An everyday hero is selfless.

It is the community volunteer who helps to take down Christmas decorations in downtown Kirkland every year after the holiday season hustle has settled. An everyday hero is the worker mowing the grass along 85th Street that you pass, but may not think twice about.

Highlands resident Karen Story noticed an everyday hero in our community when her neighborhood needed to maintain the off-ramp triangles on the west side of 405 at Northeast 85th (see page 3 for full story).

Adrian Ionescu, a former seasonal laborer for the City of Kirkland Public Works Department, continued to mow the triangles for free when the neighborhood ran out of money. He did it because the work needed to be done and he takes great pride in his community.

The Kirkland Kiwanis is looking to recognize and honor these community heroes through its “Everyday Hero Award” program.

The Kiwanis describes these unsung heroes as someone who renders service “beyond what is ordinary or expected and for doing so without regard for attention or receiving in return; but rather, it was the right thing to do and needed to be done.”

Every few months, the Kirkland Kiwanis praises someone in the Kirkland community who meets these expectations. Most recently, the Kiwanis honored Kirkland Detective Corporal Brad Porter with an “Everyday Hero Award” during its weekly meeting at the Crab Cracker on Wednesday (see page 4 for more).

Porter was the lead investigator during the Milkin murder case, assisting Prosecutor Scott O’Toole in the preparation of the case for trial over the past four years. He also attended the majority of the court hearings, said Kirkland Police Chief Eric Olsen.

Do you know of someone in the Kirkland community who does something – big or small – and asks for nothing in return? The Kirkland Kiwanis would like to know about this person.

If you would like to recommend a community member to receive the Kirkland Kiwanis “Everyday Hero Award,” please e-mail: letters@kirklandreporter.com. Please provide a brief description of the person you are nominating and why you think he/she should be recognized.

For more information about the “Everyday Hero Award” program or the Kirkland Kiwanis, visit www.kirklandkiwanis.org.

Kirkland Rotary Clubs

Speaking of people who make a difference, did you know that our community has two Rotary Clubs? The Kirkland Rotary, which has been around since 1937, meets at the Woodmark Hotel on Monday evenings. It’s a fun bunch that I’ve had the opportunity to meet when I went as a guest with former Kirkland Mayor Bill Woods. It was an interactive meeting and many of the members were quick to crack jokes and serenade each other.

The younger club – the Rotary Club of Kirkland Downtown (RCKD) – has been around for almost five years. The 40-member RCKD begins its weekly meetings with coffee, conversation and a buffet breakfast at the Crab Cracker on Tuesday mornings.

Both groups offer community members an opportunity to make a difference locally and nationally through various projects.

For more information on both clubs, please check out the Reporter’s special Rotary section in this issue (pages 11-18).