The Rotary Club of Kirkland held a meeting on March 7, 2022 at the Courtyard by Marriott hotel.
President Dave DeBois rang the bell at 6:17 p.m., calling the club meeting to order.
Scott Becker led the membership in the Pledge of Allegiance.
Attending were George Anderson, David Aubry, Scott Becker, Christine Bell*, Rich Bergdahl, Gary Cohn*, David DeBois, Monica Fratita*, Shellie Gehring, Margie Glenn*, Brandon Honcoop, Michael Hunter, Isabelle Kalisa, Jim Meniketti, Rick Ostrander, Joanne Primavera, John Pruitt, and Rick Walter. *Attended the meeting online.
Guests:
Charlie Hamilton and Hendrik de Kock of All Aboard Washington, our speakers this evening, were our guests.
Greeter:
Our greeter this evening was Jim Meniketti, who manned the front desk.
Rotarians, our club's 2021-22 scholarship program has launched. Our vocational service committee still needs help with scholarship funds, and with scholarship applicant interviews! For 2021-22, the club’s allocation for 2021-22 is again $7,000. We have commitments for five additional, "specialty" scholarships this year, totaling $6,500, for a program total of $13,500. If you’re willing to sponsor a scholarship this year, or you can corral a scholarship donation from someone in our community, please get in touch with Gary Cohn as soon as practical.
This year scholarship applications are limited to Lake Washington High School, Juanita High School, and the International Community School. The club doesn't have enough team leads to offer the scholarships to Emerson High School or the Lake Washington Institute of Technology. Thank you to this year's team leads: Mike Hunter (JHS), Brandon Honcoop (LWHS), and Brian Tucker (ICS). Scholarship applicants will again submit through the SmarterSelect online program. The Scholarship Night program is June 6, 2022.
Just before the 2020 winter holiday break, Rotarians heard from Dr. Philip Ballinger, special advisor to for the University of Washington's Presidential Scholars Initiative. At the time, Rotarians asked to be able to support the program and to be kept abreast of its development. Dr. Ballinger provided the club a window into the program through the eyes of one of the new scholars, Makenna Schwab. This is Makenna's story:
Hi, my name is Makenna Schwab, nice to meet you. Currently, I am absolutely honored to be a freshman at the University of Washington and a Presidential Scholar. But it has been a long journey to get to this point.
My journey began, when I was diagnosed with a rare bone and tissue disorder called Larsen’s syndrome, which manifested in many dislocated joints present at birth. Because of this condition, much of my early years were spent at Seattle Children’s Hospital. I had many procedures including serial casting and surgeries, and the hospital became my second home. My doctors and nurses were family, and my life was changed forever by the love and care I received.
Our host club is a predominantly on-line Rotary club with a single purpose: ending sex trafficking. This Rotary club meets on-line twice a month, holds a fellowship once a month, and meets for one hands-on service project each month.
Please join the meeting as close to 5:00 p.m. as possible to avoid interrupting our host club's meeting agenda. Use our Rotary club's Calendar to download the April 18 meeting information to your personal calendar; the April 18 meeting on our Calendar contains the link to the Zoom meeting. Information about the virtual club and the program are available in the April 18, 2022 item on our club website's Speakers page.
During its most recent meeting, the club's board of directors reviewed badge options for club members and confirmed the selection of rectangular, blue, six-line badges (see five-line image here) to replace the aging round badges used in past years. The board also reviewed existing and proposed classifications for our Rotarians, which are to be assigned at acceptance into the club's membership. In some cases, one of the membership committee members will a contact club member directly to verify the classification to be included in the badge if the member is new or club records are incomplete. Badges are expected to arrive in several weeks from the Russel Hampton Company.