Feb. 2, 2021 Meeting Notes

President Earl Crowe started the meeting at 8:00 am with the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. Chris McDarment lead the club with the Invocation.

Rotary Moment

Earl will be doing the Rotary Moment all this month, with the Sargent at Arms' permission.

This Rotary Moment was about "Women in Rotary", Rotary's monthly theme. Earl gave the Rotary history of trying to allow women to join clubs. One of the first clubs to try getting women into Rotary was the Duarte Rotary Club of Calif. Initially, Rotary International rejected Dr. Sylvia Whitlock's membership into that club because she was a woman. It was brought before the California Supreme Court, who refused to hear the case. Ultimately, Rotary International took the case to the U.S. Supreme Court who, on May 4, 1987, ruled there could be no violation of the prohibition against discrimination. Women were in!

Within our Wenatchee Sunrise Rotary Club, 30% of our members are women in these roles:

• President Elect - Kathleen McNalty
• Co-Vice President - Carol Adamson
• Board of Directors - Rebecca Lyons, Robin DeRock, Kaity VanWeerdhuizen
• Past President - Erin McCool
• Committee members - Ruth Dagg (Social Committee), Jill Courtney (Senior Dinner Committee), Bertha Goehner, Kathy Hamilton, Kelly Walker, and Rani Sampson (Bike Ride Committee), Jackie Rector (Fund Raiser Committee).

Earl presented each female club member with a "Women in Rotary" pin honoring them within the club!

President Earl also presented Wayne Massing with Rotarian of the Month (January). Wayne has been very active in the club as the Co-Chair of the Public Image Committee, Sargent at Arms Committee, Bike Ride Committee, and club coordinator for the Life Flight Network memberships. He also posts the Wenatchee Sunrise Rotary Club blog twice a month. Wayne is also a mentor in the club's Challenge Scholarship Program. Congratulations, Wayne!!!!

Announcements

Kathleen McNalty noted a Fund Raising Committee meeting on Thursday, Jan. 11 at 6 pm. Earl has some ideas for a surprise fund raiser. If you would like to attend, send Kathleen an email requesting an invitation to the Zoom meeting. (kmcnalty1@outlook.com)

Kathleen also met with new member Jackie Rector, and they discussed club/community events surrounding Valentine's Day. They thought the club might possibly distribute Valentine gift bags for the women at the Women's Resource Center or the Grace House. More to come on that....

Robin received a gift from our past Youth Exchange Student Adele from Switzerland. Hundreds of chocolates! She will try to freeze them to give to the club when we are able to meet in person again. Periodic sampling may occur!

Wayne said he received the new club canopy. A District Grant for Public Image will pay a portion of the costs. The balance will be from the Public Image Committee budget. The side banner says "Rotary Clubs of the Wenatchee Valley".

Alan Walker said the Wenatchee Downtown Association is having a Sweetheart Date Night on Sat. Feb. 13th. Online ticket purchase and food/wine selection. Pickup dining only. (Sweetheart Date Night — Wenatchee Downtown Association | Historic Main Street (wendowntown.org)). Must be 21 years old!

Brags and Confessions

Craig Reese did double duty with the club's traveling yellow-green unicorn wig, sporting it last week and again this week! Who gets it next?!?!

Carol got her CoVid-19 vaccine shot and didn't cry.

Chris and wife Holly visited their son at CWU in Ellensburg. They tried to take him out to lunch without success. Their son is starting water polo soon. While in Ellensburg, they saw Alan and Kelly Walker making a left hand turn in front of them!

PJ and wife Cookie were the only ones who showed up at the "Wednesday, 1 pm at chair #1 club get-together" on Mission Ridge. If you can be there, be there! Earl will put the word out to other clubs to see if they want to join us!

Wayne thanked Taro for assisting with the pacemaker surgery on his Mother-In-Law on Friday. She's doing fine except for a short visit to the ER on Monday night due to high blood pressure! She's fine now! Thanks, Taro!

Kathleen's daughter was able to visit home after getting her CoVid-19 vaccine. She lives in a group home in Wenatchee and had not been home in 9 months.

Rebecca said that her daughter Mari, a Wenatchee High School Freshman, was having some difficulty with her grades. Both Mother and Daughter agreed that if Mari could raise her grades above B+, she could have a kitten. Her grades shot up to A- and she's getting a kitten!

Alan and Kelly did a tour of the state, visiting family and friends in Rochester, Olympia and Ellensburg. Kelly said her mother, who had smoke her entire life, had recently been able to be smoke-free!

John Schapman offered to upgrade Rebecca's kitten to a German Shepard dog is she bid for it at the St. Joseph's Catholic School Auction. (stjoesauction.com)

Rani received her Paul Harris award last month, but felt she didn't deserve it. She thanked the club for their donation matching over the years!

Program

Robin DeRock introduced our club's speaker, our District Governor and her husband, Richard DeRock.

Richard is the General Manager of the Link Transit. He is also the past President of the Wenatchee Valley Chamber of Commerce and member of the Wenatchee Confluence Rotary Club.

Richard tailored his presentation to the battery aspect of bus transportation.

Washington state has mandated that public transportation use these types of fuels:

• Bio-Fuels
• Bio-Gas
• Propane
• Natural Gas
• Electric.

Some are not suited for use in our valley because of temperature issues. Bio-gas turns to a gel when the temperature is below 32 degrees. Bio-fuels have less of a carbon footprint, but emit smaller particulate matter than is harmful. Natural gas is not common in the Wenatchee Valley due to the small gas line from Ellensburg. Propane would not work well. Our best bet is electric buses because of the reduced price of hydro-electric power in our area. 

Lithium-ion batteries have evolved over the last 10-12 years, providing ranges of 18 miles on a charge (2010) to now providing 196 miles on a charge (2020). Wireless changing stations are 100% reliable and will provide a 350kwh charge in less than 8 minutes (March, 2021). 

Many unanticipated factors have contributed to transportation issues recently:

• CoVid-19 - Many bus parts came from Italy, one of the first/worst CoVid countries in this present pandemic.
• Permits - Changes in the permitting process provided hurdles to jump.
• Trade Wars - Recent trade wars with China changed tariff structures.
• Parts - World-wide parts became difficult or impossible to obtain because of Co-Vid-19 restrictions on shipping.

Richard took questions:

Q: Was retraining of mechanics required when going to the all-electric buses?

A: With 32 computers on every bus, the mechanics merged with the electronic technicians to maintain these complex systems. Wenatchee Valley College modified their programs to train mechanics with more electrical backgrounds.

Earl thanked Richard the his presentation, and Robin for "the best introduction of a speaker he has ever heard". A children's library book will be donated in Richard name to the local library. (A suggestion on book selection was "The Wheels on the Bus Go Round and Round"!)