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| Santa's Helpers, Katie and Helena, show off the toys! |
This holiday season, the Rotary Club of Des Moines captured the spirit of Christmas in a very special way. In partnership with Midway Elementary in Des Moines, the Rotary club adopted two families who were in need. In early December, Committee Service Chair, Steve Swank, met with Midway Elementary School Counselor, Jill Ramsey, to select the two families. The club donated $500 worth of food, gift cards and, of course, toys to each disadvantaged family. On December 21st, several of the Rotarians and their children played Santa's helpers and had the joy of personally delivering the gifts to the families. It was such a delight to see the excitement in the children's eyes when they saw all of the brightly wrapped presents!
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| A car full of goodies! |
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| A very shy Santa's Helper |
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Community Service Chair, Steve Swank, and Rotarian Dave Markwell
gather for a photo with the father of two boys. Helena and Aden Markwell
and Katie Meinecke also in photo. |
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| Helena, Katie and Aden poise with family |
For more information about the Adopt a Family for the Holidays project, please contact Steve Swank at sfsaustin@comcast.net. To learn more about the Rotary Club of Des Moines, please visit our website at www.dmrotary.org.
Photos courtesy of Lisa Meinecke.
May your holidays sparkle and shine! Warmest Wishes from the Rotary Club of Des Moines
For the 2nd year, the Rotary Club of Des Moines has partnered with Midway Elementary School in the collection of winter coats for grade school students and other individuals within the community of Des Moines. Donations of coats were dropped off at Corky Cellars in Des Moines during the month of November.
Last year, members of the Des Moines Rotary Club and citizens of Des Moines contributed a total of 85 coats and $950 in cash, which greatly benefited both the students at Midway Elementary School and other less fortunate residents of our community. This year, the club collected over 130 coats and $615.00 in cash donations!
On Thursday, December 8th, Rotarians, Steve Swank and Ric Jacobson, along with several staff members of Midway Elementary were on hand to pass out the coats to families in need. Rebekah Kim, the Principal of Midway Elementary, was pleased with the selection of the coats and commended the club for their support. Over 100 families were served that night, but, sadly, many families were turned away because all of the coats had been distributed. The club plans to spend additional dollars to purchase more coats to meet the need.
The Rotary Club of Des Moines would like to express gratitude to the citizens of Des Monies for their generous contributions and exceeding last year’s efforts. Special thanks to Ric and Dianne Jacobsen of Corky Cellars for supporting the coat drive and hosting wine tastings again during the month of November. For more information about this project and how you can get involved, please contact Steve Swank, Community Service Chair, for The Rotary Club of Des Moines.
For more information about the club, please visit www.dmrotary.org.
Holiday Greetings,
Looking for that perfect stocking stuffer for that certain someone on your list? Look no further! Tickets for the 8th Annual Poverty Bay Wine Festival are on sale! You can buy your tickets NOW and save $5 off the price you’ll pay at the door.
Go to our website (www.DMRotary.org) to purchase tickets and for additional information. These make great office gifts and stocking stuffers!
You’ll have a great time and all proceeds will support the charities of the Rotary Club of Des Moines. So you can please that certain someone on your list while knowing that your gift is helping others in the community. It's truly is the gift that keeps on giving! You can thank us later!
See you there!
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Mr. Sam Mitsui (center) with Rotary President,
Mark Rusnak (L) , and Past President, Al Isaac (R) |
“Rainy Day” patriots are those that go beyond the sunshine days and continue despite the odds in increasingly difficult situations. Have you ever met a real “Rainy Day” Patriot? One who exudes commitment to his/our country and his fellow citizens no matter what; one who, even when severely wronged by his own country, puts that behind him and steps up to fight and die for that country and all its people? Well, we met one at the Des Moines Rotary Club meeting on November 16, 2011. Mr. Sam Mitsui of the Nesei Veterans Committee, Seattle, visited us then, and he shared the deep hurts of inflicted prejudice amid war hysteria in World War Two, the impact of Executive Order 9066 that incarcerated so many without due process, and the extraordinary commitment of Nisei and Issei. In spite of it all, they persevered and provided exceptional service above self in support of our country in so many ways anyway.
Mr. Mitsui opened the program with a video telling the sobering story of the 100th Bn/442d Regiment, its forming, training, and extraordinary valor in combat in World War Two. His follow-on personal presentation was a poignant and inspiring product of a truly humble, loyal, and committed citizen who wished to share his experiences and refresh lessons of tolerance and community that were so absent in his youth.
Mr. Mitsui’s stories of verbal abuse and humiliation refreshed important lessons for many. Rotarian B.J. Bjorneby related later that he was born in 1935 and was 6 years old when WW2 started. “I remember all the "Japs, Yellow, Bucktooth, nips," etc. words that were common. Also "no japs allowed" signs and such. As kids, we played WW2. The wooded gully near our house was the jungle of Guadalcanal or Saipan and we spent our days shooting the "Jap" snipers out of the trees. I lived in Bremerton and my Mom worked in the Navy Yard. There were kids from every state this side of the Mississippi including some from the South many of whom were "nigger haters". It would have been easy to become a bigot if not for my Mom teaching us to respect everyone, regardless of color. In my adult years I met a couple of guys around my age who had been sent to someplace in Idaho called an 'Internment camp" as a child.
Their stories were the same as Mr. Mitsui's. I had heard of the Nisei Warriors but enjoyed Mr. Mitsui's enlightenment of their heroics. I was struck by Mr. Mitsui's quote that I wish I could remember verbatim something like "Live if you can, Die if you must but don't bring shame to your family or your country"
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| Officer Jan Magnuson with Mitsui |
Des Moines Police Officer and Rotarian Jan Magnuson said, “What an interesting and moving presentation! And how wonderful that Mr. Mitsui is still so active in the organization, and is making sure that the memory of what those brave soldiers did in WWII will always be remembered. They are truly proud Americans. Rotarian Ric Jacobson added, “I know that everyone in the crowd did not know all the facts about these brave men who stood up for their country when their country did not stand up for them. What an inspiring part of history. Thanks to Mr. Mitsui and his great presentation. We do not think back (as we should) about how these "Americans" were treated in their homeland and what they did to protect our homeland. Thank You to everyone who served and died.”
As Rotarians we focus on “Service above Self” to our community, nation and world. Through all of the carefully explained historical illustrations and descriptions of more recent events of positive recognition, Mr. Matsui’s show of strength of character, humility, loyalty, honor and courage represented all Nisei and Issei exceptionally well. His and their actions are truly examples of exceptional “Service above Self.” The Rotary Club of Des Moines is grateful to Mr. Mitsui for his very special and memorable presentation.
Article written by Rotary Club of Des Moines Past President, Al Isaac, COL, USA, Retired. For more information about the Rotary Club of Des Moines, please visit www.dmrotary.org
 Get your tickets now for the hottest event in town!
The Rotary Club of Des Moines invites you to attend the Eight Annual Poverty Bay Wine Festival located in the historic and grand setting of the Landmark Event Center in Des Moines. Enjoy two and half full days of live musical entertainment while tasting wines from over twenty Washington State wineries and sampling delicacies from local food merchants. 100% of the net revenues generated by this event are used to fund the charitable activities of the Des Moines Rotary Club. Free parking and a free shuttle service will run from the Des Moines Marina to Landmark Event Center all three days of the festival.
Wine Festival Tickets: $25.00 includes ten tasting tokens (tastings range from 1 - 3 tokens), $30.00 at the door. Additional tasting tokens available for $1.00.
Must be 21 or over to attend.
Dates & Times: Friday, March 2nd: 5:00 PM - 10:00 PM
Saturday, March 3rd: 12:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Sunday, March 4th: 12:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Tickets for the Poverty Bay Wine Festival Can be purchased online, at Corky Cellars (206) 824-9462 or Des Moines Drug (206) 878-2345 and through the Rotary Club of Des Moines.
For more information about the Rotary Club of Des Moines, please visit www.dmrotary.org.
 Composer Marvin Hamlisch and Gerard Schwarz, Conductor Laureate of the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, have agreed to serve as Honorary Co-Chairs of the Music4Life Peace Initiative. The initiative is an annual Seattle-based program to foster international peace through youth music activities.“We’re absolutely thrilled about Marvin and Jerry’s commitments to the program,” said David Endicott, who chairs the initiative’s advisory board. “Everyone understands that there is disharmony among cultures throughout the world. These are two prominent people who agree that something must – and can – be done about it.The Music4Life Peace Initiative is a Rotary-inspired annual event that brings three or four young musicians from each of two traditionally antogonistic cultures to Seattle. The youngsters participate in a summer music camp program, learn that they can work together cooperatively through the inter-national language of music and then take those lessons home with them.
The Music4Life Peace Initiative is working with the Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestra to place the student-musicians at SYSO’s summertime Marrowstone youth music camp. Marrowstone is comprised of an intensive two-week program for older musicians at Western Washington University, as well as a less intense half-day program for younger musicians located in Seattle. “Our intention is to work with young musicians whose attitudes and prejudices are not yet fully ingrained in them,” Endicott added.
The initiative is one activity of Music4Life, a four-year-old program to acquire musical instruments for low income young musicians in public schools. The program began working with Seattle Public Schools and has recently been expanded to serve young musicians in the Highline School System. Music4Life will receive the “Friend of Music” award by the Washington Music Educators Association next February at its biennial statewide conference in Yakima.
Excerpts from the BTown Blog, - Sunday, Novemeber 6, 2011.
The Rotary Club of Des Moines is a partner with Music4Life and has helped create Highline Music4Life along with the Rotary Clubs of Burien and SeaTac and the Highline School District. For more information, please visit the Rotary Club of Des Moines or Highline Music4Life websites.
Beginning November 1st, the Rotary Club of Des Moines is partnering with the Highline School District to collect winter coats for the students of Midway Elementary and other individuals within the community of Des Moines. Every child in our community deserves to be warm this winter and we want to make that a reality! Please help us in this endeavor by checking your closets for gently used coats or watch the ads and pick up a new one for a deserving youngster.
Donations of coats may be dropped off at Corky Cellars in Des Moines. To support this drive, Ric Jacobson, Rotarian and owner of Corky Cellars, is sponsoring three wine tastings (November 4th, November 11th and November 18th from 4:00 pm to 6:30 pm). A donation of a coat or monetary contribution will provide an individual with three wine tastings.
Last year, the members of the Des Moines Rotary Club and the citizens of Des Moines contributed a total of 85 coats and $950 in cash, which greatly benefited both the students at Midway Elementary School and other residents in our community.
Please join us in making a difference. There is a limited time to participate in this event as the coat drive is scheduled to end on November 18th. For more information about the Coats For Kids Drive, please contact Community Service Chair, Steve Swank, at sfsaustin@comcast.net. To learn more about the Rotary Club of Des Moines, please visit www.dmrotary.org .
The Rotary Club of Des Moines clearly knows their Chili! On Saturday, October 29th, three Rotarian teams participated in the 5th Annual Des Moines Farmers Market Chili Cook-Off and two of the teams came away winners! Over 500 people were in attendance on a beautiful sunny autumn day! Proceeds from the event benefited the Des Moines Food Bank. Here are some photos from the event.
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The Good, The Bad & The Ugly
(Rotarians Jim Polhamus, Brian Snure and Dan Johnson) |
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Winner of the People's Choice Award: 10th Avenue Chili Dogs/Waterland Crossfit
(Rotarian Dave Markwell with family) |
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Chili Pepper Mamas
(Rotarians Catherine Carbone-Rogers, Carri Litowitz.
Leslie Snure, and Lisa Meinecke) |
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| The Chili Cook-Off Judges |
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Rotarian and Des Moines Farmers Market Coordinator, Wayne Corey
with Rotary President Mark Rusnak |
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First Place Winners - The Chili Pepper Mamas!
Bragging rights for the entire year! |
For additional information about the annual event, please visit the following links:
Photos courtesy of Lisa Meinecke
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| Uncle Ernie |
The Poverty Bay Wine Festival is pleased to announce the return of Uncle Ernie to it's muscial line-up. Uncle Ernie is a Seattle area band know for its classic rock roots. The band offers a high energy show that captures the essence of popular rock music. Two of its' band members, Tim Clark and Matt Pina, are locals boys who have played together since the early 80's.
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Performing at the 2010 World Vision Haiti Relief Fund Raiser
Seattle |
Uncle Ernie brought the house down at last year's wine festival with classic rock tunes from the 60's and 70's and the auditorium quickly turned into a dance floor! The band will perform on Friday, March 2nd - which is the opening night of the Poverty Bay Wine Festival. The wine festival, in its eighth year, will be held in the grand setting of the Landmark Event Center in Des Moines on March 2-4, 2012.
For more information on the Poverty Bay Wine Festival, please visit the Rotary Club of Des Moines' website at www.dmrotary.org.
The Poverty Bay Brews and Blues Festival was a huge success raising over $5,000 dollars towards projects like Highline Music4Life, while bringing community spirit and fun to the City of Des Moines! Over 600 people were in attendance on a beautiful sunny day and enjoyed local handcrafted beer and live musical entertainment. The Rotary Club of Des Moines would like to say a huge Thank You to all of our sponsors, volunteers and participants for making the day such a huge success and for helping us support projects like Highline Music4Life. To date, Highline Music4Life has raised over $22,000 and has acquired over 78 musical instruments because of community partners like you!
We hope to see you all next year at the 3rd Annual Poverty Bay Blues & Brews on August 25th!
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| Highline Music4Life Representative Dick Lee and David Endicott with Rotarians Al Isaac, Dan Johnson and Rotary President Mark Rusnak |
For more information about the Rotary Club of Des Moines, please visit www.dmrotary.org.
Rotary International News -- 27 September 2011 In the last 10 years, more than 50,000 men and women have completed the Prospective Member form to find out how they could get involved in their local Rotary club. Imagine how many more members we might attract if every club and district included a link to the form on their websites and Facebook pages. “I’ve had 50 to 75 people complete the Prospective Member form in the past two years,” says Winston Connolly, membership development committee chair for District 7020 (Caribbean), whose district website includes a link to the form. “Many of them have gone on to become members.” Whether it’s community work, networking, or friendship, potential members are drawn to Rotary for a variety of reasons. Connolly received a membership inquiry from a minister in his community who had contracted polio when he was three and was interested in joining Rotary because of its polio eradication efforts. Connolly forwarded the information to a club in his district, and the minister was invited to a meeting. And that’s exactly how the process is supposed to work. After a prospective member completes the form, that person’s contact information is forwarded to the district governor and district membership development committee chair, who send the information on to one or more clubs in the area. If a club is interested, it invites the prospective member to a meeting. “This process has been well received by clubs in my district,” says Connolly, who urges all clubs to take advantage of this resource.
| Celebrate World Polio Day - 24 October |
To encourage widespread support for the effort to eradicate polio online, the website www.thisclose.net makes it possible for you to join the ranks of celebrities and others around the world in pledging to make a difference in this effort. Right now, you can create your own ‘This Close’ message, and share it with members of your social networks, and encourage them to do the same. Here is how you can participate:
- Visit (http://www.thisclose.net/),
- Click on “Add your face and name”,
- Select a silhouette,
- Upload your picture or take a new one using your webcam,
- Use the 5 different adjustment tools to customize your ad
- Personalize your ad by selecting a color for the background and End Polio Now T-shirt,
- Publish your ad in the online gallery as part of the global campaign,
- Don’t stop there: Share your pledge and invite friends to do the same through Facebook, Twitter and other social networks.
You can also take part in a special celebration to honor the widely-recognized World Polio Day and Rotary’s tremendous progress around the world. The plan is to have Rotarians change their social networking profile pictures to their “This Close” ads and ask their friends to do the same, generating awareness about the issue and also collaboration.
For more information about the Rotary Club of Des Moines, please visit www.dmrotary.org. |
March 2-4, 2012 - Poverty Bay Wine FestivalThe Des Moines Rotary Club invites you to attend the 8th Annual Poverty Bay Wine Festival located in the historic and grand setting of the Landmark Event Center in Des Moines on March 2- 4, 2012 . Enjoy live local musical talent while tasting premier wines from over twenty Washington State Wineries and sampling delicacies from local food vendors. 100% of the net proceeds generated by this event are used to fund the charitibale activites of the Des Moines Rotary Club. Free parking and a free shuttle service will run from the Des Moines Marina to the Landmark Event Center all three days of the festival.
Wine Festival Tickets are $25.00 in advance, which includes ten tasting tokens, and $30.00 at the door.
Tickets will go on sale in December.
For more information, please visit www.dmrotary.org.
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| First Annual Instrument Drive |
On Saturday, September 17th, Highline Music4 Life sponsored an instrument drive at the Des Moines Farmers Market. This was the first of what is intended to be an annual event to ask adults who have unused musical instruments in their garages or attics to donate them to the Highline Music4Life program. The program was inspired by Des Moines Rotary and with the active support of the Burien-White Center and SeaTac Rotary clubs. The overall goal is to provide gently used musical instruments to 5th & 6th grade students in the Highline School District.
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| Rotarians, Claudia Dickinson, Steve Swank, Don Warren and David Endicott man the booth |
It was a successful event, despite the cool weather and occasional rain, with several community members dropping off their donations. Market shoppers also stopped by the booth and after learning about the program committed to donating instruments to the program. Highline Music4Life has now collected over 78 instruments and $16,000 in cash donations. "We are seeing a very positive response from the community.", says Rotarian and organizing chair, Steve Swank, "In fact, we recently received a $1,000 donation from a community member in Des Moines during our Blues & Brews Fest".
If our readers are interested in organizing an instrument drive in their workplace, church or other organization, please contact Steve Swank or Dan Johnson of the Rotary Club of Des Moines. Click here for a current list of musical instruments needs. For more information, visit http://highlinemusic4life.org.
Photos courtesy of Lisa Meinecke.
 School districts around Washington State are grappling with how to help growing populations of homeless students, even as budget cuts further slash their ability to meet their federal obligation to do so. Being homeless can affect how children learn, can lead to depression, and can be misdiagnosed as learning disabilities, labels that stick with a child for years. High school students, in particular, go out of their way to hide the fact they’re homeless to avoid being stigmatized by peers, which makes it difficult to identify a need. Highline School District, like other districts, relies on service agencies to help them identify kids and teens whose families are homeless, as well as teachers, school volunteers and others who may spot a red flag that indicates homelessness. As the new school year approached at Mt. Rainier High School, it was estimated by Joanne Kandler, the Librarian and Rotary Interact Advisory at Mt. Rainier, that there would be approximately twenty-five students or more attending school this year that are homeless or living in some type of temporary housing.
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| Glenn Bishop, 2011 President Mark Rusnak and Steve Swank |
Members of the Rotary Club of Des Moines partnered with Mt. Rainier High School to assist with this concern. Rotarians, Mark Rusnak, Glenn Bishop and Stephen Swank, stepped up to the task and met at the Target Store at Westfield Mall to shop for these students. School supplies, clothing, and other miscellaneous items were purchased to allow these students to start the school year. The management at Target that night upon hearing about the project provided a 10% discount for the supplies that were purchased.
In response to the Rotary Club of Des Moines’ generous donation, Kandler wrote the following:
“Mt. Rainier High School wishes to extend a huge Thank you to the Rotary Club of Des Moines for the amazing amount of personal and school supplies you donated to our homeless and needy MRHS youth. It is astounding! I was thrilled to find that we can truly meet this problem head on and make a difference for these kids in need. OH HAPPY DAY!!!!”
For more information about this project or to get involved, please visit www.dmrotary.org.
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