Kicking off . . .

Last Thursday we had the Rally in the Valley to officially begin the Voice of Tahoma Education (VOTE) kick off for the bond measure. Many thanks go to board members Tami Henkel and Didem Pierson and to Chamber Executive Director Sue Van Ruff for planning and coordinating this event. It was a wonderful evening of information and fun with performances from students in choir and band, the drum line, our competitive cheer program, and the community orchestra. We even had a visit from the robot that will soon be in competition with our high school team behind the controls.

Many community members took part with Brett Habenicht and Denny Pierre doing an incredible job as co-MCs of balancing serious information sharing with fun and laughter. Speakers included Sue Van Ruff and Karen Crowe representing the Chamber of Commerce, Scott Serpa from the Soccer association, Elisa Lewis for the arts, Gary Habenicht and Jim Flynn sharing their experience in monitoring expenditures from the 1997 bond, the Mayor of Maple Valley Noel Gerken, our own Rob Morrow with potential delivery models without a successful bond measure, and an impromptu sharing by Jennifer Gosnell and Allison Agnew for an opportunity to take and make posters that they created for use in the community.

In the background we had Steve Bodwell working with students in setting up and supporting the speakers with slides and videos coordinated by Rick Haag and his students. Crystal Hess and her students set up computers for those that wanted additional information or possibly needed to register. As usual our PR guy, Kevin Patterson, was assisting where asked and capturing the moment. Thanks also go to Terry Duty for his support in preparing for this opportunity at the high school. All-in-all it was a good mix of students, staff, and community members coming together to learn and share with others the importance of this bond measure to continue our journey.

Perhaps the star of the evening was Steve Sogura performing as Elvis. He shared three songs and definitely got the evening off to a rousing start. I know the sacrifice that he made to be a part of this evening and I truly appreciate it. It was another example of why I am so proud to be a part of the Tahoma community.