Ingredients Bowl #2 (burrito version): rice or quinoa, chicken tossed with chili powder and cumin, black beans, avocado, chopped tomatoes, salsa, grated cheese, cilantro or chopped green onion, sour cream.
Instructions
In a rimmed shallow bowl, such as a pasta bowl, place the cooked grain on the bottom as a base. Arrange the other ingredients on top.
Tips
Bowl #2 can be served hot or cold. If you prefer it hot, add the sour cream and salsa after serving. A few tortilla chips on the side are a nice
~~~ From the WRITING GROUP ~~~
WHY I WRITE
Suzanne Krogh
A while back, members of our Writers Group challenged each other to explain why writing is important to them. We’re sharing our reasons in hopes that you might be inspired to join in the fun. This is the third “explanation” in our series with a couple more to come.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was summer, 1979 and I had applied to teach at the University of Florida. During the interview, a committee member peered at me and, seemingly out of nowhere, said threateningly, “You do know that you will be expected to engage in writing!”
In response, I nervously blurted, “But, I love to write. I’m delighted it’s part of the job description.” He just said, “well good”, but then recommended that I be hired. For the next twelve years at UF I wrote research articles and text books while always wondering if I might feel more at home living somewhere else, particularly the northwest.
Happily, by 1990 Western had an opening and hired me and I continued writing. Academic writing was one thing though; retirement writing for fun was something else. Being part of the Writers Group has provided me with new ways to express myself, as members pointedly but always in good humor, devote themselves to curing me of academic writing.
Writing Group meetings are always fun, even while they’ve had to be on Zoom. I always manage to have at least a little something to share. How could I let my sister writers down?
HEALTH NOTES by Evelyn Ames
Building Resilience: Adapting to misfortunes and setbacks
What is resilience and how is it defined? “Resilience is the process and outcome of successfully adapting to difficult or challenging life experiences, especially through mental, emotional, and behavioral flexibility and adjustment to external and internal demands” (Amer. Psych. Assoc). A person has resilience when adversity or trauma strikes and anger, grief or pain follow, but then keeps functioning physically and psychologically. Lacking resilience, a person might feel victimized or turn to unhealthy coping mechanisms such as substance abuse, eating disorders (over/under eating), isolating, or other risky behaviors. Resilience does not make problems go away. It gives one the ability to see past them.
Tips to improve resilience:
Get connected: Build strong, positive relationships with loved ones and friends. Being able to reach out to others for support is a key part of being resilient.
Make every day meaningful. Do something that gives you a feeling of purpose and accomplishment.
Learn from experience. Think how you coped with hardships in the past and use these skills and strategies.
Remain hopeful. The past cannot be changed but there is always the future.
Take care of yourself. Tend to personal needs and feelings and participate in enjoyable activities and hobbies (e.g., daily physical activity, take painting or music lessons, eat healthy diets, or participate in stress management, and relaxation techniques).
Be proactive. Determine what needs to be done, decide, and act. “Although it can take time to recover from a major setback, traumatic event or loss, know that your situation can improve if you work at it.”
Other tips for developing resilience (Kaiser Permanente): check in with your feelings, ask for help, make a list of your strengths (e.g., sense of humor, dependable, takes risks), make list of things that make you feel better (e.g., cooking, music, sports), practice mindfulness, avoid comparisons to others, and help others. Sources: https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/resilience-training/in-depth/ resilience/art-20046311 https://thrive.kaiserpermanente.org/thrive-together/live- well/how-to-build-resilience?wt.tsrc=email_pih&cat=l
* * * Getting to know WWURA Members * * *
. . . . . Please help by suggesting yourself and/or others to be noted here.
......... [The printed newsletter version limits this feature to 1/3 page.]
This month: Former WWURA President, Charlie Way - Interviewed by Lynne Masland
Here's are the questions he answered:
1. You've made the ice cream for the summer picnic for many years. About how many and how did you come to make it? Everyone thinks it's quite special. Your secret?
Ice cream in China. When we were living in Tientsin (Tianjin) in the late thirties, we used to summer at Pehtaiho (Beidaihe) which was a very small primitive fishing village of about 3000 individuals on the coast about 100 miles away. By primitive, I mean no electricity, no running water and all the roads were one wheel wide. So, the only means of transportation were one wheel “Chinese-style” wheelbarrow cart for goods and for individuals it was walking, a bicycle, or a donkey. Since the predominant industry was fishing somehow ice must have been miraculously available. As we somehow acquired an old hand-cranked ice cream maker, we were capable of making ice cream. To celebrate the Fourth of July the “Ways” would always make ice cream for the crowd of American expats and particularly their kids. This tradition went dormant after we were “evacuated” from China in 1940 about 18 months before the Pearl Harbor. Flash back to the 1970’s, I was now married and had two young children and remembered the tradition of my youth. Yes, we could have bought commercial ice cream, but for some reason I decided to review my past and make hand churned homemade ice cream. With no coolie power available, we elected for the electric churned variety. Making ice cream on the fourth became a family tradition. As the children grew older and left for college this tradition was again dropped. When I moved to Bellingham, my daughter always wanted to visit us over the 4th of July weekend. So, for amusement we revived the old ice cream making tradition. When I became President of WWURA I was looking for something unique for the WWURA picnic in mid-July. Since I had just made a batch ice cream for our family Fourth gathering, I decided to make another batch for the picnic. It went over well and so a tradition was born.
As for the recipes, they all were different. In China, ice might have been difficult to obtain, but fresh milk and cream were impossible. At least in the 1930’s the only milk products available were imported and various varieties of canned. Then there was also a powdered milk called KLIM, which all of us youngsters hated. What my mother and the cook used to come up with our ice cream concoction is unknown, but a least it was cold, sweet, eatable and vastly different from anything else we could get locally. When I first came to Bellingham, I brought a few recipes with me but evidently not one for ice cream. So, I turned to Pat and she gave me one from her New York Times Cook book circa 1950’s. She deemed the recipe - too rich and too sweet, but everyone seems to like it. It has been a hit ever since!
2. You were WWURA board president. When, how long, any special issues?
Shortly after arriving in Bellingham, Pat’s lady friends were worried because there was a vacancy on the WUURA Board. They all prevailed on me to volunteer to fill it. So, I became Secretary during Evelyn Wright’s term as President. Burt Grover was next in line but I was shocked to learn that by agreeing to be secretary I was putting myself in line to be President eventually. Since the day before I was on the Board, I didn’t know what WWURA was or even what the initials stood for. Anyway in 2002 I was now President of WWURA and my main concerning was getting someone on the Board who was qualified to replace me. Fortunately, Jerry Flora had just returned to Bellingham during my term and I convinced him to join the board, with understanding that he would be my replacement. After the election, but before taking office, Rosemary Flora talked to me and told that because Jerry’s health issues his doctor recommended that he not serve. So, unexpectedly, I had the opportunity to serve another term. After almost twenty years, I don’t recall any major issues, but I can say, in retrospect, my two years as President were very enjoyable. It was a great introduction to WWURA and a great introduction to Bellingham. I got to know the members much better than I would have otherwise. The one thing that made me very rewarded was being able to look back and know that I assisted in the continuity of WWURA.
3, Please tell us about your China (and Korea) background.
My grandfather took an overseas job in the late 1920’s in Kobe, Japan. He took his wife and two adult unmarried daughters with him. My Dad, then a bachelor, had a job with the Standard Oil Company’s overseas division and was also assigned to Kobe, Japan. Obviously, the two were destined to get met. They were married in 1932, and my Dad’s second assignment, as was the custom, was “up-country”. In Japan of the 1930’s Sendai was definitely off the “beaten path”, 300 miles north of Tokyo. As my mother described it “the whole town was just small one story buildings with just enough occidental to make a foursome for bridge”. I was born in Sendai, delivered by a Japanese doctor who was trained in Germany and didn’t speak a word of English. We were his first occidental patients.
In 1895, Japan had conquered Korea and it was now considered a “province” of Japan and remained so until after WWII. The Japanese renamed it Chosen. Our next assignment were two places in Chosen/Korea. One was in what is now North Korea Japanese name Genzan (Wonsan) and then to what is now South Korea, Keijo now called Seoul. Since my age at that point was about six months, I have no memories except family photos and stories. Following that we were assigned to Peking (Biejing). We lived in a hotung (walled compound) with an interesting street scene right outside our wall. What I remember most were the camel caravans coming off the Gobi desert. These were asian bactrain camels with two humps and quite long hair, They always carried heavily loaded packs. These same type of camel caravans were venturing throughout history going back to ancient times of Rome. They always intrigued me. Just the sights on the street were always so interesting. In the 1930’s they said that old Peking had changed little since medieval time, and I can believe that. Peking was still a walled city. While we were there in 1936, the Japanese staged the Marco Polo Bridge incident. That was a supposed attack by the Chinese on the Japanese that started the Sino-Chinese war. That war was the a precursor to WWII. After our short stay, eight months in Peking my Dad went to his permanent assignment in Tientsin. Tientsin was just another colonial city with none of the charm of a real Chinese city like Peking. In Tientsin, we had Indian Sikh policemen and US Marine garrison. In the fall of 1940 all American women and children were evacuated back to the States. Our evacuation ship made a scheduled stop in Kobe. Japan and my grandmother joined us. Of course, all the men were left behind.
After the Second World War we returned to Shanghai China. By now I was a teenager. We were dumped into the middle of the Chinese civil. Rampart inflation, refuges and squalor were everywhere. Thing were chaotic. We left within a year, never to return except as tourist.
4. What was your career?
My first (and only) job after completing college was with the Boeing Company. With an Engineering degree and an MBA, it was the perfect fit for me. Traditional design engineering was not my interest. On my first day when I saw five acres of drawing boards, I told my boss if that’s what you had in mind for me, I wanted a return ticket. He said that wasn’t what the company had in mind for me either. I spent the first thirty of my forty year career at Boeing in the “Defense/Aerospace” side of the business. I quickly moved on from the short engineering associated job, to jobs in finance, marketing, personnel, industrial engineering and inventory management. After thirty years, I was invited to join a group at Boeing Corporate Headquarters where I spent my last ten years (1) interfacing with national organizations, (2) working with colleges to modify their curriculum to better meet industrial needs, (3) liaison with congressional organizations and (4) participating with a team that was responsible for modernizing Boeing’s manufacturing processes. I never had a dull moment and always felt challenged.
I was also lucky enough to be selected to be on the board of the unrelated multi-million small business, Rowland Land, for 12 years. That overlapped with some of my Boeing time. It too, was a most interesting experience.
5..Family? Married to Pat Clarke. Children and step-children?.
Somehow chance makes things work out perfectly. I was originally married to a Tacoma girl, Joan Green, who was then working at the University of Washington. We had two children. My oldest was a girl, Suzie, and three years later a boy, named after his maternal grandfather, Baldwin. Tragically in her late fifties my first wife passed away from cancer. Magically I met Pat Clarke who had recently lost her husband, David Clarke, to cancer also. We hit it off well from our first meeting. Pat called it “smitten” and we both were likewise affected. She also had two children with the girl, Anna, the oldest. And as chance would have it both girls were born in the same year just four months apart. Likewise, both our sons, Peter and Baldwin, were close to the same age. As befitting families associated with academia, three of the four children earned PhD’s. As Pat and I were “dating”, before we were married in 2000, two of our children had married before us, so our combined family with in-laws was now six. Since this made three girls and three boys close to the same age; my daughter recalling from her youth the TV program the Brady Bunch coined the term for our blended family “The Brainy Bunch”. Since that time all our children have successfully married. In addition to our children, we have eight grandchildren. We have been so lucky, as our blended family is very compatible and all get along very well.
Anything else you'd like us to know about you? Hobbies, experiences?
In my teenage years, I lived next to a family that had two girls slightly older than I was. Since the neighbor had no sons, I was semi adopted into his hobbies that didn’t interest his girls. He was a competitive sailor and introduced me to the sport. Upon arriving in Seattle, an uncle who wasn’t a sailor introduced me to a compatriot who was. I was thus introduced to the Seattle Six-Meter fleet where I remained active for the rest of my stay in Seattle. After that exposure, I remained a lifelong sailor either on my boat or other people’s. Upon moving to Bellingham, I meet Mel Davidson and we immediately bonded. This resulted in many memorable cruises around the San Juans and down the coast including the Caribbean.
In my youth, I was never in any location with access to the mountains, so I never learned to ski. That was a skill I learned immediate upon my arrival on the West Coast. I skied the remaining years of my life until my late eighties when my body told me I had to drop that sport. Also for the last fifteen years or so I was the ski coordinator for WWURA.