December 24 and December 31, 2015:  There will not be Kiwanis meetings on these dates.  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

December 17, 2015 meeting notes:  Eighteen members were present and our speakers were the Moberleys who spoke about the Just Serve organization. It is sponsored by the local LDS church and is designed to connect service organizations with volunteers.  Organizations have to promise that volunteers will not be used on political, fund raising or  profit making projects.


Our club has been invited to a Cheney Gardners' potluck on January 11 at 6:30pm.  This is to thank us for our service in the community.


Clara reported that Betz K-Kids have raised $450 for new playground equipment.  This amount has been matched by someone and the K-Kids will be selecting the new items.

December 10, 2015:  Eighteen members attended and heard a presentation on dental health by member Andy Martinssen.  He explained that healthy gums have tooth pockets of less than 3mm; pockets are measured at several places on inside and outside of each tooth.  Plaque is a bacterial infection that can be disturbed by brushing and flossing.  If plaque hardens it is called tartar and has to be scraped to be removed.  Tartar leads to bone loss.  He said the best cavity filling material is gold; a white composite is frequently used and silver amalgam is seldom used now.  For crowns, the best material is also gold but a tooth colored material is usually used.


We also had an update on the process for toy distribution by Cheney Outreach.

December 3, 2015 meeting notes:  Nineteen members attended and tried their skill at trivia and identifying Christmas carols from picture clues.  Maggie Crabtree from the Downtown Spokane club talked about the Chili Challenge at Luigi's on January 15.

November 19, 2015:  Our speakers were Michael and Linda McCollum.  They are both geologists and described the process they used to survey Eastern Washington geologic formations.  They described the changes made by the flood from glacial Lake Missoula and talked about the hypothesis that mima mounds are the result of subduction earthquakes. 


There will be no meeting next week -- Happy Thanksgiving!

November 12, 2015 meeting:  Lt. Col. Pape from EWU Army ROTC was our speaker.  He explained that ROTC is voluntary, about 50% of the students are female and it provides a way to cover some college costs and graduates enter the Army as officers.  There is emphasis on academic success and by their junior year over half of the students are on a scholarship.  ROTC participants sign a contract in their junior year and then receive a monthly stipend even when in school.  He was asked about physical condition requirements:  they vary according to function the cadet is expected to perform; both male and female cadets performing the same function have to meet the same physical condition standards. 


The EWU Circle K club met last week with 13 students attending.

November 5, 2015 meeting:  Our speaker was Bill Chaves, Athletic Director at EWU.  He is very proud of EWU winning the Big Sky President's Trophy for the second time in 5 years.  The trophy is awarded based on both athletic and academic performance and reflects the emphasis that is placed on athletes performing well academically, graduating and being leaders.  He was asked about the proposed Gateway project - it is being funded entirely by donations and is being worked on daily. 


The Harvest Festival at EWU was a success - about 450 kids participated and Kirk, our club organizer, thanked club volunteers for their help.

October 29, 2015:  Member Dave Daugharty presented our annual Child Protect training.  The main thing to remember is to not be alone with one child.  This avoids creating a situation that could lead to a claim of abuse.  Members can get their criminal background checks done for free at Keith Walker's business and the printouts should be given to the club secretary.

October 22, 2015:  Our speaker was Dave Meany, Director of Media Relations at EWU.  He discussed his role in university and emergency communications.  He also discussed the impact of the Rachel Dolezal controversy on the university. 


Members mentioned that there will be a Christmas breakfast fundraiser on Dec. 4 at the Spokane Club and also fundraising is happening for Wreaths Across America which will happen on Dec. 12.  We also need volunteers to help with Coats 4 Kids distribution this month.

October 15, 2015:  Our speaker was Megan Ford, Student Services Coordinator for Communities in Schools at Cheney High School.  Communities in Schools works with students at risk of dropping out to help them improve academic performance, attendance and behavior.  They also work with students after graduation if they are college bound. They are in need of community mentors and are funded thru Americorp grants and other donations.  Their fundraiser is this Saturday at the Red Lion at the Park.


We also made plans for an interclub visit on October 27 to the Hillyard Kiwanis club

October 8, 2015 meeting:  Our speaker was from the Spokane Regional Clean Air Agency.  This is a government sponsored organization that was formed in the late 1960's to administer federal, state and local clean air regulations.  They have a staff of 18 and issue about 40-50 permits a year for new businesses.  The staff includes 5 inspectors who inspect over 600 facilities and 200 gas stations.  There are also 2 staff member who do the air monitoring and when we had poor air quality due to the wildfires in the state, the agency's web site was accessed by over 62,000 people.


We also discussed the schedule for Kiwanis participation at the EWU Harvest Festival and asked for club liaisons to our Key Club and K-Kids groups.

October 2, 2015 annual meeting:  Twenty one members and some spouses attended the annual meeting and installation of 2015-16 officers.  Our new President is Bob Mostek, Vice President is Carl Schwenn, Secretary is Jeri Morgan and Treasurer is Duane Isaac.