President DOUG COCHRAN called the meeting to order with PAT DANIELSON doing the invocation. LINDA HACKETT was the greeter . JACK GILBERT introduced guests since he is in possession of Barb the Bear. Jack will introduce guests until he brings a guest and passes on Barb the Bear (formerly known as Roger the Rat).

NEXT WEEK’S PROGRAM:
Next week’s program is Best Self and also Mayor Mary Place giving a report on the latest with Kiwanis Park.

GUESTS:
STEVE EMHOFF introduced Ron Anderson, a former member of our club, and husband of former member and now Apple Valley Member, Mary Jane Baumgarten and bother-in-law to CORKY MATTINGLY. How is that for connections. WENDY AGUILAR’s was Tomas Guzman, Director for Camp Dudley and soon to be new member of our club. Also present was Lynn Buchanan who should just move his membership to our club instead of Kamiakin.

INTERCLUBS:
ROGER BELL announced the interclub for the AKTION Club annual meeting taking place this very Tuesday night, with many members attending: JULIUS GLOVER, BARB GRECO, STEVE, PAT, LINDA, JERRY HENDERSON, MIKE WILSON and bringing along the food, KEITH NELSON.
Roger also is trying for an interclub to Sunnyside for Thursday a.m. We will see how it turns out.

SOCIAL COMMITTEE:
BARB gave the report from the Social Committee with some great activities planned for the coming year. First up is a Mystery Dinner, Saturday, March 2. Participants will be notified just prior to the event as to the location of dinner. Dinners can range from formal, gourmet fare to something really creative and outrageous. So far there are five volunteers who will each host three Kiwanians and their guests (6 people total.) Please let one of the social committee members know if you are interested in hosting a Kiwanis Mystery Dinner.

Also in the planning is a Wine Tasting Tour in May, the Second Annual Great Kiwanis Chili Feed on a Thursday in June and a Kiwanis Family Summer Party in July at AMY NEAL and Garen Jones’ home.

SANTA THANK YOU:
JAY CARROLL who is very close to one of our Kiwanis Santa’s read a letter from one of the participants in our YMCA luncheon with Santa. It was very touching and made us realize that maybe we can make a difference.

SONGFEST:
SPENCER HATTON announced once again that SONGFEST will be Saturday, March 16, at the Capital Theatre. He is working hard on getting choirs with attendance expected from Wapato, Toppenish, Grandview, Selah, YVC, West Valley, Eisenhower and Davis, Naches and possibly Ellensburg and maybe more! Argus Insurance has underwritten the cost of Songfest this year. Our members will be asked to help out very soon.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
President DOUG presented the Ruby K pin to a member that has sponsored 5 new members -- and that member was President DOUG!

LINDA announced that she is now working at Memorial Foundation. That is one way for us to get a member from Memorial again!

PROGRAM:

Matt Fairbank was our guest speaker. Matt is director of the Dispute Resolution Center. The Dispute Resolution Center resolves conflicts through mediation and communication. Most of the ways they work is through District Court and through individual contacts and employer contacts. Examples of conflicts that they have successfully dealt with are loans between two co-workers, young unmarried couples with problems in parenting and grandparenting, agencies that have had to bar services to a client due to their conduct and mobile home eviction.

The Center came into existence in 1994 under contract to the County. 40% of the cases are mediated and saves court time. They have a staff of 3 and an additional 35 volunteers. 75% of the funding is from filing fees, grants and donations. They have a budget of $140,000. The mediators are certified. Fees are low and on a sliding scale for individuals.

You can call them directly for information. Kiwanians could help by sponsoring an event or workshop or by providing food or beverages for one of these events.

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