On February 1, 2021, Wenatchee Rotary will officially complete our first 100 years of service to the Wenatchee Valley and the world. Our tribute on January 14, was the first of several planned celebrations.
Another sad loss, James "Jim" Loudon, January 2, 2021, age 91. According to the published obituary, Jim was a former member and president of the East Wenatchee Rotary Club and a member of the Wenatchee Rotary Club, with a perfect attendance at both clubs, a total of 38 years. He left our club in June 2011.
View a pictorial list of former/deceased members HERE.
*******************
For virtual meetings - ZOOM LINK. Any Rotarian or friend of Rotary may attend.
If no digital access, call in by phone : Dial 253-215-8782; when asked, enter meeting ID - 484-306-077#, then #. Meeting ID: 484 306 077
To find/join other clubs' virtual meetings, CLICK HERE ; for security purposes, ClubRunner login is required to access the list.
Kory introduced our speaker, Jordan Harrison, a man he was inspired by at the 2020 Rotary PNW PETS (President Elect Training Seminar), and stated "This will be our initial taste of celebrating our first hundred years, with a promise of a major gala to come in the summer, COVID permitting, as planned by the Centennial Committee chaired by President Kory. For this event, our speaker is a well-known Rotary motivator." He is a member of San Diego Rotary.
Jordan J. Harrison is an educator working to transform antiqued systems and the inequities that stem from injustice. A firm believer that the right words, to the right people, at the right time can change the trajectory of their entire life. For more about Jordan see prior Appleseed.
Jordan's presentation was inspirational, motivational and entertaining! He titled it "WATCHING AND WORKING", Or "Celebrating what was, and what is to come."
He began by quoting our founder Paul Harris, who famously said, "Whatever Rotary may mean to us, to the world, it will be known by the results it achieves." He was "blown away" by the work we have done over the last 100 years and the hope we have brought to others.
He encouraged us to keep our momentum going, and to think big, quoting Confucius who said, "If you think in terms of a year, plant a seed; ...ten years, plant trees; ...100 years, teach the people". We should think in terms of not only people of today, but those coming after us.
Work Challenge #1 - What is our BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal)? Author Jim Collins studied relevant companies had a vision and commitment to a BHAG. Jordan likes our plan for 100 projects this year, but what comes after that? He challenges us to consider EQUALITY VS EQUITY. Think about who we are serving and not serving.
Work Challenge #2 - Next Level - Hold on to our UNREASONABLENESS. George Bernard Shaw said "The reasonable person adapts themselves to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable person". Question to us: What will our unreasonable legacy be? He gave an example of how his own club took responsibility for assisting a desperate family in crisis. He reminded us of Who a Rotarian is, i.e. a person who ...
digs wells from which we will never drink
vaccinates children that we will never meet
restores eyesight for those we will never see
builds housing we will never live in
educates children we will never know
plants trees we will never sit under
makes crawlers into walkers halfway around the world
knows that real happiness comes only from helping others.
We can achieve such things if we truly live by Rotary's motto of Service above Self, and the Four-Way Test.
He closed with some entertaining "improv poetry" where he created a beautiful poem from a few simple words given him by the members.
The meeting was opened and led by president Kory Kalahar, who introduced the many guests and offered many interesting announcements and comments. Scroll to bottom to see attendance.
Kory continued the format changes. the "Pledge of Allegiance" was played as a recording by a professional voice, with patriotic music. Special guests were recognized.
Klas Bergstrom, Pete's cousin-in-law member and past president (2017-18) of the Knivsta Rotaryklub in Sweden, mayor of Knistva.
Jordan Harrison, speaker
Gene Sharratt, former member
Leo Sax, former member (with wife Pat), retired as the head of the Growers Clearinghouse
Jim and Carol Adamson, of Wenatchee Sunrise Rotary (well known)
Gil Sparks, former member, now a Rotarian in Colorado
Jacqueline Beltran, mystery guest
Kelli Scott, future member
Special guests...
Klas
Gene
Kathleen
Leo and Pat Sax
Announcements.
Jim Loudon. Our hearts go out to Jim Loudon’s family as they mourn the loss of a great man and fellow Rotarian. Jim was 91 years old.
Chelan Cares. Supporting local has never been more important. If you happen to be in Chelan they have gotten very creative with Cares dollars and reimbursing the local restaurant owners for their work time and effort.
Thanks to us. Kory read 3 letters from Rotary Foundation NCESD Teacher Classroom Grants!
Rotary Moment in History (#1). A story from historian Marc (Sam Elliott) Heminger.This feature will replace the much loved “Would You Rather” but will prove to produce as many smiles. Marc shared some facts about our 50th anniversary.
Pete Van Well. Ten things you Don’t Know About a Fellow Rotarian. See below.
Not-so-stupid things. Kory has turned over a new leaf and now we will we will closing with Not so Stupid Things that Kory has done! One not - so stupid thing that I have done I talked about beginning a career in education, which in turn lead me to become and administrator, which allowed me to see that I would like to work with our more disenfranchised students who need love and consistency, which led me to working and learning everything that I can to position me to eventually lead me to become the one principal at the school. I saw WestSide as the place where I can lead a group of compassionate educators to help shape the culture of a school to always be welcoming and warm to all who show up.
Our 100 years of PROJECTS. During our Centennial Year, our theme currently in the Centennial Committee is to Keep the Momentum going! Kory outlined plans for further events and celebrations this year, and then described our top ten service projects (or groups of projects) over the last 100 years.
Rotary International Polio eradication in our world ($230,000+)
Lincoln Park Play Area and Shelters ($77,000+)
Wenatchee Rotary Foundation - (40 students have received a scholarship since 2006)
Rotary Park ($400,000+)
Community Park & Trail Projects ($615,000+): Rotary Park, Lighting for ball fields Walla Walla Park & Paul Thomas field at WVC, Morris Park Concession Stand and Offices (Youth Baseball),Washington Park Renovations, Lincoln Park Play Area & Shelters, Loop Trail & Lighting for pedestrian bridge across Columbia, Wenatchee
Rotary Youth Exchange (100+ outbound students and 75+ inbound students since 1974)
Wenatchee High School ($75,000+) various projects (band, athletics, auditorium lighting & sound, scholarships, mentors, drill team, cheer, Interact Club)
International Projects ($110,000+): Ethiopian (Water Wells), Medicine Arm in Arm, Guatemala (Spina Bifida, Computers, Literacy), Russia (Wheelchairs, Dental Clinic, Food Boxes), Malawi, Africa (Eyeglasses), Finland (Clothing), Vietnam, Bolivia, & Guatemala Rotoplast Missions, Haiti (Water Project, Finance Project, and School Supplies), India ( visible woman model, orphanage), Honduras (Daycare and Nutritional Center), Ghana (bicycles) Kelowna, BC Canada (Fire Relief), Ensanada, México (orphanage)
Lincoln Park Play Area and Shelters ($77,000+)
Contribution to Support organizations: Sal. Army, WRC, Red Cross, Mission Vista, Women’s Resource Center, Disaster Relief: fires, Covid, Shelter boxes & Hunger, Hunger and Humanity, 1st Harvest
100 Projects in 100 years - mid 40s folks!
OTHER NEWS.....
Jim Russell story-Seattle Times. Read the touching January 16 story of PP Jim and his daughter Lynne HERE . (Thanks to Bev Hoyt for this alert). This story is directly relevant to our program of January 28!
DISTRICT NEWS. Again, if you are interested in being nominated for District Governor, the annual call for applications to be the 2021-2022 DGD (to serve as District Governor in 2024-2025) for Rotary District 5060 are NOW OPEN and will close on 15 February 2021. Contact Kory or Frank for details.
10. Many of you know Pete and Ardie Van Well. Despite the same name, Pete is not my father nor is Ardie my mother. They are my godparents, but Ardie doesn’t really own up to that, so if you see her please don’t let her know you know.
9. My parents were Jack & Mary Van Well. My mom didn’t smoke, drink, swear or eat fish, but despite all that she was still considered a good Catholic.
8. My dad, on the other hand, did all those things and was considered an excellent Catholic. No, really, he could and did recite the Mass in Latin to himself when we were at church. He was also very good at swearing, so his French was on par with his Latin.
7. I have never seen any of the Godfather Movies, which my wife of 25 years, Carmen, thinks is the strangest things about me. Go figure.
6. Most of you know my daughter Grace who has Autism. When Grace was four, Carmen was chagrin, when Grace’s Paraprofessional Sandy told her that Grace was repeating an interesting phrase at school all morning: “gosh darn flipping muffin.” Unfortunately, Grace didn’t say “gosh darn flipping muffin,” she said the R-Rated version of that phrase. Sandy told Carmen she had no idea where Grace could have heard that. Carmen knew.
5. Moral of the story: Don’t put Costco muffins in a top-load freezer, because if a frozen, rock-solid muffin rolls out on Dad’s big toe while he’s getting breakfast for the kids, your children too will too hear the R-rated version “gosh darn flipping muffin.”
4. I am addicted to Animal Crossing, a video game where you live on an island with cartoon animals as you neighbors. Thanks to President Kory, many of the island residents now refer to me as Triple P.
3. I have had two COVID tests, and they are no big deal. Believe me, at age 8 I stuck a jelly bean farther up my nose than the swab goes.
2. My COVID tests were part of the clinical trials for the Pfizer vaccine here at Confluence Health. It is a two-year blind study with 50% of test subjects getting a placebo instead of the vaccine. I was unblinded today just before the meeting and… I was part of the placebo group. So I won’t be coming over tonight to your homes for hugs. Good news, I get the first dose of vaccine Monday and will be moved to the active study.
1. Tomorrow is my 57th birthday, yet I didn’t get a delivery before the meeting from Cupcake Blues, President Kory. I suppose you are just waiting for the actual day. Chocolate peanut butter cup is my favorite, but Almond Joy will do in a pinch. Just don’t go buy can of frosting and try to pass off one of the gosh darn flipping Costco muffins as a cupcake.
Next meeting - Pete selected Secretary Frank.
These members have already told their story :
Leonard Singhose
Jil Leonard
Raz
Laurel Turner
Tom Ross
Rich Peters
Gary Provo
Linda Parlette
Dawn Davies
Gene Anderson
Alicia Nakata
Dorry Foster
Claudia DeRobles
Ford Barrett
Tom McNair
Mark McCants
Sean Cooper
Russ Speidel
Andy Petro
Pete Van Well
UPCOMING PROGRAMS
JANUARY 21 - OPIOID CRISIS
With Keith Madsen
Keith works with Intermountain AmeriCorps, with the task of helping to bring education on the opioid epidemic to our schools. It is a part of a national service movement striving to rebuild communities while broadening educational and life skills opportunities for citizens. AmeriCorps offers opportunities for Americans to make a substantial commitment to serve their country, mobilizing at the local level to build a national movement for positive change.
Over 400,000 people have died in recent years from this opioid epidemic. In fact, more people are dying from drug overdose than from auto accidents or gun violence.
Our last program on this topic was presented by Bill Murray in July 2019. See Appleseed.
JANUARY 28 - NCW WALK TO END ALZHEIMER'S
With Erica Grissmerson
Erica is the Manager for the Walk to End Alzheimer's here in Wenatchee but also manages the Yakima, Walla Walla and Tri-Cities Walks. Joining Erica is Geoff Gatewood, Financial Advisor for Edward Jones. Geoff serves on the Wenatchee Volunteer Walk Planning Committee as the Walk Chair.
About Walk to End Alzheimer's. Held annually in more than 600 communities nationwide, the Alzheimer's Association Walk to End Alzheimer’s is the world’s largest fundraiser for Alzheimer’s care, support and research. The Alzheimer's/Dementia Rotarian Action Group is a proud National Team of the Walk to End Alzheimer's!
SPONSOR OF THE WEEK
Our current sponsors are those who generously sponsored
SPEAKERS. Are you thinking of sponsoring a speaker? Complete the new online info FORM. Guidelines are posted on our website under the main menu. Or click here.
End Polio Now: Our goal this Rotary year is $7500. As of this December 9, we have donated $5200 (#1 in District 5060*), 70% of our goal; this amounts to $15,600 (with the Gates match! ) This equates to 26,000lives potentially saved to date!
70%
Note: We continue our 10-year relationship with the Gates Foundation. Since 2013, they have matched each dollar with $2 toward polio eradication. * District donations total about $51K.
Kory introduced our speaker, Jordan Harrison, a man he was inspired by at the 2020 Rotary 
The meeting was opened and led by president Kory Kalahar, who introduced the many guests and offered many interesting announcements and comments. Scroll to bottom to see attendance. 
This feature will replace the much loved “Would You Rather” but will prove to produce as many smiles. Marc shared some facts about our 50th anniversary. 
