President Margie Burnett
Tom Smith, Wayne McCaulley & Steve Goldfarb
President Margie Burnett called the meeting to order at 7:30am. For the invocation, Wayne McCaulley offered 30 seconds of silence in honor of those in the Armed Forces who are serving abroad. Following Wayne, Steve Goldfarb introduced Frank Young, our quintessential visiting Rotarian from Bellevue Noon, and guests.
Official Call for District Governor Nominees
Jonathan Koshar & SAA Curtis Cummings
Jonathan Koshar read the qualifications for the District 5030 Governor’s position. Nominations for District Governor for the 2012-13 Rotary year are due on October 30. The vote will take place on November 13.
Jonathan mentioned that BBRC Past Presidents are eligible to be nominated for District Governor and asked all Past Presidents to stand up. At that moment, Jonathan received a call from Steve Lingenbrink on his cell phone (Was that Steve’s opening pitch for nomination?) and was fined by Curtis Cummings, our ever popular Sergeant at Arms, for talking on his cell phone in the middle of his presentation.
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The District is accepting nominations for District 5030 Governor for the Rotary Year 2012/13. Nominations due to the District November 16th.
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Principal duties of the District Governor include:
Principal qualifications for a District Governor include:
Submit your suggestions for our nomination by October 30th to a board member. I’ll work with the board and prepare a resolution that we can vote on as a club on November 13th. |
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David Bobanick
Howard Johnson introduced Dave Bobanick, Executive Director of Rotary First Harvest, who mentioned that active Rotarians and their ability to connect, collaborate and innovate were the keys to the success of Rotary First Harvest. Harvest Against Hunger is a program that was launched last fall to involve local food producers, and seven of them are currently providing donations. Dave told us that Rotary First Harvest was responsible for bringing 9.9 million pounds of produce into food banks last year.
Howard Johnson
Following Dave, Howard told us that we were committed this year to increasing the number of members who participate in Rotary First Harvest from 150 to 175. He is also looking for $3,000 in donations from the BBRC and $3,500 in donations from the members.
The next work party is Saturday, October 10. At the meeting, Howard was successful in selling tickets to a Husky game to raise a little money for Rotary First Harvest.
Paul Chapman & Troy McVicker
Paul Chapman and Troy McVicker made an announcement about two upcoming BBRC social events:
A Washington Red Wine Tasting Party at the home of Paul and Shannon Chapman will be on Saturday, October 17 at 6:00pm.
Troy announced an evening of magic and illusion at the Friday the 13th Good Luck/Bad Luck Anniversary Party at the Woodmark Hotel in Kirkland, Friday, November 13 at 6:00 pm.
Curtis Cummings, Rourke O'Brien & Morris Kremen
Besides collecting from Jonathan Koshar, Curtis Cummings fined Rourke O’Brien $14 for piping in some music from Notre Dame. I don’t know whether it was a song, hymn or dirge, but it sure woke people up.
At Morris Kremen’s urging, Curtis then told everybody to put $1 on the table for the good of the cause, after which we all had two minutes to get acquainted with our neighbors.
BBRC Co-Hosts “Rotary Family Fest” with Department of Social & Health Services
Kaj Pedersen
CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE FAMILY FEST SLIDESHOW
Photos courtesy of Elena Howell
CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE FAMILY FEST SLIDESHOW
Photos courtesy of Elena Howell
On October 3 the BBRC co-hosted a Rotary Family Fest with the Department of Social & Health Services (DSHS) at Newport High School in Bellevue. The main purpose of the party was to introduce foster children waiting for adoptive families to families waiting to adopt children in an emotionally safe and fun environment. This is BBRC's second co-hosted event with the DSHS, which follows up on the tremendous success of last year’s party where 13 out of 14 children were successfully placed into permanent homes.
On the back of this success, BBRC and DSHS decided to collaborate in hosting the Rotary Family Fest to help provide the opportunity for families to meet a new group of children who were up for adoption. The BBRC provided the supporting funding and volunteers to assist in the day’s party, in conjunction with the DSHS. The supporting turnout included 35 people from the BBRC and 10 social workers and staff members from the DSHS. The supporting team helped to provide the entertainment and supporting activities, like providing transport for the children to and from the event, which combined to make this Rotary Family Fest a worthwhile experience for all attendees. BBRC member Colleen Turner observed after picking up three children that “they were excited and a little nervous about going to the party. It was especially gratifying for me to see the kids together, as they don’t have the opportunity to visit each other very often.”
The BBRC\DSHS second event had 23 families attend, and they were given an opportunity to meet the 20 children at Newport High School. The experience of the children, relayed back to the organizers, was that some were initially nervous at first, but then they relaxed and took the time to meet the many prospective families who were there to see them. Families who attended the event felt that it was well organized and enjoyable, especially in light of the fact the majority were not aware of what to expect. The families were impressed with the comfort of the event and that the children enjoyed themselves.
“With the success of last’s year adoption party, BBRC was able to incorporate a good deal of experience into this year’s event to help make the environment more conducive to supporting the needs of the children and prospective adoptive families. We were again overwhelmed by the response in the positive feedback we received for our efforts,” said Margie Burnett, President of the Bellevue Breakfast Rotary Club. Laurie Mayer was pleased to deal with a new problem after the event: “an inbox full of messages from families that attended and from the workers, their agencies that wanted to get more information about some of the kids that came! Next to the kids having fun, that is what this is all about, getting families interested enough to learn more about kids because they have met them. These are the kids that no one inquired about from just reading their bios and seeing their pictures! ”
Rotary Sponsors An Exchange With Bolivia
The Rotary clubs of greater Seattle are seeking business and professional people ages 25-40 to apply for a cultural/vocational exchange program next year. An exchange with Bolivia will take place from April 11 to May 8, 2010.
The Group Study Exchange is a longstanding program of Rotary International. It offers an all-expense paid experience with home stays with Rotarian host country families, vocational visits, and an opportunity to exchange ideas and customs with counterparts. Applicants must live in Rotary District 5030, which basically corresponds to Seattle and its suburbs. The exchange is not open to Rotarians or their relatives.
Applications for team members are due on October 19. Complete information and application forms are available at www.gse.rotary5030.org.
If BBRC members have questions, contact Eastside Coordinator and BBRC member Dr. John Armenia (Cell 253-208-6248).
"An Up-To-Date Briefing on the SR 520 Bridge Replacement & HOV Program," George Fies & Julie GaNung, Washington State Department of Transportation’s Medina to SR 202 Eastside Transit & HOV Project
George Fies
Julie GaNung
Bill Brooks introduced our speakers, George Fies, Project Manager, and Julie GaNung, Deputy Project Engineer for the Washington State Department of Transportation’s Medina to SR 202 Eastside Transit and HOV Project.
Mr. Fies and Ms. GaNung explained that the SR 520 floating bridge was being replaced because it is 45 years old, is vulnerable to windstorms and earthquakes, and is not safe. There are four components of the SR 520 Bridge Replacement and HOV Program: East Corridor, Floating Bridge, Portage Bay Bridge, and the West Approach. The new SR 520 floating bridge will have two general purpose lanes in each direction and one HOV lane in each direction.
Mr. Fies showed us the project area map of the Medina to SR 202 Eastside Transit and HOV Project, which includes the following elements:
- Restriping the existing HOV lanes to the inside lane between Evergreen Point Road and SR 202.
- Constructing an eastbound HOV land between Evergreen Point Road and 108th Avenue NE
- Constructing lids at Evergreen Point Road, 84th Avenue NE and 92nd Avenue NE
- Relocating transit stops to the center lanes at 92nd Avenue NE and Evergreen Point Road
- Constructing a direct-access interchange for transit and HOV at 108th Avenue NE
- Constructing a regional bicycle/pedestrian path along the north side of SR 520
- Expanding the Evergreen Point Road Park and Ride
Bill Brooks makes the introduction
Mr. Fies showed us some very pretty diagrams of the proposed lids at Evergreen Point Road, 84th Avenue NE, and 92nd Avenue NE and of the interchange design at Bellevue Way and 108th Avenue NE. We were also shown an interesting simulation of the East Corridor after project completion with traffic moving along at 100 mph. It was especially interesting given that most of us are lucky if we hit 40 mph while driving the East Corridor.
The entire SR 520 Bridge Replacement and HOV Program is expected to cost $4.6 billion. The floating bridge should be completed in 2014.
During the Q&A period, Mr. Fies explained that bridge tolling would be fully electronic using a license plate recognition system. There are currently no plans to build light rail on SR 520. The new bridge will be built parallel to the current bridge.
On behalf of our speakers, a donation was made to the Fisher House Foundation.
Courtesy of Steve Lingenbrink (traveling with John Martinka)
Sent by email: "Local craft show in Northern Wisconsin"
