Thursday, September 25, 2014

Kiwanis Club of Cheney Meeting Notes for September 25, 2014


Dear Kiwanians,

Keith opened the meeting.

 

The secret greeter was Gail Pollard, and she identified Bob M as not having shook her hand (he paid a fine).

 

No birthdays or anniversaries to sing about.

 

Jerry Hilton won the dollar draw!   

 

Dues are now past due ($112 person; $56 for spouses).  It is higher this year because the national and district organizations imposed an insurance fee equally an additional $6 per member. 

Roger reported on the rest stop fund-raiser.  We made around $1,000 over two days at one rest stop.  

The InterClub visit to South Hill last Friday was a bust as no one was there at 7 am!

Marge announced Coats for Kids is starting up again.  The new boxes were found at KXLY and now distributed.

The next Board meeting under our new president (Tom) is on October 6 at 7am.  The next regular meeting is October 2nd.  The annual banquet is Friday, October 3rd at Gatto’s ( $16 per person).   40 people have signed up to attend.

Jeri sent around a sign-up sheet to sell Sees candy at the Trading Company in December.

Elizabeth who works at EWU with Eagle Entertainment announced a “Rake a Difference” community care challenge on October 28th at 3 pm.

Mark Shuler, the current Cheney city manager, talked briefly about his career up until now.  Then, he discussed the state of affairs in Cheney, starting with the solid waste program.  Despite saving a lot of money by not going with Spokane County any longer, the state has decided to withhold more money than ever before leaving Cheney a bit short.  As such, many of the city staff positions are unfilled and current staff are pulling double and triple duty (at no extra pay).

 Respectfully, 

Steve

Thursday, September 18, 2014

Kiwanis Club of Cheney Meeting Notes for September 18, 2014

Dear Kiwanians,

Keith opened the meeting.

 
I was the secret greeter.  No problems.

 

No birthdays or anniversaries to sing about.

 

Bob Mostek won the dollar draw!  Shawn won the 25 cent card draw but was not present (so it carrys over).

 

Dues are now past due ($112 person; $56 for spouses).  It is higher this year because the national and district organizations imposed an insurance fee equally an additional $6 per member. 

Roger reported on the rest stop fund-raiser.  We made around $1,000 over two days at one rest stop.  He thanked everyone that participated (which was most of the club).  Duane noted that two of the $20 bills were counterfeit!  (He replaced them both out of his pocket!  Awesome!)

Next Friday (9/19) will be an InterClub visit to South Hill at 7 am.

Marge announced Coats for Kids is starting up again.  However, we do not have the new boxes yet.

The next Board meeting under our new president (Tom) is on October 6 at 7am.

Bob Quinn, the longest serving professor at EWU (46 years), was back visiting with us again.  He noted that the global weather pattern is a function of the ocean’s temperature.  Right now, the northern Pacific is rather warm, to include an El Nino.  As a result, the weather will be wetter in Alaska and southern California, and dryer in the Inland NW.

So far, the hurricane season in the Pacific has been incredible, while in the Atlantic it has been rather mild. 

As for global warming, it is happening and due primarily to two factors: 1) fossil fuel combustion engines (CO2) - 55%, and 2) deforestation (see Latin America) – 45%.

Respectfully, 

Steve

Thursday, September 11, 2014

Kiwanis Club of Cheney Meeting Notes for September 11, 2014


Dear Kiwanians,

Keith opened the meeting with a moment of silence for the victims of the terrorist attack 13 years ago today.

Carl was the secret greeter.  

It was Peter’s wife’s birthday, Rande and Marge’s 17th anniversary, and Bill and Nancy’s 51st anniversary.  We sang, but it was not worth hearing.


Joe, our guest speaker, selected his own ticket for the dollar draw!  I won the 25 cent card draw and donated the money to the Cheney Museum.  (I would rather win the dollar draw!)


Reminder of dates to circle on your calendar:

-          October 2 is a regular meeting

-          October 3 is our annual meeting at Gatto’s at 5:30 pm

-          October 6 is the first Board Meeting under President Tom

-          October 31 is the annual Halloween Party at EWU (location TBD)

Dues are now due ($106 person; $55 for spouses).  However, national and district imposed an insurance fee equally an additional $12.  Our club will cover the $6 difference this year only.

Roger reminded everyone about the rest stop fund-raiser from 12-14 September.  This is it!  Roger went through all the logistics to make this happen to include coffee, lemonade with ice, and the combo to the building.

Next Friday (9/19) will be an InterClub visit to South Hill at 7 am.

Marge announced Coats for Kids is starting up again.

Guest speakers for September include Bob Quinn (TV weatherman) next meeting, and Mark Shuler, City Administrator, the week after that.

Peter introduced Joe of the Cheney Light Department.  Joe talked about the transmission grid, balancing areas, brown and black outs, and spinning reserves.

It is becoming more challenging to predict the energy availability with  the onset of wind and solar power sources.  However, the wind generators send their electricity to California.

Cheney buys 97% of its power from Bonneville Power (15 megawatts per day from the Grand Coulee Dam).  It costs around $350,000 in the Summer months and $600,000 in the Winter months.  However, Cheney is among the top 75 cities in the US for lowest electricity rates.

Respectfully, 

Steve