Kiwanis Club of Historic St. Augustine

Newsletter – 20 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.)

First, the time for getting ads for the Pancake Breakfast is over, as they have gone to press with the placemats. Therefore, get your money into Frank Nemec so that we will know how much we made on the ads. Of course, if you haven’t paid for your tickets, do that NOW!! Those checks go to Cheryle Newman. Lastly, be there Saturday morning to work the floor. Big smiles and a friendly “Hello” go a long way to get people to come back to our next event, and possibly to donate even more money to the cause.

Also, don’t forget that there will be no meeting next week in the morning. We will have our annual installation banquet that evening, so make sure that you attend. I’d love to see 100% attendance and all with a spouse or significant other.

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

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.

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

Guests: Ellen Corrigan ^(Sp) was here. She is the school sponsor for the new Pedro Menendez HS Key Club which we are sponsoring.

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

LAST WEEK: That dumb scheduler had assigned Frank Nemec to have the speaker, and, of course, the second Thursday is always our Spiritual Aims meeting. Well, we were fortunate to have two speakers last week. (This makes up for one those occasions when we didn’t have any.) Skeeter introduced Dr. Hugo Morales, a cardiologist from Argentina, who is associated with Marketplace Ministry. He discussed a Prayer Walk that will occur in October. He explained how the process had worked so well in his community in Argentina. Then Frank introduced Fred Hoben, who is a forensic scientist, which is essentially medical work in conjunction with the law. The autopsy is the main tool. He was especially concerned with automobile safety. He explained that the CSI programs we watch on TV are very true to life. He enjoys driving a Hummer when someone else pays the gas bill. He also enjoys being the first guy through the door when the arrest is made.

THIS WEEK: Charlie Stevens will bring someone neat to talk to us.

NEXT WEEK: The annual installation banquet, we will hear several speeches there.

⅓-⅓-⅓ DRAWING WINNERS: The winning tickets were drawn and the winners were Bob Corson & Dr. Frank. 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 (like Saturday). 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 their 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. (Last week for this paragraph.)

In sports, the Gators appear to have the real deal with Tebow. He looked good against the Vols (sorry Jerry). Of course, he does not do it all alone; he has a good line and a good coach. Their defense doesn’t look too shabby either. FSU won another out in Denver, but the team just hasn’t got all the parts singing from the same song sheet. (As we Seminoles always say, if we lose all of our games and win the last one, it will be a winning season.) The Jags did better this week too. And speaking of Jags, the ex-Jag, Leftwich, was signed by the Falcons. (Does this get the Jags out of the money they still owed him on the contract?) Their old QB went to the dogs. Leftwich has got to be better than the one that played last week.

This just in from our own Ray Quinn: Friday, 21 September, is National POW-MIA Day. If you have a POW-MIA flag now is the time to fly it. It is our responsibility to remember our incarcerated or missing military personnel. By displaying the POW-MIA flag we show the nation that we have not forgotten, now will we ever forget.

Quote(s) of the Week:
“The jump in ethanol use certainly didn’t come about because of a groundswell of popular demand; it came about, like so many bad ideas, because of a government mandate. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 required that 4 billion gallons of renewable fuel (mostly ethanol) be added to the gasoline supply last year. It goes up to 4.7 billion this year and to 7.5 billion in 2012. But ethanol lowers fuel economy—according to the Department of Energy, a gallon of ethanol contains only two-thirds the energy content of a gallon of gasoline. And you’re actually paying more for less performance. It’s difficult... to transport ethanol from its Midwestern home base to far-off markets, and that adds to the price you pay at the pump. Ethanol can’t be sent in an energy-efficient way through pipelines like gasoline can, because it would be contaminated by moisture along the way. Ethanol must be shipped instead by trucks, barges and railroads. And that brings us to ethanol’s environmental impact. After all, shipping by truck, barge or rail uses... well, fossil fuels. So the more ethanol we move, the more fossil fuel we use—which, Al Gore and Company tell us repeatedly, spews the greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming. In addition, all that extra corn farming means more fertilizer and pesticide use, along with increased irrigation. More diesel fuel will be needed to run the tractors and the harvesters. In the end... ethanol may wind up putting about as much carbon dioxide into the air as it takes out. So, from an environmental perspective, we’ll be paying more to more or less maintain the status quo.” —Rebecca Hagelin

“The courage we desire and prize is not the courage to die decently but to live manfully.” —Thomas Carlyle