June 9 Meeting Notes

We had 22 club members, spouses and guests on the ZOOM call on Tuesday!

Announcements

Jim and Carol Adamson announced their 48th anniversary on June 10th. Congratulations to you both! They also announced that their grandson is an Oregon Graduate!

Kathleen McNalty was pleased to have her youngest son move out of their house!

PJ Jones received a $95 check from Rotary Widow Elaine Church in honor of her husband Bob, who would have been 95 years old this year. Thank you, Elaine!

Jim and Carol Adamson also announced a $50 donation from one of our Apple Century Bike Ride riders who prides himself as riding every ride since we started! Our Apple Century Bike Ride was canceled this year because of the CoVid-19 virus.

Wayne Massing has been having trouble with his computer for the last 3 weeks, so has "attended" the virtual meeting every week by using his phone. The computer is still in the shop, but is close to being fixed.

Robin DeRock cheered on Adele, our Swiss Youth Exchange student, as she graduated from Wenatchee High School. She will be leaving at the end of the month, so we will have a drive-by party of Rotarians. Details TBD.

John Schapman, Club Secretary, reported on the Wenatchee Sunrise Rotary Board Meeting from Monday, June 8th.

-The board decided that the Change Over Dinner (virtual) will be 5:30 pm on Tuesday, June 23rd.

-There will be no morning Zoom meeting that day. Earl Crowe, the President Elect, presented his budget and it was approved by the board.

-The applications for our Challenged Scholarship Program were reviewed and selected. There are 9 applications.

Jim Adamson reported that the Wenatchee Rotary Club's Secretary, Frank Cliffton, announced the "Stuff the Bus" program. Fifteen thousand pounds of food and personal hygiene supplies will be collected by volunteers at the Grocery Outlet (Wenatchee) by June 27th. Volunteers should contact Selina at 509-699-0312.  Please bring a mask and work gloves.

Here is Westside High School graduate Adam, who our club "adopted". Robin and Kathleen took our gifts and presented them to him last week. Thanks to all who contributed. He was very grateful.










The Presidential Changeover Event will be at 5:30 on June 23. It will be a virtual Zoom meeting, and there will be no morning meeting that day. Taro will be roasted, outgoing officers and board members thanked, Earl inducted, along with the new officers and board. There will be a slide show of Taro's year.

We will also have a slide show of Adele's year. Our youth exchange student from Switzerland has done a great job this year, and we have missed seeing her in person the past couple months. To celebrate and honor her, we will be having a drive-by parade near the end of June to wish her well. She will be leaving on June 27. You are all encouraged to come by with a card, gift, etc. and let her know how much we have enjoyed having her here.  Details to come next week.

Brags and Confessions

Earl Crowe, President Elect, was the latest recipient for the Purple-Yellow-Green Unicorn wig. Earl and his family had a lot of fun with it. The pictures caused Robin to spray coffee from her nose again!

Earl teaches Anatomy at Wenatchee Valley College at night, so decided to share the unicorn wig with his skeleton Skinny!
Jim Huffman will be jealous of Earl's closeness to Chuck Norris.

Program

Kathleen McNalty introduced our speakers from Goathead Warriors, Ariahna Jones and Doug Pauly. She met them on the Loop Trail while they were working there.

Ariahna and Doug are co-founders of Goathead Warriors, who are a group of about 50 volunteers united to eradicate the noxious weed called "Goathead" or "Puncturevine". Noxious weeds are the traditional terms for invasive plants what are so aggressive they harm our local ecosystems or disrupt agricultural production. They cost farmers millions of dollars in control efforts and lost production, making the food we buy more expensive.

Their efforts have been to educate the public on Goatheads and be a boots-on-the-ground defense force to eradicate said weed! Wenatchee has declared the Goathead to be a public nuisance and local citizens found to have it growing on their property can be fined $100/day until it is removed.

Goatheads grow from a single tap root and then spread in vines along the top of the ground. Small seeds with pointed spikes grow on the vines. When the seed dry, they fall off the vines and attach themselves to anything that touches them. Shoes, boots, clothing, bike and vehicle tires are all methods for the Goatheads to spread to other areas. 

Doug said that most of the Goathead is in
undeveloped neighborhoods, like South Wenatchee. There the many rental properties aren't kept up and Goatheads spread rapidly. The city of Wenatchee, the Loop Trail and East Wenatchee has been divided up into 25 zones that are patrolled about every 3 weeks during the summer months. If found, it is cut flush with a

shovel that is flush with the ground surface. Many Western states and Mexico are areas where Goathead grows. Many other cities are modeling their noxious week program after Wenatchee's.

Ariahna showed slides of the simple equipment used to fight Goatheads: shovel, gloves and garbage bags. Where there is water, there is Goatheads!

Herbicides only work if the seeds are not formed. Tap roots can live for up to 5 years.

Goathead Warriors is a 501.3c.

Doug hoped that more people would bike if their tires weren't flattened by the sharp, Goathead seeds. Pictures of the Goathead can be found on their website: www.goatheadwarriors.com or on the website for the Noxious Weed Control Board: www.nwcb.wa.gov .