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And a fine meal was had by all.
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The annual Rotating the Wheels ritual of cheering the Bellevue Breakfast Rotary Club’s leadership for another banner year went off without a hitch at the General Petroleum Museum on Capitol Hill
in Seattle Friday night. Competing with Paul Allen as he opened his EMP at the Seattle Center, Rotarians found the Lost Vuarnets band to their liking and the changing of the guard a necessity.
Seems like every July 1, Rotary does a big flip-flop. Out with the old, in with the new, it’s a time for change. “Throw the bums out,” “A new
broom sweeps clean.” Every cliché you can think of applies to this timeworn ritual. Giving all the credit for a great year to the President and
Board of Directors … and welcoming a new set of leaders for the coming Rotary year is what “Rotating” is all about.
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Jane Deasy, John and Shirley Mix, and Frank Stillo have fun at dinner.
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President John DeWater was the guest of honor for at least the first half of the program, and President-Elect Cary Kopczynski was in the spotlight at the end of festivities. With
Steve Goldfarb doing a fine job mastering the ceremonies, John Mix opened the proceedings with the invocation from “a 17th Century Nun.”
Goldfarb jumped right into business at hand, inviting DeWater to join him at the microphone. Highlight of his paean to John was a “letter” from
John’s mother (one of Goldfarb’s patented crowd-pleasers). “She” described how “little Johnnie” was destined to be a great leader, as he
learned to “germinate thoughts, fertilize ideas, prune out dead wood, and arrange for praise to go around.” She related how Johnnie was a
“sunflower in preschool, and a Superman in the early grades. He even starred in the opera, as a butterfly in ‘Madame Butterfly’ and a sugar plum fairy in the Nutcracker.
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Master of Ceremonies Steve Goldfarb reads the "letter" from DeWater's mother.
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The story continued with the tale of John’s first girl friend, Violet, and his stardom on the gridiron, where his nickname was “The Big Pansy.” Little did he know that the woman who would
share is life was allergic to pollen, which did not deter DeWater from becoming a florist. References to flowers were prevalent all evening.
The lectern (if there was one) was turned over to DeWater, who did his swan song. Getting serious, John said, “You’d be staggered by what this club does in a year. It’s miraculous
what we’ve accomplished.” He cited a long list of good works and leadership in the community. He lamented at the untimely death of Lee Bussard,
who had inspired the Club in past years with his program on “More Alike than Different.” “Lee had wanted to accept our offer of membership, but died just a few weeks before.”
John highlighted accomplishments in major gifts with grants to AtWork, The Kindering Center, and HopeLink. Other organizations receiving support included YMCA, YWCA, Little Bits Riding Club, Rotary
Homeless Project, TreeHouse, Rotary First Harvest, Student of the Month, Shakespeare at Lunch, Choices, Healing the Children, Esperanza,
Computers for the World, Eastside Literacy, Bikes to Rio, Radios to Kosovo, Aid to Turkey, the Russian Connection, and our International Exchange Student program.
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The old board receives praise from the crowd.
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John also praised the Club’s adoption of new policies and procedures for cash management, continuing support for Preserve Planet Earth and the gift of trees, development of the Club’s website,
exceptional fund raising, and some high attendance marks. He parceled out Steve Lingenbrink for his job at Sergeant At Arms, John Mix for the first in a series of “History of the
Club,” the Millennium meeting at Bellevue Square, and the Breakfast Race at Traxx.
He delivered a gift to each member of his board, including those who are retiring: Norm Johnson, Mike Hyodo, Tom Smith, Sharon Edberg, and Steve Lingenbrink. Others who will continue are
Cary Kopczynski, Megan Sweeters, Rick Klobucher, Alex Rule, Wayne McCaulley, and Brian Evison.
DeWater closed his presentation with a quote from Dwight Eisenhower: “Oh that lovely title – Ex-President!”
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DeWater gets his coveted Past President's pin from Cary Kopczynski, which he can pawn at Goldfarb's.
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Cary Kopczynski (Try typing that name 30 times a week!) grabbed the microphone and congratulated DeWater for his fine work, “growing and blossoming the Club to new
heights.” John accepted his plaque citing his Presidential year and the Past President’s award, with a diamond yet.
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Newly-installed President Cary Kopczynski tells the club his goals
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Cary K talked about how the BBRC is “very important to me and you.” He talked about participation and having a good time. That’s what the new year will be. New board members were introduced:
Terry Peterson, Secretary; Brian Evison, Club Service I Director; Bob McNulty, Club Service II Director; Kevin Jewell, International Director; Rourke O’Brien,
Sergeant At Arms; and Steve Goldfarb, President-Elect.
Saluting the spouses of the two leaders of the club, MC Goldfarb presented lush bouquets of roses to Janet DeWater and Jan Kopczynski.
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A fond farewell is given to exchange student Marina Petribu by Don (Hawaii 5-0) Chandler.
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Don Chandler arrived to say goodbye to Marina Petribu, the Club’s Brazilian exchange student. She accepted a gift and made a short speech. Marina will soon depart for a two-week tour of the
western U.S. and will leave for her home in Recife in mid-July.
Don Deasy played the part of Keith Harris and became an overnight sensation as the auctioneer Friday night. Three items to be auctioned grew to five as emotions ran amok.
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Don Deasy, the auctioneer!
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When the smoke finally cleared, this was the result:
- Jim Kindsvater bid $350 for dinner for 4 guests at Gordie and Sharon Edberg’s.
- The Goldfarb Coalition outbid the rest of the room with a $1,600 commitment for Dinner for Twelve at the home of Sadru and Almas Kabani.
- Wayne McCaulley and Jim Kindsvater teamed up to bid $500 for an October weekend for two couples at the new home of Stewart and Karen Martin on the Oregon Coast.
- Chris Monger coughed up $400 for a jersey signed by baseball great Edgar Martinez.
- Alex Rule, recognizing a bargain when he saw one, bid $950 for two tickets on Northwest Airlines anywhere in the U.S.
Deasy’s quaint auctioneering style extracted $3,800 for the BBRC Foundation. Congratulations to all!
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The Lost Vuarnets beat out a tune to the crowd's pleasure.
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The Lost Vuarnets picked up where they left off and some diabolical dancing took place at the General Petroleum Museum. Thanks to Don Chandler and his committee for their hard work sponsoring the
Rotating Wheels event.
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