President Brandon Honcoop started the February 27, 2012 Kirkland Rotary meeting at 6:35 p.m. Bob Webb led the Pledge of Allegiance and President Honcoop thanked John Pruitt and Shellie Gehring for desk duties, Dave Aubrey for greeting, and Sue Greenfeld for scribing.  Ernie Norehad provided an inspirational moment regarding four principles that included justice, tradition, honor and reason.

Introductions of Visitors

Chuck Amundson (former staff member of the Huskies) was a guest of Jim Going. Ben Wobker was a guest of Bill Woods, and Scott Becker introduced Marin Harris, Rotary Student of the Month (Alternate) from Lake Washington High School.

Announcements:

Dan Bartel encouraged everyone to participate in the First Harvest Work Party on Saturday, March 10. President Honcoop would like to see twenty Rotarians from our club there.

Scott Becker put out a plea for more sponsorships for the “Duck Dash” as only $15,000 has been raised so far and $20,000 is the target amount. Sponsors are needed by the end of March so the tickets can go to the printers.

Guest Ben Wobker announced the Kirkland Shamrock Run on March 17 sponsored by the Downtown Kirkland Association. There is an early start at 6:30 a.m. and volunteers are needed for the run. To volunteer, please go to the website http://www.kirklandshamrockrun.com/

President Honcoop thanked Rich Bergdahl for organizing a “Happy Hour” Get-Together last week. Rich reported that from 5 to 7:30 p.m. at least twenty Rotarians showed up. Rich mentioned there will be another “Happy Hour” Get-Together sometime in April and this is a good time to bring potential members to Rotary.

Please mark your calendars for Monday, March 19 when the guest speaker will be the Sounders Head Coach Sigi Schmid. Rotarians are encouraged to invite guests and their families. Be sure to let President Honcoop know if you are bringing guests because a large turnout is expected and we need to tell the staff to plan for 60 to 80 in attendance.

President Honcoop reported that we have given the last of the pledge money for the capital campaign to the Boys and Girls Club. However, there will be a special presentation to the Boys and Girls Club at a regular meeting sometime later in the spring.

President Honcoop also reminded members to sign up for the “Ten Grand” concert on May 12th at 7 p.m. at the Benaroya Hall. Reserved tickets are $80 at the orchestra level.

 

Classification Talk: Dr. Cynthia (Cyndy) Fitzgerald

Cyndy told a fascinating historical tale of her heritage as a fifth generation Californian who two hundred years later married a Native American. This was kind of a “reconciliation” given the fact her great-great-grandfather was a captain of a wagon train on the Oregon Trail. She has two daughters and two grandsons and one granddaughter. Her eldest daughter, Amy, is an attorney and lives with her husband and children in West Seattle. They have a son, Aaron (4 ½ years old) and a newborn daughter, Siri Rachel (2 weeks old).  Younger daughter, Lindsay, lives in Ellensburg with her husband and son, Brendan (3 years old).  Cyndy's background was originally as pre-med student at Berkeley, but after marrying, she moved to the Seattle area and finished her work at UW. She has worked in the medical field including Chicago and the Mayo Clinic. She gradually moved from the medical field (doing sonograms) to the psychology/counseling field. She has a Ph.D. in the higher education field and is currently the Dean at the Leadership Institute (LIOS) of Saybrook University in Kirkland. She is a seasoned Rotarian having transferred from California. Her grandfather was a Rotarian in the 1920s. Both her father and husband are Rotarians. For her work in Rotary, she has been involved with the “Faces with Hope” project in Guatemala where they help with families whose children have cleft palates.

Classification Talk: Vickie Cooley

Vickie Cooley is not new to Rotary as this is her second time joining the Rotary Club of Kirkland. She originally joined in 1993. Even though she lived in Oklahoma while she was growing up, Vickie stated she had a great childhood. When she was about eight, she first learned she liked banking as she tore up a Sears catalog to make paper money. After getting married and moving to the Seattle area, she fell in love with the Northwest. In 1972 she got into the real estate business. She then branched out on her own in 1980, went back to work for another mortgage company, and then owned her own business again from 1987 to 1996. She has thoroughly enjoyed the mortgage business, and she joined Rotary because she wants to give back to the community.

Introduction of Speaker Patti Smith thanked Eric Olsen for suggesting the speaker Stacey Sanner whose career as PR professional has spanned more than 20 years in senior roles with high-profile entertainment and media corporations in New York and Los Angeles including A&M Records, VH1/MTV Networks and Teen People Magazine/Time Inc. In 2006, Stacey moved to Seattle area where she lives with her husband.

Speaker Stacey Sanner

Stacey Sanner is the author of Keeping a Blue Light On: A Citizen’s Tribute to the Seattle Police Department. Published in 2010, the book is a collection of stories, memories and photographs of 41 men and women of the Seattle Police Department. The interviewees represent five precincts, a range of years and the specialty of units. All interviewees were self-selected. The questions included What made you decide to become a police officer? How do you carry on? What is like to be a police officer? among other questions.

Stacey wanted the book to honor the fallen (Seattle Police Officer Timothy Brenton in 2009 and the four Lakewood officers Officer Tina Griswold, Officer Ronald Owens, Sgt Mark Renniger and Officer Gregory Richards also gunned down in 2009 by a different killer) and to be a creative in converging photos and stories. She has never written a book like this before.

Her presentation was very moving as she read passages from the book. The memories are very heartfelt. She read the words of Officers Jim Ritter and Mary O’Cleary, and the last story she read involved Seattle Police Officer Benjamin Kelly who came upon an unoccupied car parked with its hood up and engine running. The car had been stolen and the person approaching from behind was the gunman Maurice Clemmons who had killed the four Lakewood Officers. It was a tense time. Officer Kelly signaled for backup. In the meantime, Officer Kelly confronted Clemmons, ordered him to stop, but Clemmons attempted to flee and he reached for a gun. Officer Kelly then fired at Clemmons fatally wounding him.

Stacey ended her presentation mentioning the love police officers have in patrolling, but that in the words of one officer “simple traffic stop can be the most dangerous.”

All proceeds from the book are donated to the Seattle Police Foundation and the book sells for $29.99. It can also be found on Amazon.com.

The Joker Pool:  Jim Going stated the Joker Pool has $2094 and 23 cards. Scott Becker pulled the ace of diamonds and so did not win the Joker Pool. Meeting adjourned 7:35 p.m.