Seattle King County Realtors honors Rotary District 5030 with its First Citizen award

“Ordinary people doing extraordinary things,” Rotarians exemplify “Service Above Self.” 

On June 13, the extraordinary accomplishments of the 54 clubs around Greater King County will be celebrated when Rotary International District 5030 will be honored as recipients of the 2012 Seattle-King County First Citizen Award.

This year marks only the second time in the award’s 74 year history that an organization has been honored.  The previous group winner was Children’s Orthopedic Hospital (now Seattle Children’s Hospital) in 1944. 

District Governor Ann Liberato, a member of the Rotary Club of West Seattle, will accept the award on behalf of the district’s 3,300 members.

Speakers at the June 13 program reflect various facets of Rotary’s mission, diversity, and guiding principles. They include David Bobanick, King County Executive Dow Constantine, Virginia Kirn, Jim McCurdy, Rob Rose and Ezra Teshome.

Other program participants include emcee Steve Raible, co-anchor of KIRO 7 Eyewitness News; and former Secretary of State Ralph Munro, a past president of the Rotary Club of Seattle, who will deliver the invocation;

The colors will be presented by troop members of the Boy Scouts of America who are descendents of past First Citizens. They include Eagle Scouts Kyle McCurdy and Drew McCurdy from BSA Troop 853 in Shoreline, plus three members of Troop 167 at Seattle’s University Presbyterian Church: Star Scout Ian McCurdy and Life Scouts JJ Graham and Ryan Graham.

University Club member Ezra Teshome, a native of Ethiopia, and the District Governor-Nominee who will serve as District Governor in 2013-2014, will share his firsthand experience in helping vaccinate millions of children against polio. His inaugural trip in 1998 with 64 members from District 5030 inspired annual journeys and his own resolve to fight polio and poverty, a commitment that earned him recognition as a Time Magazine “Global Health Hero.”

The Seattle-King County First Citizen Award and civic banquet, believed to be this region’s longest standing citation of its kind, has no fund-raising expectation, but instead is designed solely as a not-for-profit celebration of community leadership, volunteerism and public service.

Banquet reservations are required and may be made online at or by phone, (425) 974-1011. The nonprofit event, presented by SEATTLE KingCounty REALTORS®, takes place at the Sheraton Seattle Hotel beginning at 6 p.m. with a no-host reception, followed by the dinner and program at 7 pm. Tickets are $125 per person or $1,100 for a table of 10.

Clubs in Rotary International District 5030 include Shoreline, Shoreline Breakfast, Rain City (Shoreline), and Lake Forest Park.

South Snohomish County clubs in the district include Alderwood Terrace, Edmonds, Edmonds Daybreakers, and Lynnwood.