Jeff Cashman, Terry Baker & Chris Monger
The meeting was opened by President Margie Burnett. Greeters were Chris Monger, with the invocation, which was originally taken from the Land O'Lakes Mirror, January 1987, I.J. Holton, Austin Rotary (see below), and thePledge of Allegiance, and Terry Baker, who welcomed our guests and visiting Rotarians.
- Invocation
- I am growing older.
- Keep me from the fatal habit of thinking that I must say something on every subject.
- Release me from craving to straighten out everybody's affairs.
- Make me thoughtful but not moody, helpful but not bossy.
- Keep my mind free from the recital of endless details. Give me wings to the point.
- Seal my lips on my aches and pains – love of rehearsing them is becoming sweeter as the years go by.
- Teach me the glorious lesson that occasionally I may be mistaken.
- Keep me reasonably sweet. I do not want to be a Saint. Some of them are hard to live with, but a sour old person is one of the crowning works of the devil.
- Give me the ability to see good things in unexpected places and talents in unexpected people.
- And give me grace, O Lord, to tell them so!
- Amen
Lingenbrink is District Governor-Elect 2012-13
Jonathan Koshar & DGE 2012‑13 Steve Lingenbrink
Jonathan Koshar made the official announcement that our own Steve Lingenbrink is the District Governor-Elect 2012‑13 for Rotary District 5030. Our sincere congratulations to Steve!
New Member Induction: Desiree Yuzawa
Tamara Dean, Desiree Yuzawa & Sayoko Kuwahara
We are pleased to welcome our newest member, Desiree Yuzawa, who is sponsored by Tamara Dean and Sayoko Kuwahara. Desiree is a mortgage banker at The Legacy Group in Bellevue, and she learned of the BBRC through our Adoption Party. Her classification is Mortgage Banker, and she was accompanied at the induction by her husband, Maza.
Sayoko Kuwahara
Rotarian of the Month: Sayoko Kuwahara
Sayoko Kuwahara was presented the Rotarian of the Month award by President Margie Burnett for her tireless support to our President and all the members of our club. She is one of the reasons we have the "best darn Rotary Club in the world."
Student of the Month: Allison Hussey
Allison Hussey
Larry May introduced our newest Student of the Month, Allison Hussey, from Bellevue Christian. She was accompanied by her parents, Joel and Christi Hussey, Bellevue Christaian principal Sue Tameling, and her counselor Stephanie Hofland.
Allison shared with us, in her very impressive and inspiring talk, that she has a 4.0 GPA and has a special love of the sciences. She is also a singer and loves to mentor and serve children. Allison's career goal is to get a nursing degree, with a specialty in Pediatric Oncology.
Allison has volunteered as a summer church camp leader with second graders, teaching Bible lessons and using fun games to keep them focused and involved. She talked about many things that the children have taught her, in particular, how to manage children better!
Foundation Campaign Recognition of Member Contributions
Kim Shrader, Doug Cameron, Ruben Ladlad & Dick Brown
The "Every Rotarian Every Year" Campaign ended with the awarding of three prizes from names drawn from a hat. Leading the awards presentation were committee members Kim Shrader, Jeanne Thorsen, Dick Brown and Jeff Cashman. All members who made contributions or submitted pledge forms were eligible for the price drawing.
Winners, drawn at random, were Doug Cameron, who won the "Literary Feast Basket," Ruben Ladlad, who won the amethyst and peridot gem stone earrings donated by Steve Luplow and Ben Bridge Jewelers, and Wendi Fischer, who won the Rotary duffel bag. Much appreciation was given to everyone who contributed to this effort.
The annual BBRC "Golfing with the Elves" will be held on Thursday, December 24th, with a 9:00 AM tee time at Mt Si Golf Course. Greens fees will be $19 if you bring an unwrapped stuffed toy or non-perishable food items for the Mt Si Helping Hand Food Bank.
Take a break from the sound of the holiday with some fresh air and fellowship as we celebrate the Winter Solstice. Guests and family members are always welcomed.
RSVP to Norm Johnson.
Proposed Member: Christine Addison
Christine Addison works for KITH in Kirkland as Development Director in charge of fundraising, PR, and community relations. If her name sounds familiar to you, you are not imagining it. She was once a very active BBRC member and is now making a comeback!
Christine lives in Bellevue with her husband and daughters. She is active in Bellevue Business and Professional Women, CREW (Commercial Real Estate Women), and Bellevue Chamber of Commerce. She is a "volunteer barista," too. Her sponsor is Celia Morant, and her proposed classification is Non-Profit Development.
Contact Membership Committee Chair Chris Rasmussen with any questions or concerns regarding this application.
"Born to Sing and Dance," EriAm Sisters —
Haben, Salina and Lianda Abraham
These three young sisters, ages 12 to 16, were introduced as the EriAm Sister by Rourke O'Brien. Haben, Salina, and Lianda have appeared on national TV, radio, magazines and have performed in various celebrity events, including a VIP event at Disney World. Their chosen name, "EriAm," stands for Eritrean-American. The trio wanted a name that would highlight the uniqueness of their cultural make-up and international aspect of their journey. It is a statement to helping their family's country, Eritrea, which borders Ethiopia to the north.
In 2009, the sisters were semi-finalists on the America's Got Talent TV show. The sisters explained that they had always been around music growing up with Dad, who loved music, and Mom, who loved to dance. They explained that they didn't reach this level of success to be glamorous but because they loved to sing. They also wanted to make a difference, to have an effect on people by singing songs that have good words. They explained that, to them, music is a universal language that makes some people cry and inspires others to sing.
The girls said they may appear to be confident, but are often scared and shy. With the help of their vocal coach, they have become more confident. Their coach and spiritual leader, Bernadette Bascom, encouraged them to share their gifts, sing because they love it, and, mainly, just have fun. Bernadette also gave them alter egos (nicknames), but their real names mean Creative Vision (Haben), Determination (Salina) and Passion (Lianda).
The trio's singing began with Haben, who recorded a video that was placed on YouTube and picked up by Disney. Early on, when they performed, people came up and started singing and dancing. This led to their success at the 2009 competition on America's Got Talent, in which they were semi-finalists.
Bernadette Bascom
The EriAm Trio performed several songs for us, which were well received by overwhelming applause. We are sure that there is a great future ahead for these three successful singers.
Rourke O'Brien announced that a contribution in their name has been made to "We Are The Future," an international non-profit that serves nutrition to children from birth to six years of age.
Courtesy of John Mix
There was a man who worked for the Post Office whose job was to process all the mail that had illegible addresses.
One day, a letter came, addressed in a shaky handwriting to God, with no actual address. He thought he should open it to see what it was about.
The letter read:
- Dear God,
- I am an 83 year old widow, living on a very small pension.
- Yesterday someone stole my purse. It had $100 in it, which was all the money I had until my next pension payment.
- Next Sunday is Christmas, and I had invited two of my friends over for dinner. Without that money, I have nothing to buy food with, have no family to turn to, and you are my only hope. Can you please help me?
- Sincerely, Edna
The postal worker was touched. He showed the letter to all the other workers. Each one dug into his or her wallet and came up with a few dollars.
By the time he made the rounds, he had collected $96, which they put into an envelope and sent to the woman.
The rest of the day, all the workers felt a warm glow thinking of Edna and the dinner she would be able to share with her friends.
Christmas came and went.
A few days later, another letter came from the same old lady to God. All the workers gathered around while the letter was opened.
It read:
- Dear God,
- How can I ever thank you enough for what you did for me?
- Because of your gift of love, I was able to fix a glorious dinner for my friends. We had a very nice day and I told my friends of your wonderful gift.
- By the way, there was $4 missing.
- I think it might have been those bastards at the post office.
- Sincerely, Edna
