The Rotary Club of Kirkland held a meeting at The Woodmark Hotel on July 19, 2021. Rotarians attended in person; there were no online attendees. Greeters for this meeting were Kristin Olson and Rick Walter.
President Dave DeBois rang the bell at 6:38 p.m., calling the club meeting to order.
George Anderson led the membership in the Pledge of Allegiance.
Attending were George Anderson, Scott Becker, Gary Cohn, Dave DeBois, Don Dicks, Margie Glenn, James Meniketti, Amy Mutal, James Nevers, Kristin Olson, John Pruitt, Bill Taylor, Rick Walters, and John Woodbery.
Guests:
President Dave introduced three guests, Pete Anderson, who is attending his third meeting with the club, Jim Bosler, who is also interested in the club and is attending his first meeting, and Dr. Scott Vanderheiden, the guest speaker for the meeting.
Announcements:
President Dave called on Head Duck Amy Mutal to update Rotarians about key Duck Dash events. Amy announced that tickets are indeed available at this meeting, and everyone is expected to sell (or buy) $500 worth to support the club’s primary fund-raising effort. Outside of the meetings, tickets can be picked up from Steve Shinstrom at Shinstrom Insurance, from Dave DeBois’ at the Kirkland branch of Banner Bank, or from Amy at Prevail Wealth. Amy reminded members that ticket sales will occur at the Kirkland Wednesday Market, and at the Kirkland QFC on Saturdays and any other day a Rotarian wanta to set up a table and sell, and at the Kirkland Waterfront Car Show. The Lake Washington High School Dance Team will once again be assisting with the ticket sales, and has settled on two weekends at QFC.
Amy called on Gary Cohn to describe the new online volunteer sign-ups in ClubRunner. Gary explained that each of the scheduled meetings is now in the website calendar, and by Tuesday each would have an active volunteer sign-up available online to members and their guests. Rosters are now available for Rotarians to volunteer time in July, and the rest will be available by Tuesday.
President Dave announced that the hotel is providing parking validation stickers for those who park in the pay lot. This way members don’t have to walk upstairs to the front desk for a validation stamp.
President Dave announced that he asked Board members to reach out to fellow Club members to volunteer for the Community, International, Vocational, and Club Service committees that support the Club.
Program:
President Dave introduced Dr. Scott Vanderheiden, a UW-educated mechanical engineer and radiologist, who, with his wife Katherine, owns and operates Maelstrom Brewing Company, which they started with the expressed purpose of serving beer he makes to brew enthusiasts who come to his brewery in Kirkland. Scott told the story of his introduction to brewing when an older sibling gave him a starter homebrew kit.
Over the next nineteen years, he visited breweries in each town in which he lived, and eventually simple extract brewing evolved from five-gallon batches to 10-gallon batches into an all-grain nano brewery. Along the way, Scott graduated from the American Brewers Guild, and Katherine became a Cicerone, or certified beer taster, and contributes her time to tasing, bookkeeping, supply intake, and “everything else”; Maelstrom is a family business.
Scott described the great brewing supply chain that exists in the Seattle area, and said he gets ingredients from Washington state sources, including the best hops in the world from Yakima. Other ingredients are sourced from Washington state as much as possible.
He revealed that it took him three years to find the location for his brewery in the Totem Lake area because he needed a fairly large space to brew and vacant building owners in the area where he wanted to locate did not want a brewery. As a consequence, Scott ended up buying the building in which Maelstrom is currently located, in Parmac, within a bicycle ride from home. Scott brews up to 300 gallons of beer in a batch. Maelstrom has about 15 beers on tap at any given time. Scott’s beer choices are international in inspiration, including dark Guinness-type stout. For gluten-free drinkers, Maelstrom alternatives to beer are wine, hard cider, and soft drinks.
Food available is a soft Bavarian pretzel and other snacks. Scott welcomes people to bring their own food to enjoy with his beer. He described the impact of the pandemic on his and others’ operations, and how they’ve expanded outdoor seating to accommodate customers’ preferences and the health-related restrictions under which they operate.
Several questions were asked about different beers, the effect of wildfire smoke on the production of hops, and various other aspects of the brewing business.
President Dave thanked Scott and announced that 600 pounds of food will be donated in Maelstrom’s name to Harvest for Hunger. Dave reiterated that Duck Dash tickets are available from Amy, and then rang the bell at 7:22 p.m. to adjourn the meeting.
Respectfully Submitted
Margie Glenn – Acting Scribe