The Rotary Club of Kirkland held a virtual meeting on January 30, 2023 via Zoom.

President Amy Mutal called the meeting to order at 6:02 p.m.

Don Dicks led us in the Pledge of Allegiance, with Rashmi Garimella providing the flag.

Attending were George Anderson, Pete Anderson, David Aubry, Bob Auslander, Rich Bergdahl, Gary Cohn, Terry Cole, David DeBois, Donald Dicks, Jocelyn Ellison, Doug Evanson, James Feek, Monica Fratita, Rashmi Garimella, Margie Glenn, Brandon Honcoop, Isabelle Kalisa, Jim Meniketti, Amy Mutal, Rick Ostrander, Joanne Primavera, John Pruitt, Karin Quirk, Patti Smith, John Storbeck, Pat Swenson, Alice Volpe, and Rick Walter.

Guests:

This evening’s guest was Jim Feek’s wife, Kathy Feek.

Greeters:

President Amy greeted members as they joined the meeting.

Announcements, Club Business, Committee Reports:

The club held its first all-Zoom meeting of 2023 to discuss and hopefully decide two critically important issues.  The Club is deciding on meeting frequency and location.  We are also hearing a report from a committee established to explore new fundraising options so we can replace the long-running Duck Dash.  President Amy Mutal and Gary Cohn worked together to get as many members as possible to attend so any discussion and decision will have as much membership participation as possible.  We did very well, with 28 members attending.

President Amy welcomed former and new member Karen Quirk.

President Amy briefly discussed the challenges of the past three years, with COVID-19 and the loss of the Woodmark Hotel as a meeting site.  She also discussed the challenges ahead of us, including the challenge of recruiting new members, and our two main topics for the evening, meeting format and site, and fundraising.  Members want to feel positive and happy about our activities.

The Rotary Club of Kirkland membership formally approved, by unanimous vote during its Monday night meeting on January 30, to move from annually sponsoring the Great Puget Sound Duck Dash to sponsoring an annual rummage sale as the club's major fundraising project. The first rummage sale is planned for the coming summer, during the months of June or July, depending upon location availability. A Kirkland school site is the preferred venue for such a project, which is to be fashioned after the Rotary Club of Bainbridge Island Annual Auction & Rummage Sale. Look for further information in The Spokesman as the plans and the work unfold.

During its January 30 meeting, the Rotary Club of Kirkland membership decided to continue its in-person meetings at SOI Restaurant & Bar in the Kirkland Urban.  The membership also settled on trying out a three-meetings-a-month schedule with two in-person meetings and one virtual (Zoom) meeting.  In-person meetings will be held the first and third Mondays of the month, the virtual meeting will be held on second Mondays, and the club will not hold regular meetings on fourth Mondays.  Following discussion and consensus among the members, President Amy Mutal announced that the new, three-per-month structure would be tested during February and March, and then assessed by the members in April.  Meeting schedule updates were posted to the club's, Rotary District 5030's, and Rotary International's websites.

Three Lake Washington School District high schools have been invited to nominate outstanding educators for the 2022-2023 school year. Invitations to Emerson, Juanita, and Lake Washington high schools' principals were issued this month, in anticipation of honoring their nominees near the close of May. The club's board of directors determined three years ago to begin a rotation for the honors among elementary, middle, and high schools in the Kirkland service area. Read more about the past several years' honorees on the Outstanding Educator Awards page.