Two Coeur d’Alene Rotary clubs took top honors at a joint district conference that featured a speech by Bill Gates.

Rotary District 5080, comprised of clubs in eastern Washington, western Idaho and British Columbia, and Rotary District 5030, Seattle-area clubs, met May 16-19 in Spokane for the first combined district conference.

The Sunrise Rotary Club of Coeur d’Alene won Rotary Club of the Year for clubs with 35 or more members as well as having their member, Karen Cook, win Rotarian of the Year.

The Rotary Club of Coeur d’Alene Evening won Rotary Club of the Year for smaller clubs, with their total of 22 members.

The four-day conference included guest speakers such as Rotary International President Barry Rassin and technologist, business leader, and philanthropist Bill Gates.

“This year was unlike any other, where we had someone like Bill Gates there,” said Brian Goetz, president of the Sunrise Rotary Club of Coeur d’Alene.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation joined Rotary in 2007, with a goal to eradicate polio worldwide.

In 1988, The Global Polio Eradication Initiative was launched with help from the Rotary Club, the World Health Organization, UNICEF and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Since 2013, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has matched every $1 the Rotary club devotes to polio.

President of the Rotary Club of Coeur d’Alene Evening, Ben Holzhauser, said he was surprised when two Coeur d’Alene Rotary clubs won.

“I think it really shows that we are huge advocates for helping out our community,” he said. “Rotary clubs are really big about ‘service above self’ and helping out those in Coeur d’Alene.”

The Rotary Club of Coeur d’Alene Evening will be holding its Brewery Olympics from 5-7 p.m. on Saturday, June 29, at the Slate Creek Brewing Co. in Coeur d’Alene.