June 1, 2009 Spokesman

Posted by Chuck Brockway 
 

President Bob started the June 1, 2009 Kirkland Rotary meeting at 6:37 PM.  Mike Hunter led us in the Pledge of Allegiance.  Bob admitted that with the beginning of a new month and his final month as president of the venerable Rotary Club of Kirkland that he did not ask anyone to do the Inspirational Moment.  Who should come to the rescue but our long lost Fred Tuttle who has just returned from his Peacecorp mission to Upper Efombutta.  He regaled us with his stories and impressions of a lost culture that is many decades behind the current civilized world.

Nice to have you back, Fred!

Scott Schulman a visiting Rotarian from Coeur d'Alene was introduced by Gary Redfern.

Brandon Honcoop introduced his guest, Evan Pardini

 

Announcements:

 

  • President Bob announced that there would be a board meeting this Tuesday
  • For those new Rotarians that have not yet had their picture taken, please make arrangements with Bob Gassen
  • President Bob announced that we had 6 Kirkland Rotarians attend the Club Assembly in Ballard and noted that even new Rotarian Roy Selvidge attended
  • Chuck Brockway thanked all who helped out at the Miracle League this past Saturday.  Chuck singled out Mekonen Giorgis for helping a young player at what was Mekonen's first exposure to baseball.  Chuck asked for and got several volunteers for the upcoming game on Saturday, 6-6 @ 9:45 AM at the Kirkland Boy's and Girl's Club; 10805 124th Ave NE, Kirkland, WA98033   425 827-0132
  • Head Duck Joanne Primavera had her own version of the "Duckies", baked cookies in recognition for several Rotarians, Brandon Honcoop for working with the Drill Team (and no Steve you are not allowed!); Mekonen Giorgis for another first, his first duck selling experience; Bill Taylor, Alice Volpe; Tom Sturgell; Sara Brooks for wearing the duck costume on an 80 degree day; Bob Webb and Debbie Gregorek, not yet even an official Rotarian
  • Rich Bergdahl again reminded us that we only have another 30 days to get our contributions into the Rotary Foundation.  We need to see if we can get 100% participation.  Even a $5 donation would be greatly appreciated to attain this goal.
  • Patty Sims asked that we come up with a host family for our incoming exchange student, who arrives from Turkey in August.   Patty also asked for some assistance with this program, especially in January.
  • Gary Bruner said that he has Rotary clothing available; sign ups, sizes, etc. will be available at the sign in desk.
  • John Overleese announced that the Salmon Bake will be on August 10th.  There will also be some other fun summer events that will be announced at a later date.

 

Induction:

 

President Bob offered his own unique induction of Debbie Gregorek.  Debbie was joined by her sponsor Patti Smith and her mentor Diana Landspa.  Debbie's classification will be Community Relations, Legal.  All Rotarians gave Debbie a standing ovation welcoming her into the Rotary Club of Kirkland.

 

Red to Blue:

 

President Bob congratulated Mikaylaa Powers and her mentor Elizabeth Rusnak and her sponsor Pat Dye on completing all of her requirements to move her from her red to badge to her blue badge.  Thanks to Steve Brown and the Woodinville Rotary Club, all Kirkland Rotarians made a memorable pledge to Mikaylaa.

 

Program:

 

Patti Smith introduced our speaker, Tony Williams, after reading about him in Sunset magazine.

 

Tony graduated from Virginia Tech with a degree in Psychology.  Tony has his own business, "Always Running".  He has completed a 10K in 28 minutes, 55 seconds and a marathon in 2 hours, 22 minutes.

 

Tony was raised in PattersonN.J. where he and 12 other neighborhood boys would race daily between the manhole covers.  Of the 12 boys, Tony typically came in last, yet he was the one to move on and become the track star.

 

Tony ran his first mile as a 7th grader in 1979 with a time of 5 minutes, 48 seconds, only to learn that his teacher had run a mile in 5 minutes 45 seconds.  He asked his teacher how he could improve his running and she invited him to her running club.  Their coach said that Tony must run at least a mile a day, which he did for the next 20 years.  His first miss was on 8-6-99.

 

Tony's training philosophy is that health must come first.  There must be balance in your life with health, family, work and exercise. 

 

Tony also believes that one must train smart.  A training regime for one person will often not work for someone else.

 

Tony shared several fascinating stories about those who he has trained.  One particular story was regarding a former athlete that ran a 5:15 mile in high school.  By the time he hit 40, his wife was so tired of hearing that he could break the 5 minute mile that she gave him, as his 40th birthday present, training with Tony to break the 5 minute mile.  When the big day came, he ran a 5:01 mile and stated that that was it, no more running!

 

Thank you Tony for a fascinating program.

 

Coincidentally, our own Fred Tuttle announced that he was actually running in the race in 1954 with Roger Bannister, when Roger broke the 4 minute mile.

 

Rick Ostrander had the winning ticket and tried to walk away with the cash, but informed by President Bob that he must first draw the lucky duck which he did, #4.  Congratulations, Rick, on winning the $1,150 pot!

 

President Bob adjourned the meeting at 7:35 PM

 

Post Meeting. Ask Patty Sims how many Rotarians it takes to push a Volvo, read a manual, etc...