The Rotary Club of Kirkland held an in-person meeting September 23, 2024, at the Kirkland Eagles Club. Past President Joanne Primavera presided at this meeting and called the meeting to order at 6:19 p.m. Gary Cohn led us in the Pledge.
Attendees: David Aubry, Bob Auslander, Cody Baker, Gary Cohn, Sue Cohn, Don Dicks, Jocelyn Ellison, Doug Evanson, Rashmi Garimella, Margie Glenn, Isabelle Kalisa*, Chris Kelly-Storbeck*, Kate Koslosky, Jim Meniketti, Kristin Olson, Rick Ostrander, Joanne Primavera, Daniel Sada Caraveo, John Storbeck, Manassey Tetteh, and Rick Walter. *Attended via Zoom.
Guests: Daniel Pflager returned for his second visit to the club. Dave’s spouse Anna Aubry joined us for the meeting. And our speaker, David Lynx of the Kirkland Arts Center, joined us for dinner and the meeting.
John Storbeck first gave us a bad joke, inspired by his recent encounter with former club member Ernie Norehad. He then gave us a Rotary Minute in which he recounted a recent encounter with a woman in a coffee shop near Metropolitan Market. He heard the woman talking to her companion during which she mentioned “Rotary”. John spoke to her about Rotary and learned that the woman is a member of Rotary Club of Bainbridge and is in fact involved in their auction and rummage sale fundraiser. He signed her up to speak to us at an upcoming meeting. This encounter illustrates the connection that Rotary brings to members.
Announcements/ Committee Reports:
Joanne talked to us about the upcoming Rotary International Convention in Calgary, Alberta, June 19-25. The cost is only $525 if you register early. There will be an opportunity to interact with many interesting folks. See the most recent Rotarian magazine for more info.
Community Service: Rick Walter is still working with John Muir Elementary School so we can do Warm Coats, Holiday Food Baskets, Holiday Gift Shopping, etc. He also is pulling together a social get together at Cactus on October 7 at 5:30 – let him know if you are interested in joining him.
Kirkland Rotary Foundation: David Aubry reminded everyone about the sign-up sheets for the upcoming Kirkland Rotary Foundation Gala and Auction on October 14. There are also fliers for everyone to take home. He also announced a free program by the Kirkland Heritage Society Wednesday at Heritage Hall in Kirkland where Matt McCauley will speak about Kirkland’s former Lake Washington Shipyard located at what is now Carillon Point. His talk will emphasize the yard’s role in building ships for the Navy and Coast Guard during WWII. Also, upcoming talks in November and December at Heritage Hall will address the original railroad route along Slater Street in Kirkland, and its connection to the never-completed steel mill that Peter Kirk was trying to develop in the late 1880s.
Youth Services Committee: Jocelyn Reiter would like members of the committee to stay after this meeting for a short planning meeting.
Board of Directors: With our president away and no president-elect this year, Gary Cohn is assisting Kate Koslosky (vice president) to form the nominating committee to select candidates for the club officers election to be held during the meeting after the holiday dinner on December 16. He would especially like some club past presidents to join the committee. See Gary or Kate if you would like to join the committee or you are interested in a particular office.
Joanne Primavera distributed ballots to active members so we could vote on a preferred meeting venue for the rest of 2024.
Program:Joanne Primavera introduced our speaker for the evening, David Lynx of the Kirkland Arts Center. He is a member of Bellevue Rotary, and gave us an update on what is happening at the Arts Center. First, he gave us an outline of how his life evolved into his current profession as a cultural facilities manager. He grew up on Mercer Island and spent a number of years working in Eastern Washington.
He then gave us an illustrated history of the Peter Kirk Building, where the Arts Center is located. The focus of the Kirkland Arts Center is ceramics. They offer a number of hands-on classes that are very popular and usually fill very quickly. KAC also offers print-making classes, among others. The Peter Kirk Building is also used as a site for various events. KAC partners with the Kirkland Library and with local galleries to exhibit artworks.
A new series called the Fringe Festival is beginning at KAC; it is a world-wide phenomenon. Our club may get a booth at the festival. KAC has applied for a grant from 4Culture to make the building’s mezzanine handicapped accessible. In May, KAC will have a fund-raising auction.
There were several questions from Rotarians.
Gary Cohn announced the results of the voting for our at-least-the-rest-of-the-year meeting venue decision. There were 19 members present in person and two on Zoom, one of whom abstained. Overwhelmingly (61.9%), members voted to meet at the Eagles for the rest of 2024: 13 voted for the Eagles, 4 voted for Sparrow, 2 voted for Kabab House, 1 voted for L'Experience Paris, and 1 abstained.
Cody Baker read off the winning ticket numbers and the winning tickets were held by Rashmi Garimela, Sue Cohn –who did not draw the correct disc–, Jocelyn Reiter, and Dave Aubry –who put his prize back in play for next week.
Acting President Joanne Primavera rang the bell to adjourn at 7:20 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
David Aubry – Acting Scribe