September 28 Meeting Notes

The meeting was held in the smaller Pybus Board room and Kathleen called the meeting to order with John S leading us in the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag followed by Jim A with the invocation.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Change is in the air, the calendar turned to fall and leaves on some trees are starting to change as well. Speaking of change, how about them Green Change Cups? Didn't see that one coming did you? Earl asked everyone to "pony up" as this quarter's beneficiary is the Alatheia Therapeutic Riding Center. They've come to our club in the past and their mission is "Changing Lives with the Healing Power of Horses". Great pick Earl!

Kelly reminded everyone to fill out the club member information sheet and get those turned in and also told us about the Membership Committee's recruitment enticement:

• Bring a prospective member as a guest - get a dozen cookies
• If they become a member - you get a pie!

Alan vouched for the baking quality and assured us that he will have Kelly practicing, practicing, and practicing. He also mentioned something about getting out his sweat pants. No one had any follow up questions for him.

Jackie reminded everyone of the Pet Costume Parade and contest at 10:30am on 10/30. There will also be a coordinated Humane Society pet food drive the same day.

Meeting Help: Kathleen reminded people to sign up for setup, clean up, and/or invocations. Your help is a help!

Craig told us about a former Challenge Scholar (Alex Rodriguez) who has completed his undergraduate degree and has been admitted to medical school! He had enough other scholarships that he did not use the Challenge Scholarship for his undergraduate degree and the club decided to allow him to roll it into his graduate degree expenses. A great story, good luck Alex!

Saturday October 2, A Night at the Museum from 6-9pm. Celebrate the museum and the juried opening of the NCW Juried Art Show. There will be live music, wine beer, cider, spirits, and food!

Fellowship Committee: Rebecca thanked Dan and Jackie for hosting the after-ride party on Saturday and also told us about a couple of events coming up. 

October 15th: Oktoberfest at Kathleen and Steve's house. Plan to start at 5:30pm; bratwurst and other food come in your best Woody Goomsba outfit. A small fee (less than $10) will be charged, just enough to cover most of the expenses.

January 29th is the Downtown Rotary Club's auction "For the Kids". We'd like to support their fundraiser by entering an auction item: Dessert of the Month. If you can help support this, please let Rebecca know.

On November 9th, our regular meeting will be at Rocky Reach Dam. We'll meet on site at Rocky Reach Dam (Chelan County side) and then get a tour through the new Discovery Center. Since we'll be there before regular hours, we'll need to submit an access request in advance with everyone's names. If you're interested in this follow up tour to their presentation earlier this summer, let Chris know and he'll take care of the rest; watch for a sign-up sheet at future meetings. The Discovery Center has also offered to open their café early so that we can have breakfast items!

If you have any good bike ride pictures, please email or otherwise send them to Chris and he will do a special blog recap.

Rotarians of the Month: Alan and PJ! Was there any doubt? The answer is NO! What an immense effort these two put out to make the bike ride a success on top of all the regular things they normally do for our club. Thank you both, great example to the rest of us!

Final tally for the Bike Ride was 234 riders. Although we've had over 1,000 riders, we've settled in between 500-600 riders pre-pandemic. Although the rider numbers were down, they were a plucky bunch who had a great time on the ride, some for the first time, some for the 34th time! Most of the riders were from Washington, but some from Los Angeles and Miami, too! No Canadian riders this year due to COVID and border restrictions.

It was a slightly different look and feel this year as riders had to wait a little longer to take off since sunrise was almost two hours later this time of year. The weather was perfect and we received lots of positive feedback.

Shanley Crane (EW Rotary Club) and Alice Meyer (Downtown Rotary Club) helped out with the day of ride and we have to thank all of our sponsors including Trek bike who did a lot of day of support starting with a crew of three technicians before daylight at the starting line and then moving their help up to the Leavenworth Pit Stop. That was a big help in ensuring the riders were well supported. A wrap-up bike ride meeting will be scheduled soon!

We also want to thank our many sponsors, including:

• Trek bikes whose financial and physical support through bike gear and technical expertise made the ride go smooth.
• Ballard Ambulance for providing first aid kits for the SAG wagons.
• Ridgeline Graphics for printing and signage for the SAG wagons.
• Dilly Deli provided below cost sandwiches for all of the riders.
• Century 21 Real Estate/Dan & Jackie Rector for both the Leavenworth Pit Stop and financial support.
• Tutor Doctor/Kathleen McNalty and Steve Wright
• Ogden, Murphy, & Wallace
• Eastman Insurance
• Cashmere Valley Bank
• Inside Design Carpet One
• Sangster Motors
• Addleman Chiropractic
• And for the many others, thank you all!

And also to all of our club members who without their efforts, we could not possibly put this ride together. Great work everyone!

PROGRAM

Taylor Sharp, Executive Director of the Wenatchee Valley Humane Society (WVHS). Taylor began working in a shelter when she was 14 years old. She saw how much harm a lack of progressive shelter leadership and policies could cause, and has used that as motivation for her career. Some notable achievements:

Recruited by Best Friends Animal Society - the nation's largest animal welfare organization focused on assisting shelters reach 90% save rate. 

Helped over 400 shelters with anything from board development to cleaning standard operating procedures.

Founded The Pet Alliance of Washington to bring shelters across the state together to reduce efficiencies and create new ways to save more animals.

Joined the executive team at Humane Society Silicon Valley in San Jose California.

Taylor had lived in Washington State before and although she is new to Wenatchee, she missed Washington state, and jumped at the opportunity to join the outstanding Wenatchee Valley Humane Society team! Welcome Taylor!

Taylor thanked WSRC's support of the WVHS, including the pet food drives and parades. She spoke about their 39 employees working in three operational areas: Humane Society - adoptions, etc.; a new state of the art Clinic; and Animal Care & Control.

The Humane Society that you may already be familiar with has a lot going on!

• Adoption
• Return to owner
• Community cat services
• Owner surrender
• Disaster assistance
• Pet food pantry
• Behavior modification program
• Humane education
• End of life services
• Foster program

The Pet Food Pantry supports 50-100 families with pet food, leashes, toys, and more. WVHS partners with Wenatchee Valley College for education. Our Humane Society's behavior modification program is the most respected in the state and covers social issues, anxiety, and reactivity. Animal control officers have the ability to scan pet microchips in the field, allowing them to return the pet to its owner without having to bring the pet back to the office.

They provide six enrichments per day for pets. This can take a variety of forms, but includes use of "Kongs" and spray scent and other smells on paper towel and toilet paper cardboard tubes. Now you have a place for those leftover tubes; don't throw them away, donate! They also have a working cat program where they pair outdoor cats with people who want to control mice or scare off skunks in their vineyards, orchards, or around barns.

They are very proud of their new state of the art clinic opened in February. This allows them to perform surgeries as needed on the animals they are housing or in emergencies as well as provide service to income-qualified clients.

Their Animal Care & Control program covers ten jurisdictions.

• Cashmere
• Chelan County
• City of Chelan
• Douglas County
• East Wenatchee
• Entiat
• Leavenworth
• Rock Island
• Waterville
• Wenatchee

Taylor is a downtown Rotary club member and she brought along Amber who just started yesterday! Amber is a potential member so be sure to say hi if you run into her at the Human Society or around town!

Some interesting numbers for the WVHS from just 2020:

Over 2,400 pet adoptions

Around 600 pets returned to their owners

Over 2,000 spay/neuter surgeries
Over 250 community cats returned to the field
96% of funds go directly to animal care & programs
About $450,000 spent on medical care
Average length of stay

Cats - 17.2 days

Dogs - 8.9 days

In the Q&A we learned that the WVHS currently has a pig! It's like a big dog and if you weren't
aware, the WVHS takes in many animals from iguanas and guinea pigs on up! They've even taken in pet snakes and arranged for large animal care too.

In closing it was revealed that Kathleen had donated a gratitude plaque in the WVHS memorial garden from the Sunrise Rotary Club. And as a thank you to Taylor, a children's book will be donated to the local library.

RAFFLE

The raffle was up to $239! 

Kelly drew John M's number, but he must have been

afraid of the silver marble because he drew yellow.

Don't be afraid; be sure to buy your raffle tickets next week!

CLOSING

Kathleen closed with a joke of the week regarding Windmills. She's taking joke offers; it's no laughing matter, help her help us and send her your good jokes!

Vincent Van Gogh once said, "Great things are done by a series of small things brought together." How appropriate for bike ride week as so many things had to come together for a great event. Thanks again to all!

ROTARY FOUNDATION MOMENT

What is a Rotary Foundation Bequest Society Member?

Those who have made commitments for future gifts of $10,000 or more to The Rotary Foundation are invited to join the Bequest Society. Donors may elect to receive various benefits and recognition pieces commemorating their commitment at each new recognition level, including pins, crystals, named funds, and special seating at the Rotary Interanational Convention. A bequest gift of at least $10,000 in your name to The Rotary Foundation creates a legacy of your generosity and compassion as you are helping many people live better lives around the world. Today there are over 18,000 Bequest Society Members worldwide.

Will you join them by leaving a gift to Rotary in your estate planning? Ask me to put you in contact with The Rotary Foundation's Planned Giving team.

Many thanks in advance for sharing with your club members.

Pete Erickson, PDG

District Foundation Committee Chair 2021-2024

perickson@nctv.com 

September 21 Meeting Notes

The meeting started off with a sprited game of capture the flag, but once it was found, the meeting was called to order and Milt led us in the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag. Ruth followed with the invocation. Kathleen called to order a large and raucous crowd of club members antsy for the ride to begin and to support it! Thank you all!

Mike Plank, Trek store manager, was welcomed back as a visitor and ride supporter.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

The Green Change Cups make a difference. "The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but building the new." - Socrates.

Kelly told us about the Membership Committee goals. October is "Let's Get Connected" month. Member information sheets were passed out so that we can ensure everyone's contact information is up to date. The committee has three focus points for the year: retention, recruiting, and attendance.

Craig gave a Finance Committee update. Sam will be sending out invoices for April through Junetoday. Shortly after the end of this month, they plan to get July through September invoices out and be more timely going forward. Today's invoice will include the changeover dinner, Stage Kids tickets, dues, food, and anything else you've asked Craig to bill you for!

Kathleen gave a Club Runner demo. Download the app and sign up using the email on file with the club. The app allows you to quickly:

• Find club members contact information;
• See which club members are filling which executives positions;
• Look at a list of upcoming events;
• Check your attendance; 
• And a host of other items

If you would like help getting it set up, download the app and Kathleen will be happy to help you set it up at one of our regular meetings or other events.

Jackie wanted to be sure everyone had the details for the After Ride Party. She reminded everyone that their entire family is welcome. If you can bring a salad or side that'd be great, but if you don't have time that day, come anyway. And the pool is heated too! If you haven't signed up yet, please let Jackie, Robin, or Carol know. All are welcome. If you don't know where Rectors live, it's [*ahem* shameless plug] in the Club Runner app!

Jackie also reminded us all of the Pet Costume Parade at 10:30am on 10/30 at Pybus. Don't forget the costume; and one for your pet too!

Rebecca let everyone know the Fellowship Committee set a date for the Oktoberfest celebration, October 14th at Kathleen's. Don't know where Kathleen lives? That's right! It's in Club Runner.

BRAGS AND CONFESSIONS

Milt insisted it wasn't a brag or a confession but a note of gratitude that he celebrated turning 80.

PJ has been gone a couple of meetings and arrived home last night after two long days and 2,000 miles of driving! He visited the international house of prayer and recommends you do as well if you ever get the opportunity.

Chris let everyone know that Brian is back at Central Washington University in-person and although mask wearing and vaccination are required, the rest of the campus is open and he is excited for the fall quarter.

John S. told us he turns 39 this month and his anniversary is this weekend. Oh, and not only are his kids birthdays all around this time, his wife is pregnant again, congratulations!

PROGRAM

Alan gave an update on the bike ride. See the updated ride post for all of the details! Some key points that I want to highlight:

• The ride starts at Walla Walla Park this year; Shelter #2, the south one - go into the park and then to the right.
• Support for the ride is 7am to 3pm.
• This year's ride has seen the largest amount of donations by riders in the ride's history.
• This really shows how the riders support Rotary and our mission.
• A shout out to all of our supporters and donors.
• Confluence Health whose support goes a long way toward the Challenge Scholarship
• And the many rest who support and make the day of ride a success:
• Trek bikes whose financial and physical support through bike gear and technical expertise makes the ride go smooth.
• Ballard Ambulance provides first aid kits for the SAG wagons.
• Ridgeline Graphics for printing and signage for the SAG wagons.
• Dilly Deli provides below cost sandwiches for all of the riders.
• Financial Sponsors included:
• Century 21 Real Estate/Dan & Jackie Rector (also pit stop supporter)
• Tutor Doctor/Kathleen McNalty and Steve Wright
• Ogden, Murphy, & Wallace
• Eastman Insurance
• Cashmere Valley Bank
• Inside Design Carpet One
• Sangster Motors
• Addleman Chiropractic
• And many more, thank you all!
• After party at Rectors at 4:30pm, come join in when you can.

RAFFLE

The raffle is now up to $228! Wayne returned just in time to show everyone how to draw the silver marble out of the bag. Unfortunately, John Wayne he wasn't. Oh well, more for the rest of us next week!

CLOSING

Kathleen closed with a timely joke about a grandfather clock which meant it was time for the meeting to be over. Good luck to all with their work through this weekend and good luck to all of our riders!

Let's get ready to rumble!

The bike ride is just a little over a week away (Saturday 9/25). It's the culmination of many months of work by a number of people in the club. Now's the time for the rest of us to step up and play our part. Alan's made a list and checking it twice, so be sure you're on the nice list!

This year there are a few less tasks because of COVID so we aren't doing tasks that require people to congregate so no day of check-in, no swag bag, no after meal or beer garden. How sad! That's the way it goes if we want to have a ride this year; many others have been canceled so we're grateful we found a way to make it happen even if it means it's a little different this year.

Here's a rundown of the different week-of-ride tasks that require support for this year. For those familiar with the ride, just look at what people have signed up for and let Alan know where you'd like to be added. For new members, welcome, this is our big event! I've included a short description for the new and future members to see what gets done the week of the ride.

Wednesday, 3pm: Storage Unit Supply Check. The Wednesday of ride week, a group gets together to go through our Ohme storage unit (D99) and arrange everything so that it is ready to go for Friday when they set most of the course up. If things are identified that need repairs or that have gone missing, this gives the team Thursday to take care of it.

• PJ
• Kevin
• David B.
• Alan
• Craig

On Thursday PJ will set up the bike racks at the Pit Stops and mark the porta potty locations.

Friday, 8am to noon: Route Setup. The day before the ride, the pit stops need some items dropped off, route markers (stickers on the ground and roadside signs) need to be placed on the route. Bio-degradable stickers that are neon arrows are placed on the asphalt to let the riders know they're going the right direction. When turns are coming up, arrows are placed on the asphalt well before the turn and done at an angle on the ground so the riders know to slow down and so they know which way they will be turning. Small signs the size of political campaign signs are also placed along the route to let drivers know bikers are on the road and another way to confirm for the riders they haven't missed a turn. Sandwich boards are placed in key locations for the riders. Those setting up the ride up to Cashmere and back (25 mile route) are done fairly early, the ones going to Leavenworth (50 mile route) are done a little later, and PJ and a helper will go all the way to the Lake Wenatchee fire station and back. On the way back to town, they drive the route as if they are riding it and add any additional signage and arrows they think will be helpful making this part the longest portion of the set up detail. As a bonus, the team often meets for breakfast at 7am to decide who will do which part of the route setup.

• PJ
• David B
• Wayne
• Mansour
• Kevin
• Dave F
• Alan
• Erik

Also on Friday Alan will do a grocery run and will pick up the sandwiches Saturday morning.

Saturday, 6am to 9am: Rider Welcome. Instead of the recent starts at Pybus, we'll be starting at Walla Walla Park Shelter #2 (the South shelter). This is a bit more low key this year. No bibs, no day of registration, no goodie bag, no group start, nothing. This group sets up our Rotary blow-up arch as the official start of the ride, sets up a sound system for music and pre-race announcements and then points arriving riders to starting arch and sends them on their way.

• Jim H
• David B
• Erik
• Kathleen
• Kelly

Saturday, 6:30am to 9am: Confluence Park Transition. The ride starts on the Loop Trail, but at Confluence Park riders transition to the open road. These folks make sure riders make the transition seamlessly.

• Chris
• Zach

Saturday, 7am to 3pm: Cashmere Water Stop. This is our ride's first official turnaround. Riders only going 25 miles will hit this as the halfway home point. This stop supplies water and limited food items, that's why it's called a water stop rather than a pit stop. For riders going 50 or 100 miles, they won't stop here on the way out, but will stop here on the way home. There is a small amount of set up including a pop-up tent like you see at youth sporting events for shade.

• John S
• Milt
• Alice

Hired certified flaggers are utilized at the bridge crossing in Dryden where the riders need to ride a short distance on highway 2 and we close one lane of traffic. Also in the transition to Chumstick highway.

Saturday, 7am to 2pm: Leavenworth Pit Stop. This is the 50 mile turnaround and as the first pit stop is stocked with with a lot more goodies including sandwiches than the Cashmere Water Stop. People turnaround here or continue on to Lake Wenatchee. This is the busiest pit stop as it not only sees all of the 50-mile riders, but also the 100-mile riders, twice! Normally bacon is handed out here, but unfortunately COVID ruins almost everything and we'll have to take this year off from that treat. Pop-up tent and other set up including bike rack and water manifold set up.

• Wayne
• Earl
• Joel
• Jackie
• Dan
• Mansour

Saturday, 7am to 2pm: Beaver Hill Water Stop. This is another water stop with water and limited food items, just before the windy descent into Plain.

• Rebecca
• Ruth
• Robin

Saturday, 7am to 1pm: Lake Wenatchee Pit Stop. This is the last pit stop and the furthest out. Riders here are normally given a special treat, but this year it will be pre-packaged items only. Similar to the Leavenworth Pit Stop, this is the turnaround for the 100 milers.

• Jim
• Carol
• Kathleen
• Sam

At each of the water stops and pit stops, volunteers will help coordinate or provide assistance for riders and give plenty of smiles and positive encouragement. Many of the riders come back year after year and we're happy they support us!

Saturday, 7am to 3pm: SAG Wagons. Throughout the race day, these folks will be driving the route and stopping to provide first aid or bike support for those in need. Trek has donated tubes and other supplies for rider support during the ride and will have a tech at the start to help make sure everyone gets off on the right...tire; thank you Trek! Ballard Ambulancehas donated the use of first aid kits as well for hopefully just minor issues. Thank you Ballard!

The origin of SAG wagon is a bit up for discussion. For bike rides it refers to Support And Gear or Support Aid Group. Its origin likely stems from wagons in World War I which went from trench to trench with Supply And Grub. It's really about making sure people don't end up stranded or injured without aid.

• PJ - Lake Wenatchee to Beaver Hill
• Bill - Wenatchee to Cashmere
• Taro - Cashmere to Leavenworth
• Alan - Leavenworth to Beaver Hill

Saturday, noon to 4pm: Route Pick-up. Support for the ride ends at 3pm so then it's about taking down each station and getting items back to the storage shed. Since the riders are out on the road in the morning, the crew can start picking up the early route before the ride support ends.

• PJ
• David
• Alan
• Kelly

Saturday, 4:30pm until ???: After Party. This year we'll gather at Rectors to wind down and enjoy a meal together. Bring your own beverage and (if you have time) side dish or dessert to share. Hot dogs and hamburgers will be provided. Also, their pool is heated so bring your family and your swimsuit. Yes, we're talking to you PJ, we don't want a repeat of the after ride party from 2003. See you then!

Upcoming Social Events in the works...

September 25, 4:30pm @ Rectors: Casual After Bike Ride Party

October: Oktoberfest - date to be announced soon

November: Putt n Tapp "miniature putting, full-size beers" evening

December 9 @ Wenatchee Valley Museum: Holiday Party

January 29: Downtown Rotary Auction "For the Kids" Let's put a table together for the event

Also January - Class with a glass art event

February: Mardi Gras celebration

That's it for now; more info/dates/times as we confirm!

Subject to change clause. Social committee commitments, including the commitment to pursue the social calendar, are subject to change due to the conditions precedent described in their charter and to "force majeure" events beyond social committee's reasonable control precluding satisfaction of the commitments including: (a) labor disputes, fire, unusual delays in transportation or supplies, adverse weather conditions not reasonably anticipated, site conditions not reasonably anticipated, and unavoidable casualties or other acts of God; (b) change or imposition of law making satisfaction of the commitments impossible or unlawful; or (c) they just up and change their dadgum minds.

September 14 Meeting Notes

The real President returned from her state visits just in time to restore order to the realm. No, really, check out the brags and confessions if you don't believe me. Of course, those could be made up too. Who knows, I haven't written that part yet. I know, I'm excited to see what I write too! I like to call that the "fan fiction" section.

Craig led us in the pledge of allegiance and Kathleen gave the invocation.

Great to see all of the Zoomers out there today!

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Every journey starts with the first small step. The small steps we make with the Green Change Cups lead to a journey of change and making a difference. Thanks for the contributions!

Alan gave a Bike Ride update and reminded us of the bike ride meeting tonight at the Hilton Garden Inn next to Pybus. He went through the remaining needs (see a follow up blog post for more details). He also mentioned that in addition to Confluence Health, there have been many great sponsors and help so far. Recently, Dilly Deli has offered to provide sandwiches at half price, John M did a bunch of printing, and Erik offered to provide the sound system for the start/end of the ride. Thank you to all of our sponsors! We have about 130 riders signed up so far which is well below normal, but great to have as many as we do considering so many rides are canceling theirs this year. On another note, we've had significantly more in donations this year, up to $1400 now. That tells us the riders are doing it because they not only love the ride, but believe in the work of Rotary and the Challenge Scholarship. Alan also mentioned that he has received a number of complaints from the storage shed company that we aren't locking our unit so please lock our unit if you get into it.

The Membership Committee was meeting today after our normal meeting.

On Saturday, October 30th, we will be doing a pet costume Howl-o-ween event here at Pybus. That's 10:30am on 10/30 y'all! You can even dress up in a costume with your pet friend, we won't judge (except in the judging part)! Firehouse pets and Pethub are helping get the word out. We'll have a photo station and need volunteers. Sign up on the sheet at our regular weekly meeting or let Jackie know you'd like to be involved!

Social Committee has been busy planning events. The events are planned but not all the dates are set.
See a follow-up post for the events; dates to follow later. The one to be ready for is the after bike ride party at Rectors! It's a chance to unwind, debrief, take a deep breath and relax. Save the evening of the ride (9/25); start time probably around 4 or 5pm; we'll finalize the time at next week's regular meeting. Next month we have a special party planned at Kathleen's that we've creatively called...Oktoberfest! Didn't see that one coming did you! Well it doesn't matter because that's what we're calling it and it'll be great, see you there! We're trying to find a date that Kathleen will be there, but if we can't, well that might just make the party even bigger!

If you know someone interested in Rotary Youth Exchange (departing fall of 2022 for the 2022-2023 year), there is an informational meeting at Rotary Park tonight at 6:30pm. If they missed tonight, have them contact Joel B for more information.

ROTARIAN OF THE MONTH

Kevin was selected as Rotarian of the month! Did you know he is at Pybus early every week to set up everything?

Next time you see him, give him some "love" for all he does for our club. Thanks Kevin for all you do for our club and community!

BRAGS AND CONFESSIONS

Kathleen started it off by bragging to us about her recent travels to various states (now do you see the story arc?) to see Las Vegas, Bryce Canyon, and Zion on a hiking and cycling trek. It was really fun and beautiful! A must see if you have any excuse to go. Even if you don't have a lot of time, you can see a lot of Bryce just from the many designed pullouts along the Park road in just a couple of hours. However, if you have the time, hiking or cycling is definitely the way to go so you can really soak it in. And if you're really lucky, you'll get out of cell service range!

Chris confessed that he thought his alma mater had disbanded their football team, but no, they had not (yet)! He bragged they are 2-0 so feel free to get on the CMS band wagon (there's lots of room) if your team is already out of national title contention!

Erik bragged that Kristen just returned from visiting their youngest (Ben) in Prague. Ben is working in Israel but Kristen couldn't visit him without going through a 14-day quarantine and there were very limited options for them to get together otherwise. However, the Czech Republic was on the "ok" list to go and come back for both so they met there and had an amazing time together. He also confessed that his alma mater was 0-2, but that Montana was really good (for an FCS school...)

John S confessed that he is normally good at following protocols but sent his daughter to school with mild symptoms when he was supposed to keep her home. She was immediately sent to the nurse's office and they tried to call John and his wife but they didn't answer. All day. Dad of the year candidate?

ROTARY MOMENT

Kevin gave us the Rotary Moment. September is basic education and literacy month for Rotary. Rotary supports activities and training to improve education for children and literacy for children and adults. The Rotary Foundation enables Rotarians to ensure that all people have sustainable access to basic education and literacy by:

1. Involving the community to support programs that strengthen the capacity of communities to provide basic education and literacy to all;
2. Increasing adult literacy in communities;
3. Working to reduce gender disparity in education;
4. Supporting studies for carer-minded professionals related to basic education and literacy.

He closed with a few quotes:

• "Education is the most powerful weapon with which you can change the world." - Nelson Mandela
• "Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever." Gandhi
• "You educate a man; you educate a man. You educate a woman; you educate a generation." - Brigham Young

PROGRAM

John S introduced the program, Joey Hunter, a Recovery Coach Network Coordinator with North Central Accountable Community of Health. He and his organization support Chelan, Douglas, Grant, and Okanogan counties.

Joey told us that his own struggles with drug and alcohol addiction has been helpful in bridging the gap to others struggling to break from their addiction. He was in and out of prison and came to Wenatchee and started going to meetings every day and has been sober since December 2016. He said it was a turning point when people went from looking at addiction as a choice and now look at it as a disease. That changed the community outlook. That led to the Central Washington Recovery Coalition.

One effort they work with is helping the community know that although there is a problem, it can be fixed. There are obstacles and barriers that aren't seen by people without addiction. Seeing their addiction through his "recovery lens" allows Joey to understand what they are going through, build trust with those hoping to break their addiction, and create change.

Their recovery coach training is nationally recognized. They train people to meet people where they are at in their recovery process; it is person-centered. They have 100 coaches in our region. Coaches meet with addicts in jail, in recovery centers, and in meetings whenever they need. Turning a negative into a positive gives people the passion to continue.

Joey started in his current role in September of 2020 which was a hard time to start, but was given trust and time to develop it into something bigger. Recovery coaches start with addicts when they are 90 days out from being released from jail and come up with a recovery plan.

Recovery coaches try to prevent a detour back to the old lifestyle once they are released. Coaches help make sure the addicts get to their appointments and wrap them with community resources as soon as they are released and are already seeing the benefits through a reduction in returning to jail.  Some are very severe cases and have never accepted any help in the past. Using a recovery lens has built trust and allowed a crack for coaches to get in, peer-to-peer. This pilot program has been up and running seven months now at the Chelan County Regional Jail and they are looking to expand it to the Grant County Jail.

Another project is addressing overdoses. During the pandemic, overdoses have skyrocketed from 60-70,000 per year to 83,000 during the pandemic. Sadly since he became sober on 12/26/16, he has buried 14 friends. During their recovery, they each fell through the cracks. They had big hearts but could never break away from their addiction. One thing that helps is Narcan (Naloxone), an emergency treatment for opiod overdose. They have been delivering Narcan doses to anyone who has someone they are worried about.

The Moses Lake job corps is a second chance for people, about 150-200 struggling men and women. They have about 80 staff who needed Narcan training. Joey and his team provided the training to their staff in two sessions.

A new idea is Narcan vending machines in hot spots specifically designed for people who are afraid to tell people they have a loved one struggling with addiction. These are coming the last week of September; Okanogan and Grant county will get them too.

WorkSource has a re-entry specialist that helps people with getting jobs and helps them learn to use computers which can be a barrier for someone who has been addicted to drugs for some time. Today, people don't think of people that may still not know how to use computers, but WorkSource helps break down this unseen barrier for people.

They work with people and help them on their path to recovery. Their organization and network are growing daily. They have a lot of people passionate about the program and are hoping surrounding counties will follow.

The club thanked Joey for his story and told him that we were donating a sun visor to our local library

that even has a story inside of it!

RAFFLE

The raffle was up to $197! 

Bill drew Craig's number. 

Unfortunately Craig was blinded by the light and no matter how much he tried to look into the bag, he couldn't find the right marble. Come on Craig, Kevin knows all of the tricks by now!

In the end Kevin had to arm wrestle Craig to get the marble back. See you next week when the pot will be over $200!!!

CLOSING

Kathleen closed with a joke about marriage, divorce, the pearly gates, and priests and lawyers. Sounds like a recipe for a number of jokes now that I think back on it!

Today's bonus blog quote comes to us from comedian and regular blog reader (but maybe not this blog)  Rita Rudner: "I love being married. It's so great to find that one special person you want to annoy for the rest of your life."

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Many thanks in advance for sharing with your club members.

Pete Erickson, PDG

District Foundation Committee Chair 2021-2024

perickson@nctv.com