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Vol. 19, No. 15, OCTOBER 10, 2006 |
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| THE FRIDAY PROGRAM: Emergency Management: How Ready Are We? (Eric Holdeman) | IMPORTANT! Electronic BBRC Billing | Friday Potpourri | Deasy Update | Rotary First Harvest | GSE Team Looking for 4 | BBRC Survives the Invasion of the Singing Fish | Preserve Planet Earth | Notice for Vote for Bylaws Change: New Club Leadership Plan | 2007 District Conference | BBRC Program Update | Exchange Student Follow-Up | Web Fun | |
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IMPORTANT! Electronic BBRC Billing
What does that mean? You must first check your email to see if you received the email invoice. If you didn’t, please check your spam folders and spam filter settings. If you still can’t find it, contact Sayoko for help. Also, of great importance: if your spouse is the one in your house who pays the bills, make sure you forward the email bill to your spouse or print it out for them to take care of. The next iteration will be an attempt at online paying of the bills, but we ain’t there yet, so send your checks in on time, please. 
Our invocator this week was our relatively new member Bob Bowen of World Vision. Bob provided us with remarks on the subject of rain: We have a choice between accepting and welcoming the rain, or sitting back and complaining about it. Bob chooses to welcome the rain as it replenishes us. Larry May II introduced our visiting Rotarians and guests. This week, we had three visitors, all from Bellevue Tuesday Noon: Jim Hogue, Byron Piro, and Frank Young. They were challenged with the question: “Who’s going to be in the World Series?” All three dodged the issue with irrelevant answers about football or other unrelated subjects. For newer members, this might raise the issue of “Why does this Larry May guy have ‘II’ after his name?” Good question.
If Larry May I is lurking out there reading our Reveille, we hope that he will return to our club someday, although the Board would then be faced with the challenge of whether he would retain the “I” or whether our current Larry May would move up to “I” and the returning Larry would revert to “II.” Such totally useless thoughts tend to race through one’s mind while one is sitting in the back of the room listening to dancing fish trying to sing retro Tony Orlando songs. Somehow it dulls the pain. President Jim noted that October is Vocational Service Month. Let’s celebrate. Sayoko, our new club administrator, thanked Larry Gill for all the photography of members for the directory. Also, Sayoko asked our patience while she becomes more adept at the Club Administrator Software. Chris Ballard extended an invitation to the club to attend the inaugural meeting of the new Kirkland Club on October 28 at Sahali Country Club. This is the second new local club the BBRC has helped sponsor in the past three years.
Also, this is the season for the First Harvest fund drive. Did you know that a $7.50 per month commitment produces 3,000 pounds of produce per year for the food bank recipients? The money goes to a great cause. It stays in our community and helps the needy. Please note on the pledge forms that you are a member of the BBRC, so that we get credit for your donation. If you didn’t get a pledge card Friday, please contact
BBRC Survives the Invasion of the Singing Fish
Sergeant At Arms Andrew Face, a.k.a. (now) the “Dancing Fish,” actually stood up in front of the club with his fish trainer, Chip Erickson, and sang their song to entice BBRC members to join the Preserve Planet Earth Committee for the Sammamish “Re-Leaf” project on October 21st in Redmond. The lyrics are reproduced here in their entirety, not because they are particularly meaningful, but since we had to sit through them in the meeting, now you must suffer through them in reading this article:
For those who would rather dig than sing, the event will be the morning of October 21st at the Sammamish Slough in Redmond. Bring family, friends, and shovels. This is a great event for you to enjoy some fellowship while making a better environment to for those salmon to, well, do what salmon do after that long swim upstream. The fish and his trainer were heard talking when leaving the club: “Well, it looks like rehearsing is highly overrated.” Beauty is indeed in the eye of the beholder. Notice for Vote for Bylaws Change: New Club Leadership Plan
In the new structure, the Sergeant At Arms will still be a vital part of the club, but no longer a board position. Club Service II will morph into Membership, picking up the elements of Vocational Service related to the membership function. Vocational Service will disappear as a separate director position, and the service related functions of Vocational Service will be absorbed into “Community Services Projects,” which is a direct replacement for the current “Community Service” director position. International Service and the BBRC Foundation will continue as before. There will be two totally new board positions: Club Administration (programs, fellowship, and facilities), and Public Relations (external public relations plus the Reveille and other internal communications). Because the board structure is governed by the club by-laws, these changes require a formal change of the by-laws. The Board is voting on the draft by-laws this week, accompanied by a posting here in the Reveille of the new draft. The vote on the new by-laws will occur in our regular meeting on the 20th of October. If adopted, the changes will become effective with the new board that will take office July 1, 2007. Friday's Program:
Eric started off by reciting his philosophy: "Be good. If you can’t, then look good. If you can’t, then at least smell good. If that doesn’t work, then wear a pink shirt and ride a Harley, and it will make a man out of you."
He listed for us the most serious threats, in the order of his office’s current priorities:
King County currently has a total of 3,500 hospital beds. If a flu pandemic strikes, we will need an estimated 55,000.
Of course, as we see in the media every day, terrorism remains both a national and local threat to us. What is King County’s approach to planning? Eric states that it is an “all hazards approach.” We don’t focus on only individual threats, but an entire range of capabilities that will make us more able to respond to the entire list of potential disasters. Therefore, we plan, equip, train, and exercise as a region. The county focuses on regional public education, and it works with the private sectors as well as tribes to ensure close cooperation at all levels. The County has also engaged in a broad public relations effort: “3 days – 3 ways.” There are 1.8 million residents of King County, and in the event that water and other crucial utilities are cut off, the people need to be self sufficient for at least three days in order to cope and survive.
Where can BBRC members learn more? Here are a few related websites: www.Metrokc.gov/prepare Eric summed up that his office is working to learn the lessons of Katrina, 9/11, and other disasters, and working with local, state, and federal officials to make sure than in event of a serious emergency, we in King County have the best possible degree of preparedness to face the crisis. A little humor from the old Jewish Catskill comics of Vaudeville days, e.g., Shecky Green, Red Buttons, Totie Fields, Milton Berle, Henny Youngman
BA-DUM-BUMP!
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immediately. 
Sayoko also briefed the club on GSE — Group Study Exchange — the Rotary project that she will be leading to Japan next year. Sayoko, and four team members will travel to a Rotary district in Japan for a one month cultural exchange. They will be visiting their professional counterparts to build cultural understanding and broaden their perspectives. Team members must be between 25 and 40, fully employed, and able to take one full month for the trip. Sayoko and the District are now recruiting four members for the team. Please
The BBRC has slowly entered the electronic age: we have migrated to an online newsletter and online directory. Now we are going to email billing. Starting last week, your quarterly statements were sentby email. You won’t be receiving a hard copy in the U.S. Mail. 
With Larry May II, the “’II” stands for “two,” not “too” and not “the second.” This distinguished suffix was added not due to his parents naming him “II” instead of “Junior.” It’s because a few years ago, the BBRC actually had two Larry May members, and our current Larry May joined the club later than the other, thus the I and II labels. 
Paul Chapman and Rick McManus addressed the club Friday regarding Rotary First Harvest. There will be a work party, as usual, on the second Saturday of the month, October 14th, at Pier 91 in Seattle from 9:00 to noon. Our goal this year is to have the participation of 120 volunteers (Rotarians and their family members). Participate and have fun while getting credit for a makeup! 
For reasons that are still somewhat vague, we had a dancing fish singing us a re-worded karaoke version of Tony Orlando and Dawn’s “Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Old Oak Tree.” 
For those who need the music, please 
President Jim reported that the proposal before the board this week will be for a reorganization of the structure of the BBRC. As we all know, Rotary International suggested last year for all clubs to consider adopting a new model structure for their boards and committees. The BBRC board, in a subcommittee chaired by the President, has drafted a proposal for the board to consider. In short, this proposed structure is a hybrid of our current structure and a partial adaptation of the RI model. 
Ernie Hayden introduced our guest speaker, Mr. Eric Holdeman, Director of the King County Office of Emergency Management for his presentation: “How Ready Are We?” Eric was accompanied by Laura Nelson, from the City of Bellevue Emergency Planning Office. Ernie pointed out that Mr. Holdeman reports directly to King County Executive Ron Sims, and he is responsible for regional coordination of all preparedness for disasters. Eric has been recognized by the 9/11 Commission for his professional efforts. He is also an avid gardener who has been featured in Sunset Magazine. For kicks, he rides a Harley in his spare time — when it’s not raining. Given his workload and our weather, that doesn’t sound like it happens often enough. 
Eric stated that one could look at everyday I-405 as a disaster, but that’s not exactly what he works on. He helps the county prepare to be ready in case a serious disaster occurs, whether it is another 9/11, an earthquake or other natural disaster, or a health crisis. 
In King County, we are sitting atop a major fault line for earthquakes. If Mt. Rainier erupts, history has shown that the resulting mud flows could flow as far north as the Duwamish River and empty directly into Elliott Bay. 
The media’s cooperation has been instrumental to the program’s success. The three major local TV/radio organizations are all behind the education effort.