July 29, 2013 Spokesman
President Scott Rethke called the July 29, 2013 Kirkland Rotary Club meeting to order at approximately 6:30pm. Pledge was led by Scott Becker and scribe was Tim Kehrli. Following the usual pleasantries and pledge we were introduced to our guests for the evening. The first was Laurie Marku, the Rotary District Vocational Chair. Laurie was there to check on the status of how each club is using their chair for vocational service and offer her assistance as needed. Unfortunately Eric Olsen, our Vocational Chair, was not in attendance so Laurie just enjoyed a great meeting and dinner. Also visiting the meeting was Gary Redfern’s wife Elizabeth.
The inspirational minute (well actually several minutes) was provided byJim Feek who told a lovely story involving those who are 70 and older. It was something about “Why Worry”, but I took my nap during the punch line and missed it. If more information is necessary please talk to the 70 and older club members as I am sure they got the joke.
Announcements – you guessed it, all was about the upcoming Duck Dash on August 11th.
Alice Volpe continues to handle the selling venues and passed around the final sign up sheets for several great opportunities to finish your selling before the event. Not on the list was a last opportunity for selling at the Kirkland Market on Wednesday, July 31st. Please reach out to Alice if you have more tickets to sell and need some partnering to make it happen. (I will be at the Market on Wednesday and could use a partner – Bill Taylor are you available?)
John Pruitt – the details on the Dash event continue to roll:
1. There is a branding party at Lee Johnson’s at 6pm next Monday. This is the 16th year that the event has been held there. The branding takes only about 90 min and there will be pizza and cookies afterword. This is the Monday meeting next week so don’t go to the hotel, but join us at the branding.
2. The Kirkland Car show last Sunday was a huge success with over $1,000 in ticket sales. Scott Becker received a huge thank you for spearheading the selling event.
3. If you have a portable table and can bring it to the branding event please drop it off at Lee Johnsons by 5:30 on Monday.
4. There is a volunteer sheet for the duck event on the 11th, please make sure to let Jason Overleese know if you are coming so the support teams can be organized.
5. The top sellers in the Gold Club were updated with a few new entrants, Bill Woods and Scott Becker. They have joined Ernie Norhad, Jim Feek and John Pruitt in this great group. Team 1 continues its sales lead going into the final week.
6. All duck money should be turned in as soon as possible but can be taken up to race day if necessary to find any more dollars.
Golf Update – the annual event this year is at the Bear Creek Country Club on September 9th. Rick Walter is heading up and reminded all that you don’t have to golf to attend. Dinner only is $40, so all should join in on the event. The full deal is just $100 for the Best Ball Scramble. More details to follow but get your four some together now – golf or eating, any foursome will do.
Rick Ostrander also reminded us that the Salmon Bake is just around the corner on August 26th, details soon on location and times.
Finally – Rick Walter did a great job as usual on Happy Dollars and brought in a magnificent bounty of bills for the club.
Speaker –of the Night
Our invited speaker was William “Bill” Kirk a criminal defense attorney, specializing in DUI and BUI clients. That would be the driving or boating under the influence variety. Bill has been practicing for over 15 years and is noted as one of the best in the business. He is with the Cowan, Kirk, Gaston Law firm located in Kirkland.
Bill specifically discussed the new boating under the influence laws that have just taken effect over the weekend and are especially important with Seafair weekend upon us. Bill indicated that the 300 to 400 BUI arrests that are typically made this weekend are more than the total arrests made during the rest of the year!! Starting his presentation Bill was very serious to remind us that the only way to ensure getting a BUI, or a DUI for that matter, is to not drink and drive. Its simple.
The Sea Fair weekend is unusual as the primary south end of Lake Washington becomes a no wake zone from Thursday evening to Sunday evening. This means that any speeds over about 8 knots can be cause for a police stop and potential boarding. Be careful and drive slow if you are out there on the waterways.
The new BUI laws are very similar to the DUI laws. I don’t want to get into the specifics as to make any mistakes here so the best defense is to not drink as stated above or go to www.cowanlawfirm.com for more information. Just follow the links to BUI.
And the evening ended with the Joker pool with Gary Redfern winning the ticket draw but the Joker stayed hidden and the 2 of spades was revealed. The pot currently stands at $560.
The meeting was adjourned at 7:45pm.
Don’t forget – next meeting is at Lee Johnson’s Chevrolet – 6pm sharp!!!!!!!