Tuesday, April 23, 2024

April 23 Meeting Notes

 

The meeting was opened by President Craig Reese, who introduced visiting Rotarian John Fishburn from Leavenworth.   John gave an announcement about the Leavenworth Rotary Club’s ”Roaring 20s Night” that will be held in the evening of May 26th.  Casino activities, dancing, food, everyone welcome.

See flyer at right.

Announcements

Road Apple Roulette - 2477 tickets have been sold so far.  We still have the upcoming food court, beer garden, parade day, and the all service club luncheon next Wednesday.  We also have availability at all the Senior Center luncheons.       

As the Apple Blossom Festival 2024 opens this Thursday, 25 April, there are many volunteer positions available for our club members. Please review the link below and find where you can help out. Just send Wayne Massing an email at wkmassing@nwi.net and note the Day(s), Event(s), Time(s) that you wish to volunteer. I will send you a reply confirming your selection.                      

Apple Blossom Volunteer Dates/Times       

                                   

We are still looking for parade marshals for the youth parade this Saturday from about 7:30 to 12:00.  Contact Alan if you can help.  Get your free T-shirt.

Julie gave a talk about the youth exchange program.  They had it an outbound youth exchange meeting in Penticton two weekends ago where the outbound students and their parents got training on what to expect.  The inbound students were also in attendance as well as the district youth exchange committee.  Our outbound student (Abbey) is going to be going to Spain.

Laerke announced that she had a quiet week.  She did go to prom with a friend and had lots of fun eating and dancing.

Braggs and Confessions

Wayne M. spent time in the Tri-Cities for his brother in law's 80th birthday.  He sold 59 tickets at the Sunrise Rotary Club there.  He also contacted former member and president Joan Wright, and met their outbound exchange student.

Kathleen bragged about going to the Mariners game and getting a couple of Julio Rodriguez bobble heads.  She’ll be going again soon.

Mark said that his 3D printing class only had one student, so they had to cancel, but they're trying to drum up some more interest.  He was interviewed by KPQ not long ago and had some juicy quotes.

Laerke saw a youth exchange friend from Yakima at a recent tennis match.  They're going to plan an overnighter with another youth exchange student.

Jennifer was in the Cashmere paper.  Part of that was regarding her husband John's workshop there.

Jim bragged about going to the daddy daughter dance with his granddaughter this last weekend. Hundreds of dads and their little daughters danced the night away.

Craig is back from Burundi with his Sister Connections work, which was a success.  He gave thanks to Rebecca for filling in during his absence as president during that time

Sergeant at Arms

Wayne fined president Craig for missing the last meeting when Emma was able to come after they had gotten back early in the morning from Burundi.

Program


Gary Ivory, General Manager of the Douglas County PU, talked about the new hydrogen project and the different things that the PUD has going on.  Besides the hydrogen project, their main focus is on the Wells Hydro Dam which provides low- cost electricity to Douglas County residents.

Gary discussed how the power grid works with all the other sources of energy.  He explained that we need hydropower, especially during peak times and emergencies like hot and cold spells.

The new hydrogen plant near Lincoln Rock State Park is up and running.  Gas is captured and stored in big tubes, and then can be transferred to semi-truck containers.  It costs about $135 million to rebuild a water generator, so power from the hydrogen project will help the water generators to run more smoothly.  The biggest use of the hydrogen project will be to sell hydrogen to other outside sources who will use the hydrogen for many things.

Gary talked about their strategic planning.  Their goal is to have the best utility services for the lowest cost.  Along with that they have an amazing fish project where 95% of the fish pass through the dam safely and hatcheries replace the fish that are lost.

The Douglas County PUD electricity costs to customers are subsidized by revenue from power sales to external sources.  As more power is needed today, less is available for outside sales, so the rates for customers will go up slightly over the next five years.

Gary also discussed the Columbia River Treaty with Canada related to flood control.  This could be a big issue after September this year when the treaty expires.  The lack of snow in Canada also could be a problem for our power generators.  We need to rely on solar and wind power at times.

After notes

$164 in the pot.  Kevin won the raffle draw.  He went for the marble and got the wrong one.  Too bad.

No comments:

Post a Comment

October 1st Meeting Notes

 The meeting was called to order by the President Elect, Allie Schank.  We had 2 guests (both named Mike!) Mike Battis from Ballard Ambulanc...