Kiwanis Club of Historic St. Augustine
Newsletter – 6 April 2006
President’s
Message:
We seem to be settling in at
our new digs, Village Inn. Still a bug or two to work out, but the staff and
management have been very cooperative. We now have a sign on their outside,
lighted sign, and we will have the old wall plaque hanging in the lobby by
week’s end. Before the renovation, they had a lot of tables in that room, and
now they have a number of booths. (Obviously, their clientele like booths over
tables. We all tend to sit in the very front of the room, and as we grow, we
should start filling in from the back.) At the Board meeting on Monday, we also
discussed the concept of having the same menu for everyone. Change the menu
each week, but all get the same. This should make things easier for all
concerned, and we may be able to get a decrease in the unit price. The
committee will investigate.
Continuing with Board info: 1) Judi Robinson, who is on her way to Prague, indicated that we could have a
Pancake Breakfast at The Allegro in the fall. That is a great venue, and,
obviously, details would have to be worked out. 2) Tom Pace, the chair of our scholarship committee, announced that we
had received eleven apps from the three high schools on our list. The committee
will have to meet and pick some winners before May. 3) Lou Nester will chair the Nominating Committee. We need to fill the
VP spot and three Board members. 4) Ag Day will be held April 25 (a Tuesday)
and the cost is $8. More on that at today’s meeting. 5) There was another
discussion concerning our club becoming a 501(c)(3) organization. There are a
number of Kiwanis Clubs in our area that have the designation, and many think
it would help our fund-raising abilities if we could let people know that any
contribution would be tax deductible. Details will be presented to the Board at
the next meeting.
Last week it was great to see Ralph Bayfield back amongst us, and once he gets his new knee, he
and his new bride will be living with us instead of moving to Texas.
Coming Events: [Advise the
editor of events of interest at 797-4332]
1 May 2006: Regular monthly board meeting to be held at The
Allegro. The meeting will start at 1700 hours. There is much to discuss, so be
prompt and be prepared to share some ideas.
Guests: Harry Matteson,
our fellow Kiwanian from Malone,
NY, was here for his final
meeting with us. We will see him next year; and we were pleased to have Angie Prosuch, our Key Club adviser,
and two members of the club. One of them was Jack Lee, and I apologize for not getting the young lady’s name
before they left.
Programs:
(Check the website for your speaker assignment date.)
LAST WEEK: Art May,
introduced Vinnie
Russo, who heads the Sheriff’s ACE Program, which stands for Adolescent
Character Enrichment Program. This is a successful intervention program
attempting to get to young folks before they get too out of hand. It has many
aspects of boot camp training. (Depending on what branch of the service you
were in, that rates from bad to horrible treatment.)
THIS WEEK: Skeeter Key has the program as a civilian.
NEXT WEEK: Our Human and Spiritual Values meeting. Student will
be honored on the 20th this month.
⅓-⅓-⅓ DRAWING WINNERS: Ralph Bayfield
and Jim Dale were the winners. Congrats
and mix those tickets up better next time. Buy your tickets early and often.
Late Breaking News:
Well, what can this old
Seminole say after the Monday night’s game, except congratulations to Florida for winning the
National Championship in basketball. After about the first five minutes, it
wasn’t even close. Clearly, Billy Donovan has put together a team, and no one
thought they would do anything after losing their three top scorers from last
year. He is what you call a coach. He can manage to get the players to play at
their peak, and all of them together make a great team.
Also in sports, baseball season has started again.
President Bush took time out of his busy schedule to throw out the first pitch.
I’m glad to see that tradition going again. Of course, he is a big fan and a
former owner. Steroid investigations will overshadow the play a lot this year.
I do think that George Mitchell is not the person to be leading the
investigation, because he is too much of an insider. He is a part owner of the
Red Sox as well as serving on the Board of Directors for MLB.
Tom Delay has retired from Congress, effective some
time in the near future. He was a very effective leader, but obviously did not
surround himself with the best people. My answer to all this is what I have been
preaching for years and that is term limits. The President is limited to two
terms, and I think the Senate should be limited to two terms (twelve years) and
the House to six terms, also twelve years. And don’t give me that nonsense
about losing all the experience, blah, blah, and blah. I bet that if we put
into office the first 535 names in the telephone book, you would get a smooth
operation. And with the speed of travel and communications, I think we could go
back to a Congress that met only 4 or 5 months a year. Make them come home and
find out what the real world is all about.
Quote(s) of the Week:
"Not enough money for education? It's a
myth. The truth is, public schools are rolling in money. If you divide the U.S.
Department of Education's figure for total spending on K-12 education by the
department's count of K-12 students, it works out to about $10,000 per student.
Think about that! For a class of 25 kids, that's $250,000 per classroom. This
doesn't include capital costs. Couldn't you do much better than government
schools with $250,000? You could hire several good teachers; I doubt you'd hire
many bureaucrats. Government schools, like most monopolies, squander money. America spends
more on schooling than the vast majority of countries that outscore us on the
international tests. But the bureaucrats still blame school failure on lack of
funds, and demand more money." —John
Stossel
"For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it might cost, I am willing to
know the whole truth; to know the worst, and to provide for it." —Patrick
Henry
è Don’t forget First Friday Art Walk is tomorrow. ç