President Duane Clark opened the meeting at 7:07 pm.  New members and visitors introduced themselves.

Motion:  Don Lapworth made a motion, seconded by Elaine Oliphant, to approve the July minutes as presented.  The motion passed unanimously.

Correspondence: Duane read an email from Christina Heyne, the student who we awarded a student travelship to participate in a Western Washington University ecotourism program in Peru.  She sent her email from an internet café in Juarez, Peru.  Christina said the tourism project, which the community runs, is wonderful and well run.  In her travels, she hiked 16 miles going from 12,000 to 16,000 feet in altitude.  Next the group will be going to a jungle on overnight bus.

Treasurer’s report:  In Mark Lijek’s absence, Cora Amburn-Lijek, gave his report for August.   The general reserve has $2,816.34, the operating reserve has  $14,852.67, and the dedicated reserves have $18,961.43.  The dedicated reserves are as follows:  $1,000 official travel reserve, $165 cookbook reserve, $116.34 Sidney Committee reserve, $6,500 student travel fund, $10,428.59 golf tournament reserve, and $751.50 Vela Luka Committee Reserve.  Our total assets are $40,929.07. 

During this financial report period, the Kisakata exchange students raised $624, and the Soroptomists Club gave a $300 grant to the students and chaperones.  These funds and the rest of the Kisakata Exchange Reserve funds were distributed to the students and chaperones before they left for Japan. This included $3,600 from the Anacortes Youth Sports Coalition Auction, which was used to underwrite the golf tournament, and $1105 from golf tournament reserves, representing 10% of net tournament income.  The reserve has now been closed as all of the funds were distributed.

The amount in the golf tournament reserve is the approximate net profit after all deductions except for some small invoices, which remain to be paid.

We received a $6,000 grant from our foundation sponsor.  $1,000 of this money was placed in the Student Travel Fund per the foundation’s request.

Grants of $1,000 from the Student Travel Fund were awarded to Christina Heyne and Maddie Crowe.

Olive oil sales generated $1629, and cookbook sales generated $100. 

The City of Anacortes reimbursed ASCA $372 for expenses in connection with the Town Crier’s participation in a tournament in Annapolis, MD.

We paid $272 for the annual renewal of our general liability insurance policy and $108 for a floral arrangement for the funeral of Anton Lovric.

The audit report has been approved by the audit committee and will be included in the next report.

Lomonosov Committee Report:  Chair Don Lapworth said the travelers had a wonderful time.  They were great kids.  They were chosen because they were a little older and their families are involved in the Kalinka or sister city association in Lomonosov.  Don said we owe a debt of gratitude to Kris Lytton for taking so many photographs and making individual photo albums for each of the travelers and a CD with a lot of photos.  Duane said they were remarkable uniquely individualized gifts.  Duane thanked Don for his leadership in pulling the trip together.

One problem the Committee encountered was the difficulty in finding homestay families with kids of comparable age.  Don said we need to find a group of families with kids to help with homestays for the future.

We have sponsored two groups of visiting students from Lomonosov.  We would now like to send a group of students from Anacortes to Lomonosov next year.

Kisakata Committee Report:  Duane shared a gift from Kisakata, a cherry wood box with several compartments and a handle.

Co-chair Cora Amburn-Lijek said the travelers returned home safely the same day we had the welcome party for the Russian students.  Cora, the chaperones, and one adult traveler met the week after they returned.  They had a wonderful time and would like to help plan next year’s visit by the Japanese.  Cora is happy to have others help out with the program.  Cora will be meeting with the students on Sunday, Sept. 14 to get their feedback on the trip and the program in general.  It is now time to start recruiting the next group of students, so a letter will be going to the middle school and an informational meeting will be held some time this month. 

The “Path to Edo: Quilts from Japan" exhibit will be at the La Conner Quilt Museum until September 21 (Wed.-Sat. 11 a.m. – 4 p.m. and Sun. 12-4 p.m.)

Sidney Committee Report:  Chair David Rapella said he would like to increase our contact and activities with Sidney.  On Canada Day a group of members went to Sidney.  There was also a delegation of four men from Neimi, Japan, Sidney’s new sister city.  Canada’s birthday and the beginning of a new sister city relationship were celebrated.

The next event will be the Nov. 29 Christmas parade.  We will leave on Saturday morning and return on Sunday.  It will be a lot of fun.  A sign-up sheet was passed around.

Later this month the Sidney members will be asked for a date when they would like to visit Anacortes in addition to July 4 and our Christmas parade.  David asked our members to suggest dates to visit Sidney.  Homestays would be provided.  Cora suggested planning a visit to Sidney when there is a festival or other celebration going on.  David said he is trying to figure out why more people didn’t go on the last trip.

Vela Luka Committee Report:  Duane reported that 21 of the 30 cases of olive oil we bought have been sold.  One case was donated to the Anacortes Youth Sports Coalition Auction.  Duane would like to sell the rest before Christmas.  Duane is planning the boat trip for those who bought a case of olive oil.  There is still room on the boat if anyone else purchases a case.  The cost is $12 per bottle or $120 for a case of 12 bottles ($24 savings).

Golf Tournament Committee Report:  Chair Duane Clark reported that we had more golfers and a higher gross and net than ever before.  Although we were worried about the number of golfers just days before the tournament, it turned out wonderfully, and we had a gorgeous sunny day.  Elaine said we made it fun for the golfers.  Duane gave Rudy and Dolores Gahler their thank you photo for being sponsors.

Other:  Duane reported that Matthew Tweetin, our young crier in training, went to Vela Luka in July.   He took a letter of introduction from Mayor Maxwell to Mayor Gugich.  He and his mom met the mayor and Lena, the high school English department head.  His mom emailed Duane that they had a wonderful time, and that they would like to move there or at least return very soon.   

There will be an executive board meeting next Thursday, September 11.

Program:  Karissa Herrigstad, our first student travelship recipient, gave a power point presentation about her life in Spain.  Karissa had a wonderful time.  She lived with a single Brazilian woman, who has lived in Spain for over 20 years, went to the local high school, made lots of friends both with local kids and Rotary exchange students from all over the world, tried lots of different kinds of food, and went to fiestas.  She also had the opportunity to travel to other parts of Spain, to Morocco twice, around Spain and Italy with her mom, and in Spain with her dad and sister, Kim, and the Anacortes Spanish Club when they came to Spain this past spring. 

Adjournment:  The meeting was adjourned at 8:15 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Cora Lijek, in the absence of the Secretary