Canuche Terranella is the executive director of the Wenatchee River Institute in Leavenworth.

 

He will speak to the club about how the WRI provides hands-on environmental education to youth and the community. Canuche and his family came to Chelan County in 2018 and enjoy exploring the mountains and rivers of the region. The whole family is actively involved in the Wenatchee River Institute community: his son, Cosimo, and daughter, Adele, participate as students, and Canuche and his wife, Mercy, as donors.

 

Prior to coming to Leavenworth, Canuche led businesses in the construction and hospitality industries in Seattle and Costa Rica. Canuche graduated from Bainbridge Graduate Institute with a Master's degree in Sustainable Business and a BA in Biology from Colorado College.

Troy Fitzgerald captivated the crowd with his life story and his connection to Rotary. Troy spoke about his parents, lovely wife, and two sons.  Troy shared that his mom passed away last year, and he is caring for his dad after a recent knee replacement.

 

Fun fact, Troy has officiated over 200 weddings! He explained how we have the most impact on people through storytelling. We learned that Troy, having faced a life-threatening massive stroke 6 years ago while speaking at a California high school, was able to recover through hard work, determination, and the love and help of many others.

 

He ended his remarks with a funny story of his first encounter with Rotary, in a situation where he complained about some Rotarians blocking a road as he traveled to an important event in Africa, only to learn later they were part of the event, where he met Dr. Richard Hart (president of Loma Linda U.), who was donating a tractor to his program.  So, he feels indebted to Rotary!