Rachel Evey was introduced by her sponsor PP Phil Rasmussen (Raz, 2006-07), after he was named today's Mystery Rotarian.  Rachel, who joined the club in May of 2019,  came to Wenatchee in 2017 from her home town of Bakersfield, California, where she attended UC Davis, and worked with a community foundation.  Her home region is famous for such things as pomegranates, pistachio nuts and almonds, and Chevron gasoline.  She studied abroad during college.

She came here to assume the job of Alumni Coordinator for Wenatchee Valley College, and is now the Exceutive Director of the WVC Foundation, and is involved in other local foundations.  She assisted in setup for our auction.  She has been married to Mathew for 7 years and owns a dog and a mystery pet.

She used an informative PowerPoint to elaborate on her life story.  Listen to Rachel. 

She described her family and her interesting time growing up.  Her parents are "adorable" and her brother works in Alaska and she hopes to help him find a mate.   She loves to talk about her pets, one of which came from the WV Humane.  One of her passions is in the area of human rights, and volunteers with Amnesty International, and assists the fight against human trafficking.   Last year she was shocked to be named a "30 under 35" by Wenatchee World.

Very soon, she will be giving a Rotary presentation on her work with the WVC Foundation.  

There is much more you can hear from the recorded audio - Listen to Rachel. 

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Ricardo Iniguez was introduced by his sponsor Jessi Mendoza.  Ricardo joined the club September 5, 2019, when he was surprised by a visit of his Rotarian brother from Kennewick who traveled here with another Rotarian to announce that he was making Ricardo a Paul Harris Fellow.

Ricardo comes from a family of 11 siblings.  His father Santiago accompanied him at the meeting.

He is associate principal at Wenatchee High School.

 

He used a very interesting PowerPoint to give a comprehensive overview of his family life and work, and showed a fascinating video introducing each family member stating where each sibling received their college degrees. The video can be viewed here.   The entire program audio can be heard here -  Listen to Ricardo. 

His parents were farm workers from Mexico who came to the US many years ago.  Ricardo was born in Connell, WA and graduated from high school in the small town of Mattawa.  Education is a high priority in the family, as well as "opening doors".  The family mantra has become "Juntos Abrimos La Puerta" (Together we open the door) because his parent originate from a region called La Puerta.  The family name and crest originates in Spain.

He and his wife Maria have a 7-year-old son Noah who likes wrestling; Ricardo enjoys salsa dancing and loves football; he is a fan of the Oakland Raiders (Maria is a Seahawk fan).  He also loves international travel.  He injured his knee in high school football but went on to excel in football at CWU, becoming a 2006 Hall of Fame inductee when they were national champions.  This helped him "open doors" for his two younger brothers to obtain CWU football scholarships.

He met his wife in Tacoma in 2005 when he worked at a middle school where he was nominated for the KCTS-9 Golden Apple Award.  In 2009 he was WA State Distinguished League High School Assistant Principal of the Year.  He was also 2017 WA State Assistant Principal of the Year.

To hear about all of this and MUCH more -  Listen to Ricardo.    

1) The Winter Special Olympics will be held in the Wenatchee Valley from February 28 through March 1^.  Lots of volunteers are needed to help run the various events.  Do you like the outdoors?  There are events in skiing and snow boarding.  Do you want to be indoors?  How about helping monitor a gym during a basketball game or assist where

needed at the Saturday night dance for the athletes?  The following link will get you to the Special Olympics website for volunteers:     https://2020wintergames.my-trs.com/ 

 

Specifically,  what can you do?  Come help your fellow Rotarians as we work on making/assembling the decorations for the dance.

There will be a “dance card” signup sheet at our next two February Rotary meetings.

 

2) The Wenatchee Rotary Club has volunteered to help during the Green Bag Food Drive on Saturday, March 14. 

On the morning of the food drive, we will be assisting in the unbagging, sorting, and boxing  of the food items for distribution to needy families. 

It is our club’s first time in assisting, so we are not really sure of the time frame, but we are guessing 2-3 hours – 9 a.m. ‘til Noon.  You will be hearing more about this as we near the month of March, but save the date for a fun volunteer opportunity.

 

Questions?  Contact Joe St. Jean,   Gary Provo,  or Frank Jorgensen