After working with the Chris Coates at the Marcus Whitman, the Board has decided to start holding onsite meetings beginning Thursday April 29^th at noon.  This is a positive step forward for our club as we continue to provide fellowship and service opportunities in our community. As we transition from our “Zoom” meeting environment to live meetings, it is important that we remain flexible and understand the COVID-19 environment we are still experiencing.

With that in mind, the Board has had discussions as to what our meetings will look like and the steps we still need to do to mitigate some of the issues still at hand.

To make things clear to all members of our club, attendance in person is an optional and personal choice. Many members of our club cannot wait to meet in person and just as many or maybe even more are waiting for the COVID cases to go down a bit more. 

To accommodate for all our members’ needs, we will have a hybrid meeting which will provide “Zoom” coverage of our onsite meeting.  One of the reasons we decided on the April 29^th date is that we wanted to give our AV committee time to make the adjustments to set up for a quality online offering to our members.

These are some of the things you can do and what to expect as we start our onsite meetings:

Attendance:  As a courtesy to the Marcus Whitman Hotel, please contact Chris Coates (dosm@mwhcc.com) if you are planning to attend our meetings in person or plan on bringing a guest for the next month of meetings.  She needs a head count as to how many will be there (tables) and how much food to prepare.

COVID-19 Precautions: The Governor has established specific rules for meeting venues serving food to follow.  Please follow the current precautions as prescribed. As always, be flexible since these mitigations are subject to change.

The Marcus Whitman Hotel will have jugs of hand sanitizer upon entry, and sneeze guards over the food. 

If you are not feeling well, please stay home. 

Please wear a mask as you come in, visit, and get your food via the food line.  You may take off your mask when you sit down at your table to eat. 

Food service will be a buffet, but you will not serve yourself.  Hotel staff will fill your plate per your request as you go through the food line. Seating will be arranged to provide appropriate social distancing.

Financial Basics: In discussions as a board, we felt that we need to limit the amount of cash handling and credit card transactions at this time. 

We will not have weekly drawings or have someone walking around collecting money.  We will not have a cash bag on hand so we will not be able to make change for happy bucks, fines, and guest lunches. We will not be taking credit card payments. You can make payments online if you need to make any credit card payments, you can mail in your checks, or place any payments in the basket that will be provided.

If you bring a guest, make a note on the guest sign in sheet and we will bill you.

Happy Bucks and other Payments: You can still bring your happy bucks, fines, and check payments for dues that are usually collected at meetings. As stated, there will be a basket at the entrance (exit) for people to drop those payments into.  

The board is always looking for suggestions to improve our meeting experience so contact any board member or President Tom at president@wallawallarotary.org.

We hope to see you either on "Zoom" or in person at our April 29th meeting.

Your Rotary Club Board.

Noon Rotary Youth Committee

Blue Mountain Horse Therapeutic Riding

Last month, the Youth Committee approved a grant of $213.00 to purchase paint and supplies to decorate nine arena barrels they use when they provide riding lessons to their clients.

Blue Mountain Horse Therapeutic Riding offers adaptive riding, the most popular form of equine assisted activities. It is mounted horseback riding for the purpose of contributing positively to the cognitive, physical, emotional, and social well-being of people with disabilities through the teaching of horsemanship skills. We also offer equine facilitated learning which requires no previous experience with horses. Involves working on the ground with the horse in a safe setting with an experienced facilitator and certified equine professional. The program provides riding lessons to disabled community members from ages 4 to 80 +.

To assist Blue Mountain Horse Therapeutic Riding, five WA-HI Latino Club members came out to their facility near Umapine on April 9^th, during spring break to decorate the nine arena barrels.  Creativity took over as the barrels were illustrated with hot air balloons, horses with dog riders, Holstein dairy cows, flowers, and pigs with big hearts.  

WA-HI Latino Club president, Roberto Rodriguez stated the feelings of himself and the other club members, “This is the best day of our spring break.”

Blue Mountain Therapeutic Riding is a non-profit corporation that serves individuals in the Walla Walla and Milton Freewater areas.

Words from a few of our Rotarians volunteering at the vaccine clinics:

“Clinic attendees were in good spirits, which made volunteering a very pleasant experience." Bob Alexander

“The joy and excitement in the pavilion was palpable.  It was great to see our community come together with so much strength and commitment to make this happen.”  Kathy Murray

“Great experience!  Everyone was upbeat, and I was constantly thanked for volunteering.”  Skip Cundiff

“I loved being able to help people get the vaccine.  It takes all of us working together to help get through this challenging time.  Seeing so many volunteers was very inspiring.”  Candi Walmsley

“It was fun to work in the varied volunteer positions.”  Tom Osborn

“I transported an elderly Hispanic man from the parking lot.  Being able to answer one of his questions in Spanish (my Spanish is not great but I understood) was rewarding.  Also I helped an older woman who was feeling overwhelmed navigating how she could get herself and her husband vaccinated without taxing their delicate health.  Personal connections made a difference for these community members.”  Angie Peters

“Helping my community is why I joined Rotary.  All of the work has been rewarding for me, especially assisting some of the elderly residents.  Reassuring and joking with them helped put them at ease with the vaccination process.”  Dave Irion

Thank you to all those members, and their family and friends, who have contributed volunteer time to help the community get vaccinated.  For those that would like to volunteer, please check the Walla Walla County Department of Community Health website:  covidwwc.com  and click Volunteer Opportunities.  You may also contact Rotarians Tom Osborn or Bill Erickson for addition information.