Greeters:  Chris McLaren and Edwina Castle. President Jan Hartzell called the meeting to order at 12:15, and opened by thanking Dan Gardner, John Larsen, Ken Till, and Bruce Huffman for doing the set-up work normally performed single-handedly by Johannes Goddik. Ezra Koch provided the Inspirational Moment by reminding the membership of the immense changes affecting the world and our personal lives, and reciting a beloved poem he learned as a child. The Pledge of Allegiance was then led by Jill Methven.

Dan Gardner, stepping in for Darrick Price, took the podium to announce birthdays and anniversaries.  First, however, Dan took a moment to fire off a couple of “elephant jokes” given to him by Darrick, the latter of whom promised that if these “jokes” made the Pacesetter, he would donate $10.00 to the Rotary Foundation.  Having heard these jokes (which were old in 1952), this reporter urges Darrick to donate the $1.00 for each member that groaned.  That’ll be $58.00, Darrick. All four honorees made generous and/or appropriate donations to the Rotary Club of McMinnville Foundation!

Eric Hanson was recognized for the passing of his 60th birthday.

Bob Rhoads received kudos for his 85^th birthday.

Erin Stephenson happily announced 5 years of marriage to her husband Travis.

Leslie “LV” Van Blaricom announced that she was also celebrating a birthday.

Jack Price announced that the Rotary Clubs “Environmental Tip” is printed every Saturday in the News Register.  Jack pledged $2.00 for every member who clips this out of the paper and delivers it to him.  It’s on Page D-3 in this weeks paper!

Bob Emrich took a moment to pass along a story about Ezra Koch, who provided the Inspirational Moment this week.  Bob recalled that in his early days with WOW, garbage was slung the old-fashioned way, with each can being hoisted and carried by individual workers.  Despite this intensely grueling work, Bob noted that Ezra  ALWAYS finished early enough on Fridays to make the Noon Rotary Club Meeting!

Gary Rueter announced that the Carlton Walk-in-the-Park Festival will be held on August 1-2, and will be sponsored by Ken Wright Cellars.  Volunteers are still needed, especially on Sunday.  See Gary!

Dianne Haugeberg pointed out that two of the Party Boards featured at the Wine & Art Auction did not fill up, and she warmly encouraged anyone to help by signing up for one or both.  One is for a Concert featuring Al Stewart (“Year of the Cat” is perhaps his best-known song), and the other is for a wine-tasting event at Northwest Wines that will feature none other than McMinnville’s own master vintner, Laurent Monteleu!

Steve Battaglia gave a report on the continuing “Concerts in the Park” series on the Linfield Campus.  All is going smoothly, and the next concert will feature a group known as The Cheeseburgers!

Brandon Malloy announced that the annual Club Picnic will be held on July 24^th (Friday) at the home of Randy and Joni McCreith in Newberg.

MAIN EVENT

Ray Fields introduced TOM a former Rotary Exchange Student and MAYA FROST, now co-authors of the book “The New Global Student”.  TOM opened the program by giving a brief summary of his recent experiences with the Rotary Exchange Program, then turned the podium over to his wife, MAYA.  MAYA, the book’s principal author, discussed how the idea for the book came about.  

The family decided in 2005 to simply sell all their possessions and move abroad after re-evaluating their lifestyle and efforts to get their children through school.  With their education and experience, both TOM and MAYA were able to secure a comfortable living in Mexico and then Argentina.  Over the next four years, they were able to successfully assist their four daughters in the completion of degrees at relatively young ages.  In both Mexico and Argentina, they remained in contact with a number of American exchange students, and the idea of a book began to form.

The result is “The New Global Student”, which traces the experiences of 20 exchange students, and the impacts their exchanges had on decisions about school, professions, and other life choices.  Along the way, MAYA explains how the amazing successes of these individuals are within the reach of any student with a desire to excel at an international level.

MAYA went on to state that, of all the different exchange programs she and TOM have encountered, the Rotary Exchange Program is far and away superior to any of the others.  Undoubtedly, the worldwide presence of Rotary International makes it possible to offer an exchange program that is systematically organized and coordinated on a global basis. 

MAYA closed by announcing that her book would soon be available through Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble, and then she answered a few questions from the members.  For anyone interested in learning more about “The New Global Student”, here is a link:

http://mayafrost.com/global-student-lounge.htm

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