President Teri opened the meeting by reminding us all that September 28th is the Centennial Celebration Dinner. This should be a fun time for all. Please plan to attend.
Announcements:
We had our Margaret Curtis introduced as a visiting Rotarian from Austin, TX
Ongoing announcements:
Mark your calendar for September 18th, the weekly Rotary Lunch will be held at the Leopold Hotel, Crystal Ballroom come re-live the golden days of Rotary in the Leopold’s Crystal Ballroom. This is where it all started.
Golfun, the District 5050 fundraiser for the Foundation, is on Friday, August 18 at the Homestead Golf & Country Club. Contact Del VandeKerk for more information.
Save the Date for the Rotary Club of Bellingham Centennial Celebration Dinner - September 23, 2017 (click here for additional information) President Teri announced the exciting news that Howard Behar, former President of Starbucks International will be the keynote speaker at our RCOB 100th Anniversary Celebration Dinner on September 23 at the Four Points by Sheraton, a not to be missed opportunity. Please save the date and join fellow Rotarians and friends in the celebration.
Guests of Rotarians:
Dominique Zervas introduced Sherman Smith noted author of historical fiction and former Rotarian with the Eugene, Oregon Rotary Club for 18 years.
Felicity Dye brought former Student Exchange student from Italy last year, Giovanni Melley.
Presentations:
The first presentation was from Giovanni Melley, a Rotary exchange participant. He described how this experience “changed my life.” One of the life lesson’s learned, according to Giovanni, was to “bring more joy to the world.” I’ve become a citizen of the world.” He thanked Rotary for the opportunity to experience these life altering moments.
Presentation of the Paul Harris Fellowship Award to new member Donna Inglis followed. This may be a new club record, as she has yet to be inducted into the club.
Program:
Feature presentation was given by Don Kurtis of the Cascade Radio Group. He was introduced by Rogan Jones. The topic being “State of the radio Industry.”
Don came to Bellingham in 1991 and worked for KGMI. Later moving on to new prospects in other markets. He returned to Bellingham and re-joined Cascade in 1996. Cascade Radio Group currently owns 5 local radio stations in our area. He mentioned that 2 corporations own much of the national market. When asked how Cascade matched up, Don mentioned that the small market stations like theirs are doing well, while the larger outfits are struggling. He believes community involvement is the key to their success. Music licensing fees add up to $250,000 annually for Cascade, this number is magnified for the larger conglomerates, causing larger players financial difficulties. When asked by Joe Coons about household penetration numbers, Don answered that markets this size are no longer rated. Don mentioned that streaming is becoming more prevalent in the industry. Rotarian Larry Halgren thanked Cascade for broadcasting “Rotary Moments” of all local Rotary clubs. Don was acknowledged for his commitment to the community for various works other than in the radio business. Fellow Rotarian, Scott Hume was recognized as on-air personality for the Chamber of Commerce programming.
When asked about lack of “progressive talk show programming,” Don responded that much of that programming has vanished from lack of listener support and thus disappearing syndicated content. “This of course brought many phone calls from progressive listeners here in Bellingham,” commented Don.
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