This past Friday was certainly a day we will all remember for a long time. As a result of the weather and resulting power outages, the Annual Holiday Breakfast was cancelled. Normally, we do not meet the last two weeks of the year. However, considering the circumstances, there is no better time to come together as a Rotary family and celebrate Christmas and the holiday season as we always have in the past.
Therefore, we have rescheduled the Holiday Breakfast for this Friday, December 22, Glendale Country Club, 7:00AM. Bring the family. We have a fun-filled morning planned, with the promise of a special visitor from the North.
The BBRC's annual Giving Tree faced some tough challenges from the Winter Warlock this year, but brave Rotarians have seen to it that all toys and gifts will be in the hands of the proper recipients.
As of Monday, December 18, at 5:33 pm, all 40 toys and gifts earmarked for the YMCA had made it into the hands of the Lake Heights Director. It was xcellent teamwork by all involved, with many side trips by Rotarians into Downtown Bellevue on Friday and Monday. This is a big project, because the toys are all wrapped and targeted for specific families. Because the BBRC stepped up with 100% participation, the YMCA staff will not have to buy any extra toys to make up for shortage. Great work!
The 80 toys for Hopelink have mostly made it to their offices in Bellevue, with a second load arriving on Tuesday. If, for some reason there are toys still to be dropped off, simply stop by the Hopelink office at 148th and Main street no later than the end of the day Wednesday, December 20.
If you have any questions, contact
[who has spent more than 5 nights without electricity so far].
The storm that hit the area last Thursday and resulted in the postponement of Friday's holiday breakfast brought record-breaking rainfall and powerful winds, causing widespread damage and leaving thousands without power for days. BBRC member John Armenia provides a great description of the events he encountered Thursday night in this email he recently sent to friends and family:
How have you survived the Big Storm? I am only getting to my email now ... since the power was out.
I think this was the worst windstorm to hit the Northwest since Columbus Day 1962. The coverage of this storm was wide and started on the Pacific Ocean coast and went deep in to Washington State. Power has been out all over the Puget Sound now for days. Schools are closed and several school districts will not reopen until January. There are long gas station lines in those areas and communities that have power. Most restaurants and stores have been running out of food daily. It is anticipated that this will go on for days.
My wife Brenda and I were very lucky as we were just littered with tops, branches and parts of trees. We just got our power yesterday. So I am getting to my work and email after cleaning up our property this morning along with my neighbor's. She is a widow and had trouble raking up some of the branches in the front yard and quit due to cold hands.
Brenda's sister (Bonnie) and her husband (John) have a new home that is about a football field (1/2 block) from our home in Trilogy. Their home was hit Thursday evening around 11:00 p.m. when five huge trees fell and struck the roof and stayed lodged in it. Three others hit the house rolled off the roof. Part of the ceiling fell on John in the TV area and hit him in the head and leg. Fortunately, he was not injured. There were another 12 trees down in the back of their house, on their property, stacked on top of each other, and another 68 on the wilderness trail area behind their home.
Bonnie and John spent the night with us after the fire department inspected their home and asked them to leave it, after turning off the electricity and gas. Just as they left their home a fire captain’s truck across the street was crushed by a falling tree. Fortunately, he was not seriously injured.
Trilogy and our neighborhood looks like a war zone. The number of trees down is similar to when Mt. St. Helens blew and mowed down rows of trees. Several homes in Trilogy were hit by trees in our area, one house by 10. As of yesterday’s count 60 homes were damaged by falling trees.
Now that we have power, the clean-up has begun. Brenda helped Bonnie clean up the TV and dining room and John has patched the ceiling and a broken window with heavy plastic. The Starks have placed tarps over several places on the roof damaged by the trees that have now been removed. Their total damage may be more than $200,000, as several ceiling beams and trusses were damaged as well as their landscaping.
I hope your story is not as sad or challenging. I hope you finally have power, too, so that you can begin your clean-up.
We wish you a wonderful holiday and Christmas and happy new year.
It's time once again for the singing horses. Yes, we've all seen them before, but they seem to come come around every so often and, well, you just gotta love 'em.
Golfing With Elves Join your fellow BBRC members for a bit of solstice fellowship. The sixth annual "Golfing With Elves" takes place this year on December 23rd, with a 9:00 AM tee time at Mt Si. Contact
(Ph 206-979-9400) to confirm your participation.
Penny LeGate's Ethiopia Video Please mark your calendars to watch the documentary on Ethiopia! It's called "Seattle to Ethiopia: Bridges of Hope." It airs December 19, 2006, at 9:30 PM, on KIRO 7.
It will feature stories on polio, water, the fistula problem, and AIDS orphans. Video will be used from all of Penny LeGate's Ethipian trips and will feature BBRC's Margie Burnett.
The BBRC's annual Giving Tree faced some tough challenges from the Winter Warlock this year, but brave Rotarians have seen to it that all toys and gifts will be in the hands of the proper recipients.
[who has spent more than 5 nights without electricity so far].
