The Rotary Club of Kirkland held a meeting on December 6, 2021 at the Courtyard by Marriott hotel.
President Dave DeBois rang the bell at 6:30 p.m., calling the club meeting to order.
Steve Shinstrom led the membership in the Pledge of Allegiance.
Attending were George Anderson, Pete Anderson, David Aubry, Rich Bergdahl, Bella Chaffey, Gary Cohn, Matthew Colpitts, David DeBois, Donald Dicks, Margie Glenn, Michael Hunter, Jim Meniketti, Kristin Olson, Rick Ostrander, Joanne Primavera, John Pruitt, and Steve Shinstrom. This was the second fully “hybrid” meeting operated by the club, with at least one member attending the meeting online.
Guests:
Emma Artz, our Juanita High School Rotary Student of the Month, her parents, Kris and Melanie Artz, her sister, Lilly Artz, Kat Sweet, her coach, and Fred and Jean Ronland, her grandparents. In addition, Drew Fiahlo, a Lake Washington High School student and recipient of a special Charles O. Morgan scholarship, John Storbeck, a member applicant, and Isabelle Kalisa, also a member applicant, were guests this evening.
Our greeter this evening was Dave Aubry, accompanied by Jim Meniketti, who manned the front desk.
Announcements & Club Business:
Joanne Primavera described our early Saturday holiday gift shopping ‘party’ at Fred Meyer. Several Rotarians and guests took part, buying gifts for our 11-12 families at John Muir Elementary.
Rich Bergdahl reminded us that as the calendar year comes to an end, it would be an excellent time to support Rotary International with a donation. Think about the possibility of your employer matching your donations.
President Dave informed members that the Club will donate $500 to Attain Housing here in Kirkland. The request for support came through Scott Becker, who is involved with the organization.
Joanne Primavera shared a photo of our own Monica Fratita’s new son, Sebastian. We don’t have further details about the newborn at this time, but should hear more very soon.
President Dave announced we will do the Duck Dash again next year. The Club is open to other fund-raising ideas, but we must consider that we depend on the Duck Dash for $30K per year – without that money, we could not do the good things that we do in the community. So new ideas must have an immediate potential for a similar amount of money every year.
Student of the Month:
Mike Hunter introduced Emma Artz, the Rotary Club of Kirkland Student of the Month from Juanita High School for December, as she is to tell us about herself, her academic career, her passions, and her future plans.
Emma spoke mostly about her all-consuming and relatively new passion of competitive mountain biking. She thanked her family and coach for her success. In just a few years she has been able to compete successfully on a national level, against women and girls who have been riding much longer than she has. She has discovered a passion and a sense of accomplishment. In just her second race she managed to come in 3rd. She has pushed herself by practice and by successfully competing in more advanced categories.
She has raced in national races and placed in the top six in several races. She has pushed her limits and accomplished more than she ever thought she could or would.
Along with her biking, she has maintained a high GPA while doing volunteer work [a future Rotarian?]. She hopes to continue all these activities in college.
Scholarship Recipient:
Gary Cohn introduced Drew Fiahlo, a junior at Lake Washington High School. The Club has pledged monetary support through the Charles O. Morgan Journalism Scholarship so Drew can attend the Washington Journalism and Media Conference at George Mason University this coming summer.
He has immersed himself in building a digital journalism program at Lake Washington. He gave members a brief description of the program a George Mason, which will help him focus on potential career options in journalism. He is very involved in school activities – especially forensics and leadership.
He has been a leader as well in LWHS’s freshmen welcoming program to assist incoming students at Lake Washington in becoming successful at high school. He has been inspired by the incredible work ethic he sees in his journalism teacher. Drew must raise another $1,500 to $2,000 to afford the entire conference fee and travel expenses. He will return, either in person or via Zoom, to update the club on his experience at George Mason.
Happy Bucks:
There were no Happy Bucks collected during this meeting.
Program:
New member Pete Anderson was introduced by President Dave and gave his introductory Classification and Getting-to-Know-You talk. He is a Seattle native who lives in Kirkland and has two adult children. A UW grad, he has worked in real estate development, starting a company called Compass Development. He has been involved in projects on Kirkland’s Lake Street.
He is now remodeling two houses in Arizona and assisting a friend in a project in Seattle. He is the part owner of small record label. He plays and coached soccer and plays some golf. He is in Rotary so he can give back.
Joker Pool:
There was not a Joker Pool this evening.
Adjournment:
President Dave rang the bell at 7:13 p.m. to adjourn the meeting.
Respectfully Submitted
Dave Aubry – Acting Scribe