August 2, 2010 Spokesman
Posted by John Woodbery
on Aug 2, 2010
President Pat Dye opened the meeting at 6:30 PM sharp. Ev Cox would have been proud. Scott Rethke answered the call and led us in that old favorite of all Americans, "The Pledge of Allegiance". Joanne Primavera inspired us in the community service realm with a touching tale of a young man she interviewed many years ago at Lake Washington Technical College as the winner of a certificate of merit. For this young man, an autism survivor, it was his first achievement recognition ever. He just wanted to give back as much future help as he had received, now at last, being able to appreciate it. Thanks Joann for that moving story, a true inspiration for us all.
The long list of guests included Pascal Webber from Switzerland our former exchange student who will go down in Rotary history as "Pascal the First". Much better than "Ivan the Terrible". Pascal has finished Swiss High School (probably equivalent to our college first year), and will take a year off for work, study and travel. Maybe even in that order. Our perennial Rotarian visitor from Tucson, Dick Carlson was here, a very peasant Sue (didn't catch the last name) was visiting us from Cal State San Bernardino as Dean of the Business School emeritus. Other guests included a Mr. kerklin(sp?) and not though not a guest but
our own Rachel Knight was back from climbing Mount Rainier and that rarified accomplishment was probably as stimulating as being a guest at Kirkland Rotary (just kidding) Way to go Rachel, you inspire us all but most of us won't ever get off the couch long enough to ascend to those heights. Alice and Alan's personal physician, Dr. Bliss was here and he had interesting comments during the program.
Announcements: Our own Alan Barer won the top Duck prize of mere money (50 "Benjamin's") and proceeded to donate back 5 of them to the Kirkland Rotary Foundation. If it had been the car, maybe a spare tire?. On the culinary enticement front, Gary Bruner announced that the line caught salmon we will be served at the annual Salmon bake will be so fresh, the ocean will not have missed them yet (actually to have been caught the day before the event.) The club golf tournament where skill matters little compared to fun, will be 9/13 at , guess where? Mt. Si golf club. Right after that on 9/18 the Redmond Rouser Club will hold a casino night. Barb Seaton announced that Joann Primavera had her picture in Rotarian Magazine from her Ethiopia trip. Was she hot? I mean the weather, guys. Jim Going introduced us to the new raffle game starting next week called 52 card pick up the Joker if you can. The chances are winning are nil but the pot of money will grow and the odds improve the longer it takes to eliminate all the rest. Is there really a Joker in this deck or is it just a clever fund raiser?
Brockway did his usual grazing for happy dollars and unveiled in the process numerous joys and tales such as trips to somewhere or other,climbing feats, grandkids, congrats to others, fortunes (cookie slips) read, celebrating winnings, appreciation for times past, new jobs, a week of date nights and a short, maybe lasting vacation from Norwegian jokes.
Speaker: Phillip Mertz, Director for Membership Development of "Qliance" presented his model of primary medical care that specializes in prevention, wellness and empathy at a modest cost of $70.00 per month at the primary care level only paying the doc for his work and save insurance for extreme emergencies and really difficult conditions. The idea is to catch things before they progress and avoids emergency room and other cost excesses. His model was an old medical idea such as many of us thought existed with Dr. Marcus Welby and the like where medical providers cared more about you than the number of visits needed to fund expected income under the insurance model. Whether the model could be applied to all is up to question but the nostalgia his presentation generated was impressive to witness. Whether the medical home meant your home or a place to go like a home for that care was not clear to your scribe but the presentation was interesting and drew numerous questions until time ran out. He advocated that many conditions go undiagnosed because the insurance system discourages use and it works. Innovations are needed.
Respectfully submitted,
John E. Woodbery
Scribe