Friday Program:
"Conserving Wildlife in Kenya," Ian Craig, Executive Director LEWA Wildlife Conservancy

Our guest speaker, Ian Craig, was introduced by Curtis Cummings. Ian is the Executive Director of LEWA, a conservancy program for national parks and wildlife in Kenya.

Ian talked about the difference between perception and reality. The reality in Kenya is the cycle of poverty, insecure regions with no investment or economic prosperity. In the national parks there has been drought, and the landscape is barren. Another reality is that the national parks are islands — they are huge magnets of tourism

What is the future of the wildlife in Kenya? There are over 7,000 elephants and only 100,000 acres of parks.

However, half of Kenya is wilderness, which presents complex issues and opportunities. Ian discussed the challenges of coordinating between seven different ethnic groups. The land pressures, education issues, and water issues are inextricably linked. Development of water sources and education are crucial to the economy; the economy is crucial to growing the park infrastructure to save endangered animals, and the tourism related to endangered animals is crucial to bringing in money for the infrastructure development. The formula is starting a conservancy board, and then start a trust. Then you put in a manager and build infrastructure. Suddenly there is a new national park on their own piece of land.

The economic framework within Kenya presents many challenges. There is no employment and low per capita income. There is no economic stability, and few services; people walk 10-30 km for healthcare services.

The Trust provides training, product development, and a source of income. By building these land trusts, it provides a place where elephants feel safe, and where they will migrate. Elephants attract tourism. That is how the Trust links economic development to wildlife.

In turn, communities receive water development. In turn, that leads to better healthcare and education. Currently, the Trust supports eight different schools.

The results for wildlife are impressive. The Rhino population had gone from 20,000 in 1970 to just over 260 by 1984. Now it has slowly grown back to over 500.

As far as serving the people, educated people have had no opportunity — this conservancy cannot solve all the problems, but it a step in the right direction.

Greeters Extraordinaire!

The club had the pleasure of having two former members back to meet, greet and invocate. John Mix, our wayward Vandal, provided the invocation and pledge. The invocation was something about growing older and how we forget things as we grow older ... as for the rest of it, I, uh, forget.

John Lloyd, charter member of the BBRC, introduced guests and visiting Rotarians. John was one of six charter members in attendance.

It was a rare treat to see these two beloved BBRC members back among us!

Ercan Turkarslan presented a Rotary flag from the Rotary Club of Ankara, Turkey, to the BBRC head turkey.

Classification Talk — Connie Shulman

What makes Connie tick? She moved to Seattle in 1969 with three children. In 1970, she started with a group clinic for low income families. As she became involved in local politics, Connie was appointed by Senator Henry “Scoop” Jackson to an advisory panel to Congress on national health issues. In a series of positions of increasing responsibility, Connie landed up in California in 1990, working for Home Depot.

In 1995, she moved back to the Seattle area, and became involved with the Overlake Service League. Tragically, Connie's son passed away and she gave up Connie bought her first home for herself.

Connie now works for the Leadership Institute of Seattle. She has eight grandchildren, and she is not new to Rotary: her daughter received a Rotary scholarship some time ago. Most recently, Connie was a member of the Woodinville Rotary Club, but after transferring, she is now a member of the Best Darned Rotary Club in the World, and we’re darned proud to have her.

Blue Badge — Candy Igou After meeting all of the requirements, President Phil presented Candy Igou with her BBRC blue badge. Congrats, Candy!

Rotarian of the Month — Tom Smith

In a moment of weakness and displaying a clear lack of judgment, President Phil recognized Tom Smith as Rotarian of the Month for the month of November. Among Tom’s other recent achievements, he rarely attends BBRC meetings while drunk, and has never made the same mistake twice — even though he’s made them all once.

RI Foundation — Cary Kopczynski

Former President Cary Kopczynski briefed the club Friday on the campaign for contributions to the Rotary Foundation. The club requests that each year, each member contribute a minimum of $100 as Paul Harris sustaining members. We have a goal of $300 average contribution per year per member — a goal that we exceeded last year and hope to again this year.

Foundation committee member Margie Burnett proposed using the paddle and beating members into contributing. Three unnamed members volunteered. On the other hand, Dick Brown advocated “positive reinforcement.” The committee is taking the softer, gentler approach, and they request that you hand in a commitment form to anyone on the committee no later than December 7th.

Paul Harris Recognitions

While they had center stage, the Foundation Committee recognized two members for their contributions. Jonathan Kosher, already a Paul Harris Fellow, received his first blue sapphire pin for the $2,000 level. Rick Klobucher received his four-ruby pin, indicating a level of $10,000 of total contributions! Wow!

Sergeant At Arms — Tom Harrelson

With little apparent coercion, Frank Young donated a $50 check to the Thanksgiving turkey fund. Following that, S-A-A Tom gave a short quiz to the club on our 22-year history. Only the geezers passed. So much for John Mix’s assertion that age causes memory loss. For those who failed, here’s the answer key:

Date chartered:
November 20, 1985
First club project:
Refurbishment of Eastside Adult Day Services
First president:
Lou Webb
First female member:
Bevan Wagner
Under which president did BBRC raise $12K selling Poinsettias?
Don Chandler

Peace Pals Discovery Trip To Kenya — Curtis Cummings

Curtis conveyed his story of his recent journey to Kenya. His friends, Tom and Molly wanted cultural exchanges with Africa, so he took them along, and the results were numerous donations in support of schools and to name a baby rhino. Additionally, they are committing to ensuring that one dynamic young girl will be receiving a fully-funded education, all the way through medical school if that’s where her journey leads.

We Continue to Seek Team Members for GSE Exchange With RI District 4459-Lima, Peru

The District 5030 Group Study Exchange (GSE) Committee has extended the application period and are taking applications until the Team Members have been selected. Inital interviews will begin on Saturday, November 10, 8:00 AM to Noon at the Best Western Executive Inn, 200 Taylor Ave. N., Seattle. Information on the exchange and applications can be obtained at gse.rotary5030.org.

The Outbound GSE Team from RI District 5030 will be visiting Rotary clubs in Peru April 13-May 12, 2008. The GSE Committee for the Eastside and District encourage our BBRC members to introduce this great global learning opportunity for young business and professional men and women to your families, friends and employees. The exchange is open to non-Rotarians.

If you have any questions, please contact Eastside Coordinator and BBRC Member John Armenia (Ph 425-890-6427) or District 5030 GSE Committee Chair Laverne McIntyre.

Web Fun

BADA BING

A woman was at her hairdresser's getting her hair styled for a trip to Rome with her husband. She mentioned the trip to the hairdresser, who responded: "Rome? Why would anyone want to go there? It's crowded and dirty. You're crazy to go to Rome. So, how are you getting there?"

"We're taking Continental," was the reply. "We got a great rate!"

"Continental?" exclaimed the hairdresser. "That's a terrible airline. Their planes are old, their flight attendants are ugly, and they're always late. So, where are you staying in Rome?"

"We'll be at this exclusive little place over on Rome's Tiber River called Teste."

"Don't go any further. I know that place. Everybody thinks it's gonna be something special and exclusive, but it's really a dump, the worst hotel in the city! The rooms are small, the service is surly, and they're overpriced. So, whatcha' doing when you get there?"

"We're going to go to see the Vatican and we hope to see the Pope."

"That's rich," laughed the hairdresser. "You and a million other people trying to see him. He'll look the size of an ant. Boy, good luck on this lousy trip of yours. You're going to need it."

A month later, the woman again came in for a hairdo. The hairdresser asked her about her trip to Rome. "It was wonderful," explained the woman, "not only were we on time in one of Continental's brand new planes, but it was overbooked and they bumped us up to first class. The food and wine were wonderful, and I had a handsome 28-year-old steward who waited on me hand and foot. And the hotel was great! They'd just finished a $5 million remodeling job and now it's a jewel, the finest hotel in the city. They, too, were overbooked, so they apologized and gave us their owner's suite at no extra charge!"

"Well," muttered the hairdresser, "that's all well and good, but I know you didn't get to see the Pope."

"Actually, we were quite lucky, because as we toured the Vatican, a Swiss Guard tapped me on the shoulder and explained that the Pope likes to meet some of the visitors, and if I'd be so kind as to step into his private room and wait, the Pope would personally greet me. Sure enough, five minutes later, the Pope walked through the door and shook my hand. I knelt down and he spoke a few words to me."

"Oh, really! What'd he say?"

He said, "Where'd you get the crappy haircut?"

Personal Announcement — John Armenia
John Armenia announced to a silent crowd that he will be undergoing surgery for lung cancer Tuesday. John will be treated with leading edge technology and procedures at the Fred Hutch center at the UW. Our thoughts and prayers are with John as he faces this challenge.