“Marble madness engulfs Woodinville Rotary ”

Rotary Academy enrollees DeSmet and Zellweger talk; Chief Jackson and Hugo compare notes.

I look forward to Tuesday mornings. Our meetings are a great way to start the day, this particular day I am reporting on was filled with all kind of emotions, first is the welcoming feeling courtesy of Snappy with his hugs or /and kisses, the front desk operators who were busy selling raffle tickets at the speed of sound and the camaraderie of members and guests talking, laughing and hiding from the sergeant.

Breakfast consisted of the usual fruit plate minus the grapes, pastries, and the all so popular gourmet eggs a la Grange, which I believe they are cooked following some French technique.

Promptly at 7:15 President Al rang the bell to indicate that it was time to begin the meeting, Max led us into the Flag Salute, Kathy Kill brought us a thoughtful prayer, and then we attempted to sing "One Love" under the direction of past president Chris. One of these days the Rotaryville Choir will become famous, it just needs a little fine-tuning and coordination but there is no doubt that the talent is there.

Our guests and speaker were introduced, for this meeting we enjoy the company of Woodinville Police Chief Sydney Jackson, Bothell Police Chief Forrest Conover, Cathy Swanson, Scott Parris, today’s speaker Mike Rynas, and Paul Beaty, Helen Nilon and Sam Jones of NAMI-Eastside. Unfortunately the Grace Police Chief continues to be MIA.

NAMI-Eastside leaders Mike Rynas, Helen Nilon and Paul Beaty

First Harvest Food for Thought

Hugo then took the podium to introduce our guest speaker and to thank us for the friendship and support he and Nan received from our members because of the untimely passing of their daughter Betsey.

Mike Rynas came to our meeting to talk to us about NAMI – Eastside (National Alliance for the Mentally Ill). This organization serves an area from Issaquah to the south and Bothell-Kenmore-Woodinville to the north. Their mission is to improve the quality of life of those persons affected by acute and chronic mental illness through support, education and advocacy. This turned out as not just another presentation from a non-profit from someone getting the word out and hoping for a donation. Mike began by painfully sharing a personal story about his daughter who by now is 41 living in the streets with severe mental issues as a result of being released without a cure after suffering from an overdose of sleeping pills. Unfortunately her case is not unique; he said that NAMI serves 3,500 individuals a year and that the mental health system is underfunded and underestimated, about 15 to 20 years behind HIV.  Some of the many challenges they face are the lack of housing, lack of training for police officers whom often are the ones that have to deal with individuals in crisis with mental illnesses, and the fact that benefits stop when an individual is put in jail that is where most patients end up. It is amazing to me how someone going through a serious difficulty as Mike is can gather energy from it, and give it a positive spin to better the lives of others .

For ways to help and get involved please visit www.namieastside.org

Andrea gave us a report of her fun-filled week; she spent time at the music museum with a friend from Turkey, remember turkey boy? She is starting track this week.

Linda Hendrickson announced the breakfast on April 21^st to benefit the Cascadia Community College Foundation.

Pam reminded us of the “5^th on 4^th” Tuesday to be held at DeLille Cellars on March 23, she said that the menu is decided and all we need to do is signup, bring our cowboy boots and be ready to square dance!

We celebrated the birthdays of John Abbot, Bob Rosso and Karen McDonald. John said he had a good year; business was good (double digit margins), he had some medical issues but all is good now and that he had been having fun in Vail, Italy and Lake Tahoe. Bob still cannot get over the Obama bumper sticker that Erv put on his truck but he said his birthday party was a lot of fun and well attended by some 20 people from the La Conner yacht club. Karen said her year had been challenging but that she was doing well personally and having fun bicycling.

Chris covering for absent sergeant Leonardson imposed unduly but well justified fines and collected many happy dollars. Evan is the proud loser of 12 pounds, Jorge got a new car (imagine that), rumor is that Erv and Rosso are celebrating reconciliation the Obama sticker is gone and the incident is forgotten, Becky celebrated the Canadians for their Olympic performance, Max’s dad had his 90^th birthday and Eric serenaded us with a joke that had to do with mountains, water, guns and no health insurance.

Everyone was hoping for the white marble however the lucky raffle winners had to settle for beer, coffee, and the black marble.

 

By Jorge