Fundraisers often start with a simple idea. For us, it was, “Let’s sell puzzles!” The challenge? Upfront costs. With printing, freight, and taxes, the project needed nearly $7,000 CAD to get started. Fortunately, we had a stunning image for our puzzle: a beautiful shot of downtown Kelowna taken by one of our Charter Members, a professional photographer. But we needed seed money.

We approached local businesses that support charities our club endorses. BigSteelBox Inc., a supporter of Habitat for Humanity Okanagan, stepped up and covered most of our printing costs. With the design ready, highlighting BigSteelBox, Habitat for Humanity Okanagan, and Rotary Now! Kelowna, we sent the project to print.

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Rotarians from the Wenatchee, Confluence, and Sunrise clubs worked over two weekends to quadruple the size of their second pollinator garden, which they started last year. Wenatchee and Sunrise are ESRAG Eco Action clubs, and Confluence is an Eco Star club. The garden is part of the District 5060 Pollinator Highway project and made possible by an agreement with the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) to develop a large plot of land adjacent to their regional headquarters in Wenatchee.  The clubs plan to add native plants each year until the entire plot is developed into a “Rotary meadow” and thriving habitat for our endangered pollinators.

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Do you wonder where the businesspeople and entrepreneurs are networking in your town? Look at your local Chamber of Commerce!

Chambers are home to professionals who are creating thriving businesses, are invested in the community, and are hungry to network. All the characteristics we need in new members!

Here are some ways to collaborate with your chamber--

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Inspired by the emotional story of drowning victim “Sam” as told by RCMP Sergeant Jason Bayda at a club meeting, the Rotary Club of Osoyoos launched the building of a Safe Boating Station at the Lake Osoyoos Marina in July 2024. The story is not only about Sam, but the numerous drowning victims that have been pulled from the resort town lake. Sgt. Bayda noted that every drowning victim recovered from the lake did not have a life jacket.  

The three-sided Safe Boating Station was constructed at the busy local marina/beach and outfitted with life jackets of varying sizes that can be used at no cost by anyone, including infants and children needing an additional life jacket for their boat, kayak, paddle board, water vessel or for swimming at the beach. The station will operate from the May long weekend until the end of September each year.  The physical construction of the station was completed with hundreds of hours of volunteer labour from both Rotarians and non-Rotarians that toiled, much of the time in plus 30 degrees (Celsius) weather.
The project would not have been possible without the support and generosity of individuals and businesses in the community. All of the materials used to construct the station were donated by local companies, Southside Timber Mart, South Okanagan Concrete Products, Kreative Krete Design, Town of Osoyoos. Financial donations to the project were made by Osoyoos RCMP, Osoyoos Fire Department, Osoyoos BCHES (Emergency Services), Quail Security and Sam’s family. Donations in-kind came from the Times Chronicle, The Drafting Center, Home Hardware and artist Alexander Lopez.
The station is dedicated in the memory of Sam and all the others that have drowned on the lake and to Gene and Sandy Ralston. Gene and Sandy are a couple from Idaho who travel all over North America helping local authorities find the bodies of drowning victims. It was the Ralstons that after 50 days recovered the body of Sam.
 

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District 5060 Clubs celebrated World Polio Day, October 24, by raising thousands of dollars for the Rotary International Foundation PolioPlus program.

North to South, Rotarians on both sides of the border were busy raising money, awareness and fun!

Shuswap Rotary held a wine draw to raise money at its regular meeting on October 22, according to Club Foundation Director Fred Goodman. Close to $200 was raised to fight polio.

Also, on the 22^nd, Kelowna Sunrise celebrated with its Bowlio for Polio tournament at Pins & Pints in West Kelowna.

On Wednesday, Oct. 23, Cashmere Rotarians held their annual pie auction in conjunction with Polio Day. The An unusual combination of orange cream, blackberry and fig fetched a hefty sum, as did a beautiful key lime pie. Rotarian Randy Smith paid $100 for one slice of the orange cream, with the other slices auctioned off to his fellow club members. The key lime brought in $100 and about seven other pies were sold. The estimated total is $600 going towards PolioPlus.

The theme was Pints for Polio from the Oliver Club at Firehall Brewery. It was a two-day event, Thursday Oct. 24 and Friday Oct. 25. In addition to asking brewery patrons to top off their pub tabs to raise funds, a corn hole tournament was held Friday. 

All four Wenatchee-area clubs, Wenatchee, Sunrise, East Wenatchee and Confluence, raised awareness and funds on Saturday Oct 19 at the Wenatchee Farmers’ Market at the Pybus Public Market. The Pennies for Polio booth helped teach new generations that polio is not confined to the past.

On Polio Awareness Day, the four clubs got together again for a Pub Takeover at The Taproom by Hellbent Brewing. Prizes were raffled off for $1 per ticket (including one of the pies from the Cashmere club). More than 80 Rotarians took part in the celebration, including members from Leavenworth, Cashmere and Tri-Cities.

Party-goers were asked to dress in their favorite Halloween costume. The winning costumes were Wenatchee Confluence Rotarians Wendy & JD DalPez who came as the Polio Busters. Allan Galbraith bid $110.00 to win bragging rights and lay claim to District 5060 PolioPlus Mascot, Polio Pete.

Did your club do something to celebrate Polio Day this year? Send the details to DistrictPolioPlus Chair Pete Van Well, pete2@vanwell.net for the next District Newsletter.
 

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We’re excited to welcome Kathleen McNalty as the District Governor Nominee Designate, selected by the District 5060 leadership team during its October 5, 2024, business meeting. She will proudly serve as District Governor for the 2027-2028 term.

Kathleen has been a passionate member of the Rotary Club of Wenatchee Sunrise since November 2014. Her dedication to the club is evident, with leadership roles including Club President (2021-22) and Treasurer (for three years). She’s been involved in everything from organizing the Goathead Warriors weed eradication effort to leading the spirited Halloween Pet Parade and the Road Apple Roulette Raffle. 
 

She brings her enthusiasm and energy to everything she does, and as District Governor, she’s committed to boosting the community presence of all our clubs. She’ll be popping up at club events (when invited, of course ) and making connections beyond the club meetings. 

Kathleen’s community spirit extends beyond Rotary. She led the Wenatchee Valley Museum and Cultural Center as Board President and is co-chairing the District 5060 Public Image Committee. In addition, she’s a proud Toastmasters member. 

Her career journey started with the U.S. federal government as an aide to a Washington State Congressman and grew into significant roles in government relations and customer service with major healthcare organizations. After “retirement,” Kathleen kept the momentum going by running a successful Tutor Doctor business. Now, fully retired from the workforce, she devotes herself to family, fun, and community service full-time.

Kathleen has been happily married to Steve Wright for 36 years, and they share three grown children. In her spare time she likes to cycle, kayak and cook. She resides in beautiful East Wenatchee, WA, where she continues to make a difference every day. 

Let’s give a big Rotary welcome to Kathleen as she takes on this exciting journey!

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What do you get when you put several dozen Rotarians in a room? Fun is the right answer!

In addition to fun, our District 5060 annual business meeting on October 5, 2024, in beautiful Osoyoos, produced information and decisions of interest to you. 

District Governor Tom Tochterman (Chelan Rotary) led the team through its agenda. Here are some highlights. 

First, from District Governor Nominee Jill Leonard reporting on youth programs

• 15 outbound 14 inbound Rotary youth exchange students
• Manson Interact is sending 13 kids on a service trip to Guatemala
• Cascade HS Interact recently visited an orphanage in Sierra Leone
• 50 students have signed up for Cascade HS Interact this year
• Yakima Rotaract had over 500 hours of volunteers last year and recently completed a pollinator garden

Assistant Governor (AG) Reports

The AGs from our ten areas gave reports on the happenings in their clubs. An example is Area 10 whose AG is Stephanie Bohman (Upper Kittitas County). She reported--

• 600 backpacks provided for local schools 
• Operation Harvest food drive completed in Yakima with support of all area clubs
• End-of-summer social 
• Celebration of Hispanic Heritage month

Stephanie is championing a survey tool her clubs can use to provide her with photos and events that can be used to promote Rotary. Great idea!

Wonder what an AG does? For their area clubs, they: facilitate communication and resources; encourage leadership development; promote collaboration and peer support; and enhance club performance.

Grant $$$

• It's time to submit your Designated District Fund (DDF) grant applications for the 25/26 year. Decisions will be based on merit rather than the order submitted. More info here (must log in to DACdb).

Learning

• 2025 District conference will be a one-day event this year held on May 3, 2025. Details to come.
• Register now for the Rotary International convention in Calgary 
• Wenatchee Rotary Learning Institute was a success. More are planned: March 22 in Yakima and April 5 in Penticton
• Monthly zoom chats sponsored by the District are held on the second Tuesday of each month at 5 pm. The November 12 topic is membership. Register here

Membership

• District membership is up 33 members so far this year
• Assistant Governors have pull-up banners available for clubs to borrow. Check with your AG

Peace

• Mike Boudreaux (Salmon Arm) encouraged clubs to become Peace Building Clubs by having two members register with the Rotary Action Group for Peace.  Cost is $20 per person.

We also heard reports on the budget, the Haiti Hanwash project, District Public Image, Council on Legislation and the District environmental team. Check with District Secretary Shanley Crane for a copy of the notes.

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Oi everyone!
I have successfully finished my first month here in Brazil and this is my little September recap. I arrived at the end of August and spent the first few days getting to know my family and getting my host sister ready to leave for her exchange in Turkey. I started going to school right away and although the português school work is very confusing, I love hanging out with my friends and my teachers! Everyone is very kind and the first week I was like a celebrity at school and all the little kids would not leave me alone haha! I get to ride my bike to school with my host sister, which is always beautiful because we leave right when the sun is rising at 6:45 and get an amazing view every day. That is like the only time we are allowed to be outside because for the rest of the day it gets up to 40 degrees?? and it’s still considered winter here! ???????

 

School ends at noon and everyone goes home for lunchtime. After that, I like to go to the gym with my friend, swim in people's pools or eat as much açaí as I can haha! My family spent two weekends at our beach house, which is not actually on a beach but in the middle of the jungle on the river. I saw toucans, parrots, geckos, three different species of monkeys and even an alligator crossing the road! Very very cool. For our orientation weekend we went to Olímpia where they have the second-biggest water park in the world! I had lots of fun meeting everyone and going on the slides. 

I have tried a lot of new Brazilian foods and meats. Some days it seems like all we do is eat! (That’s why I started going to the gym haha) But the food is very, very good. 

I am looking forward to October because there is a big rodeo festa in our town that school gets canceled for, and I think it will be lots of fun! 

Eden

(This story was written by Eden and submitted for the newsletter by Julie Banken.)

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