President Becky Fontaine rang the bell and began the meeting with a moment of silence to remember Past District Governor, Rose Bowman, who passed away on May 2nd. She was a dedicated Rotarian and community member who loved hosting family and friends and bravely fought cancer for a number of years.
President Becky then began the meeting by thanking our meeting Sponsor, Michael Stewart, with The Law Office of Michael Austin Stewart. Followed by introducing our Invocator, Gordon Neu of Neu Construction, who was then followed by Amy Wigstrom who lead us in the National Anthem and the 4 Way Test. A card was circulated for Larry Hosley who was recently in the hospital but now on the mend. President Becky invited visiting Rotarians and guests of Rotarians to stand and be introduced with the assistance of Maria Harlow and Whitney Grisaffi of Ted Brown Music who brought around the mics. There were a number of guests in attendance to honor our Rotarian of the Year.
President Becky introduced Past President Barry Benson who gave a brief introduction on how the Rotarian of the Year is selected. The selection committee is headed by the immediate Past President and the members are Past Presidents. Nominees are sought from all of the Past Presidents and then the committee votes to select the current Rotarian of the Year. President Barry was very proud to announce our 32nd Rotarian of the Year, Kirsten Willis!
Kathi Willis was the first to speak. As you well know, Kathi is Kirsten’s mom and a very proud mamma she is!! Kathi brought us through Kirsten’s life from Kirsten as a wee one (and best little present to her family) and little sister! She and her brother are best friends and have traveled extensively. Kirsten regularly attends live music events with her Dad (apple of his eye). She attended and graduated from Bellarmine where she was very active and lettered in a number of sports and then went on to graduate from Gonzaga, where she was on the Deans list and studied in Florence for a year. Kirsten is a life-long Sounders fan and season ticket holder and also an avid Seahawks fan where she and her Dad have season tickets. She has a cute puppy name Fitz and two new adopted cats. Kathi was so happy and proud and completed her tribute with: “I am truly in awe of my daughter”.
Jim Henderson was the next to speak on behalf of our recipient and gave an overview of Kirsten’s involvement and support of Rotary #8. Kirsten joined our club in 2010 and has worked on and Chaired numerous committees including: RI, Scholarship, PGG and the auction. She chaired our 2016 IMAGINE auction which was incredibly successful! She is organized, creative and most importantly, makes committee work fun! She is an Art Wickens Fellow and two time Paul Harris awardee. She is an active Rotary #8 board member with a term ending this June. She creates a positive impact on our club and Jim was incredibly honored to help recognize Kirsten as this year’s Rotarian of the Year!!
Kathleen Olson was the final speaker and guided us through Kirsten’s extensive history in non-profits. Kirsten started with United Way in 2007-2011. Was a 40 Under 40 winner in 2011 and then transferred to Pierce County AIDS foundation where she increased donations by 27%. She then transferred her talents to help TCH in 2015 to raise over $1.2MM in their quiet phase of their capital campaign. No one who knows her will be shocked to find Kirsten now working at the Humane Society for Tacoma & Pierce County, her passion for animals and fundraising are a perfect match as the Major Gifts Manager! Congratulations!
Kirsten Willis then took center stage and indicated that similar to her personal and business life, she jumped into Rotary with two feet and has received so much in return. She indicated that she wanted everyone to share in her award as she receives so much from everyone in the club. She greatly appreciates the love and support we all give to one another here every week. She thanked everyone for the honor and then threw her hat into the ring for President of the club!!
President Becky then presented Kirsten with her 3rd Paul Harris Award and ROY Certificate.
This week our Meeting Sponsor is Michael Stewart , the law offices of Michael Austin Stewart who re-introduced himself to the club after a long hiatus. If you don’t recognize him, it’s because he grew a beard after a long vacation and decided that never shaving again would be enjoyable. Thank you Michael for sponsoring!
We then celebrated Birthdays with Chris Hays, McDonald Miller Facility Solutions. The only birthday attendee was Chris Serface. Chris Hays asked Chris Serface his favorite U2 song in light of U2’s concert here on Sunday (oh yeah, which was also Mother’s Day). He said: “Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” We missed Dick Moe, Jon Rieke, Barbara James, John Kloes , Sue Dreier, Erica Doctor, Kathryn Nelson, and Barbara Mead. I'm sure they will pay their birthday fine next time they join us at a meeting. Celebrating Anniversaries this week were Jonathan Murray, Jim Winskill, Rachel Cardwell, Angie Martin, Rusty George, Stanley Kanarowski, Mary McNally, Pete Norman, Scott Sutherland, and Bob Mallon.
Becky then asked all Rotarains to stand and those who had worn their Rotary pin’s outside of meeting days were asked to sit with the remaining paying a fine!!
Announcements: Next offsite meeting at Point Defiance Pagoda on June 8, signup sheets are on the tables. Social – at the Table, 2715 6th Ave and at 4 pm at the Triple Knock for some pinball fun. Next week’s meeting will feature Susanne Rea.
Becky then thanked our meeting sponsor Michael Stewart, and congratulated our Rotarian of the Year Kirsten Willis. Remember this year’s theme… “Explore”
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