The Rotary Club of Kirkland held an in-person meeting on April 1, 2024, at Madison House in Kirkland.
Acting President Rick Walter called the meeting to order at 6:19 p.m.
Members attending were: Scott Becker, Rich Bergdahl*, Daniel Sada Caraveo, Michelle Cazeau, Gary Cohn*, Sue Cohn*, David DeBois, Donald Dicks*, Sandy Ekins (Honorary), Jocelyn Ellison, Doug Evanson, Rashmi Garimella, Rick Ostrander, Joanne Primavera, John Pruitt, Daniel Sada Caraveo, and Rick Walter. *Attended via Zoom.
Greeters:
Rick Ostrander and Michelle Cazeau served as greeters for the evening.
Pledge of Allegiance:
John Pruitt led us in the pledge.
Guests:
Greater Kirkland Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Jessica Hoover was a guest of Scott Becker this evening. Cody Baker was a guest of Dave DeBois, and his attendance at this --his third-- meeting qualified him for recommendation to the membership for induction into the club. Our speaker, Lora Unger, was a guest of the club.
Rotary Minute:
Rick Walter spoke about rummage sale and how much he has enjoyed every day of the event. He recalled the downward slide of the Duck Dash, and how we created a labor-intensive event that is a wonderful time for members to spend together. Rick’s Rotary moment is to embrace the fellowship of the rummage sale ... he spent more time with members and met more spouses at the sale than he does all year.
Announcements:
Today is Dave DeBois’s birthday. There is a special birthday cake and ice cream after dinner to honor’s Dave’s special birthday.
The next rummage sale meeting has been rescheduled from April 25 to May 2 due to leadership travel plans. It will be held at Brezza Condominium and Gary will send a code with the invitation.
The next club meeting is April 8 and it is a virtual meeting.
Bunco is scheduled for Saturday, April 27, at Steve Shinstrom’s home, as usual. Steve will send invitation information to club members.
Rummage Sale Steering Committee Report: Dave DeBois reported on his retirement plans April 15, but is filling in to help with the rummage sale. Pete is stepping away from the club to focus on medical treatment. We are not far behind the 8-ball. Storage locker inventory is likely tomorrow, and Dave will recruit some members to help with this. First key need is people to talk personally with neighborhood associations and put out the new signs. Next key need is volunteers. We need to recruit some volunteers from the schools; five days of collecting donations and one day selling. We need about 10 – 15 volunteers each day plus Rotarians. Rick has the food activities handled and has recruited two non-profits to take away the unsold donations at the end of the event.
Dave also noted that Cody and he visited the Eagles building to review the facility as a possible next home for the club. The Kiwanis Club has been meeting there. Dave said you can control your own menu. There is an open bar. The cost to use the space is $100. They have 900-plus members and want to participate as volunteers. We can rent the far Northeast room which is 25 x 25, and he feels it’s acoustically okay. Rich is a member and proposes we try the venue. Scott responded that there is no acoustic barrier and it gets very noisy, and Monday football game nights would prevent the club from using the space. Dave asked that the club’s board take up the question.
Vocational Service: Scott Becker reported that we’ve received two responses to the four requests for outstanding educator award nominations. Reminders have been sent.
Club Service: Doug Evanson reported that the Rotary District 5030 annual meeting event is coming in June (see the calendar item and announcement in The Spokesman). We may want to have a table for the club; eight people are required for a table. Bunco is at Steve Shinstrom’s house on the 27th and it is an outstanding, fun activity.
Happy Bucks:
Rick Walter then conducted a round of Happy Dollars. Rick had a round of golf with five pars. Dave DeBois thanked everyone for their support. Doug shared some family news and expressed happiness for every day. Michelle is happy to be involved with the club. Daniel went to the casino with a cousin, who got another internship with NASA, and he won $20 and is contributing that during Happy Bucks. Rick Ostrander gave in honor of Dave’s birthday.
Student of the Month:
The student of the month did not attend the club this evening. Youth Service Committee Chair Jocelyn Ellison will follow up with the student and the high school.
Program:
Our speaker, Lora Unger, is the new executive director of the Performing Arts Center of the Eastside https://www.pacelive.org, and recently joined the organization from a center in Pasadena, California. She described the mission of the center and said that with community support PACE will present the world’s finest performers, complimented by an equally strong commitment to serve as an educational and civic resource, addressing the evolving needs of this rapidly growing region. Through acclaimed artistic attractions and innovative educational programming, the Center will imbue a welcoming energy and a collaborative, inclusive spirit—a model for the performing arts center of the future.
Lora described the planned facility to be located in the heart of downtown Bellevue where more than 20 million visit annually, the busiest location in the state second to Sea-Tac International Airport. She described this Center as a transformational next step in cementing the Eastside as one of the nation’s most dynamic and welcoming communities where both families and businesses thrive.
Since its founding, PACE has taken significant steps to move its capital project forward. Many generous pledges were raised from donors with payments to be made upon groundbreaking. Other investments from visionary donors totaling $16.5 million were applied to cover the required costs of architectural and acoustician fees, project management, permitting, parking and entitlement work that resulted in the creation of the existing design of the new Center. Kemper Freeman has contributed a reported $50 million worth of property to build the project.
Lora noted that a project of this size and scope is incredibly complex. The design plans have evolved, now incorporating critical refinements essential to ensuring the most dynamic, viable and mission-supportive design for the new Center. She said the staff and board and consultants have worked diligently to ensure plans will meet the needs and high expectations of the community and reflect the standards of excellence the community expects. Past donations have made possible important progress in the project's development.PACE is now requesting support from the community to enable a vital next stage in the project's development. This is the critical next step in the building project. The Center’s design will be advanced toward completion, final renderings will be created, and support will be provided to launch a historic capital campaign to fund its construction and related operating costs. The campaign will fund finalizing of the design, creation of renderings of all performance venues and generation of a new cost estimate and validation plan for the entire project. It will also fund the strengthening of general operations and the development of a comprehensive fundraising plan for the full campaign to follow.
Several Rotarians asked questions, including the projected impact on existing performing arts progams like the Kirkland Performance Center. Lora responded to questions, noting that data indicates growth is outpacing the capacity of all of the eastside venues, even to Issaquah, and that taking business away from Seattle’s downtown is a natural next step as the Eastside’s population indicates less and less desire to travel to Seattle for entertainment.
The meeting was adjourned at 7:23 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted
Rashmi T Garimella
Acting Scribe