April 20, 2015 Spokesman

Posted by Pat Swenson 
on Apr 21, 2015
 
Rotary Minutes for April 20, 2015
Scribe:  Pat Swenson
 
The meeting was called to order by President, John Pruitt at 6:30 p.m.  The flag salute was lead by John Woodbey.  President John thanked Diana Lanspa for Greeting and Rick Walters for handling the Front Desk.
 
Visiting Rotarians and Guests were introduced.  Tom Gailus, father of Ashley Gailus (our Student of the Month.  J.C. Storbeck from Omega Financial Investments & Insurance; Scott East an Attorney from Bellevue & Rotarian; and Arika Zwack from Realty One Group.  Late arrival:  Ingrid Bruner wife of Gary Bruner.
 
Announcements: 
Eric Olsen announced the annual Golf Tournament will be on July 27th at Bear Creek Golf Club.  Cost is $100 per person or $400 for a foursome.  Please sign up now.  You can pay at any of the meetings.
 
Joanne Primavera announced the District 5030 Conference on May 15-17, 2015 at Tulalip Resort and Casino, with golf available at Harbor Point Golf Club.  Please sign up.
 
Joanne also announced the Kirkland Rotary Auction & Dinner on May 21st, Sunday at 6:00 p.m. The dinner will be held at the Kirkland Women’s Club.   Please sign up to attend and let her know if you will be donating an item. 
 
Joanne also distributed photos of the ambulance that our donation helped secure for the Childrens’ Hospital in Nepal.  Our donations were part of a matching grant through Rotary International.
 
Jim Nevers reminded everyone there are only 8 tickets left for the 5 course gourmet wine dinner on June 5th at Lake Washington Institute of Technology.  Dinner starts at 6:30 to 9:30.  Located on the Kirkland Campus, East Building E147.  Cost is $75 per person.  Address:  11605 132nd Avenue NE, Kirkland, WA    Please contact Jim if you wish to attend.  His email:  jnevers@soundmarkwealth.com  
 
Patti Sims announced the start of Miracle League on this Saturday, April 25th  for the first game of the season.  Please show up about 9:00 am to help the players choose uniforms and begin play.
Steve Shinstrom took the podium for needed volunteers for Scribes and Greeters for the next 4 meetings.  He was successful in filling his slots.  Thank you to all that volunteered.
Brandon Honcoop announced the birth of a baby boy to Casey Oiness.  Congratulations!
President John, with deep regret, announced the resignation of Carl Boruck.  Carl has retired and he and his wife (Judy) will be traveling extensively in the next few years.  We will all miss Carl very much.
 
Student of the Month, Ashley Gailus:
Ashley thanked the Club for the opportunity and honor to be our Student of the Month.  She expressed her enthusiasm for all that she learned from our weekly meetings, giving her greater insight into the purpose of Rotary.  She plans to help less fortunate children in the future by obtaining a psychology degree.  Her first two years will be at a community college and then transferring to a 4-year university to complete her education.
 
International Foundation update by Gary Bruner:
Our Club has contributed generously this year, in fact, we are the 11th out of 55 Clubs for most donations.  Gary gave a brief description of all the projects our monies go toward including Matching Grants.  Four Rotarians were recognized by their contributions:
            Bill Taylor;  Paul Harris plus 8
            Scott Becker; Paul Harris plus 5
            Brandon Honcoop; Paul Harris
            Mekonen Giorgis; Paul Harris
The Club stood to congratulate each of the Paul Harris fellows.
 
Classification Talk by Patti Sims:
Patti grew up in Yakima, Washington, the youngest of 9 siblings.  She learned her strong work ethics from her parents and felt they were strong role models.  Patti is married (U of W graduate) with two children, a girl 19 years old and son age 5.  Patti graduated from Washington State University with a degree in marketing in 1982.  She entered the work force in retail sales, but soon changed to insurance at Conover Insurance Agency.  She eventually worked her way to the Employee Benefits division and became a benefits broker.  Her field is challenging but she also finds it rewarding.
 
Main Program:  Photo journalist, Jeff Widener:
Peter Eng introduced Jeff.  They have spent many, many years traveling together, sharing the quest for photos that tell the news story. Jeff is most famous for his iconic “tank picture”, taken while he worked for Associated Press.  (A lone man confronting a column of tanks in Tiananmen Square during the 1989 Beijing riots which made him a finalist for the 1990 Pulitzer.)  Jeff presented several of his awarding winning photos, including the tank picture.  Through the years he has covered assignments in over 100 countries involving civil unrest and wars to social issues.  He covered major stories from the Gulf War to the Olympics.  He has received numerous awards and honors.  Jeff thinks of his tank picture as both a blessing and a curse.  He sees himself as a photo-artist and would prefer to build upon that reputation.    
 
Lucky Ticket draw (joker pot up to $2200) and 9 cards:  Bob Webb’s ticket was drawn, but he did not choose the Joker---the pot grows.  There are only 8 cards left in the deck.  A special second drawing was held, thanks to the generous donation of a beautiful wooden wine box by Rick Walters.  The second ticket was also Bob’s ticket, so he not only got the automatic $10 for having his Joker pool ticket, but also the wine box.  Congrats to Bob!