Greeters were Steve Larson and Kelly Odegaard. Bruce Huffman  provided the inspirational moment and Ron Noble led us in the flag salute.

Elva Salinas Garcia happily announced her birthday.

Al Owen acknowledged 14 years of marriage to his wife, Alisa.

Bruce Dickson accepted kudos for his 25^th wedding anniversary.

President Chuck Pattishall made a few announcements prior to the program:

• Former McMinnville Rotary Club Member Fred Stabler passed away recently.  Fred was Club President in 1952-53.
   

• Groundbreaking ceremonies for the new flagpole at the convergence of Adams and Baker Street will take place on February 20^th.  A plaque at the flagpole will honor past Rotarians and Veterans.
   

• The Rotary Exchange Students who were injured during the tragic shooting incident in Portland will all remain to complete their stay in District 5100.  This news was very well-received by the membership. There is a memorial fund if you would care to make a donation.

MAIN EVENT

The subject of the program was EASA, the Engineering and Aerospace Science Academy, which was launched in 2008 as part of a cooperative effort between Evergreen Aviation and the McMinnville School District.  President Chuck Pattishall called upon Maryalice Russell, Superintendent of McMinnville School District 40 and longtime member of the McMinnville Rotary Club, to introduce the program.  Maryalice provided a brief overview of EASA, its goals and objectives, and the unique opportunity offered by Evergreen Aviation to generously provide classroom and “lab space” in the Space Museum.

Maryalice then asked Delford Smith, founder and principle owner of Evergreen Aviation, to say a few words about the museum and EASA.  Mr. Smith said that his goal as a principle sponsor of EASA was to establish it as the “MIT of the West”, and he pledged full support to ensure success of the program.  After introducing several members of his staff, Mr. Smith called upon Tim Wahlberg to provide a brief summary of the ongoing technological advances in aviation that Evergreen Aviation is developing worldwide, as a means of illustrating the vast foundation provided to students who will be involved in the EASA program.  Mr. Wahlberg gave a summary of many projects now underway around the world, such as the development of unmanned air vehicles, the development of the helicopter industry, and the commercial and military work of the Evergreen 747 fleet.

Prior to yielding the podium, Mr. Smith commented on the ongoing efforts to secure one of the Space Shuttles for the Museum.  The Space Shuttle fleet will be retired in 2012, whereupon the vehicles will be distributed to select locations around the country.  It is Mr. Smith’s hope to convince NASA and the Smithsonian Institute to award one of the retired shuttles to Evergreen, and he maintained optimism that this effort will be successful.

Following Mr. Smith’s delivery, Maryalice asked several members of the EASA program to address the membership.  Tony Vicknair (vice-principle) and Ed Uecker (teacher) spoke about the need for a program that would provide students with an opportunity to gain a comprehensive education in the field of Engineering.  EASA provides a focus on mathematics, English, and history as a basis for an Engineering curriculum.

At present, there are 52 students in the program, along with 6 teachers and a handful of “docents”, who are volunteers with the Evergreen Space Museum.

In closing, Maryalice thanked Mr. Smith and the entire Evergreen organization for their generous and enthusiastic support of EASA, and shared the new mantra of EASA with the membership: “the sky is NOT the limit”.

 

Rotary eClub of District 3310 - Singapore

Rotary eClub of London Centenary - London (Zone 18 - 1120)

Rotary eClub of District 3450 - Hong Kong

Rotary eClub of Southwest - Arizona (Zone 25 - 5510)

Rotary eClub of District 5450 - Colorado (Rotary eClub One charter)

Rotary eClub of Tampa Bay - Florida, Georgia, Caribbean Islands (Zone 34 - 6950)

Rotary eClub of District 7890 - Connecticut

Rotary eClub of Zente-Hellenas - Greece (Zone  10-2470) in English or Greek