BBRC Board Meeting

The first official board meeting in the Evison Era was held at the offices of Boullioun Aviation in the Bellevue City Center building on Tuesday, July 8th, 2003. In attendance were President Evison, President-Elect Norm Johnson, Sergeant at Arms Mary Bell, Club Service I Director Will Einstein, Vocational Service Director Bob Holert, Foundation Service Chair Phil Salvatori, Secretary Robin Callan, Treasurer John Smolke, and Community Service Director Scott Sadler. Rourke O’Brien substituted for vacationing Club Service II Director Jenny Andrews. Also in attendance was the Club Administrator John Mix.

• Resignations

The Board acted upon notifications of resignations by two members. John Larry May (Larry May #1) tendered his resignation, citing continued poor health of his wife and himself. Ken Perine, Captain with the Salvation Army, resigned when he was re-assigned to a new post in California. Both resignations were accepted.

Earl Falk, because of ill health, has been forced to resign his position as Rotary First Harvest Board representative for the BBRC. The Community Service Committee is looking for a replacement.

Steve Goldfarb is the new Pprogram Chairman and will be cranking up programs beginning September 1. Cary Kopczynski has been Program Chair during this past year and is responsible for the first two months of the new administration to provide continuity. It seems to be working, since all of Cary’s programs slots are filled.

Community Service Committee is still seeking a new Youth Service chairperson. Any member who may have an interest in this most important club activity should contact Madeline Gauthier.

President Elect Norm Johnson provided a detailed report of activities in his area of interest. “We have several projects that are being initiated with the commencement of the 2003-2004 Rotary year that will carry over into the next administration, and beyond.” An overview of the projects:

• Rotary Centennial Project:

This project is being undertaken to support Rotary International and the celebration of Rotary’s 100th Anniversary in February 2005. The project is designed to fill a recognized community need, provide a “hands-on” project for the club members, partner with other organizations in the community, and provide on-going recognition for RI and the BBRC in the community.

A number of suggestions were presented by club members at our Semi-ah-moo retreat, including the construction of a special needs play area in Bellevue. This suggestion has taken on a life of its own, and it feels as if we are being pulled very strongly in this direction. There have been two meetings with the City of Bellevue Parks Department and consideration is being given three possible existing park sites that would accommodate the play area. The cost of the project can range from $250,000 to over $2,000,000 requiring a two-year commitment on the part of the BBRC in partnership with other corporations and individuals.

Current Status: The project has been registered with RI to meet the filing date of June 30, 2003, but the BBRC’s commitment has not yet been officially sanctioned by the Foundation Committee. Phil Salvatori will call a meeting of this committee in July.

• Membership Retention Program:

This is a pilot project to identify effective retention programs, or activities, for Rotary Clubs for new and current members and to assess the effectiveness of such programs in various regions of the Rotary world. The BBRC is one of 102 clubs worldwide selected to participate in this program. The study will run from July 1, 2003, to June 30th, 2006. John Martinka has stepped forward to lead the Club’s effort. The program guidelines are covered in an eight page memo that provides suggestions for recruitment, induction, orientation, education and participation of new and existing members. Many of the suggestions are already in place in the BBRC, which will make the project almost transparent to existing members. Administration of the program requires reporting membership statistics, results of our efforts, and sending a representative to RI Headquarters in October 2005 for discussion of both positive and negative results of the first two years of the program. Upon the completion of the pilot project in June of 2006, the results will be analyzed by RI and a guide will be developed for general use by all Rotary Clubs.

Current Status: We have just been notified that the BBRC was selected and the program details were received on June 27th. John will be working closely with Jenny Andrews and current President Brian Evison to initiate the program.

• New Member Committee:

The New Member Committee met at 7:00 AM on July 1st, 2003, to stake a claim as the first official BBRC committee meeting of the new Rotary year. This month’s topic was fund raising, led by Jim Zidar. Five new members were present. As Directors and Officers of the Club you have the unique opportunity to get up close and personal with the new members, and as part of their orientation, they get to know you better. Wayne McCaulley will be contacting you to schedule your time with the committee.

Here is the program schedule for the new member meetings for the 2003-2004 Rotary year:

JUL 1, 2003	Fund Raising Part 1 - History and Purpose
AUG 5th, 2003	Fund Raising Part 2 Selling Skills and Techniques - Johnson, Zidar, Ted Szatrowski
SEP 2nd, 2003	Club Service 2 Membership Development, Co-ordination, Retention Jenny Andrews
OCT 7th, 2003	Vocational Service Bob Holert
NOV 4th, 2003	RI Foundation and BBRC Foundation Phil Salvatori
DEC 2nd, 2003	Community Service  Scott Sadler
JAN 6th, 2004	Club Service 1 Publications, Programs, Social Will Einstein
FEB 3rd, 2004	International Service  Mike Hyodo
MAR 2nd, 2004	Why do we Retreat? Sharon Edberg/John Dewater
APR 6th, 2004	Club Finance - Treasurer   John Smolke
MAY 4th, 2004	Club Administration - Secretary John Mix
JUN 1st, 2004	The Family of Rotary - Cares and Concerns Dick Brown

• Fund Raising – 2003:

The Club is off to a good start with the support of corporate sponsors with pledges of approximately $12,000 and the Golf Auction which raised approximately $7,000.

The 8th Annual Golf Tournament is history, featuring 128 players in beautiful weather at Mt. Si. It appears that the golf outing achieved its goal of raising funds to pay for the raffle prizes.

The “Battle of the Bands” is scheduled for kick-off on August 1st and will run for three months until October, 31, 2003.

• District 5030 Centennial Project:

Centennial District Governor Kathy Johnson is proposing that the Clubs in District 5030 partner with Habitat for Humanity and build four houses in the district. Funds would be raised from the sale of a special “Rotary Centennial” wine crafted by a local winery. There might be some problems with the sale of wine according to the Washington Liquor Board.