Martin Clavijo led us with the invocation and pledge this morning, before handing off to Kit Bowerman to introduce our guests this morning.  We had a number of guests joining us this morning – nine in total!  A huge credit to Alan Pratt for encouraging a number of them to come along for his talk later in the program.  He has truly been telling the BBRC story and how we are a club of action!

Our first order of business was to acknowledge our student of the month – Alex Chee.  Alex goes to school at Bellevue Christian, and he was truly complementary of the education and support he has received from the school.  Alex’s parents were in the audience supporting him this morning.  His interests lie in supporting international projects that are aligned in service with his church and he enjoys athletic sports.  This combination of service, pursuit in sports and education have given him a sense of perseverance in getting things done.  He is looking to study Mechanical Engineering at UW, following in his father footsteps and, just like his father, he hopes to work for Boeing one day in a role where he can have an impact on the world.  We wish Alex success in his pursuit of his dreams.

Tim Leahy took the opportunity to update the club on our membership activities.  The membership of the club has been tracking against the goal of securing one member a month, and now we have ten new members with a strong pipeline.  To date our new membership growth is 11.6% and net growth is 5.7% with total membership standing at 92. Tim did remind us that it is important that we continually work on securing new members, as we have sadly lost five members this year due to changes in their circumstances that make it difficult for them to continue in their Rotary journey.  Tim took the opportunity to remind members of the changes we have to support Family, Young Professional and Corporate membership plans in an effort to make our club more accessible to a variety of choices.  He also acknowledge the work of those members, especially Alan Pratt, for their efforts in bringing guests to our meetings, so that these prospects can experience the magic of Bellevue Breakfast Rotary – a club where all are always welcome!

President Kaj Pedersen followed up by presenting a year in review to the members and guests present this morning.  It was the presentation given to the attendees of the Retreat and we wanted to make sure other members had the opportunity to see what the club had accomplished over the course of the Rotary year.  President Kaj thanked every member for their contributions in making the first year of the M3V mission a success, and we have set ourselves up with great momentum for the next two years.  Here is the BBRC – A year in Review (2017-18) for your personal viewing pleasure.

Finally, President Kaj reminded members that we will be kicking off Committee sign ups for the 2018-19 Rotary year next week.  This will allow us to make sure we have our members signed up for 3 committees in time for President-Elect Chris Boland’s term.  We will be setting up the tables next week and they will be there for 2-3 weeks, to give members an opportunity to select their areas of involvement with the club.

At this stage, Bob Holert introduced Alan Pratt to talk to us about his philosophy on how to build a legacy.  His approach being driven by living life with purpose and direction, while living a life of generosity and gratitude.  Alan shared a number of personal anecdotes and personal experiences that helped us appreciate the value of his approach, especially when their is an opportunity to seek Service above Self.

President Kaj closed off the meeting with last minute announcements, thanking our numerous guests and reminding us, through a William Shakespeare quote, that “No legacy is so rich as honesty.”

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