May 1, 2006 Spokesman
The meeting was called to order by President Joanne Primavera on time after a time of social enjoyment among the members around a hearty meal. Special guests were District Governor Sally Gray, former president of Seattle #4 and past Secretary of State for Washington State for many years, Ralph Monroe and G. Holger (Hoagie) Hansen, Fund Development manager of the Rotary Foundation to promote gifts to the Foundation.
Guests and visiting Rotarians were introduced, including Tim Kehrli, husband and date night guest of our Katherine Kehrli.
A special presentation by Elizabeth Rusnak was made for the committee of the Youth Exchange Program highlighting some anecdotes and experiences of those in the club who have hosted exchange students. Especially meaningful were the reports of long-term relationships maintained by Rotarians with their former Youth Exchange students well into adulthood. Individual members were asked to record their thoughts on the program by a survey.
Announcements,
- Miracle league is starting next Saturday with three teams this year and even away games.
- Duck sales venues are humming along with Rotarians manning the booths like hunters in an un-camouflaged and reverse duck blind. We attract the citizens of Kirkland to the blind and sell them the ducks rather than waiting for the ducks to come in for the kill. The only killing going on is of a smooth and articulate description of what Rotary is all about, the duck dash and what is done with their money all in a twenty second presentation to most prospects. Somehow or other the sales get made.
- On May 13th Northwest harvest will be beckoning led by Mike Hunter as replacement team leader. Meet at the park-in-ride at 8:00AM sharp ready for work and an after work lunch at Fisherman's Terminal.
Program:
Patti Smith introduced Walt Kruger, Kirkland Attorney and Board member of KITH (Kirkland Interfaith transitional Housing) for our program. Walt described how KITH functions and showed a dramatization of a case illustrating how people you might not expect end up homeless due to job loss, illness or injury. The case in the film was a young mother of two who lost her job unexpectantly as a paralegal. When her savings ran out she was evicted and put on the street. She found KITH available with temporary housing for up to two years and job seeking assistance and counseling. The goal of KITH is to help those who really need it to get back on their feet. It was a heart-rending dramatization and hard to tell whether the young mother was an actress or the actual person, a point not made clear in the film. Regardless of that minor issue, the point was well made how debilitating it can be to a person's self-confidence to lose hope. The typical persons helped by KITH are not drug or alcohol addicted street panhandlers or mental cases but ordinary people who had a calamity in their lives. It was an eye opening portrayal. Let us all get behind this worthwhile charity. The meeting ended at 7:30 PM, and I think Dave Aubrey won the drawing and the money.
Belatedly presented from memory, John Woodbery, Scribe.