The Rotary Club of Kirkland held an in-person meeting at L’Experience Paris in Kirkland.
Immediate Past President Gary Cohn acted as president of this meeting and called the meeting to order at 6:33 p.m.
Terry Cole led us in the Pledge.
Attendees were: David Aubry, Bob Auslander, Cody Baker, Michelle Cazeau, Gary Cohn, Terry Cole, Donald Dicks, Jocelyn Ellison, Rashmi Garimella, Margie Glenn, Kate Koslosky, Kristin Olson, Peter Peaquin, Joanne Primavera, John Pruitt, and Daniel Sada Caraveo.
Visiting Rotarian: Dick Carlson from Tucson, AZ, who lives here part of the year.
Guests: David Aubry introduced wife Anna; Jocelyn Reiter introduced her daughter Jocelyn Casillas, visiting from Virginia; Kristin Olson introduced Angela Pritchett and Remy Pairault [from France] who are considering applying for membership – Angela has started the application process. Gary introduced the speaker, Mirya Muñoz-Roach, and Christine Rose, both from St. Vincent de Paul Seattle/King County.
Four-Way Test:
Jocelyn Reiter recited us of the 4-Way Test, and reminded us what it is, and why it is important.
Rotary Minute:
Joanne Primavera gave us a Rotary Minute that revolved around her childhood experiences growing up on Whidbey Island, the various service clubs there, and the fact that they were men-only at the time. She then recounted a bit of history on the various attempts to admit women into Rotary. After many approaches world-wide, a court case in the U.S. finally resulted in the admission of women into Rotary in 1987. Now, about 23% of members are women.
Announcements:
Acting President Gary reminded us that we are still in the process of trying different meeting venues. Our next in-person meeting August 5 will be at Sparrow in Juanita; August 19 we will probably meet again at the Eagles in Kirkland.
Acting President Gary reminded us all that President Pete Anderson continues to undergo treatment, so we have a need for people, especially former club presidents, to lead the various meetings for a while. Gary circulated sign-up sheets; one for that purpose and one for meeting responsibilities such as doing a Rotary Minute, leading the Pledge, etc. [Scribe Note: For some reason, my name is filled in as Scribe for the foreseeable future? Ed. Note: Yes, until you travel again to France!]
Happy Dollars – there were a number of Happy Rotarians: Gary C., Dave A., Joanne P., Jocelyn E., Kristin O., John P., and Bob A., all of whom contributed a total of $80 this evening. Visiting Rotarian Dick Carlson reminded us he can’t be a member of a second Rotary club (RI rules limit members to only one club), so he pledged the equivalent of dues, $415, in Happy Bucks. Thank you to everyone for the generosity, and welcome all summer Dick!
Acting President Gary introduced our Speaker, Mirya Muñoz-Roach, executive director of The Society of St. Vincent de Paul Seattle/King County. Ms. Muñoz-Roach was accompanied by Christine Rose, also of St. Vincent de Paul. St Vincent De Paul is the organization that provided a number of bins and reaped a harvest of unsold clothes and other items from our recent rummage sale, saving us from having to transport them to another agency or deposit them in the dumpster.
We were treated to some history on the founding of the organization, in Paris, France in 1833, by a 19-year-old student. They have been active in the Seattle area for more than 100 years. At one time, they had several thrift stores in the area, but declining patronage has led to a reduction down to three outlets. They are an IRC 501(c)(3) charitable organization independent of the Catholic Church, but are associated with selected Catholic parishes in the Puget Sound area.
They are in process of looking at the best way to reorganize to serve the community. They do home visits and are focused on responding to requests for assistance from local residents; the primary requests are for rent-payment assistance. As part of the process, they spent much time and effort working with folks on helping them to better manage their lives so that they can become self-sufficient and self-supporting. This encompasses all aspects of managing the art of successfully navigating life’s challenges, including budgeting and money management.
Their funding comes from a variety of sources: grants, bequests, donations, etc. As thrift shops have declined in importance, more effort has gone into expanding their sources of funding. Their watch-words are Friendship/Service/Spirituality.
There were a number of questions from Rotarians and guests, such as how to get involved; their website has information on that. They are looking for individual volunteers and have opportunities for group work parties at their Georgetown food bank.
The ticket drawing by Kate Koslosky produced three winners: John Pruitt, Jocelyn Casillas, and Joanne Primavera. Kate reminded us to bring items to meetings to serve as prizes.
Acting President Gary thanked our speaker and guests, each of the members who contributed to the meeting through meeting responsibilities, and rang the bell to adjourn at 7:20 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
David Aubry – Acting Scribe