64th Anniversary of D-Day

Preliminaries

President Phil, smiling more and more as his clock ticks down, called the meeting to order with a timely reference to gasoline prices: “Do you know the definition of pedestrian? It is a person who thought there were a couple of gallons left in the tank!

Steve Waltar gave the Invocation, quoting C. S. Lewis on letting go of things, and led the Pledge of Allegiance.

Zul Alibhai greeted visiting Rotarians and guests. He had a wee bit of trouble with the “You are all always welcome at the BBRC,” but did a most excellent job.

BBRC’s Newest Member: Pam Fehrman

Not just one, not just two, but three BBRCers stood up with Pam Fehrman to sponsor her into the BBRC: Phil Salvatori, Jim Owens and Norm Johnson (all of whom have played a significant part in the establishment and funding of the Water Spray Park). Pam works for the City of Bellevue, in parks and community services. She will have the classification of “Parks and Recreation” or, informally, “Water Nymph,” as Pam has been the Bellevue liaison for the Water Spray Park which was dedicated on June 7 (see article).

Welcome aboard, Pam!

Major Grants Recipients

Fred Barkman announced, on behalf of the Foundation Committee, the 2008 recipients of the BBRC’s Major Grants. In keeping with the Club’s Focus on Youth and its Mission, Vision and Values, the two recipients are the Children’s Institute for Learning Differences (CHILD) and the City of Bellevue’s Wrap Around Services Project at Lake Hills Elementary School.

Fred reported that the Committee started with ten potential recipients and winnowed that number down to four and then the final two. Subcommittees vetted all the applicants carefully.

CHILD, located on Mercer Island, will receive $17,000 for a mobile computer lab. The Institute focuses on children with severe learning disabilities, including autism. The lab will allow the children to improve computer skills and communicate on the Internet, which has been shown to improve the communication skills of children with severe disabilities.

The Wrap Around Services Project will receive $12,800. The City partners with several non-profits to provide before and after school child care, mostly for an immigrant population, including feeding and learning enrichment. Studies have shown that such programs yield high results in the education of such children.

Online RSVP for Rotating the Wheels, June 27

Details and online RSVP are available for the Annual Rotating the Wheels dinner, set for Friday, June 27, at Maggiano's Little Italy, in Bellevue. The theme for this event is "Vacation in Italy," so dress is casual!

A social hour will begin at 6:00 pm, with dinner at 7:00, and music provided by the BBRC Rock Band. There will also be a special guest musician!

Cost per person is $50.00 and will include a Maggiano's Italian Dinner served family style at each table. There will be sufficient variety for every taste!

Deadline for sign-up is June 19!

Click here to RSVP online.

BBRC Annual Golf Tournament

The BBRC Annual Golf Tournament is set for July 28 at Eagle's Talon golf course, Willows Run. Cost is $180 per player (includes green fees, power cart, range balls, lunch, shirt). Shotgun start at 8:00 AM, checkin at 7:00 AM, scramble format, Get your teams together! Click here for a sign-up form.

Official Opening of the Bellevue Water Spray Playground

The gray Bellevue skies did not stop 33 BBRC members and their friends and family members from joining the host of others for the Grand Opening of the Crossroads Spray Playground at noon on June 7, at Crossroads Community Park. The temperature was in the low fifties, and that did not stop some of the kids from joining in high spirited water play.

Also in attendance were Mayor Grant Degginger, assisted by Deputy Mayor, Claudia Balducci and Councilmen Don Davidson and Conrad Lee, also Rotarians, and members of the Parks Department, and others, including past president, Norm Johnson, who offered remarks and cut the ribbon opening the Park. Our newest member, Pam Fehrman, who oversaw the project for the City was present as well.

The park was not fully open for play, since we need two warm sunny days to complete the final top surface coating. (It is projected to be accomplished the first week of August if this current weather holds on). Winter in Wellington is not as severe as a summer in Seattle.

The crowd patiently listen to the speeches lauding the BBRC for taking a leadership role in bringing the park into being. Seattle dance ensemble, Phffft, performed and the sprays were turned on, even though the Park is not quite complete. It seems that the Parks Department needs two days without rain to put on the final coatings within the spray area (Good luck!) Gala flags from the Washingtion Kitefliers Association brought a much needed burst of color to the otherwise gray day.

The unique design of the Spray Park allows for no standing water, and the water is recycled into the park irrigation system. There is a distinctive earth sphere honoring Rotary International and the water area features a number of play creatures, including Nessie and Orcas, rocks and spouting clams. All that is needed now is summer!

BBRC was the proud provider of $250,000 for the project. Major grants came from the Washington Recreation Conservation Office, the State, King County Parks, and HUD. Major contributors included Sterling SRO, The Jordan Fund, Terranomics Metrovision, Davis Wright Tremaine, and our own Howard Johnson, Colin Radford and Jim Owens.

Special acknowledgement goes to: Project Manager Pam Fehrman; BBRC members Jim Owens, Colin Radford, Jane Kuechle, Fred Barkman; Past BBRC Presidents Brian Evison, Steve Lingenbrink, Jim Zidar; and current President Phil Salvatori. Thank You for your Service Above Self.

Now, when the sun returns and the final surface is completed this spray playground will be an awesome experience for everyone!

Photos courtesy of Norm Johnson and Ercan Turkarslan.

New Member Proposed: Mark Mason

Mark Mason’s application for membership has been approved. Mark is a brother of Jeff Mason, who has been instrumental in our Computers for the World project. Mark is a software engineer who founded Affirma Consulting in Bellevue. He is an entrepreneur with a strong sense of social responsibility. He serves on the board of Rainier Avenue Free Methodist Church and has volunteered to teach computer skills to physically handicapped adults in Pucallpa, Peru.

Mark lives in Seattle with his wife, Patricia, and two children, Jack and Jane.

Friday's Program
Panel Discussion: Ethics

Continuing an annual tradition, the BBRC presented a program on ethics, this year moderated by Chuck Barnes. Panelists were Jim Carney, Chuck Kimbrough, Cary Kopczynski and Jan Nestler. Time was limited and Chuck kept to the tight schedule. As with many ethical issues, there may not be a right or wrong answer.

Cary presented an ethical dilemma he encounters in his structural engineering business relating to earthquake related building requirements. Although buildings must be built legally to current building codes, the codes often lag by several years with respect to the most current engineering practices to increase survivability in an earthquake. The question Cary posed is what to do when his clients are reluctant for cost reasons to authorize engineering to the most current practices, rather than the code. Cary emphasized that the current codes are safe; the question is whether they could be safer.

Jan provided examples from her work with Adult Day Services’ clients facing death and dying. She posed two different philosophies dealing with those who are dying: the Utilitarian and Kantian models. Under the first, equal treatment with an emphasis on the economic costs to society is paramount. Given the fact, for instance, that 40% of all Medicare costs are expended in the last two weeks of Medicare patients’ lives, emphasizing cost savings in lieu of personal wishes would prevail; Under the Kantian model, the respect of an individual’s wishes should govern.

Jim presented issues relating to managing other people’s money for investment purposes. His example was of a client with limited means with friction within her family. His dilemma was to honor the client’s wishes even though he was uncomfortable with her directions. Fortunately, Jim’s story had a happy ending, as the client, before it was too late, allowed Jim the opportunity to spend some time with her in recommending an investment plan that both he and the client were comfortable with.

Chuck tried to dispel the cynical notion that lawyers are presumed unethical until proven otherwise by pointing out that lawyers, particularly in the State of Washington, are more highly regulated in their ethical and professional conduct than any other business or profession. The regulations have teeth, as violations can lead to the suspension or loss of one’s license to practice law. Every court and jurisdiction in which a lawyer practices has its own set of professional conduct rules. Chuck also provided examples of conflicts that arise in various types of practices.

Chuck Barnes allowed some questions and answers and brought the program in on time. Great job by all!

Web Fun

Courtesy of Wally Mahoney

Word Puzzle
Courtesy of John mix

See if you can figure out what these words have in common.

1. Banana

2. Dresser

3. Grammar

4. Potato

5. Revive

6. Uneven

7. Assess

Look at each word carefully.

No, it is not that they all have duplicate letters.

CLICK HERE FOR ANSWER

In all of the words listed, if you take the first letter, place it at the end of the word, and then spell the word backwards, it will be the same word.

BACK TO WEB FUN

• • •

SPRAY PARK GRAND OPENING
Click here for complete slideshow.