The Rotary Club of Kirkland held a virtual meeting on July 10, 2023 using the Zoom platform.

President Gary greeted members as they joined the meeting.

President Gary Cohn called the meeting to order at 6:15 p.m.

Jocelyn Ellison led us in the pledge.

Attending were Pete Anderson, Dave Aubry, Bob Auslander, Scott Becker, Rich Bergdahl, Gary Cohn, Terry Cole, David DeBois, Donald Dicks, Sandy Ekins, Doug Evanson, Jim Feek, Monica Fratita, Margie Glenn, Brandon Honcoop, Isabelle Kalisa, Jim Meniketti, Amy Mutal, Rick Ostrander, Joanne Primavera, Steve Shinstrom, Patti Smith, John Storbeck, Alice Volpe, and Rick Walter.
The club’s guests at this virtual meeting were the speaker, David Endicott; Kate Koslosky, who has visited the club on at least two other occasions and is planning to transfer from her Rotary Club of Los Olivos in the Santa Barbara area; Zac Baker, who is a banker in Kirkland and is here for his first meeting; and Michelle Cazeau, a Banner Bank manager who has applied for membership in the club.

 

Announcements: Our next regular meeting will be at 6:15 p.m., July 17, at Madison House on 128th in Totem Lake.  We will meet downstairs.  Parking will be available in front of the building.  Meal cost should be $20-25.  We are checking out this venue for possible future meetings.

The Rotary Club of Kirkland will be holding meetings at the Madison House facility in Totem Lake. The Rotary board decided to hold two in-person meetings, the first on Monday, July 17, and the second on Monday, August 7, to develop a sense of the venue and the menu. Menu specifics, including refreshments, and dinner pricing is being arranged and will be reported in an upcoming edition of The Spokesman. Dinner is priced at $25.

On Monday, July 24, the club will hold an "all teams" debrief of the first Great Kirkland Rotary Rummage Sale. All club members are invited to attend the debrief, which will include a team by team carousel session, preference voting, a general session on the priorities identified by team, and an opportunity to sign up for a team for the 2024 Great Kirkland Rotary Rummage Sale.

 

The meeting will be held at Brezza Condominium, and will begin at 6 p.m. Food and refreshments will be provided for the meeting, and an invitation to attend --principally to gauge attendance for meal preparation-- was distributed earlier this month. Rotarians may find a description of each team on the Rummage Sale Committee page of the club's website. This page may be accessed on the drop-down "Committees" menu on the club's website home page.

The month of August is higher education month at the Rotary Club of Kirkland. On August 7, Rotarians will be joined once again by Dr. Amy Morrison of Lake Washington Institute of Technology. During her tenure, Dr. Morrison has seen the college through post-Great Recession budgetary challenges, while growing college programs and partnerships. The college has grown program offerings with a focus on equity, completion, and empathy.

 

On August 14, the club will host virtually Dr. Kristin Esterberg, the University of Washington Bothell's fourth chancellor to lead the branch campus since its founding in 1989. While it primarily serves residents in North King and Snohomish counties, UW Bothell's student body is composed of a diverse group of people from around the state, the nation and the world, and the campus is home to more than 6,000 students who are enrolled in more than 55 different undergraduate programs and graduate degrees.

 

Finally, on August 21, club members will meet Cascadia College's president, Dr. Eric Murray, and Cascadia College Foundation's new executive director, Brittany Caldwell. They will discuss Cascadia’s latest programs, current students, growing STEM education, and opportunities for the community to engage with campus. Dr. Eric Murray joined Cascadia as president in 2010. Brittany Caldwell joined Cascadia as the Cascadia College Foundation's executive director in November 2022, coming from 15 years as the executive director of the Bothell Kenmore Chamber of Commerce. For more information on these and other club programs, visit the Speakers page of the club website.

First and foremost, Nathan Coppinger is a musician; he plays the euphonium in band and has participated in the highest ensemble at Juanita High School for threee years. He participated in the Solo & Ensemble competition this year and won the regional competition. Nathan has also maintained a high grade and have taken many difficult courses, and plans to use this knowledge in the future to get a degree in either Mathematics or Engineering.

Many of our Rotarians, like others in our community, are social media users, especially if there are grandchildren involved. Our experience this month taught us many things, among them that a strong social media presence will help the club with its community service work and its fundraising projects. As the club builds social media connections, especially in the greater Kirkland area, you can help. If you have a Facebook account, a Twitter account, or a Nextdoor account, you can boost the club's visibility if you "like" and "share" the pagesand posts with your own social media connections.

 

Our club is currently using three platforms: Facebook, Twitter, and Nextdoor. If you click on the images below, each will take you to the Rotary Club of Kirkland page for that site where you can like or follow the club's page and posts. When you see something you like or think others will like, please share it with your circle of friends. In this way, we'll spread the good word about our Rotary club's community service work, and develop a much broader audience for our rummage sale and other service activities.