Start 7:00-7:30 pm, home of Chris Monger; RSVP to 
Mouse over photo for a strange occurrence.
Greeters Steve Vincent & Bob Crosby
President Jenny greeted BBRC members to open the meeting.
Bob Cosby gave the invocation and led members in the Pledge.
Steve Vincent welcoming visiting Rotarians and guests. Visiting Rotarians, when asked to pick who they thought would win the NCAA, mostly picked UW. So much for predictions.
Jo Herber & Paul Martin
Paul Martin introduced Jo Herber of the Cascade Chapter of the AAUW, in support if the Expanding Your Horizons Conference, which is scheduled for Wednesday, March 25th at Bellevue Community College. The conference in for high school age girls, and is designed to introduce them to science and technology careers and provide encouragement for the girls to consider these careers as they plan for the future.
Theaward is in the amount of $1,500, with $1,000 for general support and $500 for scholarships.
Seats are still available on the Victoria Clipper for those wanting to take the Clipper to the District Conference.
As an alternative, the Rotary Club of Fremont is extending an invitation to ride the Hale's English Double Decker bus to the Conference. Fremont Rotary President Randy Cryer said that several club presidents had expressed an interest in riding the "Pub on Wheels" to the conference, so he talked to Mike Hale about it, and Mike agreed to contribute the bus as a fund raiser for the Fremont Rotary.
The rate has just been reduced to $150, including all ferry fares, food and drink for the round trip via the Olympic Peninsula and drop off at the conference hotels in Victoria. This will be a great time for Rotary fellowship and a chance to enjoy a scenic ride from the upper deck of the fully customized English bus.
For more information, click here. A printable brochure is also available here.
SAA David Bolson
David Bolson once again introduced Heidi Klum for BBRC Fashion Show II. All the participants were nicely attired in clothing and shoes from the likes of Nordstrom, Ferragamo, Brooks Brothers, and more. No punch line at the end — just a showing a nicely dressed members.
Later, David noted in an email to members:
- I hope the meaning of today's Fashion Show II was not lost because of the fun we had doing it. The BBRC is first and foremost a business organization committed to community service. The BBRC excels in everything we do, and we set a very high bar for the rest of our local Rotary Clubs.
- Fashion Show I showed examples of appropriate BBRC logo wear for our weekly meetings. Fashion Show II showed examples of appropriate business wear for our weekly meetings.
- Should it be necessary, and I hope it isn't, Fashion Show III will show examples of inappropriate attire for our meetings. Worn-out jeans, tennis shoes, and old pullovers are appropriate for attendees at Rotary First Harvest work parties, cleaning up BBRC's stretch of I-405, tree planting, and other domestic and international service projects. They are not, in the opinion of your Sergeant at Arms, appropriate for our weekly meetings.
- Let's close out President Jenny's year by not only being the "Best Darn Rotary Club in the World," but also the best dressed!
Let’s hope that’s “enough said.”
Sergeant At Arms David Bolson and his "supermodels"
Student of the Month: Ryan Sun
Larry May introduced our Student of the Month, Ryan Sun, a senior at Bellevue Christian School. The son of Nate and Cynthia Sun, Ryan has a 3.91 GPA and plans to study Digital Media and Arts at the University of Washington. He is also an accomplished musician.
Student o the Month Ryan Sun & Larry May
In his comments to the club, Ryan said one of the highlights of his high school years took place two years ago, when he had the honor of playing Holst’s The Planets in a “Side by Side Spectacular,” along with the Seattle Symphony Orchestra in Benaroya Hall.
“Playing on stage with professionals in one of the greatest music halls in the world was an experience in itself,” Ryan said, “and the sheer power and intensity of the music was awe inspiring.”
At a young age, Ryan started on violin and piano, which were replaced by clarinet during elementary school. In high school, he turned his attention and talent to the bassoon.
“I appreciate that my parents brought music into my life by helping me pick up my various instruments and urging me to practice them,” Ryan said, “because now I am able to communicate with the world in ways I didn’t think were possible.”
Ryan also is active in community projects, most specifically managing activities for grade-school children in a ministry called Kids Club. He creates PowerPoint presentations, manages a sound board, selects and administrates games, and helps out with arts and crafts.
Classification Talk: Lorenzo Hines
Lorenzo Hines
Lorenzo Hines gave his classification talk, completing the requirement for earning a blue badge.
Lorenzo is the controller for the Seattle Symphony Orchestra and has been a professional musician for 26 years. He is involved in number of community service activities, including providing entertainment for Special Needs Children through private functions and United Way events, Macintosh instruction assistant for elementary school students in Elk Grove, Calif., Art Docent for elementary school students in Elk Grove and Issaquah, and instructor in the WSCPA Financial Literacy Program.
His past business career has included being a Junior Accountant in a CPA firm, serving as an internal auditor with Amtrak, four positions in government as an agency CAO/CFO, and supervising a budget of $328 million.
He also comes with a strong music background. In addition to being a professional musician, Lorenzo was on the board of directors of Professional Musicians of Central California from 1998 to 2004 and president of the organization from 2005-06. From 2007 to the present, he has been a member of the board of directors of the Musicians' Association of Seattle
Lorenzo is married and has two children and two dogs.
As a special treat, Lorenzo provided members with a copy of a CD that he made in 2002. All the sounds on the nine songs on the album were done by Lorenzo, including the vocals, which are great.
The BBRC House Band could have a new member.
Jane Kuechle asked for members to help hand out brochures next weekend at Crossroads Bellevue Mall to promote the upcoming 5K Run/Walk. Also needed is help preparing a mailing to 2,000 households along the run, advising them of the upcoming event and traffic restrictions.
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Norm: It was all I could do to stay up until 11:00 pm in the poker game. Do people really stay up until the bars close! I thought those days ended back in the nineties. Or, it seems they did for me. |
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Oompa music provided by Bob Otto and his Polka Pals offered a unique ambiance, as the BBRC retreat-goers settled in for an opening night communal feast and a round or two of chicken dances. Shopping and golf awards were not presented on this night of reverie and fellowship, but the award, if we had it, for “The Couple with the Best Interpretation of Polka Moves” would go to President-elect Margie and member Paul Chapman.
Lodging and meeting facilities at the Enzian Inn provided an excellent venue that allowed for one-stop parking for the entire retreat, as the town center was less than a ten minute walk away. Early arrivals enjoyed shopping or recreational facilities of the P.O. Tavern. Wine and chocolate tasting were also sought out and enjoyed. The BBRC hospitality suite proved to be an attractive and active room, as a gathering place prior to dinner and as a classroom following dinner, when President Jenny schooled the rest of us as to what the term “Beginner’s Luck” really means — at least when it comes to poker.
A plentiful breakfast was also provided by the Inn on Saturday morning in the fourth floor dinning room, which offered spectacular views of the surrounding mountains. Being well fed, we descended into the lower level meeting room to be greeted by the call of the Alpenhorn, followed by the invocation and pledge by Christine Addison. Opening remarks by President-elect Margie were followed by three focus sessions:
- Session 1: Jonathan Koshar – “The Best Darn Rotary Club in the World” – What does that mean?
- Session 2: Chris Monger – Goals for 2009-2010 & Beyond
- Session 3: Chuck Kimbrough – Fundraising
The morning was concluded with a summary of the club’s key priorities, after the attendees identified their three highest priority goals out of the ten that were perceived to be the most meaningful in the sessions. Comments by departing members proved that the retreat accomplished its goals with a high level of fellowship and focused planning. Looking ahead to 2010, Chuck Kimbrough set a retreat participation goal of 60 members and is open to suggestions for the location.
You could say that the 2009 Retreat was a real “Barn Burner,” but it turns out the fire was only practice burn. The true warmth came from the members and their very active participation and in acknowledgment that the “Best Darn Rotary Club in the World” can only get better.
Click here to view the entire Retreat 2009 photo album.
"MagnaDrive: The Next Industrial Revolution," Don Jacques, COO, Magna Drive Corporation
Don Jacques
Bob Holert introduced the day’s guest speaker, Don Jacques, COO of MagnaDrive Corporation. With their "green" energy saving product, they have been an INC 500 Fastest Growing Company, A Deloitte Technolgy Fast 500 Company, and were an Industry Week Technology of the Year.
Bellevue-based MagnaDrive provides a unique twist, so to speak, in the world of coupling motors to loads. Instead of a physical connection, the company uses a magnetic field to transfer the motor’s power to the load, whether that be a pump, fan or some other device.
“It is unlike any other coupling on the planet,” Jacques said.
Physical couplings allow vibrations to transfer from the motor to the load device, reducing efficiency and rapidly wearing out the coupling. Even using a rubber damper between the two only helps slightly. With the MagnaDrive approach, there is no touching of the motor and load, thus a much higher degree of efficiency.
Don Jacques & President Jenny
“It is a very forgiving technology,” Jacques said, noting that even if the motor and load device are slightly out of alignment, the system still works with no waste of energy.
The device now is found at FedEx sites, on diesel engines in the Arctic, on Navy ships.
While the MagnaDrive costs more than conventional drives, there are considerable savings from the technology. For example, companies working with conventional couplings in the Arctic must replace them every six to eight months. The MagnaDrive couplings have yet to be replaced. Replacing conventional couplings is time consuming — and thus expensive.
“Many installations (of MagnaDrive couplings) pay for themselves in energy savings alone in 6-9 months,” Jacques said.
Jacques had two machines on display to show how the MagnaDrive worked. He manually turned a the shaft on a motor to show that a nearby fan assembly did not move – the two were not connected.
Don Jacques talks with Jim Gordon, Alex Rule & Jonathan Koshar
When he next turned on the motor, the fan responded by blowing a strong stream of air.
Yes, it was almost like magic.
After the meeting, many BBRC members gathered around the demonstration table to get a closer look at the device.
Courtesy of John Mix
A BOTTLE OF WINE — A TOUCHING STORY
Sally was driving home from one of her business trips in Northern Arizona, when she saw an elderly Navajo woman walking on the side of the road.
As the trip was a long and quiet one, she stopped the car and asked the Navajo woman if she would like a ride.
With a silent nod of thanks, the woman got into the car.
Resuming the journey, Sally tried in vain to make a bit of small talk with the Navajo woman. The old woman just sat silently, looking intently at everything she saw, studying every little detail, until she noticed a brown bag on the seat next to Sally.
"What in bag?" asked the old woman.
Sally looked down at the brown bag and said, "It's a bottle of wine. I got it for my husband."
The Navajo woman was silent for another moment or two. Then, speaking with the quiet wisdom of an elder, she said, "Good trade."