April 14, 2016 - Twenty -two members were present.  Our speaker was Debbie Anderson, who owns Against the Grain gift/craft store and the Holiday Inn Express in Cheney.  The Holiday Inn is adding 46 guest rooms, a 2000 square foot meeting area and a catering kitchen.  They've been sold out 150 times a year; busiest times are March through September and Thursdays through Sundays.  One unique thing they have is a special hockey locker room for teams to store their gear.

We will lead the Special Olympics lunch packing on April 30; we elected our 2016-17 club officers.    

April 7, 2016 - Eighteen members heard a presentation from Mike Forness, executive director of the Spokane Ronald McDonald house.  It is designed to provide lodging for families of children receiving ongoing active hospital care when the families live over 40 miles or 40 minutes from Spokane.  They can accommodate up to 22 families at a time and usually have a waiting list of 15-20 families.  About 5-6% of their funding comes from McDonalds franchisees in the area ($1.3 million) and 9-10% of funding comes from customer donations at the canisters at McDonalds.  About 25% of canister donations go to McDonalds corporation to help fund $50,000 per house for expansion/creation.

The egg hunt was a success; Betz K-Kids are planning a car wash and the club set a date and time to plant flowers at the Care Center.

March 31, 2016 - Seventeen members attended.  We heard performances by some members of the Lilac City Home Schooled Band program and a presentation by the lady who started the program.  Currently there are 39 students in the program.  It is for children ages 9 and up and no musical experience is needed.  Musical instruments and supplies are donated.   She also shared the benefits of teaching music to children:  it facilitates learning math and language; develops team building and socializing, promotes muscle activity and listening; leads to more balanced right and left brain development; promotes creative thinking, develops memory recall, helps overcome performance fear and helps develop discipline in practicing and developing a skill.

March 24, 2016 - Kasidy Probert, the Finance Officer for Cheney School district, spoke to 18 club members.  He presented statistics on the annual budget and what expense categories are funded by local levies and fees; how much is funded by the state and what programs are funded by federal funds.  Snowdon elementary is already filled to capacity and the district will seek public input regarding any additional schools.  The student-teacher ratio average for the district was discussed; he noted that state regulations stipulate a 17 to 1 average for K-4th grades and larger ratios are allowed in the higher grades. 

March 17, 2016 - Kathy Sleeth, the new Admissions Director at EWU gave a presentation to 16 club members.  She had a career in Navy recruiting, taught Navy ROTC at Perdue and worked in the Perdue admissions program before coming to EWU in July 2015.  EWU hosts about 4,000-5,000 visitors each year.  Current enrollment is 90-95% in- state students and there are about 28 international students (mostly from Saudi Arabia).  She supervises a staff of 11 recruiters and 6 operations staff.  They visit over 200 high schools and attend over 200 college fairs each year. 

March 10,  2016 - Club member Mark Eckerich gave a fascinating presentation on shop safety.  He brought examples and explained the features of various safety goggles, safety gloves and hearing protection.  The nineteen members also discussed plans for the March 26th egg hunt.

March 3, 2016 - Eighteen members heard a presentation by Amy Knapton, Executive Director of the Vanessa Behan Crisis Center.  The center is open 24/7 and receives no government funding.  Their annual budget is about $1.7 million and is enhanced by volunteer help valued at $5 million per year.  In 2015 4,877 children were served but 2,500 had to be turned away.  Currently they have a capacity of 22 children at a time; the average stay is 24 hours; stays are usually limited to 72 hours be can be extended if home conditions are still bad. 


A Kiwanis advisor for Aktion Club also told the club about their upcoming projects:  polishing the brass on the  Riverfront park carousel, volunteering at Meals on Wheels every month and plangent flowers by the gondola in Riverfront Park.