Northwind February 25, 2010

MEETING TO ORDER:   President Chuck called the meeting to order at: 12:30.  Gary Thomsic gave the invocation.

GUESTS:   Marlene's guest was Jonathan Hutchins, and her husband Mark.  Ray's guest was soon-to-be member Larry Raney. 

VISITING ROTARIANS: George Tsakumis visited from Vancouver, and our speaker Bruce MacCormack visited from the Rotary Club of Bellingham.

BIRTHDAYS:  27^th - Tyler and 28^th - Rome.  The 23^rd was Roger Lehnert's birthday. 

FOUNDATION THOUGHT:  Stan gave a very well thought out Foundation Thought, beginning with the question, Who knows what NIAMEY is?  In fact it is the capital of the country of Niger, but none of us knew that.  Niger is the poorest nation in Africa, with a population of 13 million, 90% of whom are farmers, and 40% of those are suffering from ongoing famine.   There are two Rotary Clubs in Niger and they are looking for assistance to their disaster fund for agricultural training and irrigation projects.  We can contribute to this effort via the EREY program.  (Every Rotarian Every Year).

ANNOUNCEMENTS:    (1) Still collecting funds for Haiti earthquake relief. 

(2) CAREER FAIR: Tyler is working on career day presenters.  Tyler gave out cards assigning unfilled presenter slots to committee members for recruiting.  Specific people he still needs are:  Hotel/hospitality/restaurant, Education,  Construction (specifically plumber), and Electrical/electronics.

(3)  GST Team: We now have all of the hosting accounted for, and a back up person.  Nancy has very generously agreed to hold a reception in her home during the visit.  We still need another "transportation" person to help get the team to its meetings.  The Dates are May 12 - 15^th.  Also, vocational site visit locations are needed in the fields of Forestry and Political Science.

(4) AUCTION/DINNER: Raffle: We have sold enough tickets to break even,  it's all profit from here on!  It's important to note that each ticket stub needs to have a name and address on it, not just phone number.  Checks for tickets should be made out to the club.  Dick will need to account for all tickets, whether sold or not.   Dinner:  Tim needs a head count NOW - he's passing around a sheet for this, which also includes choice of dinner entrée.    Auction items should be to Ray at the Sign Post, at 2019 E. Bakerview by the end of the week.  Every member should bring a bottle of wine for the Wine Cellar auction item.

SPECIAL EVENT:  Larry Raney was inducted as a member of the club.  Before even being an official member, Larry has started contributing, including printing up the brochures we are using to promote the auction and raffle.  Welcome Larry!

RAFFLE WINNERS :  Marlene, her husband Mark, and Tim Carpenter.

HAPPY BUCKS:  Tim Carpenter spoke in support of the Boys and Girls club, and apologized if his comments were misunderstood last week.  Marlene was happy for her guests and our new member.  Tyler was $32 happy for his 32^nd birthday.  Larry was happy to be joining the club.  Paul was happy for Lex and his support.   Ray was happy to have earned his crane operators certificate.  Chuck gave thank you bucks for all the hard work on the auction.    Pete Kremen gave $100 sad bucks in memory of his father, who recently passed away.

FINEMASTER:  Scott began by invoking the Wallace rule, which was explained for Larry's benefit.  Jack and Ken got automatic $5 fines.  A large number were fined for talking during the meeting, Randy for being so late on Larry's induction, anyone who was using their Blackberry or other mobile device during the meeting, and anyone who texts while driving.  Skiiers, Blaine and Lummi Island residents were hit up as well.

BANNERS:  The banners were a start at Washington's Birthday.  Stan ran out of time or space to display all of the related banners.

PROGRAM:  Bruce MacCormack spoke about the Bellingham Angels Group.  This is a local group, although it is part of some larger Angel associations.  The purpose of the group is to bring together high net worth individuals who are looking to invest in local start-ups with the entrepreneurs who are looking for capital to start their businesses.

There is high risk, but also high potential for reward in this venture.  Bruce stressed that the reward is not only financial, but in the pleasure of being a part of helping local small businesses to succeed.   He explained the difference between venture capitalism and angel investing, primarily Angels take a more personal interest, and also they look to exit the investment more quickly than venture capitalists sometimes do. 

For more information go to http://www.bellinghamangels.com/ or contact BellinghamAngels@comcast.net.  

DRAWING:  Mark Sexton had the winning ticket, but no Ace of Spades yet.