|
IN THIS ISSUE
THIS WEEK’S EDITOR
John Mix
PHOTOGRAPHER
Jim Kindsvater
POINTS OF INTEREST
|
|
Friday’s speaker, Bob Watt
|
Transportation: Purgatory or Hell?
The weekly meeting of the Bellevue Breakfast Rotary Club concentrated on the woes surrounding solving transportation problems in Washington. Our speaker was Bob Watt, President and CEO of the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce. He was introduced by Jeff Cashman.
“Twenty years of population growth have created a crisis,” Watt opined. “There has been a huge increase in the number of jobs. The miles traveled daily by workers and those who serve them have increased. Seattle has the second-worst congestion in the country, mainly because alternatives for commuters are almost nil.” MORE
BBRC Giving Baskets –
THIS WEEKEND ONLY!
 The Annual BBRC Giving Baskets project to support Eastside families in need over the holidays will collect volunteer contributions this coming Friday morning. The families participating in the project will be identified by Hopelink and the Lake Heights Family YMCA.
Bring items of food as noted by the schedule handed out at last week’s meeting. By alphabetical breakout of your name, you are asked to bring:
- A-D: 10 lbs. of potatoes & 2 lbs. of carrots
- E-H: Pie crust mix for at least 2 pies; pie filling for at least 2 pies
- I-M: 5 lb. box of Bisquick; 1 lb. of butter; 1 large jar of jam
- N-R: 10 cans veggies or fruit
- S-Z: 5 lbs. of apples; 5 lbs. of oranges
The food drop-off will be this Friday morning November 9, only at our breakfast meeting. The BBRC Community Service Committee will be shopping for turkeys on November 16. Jan Nestler and Shelley Noble are delivering food from Glendale to Eastside Adult Day Center on Friday, November 9, after our breakfast meeting. Eastside Adult Day center is collecting, decorating and loading boxes on Friday, November 16th.
If you want to help, email Scott Sadler, or phone him at 425-644-8417.
Raffle Hits $101,287!
A big turn-in of over $20,000 brought the Raffle goal within sight, as the Accounting Staff determined that $101,287 had been collected so far. With the Raffle sales officially over, all that remains is for the Campaign Committee to make contact with about 17 members who have tickets and sales outstanding. It’s conceivable that the goal of $105,000 is within reach, based on the dollars yet to come in. If you have questions, contact Margie Burnett or your Team Captain. MORE
Anniversary Dinner
 Bob Holert reminded members that the Club’s 16th Anniversary Dinner will take place on the Royal Argosy Cruise Ship, next Friday, November 16. Boarding begins at 6:00 p.m., with a dinner and program scheduled once the ship is underway. “Car pools will help get everyone to Pier 55 and more details will follow,” said Holert. Dress is spiffy as is the occasion. RSVP HERE BY NOVEMBER 9!
Annual Dig at Sammamish River
Alex Rule reminded members about the Preserve Planet Earth Committee’s big push for the fall: the Saturday, November 10, tree and shrub planting exercise. The work is promoted by King County Department of Natural Resources, with whom the BBRC has worked for many years. A flyer gives directions to planting site. This is the fifth in a series of plantings held this year, designed to re-foliate the banks of this salmon-traveling river. The program is called “Re-Leaf the Sammamish.” A thousand trees will be planted from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Wear old clothes and work boots. Bring work gloves and a shovel, marked with your name. Dress for the weather. Early sign-ups include Burnett, Chandler, Clarke, DeWater, Edberg, Healey, Kindsvater, Martinka, May #2 (?) Mix, Moriarty, O’Brien, Peters, Rule, Truesdel, and Zidar. Many Rotarians bring friends and family to this four-hour project that means so much to the health of a major salmon-spawning river.
Seattle’s Big Celebration
Seattle’s Sesquicentennial Luncheon beckons members who have an interest in doings downtown. “Commemorating 150 Years of Progress” is the title of the luncheon, set for Wednesday, November 14, at 12:00 noon, at the Washington State Convention and Trade Center, 800 Convention Place, Sixth floor Ballroom 6E.
The joint sponsorship of the event – Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce, CityClub, Downtown Seattle Association, and the Rotary Club of Seattle – invites everyone to this interesting program. Community and business leaders will join local television anchors and reporters for a look back at Seattle’s 150 years of history. “Channel 150 News” presents characters and events from the city’s past, using spoken word, multimedia and music.
Tickets are $35 for members of the sponsoring organizations; $40 for members of the public. This will be a regular weekly meeting of the Rotary Club of Seattle #4, so make-ups will be available. You can register online at www.seattlechamber.com or call (206) 389-7215.
|
|
THIS WEEK
“Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Motor Racing,” Dominic Dobson, President of Cavallino Holdings & Owner of Dobson Motorsports. Having participated in seven consecutive Indy 500 races as well as Daytona and LeMans races, Mr. Dobson now serves on the board of Rourke O’Brien’s Indy Racing Indoor Karting. Breakfast is served at 7:00 a.m., followed by the regular weekly meeting at 7:30 and the program beginning at 8:00. Visitors are always welcome at the BBRC, each Friday at the Glendale Country Club.
ADMIN CORNER
The Saga of the Admin Man
For what it’s worth, your Club Administrator had a “Transportation Hell Day” on Friday. As is my usual policy, I go by the Bellevue Post Office prior to arriving at Glendale. When I picked up Friday’s mail and returned to the car, it was dead as a doornail. No start. Nada. It was dark and raining lightly. What to do? Call a fellow Rotarian for a ride to Glendale. Deal with the car later.
I told the lady at the early pick-ups window at the Post office of my dilemma so she wouldn’t tow the old car. I used the phone booth to wake up the Lingenbrink Family, arranging to have Steve pick me up. It was on to Glendale. I had the Badge Box with me, so a whole lot of people were gonna get fined if I didn’t get there!
After completing my tasks for the morning, hitting the bank for depositing all your money, I turned to the challenge of getting my money out with my AAA membership. The truck arrived at 12:45.
I was self-introduced to Adam, the Ruby’s Towing driver. This guy knew exactly what he was doing. He wrestled the car back into the parking lot, hooked it up, and we were on our way to Monroe.
The 25-mile trip gave us time to chat. What was our big issue? “Transportation: Purgatory or Hell!” About halfway through the trip, I hatched a wonderful idea. Let the politicians, the statesmen and women, the powers that be, agree that the way to solve the Puget Sound transportation crisis is to ACT. I proposed to Adam, a knowledgeable 28-year-old who knew every byway and roadway in the region, that we form a special committee of 11 tow-truck drivers who will be sequestered for as long as it takes to decide the fate of transportation in the next 20 years. Whatever they decide would be agreed to by the executive and legislative branch (and the Eyman branch, too) and would become law as the first order of business in January.
If they decided that $200 billion is what is needed and 15 cents on the gas tax, so be it. They know what the region needs. We have side-stepped the issue for fully 20 years and it’s obvious by Mr. Watt’s presentation that we don’t have a moment to lose to get this ship righted and moving down a progressive path.
As Don Deasy said, “If we don’t fix this transportation mess and all the companies who’ve talked about leaving do, then we won’t have to worry about future growth.” What a prospect! But he’s right. It’s kind of a helpless feeling when it’s left up to us, the consumer. Same kind of helpless feeling when your car blinks out on you at 6:00 a.m.
Who came to my rescue? Why it was Adam of Ruby Towing! I’d put my transportation money on Adam and his group. They can come to our rescue, too. Let’s solve this thing and move on.
THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK
The grass is always greener on the next lawn and the traffic is always better on the next lane.
|
|
