July 12th Meeting

Announcements

Attendance:
Matt talked about attendance and reminded everyone that meetings can be made up at other Rotary groups or by attending fellowship groups and committee meetings.  All meetings must be posted one week in advance to qualify as a "make-up" committee meeting.

He also explained the "Rule of 85" in which someone can be excused from the attendance record if the sum of their years as a Rotarian (20 minimum) plus their age is greater than 85.

Lisa Bee's Social Event:
We have an upcoming social on Wednesday, July 27th from 5:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.  Lisa is kindly staying late for us but food will only be available until 6:00 so be sure to arrive before then, or call in your order, if you want to eat.  Click here to see the deliciousness she offers!  It is a great place for kids and dogs so bring the whole family for a fun Rotary evening.

Youth Exchange:
Our new Youth Exchange student is Lucas Hourdin from Toulouse, France.  Margie is looking for some host families so get in touch with her to be part of this amazing opportunity to host an exchange student.

Brags and Confessions:

Tom was lucky enough to have a first row seat to the Wenatchee SWAT team surrounding a house near his house.  There was suspicion of a gunman on the loose but it turned out no one was ever found.  However, the SWAT team decided to put a concussion bomb into the house and it blew out all the windows and doors of the house.  Tom considered it an all around good form of entertainment.

Jenny Napier is hosting a GWATA breakfast next week called "Women Rule the World".  It is from 7:30 a.m. - 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday, July 20th.  Tickets can be purchased at www.GWATA.org.

Craig survived his 15 year-old daughter's first attempt at passing another vehicle.  Even though Craig felt it was close, it is clear she has the confidence to drive boldly into the future!  Also, his family recently spent time on Orcas Island and highly recommends it.  Finally, he gave the Sergeant at Arms at Snow Blower manual for Taro.  It seems it is being held by the SA for a ransom to be collected at some point...

Kevin Love flew his youngest daughter home from New York and then spent a busy week attending two family reunions and doing a bunch of other fun stuff during her visit.

Jim Adamson welcomed Renee and Sheila as potential new members.

Matt McColm said that his son had planned on going camping but didn't consider it "real" camping because he wasn't in a tent.  Turns out that when he arrived, he got to sleep in a tent...so real camping it is!

Program:

Today we enjoyed two classification talks.

Leonard Ness:

Leonard's parents with both part of a mass immigration from Norway.  His dad arrived here in 1912 and his mom arrived the following year in 1913.  When Leonard was researching this immigration, he learned that nearly one-third of the Norwegian population evacuated Norway between 1912 and 1920.  Most ended up in North Dakota, Minnesota and Iowa.  His parents were among those and they met in Minneapolis.  They married in 1923 and Leonard arrived on New Year's Eve, 1924.  His dad borrowed a Model-T to drive his mom to the hospital through a very snowy night.

Leonard was raised in a Norwegian speaking household and was fortunate enough to have a Norwegian speaking Kindergarten teacher who tutored him into the first grade.  He continued on and graduated from Roosevelt High School with 445 other people.

His first job was at Schmitt Music in Minneapolis where he earned a hefty $.27/hour for a grand total of $16.00 after 60 hours of work.

He then went on to work at International Harvester during the war.  He made 105mm shells.  When the war ended, his job ended.

He had a friend who had traveled to Wenatchee and wanted Leonard to go back and visit with him.  Leonard and his friend acquired a hearse and drove across country to Wenatchee where he met his future wife, Betty.

Betty and Leonard shared 64 years of marriage and had two sons, David and Dan.  Dan passed away two years ago on Thanksgiving.

Leonard was in the printing business for most of his life- first at a printing company for 19 years, 11 months until he opened his own company that he retired from at the young age of 88.

Leonard was invited to Rotary by Bill Bumps and has been a club member since 1968!

At 91 years of age, he is our club historian and he sure knows a lot of history!

If you ever have time, Leonard loves to play one of his accordions or organs for visitors- stop by- he promises to put a pot of coffee on for the recital.

Mike Thorburn:

Mike was born in Michigan as the youngest of 7 children.  His family headed to California but make a stop in Washington and never left.

He graduated from Auburn High School and went on to Foster's School of Business.

In 1973, he and his brother started a manufacturing company that made die grinders for dentures and dental bridges.  He holds the patent to the die grinder.

He learned to program and operate CNC (Computer Numeric Control) machines and spent time in the aerospace industry as a CNC operator.  He saw the need for assembly work and started a business in the Seattle area doing a lot of work for Boeing.  His business won "Supplier of the Year" for Boeing three years in a row.  His business took him to Europe on several occasions to see airshows.

He moved here full time in 2015 and enjoys motorcycles, golf, waterskiing and wake surfing.