Droning On Is Popular Now! Who Could Have Predicted That?

Derek Hughes, son of Club member Patty Rush, provided a riveting description of the use of drones for commercial purposes.  Derek is relocating back to Wenatchee where his drone business will be attractive to the agriculture and public utility industries.

Derek is a Cashmere native about to make it big in this new technology that uses small unmanned flying drones to make quick work of analysis that can take men and women weeks or months to accomplish.  The drones were designed by Derek with help from an Austrian math genius with whom he collaborated.

The drones are battery powered and can fly autonomously or with manual control.  Derek offers customers a service of providing drone flights and resultant data.  He also will sell the drones and train people to manage and operate them safely and effectively.  This will be appealing to larger companies.

The drones can examine and map out an entire orchard, showing the orchardist nitrogen emissions levels, water flow, and crop development depending on the need.  Drones are very effective at viewing power lines, aqueducts and river embankments for damage or unusual activity.  They can compliment physical security by flying programmed patterns around secure facilities such as hydroelectric dams.  This was a great topic!

Derek was presented a book donated by the Club in his name to a local school.  Appropriately, the book was entitled, Bears Fly High.  Derek's company is Blind Spots Content.  He can be reached at 213-926-4671.

August 24, 2015 Announcements and Brags and Confessions

Patty Rush agreed to sub for Wayne at the next fire victims support group.  Thanks Patty.

Dave Freimuth is to be a grandfather for the first time.  Congratulations Dave!   

Craig Robertson made it to the Club two weeks in a row.  Woo hoo! Craig is happy that school is starting soon.  And grape crushing is just around the corner.

PJ took a trip to New York and attended a dinner that cost the hosts $25,000.  Guests from all over the world attended.  Fabulous wine and food.  Sounds almost as good as our Christmas party!

Speaking of Christmas, we are considering a new location for our party because the room fees at the Wenatchee Golf and Country Club have increased.  Any ideas for a new location?  Let Bill McDowell know about it.

Club members were sad to learn of the passing of former member, Ron Stephenson, on August 18.  Ron was past president of our Club in 1987-1988.  Ron was 76.

Mansour was the luck winner of the pot draw.  He drew his own number! Go figure.  He donated his $4 in winnings to help feed firefighters in Chelan, an effort spearheaded by the family of Club member Erik Holmberg.  

August 18, 2015 Announcement, Brags, Confessions, & New Members!

Welcome New Members Leslie Trebotich and Mike Coleman!

Either they like the food or they like us, but after several guest appearances partners Leslie Trebotich and Mike Coleman officially joined Sunrise Rotary.

Leslie was born in Fort Worth, Texas but was raised in Olympia, WA and later created roots in Chicago where she attended post graduate school to study chiropractic medicine.  After deciding that bone cracking was not her thing, Leslie launched a very successful career as an executive with AT&T.  Her career as a high tech manager flourished even as the company morphed from acronym to acronym, becoming Illinois Bell then Ameritech and finally SBC.  Leslie worked there for 26 years and retired as a regional Area Manager of Voice and Data Control.   There were only a handful of women in that role - as it spanned numerous technologies of voice, data, VoIP, video, wiring, etc., and was generally and historically, a male dominated position.  After retiring Leslie turned her attention to art and worked with a friend to develop a unique paper art form.  She and her colleague worked the juried art scene in Illinois for over six years, earning several major awards.  Leslie has a married daughter, two married stepdaughters and three grandchildren.  She has (and Mike enthusiastically tolerates) two pooches, Sasha - a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel and Diamond - a Boston Terrier.

Mike and Leslie share a laugh before the
formal induction ceremony

Mike was born and raised in southeast Oklahoma but made Texas his home for nearly 30 years after serving six years in the US Army and graduating from Texas Tech University.  He arrived in Wenatchee in 2012, to head up the fiber division at Chelan County PUD.  He has three adult daughters, two in Texas and one in California, and two granddaughters.

Mike and Leslie met at SBC but the romance did not begin until later.  Sadly, Leslie lost her husband of 25 years in 2009.  Mike called to offer condolences and a friendship began that blossomed into a long term relationship. Welcome Leslie and Mike!

Brags and Confessions

Have the stars finally aligned?  Dirk Horton is making the Wenatchee planetarium a reality.  Two-thirds (I'm impressing Dirk with my math skills) of the target goal of $30,000 has been raised.  Way to go Dirk.  On an unrelated topic, Dirk reported on his personal recipe for disaster: heart condition, benadryl, dehydration, and three beers.  Dirk spent a few hours in the emergency room but has recovered nicely.  He regrets nothing, especially not the beers.  See more about the planetarium in the Wenatchee World here--
 https://www.wenatcheeworld.com/news/2015/jul/26/rufus-woods-planetarium-project-gets-boost-from-icicle-fund/

PJ reported a successful climb to Camp Muir on Mount Rainier.  He was good to go on the way up but found the downhill route more challenging.  He solved his difficulties by walking backwards down the slope.  Let's all try that when we have a bad day!

The United Way and Confluence Health sponsored the Color Rush Walk last Sunday.  Participants were pelted with a colored water mixture as the walked.  And they paid to do it!  Go figure.  Alan Walker reported that 650 people participated and there were 90 volunteers.  A great success.

A Day at the Races at Emerald Downs was a horse load of fun.  The group had front row seats and personal lessons in gambling.  Patty Rush and Wayne Massing were the best students as they both walked away with over $20 in winnings.  Carol Adamson admitted to losing $2.  I nominate her as the most improved gambler.  No big losses reported by anyone.

Matt McColm described his experience saving a pot farm  from a fiery demise.  It was a client, of course, not his personal property.  His client in Chelan called for information about insurance coverage and Matt offered to help him protect the property. They spent the day putting out hotspots and ensuring the safety of the property.  That's customer service at its best.

Leticia Valencia, our RYLA student, won the pot
draw and went home $10 richer

Two leaders of the new Rotaract Club of Wenatchee Valley College joined us today, Pres-elect Jon Bobadilla and VP-elect Teresa Mata.  We are looking forward to a powerful (and fun) relationship with these young adults.




Our program today was a Ted Talk on Asperger's Syndrome, a form of autism.  In the talk, Alix Generous tells about her experience with the Asperger's Syndrome, how she overcame obstacles, and eventually developed a product to help the autistic communicate with others.  She was very funny, almost stand-up comedy.  Highly recommended and can be found at this link
 https://www.ted.com/talks/alix_generous_how_i_learned_to_communicate_my_inner_life_with_asperger_s?language=en

Alan Walker on Poverty in Wenatchee Valley

Alan presented information on the level of poverty in Chelan and Douglas counties (almost 25%), emphasizing the importance of "navigators" to help people break the cycle of poverty.

Alan shared a video of the Gainesville State School football event where local high schools, supported by churches, welcomed a football team composed of convicted and incarcerated youth.  The video emphasized the importance of recognizing and welcoming people, even those with significantly different backgrounds.  Catch the video on youtube at--
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eogs3DcxWPs






The United Way is involved in a local effort to help people out of poverty by training navigators who can work with families to help them "find the course" and be exposed to other socioeconomic strata.  Forty families will participate the first year.  There will be a gala conference on November 14, 2015.  The effort is known as the Opportunity Community Model.

Great work Alan and United Way!

Announcements

Rotarian of the Month Announced

Congratulations to Joanne Rosenthal who was named Rotarian of the Month for July.  Joanne was cited for her long-term commitment to Sunrise Rotary (since 1998), active participation on our Board, involvement in many projects, and her work as Secretary of the Club.  She is also a Paul Harris Fellow.

Joanne was presented with a certificate to commemorate the event.  Don Sangster, ever thoughtful and creative, awarded Joanne the "prize" of her lost jacket which one of our members found while visiting a local merchant.  Joanne had left it behind and was grateful to be reunited with it!

President-Elect
Matt McColm is officially our President-Elect and is now eligible to enjoy the perks of that office: subbing for Wayne and attending PETS (President Elect Training Seminar).  We wish him well in his indoctrination...hmmm.. training.

Welcome Mike and Leslie  Mike Coleman and Leslie Trebotich have been accepted by our Board to be members of Sunset Rotary.  Lesley is new to the area from Chicago.  She is a retired telecommunications manager and is starting a new vocation as an artist with paper as her medium.  Mike is an Oklahoma native who spent many years in Texas (lovely accent) and has been in Wenatchee a little over a year.  He manages the fiber division at Chelan County PUD.  They reside in the Briarwood neighborhood of East Wenatchee.  Join us next week for the formal induction.

Oh Canada!  Bill McDowell brought back fond memories for Club members when he suggested another ski/fun trip to Apex Mountain Resort in BC Canada.  There was a party atmosphere for the last trip, with memories of beer drinking from a shotgun (unloaded, we presume).  Bill will bring pictures next; another reason to make sure you attend next Tuesday.

Dirk is $4 richer as a result of the weekly pot draw.

Youth Exchange.  The club endorsed acceleration of our participation in the youth exchange program.  We will host Claudio from Ecuador. We have host family volunteers October to January and March to June but need a host January to March.

Rotaract Club.  Look for more news soon on our involvement in a new Wenatchee Valley College Rotaract Club.

August 4th Sunrise Rotary Meeting

Youth Exchange.  Our board is considering whether to re-start the Youth Exchange program.  Several club members talked about their positive experiences with Youth Exchange.

PJ (left) had several exchange students and still keeps in touch.  Carol and Jim, Tom, Milt have also had multiple student.

We need host families for next year (3-4 month periods).  Contact Taro or Wayne if interested.

Milt and his wife Jan have hosted 12 exchange students!

Club members are still in touch with many of their students.  Milt and his wife are godparents of the child of one of their students.

The board will make a decision soon on whether to pursue this again.

Courage Classic.  Several Rotary Clubs from District 5020 sponsored the Courage Classic bike ride to benefit Mary Bridge Children's Hospital work with kids who have been sexually or physically abused.  The ride raised $370,000!  There were 340 riders.

Pictured at right is Darel Roa from the Puyallup Rotary, one of the sponsors, Dan Moody and Maggie Nelson, both of whom helped with pit stops.

Challenge Scholars Visit.  We were honored to host our Challenge Scholars at our meeting.  We were joined by:  Lindsey Wapato, Emily Castorena, Alex Rodriquez (and his mom), & Zayra Garcia,

Where's Alan Walker?   Have you spotted this man?  He was AWOL from his classification talk scheduled today (unbeknownst to him).

Could he be hiding in a warm sunny location sipping a Mojito?  Or having a cold one at Badger Mountain Brewery (we know he owns many growlers).

We will hear from him next week!


Jerry Karney Classification Talk
Lucky for us Jerry subbed in at the last minute to provide a Cliff Notes version of his life:

• Father a coal miner in Wilkes Barre, PA
• Moved to Newark NJ in 8th grade
• Wanted to be a movie star (little known fact).  Moved to NY and eventually CA to make it big.  Alas, the movie company went bankrupt before he could make his star appearance.
• Telecommunications industry was just taking off.  Jerry grabbed hold and hung on for dear life. 
• Lots of travel followed and he saw the world.  The travel bug has never left him.
• His hobbies are golf, gardenng, reading, teach at his church, and travel (Israel is next).
• He is happy to be in Wenatchee where his wife, Kathy, can be close to her four sister.  

Rotary International Theme 2015-16

PRESIDENTIAL THEME

2015-16: BE A GIFT TO THE WORLD

RI President K.R. Ravindran chose Be a Gift to the World as his theme for 2015-16. Ravindran urges Rotary members to give the gifts of time, talent, and knowledge to improve lives in communities across the globe. "Through Rotary, we can take these gifts and make a genuine difference in the lives of others and in our world."

Rotary International President 2015-16

K.R. "RAVI" RAVINDRAN

PRESIDENT 2015-16

ROTARY CLUB OF COLOMBO

SRI LANKA

K.R. "Ravi" Ravindran is CEO and founder of Printcare PLC, a publicly listed printing, packaging, and digital media solutions company. It is arguably the world's largest supplier of tea bag packaging, catering to nearly every major tea brand, with manufacturing facilities in Sri Lanka and India. Printcare is the winner of national and international awards of excellence. Ravindran has been a featured speaker at several international print and packaging forums.

Ravindran also serves on the board of several other companies in Sri Lanka and India and charitable trusts, including the MJF (Dilmah) Charitable Foundation. He is the founding president of the Rotary-sponsored Sri Lanka Anti Narcotics Association, the largest such agency in Sri Lanka. During the country's civil war, Ravindran was involved in the business community efforts to find peaceful solutions to the conflict and was a featured speaker at the United Nations-sponsored peace conference in New York for the Sri Lankan diaspora in 2002.

A third generation Rotarian and a member himself since the age of 21, Ravindran has served on the Rotary International Board of Directors and The Rotary Foundation Board of Trustees and as RI treasurer.

As his country's national PolioPlus chair, Ravindran headed a joint task force of the Sri Lankan government, UNICEF, and Rotary and worked closely with UNICEF to successfully negotiate a ceasefire with the northern militants during National Immunization Days. Aided by Rotary's efforts, Sri Lanka reported its last case of polio in 1994.

He also chaired the Schools Reawakening project, in which Rotary District 3220 raised more than $12 million to rebuild over 20 tsunami-devastated schools to benefit 14,000 children. He continues to play a role in his club's project to build a cancer prevention and early detection center in Sri Lanka. Once completed, it will be the only dedicated national facility to offer comprehensive screening and early detection services.

Ravindran is a recipient of The Rotary Foundation's Citation for Meritorious Service, Distinguished Service Award, and Service Award for a Polio-Free World.

He and Vanathy have been married since 1975, and they have two children and a recently born grandchild.