Wednesday, March 4 Socialize @ Noon! 12:30 PM to 1:30 PM Washington Athletic Club
Seattle Center Foundation Executive Director Rob Johnson
The Future of Seattle Center
“Seattle Center has a bold new 10-year vision and action plan—and the Foundation is thrilled to continue our stalwart support of Seattle Center as the cultural heart of our city.” — Rob Johnson, Executive Director, Seattle Center Foundation
Next Wednesday, March 4, 2026, the Rotary Club of Seattle welcomes Rob Johnson—former Seattle City Council member and now Executive Director of the Seattle Center Foundation—for a timely conversation about one of Seattle’s biggest civic questions: How do we reinvest in Seattle Center so it thrives for the next generation?
Seattle Center isn’t just an icon—it’s a working, 74-acre campus that hosts arts, culture, sports, and civic life year-round, drawing around 12 million visitors annually. But the campus is showing its age, and the public conversation is heating up around where the funding will come from to tackle long-deferred infrastructure needs.
Rob will preview the Seattle Center Strategic Vision and 10-Year Action Plan, which lays out a roadmap for campus-wide reinvestment. The plan’s core idea is straightforward: pair a comprehensive public capital funding proposal with a major philanthropic push and a stronger long-term operating model—so Seattle Center can support its partner organizations, improve public spaces, and deepen community connections. The plan describes this as the most significant proposed reinvestment in Seattle Center since the 1962 World’s Fair.
If you care about civic investment, public-private partnership, downtown vitality, arts and cultural access, or Seattle’s readiness for the coming decade of major moments, this is a program you won’t want to miss.
We hope you’ll join us next Wednesday to hear Rob’s vision—and the real-world funding path being discussed to help Seattle Center remain Seattle’s gathering place for generations to come.
Notice: Change in Billing System for Your Rotary Dues Effective March 1
I am writing to let you know about an important change to our dues payment process. The Rotary Club of Seattle will transition all members from Freshbooks to QuickBooks/Inuit billing for dues this Sunday, March 1, 2026. This change will improve the security and efficiency of payments. Some members already completed this transition as part of a trial group this fall. We thank you in advance for doing your part to make sure your dues are paid in this new system. Please see the instructions below for how this process will work.
All member billing was closed down in Freshbooks this week, so those of you that were on autopay in Freshbooks will no longer see these charges. Starting March 1, you will receive emailed billing invoices from QuickBooks. We ask that you pay your monthly invoice when it arrives, and for your convenience, set up autopay at your end.
Instructions on how to set up autopay (to a credit card or via ACH) can be FOUND HERE. The club is not permitted to do this on your behalf, but bookkeeper Shannon Luedtke, VP of Club Operations Cynthia Chirot, and Club Director Mary Goldie are here to help guide you through the process. Please reach out if you need assistance.
If you do not wish to pay invoices online or prefer to send a check towards your dues, please contact mary@seattlerotary.org so she can outline how to pay moving forward. Some members have chosen to simply pay dues annually.
If you do not receive an invoice after this weekend, please email mary@seattlerotary.org so we can troubleshoot.
If you have questions or need additional assistance, please email mary@seattlerotary.org and we will get in touch.
This transition has been over two years in the making and will ensure a more modern and secure system for us all. Many thanks to club bookkeepers Shannon Luedtke and Shebron Webley and VP of Club Operations Cynthia Chirot for all their hard work in support of this major project!
Thanks so much for your timely response as we make this important transition.
President Jan closed the day’s Rotary meeting panel discussion -- Voices from the Schools – with a provocative opening by quoting 19th century abolitionist, Frederick Douglass, “It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.”
The day’s education panel was moderated by fellow Rotarian, Arik Korman, CEO of the League of Education Voters (https://educationvoters.org/) a 25-year old advocacy student-centered, collaborative, supporting communities impacted by historical and systemic inequalities.
“Today we will dig into the trenches about educational equity, strategies for advocacy, families and challenges in the classroom,” he said. Listening to students is critically important with each of the day’s panelists bringing a slightly different take on education in our city and state.
Panelists were: Huyen Lam, Principal, Rising Star Elementary School in Southeast Seattle and 2025 Principal of the Year; Huyen Lam, Principal, Rising Star Elementary School in Southeast Seattle and Roy Chang, Executive Director of School Connect Washington.
Equity depends on your zip code. “Equality for every school is not possible when one PTA can raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for student activities, equipment and facilities, while other schools don’t have that resource and can’t provide that funding,” Huyen Lam, Principal, Rising Star Elementary School (www.risingstares.seattleschools.org) in Southeast Seattle said.
“We want to create a team environment with the family that is really important, so they know what is going on in the classroom and connect with the PTA about what is happening in the school and what support is needed.”
The Local & International Service Committees are inviting all interested members of the Rotary Club of Seattle to help review grant applications. It only takes a few hours in March and April, and you will get a chance to help our club support local projects in revitalizing downtown Seattle, food insecurity, and education. Contact Jevon Powell at jevon@scontrino-powell.com if interested in volunteering for local service review and Maddy Vonhoff at maddy.vonhoff@gmail.com if interested in volunteering for international service review.
Leadership Tomorrow’s recruitment season is officially underway, and we are now accepting applications for our 10-month flagship program for the LT Impact Class of 2027.
We would be thrilled to have Rotary 4 members nominate leaders who you think are ready to strengthen their skills, knowledge of the region and community.
We are especially seeking leaders who have:
10+ years of professional experience
A demonstrated commitment to community engagement
Curiosity and a desire to broaden their perspective
Get in touch with Bindiya or nominate folks (QR code or on LT website) this month. Deadline is March 31!
Wednesday, March 25th 5:30 PM - 7:30 PM Columbia Tower Club
March Evening Event Happy Hour
Join us for a cash bar happy hour with your fellow Rotary Club of Seattle members and Columbia Tower Club members! RSVP to let us know you plan to attend! Parking is $10 in the Columbia Tower Garage after 5 PM.
Saturday, April 25th Time TBD Rotary Boys and Girls Club
Rotary Boys and Girls Club Annual Clean Up Day
Our club established what is now known as the Rotary Boys and Girls Club in the basement of Plymouth Church 1944. The club grew so popular they moved to their own standalone building in 1954, a building funded by member donation dollars and used to this day.
Each year we return in service for an annual clean-up day, tackling tasks such as landscape improvements, kitchen clean outs, painting, and organizing. There is a role for everyone; we hope you “save the date” and join us!
Wednesday, May 13th 5:00 PM -7:00 PM Cascade PBS
May Evening Mix and Mingle at Cascade PBS
Our club members will enjoy exclusive access to the new Cascade PBS headquarters for this special "end of Rotary year" evening event. The evening will feature tours, presentations, and plenty of time to socialize in Cascade's special indoor/outdoor welcoming center space.
In an effort to better inform membership of the health of the club, we will start posting member additions and resignations after each month's club board meeting. February membership changes approved by the board are as follows:
New Members: Hayes Mott, Felicity Wang
Resignations:Bobbie Nickel, Astrid Berg, Randy Frisch
We love to see our Rotary members promoting good works in our community and abroad! If you have a project or fundraiser that you are excited about and would like to promote to your fellow club members, please check in with our Club Director, Mary Goldie, before distributing information or invitations through our email roster. We value the privacy of our members’ contact information and can let you know the appropriate ways to reach out to folks in our club. Thank you!!
Meets 10:30 am on the second Tuesday of each month via Zoom; please contact Jevon Powell for calendar invite and link.
The mission of the Local Service Committee is two-fold: to coordinate hands-on service activities for club members, and to accept and process grant applications for local service projects and forward those applications to Seattle Rotary Service Foundation for final evaluation and award.
New Members get to learn about the Rotary Club of Seattle (RCOS), Seattle Rotary Service Foundation (SRSF), and what it means to be a Rotarian, by doing. With guidance from their Mentor, every step of the way, and support from the Mentor Committee, New Members get to earn their Blue Badge by completing the Blue Badge Checklist. Once the Blue Badge Checklist is completed, the New Member will be announced formally in front of the Club and presented with their Blue Badge.
Serves to fulfill Rotary's mission of "advancing international understanding, goodwill, and peace." The committee selects projects that positively impact the health, education, and welfare of less advantaged people in other countries, with a particular emphasis on youth. Actively works with clubs in our District and abroad to leverage — via matching grants — the amount of money available for a project. Members get involved through direct knowledge of the project or by volunteering. Prior focuses have included malaria projects in Zambia, Tanzania, and Uganda; microcredit and water projects in India; de-mining projects in Vietnam and Lebanon; AIDS orphan support in South Africa and Ethiopia; education/literacy projects in Nepal, Chile, and Hungary; and more than a decade of wide-ranging projects in Russia.
For more information on this committee, please email info@seattlerotary.org.
Mar 25, 2026 5:30 PM - 7:30 PM Pacific Daylight Time (UTC-07:00)
Join us for a cash bar happy hour with your fellow Rotary Club of Seattle members and Columbia Tower club members! RSVP to let us know you plan to attend! Parking is $10 in the Columbia Tower Garage after 5 PM.
These are club membership (not total years of Rotary membership) anniversaries only
1 Year
George Fennell Tracy Brown
2 Years
Bobbie Nickel Bindiya Patel
4 Years
Steve Brum
5 Years
Linda Lowry
7 Years
Paul Casey
9 Years Roberto Dondisch
13 Years
Jan Levy
14 Years
Jeff Parker
Deanna Hobson
17 Years
Sam Davidson
22 Years
Alan Kunovsky Pete Delaunay
27 Years
Mike Barrett
29 Years
John Nesholm Bill Center
36 Years
Rod Waldbaum
37 Years
Bill Fetterley
Fedva Dikmen
38 Years
Jon Bridge
Larry Granat
Get Involved
Meet fellow Rotarians and get involved in service. See below for a list of committees. Email the committee chair by clicking on their name. Or, contact Mary Goldie for more information.
4. Invite your connections to a weekly meeting, and let mary@seattlerotary.org know so they may be introduced.
If you don't already have a LinkedIn profile, CLICK HERE to learn how to get started.
SEATTLE 4 ROTARY AUDIO VISUAL SPONSORS
Video of Seattle 4 Rotary Programs are available online thanks to the generous support of our Seattle Rotary Audio Visual Sponsors.
In addition to supporting our club, becoming a Seattle 4 Rotary Audio Visual Sponsor brings many benefits. To learn more, click here, or contact Mary for more details at mary@seattlerotary.org.
Do You Have Any Musical Instruments to Donate to Students in Need?
Music4Life is a non-profit and project of Rotary District 5030 that distributes musical instruments to public school students in need.
We welcome any gently used musical instruments you wish to donate. They can be delivered directly to these local music stores that are now open: American Music in Phinney Ridge and Kennelly Keys Music in Bellevue, Lynnwood, and Everett.
Please accompany your instrument with the PDF donation form, linked below.
Our Rotary Cares team is ready to listen and to support you. One of the wonderful things about our club is that you have many friends --you just need to reach out to tap into our amazing network of caring people. Please contact our Rotary Cares Committee Chair to let us know how we can help.
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