The Olympia Washington Kiwanis members and their friends have cost the Washington State taxpayers over $50 million dollars (so far), because of their willful ignorance of long term, merciless and well known, child abuse that occurred at the Olympia Kiwanis Boys Ranch.

October 2006 note: This Olympia Kiwanis stuff is old news. I've left this information on the web, because I like the thought that someone will say to one of these Kiwanis friends or members: "Grandma, (Grandpa), are you still friends with those Olympia Kiwanians?"

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More Board Ranch Minutes

         O.K. BOYS' RANCH, INC.
Meeting of the Board of Directors 1:25 p.m.,
  30 November 1981, Olympia Elks Lodge
    BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT     Zittel, Childs, Ziegler, Gustafson, Yarbrough, Earl, Maxwell, Kerslake, Olson, Forrester.
    BOARD MEMBERS ABSENT     Clarkson, Wolfe
    OTHERS PRESENT     Tom VanWoerden, Executive Director - O.K. Boys' Ranch.
    The meeting was opened at 1:25 p.m. by President Zittel for the purpose of a special report to the Board by VanWoerden.
    STAFF CHANGES
    VanWoerden announced that he had asked for, and received the resignations of our live-in housparent couple. The resignations were requested because of several intolerable actions on their part including:
    1. The house father's physical abuse of his wife on the Group Home premises.
    2. Unwillingness to avoid involving our wards in private family disputes.
    3. Non-participation in staff meeting on Friday, November 27.
    4. The house father's absenting himself without permission from assigned duty for at least four days.
    5. Refusal to continue probationary activities previously assigned by the Executive Director.
    6. Refusal to agree to further terms for continued employment as offered by the Executive Director.
    Upon termination, the houseparents were fully paid all salaries due to them. Former staff member Tom Gill has been hired to serve as a temporary staff replacement member and is now on duty.
    Subsequent to their resignations, our former houseparents charged approximately $150.00 worth of food and merchandise to our Group Home account at Ralph's Thriftway Store. The Olympia Police Department was notified of this action and VanWderden filed a complaint regarding this matter. Our former house parents claim that they had provided an unknown amount of food to the Group Home when they started their period of employment. There are no records of such action.
    After a general discussion by all members of the Board of Directors present it was agreed that VanWoerden was justified in terminating the employment of this houseparent couple. It was the further feeling of the Board that, to avoid unecessary publicity, it would be appropriate not to pursue further criminal action against them, if it can be avoided. Further discussion regarding the advisability of obtaining some form of a written termination agreement ensued with no consensus being agreed upon. Upon passage of a motion offered by Maxwell , seconded by Gustafson, VanWoerden was instructed to contact Attorney John Hoglund regarding what action, on our part, would be appropriate regarding this matter and to comply with his advice.
    SHELTON ASSAULT CASE
    VanWoerden announced that the law suit regarding the assault committed by one of our wards while in foster care in Mason County has been officially filed in court. The suit names as defendants:
    1. The young man , who committed the assault.
  2. His former foster  parents.
3. The Washington State Department of Social & Health Services.
4. O.K. Boys' Ranch, Inc.
5. Tom VanWoerden
    The suit has been filed in the amount of $50,000.00 plus $1,200.00 medical costs and $200.00 psychiatric care costs. Our insurance company has been notified of this latest action on this matter. It is anticipated that the State of  Washington and our insurer will settle this case out of court. If the case goes to Court, it now appears that Attorney John Hoglund will defend the matter representing the State's and our Insurance Carrier.
    OTHER BUSINESS
    Director Gustafson announced that he had received a total of $144.00 in contributions from the Olympia Kiwanis Club members during their meeting which preceeded the Board Meeting. This money is intended to be used to assist in funding our wards' trip to Disneyland during the Christmas vacation this year.
    The meeting was adjourned at 1:45 p.m.
    Submitted by (Robert T. Olson signature)
    Accepted by  Board of Directors (unsigned)     

Below is an e-mail I received from a former Olympia, Washington resident.

From: ~~~~~~~~@aol.com
To: Louis Bloom manaco@whidbey.net
Sent: Wednesday, July 28, 1999 11:34 AM
Subject: OKBR
Just came across your pages and felt the urge to respond... In the early 80's (81-83) I was at the OKBR frequently as a young kid walking to/from school, I became friends with some of the boys. At one point a small boy confided to me that he was being raped by another boy in the home. The abusing boy talked about it openly!
Days later I walked the victim to OPD where we both gave statements. Later that evening I began to receive these incredibly threatening phone calls from a woman employee of the ranch who's name I believe was Paulette at my home. She kept calling over and over screaming at me calling me names. It was horrible. I thought I was helping someone. Nothing came of it. Then all these years later, it all comes out ... one of the boys that I had known there left as a young adult and still couldn't get it together, he eventually killed himself. As an adult now I don't often think back to those times but it still saddens me. All those boys that needed a safe nurturing place to be, and how many of them were better off for having been taken there? It's not about money. It cost these boys their lives, their souls, their trust. Those people who knew, who didn't care, they should feel such shame. Just my opinion.

From: louis a bloom manaco@whidbey.net
To: ~~~~~~~@aol.com
Sent: Wednesday, July 28, 1999 7:30 PM
Subject: Re: OKBR
thanks for your e-mail. from what i've read, dshs, the olympia police department, and other "authorities" didn't consider child on child rape to be against the law. it was considered "normal experimentation". The "paulette" you mention, may have been Collette Queener who was an assistant director at the OKBR. Collette, OKBR Director Tom Van Woerdan, and OKBR counselor Laura Rambo Russell were ineptly charged by Wa. St. with "criminal mistreatment for failing to stop abuse". The charges were dismissed by Thurston County Judge Daniel Berschauer on technicalities. The lawyer who represented Collette Queener said, (Nov. 14, 1996 Olympian), that it was a "witch hunt", and that " a more innocent person (than Queener) you could not have for a client. She's an ex-nun ..... I don't see how you could view her in an evil or negative light."
I congratulate you for doing the right thing, when all those adults looked the other way. I repeat on most pages that the " OKBR has cost the Washington State taxpayers over $35 million dollars (so far)", because I think most people don't care about the kids involved, but they may care that it has cost them (taxpayers) money.
louis bloom

There were many obvious and long-term warnings about the 1970-94 OKBR.

  • DSHS knew since at least 1977.
  • The OKBR staff certainly knew.
  • The abused kids told staff, schools, counselors, police, caseworkers, therapists, ect.., about their abuse at the OKBR, but nobody investigated.
  • Olympia Police Chief Wurner came to an Olympia Kiwanis meeting in 1986 and told the Kiwanis about the troubles at the OKBR. Chief Wurner was ignored. Maybe he should have done more, but he probably wanted to keep his job.
  • It was well know by the Thurston County courts. These kids were constantly in and out of the Thurston County legal system.
  • The OKBR was written about in the Kiwanis Komments newsletters, and the Kiwanis Board Ranch minutes.
  • All the OKBR Board Members had a legal oversight of the OKBR.
  • Were all Olympia Kiwanis Attorneys & Judges and/or Politicians uninformed?
  • It's amazing how blissfully ignorant some people were about the OKBR. You can read about their guiltlessness in some of their Washington State Patrol and Office of Special Investigation statements.
  • Here's Wa St Patrol Olympia Kiwanis member lists of 1987, 1990, 1994
  • Here is a 49 page index of 5,223 pages of documents that the WSP collected about the OKBR. Anybody can order any of those public documents by following the instructions on that page.
  • The OKBR sent kids for weekend visits to child abusers who donated land to the Kiwanis. The Kiwanians sold the land in 1993 for $125,000.
  • Can the Olympian Newspaper claim ignorance?
    manaco@whidbey.net