On Tuesday, May 25 2021, our lunch program speaker will be Sandi Harding, General Manager of the last Blockbuster store on earth. Sandi is a long time Bend resident, having moved to Central Oregon in 1986. She began her retail career working in the Mountain View Mall in the early 1990s and then went to work for Ken & Debbie Tisher in 2004 at Pacific Video/ Blockbuster. As the General Manager, Sandi has watched the many changes to the Home Entertainment World. She began during the peak of Blockbuster’s success when they had over 9000 stores and watched as Netflix and other streaming platforms quickly took over and changed the way we rent movies.

Blockbuster quickly declined to just franchise owned locations by January 2014 when we still had 5 locations in Central Oregon. Over the next 4 years, many franchise owners struggled to keep their stores going and began closing locations. In July of 2018 our last Bend location became the lone Blockbuster store in the USA and then in March of 2019 the last global hold-out in Perth Australia closed their doors leaving this as the Last Blockbuster in the World!

This locally-owned small business suddenly was launched into the international media and was flooded with interviews and visitors from all over the world. They’ve been on The Ellen Show, The Kelly Clarkson Show, CNN, FOX News, Good Morning America, NBC Nightly News 2x, Inside Edition, and were the final Jeopardy Question in November 2019. They have also been in many national printed publications including the New York Times.

In 2020, they finally saw their store on the big screen when the documentary called the Last Blockbuster was featured in the pop drive thru in downtown Bend.

This meeting will be all-virtual. Join the Zoom Meeting here: RCGB Zoom Link

You can also call in to the meeting at (669) 900-9128 and enter meeting ID: 692 491 9146. If you’re asked, the passcode is 5110.

We will record the presentation for others who aren’t able to attend at noon.

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On Tuesday, May 18 2021, our lunch program speaker will be Bend-La Pine Schools Interim Superintendent Lora Nordquist. Lora will be reflecting on her interim term as Superintendent. On March 18th, 2020, Bend-La Pine Schools’ Board of Directors unanimously voted to appoint Lora Nordquist to serve as interim superintendent for one year beginning July 1 2020. At Bend-La Pine Schools, Nordquist has served as Assistant Superintendent for 8 years and prior to that worked as Chief Academic Officer for Elementary Programs and as Curriculum Director for the district. Nordquist has her Doctorate from Lewis & Clark College and served as a classroom teacher for 22 years before moving into administration.

This meeting will be all-virtual. Join the Zoom Meeting here: RCGB Zoom Link

You can also call in to the meeting at (669) 900-9128 and enter meeting ID: 692 491 9146. If you’re asked, the passcode is 5110.

We will record the presentation for others who aren’t able to attend at noon.

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On Tuesday, May 11 2021, our lunch program speakers will be George & Silvie Pierce from Pierce Footwear. George Pierce is the CEO and Co-Founder of Pierce Footwear–the creator and leader in adaptive footwear with patented 3D shoe fitting uppers.

Prior to that, George was an executive in Silicon Valley for 11 years starting and building tech companies in health, wellness and food safety. He’s the first World Champion in running/biking, representing TEAM USA in Duathlon for 5 consecutive years from 2011-2015. George received his MBA from the Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago.

Silvie Pierce is the Founder and President of the Pierce Family Foundation. She’s an Educational Assistant in Bend-La Pine schools. Silvie received her BS in Business Psychology from the University of Palo Alto, and she’s an avid cross-country skier and hiker.

This meeting will be all-virtual. Join the Zoom Meeting here: RCGB Zoom Link

You can also call in to the meeting at (669) 900-9128 and enter meeting ID: 692 491 9146.

We will record the presentation for others who aren’t able to attend at noon.

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On Tuesday, May 4 2021, our lunch program speaker will be Deschutes County District Attorney John Hummel. John was elected Deschutes County District Attorney in 2014 and re-elected in 2018. Immediately prior to his service as District Attorney John was the State and Federal Policy Director for the Oregon Primary Care Association. OPCA is a non-profit organization comprised of 200 Oregon health care clinics that provide care primarily to Oregonians with low incomes. John has 24 years of legal, policy and conflict resolution experience. Prior to working for OPCA John served as Director of the Oregon Consensus Program. Oregon Consensus is the State of Oregon’s public policy dispute resolution program and is housed in the Hatfield School of Government at Portland State University.

John previously served as the Liberia, Africa Country Representative for the Carter Center – former United States President Jimmy Carter’s peace and health organization. John led the Carter Center’s efforts to assist Liberians improve their justice and mental health systems with an overarching aim of achieving peace and prosperity for a country that is recovering from a brutal 14-year civil war.

John’s other professional experience includes 12 years as a criminal law defense attorney; teaching; and serving as a Bend City Councilor.

John has a Master’s degree in International Public Policy from the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University, a Juris Doctor degree from the Bowen School of Law at the University of Arkansas, and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Roanoke College.

This meeting will be all-virtual. Join the Zoom Meeting here: RCGB Zoom Link

You can also call in to the meeting at (669) 900-9128 and enter meeting ID: 692 491 9146.

We will record the presentation for others who aren’t able to attend at noon.

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On Tuesday, April 27 2021, our lunch program speaker will be Deschutes County Sheriff Shane Nelson. He’ll be speaking to us about crisis prevention and de-escalation. Sheriff Nelson has been in law enforcement and with the Sheriff’s Office since 1993. The Deschutes County Commissioners unanimously appointed Nelson as the 9th Sheriff of Deschutes County in July 2015. He was voted in by the citizens of Deschutes County in November 2016. He was born and raised in Bend and graduated from Mountain View High School in 1988. After graduating from Oregon State University in 1993 he moved back to Bend. He and his wife Lisa, a retired Bend Police Officer, have four children. Sheriff Nelson is an active member of the community; as Sheriff of Deschutes County, he serves on the Executive Board of the Oregon State Sheriffs’ Association as ​Vice President, Chairs the Sheriffs’ Institute/Command College Committee, and is a member of the Budget, and Legislative Committees; Board Member and past Vice Chair of the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area/Chair of the Finance Subcommittee; Secretary/Treasurer Oregon Accreditation Alliance Board of Directors; he serves on the Board of Directors for Pilot Butte Partners and has served on the Board of Directors for the Redmond School District. He serves on the Deschutes County Shared Future Coalition. Sheriff Nelson is the past Director of the Redmond Youth Football Program and has coached youth soccer and basketball for the Redmond Area Parks and Recreation District. He is a past member of the Redmond Development Commission Safety Stakeholder Committee, as well as, a past member of the Redmond Executive Association.

This meeting will be all-virtual. Join the Zoom Meeting here: RCGB Zoom Link

You can also call in to the meeting at (669) 900-9128 and enter meeting ID: 692 491 9146.

We will record the presentation for others who aren’t able to attend at noon.

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On Tuesday, April 20 2021, our lunch program speaker will be Jodi Rueger. Jodi is an airline and aerobatic pilot, born in London, ON, and started flying at 18. With no family aviation background or funding, she sought to earn scholarships and studied competitively to do so since 14. Going on to complete her commercial, multi-engine, and instrument ratings at Sault College in the Aviation Technology – Flight Advanced Diploma program. Where the government would subsidize flight training in this highly competitive program, she went on to become a flight instructor and aerobatic instructor in the greater Vancouver area where she flew 80 types of aircraft over the course of 5 years and has to date flown roughly 95 different types. After landing on gravel bars in the river on a set of monster truck-like tundra tires, a student asked if she would like to fly for the airlines and set up an interview. A month later, she had her start date on a 78 passenger Dash-8 Q400 and went on quickly to fly the 189 seats 787-800NG jet for Swoop. Her love of aerobatic flying and ambition to continue to learn every day she flies led her to competitive and display aerobatics, where she dazzles the skies in an RV6 and Pitts S1-S and will be racing in the Reno Air races Sport class in a Thunder Mustang in 2021. When she’s not airborne, she enjoys snowboarding, training dogs, and learning basic aircraft repair and build techniques from one of her sponsors – AI Systems.

This meeting will be all-virtual. Join the Zoom Meeting here: RCGB Zoom Link

You can also call in to the meeting at (669) 900-9128 and enter meeting ID: 692 491 9146.

We will record the presentation for others who aren’t able to attend at noon.

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On Tuesday, April 13 2021, our lunch program speakers will be Mel Parker and Sara Perkins from J Bar J. They’ll be giving a presentation on J Bar J’s at: (anti-trafficking) Project. They work directly with victims to help them regain independence, safety, and stability, and to rebuild their lives. They provide comprehensive case management and crisis intervention, assist in creating safety plans, as well as offering much needed emotional support to survivors of sex and labor trafficking. Their case managers also work with survivors to access community resources such as psychological counseling, medical care, emergency housing, transportation, and academic needs. They provide team coordination for the Deschutes County Commercially Sexually Exploited Children (CSEC) Response Team, the group responsible for responding to cases of human trafficking in Central Oregon. This team is a collaboration of agencies working together to coordinate and leverage resources to provide a comprehensive approach to child sex trafficking and services to victims and survivors.

This meeting will be all-virtual. Join the Zoom Meeting here: RCGB Zoom Link

You can also call in to the meeting at (669) 900-9128 and enter meeting ID: 692 491 9146.

We will record the presentation for others who aren’t able to attend at noon.

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On Tuesday, April 6 2021, our lunch program speaker will be club member Cort Vaughn. He’ll be giving a presentation on PolioPlus in a COVID world. Cort Vaughan is a Polio survivor. He and his wife Tonya have two sons and two grandsons. Cort joined the Rotary Club of Greater Bend to help eradicate Polio. He founded the Pints for Polio fundraiser in 2012 to raise money for global Polio eradication and to increase local awareness regarding the need to vaccinate all children according to CDC guidelines. Pints for Polio has raised nearly $210,000 for the PolioPlus Fund including matching funds from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Cort is Past District 5110 PolioPlus Chair and past Zone 27 End Polio Now Coordinator covering 10 Districts and nearly 800 Rotary Clubs. Zone 27 includes most of Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Nevada, Northern California, and British Columbia.

Cort Vaughan contracted Polio in 1954 during a global pandemic that crippled over 35,000 people each year in the United States, mostly children under the age of 5. Polio paralyzed Cort’s right leg.

Cort and Tonya spent 3 weeks in India in January 2020 to vaccinate children against polio. They also met with WHO and UNICEF, visited a polio rehabilitation clinic and toured several Rotary projects. Join us in hearing Cort’s inspiring story of growing up with Polio, learning about polio eradication in India, and PolioPlus in a COVID World.

This meeting will be all-virtual. Join the Zoom Meeting here: RCGB Zoom Link

You can also call in to the meeting at (669) 900-9128 and enter meeting ID: 692 491 9146.

We will record the presentation for others who aren’t able to attend at noon.

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On Tuesday, March 23rd 2021, our lunch program speaker will be Luis Fernando Sanabria, General Manager of Fundación Paraguaya. He will be talking to us about the self-sustaining schools his foundation has created in Paraguay. If his name sounds familiar, it’s because he’s also the father of past Rotary exchange student Juanfe Sanabria. Luis Fernando Sanabria has over 30 years of experience working at Fundación Paraguaya (FP) in institution building, microfinance, and social development. He oversees the operations of all FP programs by leading a team of 500 people to implement poverty elimination programs, entrepreneurial education and self-sustainable schools both in Paraguay and in the other countries. He also exerts direct supervision to the office in Tanzania and programs in countries in Latin America, Africa and Asia where FP works.

He regularly participates in major international events such as the Microcredit Summit, the Skoll Forum on Social Entrepreneurship, FOROMIC, Accion International Network and Junior Achievement Network Meetings at which he has given lectures and presentations on FP achievements.

During 2012-2013 he served as advisor to the Social Cabinet of the President of Paraguay for the development of the plan Public-Private Partnership for the Eradication of Extreme Poverty (APEX).

This meeting will be all-virtual. Join the Zoom Meeting here: https://zoom.us/j/95148288563

You can also call in to the meeting at (669) 900-9128 and enter meeting ID: 951 4828 8563.

We will record the presentation for others who aren’t able to attend at noon.

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On Tuesday, March 16th 2021, our lunch program speaker will be Jeff Eager, former mayor and local attorney. Jeff will join us for lunch to discuss The Oregon Roundup, a weekly email for people interested in Oregon politics and public policy. Jeff started EagerLaw PC to help Oregon entrepreneurs succeed in business. Jeff worked in Washington, D.C. for Oregon Congressman Greg Walden, served as Mayor of the City of Bend, and has been practicing law in Oregon for over a decade.

This meeting will be all-virtual. Join the Zoom Meeting here: https://zoom.us/j/97502885800

You can also call in to the meeting at (669) 900-9128 and enter meeting ID: 975 0288 5800.

We will record the presentation for others who aren’t able to attend at noon.

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