February 21, 2023 Meeting Notes
The meeting was called to order at 7 am by President Elect Craig Reese.
Fat Tuesday - Mardi Gras Beads and Moon Pies
Rotary Guests:
- Jill Leonard - President of Wenatchee Rotary Club
Guests:
- June Vanderhoff - Author - Today's Program
- Fran wore a horse costume at the fundraiser movie at Wenatchee high school. The event was a sucess.
- She is checking into university options in Portland
- She will be going to Merrick in Canada to meet with current and future exchange students
- Attended the PETS (President Elect Training Seminar) in Seattle
- Brought home a new version of the Rotary Banner for his Rotary year as President starting July 1, 2023.
- There are a number of new leads made up of names collected at events that may consider being new members
- Talk to Kelly to see if you know any of the people on the list so maybe you can follow up with them
- The Apple Century Bike Ride fund raiser is being dropped after 35 years. The Bike Ride Committee discussed this last month and voted to pass on to the board that the club should discontinue the Bike Ride for various reasons. (Lack of interest from riders, increasing costs to stage the ride, decreasing funds being generated). The Wenatchee Sunrise Board of Directors voted on Feb. 13, 2023, to discontinue the Bike Ride and seek a different fundraiser.
- Craig Reese is leading a task force to find a new fundraiser
- Setup, greeters needed
- Road Apple Roulette Ticket Sales Event
- KPQ Home Expo (Sponsored by KPQ) - 3/11, 3/12, and 3/13
- Cost $8.00
- Option 1 - Egg, Cheese, and Bacon Breakfast Sandwich
- Option 2 - Ham and Cheese Breakfast Sandwich
- Option 3 - Sausage and Cheese Breakfast Sandwich
- Option 4 - Southwest-style Breakfast Burrito
- Deadline each week - Let Ruth know by 12 noon on Monday before a meeting
- Location - The PAC (Performing Arts Center)
- Take a business card to participate in a drawing
- We still have 9 seats available
- Where and when being decided - Email will be sent
- Jim and Carol will be traveling again to the Carribean
- He just got back from Palm Springs
- He got a hole in one during the trip!
- One of her students got first place as a Saprano
- The same student got third place in a symphony event
- The purchase of C+O is complete
- Remodeling will begin and his business will be moving soon
- He will be visiting the East Wenatchee Rotary Club to sell the remaining 9 hockey tickets
- He and his wife will be hosting a Wild player next year
- He removed his pool cover. He had to drain 2800 gallons to get ready to open his pool in April. Pool party later this year on a non-windy day!
- She is finishing her first quarter of school
- Her daughter got 5th out of 96 people in Volleyball
- She traveled to watch a pro hockey player that she and Richard hosted as a Wenatchee Wild player.
- The player scored 3 goals in the game (a hat trick)
- Eli
- Wesley
- Jackson
Here is a message from Paige about Eli and the park project he inspired.
The Eli’s Park Project is inspired by my sweet boy, Eli. Eli was born weighing just five pounds. This tiny boy, who just happened to have Down syndrome, opened our minds, stretched our hearts and rocked our world.
Traveling through life everyday with Eli is the greatest honor I’ve ever known. He smiled at everyone, hugged anybody who got within arms’ reach and danced when people’s cell phones rang. He heard music in everything and saw the beauty in everyone. Mostly we were met with kindness, but sometimes exclusion. I felt the devastating impact of wondering if my baby would be misjudged, mistreated or ignored. But maybe even more importantly, I saw, in Eli, the beauty and joy we can miss if we allow even one member of our community to be excluded.
I started talking with Eli’s physical therapist about why so many people were missing from our everyday lives. And what it would take to bring more people together. We talked about the places we found community and felt included and inspired...they were most always outside. Often in a park. From there, the Eli’s Park Project was born.
First, we found the perfect place: The Burke Gilman Playground Park. A mostly empty, uninspired space right across from Seattle Children’s Hospital, beside the Ronald McDonald House, connected to the Burke-Gilman Trail, encircled by low-income and disability housing and adjacent to an inclusive preschool. A place surrounded by diversity that’s currently serving almost no one.
Then, we started talking, listening and building community. The resounding message we heard over and over is: I want to belong. And when we lost Eli, just before his fourth birthday, we knew we had to carry his legacy of love forward.
We received our first grant from the Department of Neighborhoods and partnered with an amazing local artist. We hired Site Workshop...creative, landscape architects...the most authentic and compassionate humans out there. And for the past six years, we’ve grown our community and worked together to design a park for all.
The new park, renamed Pathways Park by our community, combines nature and accessibility throughout the design.
Parallel pathways are the foundation of the design and will provide easy access to the entire park while offering multiple alternate routes with varying degrees of difficulty and challenge. The pathways ensure that 100% of the park is accessible to everyone while also celebrating our different needs. Nature will interweave throughout the park with trees, gardens, natural areas, and a ravine look-out. Sensory experiences will encourage visitors to explore, with a sensory garden, sand and water features, and musical components. Play pockets will be inviting for children and adults, of all abilities. Thoughtful seating options will be diverse and carefully placed to enjoy nature and engage with people. Gender neutral restrooms with adult size changing tables will enable everyone to enjoy the space with dignity and comfort.
This entire project has been dreamed, designed and supported by community. And now, we’re so excited to say that we have raised over $6 million dollars, have hired contractors and will be breaking ground this spring.
- If you’d like to follow along with the "Pathways Park" project or make a donation to support this community effort, please visit www.elispark.org.
- Proceeds from this book, "A Home for Gnome", will go towards The Eli’s Park Project.
- The book can be found at: https://www.ahomeforgnome.com
Dave did not win the raffle this week. $294 dollars and growing!
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