Rotary honors three at Star luncheon

Businessperson, Service Above Self and Citizen of Year named on Jan. 26

Dave Stave

Special to the Gateway

Three area residents were honored last week for their service in the community by Gig Harbor’s Rotary clubs.

Bill Mumford, Wally Haugaard and Steve Lynn were presented Rotary Star of the Year awards at a luncheon Jan. 26 at Kensington Gardens in Gig Harbor.

Mumford was given the Gig Harbor Midday Rotary Club’s Business Person of the Year award for his work in distributing books to children at St. Anthony Hospital and other outlets.

Haugaard was recognized with the Service Above Self award by the Gig Harbor North Rotary Club for his volunteer work with the Key Peninsula Lutheran Church Food Bank, and Lynn was presented the Gig Harbor (Morning) Rotary Club’s Citizen of the Year award for his leadership with the Gig Harbor Historic Waterfront Association.

More than 140 Rotarians attended the event that was emceed by Tom Leander.

Business Person of the Year

Mumford, the general manager of Borders Books in Gig Harbor, contacted the Gig Harbor Midday Rotary Club early last year to see if it would partner with Borders to distribute books donated by Borders’ customers. The club, which meets at noon Tuesdays at Anthony’s Restaurant, agreed.

Mumford said giving to local community organizations was important to him.

Borders had four book drives last year, and staff members asked customers to donate a book or another item, mainly for children.

As a result, more than 4,500 new books, soft toys and games were donated.

Organizations that received the items included St. Anthony Hospital, the Gig Harbor Boys & Girls Club, the Gig Harbor Peninsula FISH Food Bank, Pierce County Foster Children and the Key Peninsula Family Resource Center.

“We put these gifts into use right away, helping to comfort a preschool-age child in the ER waiting area with the book, “The Velveteen Rabbit,” and a soft stuffed animal,” said Jacquie Goodwill, marketing manager for the Franciscan Health System.

Service Above Self

Haugaard, born and raised in Chico, Calif., worked his way through college by selling carpet out of the trunk of his car. After he graduated from high school, he sold mainframe computers for NCR and Honeywell. He also helped to organize about 50 small business offices across the country and around the world.

Haugaard used his entrepreneurial skills to organize the Key Peninsula Lutheran Church Food Bank. Realizing that grocery stores discarded food that was nearing its expiration date but was still wholesome and nutritious, Haugaard convinced three local supermarkets to donate items.

He enlisted team members from both his church and the community to collect, sort and distribute the food.

More than 3,000 pounds of food have been saved each week. Last fall, Haugaard expanded the operation to include fresh salmon from the Minter Creek Hatchery that also was distributed to the community.

The Gig Harbor North Rotary Club meets at 5 p.m. Tuesdays in the family education center of the Milgard Medical Pavilion near St. Anthony Hospital.

“Service above Self” is Rotary International’s motto.

Citizen of the Year

Lynn and his wife, Mary, have lived in Gig Harbor for more than 15 years. As the owner of Water to Wine, Lynn is establishing two new waterfront district businesses: Morso, a wine bar, and Morso Market, a cheese and specialty market.

Lynn’s previous business experience was in pharmaceutical development. He was head of business development for a Seattle biotechnology firm.

Along with being president of the Gig Harbor Historic Waterfront Association, Lynn also is on the board of directors for both the Harbor History Museum and the Gig Harbor Peninsula Area Chamber of Commerce, and he’s on the Gig Harbor Film Festival’s advisory board.

Lynn has served on State of Washington committees and is a member of the Business Advisory Council for the Washington State Liquor Control Board.

One of Lynn’s greatest passions is the waterfront association, a volunteer-based organization with a goal of bringing waterfront district stakeholders together by utilizing the Main Street Approach.

Seeing a need last summer, Lynn helped spur volunteers to water hanging flower baskets along the harbor.

Lynn’s and the association’s mission is to encourage economic vitality and to preserve the historic character of the area.

The Gig Harbor Rotary Club meets at 7 a.m. Fridays at Cottesmore of Life Care Center in Gig Harbor.

Nancy Rimel, a Midday Rotary Club member who helped organize last week’s luncheon, said she expects to see more Star of the Year awards presented next year.

“We do plan to turn this event into a larger one, open to the community, that will occur annually,” she said.