Sept. 17, 2019 Meeting Notes

Club President Taro Masuda read a thank you card from Lorraine Church. She thanked the club members (PJ Jones, Milt Herman, Kevin Love, Wayne Massing, Taro Masuda, and Jim & Carol Adamson) who volunteered Saturday to stack firewood, trim trees and shrubs, and paint her deck. (Photos).

Taro also read a card from the Moses Lake Medical Team thanking the club for the $1000 donation to their Central America project.

Announcements

2nd Harvest food distribution volunteers needed. On Wednesday, Sept. 18th, at the Wenatchee Community Center (corner of Chelan St. and Spokane St.) starting at 10:45 a.m. volunteers are needed to help meet the truck, unload and bag the food items, and distribute them to those coming to the Community Center. We will work until 2 p.m. Contact Jim Adamson (509-630-8562 cell) for more information.

Senior Dinner - Jill Courtney asked for volunteers to help organize the Senior Dinner, which will be held on Sunday, October 27th  Saturday, October 26th (new date) at the Wenatchee Senior Center. A planning meeting is scheduled for Friday, Sept. 20th at Bob's Classic at 7:00 am.

The Gorge Amphitheatre Fund Raising - Wayne Massing shared with the club the fund-raising numbers for our selling beer at the Watershed and Dave Matthews Band concerts at The Gorge this summer. We raised $2008 from the Watershed concert and $1062 from the Dave Matthew Bank concert for a total of $3071. The check will be coming soon from The Gorge to our club. The 5 Rotary clubs worked a combined total of 910 hours at these two concerts. The club's Board of Directors have chosen not to use The Gorge in the future as a fund raiser. Long hours, the long drive and small returns were some of the reasons.

Ron Griffith's yard project - PJ Jones visited Ron Griffith to assess the yard clean-up job he had requested. It was determined that leaves need to be raked up and the lawn mowed. It was suggested that we do the work later when all the leaves are off the trees. It would be about a 2-3 hour project for club volunteers. More information to come.

Family of Rotary

Check out September birthdays and anniversaries in the right hand column.

Brags and Confessions

Kathleen McNalty spoke briefly about her 2 week trip around Spain. She cycled with a group of people, and visited the northern coast of Spain. The weather was mostly good with a bit of rain!

Rebecca Lyons also traveled, but to Hong Kong and India related to her job at the Washington Apple Commission. She told of observing the arduous task of picking and transporting apples on the slopes of the Himalayan Mountain foothills.

Ruth Dagg spent 2 weeks in Physical Therapy for a hand/wrist injury.

Milt Herman thanked Earl Crowe for contributing used glasses for his Central American medical team. He would like get other contributions of used reading glasses, non-prescription sunglasses, prescription glasses, handheld magnifiers, and unopened eye medications or drops. They can be brought to the club meeting and put in Milt's bag in our club's cabinet at Pybus.

Kevin and wife Lynn Love spent 10 days in the Gulf Islands and San Juan Island on their boat.

Taro Matsuda bragged about his Ute's team winning!

Program

Chief Deputy Chris Sharp and Mike Smith, from the staff of the Chelan County Jail, gave a vivid look at the jail and its staff. Their goals at the jail are to provide a safe and secure environment for the staff and the inmates. Most of the inmates are there for drug related crimes. A K-9 dog and mail scanner are two new methods used for scanning for drugs within the jail. A lease body scanner will be used in January 2020. Newer transport vehicles aid in the safe movement of prisoners. The jail experiences a heavy turn-over in staff, and lengthy training is required for new hires. Cameras are being installed in the cells and in the corridors to decrease the crimes within the jail. The program ended with Chris Sharp taking questions from the club members.

Pot Draw

PJ Jones won the pot and donated the money to the dog fund at the jail.

September 10, 2019 meeting notes

Melisa Tigard gave a brief description of her running for Wenatchee School Board Position 1.

Nevada Black, Eagle Scout, gave a brief presentation to the club and thanked them for contributing to his Eagle Scout project at the Chelan County Fair Ground in Cashmere. The project was a Dog Park/Run. Nevada's mother also attended.

Announcements

On September 24th all Rotarians are invited to Alatheia Therapeutic Riding Center for drinks, appetizers, tours, and a demonstration of a riding lesson.  The time is 5:30-7:30, and they would like a RSVP at: https://rotaryalatheia.eventbrite.com.  Password is Rotary.

September 14 will be a clean-up/deck painting party at Lorraine Church's home (117 View Ridge Circle).  Meet at Bob's Classic in Wenatchee at 7:00 am, or at her house at 8:00.  Contact PJ Jones if you have questions.

Family of Rotary

Check out September birthdays and anniversaries in the right hand column.

Wayne Massing gave an update on Mansour Ravassipour's recent torn meniscus surgery. Mansour is back home resting with ice packs on his knee. The surgery went well.

Erik Holmberg told of his weather experience at Husky Stadium, and mourned the loss to California.
John McDarment bragged about the Seahawks win.
Pete Blanksma bragged about the WSU win, and all the Cougars paid a buck.
Kaitlyn Vanweerdhuizen has a new kitty.

Program

Earl Crowe and Kaitlyn Vanweerdhuizen gave the program on the duties of the coroner's office and funeral homes.  It was enlightening, and Erik said they "killed it".  Earl discussed some of the cases and challenges he has had over the years.  There are only two coroners in Chelan County, and a prosecutor for Douglas County. They investigated over 450 deaths last year alone. These included those by natural causes, accidents, suicides (11), and homicides (0).

Kaitlyn discussed life working in the funeral home business.  They move the bodies from place of death to the funeral home or other facility.  Their duties include dealing with the deceased and their families, and state obligations.

September 3 meeting notes

Announcements

Adele Ayer (our exchange student) told us about her first couple days of school.  She also had a good weekend with her host family.













Zachery Banken (our outbound exchange student) has survived his first few weeks in India.  His letter and pictures can be found on the link in the email sent to you all.

Thanks to Taro Masuda, Robin DeRock and Dave Freimuth for working the beer garden at the Gorge concerts this weekend.  Service above self for theses three for sure.

Jim & Carol Adamson were the only ones that showed up for the Westside High School to help clean up after the back-to-school bash.

On September 24th all Rotarians are invited to Alatheia Therapeutic Riding Center for drinks, appetizers, tours, and a demonstration of a riding lesson.  The time is 5:30-7:30, and they would like a RSVP at: https://rotaryalatheia.eventbrite.com.  Password is Rotary.

September 14 will be a clean-up/deck painting party at Lorraine Church's home (117 View Ridge Circle).  Meet at Bob's Classic in Wenatchee at 7:00 am, or at her house at 8:00.  Contact PJ Jones if you have questions.

Family of Rotary

Check out September birthdays and anniversaries in the right hand column.

Matt Eastman's son is doing well after falling from a second story window and breaking his femur and jaw.
Leonard Noss is doing better after heart pain caused by inflammation of the sac around the heart.
Leslie Coleman spent time with her daughter and new granddaughter.
Earl Crowe took all his girls to the UW football game.
Jim & Carol Adamson attended the Beach Boys concert with their daughter in Salem.

Program

Bliss Littler, 8-year coach of the Wenatchee Wild, gave a great program on hockey in Wenatchee.  The Wild have been here for 12 years, and have had great success.  All but 3 of their players have gone on to Division 1 college hockey.  The last 5 years have been in the British Columbia Hockey League, and have been very competitive with their record.
Wenatchee now has 7 hockey teams (little tikes up to 20 year-olds), 17 full-time employees, 200 part-timers, and over 100 volunteers.
Besides having an economic impact, the team has given over $100,000 a year to fundraising groups, and players have to give 100 hours of community service while they are here.

August 20th 2019

August 20th Meeting Notes

Announcements 

Adele, our exchange student from Switzerland, came to her first meeting with us. She is a junior in high school and so far has attended to the club picnic, and gone tubing for the first time.  Scroll to the pictures below.

August 29th is the back to school bash at West Side High school it is 3-5 P.M. and we are still looking for volunteers to help.

Jim A. gave out 11 gift cards  to those who have in the past has 100% attendance including make-ups.

Brags and Confessions

Chris McDarment is hosting a past exchange student

Ruth Daggs' last child is going to college

Milt Herman just got back from Denver where he was attending his 60th school reunion.

Program

Robin gave us the rundown of her Pre-RI trip starting in Frankfort and ending in Berlin. There was a lot of beautiful pictures full of history to see.

Picnic time

BBQ at the Orchard, August 18

Sunrise members, families, and guests joined together at Tom Utigards' orchard on the Columbia River Sunday afternoon for a BBQ to meet Adele Ayer, our exchange student from Switzerland.  Also attending were her first two host families.  Thanks to PJ and Cookie for organizing the BBQ, and setting everything up on Sunday.  Check out the pictures.

Adele getting some American food

Host families - the Loewen's and Mueller's

The Mueller family

The Loewen family with a welcome card for Adele

Adele (left) tubing later that day with host sister

August 13 Meeting Notes

Rotary and Non-Rotary Guests 

Karen Massing was the guest of Wayne Massing.

Donn Etherington, Chelan County Commissioner, District 1, was the guest of Jim Huffman.

Brian Campbell was also a club guest.

Announcements

-PJ Jones announced that there will be a BBQ at Tom Utigard's orchard 10 miles North of Wenatchee on Hwy. 97A, on Sunday, Aug. 18th from 1-4 pm. This is to welcome our new inbound exchange student Adele from Switzerland, and her Wenatchee host family. Attendees with names starting from A-L, please bring a salad; those with names M-Z, please bring a side dish.

-Sage Hills Church is looking for help with the Westside High School back to school bash on Thursday, August 29 from 3-5. This is a fun event for families and students. There will be food, games, and prizes. All three of our Challenge Scholars this year are from Westside! Let’s show them some love. Consider helping out with set up, clean up or staffing a booth. Contact Kelley Kennedy at kelleyk@impactevents.com or 509-387-1411.

-PJ Jones  announced that last week he collected $450 in donations for the Saddle Rock Evangelical Presbyterian Church  to clothe school children in the community this school year. For a $25 donation, the child receives a pair of pants, 2 shirts, socks and a pair of shoes. The Wenatchee Sunrise Rotary Board of Directors voted to match the $450 donation for a total of $900! That 36 students who will have new clothes for school this year!

-Kathleen McNalty invited the club to a Pony Party at the Alethea Center, 2170 Sleepy Hollow Heights, Wenatchee, on Tuesday, Sept. 24th at 5:30 pm.

Brags and Confessions

August Birthdays and anniversaries in the right hand column

Chris McDarment and his family vacationed a week on the coast with Erik Holmberg and his family.

Jim Huffman got mixed reviews on his latest Chuck Norris joke!

Robin DeRock said she got her husband Richard back after the Link Transit Proposition #1 passed. Her husband wrenched his back picking up an air compressor. Her nursing skills were tested!

Joel Banken announced that his son had arrived in Mumbai, India, and had met his next two host families already.

Milt Herman would like to collect used prescription and reading glasses, sun glasses, magnifiying glasses and unopened eye drops for his Guatemalan trip in October.

Kevin and Lynn Love attended the Seahawk Training Camp. They also drove their boat up to Stehekin on Lake Chelan, and spent the night moored to the dock for $7.50 (up from $5).

Bill McDowell regretted being gone from club meetings.

Erik Holmberg enjoyed time at the beach until his wife hurt her back. Today their cabin on Lake Chelan is being demolished to renovate it.

Sargeant-At-Arms

Erik Holmberg fined the greeters for not greeting, and for being late!

Erik also recognized Wayne Massing for working 6 shifts and his wife Karen for working 5 shifts over the 3 days at the Watershed Concert!

PJ Jones, one of the Sargeant-At-Arms, was fined for his confronting a woman at the Watershed Concert about her hair color!

Program 

Lee De La Torre, from The Diamond Foundry, was the guest speaker. Lee is a manufacturing engineer and is the primary person responsible for the construction and installation of The Diamond Foundry in Wenatchee. He came to Wenatchee from the Bay Area of Calif.

Lee described the process of diamond making as "growing diamonds", since each diamond produces starts as a small slice of diamond. That slice gets carbon added to it in a proprietary process to make a grown diamond. They are 100% carbon.

By comparison, mined diamonds are from artisanal mines, mainly in Africa and Russia. About 250 ton of dirt must be moved for each 1 carat diamond unearthed. There are about 1 million miners working for about $1 per day.

Grown diamonds are produced in the USA. Their vertically integrated process has about 14 steps from the manufacturing process to being a piece of jewelry. The Diamond Foundry does many of these steps themselves, but has other help in the processes.

The basic process is described as a diamond seed or slice put into a "reactor", and is heated up to 10,000 degrees. It is bombarded with carbon gas and the carbon atoms attach themselves to the seed. The process to grow one diamond may take weeks, but many are "grown" at once.

Their diamond are serialized and grown to >9+ carats. The costs are typically between about 10-25% of the cost of mined diamond. Each grown diamond can be finished into one of 40 different cuts. Their production should start within 2 to 2 1/2 years. Sixty per cent of their employees are from the Wenatchee area, with many veterans being hired. New workers are trained on site.



Club President Taro Masuda said the club was donating a children's book to the North Central Washington Regional Library in Lee's name.
. 
Meeting was adjourned at 8 am.

August 6, 2019 Meeting Notes

August 6, 2019 Meeting Notes

Rotary and Non-Rotary Guests

Bob Bugert from the Wenatchee Rotary Club was a guest of Jim Huffman's. Bob is a member of the Chelan Douglas Land Trust.

Rebecca Lyons brought her daughter Marni.

Announcements

Wayne Massing thanked all the volunteers who worked at The Gorge this weekend, selling beers at the Watershed Concert. These Wenatchee Sunrise Rotarian volunteers spent a collective 161 hours: Taro Masuda, Erik Holmberg, PJ Jones, Robin DeRock, Kathleen McNalty, David Barshes, John Schapman, and Wayne & Karen Massing. They are shining examples of  Rotary's motto "Service Above Self".
The next concert where we are volunteering is the Dave Matthews Band on Friday, Aug. 30th, Saturday, Aug. 31st, and Sunday Sept. 1st (Labor Day Weekend). Volunteers are still needed for this concert. Each day's volunteer work is only one shift (unlike Watershed, which was 2 shifts). If you're interested, please contact Wayne Massing (wkmassing@nwi.net) prior to 3 pm this Friday, Aug. 9th. We have to submit the number of volunteers from each of 4 clubs to The Gorge early for location assignments.

PJ Jones announced that there will be a BBQ at Tom Utigard's orchard 10 miles North of Wenatchee on Hwy. 97A, on Sunday, Aug. 18th from Noon to about 4 pm. This is to welcome our new inbound exchange student Adele from Switzerland, and her Wenatchee host family. More details next week on what to bring.

John McDarment said the dedication of the second picnic shelter at Rotary Park on Western Avenue in Wenatchee will be Wed., Aug. 7th at 6 p.m.. Please plan to be there!

Kathleen McNalty asked the group in an ad hoc survey what were some of the reasons that they could not volunteer for selling beer at The Gorge Amphitheater. Some of the answers were: family or business travel, vacation, the heat, too long of a drive at night, and may not support the Rotary mission.

Sage Hills Church is looking for help with the Westside High School back to school bash on Thursday, August 29 from 3-5. This is a fun event for families and students. There will be food, games, and prizes. All three of our Challenge Scholars this year are from Westside! Let’s show them some love. Consider helping out with set up, clean up or staffing a booth. Contact Kelley Kennedy at kelleyk@impactevents.com or 509-387-1411.

RP Jones asked for donations to the Saddle Rock Evangelical Presbyterian Church is collecting funds to clothe school children in the community this school year. For a $25 donation, the child receives a pair of pants, 2 shirts, socks and a pair of shoes. At today's meeting, $450 was collected for club members. The Board of Directors will decide if the club can match those funds!

Craig Reese leaves for his annual volunteer trip to Burundi. He requested an old laptop computer (memory scrubbed clean!) to take with him. The school where he volunteers needs a replacement computer because theirs crashed. Please contact Craig if you can help (craigreese12@gmail.com or 509-679-3281) before he leaves Thursday (tomorrow!).

John Schapman has Thank You cards for the 2019 Bike Ride sponsors. Please contact John if you need one (jt.schapman@gmail.com).

Brags and Confessions

Alan Walker's daughter had her 28th birthday!

Rebecca Lyons' parents celebrated their 60th anniversary.

Program 

Jim Huffman presented a TED TALKS on "The Unexpected".

Meeting was adjourned at 8 am.