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Vol. 18, No. 20, NOVEMBER 14, 2005: REMINDER: Photo Op this Friday!
Larry Gill will staff the camera.
Celebrating 20 Years of Fun and Fellowship the BBRC
With Dick Brown and Don Chandler handling co-masters-of-ceremonies duties, the crowd was in a festive mood. Current club President Steve Lingenbrink opened the proceeds by welcoming his well-dressed audience. Steve Waltar was called upon to give the invocation. With the date being Veteran’s Day, a special observance of the flag presentation was made by a color guard from the Marine Recruiting Station in Seattle. Jim Gordon, resplendent in his dress Navy uniform, informed the audience what was expected of them and then called for the Color Guard. The Star-Spangled Banner followed, a stirring rendition by members and guests of the words and music. Thanksgiving Baskets in the Spotlight
Families from Hopelink and the Eastside YMCA are helped by the club’s generosity. Here’s how you can help:
The Food List: 10 pounds of potatoes • 2 pounds of carrots • pie crust mix for at least two pies • pie filling for at least two pies • 5-pound box of Bisquick • 1 pound of butter • 1 large jar of jam • 10 cans of veggies or fruit • 5 pounds of apples • 5 pounds of oranges Tie the string around your finger (do it NOW!) to remind yourself to either bring the items to the 11/18/05 meeting or cut a check to account for your donation. Thanks in advance from the BBRC Community Service committee!their induction. New Member Proposed: Mitch Freedman Mitch Freedman, proposed classification “CPA-Small Business,” has been approved for publication by the BBRC Board. Mitch has lived in Bellevue for 18 years and has been self-employed as a CPA since 1995. His principal activity includes financial planning for his clients and tax services. He formerly worked for Fleory & Company for eight years. Mitch is married to Carya and they have two children. The family lives in Bellevue. Mitch lists as hobbies “attending political town meetings” and reading. He enjoys bowling, golf and basketball. He lists as club memberships Samena Club, Board member of the Autism Society of Washington, SCORE, and Board member of Washington Parents for Safe Children. Mitch is sponsored by Jim Owens, co-sponsored by Rourke O’Brien. This is the first publication of this application. The second will appear next week in Reveille. Any comments or questions should be directed to Club Service II Director Tom Smith, (Ph 425-451-8036) no later than 3:00 p.m. on Thursday, November 17, 2005. Former BBRC Member Ben Riva Passes Ben Riva, 77, a former active member of the Bellevue Breakfast Rotary Club, died at his Bellevue home Friday. Ben was a successful businessman, founding the Bellevue Copy Center, from which he retired in 1991. In addition to his BBRC membership, Ben was President of the Bellevue Boys and Girls Club, charter member of the Central Park Tennis Club and a member of the Overlake Golf and Country Club. Ben and his wife Virginia traveled extensively in their retirement years and enjoyed spending time at their second home on Lake Chelan. Ben will be remembered for his portrayals of Christopher Columbus each October at the BBRC. Few people we know enjoyed life more. In addition to his wife, he is survived by five children, 13 grandchildren and two brothers. Jenny’s Eyewitness Report from Ethiopia
On October 21, roughly 40 Rotarians from the greater Seattle area (also three from Hawaii and three from Canada) set off for Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to take part in polio vaccinations, visit an AIDS orphanage and a school for children afflicted with polio, examine Rotary-funded water projects that bring clean water to the poorest Ethiopian families and experience the friendship of Ethiopian Rotarians. I was lucky enough to travel with another woman from my club, Margie Burnett, who was a wonderful traveling companion and friend! Together we shared a lot of laughs especially at the third world conditions we experienced together. Most memorable was a night we spent at what we lovingly call “Chez Shell”, an annex to the Shell gasoline station in Wolisso, Ethiopia. People keep asking me, “How was your trip?” The answer is “Indescribable!” I don’t have a ‘sound bite’ to describe what we encountered. Our experiences ranged from meeting the President of Ethiopia and the American ambassador to Ethiopia, to sitting in dung and straw huts squeezing two tiny drops of polio vaccine into the open mouths of Ethiopian babies.
Another highlight of the trip was our visit to the Cheshire Clinic, a treatment center for kids with polio. The poorest of the poor children those with the most severe polio symptoms spend up to six months at this home. There they have surgeries to release the tightened tendons caused by polio. They also receive braces, therapy, support, healthcare, encouragement and love. When they leave, they walk out the door. The clinic also provides wheelchairs, cycle chairs, braces and support to children whose polio symptoms don’t warrant the intense in-patient care offered at the clinic. Cheshire Clinic has mobile teams helping kids throughout Ethiopia. This clinic is heavily funded by Rotary.
I don’t even know how to describe the Rotarians I met on this trip both the group I traveled with and the Ethiopian Rotarians who hosted us. They were all incredibly kind, generous and fun. The Ethiopians basically took 10 days of their lives and devoted them to hosting us. They were at our beck and call, day or night. They invited us to their homes for meals, took us shopping at the very large, very scary Mercato, accompanied us on our immunization trips into the country and absolutely went out of their way to be gracious hosts. I feel especially close to a small group of local Rotarians who traveled from Seattle to Addis Ababa together including a 14 hour layover in London. We had a great time together, sharing in both the laughter and the tears that this kind of trip brings. Okay, if you’ve stayed with me this long, you’re probably wondering why you opened this long, long email. Thanks for hanging in there. I’ve attached a few photos if you are interested. We left Ethiopia on Monday, October 31. The following day, riots broke out in Addis to protest the manipulation of the recent election. I worry for my new Ethiopian friends and hope you’ll join me in a prayer for their safety and success. Congress Acts to Encourage Gifts in 2005 The Katrina Emergency Tax Relief Act of 2005 (KETRA) provides incentives and provisions for deductions of gifts of cash and certain other property, including IRAs, through the end of the year. This Act enables and encourages Americans to give generously, both for disaster relief and for other causes and institutions. These gifts are not limited to hurricane relief and can by made to any public charity for any purpose. This bill also makes it attractive for people with considerable assets in IRAs or other qualified retirement plans to use these as charitable contributions before December 31, 2005. You are encouraged to visit www.irs.gov and to contact your own legal and tax advisors in connection with donations and gift planning. Celebrating 20 Years of Fun and Fellowship the BBRC
With Dick Brown and Don Chandler handling co-masters-of-ceremonies duties, the crowd was in a festive mood. Current club President Steve Lingenbrink opened the proceeds by welcoming his well-dressed audience. Steve Waltar was called upon to give the invocation. With the date being Veteran’s Day, a special observance of the flag presentation was made by a color guard from the Marine Recruiting Station in Seattle. Jim Gordon, resplendent in his dress Navy uniform, informed the audience what was expected of them and then called for the Color Guard. The Star-Spangled Banner followed, a stirring rendition by members and guests of the words and music.
Don Chandler introduced the charter members in attendance. They included Dick Clarke, Jim Owens, Doug Cameron, Dick Brown, and Mr. Chandler. Other charter members still active include Terry Baker, Don Deasy and John Smolke. Assistant District Governor Bill Ptacek and past District Governor Kathy Johnson were special guests. You know that Christmas is not far away when Phil Salvatori is given time to hype his famous “Giving Tree.” He and Connie operated an attractive “Dual-Tree Display” at the door entering the ballroom. The Giving Tree is a tradition of the BBRC, with Salvatori at the helm Over 100 gifts adorn the trees, and each ornament represents a gift going to a member of a needy family this Christmas. Members are asked to pick an ornament, jot down the ornament’s number, sign the form and add a phone number. Then, acquire the gift and bring the gift no later than the Friday, December 9, regular meeting. Families served by Hopelink and the YMCA are recipients of gifts this year.
During dessert, Don and Dick reminisced about a few of the highlights of the past 20 years. Jan Nestler, who holds the senior ranking position among our female members, remembers her first encounter with the club. She was invited to give a pitch to the club about her new job running the Eastside Adult Day Center. She was the only woman among all those attending that memorable meeting. The program that Friday was also memorable. Some physician discussed Male Impotence, complete with graphics and videos. Despite that, Jan joined during the administration of Don Deasy in March of 1990 and has been a great member since! Dick Brown remembered the time he bought the No-Fine badge and enticed a fellow Rotarian to conduct a fashion show of clothing offered at Dick’s store. Bob Neubauer wowed the club with his antics and Dick thought his buying the badge was worth it!
In the late 80’s, the club inaugurated the first in a series of international projects. In conjunction with a group known as Los Ninos, the BBRC sent a team of members for three consecutive years to conduct projects in the area neighboring Tijuana, Mexico. The projects spanned the terms of Dick Clarke, Jim Owens, Don Deasy and Don Chandler. During those years, the club built a schoolhouse, a community building and spread goodwill among our neighbors to the south. More recently, Rotarian Mike Hyodo embarked on a series of visits to far-away lands to help people achieve greater dental health. He set up dental clinics in orphanages in Russia, Romania and more recently Jamaica. Steve Lingenbrink accompanied him to Romania and Steve caught the International project bug. A Seattle-based organization known as Agros has an intriguing program going in Latin America. The idea here is to help isolated villages in Nicaragua, Honduras and Guatemala amass the funds it takes to buy the land they live on. Loans are offered to the villages, which is paid back over time. This year, Steve and his family went to Xeucalvitz, the mountain village in Guatemala to see the deed for the land handed over to the village and to see the water project sponsored by the BBRC be cut in to provide good, clean water to the 109 families living there. John Martinka and Peter Powell joined forces to visit Martinka’s native Slovakia armed with 100 computers for installation at schools that had no such devices. Martinka returns again next spring with another batch to some more schools. And, Curt Cummings, who took his daughter with Lingenbrink to Guatemala last year, will set out for Kenya, Africa on a project to deliver desks for 30 schools to expand a project started in 2004 by Curt’s father’s club, the Newport WA-Priest River ID Rotary club. Along with the desks, the need for hygienic toilets is part of the proposal, since there are little or no sanitation facilities at these schools. The great thing about this project is the desks are built on site in Kenya by local labor. Presentation of the new desks and the installation of the latrines are planned for February, 2006. With a budget of $5400 for desks, $15,000 for the pit latrines and $5000 for transportation and lodging, this is a $25,000 project. Numerous Rotary clubs and the Rotary Foundation are expected to join in this project. John Martinka was called to the podium to receive a Paul Harris Fellowship framed certificate, presented posthumously to his father who died recently. John’s father was instrumental in seeking family ties in Slovakia, which uncovered the need for computers in the schools. Martinka gave $1000 to the Rotary Foundation in his father’s name. Going back in time couldn’t happen without the events that led up to the BBRC becoming a premier fundraising club. Doug Cameron was slated to be President-elect in 1991-92. This post calls upon the person who holds it to determine how to raise significant amounts of money to be distributed throughout the community. Doug dreamed up the idea of the BIG EVENT, which initially featured the Brother’s Four and followed with the club’s first big car raffle. At that same time, Doug had the opportunity to provide leadership to other orthodontists in the country by accepted the Presidency of his national association. He couldn’t do both, so he took the national office, but left the BBRC a legacy of a successful fundraiser. By the way, Bob Moloney stepped up to become president in 1992-93. Now that Doug’s retired, he’s got time to be president of the BBRC someday! The night’s special presentation involved Dick and Donna Clarke. They were called forward to explain all about “Rotary Anns and Andys.” Since women couldn’t join Rotary until 1987, the spouses of Rotarians formed groups called Rotary Anns. Dick recalls that Bevan Wagner joined the BBRC during his term in office, becoming its first woman member. But, what to do with her husband? That’s when Rotary Andys were formed and Mr. Wagner was a committee of one with that designation. The Clarke’s have been active Rotarians for 20 years. Dick was a charter member of the BBRC. He was the club’s second president and in 1996-97, he honored our club by being selected District Governor. The reminiscing began again when they were asked about participating in the “Oldywed Game.” This was performed one morning at Glendale, when four couples (Brown, H. Johnson, Chandler and Clarke) did a parody on the “Newlywed Game.”
She was asked to remember the question posed: “How did your new husband perform on the first night of the honeymoon?” The contestants had a baseball metaphor to describe the answer: “Did he get to first base, second base, third base or all the way home?” Donna replied, “He didn’t even get out of the dugout!” Dick will be retiring from Rotary on December 31. He was given a beautiful crystal clock commemorating his service to the BBRC and Rotary. A standing ovation greeted Dick and Donna Clarke at this special time. Entertainment followed by the Bellevue Community College Jazz Choir, “Celebration.” The 18-person vocal group performed a selection of jazz tunes, much to the delight of the audience. Jim Owens particularly liked “Yesterday,” the old Beatle’s song. While the Choir was in performance, they saluted President Steve Lingenbrink with a "Happy Birthday, Mr. President," which he will celebrate on November 23. However, Audrey Bolson was celebrating her birthday that very evening and missed the serenade. Happy birthday, anyway, Audrey!
Brown and Chandler praised the long distance leadership of Sayoko Kuwahara, chair of the Fellowship Committee. Sayoko was on assignment in Japan for two week prior to the Anniversary event, so she handled everything long distance. She’s got a great committee and they performed beautifully! Incidentally, Sayoko returned the morning of the November 11 to be on hand in person for the Anniversary event. And so, another milestone is reached and celebrated. Congratulations to the membership, the leadership and to Rotary for having the presence of mind to charter the BBRC 20 years ago! As Dick Brown said in closing, “It’s been my 20 best years, because I’ve spent it with my very best friends.” Rotary kinda does that to you. |
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Dr. Maxine Hayes is the State Health Officer of Washington, and an Associate Professor in the School of Public and Community Medicine and Medical Director of the Odessa Brown Children’s Clinic in the School of Medicine at the University of Washington. With credentials like these, you can count on an informative program as Dr. Hayes speaks on the current world health topic “The Avian Flu The Coming Pandemic.” This is a perfect program to invite a guest. Invite a potential new member. Buffet Breakfast at 7:00 a.m. at Glendale Country Club. Don’t miss it!
Next week, November 24, is Thanksgiving Day. Friday the 25th is a traditional BBRC holiday, so we’ll take the Friday after Thanksgiving off to allow our members to enjoy that time with their families.
The next meeting is set for Friday, December 2. On Friday, December 9, Washington State Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler will discuss proposed healthcare legislation being offered in the state legislature. Another great program to invite your special friend(s) or potential new members.
On Friday, December 16, the BBRC closes out 2005 with its annual Holiday Breakfast. This is a fun-filled early morning salute to the holiday with the kids of Rotarians going front and center with Santa. Bring your children and/or grandchildren to this great meeting. 7:00 a.m. at the Glendale Country Club.
The next two Fridays are holidays at the club will not meet. NO MEETINGS on Friday, December 23 or Friday, December 30.
The first meeting of the new year of 2006 will be an off-site meeting at the Rock Bottom in downtown Bellevue. THERE WILL BE NO MEETING ON JANUARY 6TH AT GLENDALE. This meeting will be at Rock Bottom, where the Brewmaster will discuss “Beer for Breakfast” and other fine topics.
Highlight this schedule to help you keep track of the Holidays!
John Smolke, 11/16 Hal Teel, 11/16
In addition to our charter members who celebrate November as their entry into Rotary, there are other fine Rotarians celebrating another milestone year in the world’s largest and finest service club.
Bob Moloney, 19 years Steve White, 12 years Steve Luplow, 8 years Jim Kindsvater, 8 years Sayoko Kuwahara, 4 years Chip Erickson, 2 years
CHARTER MEMBERS
THIS WEEK'S EDITOR
THIS WEEK'S PHOTOGRAPHER(S) |
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