Kiwanis Club of Historic St. Augustine

Newsletter – 26 October 2006

President’s Message:

As noted below we are going to hold the committee meeting and the Board meeting as part of the regular meeting time next week. I know that this is a change, and I know that most people don’t like change. However, all I ask is that we give it a try and see if knowing what is going on doesn’t make us a better club. Each one of us is a member of the club, and some of us have been thrust into a leadership position. That fact does not mean that we have all the ideas or that we will do all the work.

                Each one of you has ideas that could make this club function better. All I ask is that you open your mouth and let us hear your idea. Maybe you aren’t sure about something the club does or is thinking about doing. Don’t sit around and get run over by the bus, open your mouth and ask questions. The way this should work, and this goes for any club, is that each person serves on a committee and gives his or her input to the chairman. The committee then agrees on a direction for the committee to go, and the chairman comes to the Board and presents that decision. The Board has the final word on the subject, but that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t put forth your idea because it might get shot down later. Many ideas get shot down the first time out of the gate. Good ideas have a way of getting back to the front of the line and making it at a later date.

                Once again, I’m only asking that you give it a try. This club works best when we focus on projects that are good for the community.

 

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

28 October 2006: Kiwanis University Day, location and time TBA

3 November 2006: First Friday Art Walk, check out the local galleries downtown and taste the food and wine.

4 November 2006: Uptown Saturday Night, check out the local galleries uptown and taste their food and wine.

11 November 2006: Veterans Day celebration and Massing of the Colors on the grounds of the Castillo de San Marcos at 1100 hours. No ceremony at the cemetery this year. There will be festivities at the Fort from 0930 to 1500 hours, so go and have a look at the displays, etc. that are planned.

28 November 2006: Division 5 Council Meeting sponsored by the Downtown Club. To be held at Deercreek CC, with social hour beginning at 1800 hours and dinner served at 1900 hours.

 

Guests: Mark Shelley brought his son, the Coast Guardsman, (NOT Merchant Marine) and indicated that he was being shipped out to the West coast. We wish him well and a safe return.

 

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

LAST WEEK: Richard Welty introduced a fellow Toastmaster, Danny Pritchard. Danny a home inspector by trade, and a very through one I might add, told of his observations of people in supermarkets. Danny does all the shopping, and most of the cooking in his family, and encounters the bottlenecks in the supermarkets more often than the rest of us. A very entertaining presentation.

THIS WEEK: Our hard working Prez has agreed to find the speaker for us

NEXT WEEK: We will have our committee meetings and Board meeting.

 

⅓-⅓-⅓ DRAWING WINNERS: Winning last meeting were Skeeter Key, and Tom Pace. Mix those tickets well. Buy your tickets early and often.

 

Late Breaking News:

I can’t say enough about the Seminoles. I guess you have to go a season out of first place in the conference once in a while, and, if that is the case, I hope that it is once in great while. In other conferences, I hope that the Buckeyes and Michigan stay #1 and 2 until they meet. That game is usually a great one, and will be even better if the ranking holds.

                Baseball did pick the second team to play in the World Series, and it turned out to be the St. Louis Cardinals. Detroit was able to rest up but the Cards are leading the series 2 to 1 at the time of this writing.  By the time we meet on Thursday, that will have changed and it will be either 2 to 2 or 3 to 1. You editor usually favors the American League, and I remember a spring training game or two in Lakeland watching Al Kaline. However, next to my Bosox I have always been a Cardinals fan. One of my favorite players as a kid was Stan the Man. Also, their manager and I are alumni from the same law school, so Go Cards!

                Skeeter announced that the paper’s description of his departure sounded much more ominous than it was. It seems that he had so much vacation time that he is taking the rest of the year off before his official retirement. (Boy, those teachers sure have it rough.)

Quote(s) of the Week:
"The attitude of the state and culture toward the value of human life is in constant flux. Like the Dow Jones Industrial Averages, it is up one day and down the next. Some want to use embryonic stem cells for research into all sorts of afflictions and diseases, though no clinical tests have proved they are effective and stem cells from placentas and other sources, which cause no harm to human life, are available. Life in the womb—indeed life emerging from the womb—may be destroyed at any time and for any reason. There is pressure at the other end of life to euthanize the elderly and handicapped when they become 'burdensome' to family members or 'too costly' to the state." —Cal Thomas

"The national debate about what to do in the Middle East falls into several specific categories. There's the 'do it now' crowd and the 'do it later' crowd. It should be noted that there is also a 'let's not do anything' or a 'let's run away' crowd who are called liberals and/or Democrats. The 'do it now' crowd is now rooting for Israel to get rid of Hezbollah in Lebanon. The 'do it later' crowd advises that waiting is best, proudly pointing to how we patiently waited for the former Soviet Union to implode. But history is filled with examples of why 'do it now' is a better idea, because failure to respond to Big Trouble almost always results in Even Bigger Trouble." —Alan Caruba

"Because just as good morals, if they are to be maintained, have need of the laws, so the laws, if they are to be observed, have need of good morals." —Niccolo Machiavelli