July 24, 2006 Spokesman

Posted by Bob Webb 
 

Promptly at 6:30 PM Steve Brown called the group to order for his second meeting as president. The pledge was lead by Bill Taylor; Tom Sturgell through a prayer gave some insight of concerns of a Rotary club president early in his term.  Indeed it was an inspirational and Rotary moment.

Visiting Rotarians and Guests:  Dr. Foppe DeWalle, a visiting professor in environmental science at U of W is making up with us again.  He is a Rotarian from Delft-Holland.  Val Gurin introduced Jeanette Bowers, an attorney practicing in Kirkland.  Wendy Allen visited again as Bill Wood's guest; she plans to make application for membership.  Louise Carnahan visited with Ari Cowan, our guest speaker for the evening.  Cheryl and Jack Bloodworth visited for the second time.  Chuck Morgan introduced his repeat guest and I missed her name.

 

Announcements: 

  • A note from Scott Becker was circulated thanking the club for their condolences upon the death of his mother.
  • Dennis Newell read an email from Francois Daumard announcing the birth of his and Karine's son Alexander on July 21.
  • Gary Bruner announced the annual Kirkland Rotary Salmon Bake is rapidly approaching.  He urged signing up, noting what dish each is bringing, and folks not at the meeting can call him or sign up (I think) on ClubRunner.  Help in setting up, taking down, and cooking was also requested.  The salmon bake is at Bob Norman's home on Monday, August 14.
  • Patti Smith, Director of International Service, announced the following: a. Jim Feek has accepted the chair of the International Foundation effort for Kirkland,    b. Warren Crain of the Emerald City Club is chairing a group that will go to India to participate in their National Immunization Day.  Anyone interested should contact Warren at wcrain@u.washington.edu.  This effort will be joined by Rotarians from New Zealand and our East Coast.  The dates are Nov. 19 through Dec. 2 and the tour will include visiting the Taj Mahal, Khajuraho, and a breakfast in Warren's India home.   c. The write-up for a grant to teach literacy to Turkish women is complete and will be submitted for matching funds very shortly.  This program was written up in this month's Rotarian.
  • Val Gurin reported an excellent trip to Poland. 

 

Michelle Hnatowich gave a very moving classification talk.  She grew up in Kirkland, is a graduate of Lake Washington High School and has worked as the inside sales person for McLaren Inc., a manufacturer's representative firm selling electronic products often to utility companies.  She is the youngest employee and has been with the firm for 25 years this November.  Michelle has two sons, ages 21 and 17.  She has a long tradition of volunteer work and joined us for the opportunity of fellowship and participation in other important volunteer causes.  Michelle's talk was very well received by all.

 

Next, our new vice-sergeant of arms, David Aubrey, collected oodles of happy dollars and showed a natural talent for raising dough from many of us and having us like it.  No mean trick!

 

Program:  Patti Smith introduced Dr. Ari Cowan who has studied violence for most of his working life.  He grew up in Kirkland and continues to live here.  He has written several books and is the founder of the Edvita Institute of Bellevue.  This group is devoted to making a difference in the epidemic of violence affecting the entire world.  In brief Dr. Cowan and his institute teach skills dealing with violence not with the traditional punishment for violence, but considering it an illness that needs treatment like other illnesses.  For example we don't punish a person for having a heart attack by giving him the flu.  But we certainly punish individuals and countries for violence, terrorism, etc. without much regard for why it happens. We learned of several vignettes strongly suggesting the skills and training his group supports have a profound affect on violent behavior.  The whole idea was fascinating and Mr. Cowan was very entertaining.  He brought explanatory reading material and would be very happy to correspond with any of us who wished more understanding of his program and ideas.

 

Honey Pot:  The evening ended with Gary Bruner having the lucky number; however, he didn't get the colored marble so the pot gets almost into the stratosphere.

 

The meeting was adjorned at 7:45 PM. 

 

Respectfully submitted, Bob Webb, Scribe for a day