September 28, 2017 – Eighteen members heard a presentation by Suzanne Milton, EWU Dean of Libraries.  She talked about the learning commons that became part of the library in the last few years and how students are being educated to evaluate the authenticity of information they find on the internet. She also spoke about the challenges of changing to electronic journals and how electronic media is offering access to a growing population of EWU students who are not on the Cheney or Spokane campuses. 

September 21, 2017 – EWU psychology professor Russell Kolts spoke about how humans respond to threats and how anger affects how our minds work.  Regarding threats, he brought out that animals size up a potential threat and either react with a threat display if they feel they can control the situation or act submissively if the feel they cannot control the situation.  When the situation is over, the animal recovers rapidly.  After humans face a real or potential threat the recovery process can take hours or days since we tend to replay the situation in our minds and contemplate “what if…” .  With anger, a person narrows their focus on the source of anger and doesn’t look at other actions.  A person is also more likely to blindly follow an authority figure who expresses the anger that person feels.

September 14, 2017 – Fourteen members attended and heard a presentation from incoming Cheney Food Bank director Jerry Stewart.  He explained that most food comes from Second Harvest/Fair Share and a large amount also comes from Grocery rescue which collects short or some outdated food from area grocery stores, Pizza Huts and Starbucks. Additional food is provided by several community food drives.  Financial and residence eligibility for food bank use is handled by Cheney Outreach.  A typical box of food contains 47 pounds of food and the food bank purchases toiletries, toilet paper and laundry soap to provide to their clients.  They receive no federal funding; the city provides free rent and utilities.  The food bank is run by 12 volunteers.

September 7, 2017 – Larry Krauter, CEO of Spokane International Airport spoke to 13 club members.  He spoke about federal budget proposals to cut funding for contract weather observers and the possibility of having contract air traffic controllers at Felts Field.  Regarding security, he spoke about the Read ID act and how standard Washington driver’s licenses are not compliant.  A feature coming in 2018 will be a gas station and convenience store located between the connector roads to provide fuel and other items to travelers.

August 31, 2017 – Fourteen members attended and we did not have a formal speaker.  We discussed plans for the upcoming coat drive, the club officer installation dinner and our planned club liaisons to Betz K-Kids and Cheney High Key Club.  Bob Quinn presented information on hurricanes and typhoons that have recently occurred and explained that hurricanes typically do not happen in our area since they develop over warmer water and the northern Pacific water has usually been colder. 

August 24, 2017 – Todd Ableman, Cheney Public works director, spoke to 17 club members.  He explained that the state maintains First Street (SR 904) until the city population exceeds 20,000 then the city would maintain it.  He also spoke about the solid waste plan that is being developed and possible ways to mitigate the water restrictions that have been required during summer in recent years. 

August 17, 2017 – Thirteen members heard a presentation from new EWU head football coach Aaron Best.  He told us that in the last year EWU football coaches visited all but 2 Washington state high schools and also traveled as far away as northern California.  He talked about how prospective players are evaluated and how a typical prospective player’s campus visit is structured.  Final plans for the club’s summer picnic were discussed and we continued to have member sign up for working the September rest stop fundraiser.

August 10, 2017 – Augie Hernandez, assistant EWU athletic director for equipment services spoke to 18 club members.  He explained that he and one other full time employee work with 10-12 student employees to set up practices and insure that needed equipment is available for home and away games.  For football, System Transport has donated the use of a 53 foot truck trailer that is used to haul about 7,000 pounds of equipment.  He uses truck drivers who’ve done the transportation in the past to make the deliveries and set the transportation schedule. Uniforms and some other essential equipment travel with the players.

August 3, 2017 – Fourteen members attended and we did not have a speaker.  We discussed having a club picnic and also a possible fundraiser.  We also had trivia questions related to Cheney history and facts about the month of August.