Letter from President Phil to all the Ladies of the BBRC

Ladies of the BBRC:

The meeting this morning was absolutely magnificent, and I want to thank each and every one of you for the unselfish efforts you put into making this truly a "morning to remember." It is by far the most significant event that I can recall in my 18 years in this wonderful Rotary Club. Madeline, your leadership in this event is unheralded.

Each and every week we find ways to show the uniqueness of the BBRC, but you outdid yourselves this morning. I think I can speak for each and every man present this morning, when I say THANK YOU for making this meeting so very special, and I can probably speak for all the ladies present, as well. What you did this morning was not just give homage to the men present, but you also gave recognition to husbands, fathers, grandfathers, godfathers and special men in all of our lives, going back many, many years. Thank you for rekindling those personal memories that often go back to our very early years.

While there are many things that the BBRC can truly be proud of, I stand here today to salute the women of this Club who made June 13, 2008, a day that will certainly live in the hearts and memories of all of us. There were no dry eyes in the room, whether brought out by the speakers, or by the recalled memories of days past in our own lives.

Thank You. We are all so very fortunate to have you a part of our lives.

Phil Salvatori
President, BBRC

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.

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
Special Father's Day Meeting

It was billed as a special meeting that comes only once in a lifetime and that if you had other plans, it would be best to change them and attend the BBRC meeting. WOW! Was Madeline ever spot on!

A special tribute to the fathers and men of the BBRC was orchestrated by Madeline Gauthier, her able assistant, Lyda Ecob, our Club Administrator, Sayoko Kuwahara, and the women of the BBRC. It also required commitment and untold hours on the parts of the wives, children, grandchildren, godchildren, stepchildren, nieces, nephews and friends of BBRC members. From the men of the BBRC: Thank you ladies!

This meeting opened with three LCD projectors showing pictures of the family of Rotary with special emphasis on the members of the BBRC and their families. “Daddy songs” played over the sound system and boutonnieres were present to each of the guys. President Phil opened the meeting at 7:28 AM with the ringing of the bell and introduced Janet Dewater for the invocation and Pledge:

“Those of you who know me know that I appreciate many different names for God, among them “Creator, Shepherd, Mother, Holy One,” and perhaps one of the most familiar: “Father.” With all of those in mind, let us give thanks to God for life, and especially today, for fathers.

Let us pray:

Gracious and Holy God, Father of All, we give you thanks for this day; for your presence and for the glimpses we catch of you through the love and care of fathers. As we celebrate being fathers and having fathers, we ask your blessing upon these relationships. We pray for connection where there has been absence; for healing where there may be hurt; for continued care and joy between parent and child, and between child and parent of all ages.

In the words of the psalmist: “As a father has compassion for his children, so the Lord has compassion for those who fear (or stand in awe) of him.” (Ps. 103:13) Guide each of us, in our walks of faith, to live lives open to your compassionate presence, and in turn, to be compassionate with those with whom we share our lives and this world. And in doing so, may there be peace and joy. Amen.”

President Phil’s remaining responsibilities were limited to the introduction of visiting Rotarians and guests. Jenny introduced a visiting Rotarian from Kenya and his wife and sponsor. Guests included Mark Mason, Julie Anderson, and Lorenzo Hines, plus many wives, children, family members and friends of Rotarians. Former BBRCers Mary Bell and Sharon Edberg received warm hugs and special greetings from members who have missed them dearly.

Wendi Fischer took over as the Emcee and led the meeting with magnificence. “It is much easier to become a father than it is to be a father.” A father is there to guide, give, inspire, share, nurture, commit, lead, coach, care, understand, motivate, mentor and love a child. You do not have to be an actual father to be a father figure and provide support for a child as a teacher, coach or friend. Wendi went on to say that, “The women of the BBRC are darn proud of you!”

Madeline Gauthier said, as this project progressed, I became the keeper of the photos for many of you. They were all wonderful, but one set struck me in particular. Three photos came from one lady.

The first one was of a young teenager, long hair blowing in the wind, and he was hanging onto a surfboard, grinning a handsome smile into the camera. The note with the photo said, “This is the 16-year-old boy that I fell in love with.”

The second was a photo of the same man, years later, with a baby. She wrote, “This is my husband with our child."

The third photo was a picture of the same man, with much less hair, standing next to an older woman. The note said, “This is my husband with his 95 year old grandmother.”

This little collection stuck in my heart. I saw a person who had grown from handsome and carefree young devil, into a mature man who stepped up to care for those who needed him. Over the years, we have observed you, and we see that the men in this club have consistently stepped forward to make the world a better place. You have jumped in when called upon, to feed the hungry, to rebuild homes, to help kids prepare for jobs, to travel the world so kids in orphanages can have computers, to dig in riverbeds to save the salmon, to deliver polio vaccines in Africa. The list just goes on and on. You do it cheerfully, and you do it often.

Like that kid with the surfboard, you have all matured from young handsome boys into men that the world can depend upon. You give to your families, and you give to the world. We began this project with the knowledge that fatherhood is a spirit of nurturance, not an act of biology. And with that spirit of nurturing, you have shared yourselves with children, spouses, other relatives and friends, and with the world at Large.

Don’t think for a moment that we haven’t noticed what you do. We chose to make this a special day for our club, because we wanted to voice our appreciation for the wonderful way that you nurture, whether its nurturing your own family or others. And so we decided that, even if it was just once, we would take a special occasion to honor you. Thank you for doing what you do, but mostly, for being who you are: wonderful men who love their families and friends, who and nurture the world, one life at a time.

Today’s special event is not within our usual program of community service, but we decided that it was time to put aside what we usually do, and say “thank you,” which you each so richly deserve.

With those thoughts, the ladies of the Bellevue Breakfast Rotary Club wish you the very best Father’s Day!

• • •

Father’s Day was started by Sonora Dodd of Spokane on June 19th, 1910, to honor her single dad who raised a family by himself after her mom had died. It was set as the third Sunday in June by Lyndon Johnson and signed into law by Richard Nixon in 1972. Factoid: 50% of the Father’s Day cards are sent by children, 20% by wives, and 30% by someone special.

• • •

Special Tributes:

Dry eyes were not in order as Brad Callan gave a tribute to his father, Robin, for his incredible support of him and his brothers and sister, and also his mother in her final days.

These emotional, whimsical and heartfelt tributes continued with Mary Ellen Baker for her father Terry; Sebastian Pedersen for his father Kaj; Garrett Brooks for his father Bill; Quin and Colin Moriarty for their father Tim; Lee Roberts reading a letter from his sister, Leslie Buckley, for their father Steve. Lori Schiller gave an outstanding tribute to her stepfather Jim Kindsvater. Judy Brown proclaimed that Dick was not her father, but after 42 years of marriage he has had a father like impact on her life. She went on to read letters from their daughter Jennifer and son-in-law Stephen. Rick’s letter was saved for later. A PowerPoint presentation dedicated to Ron Healey captured the essence of Ron without a single actual photo of Ron.

It was a very special meeting in that guys don’t get to hear this emotional testimonial in person, for often they have passed on to the next realm a few days prior to the delivery of the tribute.

• • •

Notable BBRC Dads:

Father with the most children of his own: Chuck Barnes [5]

Father with the largest combined family: Roger Alllington [12]

Oldest Dad with the youngest child: Fred Barkman [dad over 45, child under 5]

Youngest father: Again Roger Allington [father at 20]

Greatest gap between the youngest and the oldest: Brian Evison [10 years]

Dad with the most kids in the teenage years at the same time: A tie with at least ten members.

Norm Johnson was noted as the “Father of the Spray Play Park” having a major impact on the lives of untold numbers of children.

Notable dads received a bottle of Gamache wine with a special label commissioned by the BBRC: “Rotary Fathers Nurturing the World.”

Again, words are not adequate to thank Madeline Gauthier for the thought, planning, time and execution of this very special meeting of the BBRC. We love you, Madeline!

Web Fun

Courtesy of Steve Lingenbrink

A curious fellow died one day and found himself waiting in the long line for judgment. As he stood there he noticed that some souls were allowed to march right through the pearly gates into Heaven.

Others though, were led over to Satan who threw them into the burning fire. But every so often, instead of hurling a poor soul into the fire, Satan would toss a soul off to one side into a small pile.

After watching Satan do this several times, the fellow's curiosity got the best of him. So he strolled over and asked Satan what he was doing.

"Excuse me, Prince of Darkness," he said. "I'm waiting in line for Judgment, but I couldn't help wondering. Why are you tossing those people aside instead of flinging them into the Fires of Hell with the others?"

"Oh those," Satan groaned, "they're all from Seattle. They're still too wet to burn."