The Rotary Club of Kirkland held a meeting on February 7, 2022 at the Courtyard by Marriott hotel.
President Dave DeBois rang the bell at 6:35 p.m., calling the club meeting to order. (The laptop was declining to cooperate with Zoom. We had to have Zoom as our speaker would be speaking to us remotely.)
Jim Meniketti led the membership in the Pledge of Allegiance.
Attending were George Anderson, Pete Anderson, David Aubry, Scott Becker*, Rich Bergdahl, Gary Cohn*, Terry Cole, David DeBois, Donald Dicks*, Brandon Honcoop, Michael Hunter, Isabelle Kalisa, Jim Meniketti, Rick Ostrander, Joanne Primavera, John Pruitt, John Storbeck, Bill Taylor*, and Rick Walter. *Attended the meeting online.
Guests:
Jason Dodson is visiting via Zoom to check us out for possible membership.
Greeter:
Our greeter this evening was Jim Meniketti, who manned the front desk.
Announcements & Club Business:
Joanne Primavera reminded us that member Bella Chaffey’s foundation, Alexander’s Hope, is sponsoring a Valentine’s Day Dash 5K Run/Walk this week. The Dash route from Marina Park to Carillon Point and back. Sign up online or the day of the Run/Walk. The event begins at noon on February 12, and benefits the foundation.
Joanne also said that former member Katherine Kehrli could use volunteers to repack flour into 5-lb. containers so other volunteers can bake bread for Hopelink.
Scott Becker reported that Bill Woods is doing much better after a bout of ill-health.
President Dave announced Patty Tucker, longtime-Kirkland volunteer and widow of former member Dave Tucker, died recently.
President Dave said that there are some folks interested in the Tiny House project this May. Participants do not need tools or carpentry skills, and should wear work clothes and bring gloves and masks. The work is inside, but not heated. Contact Pres. Dave for details.
Happy Bucks:
There were no Happy Bucks collected during this meeting.
Program:
President Dave introduced our speaker, Thomas Meyer of Food & Water Watch, who is remote via Zoom this evening.
Thomas is the national organizing manager of Food & Water Watch, a national non-profit that “mobilizes regular people to build political power to move bold and uncompromised solutions to the most pressing food, water, and climate problems of our time. The organization works to protect people’s health, communities, and democracy from the growing destructive power of the most powerful economic interests”.
Thomas gave us examples of some of the issues they have been working to fix, such as water contamination linked to fracking, misuses of agricultural land linked to large-scale farming, and the contributions of fossil fuels use to climate change.
The organization approaches issues through the legal [and political] system at all levels, especially at the local level. He enunciated three principles:
- Real improvement in lives
- Make people aware of their collective power.
- Alter the relationships of power by:
- Building strong organizations
- Changing laws and regulations
- Electing people who support the organization’s positions.
- There is a sister organization called Clean Water Action involved in political action.
There were a number of questions from Rotarians on the tough practical aspects of making the types of changes that are advocated.
Joker Pool:
There was not a Joker Pool this evening.
Adjournment:
President Dave rang the bell at 7:26 p.m. to adjourn the meeting.
Respectfully Submitted
Dave Aubry – Acting Scribe