Kiwanis Club of Historic St. Augustine

Newsletter – 11 May 2006

President’s Message:

Lou Nester chaired the Nominating Committee, and with only a little begging announced the slate offered by the Committee: Vice President-Dave Thompson; Board Members-Jake Thompson, Bob Corson, and Lou Nester. Thanks to one and all who agreed to serve, and we will vote on this list and will, of course, take nominations from the floor. Thanks Lou, for chairing the committee.

The Relay for Life was held last Friday – Saturday, and our Key Club was involved with that. Hope Angie will be here this week to let us know how things turned out.

Today is our membership drive, Bring-a-Guest day. Welcome one and all.

Coming Events: [Advise the editor of events of interest at 797-4332]

12 May 2006: Dave Thompson announced that the Navy League would be celebrating Navy Day with a tour of ships at Mayport. Dave has graciously offered to give any of our members a personal tour and introduce you to all the men and women you meet there.

2 June 2006: First Friday Art Walk, check out the local galleries and taste the food and wine.

5 June 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: No guests last week.

Programs: (Check the website for your speaker assignment date.)

LAST WEEK: Our own Dennis Hollingsworth introduced the Clerk of Court, Cheryl Strickland, who gave a rather abbreviated discussion on one aspect of her office. (There is no doubt that her office covers a multitude of functions.) She reported that the legislature had decided to require the Clerk’s office to put on the Internet all files that they had for the last 10 years and then into the future. Needless to say, from now on her department can cull the truly personal information on each of us and keep it off the Internet. However, it would be nigh unto impossible to cull the old records as they are up-loaded onto the Website. Therefore, she requested that each of us go on her Website, search it for our own name, and see if there are personal data in those records. If there are personal data, contact her office with all the page numbers, Clerk’s numbers, etc. on each item so that it can be removed.

THIS WEEK: Skeeter will introduce Dave Barnett, who is the athletic director at Flagler College who will discuss the school moving up the ladder in the NCAA. Also we will honor our last Student of the Month for the academic year, this time from St. Gerard Campus.

NEXT WEEK: Chief Hedges has the duty, but then he did take Dr. Frank’s slot so he could go to Hungary. Was it a swap?

⅓-⅓-⅓ DRAWING WINNERS: Cheryl Strickland drew her own number and Bob Braden won for the second week in a row. Congrats and mix those tickets up better next time. Buy your tickets early and often.

Late Breaking News:

On May 1st, as a result of the Mexican boycott, national retailers reported 4.2% lower sales for the day, with a 67.8% reduction in shoplifting. Not sure about the numbers, but sounds reasonable to me. ~ John Dulaney

I know that it is getting warmer and summer is almost here, but don’t get complacent, because we are working on a couple of more projects and we will need you be raring to go. Peanut Day is a Division-wide endeavor that we will be involved with this year.

Quote(s) of the Week:
"Enough generations of socialist policies have now passed for us to judge their effects. They are bleak. Socialism undermines the character of a nation and of its citizens. In simpler words, socialism makes people worse... Socialism teaches its citizens to expect everything, even if they contribute nothing. Socialism teaches its citizens that they have a plethora of rights and few corresponding obligations—except to be taxed. And that is why the citizens of less socialist—and more religious—America give more charity per capita and per income than do citizens of socialist countries. That is why Americans volunteer time for the needy so much more than citizens of socialist countries do. That is why citizens of conservative states in America give more charity than citizens of liberal states do. The more Left one identifies oneself on the political spectrum, the more that person is likely to believe that the state, not fellow citizens should take care of the poor and the needy. Under socialism, one is not only liberated from having to take care of oneself; one is also liberated from having to take care of others. The state will take care of me and of everybody else... The socialist idea sounded altruistic to those who began it, and it sounds altruistic to the naive who believe in it today. In practice, however, it creates self-centered individuals and a narcissistic society. So while it may have begun as a way to help others, it has come to mean a way of evading responsibility for oneself and for others." —Dennis Prager [Your editor has some personal knowledge of this, as my grandfather was a close associate of Eugene V. Debs. He grew wise enough to rue the day he voted for FDR the first time.]

"'Elitism' doesn't always speak of where you went to school or what caste, as it were, you came from. You can wind up one of the elites simply by rising. Simply by being separated for a certain amount of time from those you seek to lead. People who know most intimately, and through most recent experience, what is happening on the ground, and in the hearts of men, are usually not in the inner councils. They have not fought their way or earned their way in yet. Sometimes they're called in and listened to, at least for a moment, but in the end they tend to be ignored. They're nobodies, after all. This is a problem with government and governing bodies—with the White House, Downing Street, with State Department specialists, and the Council on Foreign Relations, and West Point, too. It is not so much a matter of fault as it is structural. The minute you rise to govern you become another step removed from the lives of those you govern. Which means you become removed from reality." —Peggy Noonan

"Unionism seldom, if ever, uses such power as it has to insure better work; almost always it devotes a large part of that power to safeguarding bad work." —H.L. Mencken