September 22, 2015 Announcements, Etc.

Knight Fright Ride.  Kacie Thrift, WVC Alumni Coordinator announced that WVC Alumni Association is sponsoring a costume-themed bike ride October 10, 2015, 9:30 am - 2:30 pm.  Ride as little as 10 miles or as many as 40.  The Alumni Association also sponsored a beer of the month activity this year so you know you're going to like this crowd!

Register at http://www.eventbrite.com/e/knight-fright-ride-registration-17696453569

December 9, 2015 hold the date -- Bill McDowell announced plans for the holiday party.  We can kick it up with the senior citizens at Bonaventure using their dining room for free, or pay more that we would like to have a room at the Country Club.  There was general agreement that neither is ideal.  Alternatives suggested: Dinner at Lulu's or Andreas Keller (Jay Higgins' wife's restaurant). [Call out the grammar police on that one.]

Rotarian of the Month -- Wayne announced the Rotarian of the Month is Jim Huffman.  Jim is recognized for many contributions including: chairing the program committee; serving as secretary, president, board member, and Assistant Governor (he successfully batted for the cycle for you baseball fans); earning a spot as a Paul Harris Fellow; serving as Douglas County Port Commissioner; and organizing our fire victims support group.  We are lucky to have him in our Club.  Jim announced he recently attended a prison industries conference but we did not hold that against him.  Thanks for all you do.

Youth Exchange -- Mateo has is paperwork done and we expect him to arrive in Wenatchee October 9.

Renaissance Man -- Our newest member, Mike Coleman, made a big hit at the annual picnic last Saturday with this homemade peach cobbler.  He also was our speaker this week talking about fiber services of the Chelan PUD and the quick response and restoration of those services after the Chelan fires (see details below).  Great start to your Club membership, Mike!  Keep up the good work.

Chelan County PUD Fiber Program -- Mike Coleman

Mike Coleman, Managing Director of Fiber and Telecommunications, was our featured speaker September 22.  He talked about the Chelan County PUD response to the Chelan fires and its planning process for expanding the fiber option to its customers.

The Chelan fires were a double whammy because the primary and redundant fiber "backbones" were both affected.  The backbones are the primary fiber cables.  They feed distribution nodes through which fiber is moved into the community at a more granular level.

Mike says we were fortunate that the distribution nodes were not taken out as that would have been more time consuming to fix.

The fiber system physically tracks with the power lines.  Power needed to be restored first, then Mike's team could work on the fiber.  The power lines crews worked lickety-split to restore poles and lines.  That work can be done relatively quickly.  It takes 10 man hours to splice a fiber cable, a more time consuming task than restoring most power lines.   By August 19th all fiber was restored.  Great job Chelan PUD!

Mike noted that 69% of the county is covered by fiber, in that it passes in front of their property.  The goal is to achieve 85-90% over the next 11 years.  They will start by expanding adjacent to existing fiber.  Money for this work will be allocated through the budget process after 2017.

Dirk made a pitch for a customized connection to his home on Jump Off Ridge since the fiber is being run near him as it gains access to a cell tower atop Mission Ridge.  Nice try Dirk! It seems you'll have better luck getting peach cobbler from Mike than a fiber connection.  Not a bad outcome from what I hear about the peach cobbler.

September 15th Announcements, Brags, Confessions

Annual Picnic at Utigard Orchard this Saturday, September 19th.  Arrive as early as 11.  Food to be served at 2.  Bring: a folding chair, your own beverages, if your last name begins with A-L, side dish to share, if last name M-Z salad or dessert.  Joanne Rosenthal sent an email with directions on 9/16.  Check your inbox!

Alatheia Riding Center’s Gala. The Club is matching $50 for each $50 a club member spends on a ticket for the event. Since we had 11 potential attendees raise their hands at the meeting, the club would like to cap the matching to 11 tickets or $550. Wenatchee Convention Center, Sat. Oct. 3^rd, 6 pm. Pick up your paid tickets at the door. Tickets must be paid to Lisa by COB tomorrow Friday to get an accurate headcount to the caterers. 

Rotary Leadership Development Training October 30 and 31 in Osoyoos, BC.  Join three other Sunrise Rotary couples for this fun event.  Contact Wayne if you are interested.  Registration and information here:  http://www.crsadmin.com/EventPortal/Registrations/PublicFill/EventPublicFill.aspx?evtid=0d822cc5-1494-4bf0-b1fb-27e2f6fbf020

Kathleen McNalty purchased a new GMC Terrain from Sangster Motors.  It was time to pass the 100K+ mileage vehicles to her teenage boys.  They are now a five car family that is well loved by their insurance agent!

Youth Exchange. Taro reported that the paperwork is in and we expect Mateo to join us in mid-October.  He has been accepted to Wenatchee High School.  Great work by Taro, Maggie Nelson, and others to get this in place at the last minute.

PJ just returned from Ushuaia, Argentina, the southern most tip of that country.  Looks like a beautiful place!

Milt purchased a 32 year old motorcycle, a model of one he bought in 1983, using a Milwaukee Rotarian as a middle man to check out the bike before he headed to Milwaukee to make the purchase.  He flew out 9/2 and made the purchase, riding back through Fargo, ND where he celebrated a birthday.  

Milt is the embodiment of this article in Senior Living, "Why are more and more seniors cranking up Steppenwolf's "Born to Be Wild," strapping on leathers, and climbing onto hogs on steroids before blasting down highways and byways? Because they can! Active seniors are discovering their new bold and daring personas and embracing motorcycle mania like never before."  

Unfortunately, it's not all good news as noted in a University of Rochester publication, "Motorcycle riders across the country are growing older, and the impact of this trend is evident in emergency rooms daily." Yikes.  Be careful out there Milt!

Oops!  Norm confessed to an oops on today's intended speaker. Loye Turner and Brian Noyd stepped in to provide background on their businesses.  

Loye retired from a 40 year career in fruit production with Cascadian Fruit and joined his son's business venture, Turner Restoration.  They restore homes damaged by fire, water, sewer spewing (yuck!), mold, etc.  The recent fires have kept them busy so it has been a great asset to have Loye on board.  Learn more at -  http://turnerrestoration.net/

Brian owns both Arby's franchises in Wenatchee Valley.  The location on Easy Street is being renovated.  It license is up for renewal and it needs to be renovated to recent corporate standards. The drive through is OPEN even during renovation so stop by. The restaurant in East Wenatchee will be up next year and have similar work.  

Our Valley - What's Next Nuestro Valle - Que Sigue

Shiloh Schauer, Lisa Parks, and Alan Walker talked about a regional vision and action plan being developed for our valley.

It is a regional, values-based vision process that is data supported (but not data driven), and which takes a look at our valley from a holistic viewpoint.

The idea is partly related to the America's Best Communities contest sponsored by Frontier Communications.  We were selected as a top 50 community and were awarded $50,000 to compete in the next round of the competition, which eventually will have a grand prize of $3 million.

An information sharing group of Wenatchee Valley leaders had already started to meet about strategic planning.  The contest launched the group into a more formal planning process.  A big THANK YOU to the many community-minded people behind this effort.

Three critical areas of focus have been developed:  Education and workforce development, alleviating poverty, and develop regional strategies.

Sunrise Rotary members filled out surveys with their opinions about what they value about the valley, what is changing, and what is their vision for its future.


Some of us made it look like hard work, but it was really not that bad.  If you missed the meeting, you can have input at --
https://www.facebook.com/ourvalleywhatsnext?fref=ts

Two upcoming events not to be missed--

• Oct 1 4-7 pm Round Table at Town Toyota Center.
• October 24, 2015  10-1 pm Vision summit at Pybus Market

Jump on board and be an active participant in the process.  Let's win the $3 million!!!

September 8 Announcements, etc.

Annual Sunrise Rotary Picnic -- Hold the date, Saturday 9/19    Prepare yourself and your family and friends for an afternoon of carnivorous delights!  This annual event sounds like a blast.  It takes place at Tom Utigard's orchard.  PJ and Don Sangster cook the meats outdoors using what sounds like a fairly elaborate (or perhaps just kludgy) fire and spit system.  Participants should bring a chair, their own beverages, and a side dish to share.  The food should be ready about 2:00 pm, although there is considerable uncertainty.  That means you can come early or late, no worries.  This is a large outdoor area and pets and children are welcome.  See you there!

Calling All Painters.  The Grief Place in Wenatchee needs volunteers to do some painting of its newly renovated space.  Contact Jim Huffman for details.  http://www.griefplace.org/

Jim also reports that the support group for the Sleepy Hollow fire victims continues with good attendance.  Jim is consulting with the Chelan Rotary as they plan for a similar support group for fire victims in that area.

Outdoor Report.  If Patty Rush asks you to go camping, just say no.  You had to attend the meeting to get this one.  Make sure you join us next Tuesday!

Keeping His Promise.  Club member, Craig Robertson, sports his daughter's jersey number after she scored her first goal as a Wenatchee Fire team member.  Go team!

September 1, 2015 Announcement, Brags and Confessions

South America Beware!  Two intrepid Club members are off to South America on two different trips.  Kathy Weafer and PJ Jones are heading out on separate adventures.  Kathy tackles Medellin, Columbia, Ecuador and the Amazon.  PJ is heading further south to regions that were unpronounceable to this author.  Safe travels to both!

Matt McColm has a new assistant for his health insurance broker business.  He reports that he enjoys "opening her eyes" to the insurance world.  Let's all chip in and get her some rose colored glasses; she will need them.

Kevin Love reports his cabin in Conconully, WA is safe from fire.

Others too numerous to recall, but come next week to join the fun.

Alatheia Riding Center

Nancy Grette, Executive Director and co-founder of the Alatheia Riding Center, joined us to talk about the life-changing experience of being a volunteer or client with the Center, located in Sleepy Hollow Heights.

Alatheia was founded in 2011 after Nancy and her husband Glenn observed the effect an interaction with their Norwegian Fjord horse had on a developmentally and physically challenged child visiting them as part of the child's birthday celebration.  The young lady blossomed physically and emotionally as she rode the horse on a regular basis.  After that experience Nancy and Glenn felt called to serve people through therapeutic riding.

Today Alatheia is a nonprofit therapeutic riding center located in serving more than 50 riders and attracting more than 70 volunteers.  Its mission is to improve the lives of people with special needs through equine therapy.  The Center uses Fjord horses exclusively because they are known for their mild behavior and friendly disposition.  Their shape and gait tend to benefit riders physically.


When asked about the name Alatheia, Nancy said it is the new testament Greek work for truth.  In Ephesians 4:15 the apostle Paul calls us to speak the truth in love to one another.  For Nancy and Glenn speaking the truth in love is a way of life and the Riding Center is how they have chosen to speak the truth.

At right, Hana Wright, daughter of Club member Kathleen McNalty, rides Nils during her weekly session at Alatheia.  Hana is not able to walk, talk, or feed herself but when she is on Nils she can get a sensation similar to walking.

It's hard to describe what an emotional jolt Nancy gave us with her presentation.  We are very fortunate to have this organization in our Valley.

Check out this Utube video to see what a day at Alatheia is like:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPTj9LpZ40s

Alatheia is having its annual fundraising gala on October 2.  Put this on your calendar and plan to attend!  More info her  http://alatheiaridingcenter.com/annual-benefit-dinner/

Garden Update

How does our garden grow?  See for yourself.

The Garden is located in East Wenatchee near the corner of 9th and Eastmont and provides fresh vegetables for a local facility serving the homeless.

Jeff Niderost is organizing helpers to harvest and maintain the garden.  Thank you Jeff and all the volunteers who made this year's garden a success.