Note from
President Weir
"F is for frank"
Dear Fellow Rotarians,
Last week’s Rotary “F” word was “frank.” So let me be “frank” with all of you about our current meeting situation and plans. In early August, as the Delta variant of Covid-19 started to spike here in Spokane County, and Governor Jay Inslee instituted a mandatory indoor mask-wearing mandate, your board made the difficult, yet necessary decision, to go back to Zoom meetings after just two months of being back in person at the Spokane Club. Our decision was based on both the rapid rise of Covid-19 case numbers and the rapid decrease in physical attendance at the Spokane Club meetings.
As we approach November it appears that the Covid-19 Delta variant cases here in Spokane County are now trending back down. I’ve been asked if our board has a plan for going back in person and we discussed it at our last board meeting. There are three main factors we’d like to see before going back to in-person/hybrid meetings:
- We’d like to see the trending case numbers get back to the levels they were in early August when the spike began. We are watching several websites, but the two listed here are the main websites we’re watching can be viewed by clicking here and clicking here.
- We also know that Governor Inslee’s indoor mask mandate is still in place and we’re hoping to hear some news of what he wants to see before he’ll consider lifting it. We know we can still meet indoors if we choose, but several have expressed not wanting to come to a meeting until the mask mandate has been lifted.
- Once we get closer to those August Covid19 Delta variant trend numbers, we’d like to do a survey of the membership to see how comfortable Rotarians feel about coming back in person. Personally, I’d love to see our ballroom at the Spokane Club filled again with all of you in it! But we also know many of you prefer to tune in on Zoom for various reasons. However, we need to have a fair number of Rotarians willing to attend a lunch meeting to make it worth the time and expense to set up the room.
I’m hopeful that these Covid-19 numbers in our county will continue to decrease and that we can meet again sans masks in person again soon. Please know that your board and leadership team have a plan in place and with your help, when the time comes, we can make a decision based on the medical facts and input of our membership.
Thank you for letting me be frank with you and for your help and participation in this process. And thank you for being the Power of One that makes our Rotary Club great!
Truly Honored,
Kyle Weir
President
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