WEEK IN REVIEW - 3/22/18-The Hanford Site, w/Dieter Bohrmann
President-Don Myers (tanned and rested after a 2-week vacation with wife Heidi in Belize) presided with renewed energy, and welcomed all members and guests with gusto. He informed the club briefly about Belize and recommended it as a relaxing destination.
Frank Clifton introduced the speaker Dieter Bohrmann, a public-affairs specialist from Tri-Cities, who used an informative PowerPoint to provide a simple overview of history and activities of the US DOE Hanford site.
In the short 20 minutes permitted, he briefly covered these areas of interest:
History of Hanford - Why the site was selected in 1943 for the Manhatten Project
Cleanup scope - Remediation of 56M gallons of liquid waste from 177 underground tanks
Current projects - Demolition PFP, PUREX, WTP, Tank waste management ...
Plutonium was produced between 1943 - 1989. About 1500 residents of the small towns of Hanford & White Bluffs had to be displaced under the War Powers Act. The 50,000 construction workers were mostly unaware of their objective until the first nuclear weapon was dropped over Nagasaki in 1945. The first of 9 reactors constructed was the "B" reactor, the world's first plutonium production reactor.
President Kennedy conducted a site dedication shortly before his death.
Current activities.
Currently, more than 9,000 workers serving a number of contractors, are involved in long-term cleanup of the site, mostly involving disposal of highly radioactive waste stored in 177 underground tanks, but also some contaminated structures and soil. The ultimate plan is to vitrify the waste in stable glass cylinders using a new process being developed. Another 30-40 years may be required to complete the task. Dieter was able to confidently answer several good questions.
Lorrie Flarity White is seeking travel miles for Interact. See below.
Dawn Davies last week reported on the Chamber banquet awards.
Welcome to spring; Don threatens to wear shorts if the weather warms, and as soon is his vacation sun-burn heals on his feet.
Lorrie Flarity-White requested members donate Alaska Airlines frequent-flyer miles, to send two Interact students 6,000 miles to the island kingdom of Tonga to deliver donated books. They will be hosted by Tonga Rotary. [Tonga includes 169 islands between Hawaii and New Zealand.]. Bryan Campbell generously agreed to donate 10,000 miles and requested details.
YWCA Project - Gary Provo and Dan Maher will be seeking a team to help on a work project at the YWCA; first some demolition of a wall and then light remodeling. See details below.
Laurel Turner's summer fundraiser team meeting is scheduled for Wednesday April 4 at the Jones Tasting Room at Pybus, 5 PM. All club members are invited. "We will be forming sub committees and discussing our marketing effort."
Pete Van Well's 15-passenger van is filling up for the round-trip ride to the District Conference Saturday banquet, May 19, and he wants it filled. Don't miss it. The ride alone is worth the price.
Pete also hopes for a good turnout and participation for the April 5 meeting and program when we discuss the next round of fund-raising. See auction blog below, a new regular feature. Pete is also still anxiously seeking a Membership Chair.
Gary Provo has announced that The YWCA is undertaking the renovation of some space in their facility on Chelan and First Avenue. The initial effort will focus on demolition and potentially transporting refuse to the land fill.
The construction work includes low skill (e.g. framing and drywall installation) for which we would like to attract Rotary volunteers, and more skilled (e.g. plumbing and electrical work) for which there are funds to retain subcontractors.
We will have a sign-up sheet at next week’s meeting and a date for a walk through with Dan Maher, our Project Director who is also on the Board of the YWCA, and Jenny Pratt YWCA Executive Director.
THE AUCTION BLOG
Our next fund-raiser auction will be held January 26, 2019 at the Convention Center.
The committee co-chairs are again Jill Leonard and Jay Smith. The objective is to raise a net amount of $115,000. President-elect Pete Van Well wants the auction to focus mainly on contributing to important Wenatchee parks improvements.
At our April 5th meeting, the club will be asked to choose one of the following, each of which is expected to cost around $60,000, or elect another option from the floor. We will require the right to display a Rotary logo at the location of any improvement or project. Click below to see images.
We hope to see everyone at that meeting where we will also hear from Laurel Turner and her team on the JulY 14 Wine Gala.
From the head table
Don Myers
While in Belize on our recent vacation Heidi and I saw a the Rotary wheel on a number of locations. Pictured is a plaque in the town of Placencia, outside a cemetery the local club there has taken on as a project. (I would guess in ways of maintenance, not increasing the participation… J) It reminded me of other times I’ve seen the Rotary logo or attended other clubs while traveling; in Mexico, India, South Korea, Kenya and Tanzania. And I know some of you have seen Rotary at work in far more places around the world than those few.
What’s the point? It’s great to be reminded that we are part of something BIG! You know the numbers – 1.2 million Rotarians in more than 35,000 Rotary clubs worldwide. When a group that size combines effort and influence to push against an issue – it moves! Polio eradication is certainly a great example, but so is clean water and literacy and leadership development and cultural exchange.
So be encouraged; the small things that we do as a club and as individuals make up a far larger impact. Putting coins in a cup, planting a tree, cheering on Special Olympians – multiply that by a million and you see just what a world changing things we are all a part of. Thanks for making a difference.
Just so ‘ya know… (#4 in series)
Your Rotary Club of Wenatchee is sponsoring the Foothills Middle School robotics team that placed first in the State VEX competition. They have qualified to compete in the World VEX Robotics Championship.
A check for $1000 was awarded through your Community Outreach Grant Program. In addition the committee met on March 21st to review the Cycle #3 applications. We awarded $1000 to "Girls On The Run of Columbia Valley".
End Polio Now/Club 60 - Approximate totals collected:
Goal this Rotary year = $4,000, or $12,000 with Gates Foundation 2-for-1 match (20,040 lives saved). Donations by club members on Mar. 22 = $49.73 thus bringing our total (since July 1) to $3271 or $9815 with the Gates match, equating to 16,391 lives saved. Reminder - these donations are collected from the table-cups each week!