AppleFest 2013

Penny Thackery at work cutting apples.

Carole Ellison at the press

A week ago, we braved the rain and wind to go to Carnation Valley to join our friends, Nancy & Van Strom,  at their annual AppleFest event.  This event is all about crushing apples for cider followed by a delicious dinner on our hosts' covered porch.

Though it was cold and rainy as we were driving to the party, when we arrived the rain began to clear so that it was positively sunny by later in the day.  To get us in the spirit of the project, we began with fresh apple juice on ice mixed with rum.  Ken pulled up a chair where he could supervise and keep a close eye on the work being done.

Michele & Dan Heidt at the press

There are many sticky jobs that are part of producing apple cider including washing the apples in a big old-fashioned bathtub, cutting the oversize apples in half so they will fit in the press, moving the apples from the bath to the press in buckets, pouring the apples into the press one or two apples at a time, twisting the press to squeeze out the juice, catching the juice in a pitcher and changing out the pitcher as needed, pouring the juice into bottles and capping them and cleaning out the "apple slush" of peels, worms(?), stems, etc that are trapped in the screen and don't make it into the juice.  The "apple slush" was all loaded into the blade of a front-loader to be driven to a neighbor's home later for his pigs.

Susan Taylor, Toni Hoffman, Joyce McCallum, Nancy Strom

Many of the guests took part in the production.  Susan Taylor handled catching the juice for much of the day, Carole Ellison was twisting the apple press, while Bob Cremin made dozens of trips back and forth from the bathtub to the press with buckets of apples. Michele & Dan Heidt took a turn at the press too as did several others.  Penny Thackery, Arlene Wright and I took turns cutting apples in half as needed. Along with others, Toni Hoffman and Jan Rogers poured juice in bottles.

If we needed to choose one person who worked non-stop on the apple-pressing project from beginning to end, it would be Carole Ellison, whom I think we should crown as AppleFest Queen!

Ken Hatch and Jan Rogers

A number of the guests came bearing hors d'oeuvres to keep up everyone's energy during the hard work of apple pressing.  I was especially happy to see Joyce McCallum arrive with her devilled eggs and Jan Rogers with her warm sausage turnovers.  And for dessert, Toni Hoffman, Trudi Syferd and Mary Nelson brought three different versions of carrot cake with cream cheese frosting.  Yum!

Several of the ladies escaped to the kitchen when it appeared to be time to help with dinner.  There were many cooks in the kitchen with varying opinions on the "right" way to prepare every food item.  I do have to say that Nancy has the patience of a saint because she was able to handle all the "help and advice" without batting an eyelash.  And in spite of the many cooks, everything turned out absolutely delicious!

Tim Premselaar shows his appreciation of Tom Raschella.

Some of the other guests not already mentioned included Carol & Spike Anderson, Sue & Tom Raschella, Sandi & Tim Premselaar, Ken Hatch, Doug McCallum, Dave Syferd, Diane & Gordon Kuenster, Nancy & Denny Rood, Mick Thackery, Rod Hoffman and Susan & Gary Neumann.

Arlene Wright with Carole Ellison, AppleFest Queen.

The Magic of Amelia Earhart and the Lockheed Electra

Debi Giannola & Cathi Hatch 

On Saturday, Debi Giannola and I went to the Museum of Flight as guests of sponsor, Wells Fargo, to witness the final flight and arrival of the Lockheed Model 10-E Electra, a replica of the plane in which Amelia Earhart flew around the world.

We arrived early enough to visit the Electra Simulator flights in the Aviation Learning Center.  We were each able to "pilot" our own plane and I discovered that landing is much harder than it appears.  My plane bounced on the ground

Debi Giannola in the Simulator cockpit

and then up into the clouds as I kept over compensating on the joystick.

It was also fascinating to wander through the great gallery and see the scores of planes that are part of the Museum of Flight collection; fighter jets, stealth bombers, mail planes, commercial airplanes, military planes, helicopters, gliders, the Space Shuttle trainer and even a car that could convert to a plane with fold-down wings.  I didn't realize the incredible number of planes that are on

A view of just a portion of the aircraft collection

display at the Museum of Flight and it is very impressive.

We then made our way to “Amelia’s Electra” public program in William M. Allen Theater presented by Chief Curator Dan Hagedorn and Bob Bogash, Aircraft Acquisition Expert. Dan is a huge fan of Amelia Earhart and shared dozens of photos of her that I had never seen previously.  

"Project Amelia" banner

Bob is a huge fan of Clarence Johnson, the famous Lockheed aircraft designer that did some wind tunnel tests on the Electra 10-E that were important to its safety along with a modification to the tail which became known as "guitar picks". He would include the guitar pick element on future planes he would design when he went on to become a very famous Lockheed aircraft designer.  Bob made use of his time at the podium to make an "ask" to Museum of Flight CEO Doug King, who was sitting in the audience, for the next plane which he wants to acquire for the Museum of Flight.  One of the bigger challenges is that it is the only one left in the world and currently sits at the bottom of the ocean just off the Hawaiian Islands.  He estimated at least a $10 million price tag to recover it. 

The Museum of Flight's newest acquisition

Following the lectures, we adjourned upstairs for lunch to the VIP Viewing Lounge and were able to go out on the deck when the Electra flew by twice before making her final landing. There was something quite emotional in watching that beautiful, shiny silver plane land and taxi towards us, stopping long enough to do a full 360 degree circle as if she was taking her final bow just before stopping in the viewing area in the parking lot for the welcoming ceremony.

Debi and I saw several friends at the event including Pam Ellison, Mary Knell, Mary Bass and Marco Abbruzzese all representing Wells Fargo and Brad Tilden representing Alaska Airlines, Ned Laird, Patti Payne, Stacy King, Dottie Simpson, Ann Simpson, James Raisbeck, Diane Tice and others.  There were also many dressed up to look like Amelia Earhart, which was fun to see.

Congratulations to the organizing committee and the Museum of Flight Board of Trustees who were able to raise the money necessary to bring the Electra to our museum!  

Happy Birthday Bode!

Bode Laramore contemplates his cake.

This past month has been a whirl of activities at ZINO Society and with the family too! We celebrated Bode's second birthday at Katie & Kevin Laramore's home in Bonney Lake.  Mom Katie, aka the Costco Queen, pretty much planned his birthday from beginning to end with food and gifts from Costco.

Bode's favorite gifts included many dinosaurs of all sizes including one that even roared and walked.  His other favorite gift was a collection of books

which he wanted to begin reading immediately.  Katie had to do some real convincing to get him to leave the books long enough to open his other birthday gifts.  Big brother Cutter was happy to "help" open Bode's presents and could certainly have solved that problem easily if he had been allowed to proceed.

Baby sister, Campbell, blissfully slept through most of the party and only joined the party at the end after most of the

The perfect baby, Campbell Laramore, with Mom Katie

guests had already departed.  What a perfect baby!  

JOBS Act Challenges as Currently Proposed by the SEC

ZINO Society sponsor member, Joe Wallin of Davis Wright Tremaine, who has followed the issue very closely asked me to please post something for the Securities & Exchange Commission regarding my thoughts about some of the regulations coming forward related to the JOBS Act.  Here is what I posted:

ZINO Society is a membership organization that connects accredited angel investors with start-up companies seeking funding. Over the past 8 years, we have helped facilitate funding connections of around $29 million (of which we are aware) and have coached and mentored almost 600 entrepreneurs. Though there are always many more requests for funding than we can fulfill, we do provide a very important and useful service for both investors and entrepreneurs.

Though I know the JOBS Act was intended to enhance entrepreneurship and growth of small businesses, the "rules" that continue to come forward from the SEC, will cause just the opposite to occur.

In the past, our investor members have had the right to tell us whether they qualify as accredited investors. We supply them with a link that describes what it takes to qualify as an "Accredited Investor" and let them respond to us whether they qualify or not. The new invasive requirement that demands that we have our investor members "prove" that they qualify as accredited most likely will be the end of many people even willing to participate as members and provide angel funding, which will of course be a reduction in business investments.

For our entrepreneur members, the threats that now exist around fundraising are so frightening that huge amounts of time will be required to try to manage all these rules of notification and the penalties are catastrophic if someone makes a mistake. If a deadline is missed, it will likely put many of these entrepreneurs entirely out of business.

What I see on both fronts is that it is likely that ZINO Society will also be out of business because of the reluctance of both investors and entrepreneurs to risk participating going forward unless some reasonable common sense in setting these new rules and regulations is employed.

I assume that putting small businesses out of business is not what was intended and encourage the SEC to look again at how you can simplify the requirements and make them less onerous to all concerned. Thank you.

Happy Birthday Ken!

Birthday Boy Ken with his best friend, ZiZi and new toy

Ken's birthday was a week ago today and we finally got around to celebrating it tonight with the family.  With this past week being devoted to multiple performance of The Ring, this really was the best time to celebrate his birthday along with other family members celebrating summer birthdays, son Sean Hatch, daughter Katie Laramore, and grandson Andrew Hatch.  

Our dear friends, Patty & Jimmy Barrier had taken us to lunch at Purple on his

actual birthday and one of his gifts was a dog toy for ZiZi which both Ken and ZiZi were excited to receive! 

Today Ken's oldest son, Sean Hatch along with partner, Troy Clark and Ken's youngest son, MIchael Hatch along with wife Alicia and three sons, Jackson, Spencer and Andrew, my daughter Katie Laramore along with her husband Kevin and three children Cutter, Bode and Campbell and friends Patty & Jimmy

Jackson, Andrew and Spencer Hatch

Katie, Campbell, Bode, Kevin and Cutter Laramore

Barrier joined in the celebration.

Troy brought a delicious potato salad, Alicia brought a yummy baked fennel dish and baked beans, Katie brought guacamole and Patty brought lemon bars.  Ken and I filled in the rest of the menu with gazpacho with lime creme fraiche, barbecued chicken and salmon, watermelon arugula salad, corn on the cob and a fresh nectarine crisp with vanilla ice cream.

Jackson, Spencer and Andrew had a great time playing in the swimming pool before dinner.  Cutter and Bode arrived late and didn't get to swim, but Bode and Andrew had a great time playing together with a water toy and getting wet anyway.  The saddest part was that I got to hold baby Campbell for only about 5 minutes because I was so busy with the food, but GiGi (aka Patty) did get a chance to cuddle her for a while before dinner.

Campbell Laramore with Gigi (Patty)

Jimmy Barrier, Ken Hatch, Troy Clark, Sean Hatch

Andrew Hatch and Bode Laramore

The boys all got dressed before dinner but when dinner was over, while everybody else helped clear the table after dinner, Jackson "accidentally" fell in the pool and pretty soon, Spencer "accidentally" jumped in too!  At the end of the evening, we had to send two naked boys home wrapped in beach towels.  Another adventure at Grumpa's house! 

Happy Birthday Ken, Sean, Katie and Andrew!  And of course Campbell too!

The Magical Ring

Cathi Hatch and Susan Neumann

Last night was the final performance in the marathon week with my dear friend Susan Neumann of attending Richard Wagner's The Ring Cycle produced by Seattle Opera at McCaw Hall.  This only comes around in Seattle every four years.  Seventeen incredible hours of opera and four hours of pre-performance lectures . . . what a magical experience!

We saw dragons and giants and dwarfs and gods and mermaids, and at least as important, if not more important, were entertained with some of the most exquisite

music ever written and performed.  Susan and I had prepared in advance by listening to 24 CD's about the life and works of Richard Wagner.  It turns out that he wasn't a very nice person, strongly anti-Semitic and completely self-centered, but the music he wrote is soul-stirring and thrilling to hear.

The final performance in the series of four last evening was Gotterdammerung aka The Twilight of the Gods.  And fortunately for those of us attending, we had the opportunity to hear and see for the second evening in the series the Brunnhilde understudy, Lori Phillips, who was truly magnificent!  Allwyn Mellor, the original artist scheduled to sing contracted a virus so was unable to perform.  Everyone in the audience, the critics, and the rest of the cast were swept up in the excitement of her amazing performances.  As General Director, Speight Jenkins announced her substitution again last night, the audience applauded and cheered loudly with anticipation to hear her again.  During curtain calls on both evenings, she was hugged and kissed by not only the artists playing Wotan and Seigfried, but also by Director Stephen Wadsworth, Orchestra Conductor Asher Fisch, Speight Jenkins, and assorted Norns, Valkyries, and Dwarfs.    

I must also comment on the incredible tenor, Stefan Vinke, who played the role of Seigfried.  His voice was so powerful and his acting skills made him totally believable, charming and funny in the role of boy awakening to manhood.  He nailed the unaccompanied high C note in Gotterdammerung in the scene with the Rhine Maidens, which is often the nemesis of tenors singing the Seigfried role.

There are still two more Ring Cycles in the next couple of weeks so if you can beg, borrow or steal a ticket, I can't recommend it more highly.

Bruce Lee Action Museum Dinner

Christine & Omar Lee, Linda Lee, Cathi Hatch

As guests of Ani & Brendan O'Farrell, Ken and I attended a many course Chinese dinner fundraiser at the Imperial Garden Seafood restaurant at the Great Wall Mall this week.  The dinner was hosted by Omar & Christine Lee at their restaurant in conjunction with a Hong Kong Association of Washington fundraiser for the to be developed Bruce Lee Action Museum.

Andy Yip, President of the Hong Kong Association of Washington greeted the

Brendan & Ani O'Farrell with Andy Yip

guests as they arrived and introduced them to the guest of honor, Linda Lee, the widow of Bruce Lee .  She talked about the scholarships that are currently given in Bruce Lee's name to underprivileged children of all ethnic backgrounds. Because Bruce Lee was the first crossover Chinese actor that really made it big, he has been a huge role model over the years especially to Chinese children and adults.

Ken and I didn't realize how important Bruce Lee and his memory is to the Chinese culture and it was fun to watch as all of the highly successful Chinese CEOs couldn't wait to have their photo taken with Linda Lee.  Of course, I decided I needed mine taken with her as well.  Sitting at our table was a man named Perry Lee, who has the distinction of

Charlene Lee, Cathi Hatch, Jerry Lee

being the largest collector of Bruce Lee memorabilia.  The gift to the guests for the evening was a boxed set of Bruce Lee movies, a signed photograph and a black "Walk On" wrist band.  It has been many years since I have seen a Bruce Lee movie so Ken and I look forward to watching a few.

The food was amazing and course after course was brought to our table.  The most spectacular course was whole Dungeness crabs and crab legs that had been deep-fried in some kind of a light

Ken & Cathi Hatch with Chris Upchurch

batter and LOTS of garlic.  Messy but absolutely delicious!

Other celebrants included Charlene & Jerry Lee, Gordon Tang, Thea & Chris Upchurch, Benjamin Lee and a number of Chinese CEO's in town for a visit.  The remarks were all conveyed in both English and Mandarin Chinese.

It was a fascinating evening.  Thank you Brendan & Ani! As Bruce Lee would say, "Walk On"!