October 10, 2005 Spokesman

Posted by Steve Brown 
 
President opened the meeting and welcomed everyone at 6:35 PM, after which Sinclair Jones led the membership in the pledge to the flag.   Linda Julien introduced our Student of the Month, Nick Thorsen, from Juanita High School.   There were no visiting Rotarians.

 

ANNOUNCEMENTS

  • -President Joanne announced that this Wednesday, October 12, is the Centennial Birthday Party for the City of Kirkland.
  • -Steve S announced "Cheeseburger in Paradise" Bunko at his home, this Saturday, October 15, at 6:00 PM.   Sign-up sheets were on each table.
  • -Jeremy M announced that sign-up would begin next week for Thanksgiving and Christmas Adopt-A-Families, coordinated through several local high schools, like we do every year.
  • -Felicity B had several announcements.   First, she thanked the 14 members who helped with Northwest Harvest this past Saturday, packaging 15,000 hygiene kits for hurricane victims.   Next, Thursday October 20 is the date for training for Reading Buddies for the Muir elementary students.   Finally, she has received 37 bags of new coats which will be distributed to needy kids Friday October 21.
  • -Mike Hunter announced get-well cards that were circulating through the room, one for Ingrid Bruner who had shoulder surgery, and one for Bob Webb who had recent hip surgery.
  • -Finally, President Joanne announced a short Board meeting immediately after the meeting.

PROGRAM

Patti Smith introduced the evening's program, a Candidate's Forum primarily for the contested races for Kirkland City Council.   Prior to the start of the Forum, there were several uncontested candidates present, whom she introduced.   First, Arthur Best announced his withdrawal from the race, due to his missing the residency requirement by one week.   His opponent was Bob Sternoff, who is now running unopposed.   Both individuals spoke briefly, followed by the other unopposed candidate, Tom Hodgeson.  Patti then introduced the candidates in the contested races.   For Position #1 is Mike Nykreim, a local businessman, who is challenging the incumbent for this position, Joan McBride, who has served on the City Council for 8 years.   For Position #2, we had John Spangenberg, a previous city planner, who is challenging the incumbent for this position, Jim Lauinger, who has been on City Council for 4 years, and was a previous President of the Kirkland Rotary.   Each candidate was given the opportunity to make introductory remarks, followed by a brief "why you should vote for me" summary.   After this, the floor was opened for questions from the membership, and a spirited Q&A session ensued.   After approximately 45 minutes, Patti thanked each of the candidates for taking time out of their busy schedules to attend and make the meeting certainly memorable.

 

HONEY POT

Harry Cummings had the winning number, but alas, not the winning "hand", as he didn't draw the correct card of the evening.

So the pot continues!

There being no further business to discuss, President Joanne adjourned the meeting at 7:50 PM.

One final note - At the brief Board meeting after the regular meeting, the 2006 Duck Dash chairs, John Overleese and George McAfee, discussed with the Board their desire to identify a major, concrete beneficiary of the Duck Dash, like we did with the pavilion.   Not that this would replace all the other great things the Club accomplishes with this money, and maybe not this year, but wanted the membership to think about it and come up with some ideas perhaps.   At their request to share this with the entire membership for broader feedback, I agreed to include it as part of this week's Spokesman.

Respectfully submitted,
Steve, Brown,  Scribe