March 24, 2008 Spokesman
Minutes of Rotary Meeting 3/24/08
Greeter was Linda Julien
The meeting was called to order by President Rachel Knight at 6:30.
The Pledge of Allegiance was lead by Sharon Cavell
The Inspirational Moment was offered by Rich Bergdahl who told a story of his fraternity days in college when the members did Big Brother-type sports activities with local kids. After an event Rich took one of the boys to an ice cream shop where the boy announced he could tell that Rich was in his twenties because he ordered a boring flavor. He told Rich that when Rich got to be thirty, he would again order interesting flavors.
Guests/Introductions - Pascal had another great week. Practiced track and won his event in a track meet Thursday [2-mile run, I think]
Chuck Brockway introduced Mike Hendrickson from the Bellevue Noon Club
Rich Bergdahl introduced Mitch Grafstein, also from the Bellevue Noon Club.
Bob Webb introduced Simon Dedoon [sp?], who was born in
Bob Auslander introduced his wife Gail.
Student of the Month Natalie was back for her final dinner, with her Mom Melody. Natalie gave her talk and mentioned how much she had enjoyed learning about Rotary.
Announcements:
Miriam Gilbert reminded us about the upcoming [Saturday, 3/29, 9-noon] service event at Kamiakin Jr. High. We will be assembling kits for use by AIDS caregivers in
Cheryl Bloodworth spoke about the upcoming Rotary Auction. She is looking for some missing items used a last years' event. Sign up to bring salad/dessert/etc. She also solicited donations and urged us to bring guests [presumably guests with money to spend.]
Rick Ostrander needs more Duck Dash Sponsors - let Rick know of any possible candidates.
Guest Speaker - Daryl Grigsby,
Mr. Grigsby prefaced his talk with a reflection on life in
His book includes stories, one for each day of the year, of black people of African descent and their positive contributions to making the world a better place. The book includes people from all walks of life and all parts of the world. The book took him 20 hours per week for six years to complete. (Mr. Grigsby believes that all adults should have a creative outlet and should create something that reflects the person who creates it.) Research on the book lead him to discover that stereotypes and the external image do not always really represent the person. Children should interview parents/grandparents/relatives and discover the real person. All of us should look beyond the 'image' of many of the people we think we know.
Many thoughtful questions and answers followed this interesting talk.
Katherine xxx introduced Principal Jeff De Gallier of John Muir Elementary, and DyAnn Dennie, Librarian at John Muir. They spoke about the school and its population and Kirkland Rotary's efforts at the school. This includes Reading Group, Winter Coat donations, book donations, Lunch Buddies, Advanced Reading quiz purchases by Rotary, etc.
Gary Redfern's ticket was drawn - he gave it to Pascal who then drew the winning duck, collecting $30.
The meeting was adjourned 7:38PM.
Respectfully submitted,
David Aubry, Acting Scribe