The Rotary Club of Kirkland held a meeting on June 3, 2024 at the St. John’s Episcopal Church in downtown Kirkland.

President Gary Cohn called the meeting to order at 6:25 p.m.

In recognition of the recent Memorial Day holiday, John Storbeck led us in the flag salute. John served as a first lieutenant in the U.S. Army infantry in Viet Nam during 1969-71.

Rotary Minute:

Membership chair Rick Walter presented a Rotary Minute to the members and guests and led us in a recitation of the Four-Way Test.

Attending were Bob Auslander, Cody Baker, Michelle Cazeau, Gary Cohn, Sue Cohn, Jocelyn Ellison, Rashmi Garimella, Margie Glenn, Isabelle Kalisa, Chris Kelly-Storbeck, Kate Koslosky, Jim Meniketti, Kristin Olson, Rick Ostrander, Joanne Primavera, John Pruitt, Daniel Sada Caraveo, John Storbeck, Alice Volpe, and Rick Walter.

The Rotary Club of Kirkland's annual Leadership Transition Dinner and Ceremony is scheduled for Monday, June 17, 2024, and will be held at Kirkland's St. John's Episcopal Church in Marsh Hall. Cost for members and guests is $60. This year there are four entree choices (maple-balsamic glazed chicken, malbec flat-iron steak medallions, char-grilled salmon,  and stuffed zucchini boats), there will be cocktails and hors d'oeuvres, and several dessert options are planned. Past and present Rotarians may REGISTER for the even on the club's website. The deadline for registering is 12:00 p.m. on June 12.  An invitation email from President Gary Cohn, who is the host for this year's annual Rotary event, will be released shortly, and will include the dinner options. As is traditional, past presidents of the club are invited to join the membership for the dinner and the passing-of-the-gavel ceremony. Join your fellow Rotarians and past Rotarians to celebrate nearly nine decades of leadership in service to the Kirkland community and the world through Rotary.

Annually the Rotary Club of Kirkland offers scholarships to students attending high schools within the Kirkland area aimed at furthering their higher education. The club is pleased to present $22,000 in scholarships to eight seniors:

Several club members continue the search for a meeting location in or near downtown Kirkland, where the club has traditionally met for most of its nearly 87 year history, have made progress with options, and have scheduled several locations for meeting trial.

 

Anne Hess, publisher of Greet Kirkland, provided the club ad space in the June edition of the publication. This in-kind contribution to the Great Kirkland Rotary Rummage Sale qualifies the publication as an event sponsor. The Rummage Sale Marketing & Technology Team has considered other advertisers as well, and obtained a reduced rate from the Valpak coupon distribution firm to include an insert in June for two Kirkland zones in the vicinity of the sale. This will permit the team to test the effectiveness of the promotional channel. In addition to Facebook, Nextdoor, and X/Twitter accounts, the team has established Instagram and LinkedIn accounts and continues to consider additional channels for this second year of operation.

The Kirkland Rotary Foundation is a nonprofit organization established to support the following purposes: educational, such as scholarships, or grants and gifts to deserving students, teachers or others for the advancement of education; charitable, such as donations to the poor, distressed or underserved communities; and to fund other 501(c)(3) organizations.  The Foundation accepts (and appreciates) donations that can be directed to supporting any of the purposes above. The Directors of the Foundation will make a reasonable effort to direct the donation to one (or more) of the above listed purposes designated by the donor.  In the case of formal school scholarships, the Foundation will act as the funding organization and the Rotary Club of Kirkland will provide the reviewing and selection committee for awarding the scholarship. Funds from the Foundation may be transferred to the Club for distribution to the recipient.  All major expenditures must be approved by a majority of the Directors of the Foundation.  The Kirkland Rotary Foundation is a 501(c)(3) organization.

Rotary dues statements were sent to active members on June 1, 2024.  Payments are due by Sunday, June 30, 2024. Reminder statements will be mailed on June 15 and June 25 to all Rotarians with outstanding accounts.  As of Thursday, June 6, 26% of club members have paid their dues.  One member communicated he will not renew membership for next year due to retirement.  Please remember that nonpayment of dues jeopardizes membership in the Rotary club.  Dues may be paid using the online Dues & Billing System link in the invoice emailed on June 1.  The link is embedded in the bold words "Pay Now" in the invoice.  Online payment requires a credit or debit card. Members may also pay by check through the U.S. Mail, and reach the treasurer by June 30.

The club held seven meetings during the months of April and May 2024. There were six regular meetings and one special for the second rummage sale planning meeting during those months, and one of regular meetings was the Outstanding Educator Awards ceremony and dinner. Overall club attendance for both months was 46%, which was lower than the prior year but better the 2022. Club membership in the month of March was 38 active (including honorary) members, and rose to 42 in May 42 (37 Active + 1 Honorary + 1 Active - Corporate Primary + 1 Active - Corporate Alternate + 2 Active - Spouse/Partner).

Club members' readership of The Spokesman during the fourth quarter of calendar year 2023 fell slightly compared to the first three quarters of the year, falling off particularly in December. Readership rates rose to 84% during part of October, and then slid into the mid-70's and fell to the 60's during December. Overall readership for the calendar year was 73%. A bulletin is "read" when the email containing it is opened by the recipient. In October, the number of members rose from 36 to 37 (including honorary) receiving bulletins.