Kiwanis Club of Historic St. Augustine

Newsletter – 6 September 2007

President’s Message:

The Hillsboro Inlet Light is the new Christmas ornament/fundraiser for Kiwanis this year. Order them while supplies last. This light was first built in Chicago and was on exhibit at the Chicago Exhibition. Later, is was dismantled and moved to its present location. (This is similar to the Eiffel Tower in Paris. It was to be dismantled after an exhibition, and it was not. The rest, as they say, is history.)

We had a very productive meeting for the final Division Council meeting last Thursday night. Bob Braden, Cheryle Newman, Doug Hernandez, Tim Chiu, Richard Welty, and your intrepid Prez (me), attended. We were in uniform and stood out with our Kiwanis shirts. Our Division had a spectacular year under the leadership of Rande LeFevre. Everyone worked for the common good, and let’s hope we can keep up the good work next year. The only negative note, and this is nothing new, is that Kiwanis is losing members. We did a good job of holding our own this administrative year, but we need to do our part in getting the membership up. To think that just a few years ago there was a club in Keystone Heights and also in Orange Park, and that now there are no clubs in Clay County at all is not good.

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

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

22 September 2007: Our second annual Pancake Breakfast is scheduled. More details as they become available.

27 September 2007: Annual installation of officers for the club. No meeting in the morning. It will be held at The Allegro again this year. See menu attached to this newsletter at Doug’s request.

29 September 2007: Uptown Saturday Night, check out the local galleries uptown on the last Saturday of each month, and taste their food and wine.

Guests: Skeeter had a guest, David Upchurch. He is with The Bailey Group, and I trust that more than person asked him to join the club. That is the age group we need to be recruiting, i.e., younger than me. (Hell, young enough to be my kid!)

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

LAST WEEK: Sarah Miller was introduced by Nick. She is the director the Florida Public Archeology Network’s N.E. region. This is a new organization and Sarah is very excited about being here. Flagler College has given the group space in one of their buildings. They plan to have an open-house in conjunction with the First Friday Art Walk. Drop by and check out the digs.

THIS WEEK: Committee and Board meetings. Come give your input.

NEXT WEEK: Human and Spiritual Aims meeting. Student of the Month will begin in October.

⅓-⅓-⅓ DRAWING WINNERS: The winning tickets were drawn and the winners were Frank Nemec & Jim Dale. Congrats to both. Remember to mix those tickets well (put mine on top), and to buy your tickets early and often.

Late Breaking News:

Let us not forget that the Pancake Breakfast is coming up, and will be here before you know it. This is a powerful money maker for up, and a lot of fun. It will take some work, as nasty as that word is. If the committee asks for your help, please say, “Yes,” to there request. Let’s have this be everyone doing a little bit, not a few people doing it all. In other words, not like other clubs. Time is drawing nigh, and we all need to step up and do our part.

Some big news for our club is that Dave Thompson’s bright idea has paid off. He applied for a grant to the Florida Foundation to get $5K for the new Boys and Girls Club building which will be on King Street. We do not have the check in hand, but we have been told, and it was announced at the DCM, that we have been awarded that grant. Great work Dave!! (How about getting a grant for me? I could use 10 or 15K for some equipment that would permit me to put out a top-notch newsletter; color photos and the whole nine yards. Of course the file might wind up too large to e-mail and very difficult for the average member to open, but that’s progress. Isn’t this where someone says, “It’s our most important product?”)

Football has started up, and Florida steamrolled over Lexington, KY H.S. in fine form. FSU, on the other hand, did not look good in the opening game with Clemson, a real college. I was really hoping that the infusion of new blood in the coaching staff would show a strong difference. (Personally, I’ve never been a big Wetherford fan.) And how about them Jags? Wow, they change horses in mid-stream, or at least just before the shooting starts. I hope it works out. (Personally, I was never a Leftwich fan.)

Quote(s) of the Week:
“Man, once surrendering his reason, has no remaining guard against absurdities the most monstrous, and like a ship without rudder, is the sport of every wind. With such persons, gullibility, which they call faith, takes the helm from the hand of reason and the mind becomes a wreck.” —Thomas Jefferson

“It has been said that a child who is made to earn a toy most often takes better care of it than a child who was simply given the toy. Well, our nation has become a nation of children who have been given, not a toy, but the gifts of freedom and a Constitutional Republic with which to safeguard that freedom and we are abusing these gifts with our relentless apathy and ignorance. Because it is impossible to understand the value of something without knowing its worth, our society has become estranged from the value of freedom. We toss around the saying ‘freedom isn’t free’ but we hardly understand the price of attaining and maintaining that freedom. The majority of us have never actually fought for our liberties and we most assuredly have never lived under the tyranny of oppression, although the delusional Progressive-Left would argue otherwise. We have become soft, self-centered and egotistical and our country is a worse place for it.” —Frank Salvato

“A number of years ago a President of this country declared that we have a rendezvous with destiny. In a world where terrorism spreads and the innocent die we must fulfill our destiny. If not us, who? If not now, when?” —Ronald Reagan

Patriotism is as much a virtue as justice, and is as necessary for the support of societies as natural affection is for the support of families.” —Benjamin Rush