Rick Steves is a popular public television host, a best-selling guidebook author, and an outspoken activist who encourages Americans to broaden their perspectives through travel. But above all else, Rick considers himself a teacher. He taught his first travel class at his college campus in the mid-1970s — and now, more than 40 years later, he still measures his success not by dollars earned, but by trips impacted.

Rick is the founder and owner of Rick Steves’ Europe, a travel business with a tour program that brings more than 30,000 people to Europe annually. Each year, the company contributes to a portfolio of climate-smart nonprofits, essentially paying a self-imposed carbon tax. He also works closely with several advocacy groups and has been instrumental in the legalization of marijuana in states across the US.

Rick spends about four months a year in Europe, researching guidebooks, fine-tuning his tour program, filming his TV show, and making new discoveries for travelers. To recharge, he plays piano, relaxes at his family cabin in the Cascade mountains, and spends time with his son Andy and daughter Jackie. He lives and works in his hometown of Edmonds, Washington, where his office window overlooks his old junior high school.

David Lemieux will talk about his work with the Grateful Dead, where he has been archiving their music and producing music releases drawn from their thousands of live concerts for almost 25 years. As their Legacy manager, David will speak about licensing the Grateful Dead’s brand, balancing the fine line between promoting and protecting their legacy.

David Lemieux has been the Grateful Dead’s official audiovisual archivist since 1999, and their Legacy Manager since 2010. Over the past 24 years, Lemieux has produced scores of Grateful Dead CD and DVD releases, many of which have been certified Gold, Platinum, and Multi-Platinum by the RIAA®, as well as several Grammy® nominated boxed sets.

Lemieux was the Supervising Music Producer on the Martin Scorsese-produced career-spanning documentary on the Grateful Dead, Long Strange Trip: The Untold Story Of The Grateful Dead. In 2012, the Grateful Dead re-named their primary archival release series “Dave’s Picks,” as a testament to his expertise. Since 2007, he has hosted a daily show on the Sirius XM Grateful Dead Channel, “Today In Grateful Dead History.”

Lemieux holds a BA in History from Carleton University, a BFA in Film Studies from Concordia University, and an MA in Film Archiving from the University of East Anglia. He currently lives in British Columbia, Canada.

The University Sunrise Rotary Club will welcome Rachele Bouchand and George Northcroft this Thursday, February 9, 2023, as they address the topic: “DEI Brings Members.” Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion are hot topics in all organizations, including Rotary. George and Rachele will help us better understand how to –build DEI efforts that can build our Club–and all organizations.

Our Zoom line will open at 7:00 a.m. for informal discussion. The formal meeting runs from 7:30-8:30 a.m. Join us. No registration is required.

Click here to join the meeting Thursday morning. Join us!

Long-Time Rotary Leaders Rachele Bouchand and George Northcroft will present their program on how to increase membership through the incorporation of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion concepts.

Rachele Bouchand is a member and Past President of the Bellevue Rotary Club since 2009. She currently serves on the Rotary District DEI Committee and the Rotary District Strategic Visioning Team. She is the Assistant Governor for Seattle 4 and Creating Newly Formed Clubs. Additionally, she will be District 5030 Governor for 2024-2025. Rachele was also a member of the Rotary International Next Generation Conference in 2014. Lastly, she was able to blend her vocational and Rotary lives when she served as a member of the Global Polio Finance Committee.

Her Rotary classification is Consulting-Business. Rachele currently serves as Managing Director of Pathstone, where she is responsible for advising families and single-family offices on a variety of wealth management and estate planning topics. She has over 20 years’ experience working with multi-generational wealth.

George Northcroft has been a member of the Bellevue Rotary Club (BRC) since 1989. In 2001, George served as BRC’s Sergeant At Arms. He currently serves on the Rotary District DEI Committee and Co-Chair of the BRC DEI Committee. He also serves on BRC Environmental Sustainability Committee and the BRC Diplomacy Committee.

His Rotary classification is Public Administration-Senior Active. He retired in 2017 as Regional Administrator/Northwest Arctic Region for U.S. General Services Administration where he was responsible for the management of Federal real estate, acquisition and information technology in Washington, Oregon, Alaska, and Idaho. George is a business and civic leader with experience in financial management, marketing and operations in Fortune 500 companies and state, local, federal government.

Averyl Mooney and Mackenzie Pedersen: We really look forward to hosting this conversation with you and sharing what we think makes Washington wine exciting and special. We are at such a interesting time in our state’s growth and we have so much more in store for the world. There is so much excitement happening in our own backyard!

Washington Wine Presentation

• Averyl Mooney, Senior Communications Manager
• Mackenzie Pedersen, Senior Marketing Manager

The Washington State Wine Commission is a state agency that represents every licensed grape grower and winery in Washington state. The Commission team creates and produces marketing, awareness, and education programs around this booming industry for a local, national, and international audience. Averyl Mooney and Mackenzie Pedersen will share a historical overview, the current state of industry, and take a look into what the future holds for Washington. www.washingtonwine.org/