Unusual Opening of the Meeting

At the ringing of the bell, the BBRC was treated to a bit of music, and a special dance by Ari Levitt and his dance partner, Whitney. The opening dance tied into two themes: John Martinka's determination as new club president to keep things lively and interesting, and the presentation we were treated to after breakfast by Dr. Ari Levitt.

Invocation and Pledge, and Intros

Alan Pratt led the invocation and pledge, and Chris Ballard introduced guests.

Visiting Rotarian Phil Perry, of the Bellevue Sunrise Rotary Club, invited the BBRC to join their club for their annual fundraiser: Croquet at the Redhook Brewery, August 10th. This is the 15th annual croquet tournament for their club, where they raise money for the homeless on Eastside. BBRC members are encouraged to support Sunrise in this worthwhile effort.

Our three new inductees, Jim Schweitzer, Ivan Komashinsky, and Glenn Foster, were also introduced, with a later intro of Kat Schweitzer, Jim's wife.

President John introduced Clint Whitney (no relation to Whitney, the dance partner), the new manager of Glendale, as our guest. Also visiting from the new Bellevue Rotaract Club was President Rani Joseph Thykkuttathil, here for her second get-acquainted visit.

Minister of Fun

Elena Howell, "Minister of Fun," brought all the past presidents in attendance forward to see if they could dance as well as the opening act. They couldn't. However, they gave it a valiant effort. Past presidents who gyrated in front of the crowd were Kim Shrader, Norm Johnson, Steve Lingenbrink, Jenny Andrews, Chuck Kimbrough, Howard Johnson, Cary Kopczynski, Jeff Cashman, and Jim Owens. All the rest of the past presidents got the memo and skated out of dancing by not showing up Friday.

President John Martinka's 2011-2012 Objectives

John took a few minutes to give his views about the purpose of Rotary and the BBRC, and what he plans for this new Rotary year:

He stated clearly that it isn't Rotary that has done things worldwide, or the BBRC; it is the people of Rotary and of the BBRC who get things done. Members often tell him how much the BBRC means to them. Why? Because we are often on the edge — we are known widely for the amount of fun we have, while having significant impact in our service to the community. We are on the edge again with our participation in a new membership pilot program, just as we have been on the edge in the past with pilot programs and bold projects, such as our outstanding support of Rotary First Harvest, Computers for the World, and even in our bold steps to develop new fundraisers.

Our theme for the year: Reach ...

1. ... out to the community, especially youth, with new Interact and Rotaract
2. ... across borders (5+ people new to international)
3. ... in your wallet and those of others for TRF and the BBRC fundraisers.

(The goal is to have 100% of members engaged in something.)

It's not about perfection, it's about success. We're not a perfect club — no club is — but we get a lot done locally and internationally, we have a lot of fun, and we're willing to try new things, from fantastic fellowship to bold new projects.

Presidential Goals

As President, John intends to formulate goals, run them by the board, get their buy-in and cooperation, and then work with the club to achieve goals and make the club stronger.

Overall goals:

1. Youth will be a focus (Rotaract, Interact, NHS to Antigua, RYLA, DECA, etc.)
2. Engagement
3. Fellowship and Fun
4. Membership
5. District simplified matching grant via the New Member Committee, which the BBRC has never done before.
6. Leadership Development Plan
7. Long-term Planning
8. Sponsorships of the club vs. events

Also, there will be emphasis about Rotary education throughout the year, especially on what our committees are doing, so members can hear about things before the project wrap-up report.

This year, the Presidential Citation will be especially tough, because there is a mandatory requirement that 100% of all members contribute to the Rotary Foundation. Our approach will be to encourage every member, even if it means a very small amount, such as twenty dollars.

Golf Committee Update

Lenny Lutes provided a brief update of the golf tournament fundraiser. Currently, we're at $34,750 in contributions and sponsorships, which is only $6,000 away from our goal. We are targeting 132 golfers, and we have 114 now. It's less than two weeks to go: get your contributions and sign-ups in ASAP!

July 15th Off-Site Meeting

The July 15th meeting will be held at the location of one of our sponsors: the Microsoft Store in Bellevue Square. Stay tuned for more info. Most importantly, don't show up the 15th at Glendale.

Presidential Recognition

Rotaract President Rani Joseph Thykkuttathil recognized outgoing BBRC Chuck Kimbrough for his outstanding efforts in supporting the establishment of the new Bellevue Rotaract Club.

PROGRAM

“Taking the Road to Wellness, 3 or 4 Steps at a Time,” Ari Levitt, MD

New President John Martinka introduced the first program speaker of this Rotary year, Dr. Ari Levitt, physician and dancer. Dr. Levitt opened by tying his talk to John's motto for 2010-2011: He promised to be both relevant and irrelevant.

Ari's dad was a surgeon, and he met his mom during his residency in Seattle. Mom was a folk dancer, and Ari inherited her love of dance. When Ari left Seattle for his undergrad work at Stanford, he got into social dancing – mostly as an avenue to meet the opposite sex. When he began medical school at the UW, he founded the only medical school dance program in the nation. He gained momentum by getting the nursing students involved, then the school of health sciences. For him, it was an outlet that maintained a healthy balance during the rigors of med school.

After the UW, he went to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, for his residency. There was no real social dancing opportunity there, so he started a dance program with the other people in his residency. They started with swing dancing, and they joined in with a band doing an opening act with the "Lindy Hop." Before they knew it, they had clothiers as sponsors and a "Rat Pack" groupie following, all dressed in zoot suits from the twenties.

During this time, Ari began to think about the impact of dance in maintaining a healthy balance in life. One example was his friend, Bob, a dentist who was a couple hundred pounds overweight, and who smoked and drank too much. Bob attended one of Ari's first classes. Over the next two years, Bob's life was transformed, and he lost over 150 pounds. He became a dance maven. The classes started with just a few dancers and became a hit. The second class included media. The third meeting had over 600 people.

In the years afterward, several from the Harrisburg group became pros and won national awards. Some even danced on Broadway. When Ari looks back, he reflects on the difference dancing made in these lives.

When he started in medicine, Ari already knew that he was going into a very imbalanced life. In advance, he wrote a treatise: "What is Wellness?"

To Ari, wellness is the holistic existence as a complete human being. There were four pillars in his treatise – the things that make us human:

1. Developing mind and body
2. Interpersonal connection with others
3. Connecting with the community in the world around us
4. Our spiritual side

How to keep all four of these balanced? In Ari's world, there is only one activity that embodies all four: dance.

Ari asserts that dance allows conversations that you can have without using words. It makes you more conscious of the energy of those around you. How well you learn to work together on the dance floor is an indicator of how well you develop to work well together off the dance floor.

He downplayed the effectiveness of the speed dating fad. He asserts that you can do a more effective interview by spending 30 seconds on the dance floor. Even inexperienced dancers emit an energy of how well they connect and interact.

To conclude his presentation, Ari led the club through a couple of dance experiments to see how well we could each communicate with a partner without using words. BBRC members stretched our comfort zones and exercised Ari's theories under his gentle coaching and reassuring words.

In sum, Ari helped kick off the new Rotary year with a program that was off the beaten path in a way that instilled energy and enthusiasm: many members were still talking about the experience all the way to the parking lot. It was a great start to a 4th of July weekend!

Check out more info on Ari Levitt at his website: www.rolluptherug.com

Web Fun

A Blonde's Cookbook
Courtesy of Wally Mahoney

It's fun to cook. Today I made angel food cake. The recipe said beat 12 eggs separately. The neighbors were nice enough to loan me the extra bowls.

He wanted fruit salad for supper. The recipe said serve without dressing. So I didn't dress. What a surprise when he brought a friend home for supper

Today he asked for salad again, and I tried a new recipe. It said prepare ingredients; lay on a bed of lettuce one hour before serving. Steve asked me why I was rolling around in the garden. I showed him the recipe instructions.