Invocation and Introductions

Steve Szirmai gave the invocation, and Chuck Barnes introduced visiting Rotarians and guests. He asked them to tell us about their most memorable Thanksgiving.

Newest BBRC Member: Traci Tenhulzen

President John Martinka introduced Traci Tenhulzen, the newest member of the BBRC. Traci was inducted during the BBRC Anniversary dinner on November 11.

Club Administrator Position

President John Martinka announced that Sayoko has resigned her position as Club Administrator, effective no later than June 30, 2012. She would like to get more involved in other BBRC activities. The Club is currently looking for a new Club Administrator.

Turkey Drive

Paul Chapman announced that he was seeking donations for the Turkey Drive and would catch everybody on the way out the door. He reported later that he had extorted $1,123 from BBRC members and that we should all feel very good about the impact we will have on a lot of families in our community.

Student of the Month: Elizabeth Kuzmenko

Brian Hardy introduced BBRC Student of the Month Elizabeth Kuzmenko, a senior at Sammamish High School. Her mother, Elina Belyayeva, and her counselor, Laura McKlein, were in the audience.

Elizabeth spoke a lot about her rewarding experience with Operation Smile, an international children's medical charity which provides reconstructive surgery for children born with facial deformities such as cleft lip or cleft palate.

Elizabeth is a well-rounded young woman who is involved in the Debate Club, varsity tennis and the swim team. She has applied to Brown University and Boston College and wants to major in political science and painting.

BBRC Exchange Student

Rourke introduced our exchange student. Both of her parents are teachers and she has two sisters. The school system she is used to is very different from the American school system. So far, she likes the American high school that gives flexibility and choices in what she wants to study. Also, the school mascot, sport teams and clubs are exciting and fun; it is something schools in her homeland do not have.

Her hobbies include cooking, handball, and skiing, and she would like the opportunity to ski here.

She wanted to participate in an exchange program for many years because she wanted to become acquainted with a new culture, see new places, gain new experiences, and improve her English. For years, she worked and saved money for this special opportunity.

Among the things she has come to love in America are Oreos (with different colored fillings) and Bellevue Square.

Giving Tree

Christine Rose asked Club members to take a tag from the Christmas Giving Tree. The tree has 120 gift tags, from three different agencies. Gifts do not need to be wrapped and should be brought to Glendale no later than our meeting on December 9.

The Rotary Foundation

Kim Shrader spoke about The Rotary Foundation (TRF). His goal is to have 100% of BBRC members contribute to TRF. Kim explained that 50% of contributions to TRF go back to the District. Your donation of $100 to TRF could potentially provide for one of the following:

• 4 cataract surgeries
• 5 flocks of chickens to impoverished families
• 20 mosquito nets to help protect children in Africa from malaria
• 142 rapid HIV tests for early detection of the virus for pregnant women
• 166 doses of Polio vaccine to immunize children
• 5,000 doses of Vitamin A (The leading cause of blindness in children is Vitamin A deficiency.)

Golfing With the Elves

The BBRC Annual Golfing with the Elves will be held at Mt. Si Golf Course, at 9:00 AM, on Saturday, December 24th. If you can ski in June, there is no reason not to golf in December.

Contact Norm Johnson for your tee time.

Last Minute Announcements

Norm Johnson announced the New Members meeting at Hopelink on December 7 at 7:00am.

All members are encouraged to bring children to the BBRC Holiday Breakfast on December 16.

PROGRAM

“The State of the BBRC,” John Martinka, President

John Martinka thinks that the state of the BBRC is good. His goals/accomplishments include the following:

• Get all BBRC members engaged in an activity
• Launch a Leadership Development Plan
• BBRC bylaws redone
• Created a three-year budget
• Greater emphasis on youth projects
• District Simplified Matching Grant
• New member project
• Establish long-term planning committee
• Launch the Satellite Club Pilot Program

John is pleased with the Club’s progress; his only concern is membership. He would like to be up five members by the end of his term but membership has been flat so far.

Al Forney, Treasurer - Al thanked Sayoko for all of her help and support. Al works with two budgets: the Club budget and the Foundation budget. He thinks the BBRC is looking good financially. The Club has a $140,000 budget, and the biggest expense items are breakfast and the website. The Foundation budget is $130,000, which is generated by the proceeds raised from the Bellevue 10K and the golf tournament. Al’s biggest concern is to maintain year-to-year consistency. Al mentioned that the BBRC’s books are open to all members.

Mike Ralph, Director International Service - International Service includes Youth Exchange, managed by Ann Norman, and World Community Service, managed by Ruben Ladlad. Two of BBRC’s leading World Community Service projects include Computers for the World, spearheaded by John Martinka, and the Kenya Project, led by Curtis Cummings. In the future, Mike will be talking more about where the dollars go and their impact on the communities that receive them. He would like to launch another multi-year, hands-on international project.

Lee Smith, Major Grants Committee Chair - The Major Grants Committee has 16 members. Lee believes the Committee has developed effective processes for evaluating grants. Its focus is on organizations that help people who are moving out of homelessness. Summary Requests are due this week from seven organizations. The Committee has $15,000 to give towards a worthy project.

Jane Kuechle, Director Community Service - Community Service is huge. It includes the following committees and projects:

• Youth Services, led by Joellen Monson
• Scholarships, led by Tom Smith
• Student of the Month, led by Brian Hardy
• Service Project Committee, led by David Bolson
• YMCA Youth Programs
• Rotaract – in conjunction with Bellevue Noon Rotary
• DECA, managed by Tim Leahy
• Adoption Party (43 children and 35 prospective couples attended our last party in October)
• Dictionary Project
• Turkey Drive
• Giving Tree
• Rotary First Harvest (Howard Johnson reported that 43 members attended the last work party in November)
• Preserve Planet Earth, led by Alex Rule

Jane wants to see more members involved in hands-on projects.

Chris Monger, President-Elect - Chris explained that the President-Elect gets involved in all fundraising activities, plans the BBRC spring retreat, fills the outgoing Board Member positions, attends Presidents Elect Training and attends the Rotary International Convention, which is in Thailand in 2012.

Paul Chapman, Club Administration Chair - Paul is responsible for the following Committees:

• Audio-Visual
• Fellowship
• Program
• Reveille
• Website

Paul talked most about the Fellowship Committee and some of the events this year: Oktoberfest, Rocky Horror Picture Show, Anniversary Party, Holiday Breakfast, Valentine’s Day Dine Around, 3rd Thursday at Rock Bottom, and Golfing with the Elves on December 24.