Chris Addison
Morris Kremen
Good morning Bellevue Breakfast Rotarians! Friday's meeting was the last for January 2009, and the morning buzz at the tables ranged from the boat show turnout to estate planning for athletes.
DING! President Jenny rang the bell right at 7:30 AM and welcomed all of us to this week’s meeting. Jenny did announce that it was a somber occasion in some regard, because it was the second anniversary of the passing of our dear friend and fellow Rotarian Don Deasy.
Morris Kremen presented the invocation and pledge with a reminder that baseball spring training begins in 15 days, and the Mariners are still tied for first place!
Cary Kopczynski, with his mother and wife, Jan.
One of our newest members, Christine Addison, introduced guests and visitors. There were Rotarians attending from both the Issaquah and the Mercer Island Rotary Clubs. Also, Cary Kopczynski was joined by his wife Jan and his mother, who was visiting from Spokane.
During the introductions, Rourke O’Brien was dashing in his nice jacket and tie. Rourke did plead with Surgeon at Arms David Bolson for a “Suit Make-Up." A Suit Make-Up? Sounds like a finable offense to me!
Bellevue 5K Run/Walk Sponsorship Update
Jonathan Koshar
Jonathan Koshar was in rare form today as he spoke to all of us about the upcoming Bellevue 5KRun/Walk scheduled for Sunday, April 26.
His first salvo was to ask us what makes BBRC the “Best Darn Rotary Club in the World?” The answers ranged from our fellowship to our outreach to the community to scholarships. The shocker, Jonathan informed us, was that the Duvall (or is that DOO-vall?) Rotary Club just raised $300,000 with only 50 members! Yikes! That is a huge challenge!
Anyway, Jonathan let us know that the Sponsorship Committee is not only actively working to bring in sponsors and money, but they need our help.The Committee needs everyone to offer warm leads to potential sponsors, including names and contacts the Committee can use. Also, Jonathan wanted us to be aware that the Bellevue 5K Committee is closely working with the Golf Committee to avoid double hitting any of our sponsors.
So, again, please give any ideas, leads or even your own sponsorship interests to Jonathan Koshar or Jane Kuechle today!
Eastside Catholic Appreciates BBRC Student of the Month Program
Principal Greg Marsh
Principal Greg Marsh, Eastside Catholic High School, extended his thanks to the club for its wonderful support for Student of the Month over the past years.
As many of you know, Eastside Catholic has moved to its new location on the Sammamish Plateau. Because of this move, the High School has transferred its Student of the Month affiliation to the Sammamish Rotary Club. The good news is that the school still will still have a close connection to Rotary, but not through the BBRC.
Larry May, with his warm-up jacket.
Principal Marsh reminisced about the past with Rotary. Marsh has been Principal of Eastside Catholic for seven years, and he remembers the first phone call from BBRC member Larry May regarding the Student of the Month program, inviting Eastside Catholic to participate.
Greg extended sincere thanks to the club for the privilege of being part of BBRC and was especially grateful for Larry May’s efforts.
As a small token of Eastside Catholic’s appreciation, Greg Marsh presented a warm-up jacket with the Eastside Catholic logo to our Larry for his outstanding communication, coordination and friendship! Way to go, Larry!
President Jenny Comments On the Times
President Jenny assumed the podium to reflect on the fact that in today’s economic environment, many, if not all of us, are facing a crisis or challenge in our lives and with times being tough, our membership is being directly affected.
Referring to the BBRC Vision Statement, Jenny reminded us that “We are a caring club.” Hence, we need to turn our care to members of the club who are facing difficult times.
Jenny also referred to the BBRC Vision and noted that, “We are well connected to the community.”
With these two elements of our Vision in mind, Jenny is proposing that we care for our members by helping those with our network and knowledge of the community, especially for those members in transition.
Jenny asked for anyone in crisis or in challenge to please let her know so she can help with connecting to the community or to members who may possibly have an opportunity to help. You can ask to keep this confidential.
One idea President Jenny is offering is to form a transitions group that could meet periodically —maybe weekly —to discuss networking ideas. In addition, BBRC mailing lists have been set up that are aimed towards specific classifications: finance, lawyers, mortgage, real estate, investors, and travel. If you would like to have your email address added to any of these lists to receive any networking information or referrals, please contact Ercan Turkarslan.
Jenny said she has personally been through some very difficult times and that the BBRC, with its membership, love and caring, helped her through her crisis.
Jenny wants everyone to think about this idea and send her your thoughts, and let her know if you are in need. As President Jenny said in closing, “Let’s share the good times and the tough times.”
Thanks for your leadership, President Jenny!
Ercan Turkarslan
In a long, circuitous way, Ercan announced his wife is pregnant with another child due in July! Congratulations, Ercan!
The excitement was building, everyone was on the edge of their seats, then the let down: t was time for Sturgeon at Arms David Bolson. "BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! " the crowd yelled. "HISSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!" sprayed the masses.
L-R: Alan Bohling, Kevin Jewell, Cary Kopczynski, John Smolke & SAA David Bolson
Bolson had us play a game of Mix & Match. He invited up five Rotarians — Alan Bohling, Paul Chapman, Kevin Jewell, Cary Kopczynski, and John Smolke — and had four questions for each table to match to one of the Rotarians:
- 1) National Award Winner, 2nd Place in Industry
- 2) President of an elite car club
- 3) Expert in “Safe Harbor” rule
- 4) Involved with “concrete shear wall core, wrapped by 6 foot wide thickened drop-dead slab on three sides, and 8 inch post tension slabs”
- 5) None of the above
The answers were:
- Alan Bohling, owner of Seattle Boat, won 2nd best boat dealer in the Nation.
- Kevin Jewell is President of the Corvette Club of Seattle
John Smolke, CPA, was pictured in the Puget Sound Business Journal discussing sthe afe harbor rule for exchange of rented vacation homes.
Cary Kopcyznski’s company won an award from post-tensioning institute for item 4.
- Paul Chapman is "None of the above."
Tell us, Paul, how does it feel to be “None of the above?”.
If we were to guess, we bet you all don't have special plans for Saturday evening, February 14 ... AND YOU SHOULD! If you participate in our 13th Annual Valentine Dine Around, it will be a most memorable experience. You will spend the evening with some of your best friends! This Friday, February 6, will be your last opportunity to register. We need to give ample time to the host families to plan their evenings. Click here to sign up!
New Member Proposed: Katherine De Stephano
Katherine De Stephano of De Stephano Consulting, dba Helly Hansen Bellevue, is a retail entrepreneur in outdoor performance apparel. Her office is in Bellevue Square and she resides in Fall City.
Katherine has been involved in fund raising for the Eastside Domestic Violence Program and Outdoors for ALL. She serves on the Bellevue Square Merchant Association Board and is very active, playing tennis, water skiing, and snow skiing. Her classification is “Outdoor Specialty Apparel.”
Elder & Adult Day Services Anniversary Luncheon
Elder and Adult Day Services (EADS) is turning 25 years old on February 5th, and you are invited to attend the party! The "Leading the Wave" luncheon will take place from 11:30 am-1:15 pm at the award winning Golf Club at Newcastle, which has panoramic views of Mt.Rainier, the Olympic and the Cascade Mountains.
The event will feature a keynote presentation by noted researcher and speaker Dr. John J. Medina, author of "Brain Rules," who has the gift of making brain science fun and accessible. He is an energetic and engaging speaker, and you can read more about at www.brainrules.net.
There is no "charge" to attend, but a minimum gift of $100 donation will be requested at the event. Click here to RSVP.
This year's annual retreat is set for March 20 and 21 at the Enzian Inn in Leavenworth. Make your reservations soon by calling 800-223-8511 and using Group Code 8164. Rates are $128 for one person, including tax.
"Up, Up and Away ... Going High in Dubai," Cary Kopczynski
Cary Kopczynski
Husky Bob Holert introduced today’s speaker, Cary Kopczynski, President and Owner of Cary Kopczynski Company, a 23-year old structural engineering firm in Bellevue.
Cary is a past president of BBRC, a WSU graduate, and his firm has been doing engineering and structural design for buildings in Seattle, Bellevue, Boise, Los Angeles, and even in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates.
In 2008, Cary Kopczynski was named as one of the top 25 newsmakers for 2007 by McGraw Hill’s Engineering News Record. Here is an excerpt from the press release on this story:
Cary Kopczynski, President of Cary Kopczynski & Company, was recognized for pioneering the use of high-strength rebar to reduce congestion and maintain seismic confinement.
- Reinforcing-steel congestion has long been the bane of builders of tall, high-strength reinforced-concrete buildings in seismic zones. For Escala, a 31-story residential building in Seattle, Kopczynski decided to specify 100-ksi rebar instead of 60-ksi rebar for use as seismic confinement in columns that use 14,000-psi concrete. The high-strength rebar reduces the amount of rebar and the congestion. That makes the beam-column connection faster to construct.
- The decision was bold. Currently, 100-ksi rebar is not in building codes for use as seismic confinement. But Kopczynski, as a member of the American Concrete Institute’s building code committee, knew that was likely to change. A proposal was in the works that would add 100-ksi rebar to the code. Armed with the research that formed the basis for the code change, he took his idea to the city of Seattle, and finally gained approval. Kopczynski is the first structural engineer in North America, and likely the world, to use 100-ksi rebar for column confinement. It enables new possibilities of cast-in-place concrete construction methods. Escala is currently under construction and is scheduled to open in June 2009.
Cary spent most of his 35 minutes showing us slides of some of his work, with emphasis on his current projects in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
How did Cary get involved in Dubai? Well, after some publicity received for his use of specialty steel in a high-rise in Seattle, Cary was invited to go on an all-expense paid trip to Dubai to speak at a trade association conference. After shaking hands and handing out business cards, Cary and his company got involved in a few projects, one of which is work on the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, a 1100 foot tall (taller than Columbia Tower) building, teamed up with a Korean firm.
Bob Holert introduces the speaker.
Cary then went on to tell us about the United Arab Emirates — a collective of seven kingdoms, with Abu Dhabi as the capital. The mantra until 2008 was to SPEND the money but with the downturn in the price of oil and the world economy slowing down, the new mantra of the UAE is to SAVE money.
Through the use of many slides, Cary showed us before and after photos of Dubai and gave us a sense of the huge amount of construction going on, primarily by designers from Korea, the US, Canada and Europe.
The tallest building in the world, the Dubai Tower, when complete, will be 2,650 feet tall — more than a half mile!
The waterfront of Dubai was another focus of Cary’s talk. He showed how a beautiful marina was manmade in the last six years. He also showed the famous islands being built by dredging sand from the ocean bottom and forming designs such as palm fronds and even a map of the world. Yes, you can buy a piece of South America!
One of the largest aquariums in the world is now located in the Hotel Atlantis, built on one of the man-made islands. The aquarium is 35 feet high, with 24 inch thick Plexiglas, housing 100,000 fish.
President Jenny thanks Cary for his program.
Cary did talk briefly about the workers in Dubai. He cited one example of a young man from Sri Lanka who has been away from his wife and child for three years and won’t return for another two years. Essentially he is paid a pittance for his services and can’t travel home without wasting his entire savings.
Cary talked about the Dubai Hotel, one of only two 7-star hotels in the world. The hotel is extremely expensive and even includes a snow park inside. He also talked about a trip to Kuwait during his recent journey to the UAE, with photos of McDonalds and Starbucks in the Kuwait airport.
Cary was in the region on Inauguration Day, January 20, 2009. He said that the attitude was very positive towards the change in the US government, and that everyone was looking forward to a better dialogue with the region.
In closing, President Jenny gave Cary a Polio Plus pin in appreciation for his talk.
Courtesy of Wally Mahoney
More Thoughts for the Day
A penny saved is a government oversight.
The real art of conversation is not only to say the right thing at the right time, but also to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment.
The older you get, the tougher it is to lose weight, because by then your body and your fat have become really good friends.
The easiest way to find something lost around the house is to buy a replacement.
He who hesitates is probably right.
Did you ever notice: The Roman Numeral for forty (40) is XL.
If you think there is good in everybody, you haven't met everybody.
If you can smile when things go wrong, you have someone in mind to blame.
The sole purpose of a child's middle name is so he can tell when he's really in trouble.
Did you ever notice when you put the words "The" and "IRS" together, it spells "Theirs"?
Eventually you will reach a point when you stop lying about your age and start bragging about it.
The older we get, the fewer things seem worth waiting in line for.
I've traveled a long way and some of the roads weren't paved.
