Meeting Notes Nov. 12, 2019

Visiting Rotarians

Gary Sparks, a member of the Wenatchee Rotary Club attended our meeting.

Visiting Guests

Janice Lawell, from a local Lions Club, visited the club.

Announcements

Adele, our Swiss Youth Exchange student, went skiing and bowling. Her Wenatchee High School Bowling Team practices at Eastmont Lanes. Come out and cheer her on!

Gary Sparks and Janice Lawell promoted the annual Apple Cup football game scorecard raffle, and Tailgate Party. The squares on the 2 scorecards are $10 and $20 each. The Party is at the Wenatchee Convention Center on November 22, 2019. Cougar Gold cheese is also available for purchase.

Rebecca Lyons announced that she was getting replies back from the recent club survey sent out by SurveyMonkey. She asked that all club members complete the brief 10 question survey to help make the club better. The email she sent out was from Rebecca Lyons, and the link to the survey is in the body of the email.

Kathleen McNalty announced the next community service opportunity for our club:
Catch the holiday spirit at the Wenatchee Valley Museum & Cultural Center with family crafts and activities during Christmas Family Fun Day on Saturday, Dec. 7, from 10 AM to 2 PM. https://www.wenatcheevalleymuseum.org/event/christmas-family-fun-day-5/

Our club volunteers have 3 shifts available. 1) Saturday, 9-10 a.m. - set up cocoa and cookies. 2) 10 am - Noon - serve cocoa and cookies. 3) Noon - 2 pm - serve cocoa and cookies. If interested, contact Kathleen McNalty (kmcnaulty1@outlook.com) or at 503-866-5599 cell. We will have our club banner there, and Rotary aprons for the volunteers.

David Barshes announced a planning retreat for the Challenge Scholar Committee on Sat., Nov. 16 from 9 am to noon, at the Charter College, 595 Grant Road, #5, East Wenatchee. The details of the Challenge Scholarship Program will be discussed.

Club President Taro Masuda announced a Holiday project for the club: houe decorating for a local family in need, The Talbotts. A "GoFundMe page has been set up for donations. For more information, contact club president Taro Masuda (taro.j.masuda@medtronic.com) or 509-620-2486 mobile.

Wayne Massing thanked the club's veterans for their service: Ron Griffith (Army), Bill McDowell (Army), Jim Huffman (Navy), Earl Crowe (Navy) and Wayne Massing (Navy).

Jim Huffman said that The Bunker, a local veteran assistance office, has some "neat" pins for Vietnam Veterans. Donations accepted. His Chuck Norris joke wasn't funny!

Ruth Dagg met with her Challenge Scholar for the first time. The young woman shared stories with Ruth and said she appreciated the club for presenting her with a scholarship.

Alan Walker talked about the veterans in his family, and about one relative's discharge paper that hangs on Alan's wall.

Women In Rotary will have a meeting at the Wenatchee Museum and Cultural Center on Tuesday Nov. 19th, 5:30 pm to 6:30 pm.

Wayne Massing encouraged club members to read the blog. Currently there are only about 15-20 people who visit the blog weekly (2 of them are the blog writers!). All the dates and information from the meeting is listed in the blog.

See the November birthday and anniversary dates on the right had column of this blog.

Board Meeting Minutes

John Schapman, club secretary, disclosed to the club the minutes of yesterday's board meeeting (Nov. 11, 2019). The following items were in the minutes:

     - The Board approved changes to the Challenge Scholarship Program

     - The Board approved $3000 for the Sister Connection, an African project headed up by Craig Reese

     - The Board discussed the funding received from "The World's Greatest Dinner to End Polio".

     - The Board approved $250 for the Museum Family Fun Day.

    - John reminded the club that elections were coming up by the end of December. If you are interested in a position on the Board, or in club leadership, contact club treasurer John Schapman (jt.schapman@gmail.com) or 509-222-0270 mobile.

Brags and Confessions

Mansour Ravassipour said this was his last meeting until next Spring. He and wife Linda are headed for sunny, warm Arizona!

Wayne Massing and his wife spent 5 hours in the Confluence Emergency Room with his mother-in-law, who had an excessively high blood pressure. She was briefly admitted to the hospital, but was home on Sunday afternoon with a lower blood pressure.

Sargent at Arms

Everyone's dollars were safe. We had NO Sargent at Arms present!

Program

Alan Walker, chairman of the Challenge Scholarship Bike Ride Committee, was the program for this week's Tuesday meeting.

Many points were brought up about the bike ride, including the history of the Bike Ride (33 years), number of miles ridden (100 miles from Pybus Public Market to the far end of Lake Wenatchee and back!), and what is a "SAG wagon" (Support And Gear).

Our average net funds from the bike ride is between $30k-$35k. This year's ride of June 1st netted about $24k. We'd like it to be around $40k.

There are 2 water stops (Cashmere and Beaver Hill) and 2 food pit stops (Leavenworth and the Fire Station at the far end of the Lake Wenatchee). The huge amount of work putting out route arrows and sign boards is usually accomplished by PJ Jones. We need to find someone to shadow PJ and act as his replacement should PJ not be able to do that job.

Many different agencies require permits for us to conduct our bike ride. Washington state, Chelan County, Cities and towns, State Parks, and WSDOT. Matt Eastman takes care of the permits.

Registration was headed up by Lisa Parks, but she has moved to Olympia. Ruth and others are filling in that position. Registration online will start Jan. 1, 2020. Joel McDonald heads that up, as well as the club website. We may need some help with Social Media to promote the bike ride.

John Schapman talked about the bike ride sponsors. Our current expenses are $15k-$20. We currently have between $10k-$15k in sponsors' donations for the 2020 bike ride. John encouraged club members to get sponsors. Alan passed around paper for club members to list potential members to be contacted.

Alan encouraged newer members to get more involved in the bike ride.

Pot Draw 

Kathy Hamilton was the big $30 winner. She donated $15 to the club, and used the other $15 to buy Cougar Cheese at the meeting!