SPECIAL DAZE
Jacqueline Debets celebrated her birthday on March 15th, inviting her family over. The weather didn't allow an outdoor party, but the relatives showed for dinner. Her husband Rick Bend made tacos for the party-goers.
Craig Newman's birthday was on March 5th, and all I caught was that he went to Cher-Ae Heights for the evening.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Kathy Fraser reminded us that our Exchange Student Kasper Troelsen would be continuing to appear that weekend in the AHS play, "Once Upon a Mattress". That's over now, but you can still catch him performing this weekend at the Jazz Festival.
Janice Newman shared an e-mail message from Phattarakorn Srimongkol (better known and more easily pronounced as "Oy"). Oy was our Inbound Exchange Student during the 2000-2001 Rotary year. She now works for True Corporation ("the largest telecommunication and broadband services company in Thailand") as a Marketing Executive. She said that she is exploring her options - whether to find a new position, continuing her studies, or starting her own business. Perhaps the entrepreneurial option would involve her emerging interest in the culinary arts. The next Sunrise Spirit post will be a transcript of her e-mail.
FIREHOUSE FUNDRAISER REVIEW
The previous weekend's Firehouse Fundraiser was the event's seventh incarnation. The most recent count indicated that we grossed approximately $89,000 with net proceeds of about $55,000. Event Chair Dan Johnson acknowledged the efforts of the Fundraiser Committee: Lori Breyer, Kathy Fraser, Jessica McKnight, Cam Appleton, Donnie Rosebrook, Bob Moore, Susan Johnson, Lynda Moore, Craig Newman, Janice Newman, Scott Heller, and Orrin Plocher. Orrin noted that his cleanup crew encountered "puke and underwear" as they cleared the tables. Now that's a party! Dan also thanked Bob Johnson for serving as Emcee for the event, and he issued a special thank you to Michael Boreing.
FINES GALORE
Our Finemaster, Jessica McKnight, went fishing last Friday. She cast her line in the direction of Rob McBeth, asking what was new. Rob said that he "went to a big event last weekend" and imbibed a bit. He also attended the Cattlemen's function in Ferndale ... or were they one and the same?
Jessica then asked Bob Goodman about buying things at the Firehouse Fundraiser. "They're in the truck," he noted. In case you missed it, Bob purchased the two adorable black Lab puppies. Their new names are Allie and Indigo, and most of the family is very pleased, with the notable exceptions of the two older dogs.
Craig Newman made a valiant effort to win a fishing trip at the fundraiser, but he was outbid. "At least I bid it up," he noted. Similar attempts to raise the prices on items at a Safe and Sober event and a Fortuna Rotary auction were somewhat successful, but in those cases, Craig actually won the bidding.
Kathy Fraser told us the Good News that she is a grandmother-to-be times two. Both her daughter and her daughter-in-law are expecting.
Another soon-to-be grandparent is Michael Boreing. This will be his first time in that role. Michael also said that he has survived a five-month kitchen remodel. The renovation started modestly enough, but expanded over time. Michael said that he's been watching too much HGTV.
Jessica closed by turning the tables on herself. She said that she and her partner James Hitchcock recently celebrated 10 years as a couple, and James asked her to marry him. (I think she accepted.)
PROGRAM: Information Technology Trends
Our speaker last Friday was Carlton Nielsen of NYLEX, who discussed trends in information technology. Carlton noted that there have been three main areas that have shown recent changes.
First, he noted that information conversion is becoming more prevalent. This is the merging of fax, e-mail, telephone systems, and other systems that integrate with one another to provide a stream of data to and from businesses and individuals.
The second trend is toward mobile computing. In addition to relying on portable devices such as cell phones and notebook computers, this trend encompasses the migration of applications from individual PCs to web-based suites. Soon, we will purchase rights to use programs rather than software on tangible media.
Finally, Carlton noted the need for infrastructure development to support emerging techologies. He cited a recent trip to Siberia, saying that much of their infrastructure was superior to ours.
