The Rotary Club of Kirkland held a meeting on November 7, 2022 at the Courtyard by Marriott hotel.

President Amy Mutal rang the bell at 6:17 p.m., calling the club meeting to order.

Don Dicks (whom we welcomed back to a live meeting again!!) led the membership in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Attending were George Anderson, David Aubry, Gary Cohn*, Don Dicks, Jocelyn Ellison, Isabelle Kalisa, Amy Mutal, Kristin Olson, Rick Ostrander, Joanne Primavera, John Storbeck, and Rick Walter.  *Attended via Zoom.

Guests:
This evening’s guests were introduced by Rick Walter introduced Olivia Koelsch from Jefferson House, a Kirkland memory care facility.  Olivia told us a bit about the Jefferson House facility.  Karin Quirk, a former club member, joined us on Zoom.

The Rotary Club of Kirkland 2022 Holiday Party will be held this December on the evening of Monday, the 19th, at the St. James Episcopal Church in Kirkland. The event will be catered again this year, and the gift wrapping event will be held concurrently with the holiday party, as was the case last year. The cost per person for dinner is $40, and can be paid when registering on the club's website. Just click the link in the bold print above.

Rotarians are needed to purchase holiday gifts for the 15 families the Rotary Club of Kirkland will support this holiday season. Help is also needed for holiday party set-up and clean-up. Each of the shopping and party help sign-up lists is posted on the club's Calendar. You may click any of the links below to go to that event, and click on the golden box to access the online sign-up sheet. It's easy! Give it a try!

 

Holiday Gift Shopping In-Person (at Fred Meyer)

What a great time "Pumpkins in the Park" was for Kirkland and our Rotary group. Members Joanne Primavera and Kristin Olson took the morning shift; Dave and Anna Aubry worked the afternoon crowd. Our handouts (Rotary bags with candy and toys) were a big hit with the kids and we were able to talk "Rotary" to the parents and let them know the good things our organization does.

Last month saw the conclusion of the application and interview process for the 2022-2023 Rotary Club of Kirkland Students of the Month. Eighteen students from Emerson, Juanita, and Lake Washington high schools began the application process. Ten students have completed the process by submitting applications and sitting for in-person interviews with Rotary teams. Thanks are due to the vocational service committee interview teams: Kristen Olson, Patti Smith, and Rick Walter at JHS; Brandon Honcoop, James Nevers, and John Pruitt at LWHS; and Pete Anderson, Gary Cohn, and Rick Ostrander at Emerson High School.

During the month of August, club secretary Margie Glenn announced she was stepping down from the club secretary position effective September 1, citing significantly increased travel plans for the year including spending the bulk of the winter in Scottsdale, Arizona. On September 20, Mike Hunter stepped down from the club's vocational service chair position concurrently with his resignation from the club. This week Gary Cohn stepped down from the president-elect position effective at the close of December (or earlier if a successor is selected), citing distance from the club while in Scottsdale for five months of the year.

The club held four meetings during October 2022, all at the Courtyard by Marriott. Not all included a Zoom option. Overall club attendance for the month was 39%, higher than July and September, but lower than August.  The club's membership fell to 35 active members effective September 20, so the base for the calculation is smaller than the preceding months. 

Club members' readership of the bulletin, The Spokesman, in October was relatively stable and improved compared to the rates over the past four months. Readership rates were 67% to 75%, compared to the July range of 57% to 74% range in July through September. A bulletin is "read" when the email containing it is opened by the recipient.