THIS FRIDAY

"Reducing Gun Violence in Washington State," Mark Pursley, Gun Violence Prevention Coordinator, City of Seattle, and Director of the Washington State Violent Crime Prevention Partnership, whose focus is to find a way to balance our 2nd Amendment Rights with our responsibility to keep our kids, our families, and our communities safe from the effects of violent crime and the illegal use of firearms. Previously, Mark spent more than two decades with the Boys and Girls Clubs of King County, primarily working with high risk kids and teens in the White Center Community just south of Seattle. Mark has been a member of the Burien/White Center Rotary Club since 1995. Both he and his wife Lori are past presidents of that club and also Paul Harris Fellows. [Brooks]

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK

Hank Aaron: "It took me 17 years to get 3,000 hits in baseball. I did it in one afternoon on the golf course.

Invocation, Pledge & Introductions

President Chuck Kimbrough opened the meeting at 7:30AM with his usual cheerful greeting: "Good morning, Bellevue Breakfast Rotarians." Brad Baumann followed with the Invocation and Pledge, and Colin Radford introduced visiting Rotarians and guests.

When Frank Young from Bellevue Noon stood up, he talked about the Huskies vs. Cougars basketball game on Sunday night and made the following challenge to the Cougar fans in the room: Frank will give $10 to every Cougar fan in the room if the Cougars win. If the Huskies win, then the Cougar fans must each pay $1 to Frank.

BBRC Annual Retreat, La Conner Country Inn, March 18‑19

Wendi Fischer reminded the members in a creative way about the BBRC Annual Retreat at the La Conner Country Inn, March 18-19. Playing Pictionary, she diagrammed the following sentence, which Tim Leahy correctly guessed: "Sign up for the retreat on March 19 and help John Martinka brainstorm to help the BBRC."

Online sign-up will be available very soon. Watch your email!

Student of the Month, Connor Beckerman

Larry May introduced the student of the month, Connor Beckerman, from Eastside Prep High School, who was accompanied by his father, David Beckerman, and his counselor.

Connor has a 3.9 GPA, is an accomplished fencer, and tutors at the Bellevue Library. He will attend Columbia University in New York City and study languages and literature.

Connor thanked the many people in his life who helped him be successful and said, "If I am successful, then they must be wonderful."

USO (United Service Organization)

Jim Gordon introduced Donald Leingang, Executive Director of USO in the Puget Sound Area, who thanked the BBRC for their recent donation of $772.

Don mentioned that he has 250 volunteers at Sea Tac Airport who helped 500,000 troops this past year. Many of the volunteers provide troops with their last meal before being deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan. According to Don, USO is an organization of Americans serving Americans who serve.

Don encouraged BBRC members to participate in the Red, White & Blue Golf tournament to be held in Newcastle on May 24, 2011.

Fun with Elena Howell, Sergeant At Arms

Elena Howell and Paul Chapman distributed a ping pong ball to every table, and every member tried to throw the ping pong ball into a glass in the middle of their table. The two tables that were the most successful in throwing the ball into the glass were exempt from the $1 per person fine.

One winning table had nine successful shots, and the other had seven, which is hard to believe, given how difficult our assignment was. At my table, we had only two successful shots!

Kaj Pedersen & Wendi Fischer focus on the ping pong ball.

Valentine Dine-Around, February 11

Chuck Kimbrough and Wendi Fischer reminded the membership to sign up for the Valentine Dine-Around on Friday, February 11. This is a BBRC tradition and lots of fun!

You can either be a host or a guest. The host opens up his/her home to six to eight guests and provides the main dish, a side dish, and spirits. The guests provide appetizers, salad, bread, other side dishes, wine, and dessert.

Click here for more information and to sign up online.

Flag Presentation, John Uppendahl

John Uppendahl presented Chuck with a flag from the Rotary Club of Raffles City, which meets at the Singapore Cricket Club. John did a make-up at this Club while he was traveling in Singapore.

Last Minute Announcements

1. The New Member Committee meets at Jitter's Overlake on Wednesday, February 2 at 7:00AM.

2. Joellen Monson needs volunteers for the Youth Services Committee. Contact Joellen.

3. Alex Rule announced that the Planet Earth Committee will have a planting project on March 26.

4. Ruben Ladlad reminded the membership that he needs two more candidates for RYLA. Candidates should be high school juniors or seniors. The RYLA conference runs from March 3-6, and the application deadline is February 25. Contact Ruben.

PROGRAM

"Seattle Mariners - What are the prospects for 2011?" Jack Zduriencik, General Manager, Seattle Mariners

Jack Zduriencik

Kevin Mather, EVP of Finance and Ballpark Operations for the Seattle Mariners introduced Seattle Mariners General Manager Jack Zduriencik. Jack has worked for a number of professional baseball organizations, including the New York Mets, Pittsburgh Pirates, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Milwaukee Brewers. Jack was hired as General Manager of the Seattle Mariners in October 2008.

Jack expressed relief that last year was behind him. Jack talked about the importance of building a strong foundation by building the Seattle Mariners organization from the ground up. He wants the organization to grow its own players, create an all-in attitude and winning atmosphere and focus on sustainability. In 2011, Jack hopes that fans will begin to see the fruits of what the organization is doing.

Jack stated that the Big Leagues are a result of what you've built underneath. The Seattle Mariners' minor league organization has 250 people; only 10-15% of them will get to the Big Leagues. Jack mentioned that the Seattle Mariners currently have the second best winning percentage in the minor leagues.

Jack compared the Seattle Managers' new Club Manager, Eric Wedge, to John Wayne. He stated that Eric would take a lot of hits for the Club without standing down. Eric told the players that they owe it to the family of four who saved their money to be at the ballpark to play the best game they could possibly play and to give it everything they had.

Jack was pleased with players he recently signed — Jack Cust (designated hitter), Miguel Olivo (catcher), Brendan Ryan (infielder), and Erik Bedard (pitcher). He also spoke glowingly of Felix Hernandez, who recently won the Cy Young award. Felix is fond of the Seattle Mariners and feels that the organization has given him a lot of opportunity. He loves Seattle and hopes to be with the team for a long time and help them win the World Series. Felix relates to the fans and the fans relate to him.

Web Fun

Oh, the Irony
Courtesy of John Martinka

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Seen Recently in Roatan, Honduras
Courtesy of Robin Stark, Web Flunky

I went all the way to Honduras and look what I saw.