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Vol. 17, No. 50, June 13, 2005

IN THIS ISSUE:

This Reveille Home Page | The Friday Program: Table Topics, a Home-Grown Program Starring BBRC Members | Help You Rotate! | Friday Potpourri | Scholarships Awarded | More Foundation Awards | A Mini-Assembly ­ International Service | Running in the Rain | Web Fun

The Friday Program:
Table Topics, a Home-Grown Program
Starring BBRC Members

Jim Gordon, completing his first year as Program Chairman, informed the membership that the scheduled program had to be cancelled because of an emergency befalling our speaker. Always at the ready, Commander Gordon went for consensus, with President Norm Johnson suggesting a program of “Table Topics.” Instead of someone coming in to give the program, all of the members attending Friday’s meeting became the program.

The gist of the format was to involve each member at every table in the discussion of the following topic: “What recent event in your career, or profession, will have a major impact on society, but has yet to be detected by the mainstream media?” A good question, wouldn’t you say?

The membership was given about five minutes to come up with one person who would pose the question on behalf of his/her table. Each table was numbered and Norm’s straw hat held the numbers which were drawn to see who would report first.

Table 5 was out of the starting gate, with Jeff Cashman rising to discuss the ins and outs of Reverse Mortgages. “The equity in your house is generally the largest asset of anyone’s estate. The next 10 to 15 years will provide the best time to take advantage of this new way to allow homeowners to get a loan on their current home with what is known as a Reverse Mortgage.” Find out more by clicking here.

Next was Table 4 and up popped Chip Erickson, who wanted to know what the membership knew about Satellite Radio. A few hands went up, which gave Chip the chance to explain this new medium. “There are four million subscribers at this time. There are two significant players ­ XM and SIRIUS. This allows radio listeners to pick up signals from a satellite on a specially-designed radio. This is a big deal in the radio industry,” says Chip who is the BBRC’s expert working for Sandusky Broadcasting in Seattle. “We know this new player will have an impact on "terrestrial radio. However, on the negative side, the satellite signal comes over a narrow band width, which is not the best quality. Besides,” said Chip, “our product is free, and there’s isn’t!” Find out more here.

Next on the docket was Table 6, with attorney Tom Smith explaining the East King County Legal Assistance program. Tom, who is President of that organization, sent up a red flag with the news that money from the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) has run out. “Funding goes to zero on September 1,” reported Tom. “As the result of changes in VOCA (Victim's of Crimes Act) funding rules at both the federal and state levels, funding for domestic violence programs for programs such as the Eastside Legal Assistance Program (ELAP) is drying up this year, as the money is diverted into other non-VOCA areas of the federal budget at the national level, and as any remaining money has been redesignated for other non-DV purposes at the state level. Lawyers have worked pro bono to support this program for some years. All this will end 9/1 and affects the area of Eastern King County.

Table 1 was represented by Shelley Noble, who sounded a note of concern for many families who are “struggling. The unemployment rate remains quite high. The economy has fully rebounded and fund raising for non-profits is difficult. My plea to you today is support your favorite cause. They all need our help.”

Lucky Table 13 was represented by Steve Roberts, who is a Director of Congregations for the Homeless, an organization that helps homeless people transacting from homelessness to transitional housing. “Our goal is to get people out of shelters, but, unfortunately, they come back. There’s a lot of learning that needs to be done and there’s a group of people representing churches on the Eastside who are working to make this happen.” Steve has been retired for a couple of years from his major business and has taken on this, plus other work in his retirement. Congregations for the Homeless provides shelter for men in local Eastside churches. For more information, contact Ann Olds (Ph 425-284-2218).

The final report came from Table 11, with Wendi Fischer announcing that she’d become a new staff member of the American Foundation for Chess. Wendi said that “the last rule change in the game of chess was over 500 years ago and I’m here to tell you that a new rule change is coming in, maybe, 300 years!” Something tells us that this is not the last we’ll hear from the American Foundation for Chess.

The remaining of the tables will have to hold their big news until another program emergency. Nevertheless, the tables that did report were recognized as presenters for the day and collectively received a donation of 1,220 pounds of fresh produce to area food banks from Rotary First Harvest!

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