Holiday Social and December 29 meeting notes

Holiday Social Notes

Our Wenatchee Sunrise Rotary Club came together, via a Zoom call, for our annual Holiday Social on Tuesday, Dec. 22nd. Gone was the catered dinner, but many beverages flowed during the course of the evening!

Santa Claus, President Earl's Father-In-Law David Hardwick, made an appearance, and presented Santa's history throughout the ages.

A White Elephant Gift Exchange was modified for our online format. Those wanting to participate bought gifts which were collected by Santa Earl and his elves. The gifts were then scrambled up and returned to different club members. Everyone was surprised with the gifts they got to take home! Lots to eat and drink in those exchanges!

During the course of the evening, President Earl presented Paul Harris Fellow (PHF) awards to 14 club members and one family member. The awards were given by The Rotary Foundation of Rotary 
International in appreciation of tangible and significant assistance given for the furtherance of better understanding and friendly relations among peoples of the world. It was signed by Holger Knaack, President of Rotary International.

Those receiving awards were: Robin DeRock +3, Bill McDowell +2, Milt Herman +2, Matt Eastman +1, Taro Matsuda +1, Kathleen McNalty +1, Kathy Hamilton +1, Alan Walker +1, Rani Sampson PHF, Craig Reese PHF, Joel McDonald PHF, Rebecca Lyons PHF, Gregory Lyons PHF given in Memory of Gregory, Rebecca's husband, John Schapman PHF, and Wayne Massing PHF. The "PHF" indicates the initial award presentation. The "+" indicates that this has been awarded multiple times in the past.

Jim Huffman sported the traveling yellow/purple wig. His Zoom background complemented the hair perfectly. Who will get the wig to wear next?

On a sad note, our beloved club member Leonard Noss passed away on Dec. 20th of complications from a recent fall. Len was just short of his 96th birthday. His quick wit and sense of humor was enjoyed by all he met. RIP, Len! Our prayers to his family.

Dec. 29th Announcements

Our public image grant was approved for new club canopy.  The grant will provide $200, and the club budget will cover the rest.

PJ reported that our application for the Road Apple Roulette was not approved by the gambling commission, so we will need to come up with another fundraiser for this year.

Bike ride committee meeting January 19 at 5:30.  A zoom link will be sent out prior.

Members needing our prayers

John McDarment fighting the COVID virus

Earl dealing with medical problem (not COVID)

Ron Griffith, whose wife Marilyn is on hospice.

Brags and Confessions

Robin has her Christmas décor down.  She and Richard enjoyed a virtual Christmas party with their district governor classmates, and even did a gift exchange.  She got a stuffed mascot for the Philadelphia Flyers that she immediately gave to her dog for a chew toy (since she is a Chicago Blackhawk fan).

Jackie and Dan picked up a friend of Dan's in Spokane last night at 10:30.  He's from W. Virginia, and will be visiting for a week.

Alan and Kelly celebrated Christmas with families in Olympia, Ellensburg, and Lake Roosevelt.

Craig and PJ announced their birthdays, and donated money for their years.

Milt added $96 in honor of Leonard Noss, who would have been 96 on New Year's Day.

Kathleen's daughter is out of quarantine.

Joel talked about effects of Co-Vid and his experience of getting the vaccine.

Program

Craig (our club Rotary Foundation chairman) shared about The Rotary Foundation (TRF).

What it is - advances world understanding, goodwill, and peace through initiatives that include health, education, alleviation of poverty.

Why we give - to support six areas of focus:

• peace and conflict prevention/resolution
• disease prevention and treatment
• water and sanitation
• maternal and child health
• basic education and literacy
• economic and community development.

How money is collected - individual donations and club fundraisers.

Where the money goes - 50% to districts for community and international grants, 50% the world fund for global grants and peace scholars.

Polio Plus - donations go to help pay for vaccinations and supporting costs.

Recognitions for our contributions - different recognitions for different giving levels, both for the program fund and the endowment fund.

Our club goals

• club contribution of $4500 for our member donations ($50/member plus $50/member club match)
• polio plus contribution of $1500
• 2 new Bequest members ($10,000 pledge to endowment fund when we die)
• 4 new Benefactors ($1,000 pledge to endowment fund when we die).

Meeting Notes Dec. 15, 2020

 

Announcements

Earl reminded us of next week's meeting will be a night visit with Santa on Tuesday, Dec. 22nd, at 6 pm. Santa is scheduled to visit. The White Elephant exchange gifts have been collected and redistributed, thanks to Earl and his elves. Please refrain from opening your gift until the night of the social. 

Bill McDowell showed us his purple/green wig! Nice locks, Bill Who gets this wig next! Watch your doorstep!

John Schapman recapped the Board of Directors meeting notes from Monday, Dec. 14th meeting:

• Dues structure and discounts were discussed. The Membership Committee will look into the discounts
• Donor advised fund was discussed
• Club Runner was discussed. The Public Image Committee will offer input next year as to whether or not we migrate our website over to that base or not
• The board voted to contribute $1000 to the Friends of Emmanuel University-India
• The board decided to wait for any funding to The Sister Connection.
• The board decided to drop one member from the club roster due to lack a payment of dues and lack of participation in club service projects.

Shanley Crane, Assistant/Area Governor for Area 6, gave words of encouragement to members of Wenatchee Sunrise Rotary Club during these difficult times! She has been enjoying the visits to all the clubs in her area, Wenatchee, Wenatchee Sunrise, East Wenatchee, Wenatchee Confluence, Cashmere, Leavenworth and Chelan Rotary Clubs.

Ruth thanked the club for the "Widows Boxes" collected for the Sisters Connection in Burundi. The Wenatchee Sunrise and East Wenatchee Rotary Clubs participated.

Rotary Moment

Wayne discussed a Public Image grant that the Public Image Committee applied for. A new canopy will be purchased, and after submitting a photo of it and the receipts, District 5060 will reimburse us about $200.

Brags & Confessions

Robin has returned from Southern California after a visit with her aging mother, who might be moving to Wenatchee. Robin's Romba vacuum robot hit a "cat dropping", then tracked it throughout the house! The robot also spread it inside its inner, mechanical workings! What a mess!

Erik and his son are headed to Sea-Tac airport so his son can fly to Israel. He will be a construction manager there for a 3 year contract. Not bad for 24 years old!

Erik asked Tom about his wolf and deer conflict at his feeding station near his house. Tom said 4 wolves had chased off most of the deer he feeds. Tom said a 5-point buck deer was in his yard last night, however.

John Schapman was preparing for a school online auction for St. Joseph Catholic School. More details at www.stjoesauction.com The auction is Feb. 7th-13th. Check out the video (forthcoming, but check the website) showing the items to bid on.

Rebecca thanked the club for participating in the "Stuff-A-Sack", where clothing and personal care items are collected for high school students. She had several co-workers at the Washington Apple Commission help out as well.

Earl and his daughter were headed across the mountains to Covington to the Tahoma National Cemetery. A local Wenatchee veteran's ashes were not claimed, so Earl and his daughter were going to have them interred at this veterans' cemetery. While in the South Sound area, they will visit with their family and exchange gifts.

Kevin said the "gender reveal" of his daughter and son-in-law's newest grandbaby-to-be was postponed because the son-in-law was exposed to CoVid. He's in quarantine and after that, will be back to the gender reveal!

Program

Our program was supposed to be our former Youth Exchange student (2001) Paula Mota, but she wasn't on the ZOOM call. PDG Jim Adamson led a discussion about recent YE students, club members who have been YE students before, club members who have had their children go abroad as YE students, and club members who have been YE family hosts.

Joseph Bernard, a recent YE student from France, was on today's call. He is currently studying in Switzerland. He said it didn't seem like a year ago that he was here in Wenatchee. When he first arrived, he could not wait to get back home. He had 3 great host families that changed his mind about leaving America! He enjoyed our country's diversity, and its people. His time here really helped his English language skills, which he is using now in college.

Rebecca was a YE student back in 1979-1980, and went to West Germany for her year. She had hope to go to France, but the YE travel person thought her name sounded German and that she looked German! She confessed that the YE experience was the most dramatic event in her life. It benefited her getting an international sales job with the Washington Apple Commission.

Robin has a daughter who spent a year in Switzerland while she was 15 years old. One host family had a difficult time before and during her time there, and ultimately got a divorce! Her daughter came back with a better appreciation of chocolate and cheese. Robin's son went to Turkey after graduation and only had 1 host family during his entire stay there. He still wants to return to Turkey.

Joel Banken was a YE student in high school and went to Mexico. His learning to speak and read Spanish has helped him in his current job as a healthcare doctor at Stimelt Growers. He and his wife Julie have hosted YE students from France, Thailand, Italy, and Brazil. His two sons have been YE students to Thailand and India.

Chris' son went to Thailand without knowing any Thai language or reading skills. After about a month of immersion into the culture, he was very fluent. All host families in Thailand speak Thai only; no English! Chris and wife Holly had more free time with him being gone!

Many of our club member have been host families for inbound Youth Exchange students. Jim and Carol said you gain a child and become attached to them. They traveled to Europe and visited their YE student after 19 years.

Joseph Bernard said he has hosted 2 American YE girls since he has been back to France, and looks forward to hosting more!

Earl closed the meeting with a quote from Steve Jobs: "Work fills a major part of your life. Do what you believe is great work!"

Meeting adjourned at 8 a.m. 

December 9 meeting notes

Announcements

Congratulations to the newly elected officers for 2021-22 

President - Kathleen McNalty

Vice-Pres - Jim & Carol Adamson

Pres-Elect - Robin DeRock 

Secretary - John Schapman

Treasurer - Craig Reese

Board members -Chris McDarment and Rebecca Lyons

Board meeting Monday, Dec. 14, 7:00 am.

Theses officers will be joining current Board members Kaity VanWeerdhuizen and David Barshes

Congratulations to John Schapman, our Rotarian of the month for November.  John has done a great job as secretary, got the elections organized, gets out club emails, and keeps up our Clubrunner website.

Craig thanked all who donated to the Burundi widows and orphans.

White elephant gifts will be collected this week and distributed Saturday (don't open until the Christmas party Dec. 22).

It was announced that due to COVID, the District Conference scheduled for May in Wenatchee would have to be cancelled.

PJ reported that a huge trailer full of leaves were raked at Ron Griffith's home, loaded into a big trailer and taken to the yard waste disposal site.  Thanks to PJ, Kevin, Kathleen, Chris, Earl, and Jim & Carol.

Braggs and Confessions

Jill - celebrating 48 years of marriage.

Pete - oldest daughter expecting a son - Pete & Kristine's first grandchild.

Rebecca - thanked Kathleen and Steve for mowing her yard and hanging some lights.

Chris - son Brian selected to be a residential advisor at CWU.

John Mc - Chris and Brian helped clean out the garage and haul 7 loads to Veteran's Warehouse. He can now park his truck inside.

Program

PJ and Pete gave a presentation of our upcoming Road Apple Roulette fundraiser.  PJ gave some history of how it came about, how it works, and what our club members will be expected to do.

Basically a mile of street will be mapped out in a grid.  Ticket will be sold that are attached to a square. During the Apple Blossom Parade, when a horse poops, it is recorded by GPS and links to a ticket.  The ticket holder wins a prize. Our role will be to sell tickets, obtain prizes, and scoop the poop.

Pete gave an update on our petition to the gambling commission.  we are waiting approval.  Stay tuned.

Meeting Notes for Dec. 1, 2020

Announcements

Elections will be held December 8th, next Tuesday.  Be at the meeting so you can see the ballot and vote.  The Board has approved to put Jim & Carol Adamson on the ballot as co-vice-presidents for next year.  Unless someone else has the desire to step in, they will continue to be co-pres-elect, and co-president in 2022-23. We will be using Survey Monkey for the online election.

John McDarment showed us his purple/green wig which made its way from Milt Herman's house! Who gets this wig next! Watch your doorstep!

Carol and Jim Adamson said the Shuswap (Salmon Arm, BC) Rotary Club sent a club banner and Christmas card to our club.

The Tuesday, Dec. 22  meeting will be at 6:00 pm (no morning meeting) to celebrate Christmas with Santa Claus (virtual).  Same zoom link.  We are doing white elephant gift exchange. Gift should be about $20 or less.  If you'd like to participate, contact Earl Crowe (ejcrowe1@yahoo.com ) by Friday, Dec. 4th.  He and his elves will pick up your wrapped gift over that weekend (put your name on it with a Post-It Note), and deliver one to you. He will give you a different gift to save and be opened on Dec. 22nd at our social.

Wayne said that Life Flight Network, a Northwest air ambulance company, notified him about renewal notices to the club members who signed up last January. For those club members, he sent an email with a renewal application and directions for payment. Other club members will receive a separate email with information if they wish to enroll. Follow the directions on the email you receive to renew or initialize your membership.  If you didn't receive the email, check your SPAM folder on your computer, or contact Wayne (wkmassing@nwi.net ).

Our club received a Certificate of Appreciation, from RI President Mark Daniel Maloney, for Wenatchee Sunrise Rotary Club's contribution to the 2019-20 End Polio Now: Countdown to History campaign. The award was also signed by Gary C.K. Huang, Chair, The Rotary Foundation Trustees.  Earl presented the certificate to last year's president, Taro Masuda.

Kathleen announced that there is a meeting for those interested in the club's Road Apple Roulette at the Apple Blossom Festival Parade next year. The Thursday, Dec. 3rd, 5:30 pm. meeting will be on Zoom (same ZOOM meeting number as our Tuesday meeting).

Craig said that club dues invoice have been sent. If you didn't get one, check your SPAM folder in your email.

On Saturday, Dec. 5th at 8:30 am, club members are needed to help clean up the leaves in Ron Griffith's yard (1316 Kittitas, Wenatchee). Bring a leaf rake, if you can help out!

Brags & Confessions

Kathleen made her first pumpkin pie, and has joined the local Toastmasters club, which meets Monday evenings. She is working on her storytelling at Toastmasters.

Earl praised his daughter Emma, a 19 year old college student, for writing her first book, "The Mayor's Daughter" (available at Amazon). She joined a local writing group and is working on her second book, a mystery novel.

PJ said he got out of driving to Wyoming to help Wendell Cayton put windows in his barn. "That's a good thing!' he said.

Rebecca confessed to having little knowledge of internal combustion engines on lawn mowers. Hers sputters and smokes, and she needs someone to loan her a mower, or help her get hers going properly. Shade-tree mechanics, please step forward! Her other option is to get an electric or push mower.

Rotary Moment 

Jim Huffman gave the Rotary Moment today. In its early days, Rotary recognized the differences between nations and proposed a tolerance of differences in 1933. Local customs vs. international customs was to be "thoughtfully avoided" without interfering with laws. It seems to be working!

Program

Craig Reese introduced our featured speaker, David Goodnight and his wife Shelly Goodnight from the Immanuel University (India). David is a Seattle lawyer, who was voted one of the Best Lawyers in America for the past 6 years.

The Immanuel University (IU) was set up as a Christian-based school within a predominantly non-Christian country. The caste system is part of the Hindu religion and is still in place in India, especially in the rural areas. The caste system has 4 levels that are tied to God. They are: 1) the mouth of God, 2) the shoulder, 3) the belly or working, and 4) the Dalit, the Untouchables. The Dalit group numbers between 350-400 million people. The IU was set up to work with the Dalit and tribal groups within India. 

The UI has been in existence since 2011, and has a governing board. It provides legal protection for the children attending the school. A guest house allows traveling professors and teaches a place to stay on campus with security protection. During their schooling, they are given loans for their tuition, and are required to repay those loans after graduation.

After graduating, the students tour the United States, staying on the campuses of Partner Universities, and talking with employers. There has been a 100% placement of these students. 

Scholarship support and load funding gifts are always welcome.

Link for information or to make donations: Friends of Immanuel University.org

Kathleen told David that Wenatchee Sunrise Rotary Club was donating a children's book in his and Shelly's names to The Libraries of North Central Washington.

Meeting adjourned at 8 a.m.