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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1994 Olympia Kiwanis Members List
2007 Thurston County employees list (pop 207,355)(1,332 employees)(includes gross & overtime wages, hire date)
2005 Thurston County employees list (pop 207,355)(1,257 employees)(includes hire date)
2002 Thurston County employees list (pop 207,355)(1,569 employees)
2002 Port Of Olympia employees list (pop 42,514)(40 employees)
2009 Oly Evergreen St Col employees list (938 employees)
Olympian Newspaper 2010 Thurston employees list
2006 Olympia School District employees list (Includes Benefits)
2002 City of Olympia employees list (pop 42,514)(685 employees)
Olympian Newspaper 2010 city of Lacy employees list
2002 City of Lacey employees list (pop 31,226)(226 employees)
2009 South Puget Sound Com Col employees list (1,001 employees)
Name search of Wash. State voters includes our addresses (and birthdays)
Name search of Wash State Court filings Traffic, Criminal, Civil, Domestic, Juvenile Offender, and Probate/Guardianship
Back to the beginning OKBR Home Page(http://lbloom.net/indexok.html)

Below are 8 links to Olympia Kiwanis Komments Newsletters from 1987 to 1993. All these newsletters speak about the OKBR. These are the only pre-1993 newsletters I have. I wish I had more.

Here's a copy of the Olympia Kiwanis Komments newsletter from Oct. 5, 1987.
Rex Derr was president, Kip Stiltz was past president. DSHS Child Protective Services employee was to speak at the October 12 meeting. Boys Ranch directors nominations and elections were mentioned. Sam Reed spoke at the meeting.

Here's a copy of the Olympia Kiwanis Komments newsletter from March 27, 1989.
The newsletter said: "Our OK Boys Ranch will hold an election for two positions on our Board of Directors. We will vote during our April 10, meeting. Please submit nominations to Rick Millar."

Here's a copy of the Olympia Kiwanis Komments newsletter from April 10, 1989.
Sam Reed brought State Representative Rose Bowman to the meeting. More Boys Ranch Board Members to be nominated and voted on.

Here's a copy of the Olympia Kiwanis Komments newsletter from April 24, 1989.
Two paragraph spoke about "our OK Boys Ranch."

Here's a copy of the Olympia Kiwanis Komments newsletter from June 12, 1989.
It said: "Kiwanis members are making a difference in our town." Thurston County Treasurer and Olympia Kiwanis member Mike Murphy was at the meeting. Money donations to youth programs including child abuse were mentioned.

Here's a copy of the Olympia Kiwanis Komments newsletter from Sept. 25, 1989.
"A tour of our OK Boys Ranch will be held on October 9. Call Tom Van Woerdan to schedual yourself." Sam Reed was at the meeting.

Here's a copy of the Olympia Kiwanis Komments newsletter from Nov. 27 1989.
Tom Van Woerdan gave a long talk about the OK Boys Ranch. The newsletter said, "this year the ranch has had no major scandals". The Kiwanians congratulated themselves for the ranches sucess. Governor Gardner and Norm Maleng will come to next weeks meeting.

Here's a copy of the Olympia Kiwanis Komments newsletter from Feb. 3, 1993.
Olympia Kiwanis president Bob Van Schoorl, devoted the majority of this newsletter to vague details about the Olympia Kiwanis Boys Ranch troubles. He said: "Clearly we are not out of the woods yet from the the fallout from last summer's incidents, but, you should know that the outlook is positive." (After $50 million dollars of taxpayers money, everything is fine now. Let's forget about it.)

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 child abusing Olympia Kiwanis Boys Ranch.

  • 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