![]() Friday Program: "The Pleasures of a Cruise Vacation," Dave Stockert, Holland-America Cruise Lines | Miscellanea | Spray Playground Ground Breaking, October 19th | Jonathan Koshar Classification Talk Redux | Paul Harris Presentation | Rotary First Harvest Attendance Report | October Student of the Month: Becca King | Computers for the World | BBRC By-Laws | Proposed Member: Bob Crosby | Web Fun |
||
Friday Program:
Holland-America is based in Seattle, but is part of the Carnival Cruise Line empire which provides over half of the cruises in the United States under such trade names as Holland-America, Costa, Princess, Carnival, Canard and Seaborne. Carnival’s closest competitor is Royal Caribbean with 30% of the market.
Manfred Markevitch replaced his nasty red badge with his beautiful new blue badge. Congratulations, Manfred! Rourke O'Brien attended the meeting with Jesus and Antonio, from the Nuestros Pequenos Hermanos — Our little brothers and Sisters — network in Mexico. Jesus and Antonio are staying with Rourke and Sayoko for a week. Spray Playground Ground Breaking, October 19th The Press release from the Bellevue Parks and Community Services Department can be viewed here.
Jonathan started his Rotary career in a small club in Annapolis, Maryland. He moved to Tampa, Florida, where he belonged to a large club. He employed different strategies to get integrated into his clubs. First, sitting at the same table week after week and second, moving from table to table week after week. Neither of these was a successful strategy. What got him involved in the BBRC was agreeing to become the club treasurer. He facetiously (I think) said that he had to move away from Bellevue to get out from under the duties of the treasurer. Jonathan and his wife ended up back in Annapolis where he could not find a club that suited him. They later moved to Bermuda and after that, Barbados. In none of those locations could he find a club that suited him. Now he is back in Bellevue and we are happy to have him back at the BBRC. What do you think the chances are of having Jonathan back in the role of treasurer — fat or slim to none? October Student of the Month: Becca King
Becca calls herself the middle child, since she is eight minutes younger than her twin brother James, whom she credits with giving her a competitive attitude. She has been an outstanding athlete in soccer, basketball and softball and is looking at colleges such as Colgate, Bucknell, Gettysburg and Claremont for her college career. Good luck, Becca. We expect to hear good things about you!
After much frustration, Rafet was able to get the computers through customs and proudly announced that 14 computer labs are now operating in various parts of Turkey, with over 600 students using the computers provided by Computers For The World. He said there were six schools in the eastern part of Turkey and two labs catering to students with spinal cord injuries. An interesting aside is that Rafet is the author of several children’s books, some of which were on display at the back table. Rafet and his wife were enjoying the hospitality of Sadru and Alma Kabani for their stay in the Seattle area. Bob Crosby is proposed for membership. He is senior loan officer at Stay In Home Reverse Mortgage. His classification will be Reverse Mortgage. He lives in Sammamish with is wife Carol, and he has three children between the ages of 18 and 24. Bob's hobbies include fishing, hunting and raising Labrador Retrievers. Friday Program:
Holland-America is based in Seattle, but is part of the Carnival Cruise Line empire which provides over half of the cruises in the United States under such trade names as Holland-America, Costa, Princess, Carnival, Canard and Seaborne. Carnival’s closest competitor is Royal Caribbean with 30% of the market. Dave said that approximately 12 million Americans cruised last year. And approximately 10% of Americans have been on a cruise, so cruise lines see potential for great growth. Twelve million cruisers compares to 30 million tourists per year in Las Vegas and 50 million who visit Orlando. Holland-America has 13 ships, all in the midsize range, so they can go through the Panama Canal. Three ships are based in Seattle, the MS Oosterdam, MS Westerdam and MS Amsterdam.
According to Dave, Holland-America in 2007 provided Seattle an approximately $455 million economic infusion. This included $130 million in goods and services provided to the ships, $46 million spent by tourists in Seattle, and $5.6 million spent by the crews of the vessels in Seattle. Seattle has become a significant cruise line port because the new ships on line now are faster, with average speeds of between 23 and 25 knots, which means that they can cover the distances required for successful cruises from Seattle, as opposed to closer ports to Alaska such as Vancouver. The cruise lines are working at approximately 98% capacity, so it is a very popular vacation option. Judging from the number of hands that were raised, well over two-thirds of BBRCers have been on at least one cruise, and Wendi Fischer owned up to having been on 12!
Dave closed by acknowledging that Holland-America Line and the cruise industry was once seen as the domain of the elderly. In fact, he said that the average age of a Holland-America cruiser not so long ago was said to be “deceased.” He was very happy to report that the average age of cruisers on Holland-America Line is now 45. We are not quite certain how he obtained his statistics, but he also claimed that one of the reasons for the popularity of cruise lines was that cruisers enjoy 25% more intimacy on board ship than land lubbers do. REAL NEWSPAPER ADS
|
THIS FRIDAY
"How Homebuilders Add Value to Our Community," Sam Anderson, Executive Director, Master Builders Association of King & Snohomish Counties. A discussion of the housing crisis locally and nationally and the added value quality builders bring to our community in a variety of ways. Sam Anderson has been the Executive Director of the Master Builders Association of King & Snohomish County since 1998. (Hildebrand) THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK
Mark Twain: "I have found out that there ain’t no shorter way to find out whether you like people or hate them than to travel with them." Click on the names below to wish your fellow members a happy birthday or congratulate them on their BBRC anniversaries. BIRTHDAYS
Shelley Noble, 10/01 ANNIVERSARIES
Jeff Maxwell, 18 yrs
Rotary First Harvest Attendance Report BBRC By-Laws
|
|