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OPENING |
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VISITING ROTARIANS AND GUESTS |
John Larsen
introduced JON JOHNSON,
a fellow Rotarian with
the Morning Club, and
Chief Financial Officer
at First Federal.
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Van Keck
introduced our three
current Rotary Exchange
students, RICKEY BODLE
(Outbound), CHEYENNE
WHISENHUNT (Outbound),
and TAMARA BORGES
(Inbound)
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Scott Chambers
introduced PHIL PIROGES,
a local buyer and seller
of rare books,
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Dianne Haugeberg
welcomed PAM WATTS, a
marketing professional
and volunteer for YCAP.
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MEMBER RECOGNITION, BRAGS AND
ANNOUNCEMENTS |
Cheyenne Whisenhunt
announced that she will be holding a
fundraiser as part of her effort to
raise additional funds for her upcoming
exchange year in Brazil.
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Guest PHIL PIROGES announced that a
fundraiser will be held here in the
Ballroom on May 22nd to raise
funds for those groups not otherwise
receiving help from local charities or
government agencies. The fundraiser
will feature rare books that date to the
Medievel and Renaissance Periods.
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Dan Gardner
announced plans for the annual Demotion
Dinner for President Chuck Pattishall.
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Chuck Pattishall
shared a letter written by Duncan Wyse,
President of the Oregon Business
Council, offering congratulations for
our participation in the local MACA
program. He cited a letter written to
MaryAlice Russell by Jill Kirk of the
Oregon Business Council that offered
congratulations for MACA’s dropout rate
of 0%!
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Lynda Wiegan
reminded the membership of the annual
Rotary Rose Sale project. The roses
will sell for $15.00/dozen, and delivery
of the flowers will take place on June 5th.
Lynda announced that Team
Captains will be calling each of us
soon. Sell those roses!!!
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Walter Haight
bragged about the wonderful performance
turned in by TAMARA BORGES in the
McMinnville High School production of
“You Can’t Take It With You”. She
really lit up the stage!
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Lee Vasquez
gave a report on the upcoming Wine and
Art Auction (“Uncorked!”) mentioning
that everything is going according to
plan, but added that the acquisition of
sponsorships is a greater challenge this
year due to the economy. He also
reminded the membership everyone can do
his or her part by providing a good
bottle of local pinot noir for the
cause.
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Van Keck
concluded the Brags & Announcements
portion of the meeting by offering a
couple of humorous examples of “You
might be a farmer if…”. He kept it
mercifully short.
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Chuck Pattishall
added a few brief announcements,
including a weekly request for everyone
to contribute to the Pennies For Polio
campaign, a second reminder about the
Rose Sale, and a reminder for everyone
to attend the dedication ceremonies for
the Rotary Flagpole on May 16th.
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Richard Weed
read a letter from Caity Bernards, our
current Outbound Student who is staying
in Thailand. Caity reports that
everything is going well, and that she
recently took her last Rotary-sponsored
trip in that country. Of particular
interest was the fact that she was
accompanied by a young man who will soon
be our Inbound Student in 2009-2010!
Following his reading of Caity’s letter,
Richard mentioned that our club will be
hosting two students next year, with a
student from Chile joining the young man
from Thailand. This means that six host
families will be needed to participate
in the program this coming year. (See
Caity's letter below.)
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MAIN EVENT |
Rich Schieber gave his Vocational Talk.
Rich was raised on a farm, and learned
early in life that he was not inclined
to pursue a career in farming. He
described his mother as a “rebel”,
citing her accomplishment of being the
first woman admitted to a college that
had been all-male up to that time. His
father was forced to quit school and
become a farmer full time because of an
injury to Rich’s grandfather.
Rich said that he has three principle
passions: a love of life, a love of
people, and a love of God. He became a
clergyman, and spent many years in the
Los Angeles area with the Lutheran
Church. His experiences there brought
him into contact with such notables as
Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, John Wooden,
Shelly Berman, and Tommy Lasorda. He
spent a considerable amount of time
working with troubled kids, and even
spent time among the many gangs that
roamed the LA area.
Rich and his wife Carol have been
married for 48 years, and have two sons.
One son lives in the Bay Area in
California, while another is a physician
here in McMinnville. At this point in
time, he has also accumulated six
grandchildren. Now retired, Rich and his
wife love to travel extensively, and
since 9/11 they have focused on
countries where Islam is the dominant
religion. They recently returned from a
trip to Turkey, and will soon be hitting
the road again, albeit this time to Los
Angeles for a meeting with old friends.
Rich closed his talk by giving credit to
Rotary International for giving him so
many wonderful opportunities in life
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CLOSING |
Following the talk, Rich was
asked to sign a book for the Early Readers
Program at the McMinnville Library. President
Chuck closed the meeting with everyone
reciting the Rotary Four Way Test.
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SPECIAL EVENT
by John Larsen |
  May
16, 2009 marked the completion of a terrific
project that began as a concept held by a number
of Rotarians, turned into a collaboration of The
McMinnville Rotary Club and the McMinnville
Charitable Fund with help from many other
resources and resulted in the dedication of a
sixty foot tall flag pole and a memorial to
service men and women and in memory of past
Rotarians who have served our community. The
event was marked by absolutely beautiful
weather.
 About
100 Rotarians, veterans, and citizens of
McMinnville gathered to celebrate this gift to
the City of McMinnville. The 25 by 15 foot flag
and the memorial at its base will be a highly
visible reminder to McMinnville residents and
visitors 24 hours a day.
As people arrived, they were given a miniature American flag and a
program. Veterans were identified with a yellow
ribbon although many wore uniforms from their
service organizations. It was an impressive
gathering that slowed and sometimes stopped
traffic on Hwy 99.
 Rotary
President Chuck Pattishall welcomed all shortly after 11:00. He began by introducing a
number of dignitaries including:: John Kroger, Attorney General of Oregon,
Ed Gormley, Former Mayor of McMinnville,
Mary Stern, Yamhill County Commissioner,
Kathy George, Yamhill County Commissioner, Paul
May, McMinnville City Council, Kevin Jeffries,
McMinnville City Council, Dave Hanson,
McMinnville City Council, Rick Olson, Mayor of
McMinnville, Dave Haugeberg, Chairman of the
McMinnville Charitable Trust, Major Steve
Schmidt, Executive Officer of the 2nd
Battalion, 218th Field Artillery, and
Jack Crabtree, Yamhill County Sheriff.
Chuck
also recognized a number of World War II
veterans present including Rotarians Bob
Rhodes and Ezra Koch
 Chuck
had been thinking about the comments he would
make in honor of this occasion and found it very
easy to find examples of what the flag has meant
to United States Citizens throughout history.
His brief statement ranged from Appomattox to
Iwo Jima. He reminded us of the fireman raising
the flag out of the rubble from 9-11 and the
flag still flying over the Pentagon after the
9-11 crash. He moved on to the present
conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. He concluded
by encouraging our thanks and applause for those
who have served our Country. He is looking
forward to presenting the flag to the City of
McMinnville saying, “It’s your monument and
flag”..
He then recognized the Rotarians that helped put this together including
Waldo Farnham, Paul Elias, Lee Vasquez, Jack
Crabtree, and Dan Gardner
 Chuck
went on to introduce Dave Haugeberg, Chairman of
the McMinnville Charitable Trust. Dave shared
that the McMinnville Charitable Trust had
partnered with the Downtown Association on two
impressive projects; lighting of Third Street,
and the placement of art throughout the downtown
area. He felt they all paled in comparison to
this event. Dave decided to say nothing and,
instead, invited all to stop for a moment and
ponder in silence what this is all about.
 We
were privileged to have Oregon Attorney General
John Kroger introduced by Chuck as our
next speaker. John Kroger was an excellent
choice having served as a United States Marine,
federal prosecutor, public policy expert, and
teacher. Kroger shared a story about how he
took several months off, purchased a $350
bicycle and peddled his way across the USA. He
stuck to the back roads as much as possible and
noted that almost every small town had a
monument or other sort of recognition honoring
the military. He also noted that almost all of
the monuments were quite old often reflecting on
the Civil War or World War I or II. He then
began to wonder if we were losing respect for
the sacrifices of those who have served as he
reflected on the poor treatment of returning
Viet Nam veterans or the indifference in the
treatment of veterans returning from our present
conflicts. We owe a huge debt to these
servicemen and women and their families that
should not be forgotten. He was refreshed to
see a new monument going up in McMinnville.
 Chuck
expressed how honored he was to be able to
introduce Major Steve Schmidt, the Executive
Officer of the 22nd Battalion, 218th
Field Artillery, headquartered in Forest Grove.
Major Schmidt was commissioned in 1990 and has
served in the Oregon Army National Guard since
that time. He deployed to Afghanistan in 2006
and 2007 as part of Task Force Phoenix. He
acted as an embedded trainer for the Afghan
National Army on the 215th Corps
staff.
Major Schmidt said that this is the perfect day to dedicate a new
memorial and flag pole since it is Armed Forces
Day. He went on to reflect on the true meanings
of the elements within the flag. Beyond the
fifty stars and the thirteen stripes, he shared
that white signifies purity and innocence, red
signifies hardiness and valor, and blue
signifies vigilance, perseverance, and justice.
He concluded by thanking McMinnville for its
support of Bravo Battery 218.
Chuck
returned to the podium and called forward Mayor
Rick Olson and past Rotary President Dan
Gardner. Dan dedicated the flag and
then formally presented it to the Mayor on
behalf of the City. Mayor Olson thanked
everybody and reminded us of the sacrifices of
the families whose loved ones have been deployed
and of the families whose loved ones did not
return.
 Mayor
Olson then turned the flag over to the Bravo
Battery Color Guard who performed the intricate
ceremony of unfurling the flag and raising it to
the top of the
 sixty
foot pole. The silence was broken only by an
occasional ooh or aah as this spectacular event
took place. The completion of the raising of
McMinnville’s new flag was announced to the
entire city by two blasts from a 105 MM Howitzer
located across Hwy 99 on the school grounds.
Everybody remained at attention while Lori
Farnham sang a beautiful a-cappella version of
the Star Spangled Banner. While she sung, smoke
from the Howitzer wafted across the flag that
was now billowing in the wind creating a very
dramatic effect.
 A
21-gun salute from the US Marine Corps and some
final comments and thanks from President
Chuck concluded
this perfect event.
A very special thank you to Bill
Miller of Allegory Commercial
Photography for the excellent
pictures of this special moment
in the history for the Rotary
Club of McMinnville.
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The Board of Directors has approved
the following for membership::
Pam Watts proposed by
Dianne Haugeberg for the classification "Event
- Organizer". She will
automatically become a member unless
anyone objects in
writing within ten days of publication of this
notice.
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A Message From
Caity Bernards |
Hello to all!!!
Its April now, and I see I haven't
written in a while.
Last week was our last organized rotary
trip. It was the best trip we've had,
and I will so dearly miss al the other
exchange students here. It was a short
trip, only 10 or so days. We went to the
south, a very touristy area or the
country. Between one night on the bus
and two freezing in tents, we really
didn't get a lot of sleep. Those nights
that we were in hotels were spent having
fun because this could have been the
last time we see each other for a very,
very long time.
Days were spent snorkeling or riding the
bus for the most part. So far to go with
such a short time, we rode the bus A
LOT. Phuket was really the end point of
our trip; everything after that was
spent returning to the north. On one
night there we were supposed to go to
see the sunset and then go to a seafood
dinner. However, some friends and I
skipped that to go to Tesco Lotus, buy
some bread, cheese, and meats and have
our very own Farang food feast.
The next day was supposed to be spent
exploring old Phuket town. Ironically
(or perhaps not) this was the day that
Peter, our youth exchange coordinator
for the district, flew home. Although
we're all quite sure that's where our
money for the day's activities went,
there's no proof in it. Instead we went
to a shopping mall to waste time before
going to Phuket Fantasy. That was
definitely the high point of the trip,
although there's really no way to put it
into words. It’s an almost silent play
about the creation of man and Thailand
according to the Thais. With exceptional
acting and amazing special effects, I
would suggest everybody see it if they
happen to wander to Thailand at any time
of their life.
Other than this trip, nothing
particularly special is happening.
Songkran Festival is in 10 days, but I
don't yet know what that's all about, so
I can't say how exciting it is, although
I'm looking forward to it more than
anything. School begins in a little over
a month, although I don't know if we
will be required to go back. I know that
the other clubs in Korat and many around
the country aren't making their students
go back. Even if we aren't, I suppose I
will because all my friends will be in
school so I will have nothing to do
during the day. Also, it will put me in
ม6, which puts me as a senior before anyone else in
my American class.
Hope all is well in the states (and
Germany, Mattie). Give my love and
kisses to all
Me
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Photographs by Molly Walker, Stephanie Jensen, Bill
Miler of Allegory Commercial
Photography
| Captions by Walt Haight | Edited for the web by
Jeff Sargent and Ray Fields |
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"When meeting day comes around, I do not have to decide whether to attend or not, for that has already been decided for me . . .
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