President Scott Becker called the May 22, 2017 Kirkland Rotary meeting to order promptly at 6:30p.m. Terri Ebert and Ben Premack shared the greeting duties, Anne Hamilton took care of the “front desk,” and Don Dicks led the Pledge.
Visitors & Visiting Rotarians: Visitors included John Maini [guest of Harry Wagoner] and Michael and Kathy Oskouian [guests of Scott Becker]. Our own visiting Rotarian, Doug Santo [from Seattle 4 Club] was presented with an honorary Blue Badge.
Club Business and Announcements:
- Pat Swenson announced that the Reading Buddies recognition and final meeting for the year is Wednesday, May 23rd @ 12:00 noon. Our Rotary club typically gives $1,000 [sometimes more] to the John Muir Elementary School library for books. Pat has been chairing this worthwhile endeavor for 15 years!
- Amy Mutal reminded our members of the Chainline Brewing Company Event to be held this Friday, May 26th, starting @ 5:00p.m. There will be a food truck with Brats and other food at the Chainline location [503 6th St. S., Kirkland]. For those who don’t care for beer, there will be wine and soft drinks.
- The final Miracle League game and party will be June 3, 2017 @ 10:30a.m. The location is at Perrigo Park. All are invited to participate.
- The Duck Dash kickoff is tentatively scheduled for June 12th. More to follow…
- The Transition Dinner is Monday, June 26th.
- Save the date: July 4th parade. We want to be well represented and armed with squirt-guns [only if the weather is warm].
- Rich Bergdahl is looking for a couple more members to take on the front desk duties. Please contact Rich for the details.
- And, there will be no Rotary meeting next Monday since it is Memorial Day!
Happy Dollars: Rick Walter extracted a considerable amount of happy dollars…the beautiful warm weather appeared to loosen wallets and purses.
Program: Jason Overleese introduced Tricia and Russ Stromberg who both gave their classification talks. Both Tricia and Russ had PowerPoint presentations with an interesting rundown of their lives and passions. The couple met in Havre, Montana and traveled extensively in the U.S. with Russ serving in the U.S. Marines. They moved to Kirkland in 1992.
Tricia is a retired Boeing Engineer and Associate Technical Fellow. Her engineering career centered around military aircraft systems and spanned all service, from the Army Cobra Helicopter to the Air Force F-22. Since year 2000, she has served on non-profit Boards of Directors including 7 years as President of Seattle’s Spectrum Dance Theater and now as the Boots to Shoes Foundation President.
Russ is a retired U.S. Marine Corps officer, a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy. While in the Marine Corps, he served two tours as a test pilot and was the Commanding Officer of two AV-8B squadrons. Russ managed four startup companies and currently operates the Kirkland Shared Services Company. In addition, he is involved in the Boots to Shoes Foundation, USMC Wounded Warrior Semper Fi Fund and the American Legion Disabled Vets.
Our club warmly welcomed their presentation and both Tricia and Russ as new members.
President Scott closed the meeting at 7:50p.m. with the following thought for the week: “Choose being kind over being right and you’ll be right every time.”