Don R. Kay

Don has almost one-half century of involvement with Rotary. He was first invited to join in Centralia in 1953, with the "Children's Apparel" classification. He moved the clothing store to Wenatchee three years later and was sponsored by Jim Starr to join Wenatchee Rotary. In 1966, after a seven year hiatus to start a second store and to develop a cattle ranch in lower Sunnyslope, Don joined Rotary for the third time, this time sponsored by Paul Scea.

Don has edited the Appleseed (1969), served as club Secretary/Treasurer and was elected to the Board of Directors (1970/1971).

In addition to being a Paul Harris Fellow and a Paul Scea Fellow, some of Don's other noteworthy Rotary roles are:

• 1971 - Chairman of Wenatchee Rotary's Golden 50th Anniversary Celebration
• 1972-1973 - President of Wenatchee Rotary Club
• 1976 - District 506 Conference Chairman (Lev Craven was District Governor)
• 1996 - Assisted Jan Petrie as chairman of Wenatchee Rotary's 75th Anniversary celebration
• 1968-1995 - Attended 20 District 506 (5060) Conferences, serving on several District committees

Baseball, Apple Blossom Festival and Wenatchee downtown promotion have been Don's commnity service focus:

• Wenatchee Youth Baseball coach, umpire and organization president
• Wenatchee Chiefs' Professional Baseball business manager in 1961
• Apple Blossome Festival Board, (two terms), with Bill Redlinger in 1959, organized the teams that started the Grand Parades
• Wenatchee Business Association, (twice president), an organization which he helped organize

"A project which I still enjoy today as perhaps my greatest community service achievement brought the first street trees to Downtown Wenatchee. Working with Bob Rowe's downtown sidewalk tree planting plan, Vivian Button and I sold 225 trees along the downtown streets, at $25 each to business and property owners."

BUSINESS ACTIVITIES
Don found time, between his community service and Rotary activities, to operate clothing stores in Downtown Wenatchee - names familiar in Wenatchee's commercial history; Kids Inc., Varsity Line, K's Corner, Don Kay's Men's Wear and Webb's Shop.

From 1965 to 1989, Don raised and bred pure-bred Hereford Cattle at his Lower Sunnyslope Ranch.

From 1976 to 1987 Don traveled five NCW counties as District Representative for the National Federation of Independent Business and initiated 2,000 members.

From 1990 to 1998 Don was elected to serve as Commissioner for the Chelan County P.U.D. and was the Board President for two years.

FAMILY
Don and Glenda have been married for 53 years and were blessed with 4 children, 2 of which are now deceased. The 9 grandchildren range in age from 6 to 21.

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