August 23, 2010 Spokesman

Posted by Rachel Knight 
on Aug 23, 2010
 

President Pat Dye called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m and Pat Swenson led us in the flag salute.

Pres. Pat thanked Terry Cole and Mekonen Giorgis for Greeting and Rachel for scribing.

Pres. Pat provided the inspirational moment by wishing all Kirkland Rotary members a Happy 73rd Anniversary!

 

Visiting Rotarians and Visitors:

Gail Auslander, wife of Bob; John Delatore from NZ, visiting his daughter; Dick Carlson

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Pres. Pat announced that RI has set up a special fund to benefit the flooding in Pakistan and members may provide support on website: relief@rotary.org

 

Sept 16th, 6pm, Boys and Girls Club Kirkland will be opening their Teen Room - we donated funds for this very worthy cause and all are invited to join in the celebration.

 

Salmon Bake, this Sat 28th at 4:30 at the Woodbery Estate, $25 per person, fresh caught salmon (by hours)  arranged by the Bruners, and Wilson Anhar has arranged an Aegis shuttle bus from the parking site at the neighbors. Pat Swenson has the list so if last minute changes to attendance, please contact her. **Jason Wang, our exchange student from Taiwan will be in attendance.

 

Sept 13th Golf Tournament at Mt.Si Golf Course. If you have prizes to donate or wish to make changes, please contact Patti Smith. $45 for golf and dinner; $20 for dinner only

 

Pres. Pat and Sec. Makaylaa Powers attended District workshop regarding new software that generates emails if you miss a meeting and other fancy stuff.

 

Mary-Alyce announced that Kirkland Rotary Community Service dollars will be at work this Thursday and Friday at Fred Meyer 4:30 to 7pm with a shoe drive for low income kids.

 

Brandon Honcoop announced that he held the first Membership Committee meeting and the team will be working on some projects to build retention and recruitment. Pat Swenson and Joanne Burns have taken on illustrious titles and duties.stay tuned!

 

Dan Bartel announced that Oct 2nd will be our first quarterly Rotary First Harvest so save the date - more info closer to the date.

 

Pat Swenson is recruiting a team for the calling tree.contact her if you are interested.

 

Don Dicks has been working with Kirkland Parks Dept and they have come up with a project: helping to install the children's playground at RoseHillMeadowsPark. It will occur in October.

***Please respond to his email concerning the subject so they may assess interest levels to move ahead

 

September 20th will feature the one and only, Happy Dollars Chuck.so be prepared to share your summer news.and your dollars.

 

PROGRAM: Port Commissioner Bill Bryant

Comm. Bill was elected to Port of Seattle in 2007 and is President of the Commission.

The last two years have been focused on finance and governance and now the Port is 46% above revenue than this time last year. Moving forward, the Commission will concentrate on three areas: transportation threat, taxes, and education.

 

The Port success depends on moving goods faster through Seattle and Tacoma to inland America than anyone else. Currently the main competition comes from Prince Rupert and Vancouver ports but in 2014 when Panama canal widening project is completed, the competition from Charleston and Houston will severely handicap Seattle.

 

How the area is funding transportation projects is broken. In order to be more competitive transportation projects must be consolidated from a tax and financial standpoint, as well as, efficiencies in time and resources. Highways 509 and 167 must be completed soon if Seattle is to remain competitive - now it is a big bottleneck to get goods to warehouses and over the mountains efficiently.

 

The post-WWII education system in America is not productive and we are falling behind other nations. This impacts transportation efficiencies and competitiveness. If we do not have the ambition and ability to compete then jobs will go elsewhere.

 

 

The meeting was adjourned at 7:30 p.m.

Respectfully submitted:

Rachel Knight