The Rotary Club of Kirkland held a meeting on June 5, 2023 at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Kirkland for the annual Scholarship Awards Night ceremony and dinner.
President Amy Mutal called the meeting to order at 6:01 p.m.
President Amy led us in the pledge.
Attending were Pete Anderson, Bob Auslander, Scott Becker, Gary Cohn, David DeBois, Jocelyn Ellison, Doug Evanson, Rashmi Garimella, Mekonen Giorgis, Margie Glenn, Brandon Honcoop, Alan Hoviland, Isabelle Kalisa, Jim Meniketti, Amy Mutal, Joanne Primavera, Karin Quirk, Patti Smith, John Storbeck, Alice Volpe, and Rick Walter.
Guests:
Austin Picinich, Juanita High School scholarship awardee, his father, Greg Picinich; Hailey Parent, Juanita High School scholarship awardee, her parents Andy and Dianne Parent; Nathan Coppinger, Juanita High School scholarship awardee, his grandfather, Jim Yoshida and mother Erin Yoshida; Benni Howard, Lake Washington High School scholarship awardee, her parents Spencer Howard and Elizabeth Shilling; Drew Fialho, Lake Washington High School scholarship awardee, his parents Derek and Ali Fialho; Allan Diaz, Lake Washington High School scholarship awardee, his parents Teodoro Diaz and Adriana Robledo, and brother Allen Diaz; Lucas De Blieck, Lake Washington High School scholarship awardee, his parents Jurgen and Denise De Blieck; Xavier Smith, Lake Washington High School scholarship awardee, his parents Trebus and Alana Smith; career specialists from Juanita High School, Jasper Adams and Peggy Shay, and from Lake Washington High School, Nichole Swanger. In addition, Scott Bebee, the Lake Washington School District's deputy superintendent, represented the superintendent this evening. Other guests this evening were Josephine Shi, with MorningStar Senior Living, who is interested in joining the club, and guest Rotarian Kate Koslosky, who is visiting the club for the second time. Kate mentioned again she is looking for a Rotary club to join and is visiting our club to become more familiar with us.
Greeter:
Jim Meniketti staffed the table with the sign-in roster.
Announcements, Club Business, Committee Reports:
Pete Anderson reported briefly on the work of the groups preparing for the upcoming rummage sale, and noted in particular that we need a lot of adults and youth as volunteers, requested members seek out people who can help with volunteers, and announced a special club meeting online this Wednesday evening, 6:30 p.m., for all the rummage sale teams to get current on accomplishments and high priority tasks that are pending.
Happy Bucks:
There were no Happy Bucks collected during this meeting.
Program:
Gary Cohn introduced the evening’s special program, the annual Rotary Scholarship Awards. He explained how the scholarships are funded by the club’s primary fundraiser and individual members and businesses, and thanked the two high schools’ career specialists for their pivotal contribution to the success of offering the scholarship program. Rick Walter, Patti Smith, and Gary then introduced first the Juanita awardees, and then the Lake Washington awardees:
- Austin Picinich, Juanita High School, Rotary Scholarship
- Hailey Parent, Juanita High School, Rotary Scholarship
- Nathan Coppinger, Juanita High School, Rotary Scholarship
- Allan Diaz, Lake Washington High School, Business & Accounting Scholarship
- Benjamine Howard, Lake Washington High School, Rotary Scholarship
- Drew Fialho, Lake Washington High School, Rotary Scholarship
- Lucas DeBlieck, Lake Washington High School, Step Scholarship
- Xavier Smith, Lake Washington High School, Rotary Scholarship
Juanita High School's Raphael Agbenu, Technical Education Scholarship & Diversity Leadership Scholarship awardee, and Makenzie Reynolds, Rotary Scholarship awardee, were unable to attend the meeting.
Gary concluded the program by thanking several of our Rotarians for contributing to expand the scholarship program:
- Bob and the late Gail Auslander for the Technical Education Scholarship,
- Russ and Tricia Stromberg for the Step Scholarship,
- Hutchison & Walter and Rick Walter for the Business & Accounting Scholarship, and
- Dr. Susan Cohn for the Diversity Leadership Scholarship.
He also expressed thanks to the members of the interview teams who carried out the scholarship applicant evaluations: Rick Walter, Patti Smith, and Kristin Olson for Juanita High School; and John Pruitt and Rick Ostrander for Lake Washington High School. He also extended a thank you to everyone who participated in the Great Puget Sound Duck Dash to raise funds for the club's $2,500 general scholarships!
Joker Pool:
There was no Joker Pool this evening.
Adjournment:
President Amy reminded attendees to bus their tables and extended a thank you to the St. John's church members for the use of the Marsh Room, and announced the meeting was adjourned at 7:25 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted,
Gary Cohn
Secretary