Presented to the South Whidbey Historical Society Board Members, May 9, 2012
“The Truth is a straight line from my heart to yours,” –Timothy Dean Scriven
The above drawing is intended to depict that a single project worth $15,000 was achieved with a relatively small amount, as $2,200 was applied to accomplish the work. Many additional projects were also accomplished using the leveraging money concept over an 8 year period of time.
The method that we employed is representative of the manner in which voluntarism has been benefiting communities throughout the history of the United States of America from the time that the nation was founded. The movie, Pay It Forward, reveals the benefits of voluntarism and individual giving in a way that is complementary to the concept of leveraging money.
The achievements that the professional people accomplished as they worked independently while engineering the various systems and construction projects, providing the legal services, the topographic survey, donating heavy machinery for clearing and excavating, constructing buildings, drilling the well, etc. were in effect leveraging upon each other’s contributions with their collective effort. Truly, it was their unselfish combined collaboration and cooperation that provided for the utmost efficient use of their respective contributions to build a venue for further giving by the coaches of youth and other volunteer instructors that would follow. The people who continue to give are adding to the cumulative effect, the positive outcome of which is broad based, from the standpoint of its beneficial impact upon the community.
Those who donated money did so with the highest regard for those who gave their professional time. Their endorsement letters further reflect this fact. Many of the endorsement letters are included in the appendix of the historical book which is further explained later in this document. All are available in my collection which may be viewed upon the South Whidbey Historical Society’s web site. At each public speaking engagement and to each and every individual that I involved in the work that was accomplished for over 8 years I made the same statements consistently with what is factually supported by the many documents in my collection.
Over the years some have not told the truth about me, but for those interested the truth is available and I welcome your close examination of it. In particular it was always understood and explained by me from before signing the Purchase/Option Agreement and thereafter that it was essential for a Park & Recreation District to be established to work cooperatively with a comprehensive funding scheme as was further explained repeatedly by many promotional documents that are included in my collection for review.
Where the truth regarding the Purchase/Donation process of the original 43 acre park site is concerned Debra Waterman coauthored what is written. She, like her father before her, is a person of great integrity and those who wish to may check with her on our factual account of how the property was acquired and the importance of remembering people who donated to its purchase once the Option Agreement to purchase it was signed by her father, Bud Waterman, and I.
The Pyramid of Success, taught to the individual basketball players at UCLA, by the greatest coach of all time, Coach John Wooden, has been provided by McDonalds on a web site that shares information about Coach Wooden and his methods for winning. The character traits of the individuals who gave their time toward building the community park complex have much in common with the players on Coach John Wooden’s championship teams. After all, the character traits taught by the Pyramid of Success is about winning on and off of the court.
Understanding this by those who gave was a primary motivational reason for their investment of time. Although it was not spoken, it was reflected by their character and the manner in which they cooperated and supported each other to achieve their common goal on behalf of their commUNITY. What I am sharing in this paragraph will be expanded upon further as the NFL Play 60 Program and NBA Cares Program are each delivering messages that are compatible with our purpose for building the park complex. We possess common goals for youth and are pulling in the same direction without question.
Dr. James Talbot, Professor of Geology, Emeritus, and past Provost of Western Washington University, was my mentor through the process of writing the story of the professionals who donated their time over an 8 year period while developing the South Whidbey CommUNITY Center. Our story is featured upon his WWU web site, http://faculty.wwu.edu/talbot/ and also in our recent book, presently in manuscript form titled, the Early Origins and History of the Development of the South Whidbey CommUNITY Center.
Together they provide a tribute to those who gave unselfishly while building a 43 acre park venue for perpetual good. Long before the work of myself in cooperation with Dr. James Talbot, I asked my retired teacher from the 2nd Grade, Edith Buck, a published author of children’s books, to write the park’s story by utilizing my detailed notes of the property site’s Purchase/Donation process and about those who contributed to the development of the complex at that time. Initially Edith said no. I continued to pray and after a month or so found myself calling Edith a second time for another appointment and discussion. This time she agreed and I provided Edith with my notes and I began collaborating with her through the process of writing the story along with a second wonderful and wise retired teacher, Dorothy Gray. The ladies titled their book, after over riding my concern, the Birth of a Vision. Bettie Hall joined us to type the little book and Linda Colley published the first copies using her equipment at South end Office Supply, known as SOS. This story that these very special women wrote is also on Dr. Talbot’s web site.
Although the book has been ignored for about 30 years, it remains relevant with its central theme and messages and would not have been written by such great women if it was not considered by them to be important from the standpoint of remembering and appreciating those who gave and their remarkable accomplishments. Coach Jim Leierer has suggested that copies of the Birth of a Vision are made and shared with Youth Groups at the churches. He meant locally but at some point this will happen nationally as the Internet provides for this to be accomplished through a networking of the Holy Spirit. When I shared this with Coach Leierer he agreed that the ladies’ work will not be restricted locally once the story is discovered nationally by people who care and are interested in children benefitting from its lessons.
Presently I am collaborating with John Pryor, a student at Skagit Valley College, whose instructor is Dr. Calleen Coorough. My old drawings have received an important upgrade due to their involvement and expertise. Colleges and universities across America have a history of providing students with opportunities to share the knowledge that they have gained at the community level. In so many ways the leveraging money principle has been applied, although, it has not been revealed to the extent that it should be for the additional good that such knowledge provides through appreciation and consequently inspiration that is then manifested by further action and involvement.
I want to be sure to remember South Whidbey Historical Society Board Member, Craig Williams, who first met with me to receive my collection of historical pictures and documents for safe keeping at the South Whidbey Historical Society museum in Langley, Washington. Craig and his wife Sue raised their family while benefiting from many of the activities at the South Whidbey Community Park. Our purpose for building the park complex was fulfilled by the experiences enjoyed by the Williams family. Nothing could make me more pleased. Craig also volunteered to park activities as a coach and the logistics coordinator of the Memorial Wall commemorating the Vietnam Veterans that visited the park site. He also helps at the Island County Fair I was told by Dan Ollis, owner of Whidbey Coffee and Fair Board President. Craig took it upon himself to enter the entire collection of the park’s origin and early history onto the South Whidbey Historical Society’s web site. I gave $200 toward the project and collaborated with Craig when he had questions.
I called the Director of the WWU Technical Writing Dept., Bill Smith, after asking Craig if he supported the idea for WWU students to write the history of the park from my collection. Craig agreed, and when Dr. Sherman’s students became available, Craig coordinated the writing process. The South Whidbey Parks and Recreation Dist. has placed the information from the South Whidbey Historical Society’s records onto their web site. The Parks and Recreation District Commissioners will benefit from knowing that further improvements and information have been provided on Dr. Talbot’s WWU web site and their web site will benefit from being updated accordingly. Craig Williams will speak at the Commissioners Board Meeting, May 16, 2012 and will discuss the improvements that will be made to the Historical Society’s web site and will suggest erecting commemorative signs with weather resistant pictures of the park’s professional volunteers. Those interested may see an example of such signs at the Fort Nugent Park complex in Oak Harbor. In February of 2011, when Dr. James Talbot agreed to assist me in furthering the development of the historical record of who did what regarding the park’s origin Craig gave us a direct link to the Historical Society’s web site and my collection, to accommodate our project. After speaking with Craig last week, on May 1, 2012, we agreed that what we started at our initial meeting about 4 years ago may be considered part of an overall evolution of the historical account of the 43 acre park complexes’ origin. Craig and I look forward to incorporating all of what has been compiled into a single story as we update what we have with the information that has been brought forward by Dr. Talbot and I. We must wait until early fall for things to settle down for Craig as he is presently engaged in orchestrating the logistics for the 2012 Olympic Summer Games in London.
I said that I would rather not wait but Craig said that he truly is kind of busy! In addition, we require additional time to circulate the book’s manuscript throughout the South Whidbey commUNITY in order to receive corrections and comments that may shed additional important factual truth onto the historical account of the origins of building what is presently known as the South Whidbey CommUNITY Park. Each of the well-grounded factions of the commUNITY are invited to participate as they participated in the origins of building the 43 acre commUNITY park complex during the decade of the 1980’s. Once the South Whidbey CommUNITY receives the opportunity to learn the factual account about the Purchase/Donation process of acquiring the original 43 acre park site and the story of the professional volunteers and those who supported their building effort, the idea of placingcommemorative signs onto the grounds of the commUNITY park site may be introduced. This would benefit the commUNITY as large pictures of those who donated their bulldozers and road graders and the work that they did, along with those who built the buildings, Joe Lehman drilling the well and Hanford Thayer being remembered for his engineering donations with Jack Siebert of TriCounty Surveying donating the topographic survey, etc., will be inspiring for even out of town visitors to the park complex for many years to come.
I am working on a flyer to announce a second Banner Days event at some point in which all groups representing voluntarism and goodwill from Northwest Hospice, scouting organizations, youth and adult athletic groups and civic and service organizations will all be invited to place their banner at a location upon the original 43 acre park site for the time designated by the Parks and Recreation District Commissioners for the event. Provided of course, there is an interest in doing so from the commUNITY at large as there was during the first Banner Days event. Our future depends upon sharing the efficient truth regarding the methods utilized by those who unselfishly served us in the past and to provide the opportunity for that knowledge to empower our success in the future. “Each one reach one, each one teach one.” These words were once spoken to me by, Keith Colley who along with his late wife, Linda, was always my friend and collaborator. M
ay the history of the origins and early development of the SOUTH WHIDBEY COMMUNITY CENTER be embraced by each individual whose life is impacted by the benefits that it perpetually provides to the South Whidbey commUNITY. Each person who is interested in revealing the factual account of the origin and early history of the South Whidbey CommUNITY Park is welcome to make a copy of this document and to share it with members of the commUNITY at large. You may also refer friends to Dr. Talbot’s WWU web site and help distribute copies of the manuscript about the history of the park complex for the benefit of the general public and to further improve its content by providing additional factual information before publication this fall.
Timothy Dean Scriven
