Kelli Thode started the 47^th meeting of the year and the 5,647^th meeting of the Rotary Club of Everett with the Pledge of Allegiance.

 

John Olson spoke about the upcoming Past Presidents Dinner to celebrate another Rotary year and to pass on some thoughts and ideas to our incoming President Kari Petrasek. There have been over 100 people who have been President of the Rotary Club of Everett from various backgrounds. After a few years of being in the club you can be a Past President as well.

 

Janice Ellis introduced the host families for our Foreign Exchange Student from Japan Hakumi Matsumoto. The first host family was Shelly and Dave Weiser with their children Ben and Lucy, Jack and Leim. And the second host family was Allison Hynes and her Mother Brenda. A big thank you to the host families!

 

New Generations Exchange Student from the Yucatan State, Mexico is MJ who will be interning at the Snohomish County Superior Court this summer. She will be home hosted by Myok McGuire and her family until this August.

 

Kelli Thode announced a membership social coffee hour next Wednesday at 9:00AM at Woods Coffee.

 

Krissy Davis reminded the club about the AVID shopping Spree at Fred Meyer June 2^nd and 4^TH.

 

Jim Schrader Rotary Park Cleanup and BBQ June 13^TH, 9 to Noon. An email will be sent out soon to confirm your presence. Please respond so we order enough burgers and ice cream.

 

Neil Angst reminded the Past Presidents dinner is 5:30 at the Vintage Café.

 

Kellie Thode reminded the membership that the Rotary dues are due and to please pay promptly.

 

Michael Kvistad was happy his 6^th grade daughter was awarded the Top Award for Math at her school.

 

Kari Quaas was happy Sorticulture is this weekend so come out and enjoy the garden art, local plants and flowers and handmade outdoor products in beautiful downtown Everett.

 

Janice Ellis is happy because her car is packed for a road trip to Yellowstone Park with exchange student Hakumi for the weekend.

 

Neil Angst presented an anonymous $100 donation to the Everet Rotary Youth Foundation in honor of Zeb Cobbs who passed away earlier this year.

 

RAFFLE: Krissy Davis

There was a reminder to donate more prizes to the Raffle Committee.

Winner Number 1 – Sam Russell World Cup bag and Coca-Cola.

Winner Number 2 – Larry O’Donnell a book “Triumph of the City and chocolate.

Winner Number 3 – Jim Schrader received a Starbucks gift card and Lemon Buds.

 

Janice Ellis introduced our Rotary Youth Exchange Student Hakumi Matsumoto from Kanazawa, Japan for his End of Year Presentation. Before Hakumi came to the US he had very few opportunities to speak English only memorizing words.  While here he is always speaking English, so his ability has improved greatly. He joined the Chinese Club at Everett High School, and he has been volunteering at the Everett YMCA and the Everett Museum of History. He enjoys history and really enjoyed his time at the museum. He traveled to New York, Philadelphia, and Washington DC where he enjoyed the history, culture and food. He enjoyed the Olympic National Park and Leavenworth and will be traveling to Yellowstone after the meeting today. Hakumi now enjoys listening to songs in English and he has become more interested in learning about different cultures as Japan has only one major culture. He learned the US is home to people from diverse cultures and he learned to understand and respect these cultural differences. Going forward Hakumi would like to attend a university to learn more history, languages and cultures. He would like to learn about the values of people from all over the world to so he can better look at things from various perspectives. Hakumi would like to thank for Everett Rotary, Janice Ellis and the host families for the past year. He was able to spend his time here without any worries.

 

Mark Valentine donated a 1st Paul Harris Fellowship award to Hakumi for his participation in the RYE program.

 

Ed Peterson introduced Sam Russell who attended Rotary District 5050 Youth Adventures in Leadership (YAIL) February 6 – 8 in Maple Ridge, BC. There were inspirational speakers and students from several parts of the world in attendance. He shared his breakout moments and other positive experiences with us.  He felt the whole weekend was transformational and very worthwhile and life changing event.

 

NEXT PROGRAM: Stephen Colley – Extreme Couture

 

Respectfully Submitted,

 

Photography Submitted,