Reportero Jorge Gonzalez quips 
                                     Highlights of the meeting of Tuesday, August 21 

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This reportero showed up to the meeting unprepared to take notes, thankfully one of the speakers of today’s program had a yellow pad and was gracious to share a couple of sheets of paper to write on, however she did not have a pen and neither did I. Come Hugo to the rescue, and by the commencement of the Flag Salute presented by Doctor Roger Stark I was fully prepared to take on my assignment of Rotary Reportero.

The morning’s prayer was offered by Rorry Dunbar whom asked us to pray for the well being of our sisters and brothers in Mexico affected by hurricane Dean.

After the thoughtful prayer all of us present were in state of shock when we found out that the Song meister was a no-show! Nor did we have on our tables the printouts with the lyrics of our customary morning song, (Big fine coming her way), fortunately for us though Al Marsh was quick to react and led us in singing Take Me Out to the Ball Park.

Being not sure of how our guests were going to be introduced, Hugo took responsibility for some of them and others were introduced by their own hosts. He introduced the program presenters, Liz Swanson, Dr. Bill Christopher from the Northshore Rotary Club, and Kenyon Chan the new Chancellor at UW Bothell. Prez Rick introduced his guests John Creason and Julie Billett and her daughter Hanna along with Sara Diez an exchange student from Madrid Spain, more on them later., Jon Bylin introduced his guest Jim Pinella.

The program of the day was most interesting. Shana Greene, Nora Laughlin and Walter Hughes talked to us about their volunteer group at UW Bothell – Cascadia CC Campus formed by students and led by Shana Greene to support projects abroad having chosen to work with the villagers at Kiminini in Kenya, a place is situated in the Rift Valley. Walter talked to us about the student group and their fundraising activities also he mentioned that recruiting volunteers at their campus was difficult because most students there are on the fast track to obtain a degree with little time for extracurricular activities since many of them hold full time jobs as well. Nora spoke of the need for the villagers to have clean water and the consequences of not having this most elemental resource which among others is a major cause of infant mortality. Shana then spoke more about their project to build a water treatment facility and the requirements to be able to do it as well as the group’s approach to help the villagers improve their quality of life.

 
Village Volunteers' Shana Greene, Nora Laughlin, Walter Hughes

This group, Village Volunteers is being true to a saying in Swahili: Haba na Haba Hujaza Kibada (A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step).

           This reporter was honored to present them with a $1,000 contribution from our club and if this was not enough our members and guests were prompt to make on-the-spot cash donations totaling $500, enough to procure fifty water filtration systems who in turn will provide clean water for fifty families. On the subject of caring and giving, Jay Fiske mentioned that the members of Woodinville Rotary are to be commended.

           Al Marsh acting Sergeant at Arms wasted no time to fine members for having their cell phones on during the meeting and for unpatriotic acts such as supporting the NY Yankees; also a self-imposed fine was in order for forgetting to bring a raffle item to the meeting. On the good side others were happy to offer substantial cash donations in celebration of weddings and BBQs.

Back to our guests, Hannah Billett, daughter of Julie, spoke about her experiences as an exchange student this summer and the benefits of participating in this true exchange where after a month in Madrid, Spain, Sara Diez, her host sister, is now visiting her. Sara who is turning seventeen in two days also told us about her experience as an exchange student, by the way her command of the English language is impeccable. Being the warm and welcoming group that we are we gladly responded by singing Happy Birthday to her.

Sara Dietz, exchange student guru Larry Duffield and Hannah Billett

With almost no money in the kiddy, raffle ticket holders were hoping for the wine, the t-shirt and other goodies up for grabs less Al’s item of course. Not so for Mike Visse who was unsuccessful in his bid for the white marble. Notable raffle winners were our guests Liz Swanson and John Creason. Eric Greenwood had the last winning ticket for which he was rewarded with a beautiful collar for his Annie.

In closing Prez Rick told a story about Burgers, Fries and Cherry Coke, Patriotism and bad driving not without first thanking Jon Bylin for Set Up; Art Haines, Greeter; John Abbot, Front Desk; Roger Stark, Flag Salute; Rorry Dunbar, Invocation; and Al Marsh, Sergeant at Arms.

                                                        Respectfully submitted by the Rotary Reportero

Village Volunteers Executive Director  Shana Greene thanks club for support

To Woodinville Rotary, How often does a person have breakfast with 40 wonderful people and come away with the ability to provide clean water for 50 orphan-headed or other vulnerable households in rural Kenya? As the Executive Director of Village Volunteers, I was lucky enough to have one of those rare mornings. Not only was I handed a check for $1,000 to go towards the funding of a  ceramic water filter manufacturing plant to be built and operated  by a local potter co-operative that will provide a low cost, indigenous and sustainable way to provide safe drinking water, but a  basket was passed, collecting $500 to sponsor the purchase of ceramic water filters for 50 families.    I had the honor of presenting this project with Nora Laughlin, and Walter Hughes, two altruistic college students from the University of Washington, Bothell. These wonderful young people have been spearheading this fund raising effort and have started a Village Volunteer Club on their campus. To all of the people who attended the meeting and were so generous, I want to sincerely thank you for your support.                 Warmest regards,                         Shana Greene, Executive Director.