The Rotary Club of Kirkland held an in-person meeting on November 6, 2023 at the Madison House Independent and Assisted Living Community in Kirkland’s Totem Lake. Members gathered beforehand to socialize and enjoy refreshments. Some members attended via Zoom.
John Storbeck greeted members, along with Rick Walter, and collected money for the meal.
Past President Rick Walter, called the meeting to order at 6:16 p.m.
Rotarians are reminded that the club's annual board nominating committee, this year comprising the president-elect, Pete Anderson, and past presidents Rick Walter and Joanne Primavera, has begun its work. The committee is responsible under the bylaws for organizing a proposed slate of officers and directors for the forthcoming year. The slate will consist of the president-elect, vice president, secretary, treasurer, and five members of the board of directors who are chairs of the avenues of service committees.
Deputy Mayor Jay Arnold and city of Kirkland council members Kelli Curtis and Toby Nixon joined Dave Aubry and the Rotary Club of Kirkland for a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new pavilion at the site of the former Northern Pacific Railroad Station along the Cross Kirkland Corridor. The pavilion features illustrated signs describing the railroad’s 100+ year history in Kirkland, with photographs of trains and the two structures that once stood there. The Rotary Club developed the projects installed at the site. The pandemic delayed the ribbon-cutting for a while, but with the ribbon cut, the project is now complete! [Photo and story courtesy of the city of Kirkland.]
At Monday's meeting, youth services chair Jocelyn Ellison introduced 2023 Rotary Scholar and local artist Austin Picinich to present a selection of holiday cards made especially for the Rotary Club of Kirkland. If you attended the Rotary scholarship award ceremony and dinner last June, you had the opportunity to meet Austin and hear about the amazing artwork he has created throughout the Kirkland community. If you want to purchase some holiday cards, you may contact Austin at ajpicinich@gmail.com, and view his website at www.austinsart.net. If you have any questions about youth services committee work, please contact Jocelyn Ellison.
Camp United We Stand issued a call to Kirkland service clubs for help moving the camp hosted in Kirkland these past three months by Kirkland Congregational Church of Christ at 106 5th Ave. Camp United needed funding and volunteers for a scheduled November 4 camp relocation. In particular, Rotary was asked for help with moving costs for the camp's portable kitchen, which was designed and built over several months by some youth with Sawhorse Revolution. The kitchen was designed to fold up with refrigerators inside and slide onto a flatbed truck to move to the next camp site, St. Dunstan’s Episcopal Church in Shoreline at 722 N. 145th St.
Dr. Phil Ballinger, special adviser for the Presidential Scholars Initiative at the University of Washington, reminds us some of our young people in Washington amaze us by their commitment and work to serve others and their communities. Sometimes these students do not show up on high school 'radars' that traditionally focus on highest competitive academics, athletic achievement, or relative social popularity. And yet, some of our most promising young people are quietly doing astonishing things to help others and their communities. The UW wants to identify and recognize these vital future community builders and leaders in Washington, like 2023 Rotary scholarship recipient Austin Picinich who was selected this year for the Presidential Scholar program!
Several years ago, former Alaska Airlines CEO Bill Ayer and his wife Pam endowed an initiative and scholarship at the University of Washington to support finding these often-unheralded young people and keep them in Washington State. Dr. Ballinger is again looking across Washington for students who already demonstrate striking, self-initiated, and persistent engagement and leadership within their communities to address needs they have encountered or experienced. This program — with its associated major four-year scholarship ― is called 'the Presidential Scholars Initiative' at the University of Washington.
The club’s board of directors met on Thursday, October 19, 2023 at Hutchinson & Walter, CPAs office. Highlights included reports from the community service and club service chairs on the progress of the Thanksgiving basket purchases, the holiday gift purchases and gift wrapping party planning, the mini-fellowship dinners planning, and the Valentine's Sweetheart Dinner scheduling and planning. In addition, the warm coats project was concluded this year with the delivery of 40 coats for kids at John Muir Elementary School.
At Monday's meeting, youth services chair Jocelyn Ellison introduced 
Camp United We Stand issued a call to Kirkland service clubs for help moving the camp hosted in Kirkland these past three months by Kirkland Congregational Church of Christ at 106 5th Ave. Camp United needed funding and volunteers for a scheduled November 4 camp relocation. In particular, Rotary was asked for help with moving costs for the camp's portable kitchen, which was designed and built over several months by some youth with Sawhorse Revolution. The kitchen was designed to fold up with refrigerators inside and slide onto a flatbed truck to move to the next camp site, St. Dunstan’s Episcopal Church in Shoreline at 722 N. 145th St.
Dr. Phil Ballinger, special adviser for the Presidential Scholars Initiative at the University of Washington, reminds us some of our young people in Washington amaze us by their commitment and work to serve others and their communities. Sometimes these students do not show up on high school 'radars' that traditionally focus on highest competitive academics, athletic achievement, or relative social popularity. And yet, some of our most promising young people are quietly doing astonishing things to help others and their communities. The UW wants to identify and recognize these vital future community builders and leaders in Washington, like 2023 Rotary scholarship recipient Austin Picinich who was selected this year for the Presidential Scholar program!
The club’s board of directors met on Thursday, October 19, 2023 at Hutchinson & Walter, CPAs office. Highlights included reports from the community service and club service chairs on the progress of the Thanksgiving basket purchases, the holiday gift purchases and gift wrapping party planning, the mini-fellowship dinners planning, and the Valentine's Sweetheart Dinner scheduling and planning. In addition, the warm coats project was concluded this year with the delivery of 40 coats for kids at John Muir Elementary School.
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