Darrick Price was called forward to lead member recognition, noting that he suspects the instigator for his typically luke-warm reception is Chuck Pattishall. Darrick will have his vengeance!
 

Carole Benedict acknowledged that she shares her birthday with Bo Obama, the White House dog. Bruce Huffman led us in a round of “Happy Birthday.”

Erin Stephenson thanked club members for supporting her and Dianne Haugeberg Shea in their walk during the Habitat for Humanity Run, Walk, Ride event last weekend.

Dan Gardner announced that his son and daughter-in-law are expecting their third child. Another grand-baby on the the way!

Sharon Larson announced that an Eagle Scout reception will be held at the Grand Ballroom on November 4th. See her for tickets. Also, her brother just made it home from Iraq, and her Cub Scouts are currently out in the community selling popcorn to raise funds.

Bob Mason mentioned that as long as people were boasting about school accomplishments, he'd like to mention that Columbia University just earned their 79th Nobel Laureate. They are also the only Ivy League school with a player in the NFL Hall of Fame (Sid Luckman), an they just beat Princeton 38-0 last week. Go Lions!

Darrick took over again and shared that he would be celebrating his 36th birthday in a couple of days. His wife just turned 36 as well. Apparently she was lamenting her age, worrying about her babies growing up and how life is passing her by, so Darrick finally comforted her by explaining, “At least you're not as old as Chuck Pattishall.” So true.

President Jan invited FLORA to the podium for a few words. FLORA thanks the club for their support and trips to Antiqua to provide dental work to their citizens. She invited members to return in February 2010 for the next service trip. She also invited us to support their foreign student program. Rotary International did not fund their grant request this year, and they are hosting four students. Any amount will help.

 

Richard Weed read a letter from outbound exchange student CHEYENNE WISENHUNT, who is currently living and studying in Brazil. She shared her experiences in school, going to soccer games, learning about national dances, and helping her host family promote a big concert at their church and getting dressed up with them to go. There are many fiestas there, and they eat lots of meat! Her Portuguese is getting better, but is still difficult. The people there are all so nice and helpful.

MAIN EVENT

President Jan introduced JACKIE LANG, the Government Affairs and Communications Director for Waste Management, Inc. (WM). She introduced GEORGE DUVENDACK, District Manager and lead at the Riverbend Landfill in Yamhill County, as one of the company's finest. He has demonstrated his commitment to the community.

GEORGE thanked the club for their invitation today, mentioning that he is a fellow Rotarian in the Mac Sunrise Club. He also thanked McMinnville Water & Light, and club members Paul Elias (General Manager) and Tom Tankersley (Board Member) for their support. Riverbend will be selling the electricity they generate from their new project to McMinnville Water & Light.

According to GEORGE, WM is North America's leader in environmental and waste services. They are not only the largest landfill operator in the country, but also the largest recycler and largest renewable energy company in the U.S. WM has 20 million customers and 45,000 employees nationwide. In Oregon they employ about 500, providing waste collection, recycling, disposal and green energy. WM just completed a $10 million recycling facility in Hillsboro. They are also aggressively developing food waste composting services in Oregon, and partnering with a company in Bend to manage medical waste.

A major Green Energy project is underway in Yamhill County, as Riverbend is building a $10 million electricity plant that will generate up to 4 megawatts, enough to power 2,500 homes. One hundred and forty wells will penetrate the landfill to feed methane created during waste decomposition to six large generators. The project is expected to be on-line in the spring of next year, and is providing well-paying jobs in the community.

GEORGE responded to questions by explaining that Riverbend currently has 21 full time employees, most who have been with the operation over ten years, and some for more than 25. He has been there for eleven years. The new plant could generate electricity for twenty years or more, depending up the supply of waste, and it will be profitable for the company. Waste management overall has advanced enormously in the past decade or more: in 1996 we generated an average of 5.5 lbs of garbage a day, with 1 lb being recycled. In 2006 we generated an average of 8.5 lbs per day, with about 4.6 lbs going to landfills (3.9 recycled). So the waste volume per capita is not increasing. There are some other technologies being developed besides using the gas generated from waste, such as converting the actual waste into an oil-type fuel, but they are still a long way off.