Kiwanis Club of Historic St. Augustine

Newsletter – 8 March 2007

President’s Message:

The Board Meeting went well. We had a quorum with only three absent. YCPO chair, Wayne Howell, reported that we were going to get back into the car seat business as part of Project Buckle-Up, dates and time to be announced. The Treasury is still not empty, which is a very good thing. Along those lines, it was duly passed that we cap the Senior Member at $35 per month, since it could cost them more if they made more than one visit to the club per month. Dave Thompson reported that the lady from Boys and Girls Clubs got a large donation from Rotary when she spoke. He suggested that we might want to help with the building fund. This will go to the proper committee and they will decide what we can do.

Don’t forget the Mid-Year Conference in Lake City at the end of March. Please note in the masthead, that we are into March as you read this. The club will pay the registration fee for those members that wish to attend. I believe we have some going to that event as well.

The Geography Bee is fast approaching. This is a fun event, the teachers there do most of the work, and we all learn something new. A good time is had by all! Plan to volunteer to help and show up on the 22^nd.

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

22 March 2007: Our annual Geography Bee. Again this year it will be held at Sebastian Middle School. Always a great time had by all. Plan to spend the early evening with your fellow members, and Bob will be getting us to fill jobs too.

March 30 - April 1, 2007: The North Midyear Conference for divisions 1-15 to be held in Lake City in conjunction with the Hog Wild Pig Crazy Barbeque festival. See our website for details.

6 April 2007: First Friday Art Walk, check out the local galleries downtown and taste their food and wine.

7 April 2007: Uptown Saturday Night, check out the local galleries uptown on the first Saturday of each month, and taste their food and wine.

Guests: Back for another visit with our club and our fair city is Harry Matteson, escaping all that white stuff in upstate New York. He’ll be here for a while; it takes time for that stuff to melt. Dave Thompson had a guest and old friend, Buzz Johnson. (I’m sure his given name isn’t Buzz, but it was great to have him join us.) Welcome to one and all.

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

LAST WEEK: Our monthly meeting of committees and the Board Meeting.

THIS WEEK: Human and Spiritual Values meeting along with our Student of the Month.

NEXT WEEK: Jerry Saia has contacted a former member, Greg Moore, recently returned from Afghanistan. Come and hear some straight talk!

⅓-⅓-⅓ DRAWING WINNERS: The winning tickets were drawn and the winners were Buzz Johnson and Dave Thompson. Congrats to both. Remember to mix those tickets well (put mine on top), and to buy your tickets early and often.

Late Breaking News:

Not only does Tim want to go on an Interclub, but now Frank has expressed a desire to go on one too. We have been remiss in doing the Interclub thingy, so we may as well get to it. I have picked Monday, 19 March, as the date. We can Interclub with the Downtown Club who has a luncheon meeting at 12:30. They meet at the Crown Plaza Hotel, the former Hilton. This will be a baseball fan Interclub, as they will be having as a speaker, Dusty Rhodes, the UNF baseball coach. Let me know if you wish to go, as I need to let their club know we are coming.

Along those lines, we can help that club with one of their projects, unless we want to take it on for ourselves. They collect General Mills and Kimberly Clark Box Tops for education. Look on the top of General Mills cereals, for example, and you will see the small coupon. Cut it off and save it. I have a small zip held to the refrigerator by a magnet and I drop them in that. We can either forward them to the Downtown Club, or we can find a local school and donate to them.

March Madness is coming right up; the best time of year to watch basketball, in my opinion. Florida is also hoping to have a Three-peat in the SEC championship. This should be a good year.

Lastly, Scooter Libby was found guilty… for what? This should be a lesson to us all. If you are ever under oath and asked a question you do not know the answer to, it is perfectly fine to say, “I don’t remember.” The Democrats and the news media have made this into something it is not. This was not an attempt to “smear” an anti-war critic. Most of what this guy said was a lie and has been shown as such. Surely any administration has a right to correct the facts as presented and to dispute lies. I do think the administration did a very poor job of this. Why didn’t they call a press conference and lay it on the line instead of attempting to influence reporters behind the scenes? One thing that has never been explained is why did the CIA send this guy on this mission without having him signing the normal confidentiality agreement? Could this be some kind of “Get Back” on the part of the CIA which has clearly been working against the administration on several things? As the Mad Hatter said, “Things just get curiouser and curiouser.”

Quote(s) of the Week:
“People unfit for freedom—who cannot do much with it—are hungry for power.” —Eric Hoffer

“The public welfare demands that constitutional cases must be decided according to the terms of the Constitution itself, and not according to judges’ views of fairness, reasonableness, or justice.” —Justice Hugo Black

“Washington is the only town in the world where sound travels faster than light.” —Wade Hampton McCree, Jr.

“The media can’t conceal their rooting interest in this campaign, which leads them to pursue any narrative that’s damaging to the GOP, even when it contradicts other narratives damaging to the GOP. When Republicans appeal to rural, white, socially conservative voters, they are Neanderthals. When Democrats do it, they are shrewd tacticians.” —Rich Lowry