July 19th Meeting

Announcements

Bonaventure will be hosting a fundraiser dinner to help out local Vets.  The Bunker is a local group of Vets serving Vets.  The dinner is $10.00 a plate.  The dinner is July 30th from 4:00 p.m.- 6:00 p.m. at Bonaventure in East Wenatchee.

Remember that next week, July 27th, is the Sunrise Rotary Fellowship at Lisa Bee's.  The event is also on Facebook if you want to share with friends and other Rotarians.  We will be there from 5:00- 7:00 however, food will only be available until 6:00 so be sure to get there in time to order some of the delicious food!  Also, consider bringing a lawn chair or three.  It can get busy and if we can't get tables, we will just move our party to the big lawn area.

Gil Sparks, a Wenatchee attorney, and a bike supporter of our Bike Ride event, has always worn the #1 tag in the bike ride.  Unfortunately, this year he was unable to ride but the #1 tag was set aside for him and will be signed and framed by Sunrise Rotary and give to Gil.  We certainly appreciate his amazing support!

It is with sadness that we announce the resignation of Don Sangster.  Don has been a faithful member, and the warm, friendly face of our club to everyone who walks into our meetings. He will be missed by all.

Brags and Confessions

Annie LaCroix has been trying to sell a gravel pit for about the last 10 years- it finally closed today! It isn't easy to sell a gravel pit but finally having it done...that rocks!

Jenny Napier has been without a kitchen for several months and is expecting a countertop and sink this week and an oven next week!  

Alan Walker has a son that graduated from High School and a daughter who was married.  

Kathy McNalty has submitted her resignation for her job.  Onward and upward to new adventures!

New Member

We welcome Rebecca Lyons as the newest Sunrise Rotarian.  Rebecca was sponsored by Jim Adamson and pinned by Matt McColm.  She was able to share this special moment with her daughter, Mari.  We are so excited to have Rebecca in our club - welcome!


Rebecca is a Northwest native, and has lived in Wenatchee for the past 15 years. She grew up in the Seattle area, and at the age of 16 had the good fortune to participate as a Rotary Youth Exchange student to Essen, West Germany (near Dusseldorf). That experience instilled a life-long love of travel and curiosity about other languages and cultures, and while at Washington State University obtaining her undergraduate degree in Business/Marketing, she spent a summer as a bank intern in Bern, Switzerland, and a year abroad studying in Osaka, Japan. Rebecca obtained her MBA in International Business at the American Graduate School of International Studies/Thunderbird in Glendale, Arizona in 1990. After graduation, she moved to the Tri-Cities as Director of the port district’s export development program, where she was an active member of the Pasco-Kennewick Rotary Club until moving away in 1995. After living in Mexico City, and learning Spanish, Rebecca came back to Washington State, where she eventually came to work at the Washington Apple Commission on the international marketing side. Nine and half years ago, Rebecca adopted her daughter, Marisol, from Guatemala, as a single parent. She met her husband Greg when Mari was 2 years old, and they have been married for the past six years. Rebecca enjoys travel, gardening, cooking, hiking and has recently been bitten by the photography bug. She and Greg recently became the owners of an Airstream trailer and look forward to a few adventures that don’t require boarding an airplane.


Program

Today's program was presented by Jenny Napier, Executive Director of GWATA (Greater Wenatchee Area Technology Alliance).

GWATA has three main areas of focus:  Technology, Entrepreneurship and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math).

GWATA has four main events each year:  Tech Savvy Business of the Year, Entrepreneur of the Year, Future Technology Leader (K-12) and Innovative Use of Technology in the Classroom.

GWATA Membership is open to all businesses and has over 100 members currently.  Through the year there are several networking events.  The next event is the Summer Social coming up August 3rd.  Additionally, the first Thursday of every month at Badger Mountain Brewing.  These are casual evenings where anyone can come and find a techy-person to ask questions to about various topics.  A great way to see what GWATA does while enjoying a pint.

GWATA is an amazing organization helping to bring people and technology resources together to create a thriving community.

For more information about GWATA, contact Jenny Napier.