President Linda Kaye Briggs opened the meeting, Bill Duppenthaler provided the Invocation, Barbara Mead provided piano accompaniment and Ali Criss lead us in the national anthem and the 4-way test. The meeting was sponsored by Harrison Laird from CBRE, a commercial real estate service company. We were graced with 4 guests including, Andrew Imholt’s wife, Liz, who is scheduled to deliver their 2nd child tomorrow (May 3). Both of our exchange students, Renata and Jacob, were also in attendance. Stacey Ogle introduced new member, Jeremy Simler of Northwest Furniture Bank. He was proud to inform us that his father is a 35 year member of Rotary. Jeremy, whose wife is a flight attendant, loves to travel and ski. Thanks to Stacey for bringing another great community member into our club. Gil Quante introduced 12 members who are celebrating birthdays during May. They each told us who their superheroes are and what they considered their personnel super powers. A great group. Gil presented each with a certificate to enjoy a float in ‘Uncharted Waters’. Linda Kaye congratulated Melissa Malott, Dianne Stoehr, John McMasters, Charley Rance, and Gordon Pickering on their anniversaries as Rotary 8 members. Cindy Grady was honored as the Rotarian of the Year – selected by a panel of past presidents. The inspiring video from the auction about how Rotary helps others not just locally but also around the world was a perfect preface for honoring Cindy. Carol Webster, Jennifer Wedderman, and Carol Duris shared insights as to why Cindy is so deserving of this honor. As a member of the grants committee she has always been a reliable team member and mentor encouraging folks to reach higher. Cindy not only is a tireless worker for Rotary she also finds time to quietly volunteer in other ways in our community from helping individuals to working with other non-profits by sharing her expertise about how to have a successful fund-raising auctions. Cindy’s efforts in our community thru Rotary and other venues has positively affected hundreds of lives. Rotary 8 is proud to have Cindy as a member and pleased to be able to highlight her good work with this Rotarian of the Year recognition. Cindy expressed her big THANK YOU for this honor. She noted that Rotary 8 is a key part of the village that makes Tacoma a great place to live and as a Tacoma native she truly enjoys being part of the village. Becky Fontaine alerted the members to a Red Cross event on May 4, called Sound the Alarm. Maria Harlow announced Firesides will take place on May 21. Mike Dunbar reminded the members that the meeting on May 9 will be at 5pm at Moss Adams. During True Confessions Diane Tilstra announced that our two exchange students next year will be Gabriel Bringman from Sweden and Nicolas Galy from France. Bill Baarsma confessed one of the hotel rooms at the new McMeniman’s is named after him. Mark Lindquist explained he has been away in Indonesia on behalf of his new position with Hermann Law Group working on the Lion Air 610 crash out of Jakarta. Larry Treleven told us his wife and daughter are both back from London after running in the London marathon. Mike Dunbar announced he and Liz have just celebrated 41 years of marriage and their son has moved back home for awhile. Kelly Lane recently visited the Napa Valley and learned that you can find wine colored bands for your braces. She recommends the Bordeaux. Greg Rolsma is back from a 17 day cruise to parts of Central America and Mexico which included going thru the Panama Canal. Jacob thanked Gil Quante for providing him and his parents 4 tickets to a Rainier game so they could see an actual baseball game in person. He also apologized to Renata for not inviting her to join them. President Linda Kaye closed the meeting with the reminder to re-ignite Rotary.
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