Ryan Scharnhost & Christine Addison
Christine Addison got the meeting going with a musical invocation and then the Pledge. To the tune of Edeweiss, the members sang the following (if you weren’t there, please do so now):
- BBRC Song of Grace
- Family, Friends, Health and Food
For all our blessings we’re thankful.
For today’s turn to serve
Let all Rotarians be watchful.
- Chorus:
- Friendship and love may they
Bloom and grow,
Bloom and grow forever
In the Best Darn Club
In the World
Bellevue Breakfast Rotary Club
Forever!
Ryan Scharnhorst followed with introduction of guests and visitors.
Katherine De Stephano
New Member Inducted: 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.
Welcome, Katherine!
Steve Lingenbrink
Steve Lingenbrink made a pitch for members to attend the District Conference in Victoria, B.C. To date, about a dozen BBRC members are on board. Steve is shooting for at least 20 to attend. The conference is in spring, when the weather is perfect in Victoria. Click here for more information.
Fred Barkman
As part of a mini club assembly, Fred Barkman brought members up to date on the BBRC Foundation. The club now has an investment policy in place and has created an advisory board, with Jeff Cashman as chair.
The Foundation has $10,000 remaining in its budget this year and is seeking one more project for a major grant.
Members are asked to recommend projects to the committee. The goal is do gather applications in the next month and do grant reviews in March.
Howard Johnson
Howard Johnson congratulated members for their work with Rotary First Harvest. The club is ahead of its participation goal this year. The next work party is on Saturday, February 14. As Howard said, if you are doing the BBRC Dine-Around that night, make it a full Rotary day and help with First Harvest.
President Jenny Andrews
President Jenny got oohs and aahs from other clubs when she announced that the next BBRC Rotating the Wheels event would have a Turkish Bath theme. Hmmm ... more on that later.
SAA David Bolson
Sergeant at Arms David Bolson tested the ability of the members ability to link members with their occupations and abilities.
Each table was asked to determine which of five Rotarians was a leaders of a women’s business group, attorney, was celebrating a birthday, was celebrating an anniversary or was a math whiz who knew the number of feet in one-half mile.
The choices were: Steve Lingenbrink, Christine Addison, Phil Salvatori, Elena Howell, and Bill Brooks.
The answers:
- Christine is head of a women’s business group.
- Steve is an attorney.
- Bill has a birthday (actually February 14)
- Elena is celebrating her third year in the club.
- Phil knew that there are 2,640 feet in a half mile.
Bill Brooks, Christine Addison, Steve Lingenbrink, Elena Howell & Phil Salvatori
Speaking of Steve, members were treated to a copy of an article in the February issue of Legal News, profiling Steve and his many community activities. The article was penned by fellow BBRCer Chuck Kimbrough.
Des Moines Rotary Poverty Bay Wine Festival
Dave Loft of the Des Moines Rotary Club invited all members to his club’s annual Poverty Bay Wine Festival, a major fundraiser for Des Moines Rotarians.
There are two parts to the fest:
The first is the Gala of the Gods on Friday, February 27, from 7:30 to closing. The event features 20 Northwest wineries, Anthony’s Homeport hors d’oeuvres and desserts, and fabulous entertainment. Black tie is optional. Tickets: $75 in advance; $85 at the door.
Next, on February 29 and March 1, is a wine tasting, with local delicacies and more entertainment. Saturday activities are noon to 7:00 p.m.; Sunday, from noon to 5:00 p.m.
Tickets are $20 in advance or $25 at the door.
It all happens at the historic Landmark on the Sound, 23660 Marine View Drive S., Des Moines.
Tickets for all events can be purchased by contacting Corky Cellars at 206-824-9464, or check the club’s website for more information.
This year's Annual Retreat is set for March 20 and 21 at the Enzian Inn in Leavenworth. You must make your hotel reservations by February 20 to take advantage of the discounted rate!
Click here for more information and to register online.
"The Future Direction of Technology," Rick LeFaivre, Ph.D., OVP Venture Partners
Rick LeFaivre
Kaj Pedersen introduced Rick LeFaivre of OVP Partners.
Rick has had a long and varied career in the high-tech field. He took his Ph.D. from Wisconsin and moved to Portland, Ore., in 1978, going to work for Techtronics. He later moved to Sun Microsystems in 1989 in Silicon Valley and eventually to San Diego where, in 1999, he joined a venture partner firm. He moved to Bellevue five years ago.
OVP (formerly Olympic Venture Partners until it was told by the U.S. Olympic Committee that it couldn’t use the word “Olympic” in its name) has offices in Kirkland and Portland and invests about 75-80 percent of its funds in the Northwest.
President Jenny thanks Rick LeFaivre for his program.
It invests in all areas of venture capital with about 1/3 in biotech and now more and more into green technology. The high-tech field doesn’t feel “like the old day,” Rick said, adding that the “bloom is off the rose.”
Still, there are areas that are growing and developing in the high tech area.
One is “cloud computing,” in which companies can purchase time and computing power from another company. Amazon is a leader in this field locally. Rick predicts the field will be the “next big thing” in high tech.
Kaj Pedersen makes the introduction.
Also coming on is biotech where Seattle is becoming a hub for system biology. Part of that – digital biology – now can take a blood sample from a newborn and analyze the DNA to see if the child is more likely or not to be affected by particular diseases and, if so, which medicines are best able to treat any illness.
Turning to his own business. Rick said OVP is a small firm – 14 employees. Pension funds are major investors.
OVP now is on its seventh fund.
It invests on behalf of its limited partners and looks for interesting startup companies.
Rick LeFaivre, Bob Holert & Jim Zidar
If an investment is successful, OVP first pays back the partners’ investments and then splits any additional money 80-20 with the investors getting the 80 percent.
The company looks long-term for its investments, typically five years or so, Rick said.
He noted that today is a “good time to invest.”
Courtesy of Wally Mahoney
What a 2-Letter Word!
There is a two-letter word in English that perhaps has more meanings than any other two-letter word, and that word is UP. It is listed in the dictionary as being used as an [adv], [prep], [adj], [n] or [v].
It's easy to understand UP, meaning toward the sky or at the top of the list, but when we awaken in the morning, why do we wake UP?
At a meeting, why does a topic come UP? Why do we speak UP,and why are the officers UP for election and why is it UP to the secretary to write UP a report? We call UP our friends and we use it to brighten UP a room, polish UP the silver, we warm UP the leftovers and clean UP the kitchen. We lock UP the house and some guys fix UP the old car.
At other times the little word has a real special meaning. People stir UP trouble, line UP for tickets, work UP an appetite, and think UP excuses.
To be dressed is one thing but to be dressed UP is special.
And this UP is confusing:
A drain must be opened UP because it is stopped UP.
We open UP a store in the morning but we close it UP at night. We seem to be pretty mixed UP about UP!
To be knowledgeable about the proper uses of UP, look the word UP in the dictionary. In a desk-sized dictionary, it takes UP almost 1/4 of the page and can add UP to about 30 definitions
If you are UP to it, you might try building UP a list of the many ways UP is used. It will take UP a lot of your time, but if you don't give UP, you may wind UP with a hundred or more.
When it threatens to rain, we say it is clouding UP. When the sun comes out we say it is clearing UP. When it does not rain for awhile, things dry UP.
One could go on and on, but I'll wrap it UP, for now. My time is UP, so time to shut UP!
