This is Club 21’s Award for Rotarian of the Year. In reality, it represents a long-time commitment to our Club and Rotary at large. It’s given to a member of our Club who best epitomizes Service Above Self and whose life personifies the Four-Way-Test.
The award is named for Fred K. Jones, the first of four generations of the Jones family who have been club members: (Fred, Kennard, Barry and Scott). Fred K. Jones was a Spokane Business Icon decades before the Journal of Business created the award. In 1934, while President of the Spokane Chamber of Commerce, he presided over the bid opening for the construction of the Grand Coulee Dam (the largest single government construction project ever undertaken in this country). Six years later, he was our club’s president in 1940-1941. He went on to be a District Governor and in 1945-1946 he became the only member of our club ever to serve on the Rotary International Board of Directors. While none of us will have the impact that Fred K. Jones had on the Rotary world, this award recognizes those of us who have been inspired by that kind of dedication to this club and to Rotary International.
The honoree is selected by the past five recipients of the award and presented by the person aging off the selection committee (and I do mean aging).
This year’s honoree has been an engaged member of Rotary Club 21 for over two decades. This Rotarian is a servant leader whose effervescent presence has been a force for good in our club and our community.
This Rotarian is consistently willing to lend a hand and donate their time when and where it’s needed. As someone who currently serves on six different committees, this Rotarian always has the best interest of our Club in mind when making decisions or recommendations. This person genuinely cares about people, and it shows in everything they do.
Since aging out of the infamous Rotaract Club in 2002, this person’s penchant for having fun and making people laugh has been part of our club. As one of the Blues Brothers, he and Fred K.Jones awardee, Gary Stokes, made us laugh week after week in the most fun RCS campaign ever. When he was club president, he regaled us with a different “F” word every week.
The first one was not what you might be thinking; it was FUN. If memory serves, you suggested that we add fun to the 4-way test and make it a 5-way test. While his brother has taken over the “F word of the week,” he continues to try to make us laugh with “bad dad jokes.” By now it should be obvious to everyone that this year’s Fred K. Jones Award recipient is none other than Kyle Weir.
Here are a few more highlights of Kyle’s Rotary Service:
Club President 2021 – 2022
4-time Paul Harris Fellow and 7-time Club Builder
Trustee of the Spokane Rotary Foundation and Chair of the Foundation Committee.
He also serves on the following committees: Budget, Community Impact, Classification, Membership Engagement, International Service and Program.
You are a worthy recipient of this award, Kyle, and I am honored to call you a friend. It is with great pleasure that I ask you to join me in celebrating the Fred K. Jones Rotarian of the Year, Kyle Weir