Rotary meeting minutes 9/22/2014
Interesting – smallest crowd I’ve ever seen – apparently we conflicted with the Kirkland Chamber’s golf tournament.  We had quite excellent steak this evening.  That’ll teach people not to show up!  [Plus because no one was here to collect money, we will all pay at the next meeting.]
Alice Volpe was our greeter.
President John Pruitt could not be here this evening, so Past President Joanne Primavera called us to order at 6:30PM.
Jim Nevers led us in the Pledge.
Introductions:
Guests: Jason Overleese introduced Samir Saluja, our [almost] newest member.
Visiting Rotarians:
Brian Tucker introduced Patricia Darling of the Mercer Island Club.  Also introduced was District Governor-elect for 2016-17, Bo Darling.
Announcements:
Saturday, October 11, 8AM, meet at the Houghton Park and Ride to car pool to the work party for Northwest Harvest.  For details, contact Dan Bartel.
Also October 11, at the Shinstroms, 6PM – the annual Bunco party.  The theme is ‘anything 12’.   Bring a guest.
 
Tonight, we broke into table groups to discuss:
  1.  What we might focus on for Community Service in the coming year.
  2. We need to decide whether we want a one-time project or an on-going one.  Since there are a number of members who reside elsewhere for part of the year [including Your Humble Scribe], it was thought by many that one-time project would get more participation.
  3. What kind of project are we to do?  We have done a number of youth-oriented projects in the past few years, so it was thought that we could do something that revolved around one of the many retirement communities nearby [Merrill Gardens, Madison House].  It was also suggested that we could adopt, beautify, and post appropriate signage on an island on Market Street at about 10th.  Other ideas included expanding the Miracle League concept to other sports, and paying to install a permanent electronic sign on the 405 overpass  over 85th as you come west into Kirkland that would each week announce upcoming community activities.
Speaker: Jack Smelser of Genworth spoke to us about the necessity of thinking about issues related to when, or if, we get to a point where we can no longer live independently, and require some level of care to continue to live.  Most peoples’ medical insurance has no long-term care element.  It is not covered by Medicare, and can be very expensive.  Mr. Smelser lives on Rose Hill, is a graduate of Portland State, and has been in the industry for more than 20 years.  During that time, there have been many changes, and much consolidation among the companies offering coverage.
The aim is to allow individuals to manage and finance their own lives as they age.  It is a good idea to think, talk about, and plan for the future as we age.  It takes a considerable amount of time as we go through the process of thinking about possible negative consequences of aging.  [What??!!  I’m not going to live forever??!!  Why wasn’t I informed??]
Sometimes the children wind up making the decisions under time and financial pressure, sometimes they do not agree with each other, and/or with what the parents want.  Sometimes one partner spends all their time caring for their spouse.
It’s never too early to think about the future and plan for contingencies.
Fee structures in the insurance industry can vary depending on the perceived risk of the client.  The quality of the companies involves varies.  In any case, it is important to think about the future and talk about the various contingencies and various responses to them.
Washington State is very tough when it comes to premium regulation for the industry.  However, premiums have recently gone up sharply, partly due to the effect of ballot initiatives that essentially unionized industry workers, leading to sharply increased wages, costs, and insurance premiums.
Thought for tonight – we should all be like a box of crayons – some are dull, all are of different colors, some are short, and some are tall.  They still all live together.
Meeting Adjourned at about 7:50 PM.
Respectfully submitted
David Aubry