March 4

ROTARY'S FOUR WAY TEST
"Of the things we think, say or do:

1. Is it the TRUTH?
2. Is it FAIR to all concerned?
3. Will it Build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?
4. Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?"


OPENING
		Dennis Gray and Steve Larson (not pictured) were the cheery greeters today, welcoming members to the best Club west of the Atlantic. Well, at least we have the most fun. Jan Fyant led the Club in prayer to cover for her quote from W. C. Fields, “If at first you don’t succeed, quit. There’s no use being a damn fool about it.” Dick Sadler led the Club in the flag salute.
GUESTS & VISITING ROTARIANS
John Triest introduced Tom Vail.		Richard Weed introduced Jack Thornton
Bob Emrick introduced George Duvendack, (not pictured) who is a member of the Sunrise Club.
Jan Fyant introduced Larry Hampton who was visiting from the Sheridan Rotary Club.		Teresa Smith introduced Brian Bomburger, (left) who is a new dentist in town.

Bruce Huffman attempted to introduce visiting Rotarian Debra Bridges (Newberg Noon Club) but forgot her name. She graciously backed him up and lessened his pain, for which he voluntarily made a donation later.
MEMBER RECOGNITION

Jan Fyant filled in for John Larsen and succeeded in raising a few dollars for the Club. Ron Benek celebrated his big 60 with a generous donation, which was for not having to be in Martha Stewart or “Bubba’s” position.

John Triest also paid up for a birthday		Jan asked Jack Crabtree if he had had a recent experience with a four-legged bandit. Jack commented ever so briefly about an FFA fundraiser, a donkey and some sore ribs. Instead of paying a fine, he identified Waldo as the squealer and suggested he be careful in the future.

Brent Adams contributed on his eldest son, who is soon to graduate from university, landing his first big job!	Jan asked if anyone was leaving today for a holiday in “warm country.” Diane Haugeberg finally admitted to her plans to be in Maui tomorrow, and made a contribution.		Bob Emrick announced a wonderful event coming up March 23^rd featuring fine wine and food, presented by Jack Thornton and crew.
Tom Vail shared that he learned from the many comments of friends and Club members that everyone reads the News Register. The recent article on his business was quite good, so he made a contribution.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Dan Gardner reminded members of the upcoming Fireside, to be held at his home in Newberg on Saturday evening, March 26^th. President Brent shared with the Club that Bob Archer, president of the Independence-Monmouth Rotary Club, had suddenly died, and encouraged members to remember and pray for his widow Joan. President Brent announced that the Club will meet at the McMinnville Fire Station on March 18^th. Brent also updated the Club on Cory’s service in Sri Lanka. Since he has been in there for a month now, he has to leave the country to renew his visa (either to India or Bali), go to jail, or marry the 15-year-old girl his host family has selected to be his wife. There is no update on which choice he exercised but I’m guessing Brent will keep us informed. He did add that it is easy to get a divorce there.
ENVIRONMENTAL MOMENT
Bob Emrick spoke regarding the problem of landfill pollution of groundwater. Some years back, he and Ezra Koch investigated their limited options for the landfill. The federal Resource Recovery & Conservation Act required new approaches to landfill operation, particularly installing a barrier underneath and around all landfills to trap the water that could pollute nearby ground. They came upon the concept of using the leachete to water hybrid poplar trees since they accept and use the leachete in the normal growing process. Thus the potential pollution was turned into a money-making endeavor: the popular trees were converted to pulp for high-grade computer paper. They anticipate that with increasing prices, the trees will be used for dimensional lumber in the future. . . .A number of questions followed and it was helpful that George Duvendack was present to help Bob with the answers.
MAIN EVENT
Narumi Sato, our inbound exchange student who was going to present a program on Japan, was ill and not able to be present. So Jeff Long gave his vocational. He quickly ran through his early years in McMinnville, the fun it was to be in a variety of sports and the excitement to “go to state” in basketball. He graduated from Chemeketa Community College and joined the American West airline team, working in Las Vegas and Portland for fifteen years, doing everything except flying the planes. He moved back with his wife and children to McMinnville, and the subsequent drive to Portland became increasingly unbearable. He has been working for the State of Oregon Employment office in McMinnville for about five years, overseeing the Jobs Plus program. He has been married for seventeen years, has three children and loves to coach—any sport.
CLOSING
President Brent quoted Abraham Lincoln: "Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt."
EDITOR'S NOTES FROM JAPAN
This past week was a very full week. The entire week was filled with memorial services for my father-in-law and spending time with relatives from all over Japan who came for the services. The week ended on Saturday as Yasuko and I traveled to the site of the old Okhotsku/Monbetsu airport just a few kilometers South of town. We have driven by there several times on our way to Komuke Lake which is immediately North of the old airport. There are pictures of Komuke Lake in prior editions of the Pacesetter. This Saturday's visit was for a different purpose however. We had always wondered what "Continental Teves", the company occupying the old airport terminal building was and we found out. It is a division of Continental Automotive Systems, an international company with their world headquarters in Hanover, Germany. The facility in Monbetsu, one of five in Japan, is used only in the winter for testing various electronic safety systems installed in cars. We were invited to test drive a number of different vehicles on various road conditions with different types of electronic safety systems. It was an incredible experience. Traveling at speeds between 35 and 50 miles per hour on combinations packed snow, ice, and a dry pavement and making emergency stops and violent turns, I was able to experience the marvels of something called "Electronic Stability Control". It literally keeps the vehicle from going into a spin on glare ice. At the right is a picture of a frozen lake on which several types of driving tracks including a huge circle and a slalom course. One other amazing system I experienced was an electronic parking assist. This vehicle was equipped such that when you want to parallel park you pull up along side the vehicle in front of the space you want to park, place the vehicle in reverse, let go of the steering wheel and the car will park itself. I had more fun then at an amusement park.
McMinnville photos by Dennis Gray Japan photos by Ray Fields db/raf
"When meeting day comes around, I do not have to decide whether to attend or not, for that has already been decided for me . . . it was one of the obligations I accepted when I joined Rotary." -- A Rotarian
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