February 20, 2009

The following Rotary Newsletter is actually a guest column. It was written by Sara de Fasselle and it is a review of the marvelous lunch we had with our sweethearts as a Valentine Day special at Gavi's. I am sure all of you who were there will agree with Sara's assessment of the special treat. For those of those of you who were not there, this is what you missed. -- Jim Collins

September 16, 2008

Fellow Rotarians:

The Rotary Ball, the highlight of the social season in Lake County is drawing near.

For the men, is your tux pressed? For the ladies, have you chosen a dress to wear?

A lot of work is going into the Ball by the committee, but when the evening of Saturday, Oct. 4 arrives it is FUN, FUN, FUN.

A final effort is needed to sell car raffle tickets. I checked out five more myself on Monday and expect to sell them this week. Or if not, next week.

Since this is our only real fund-raiser of the year, and since the profits are distributed to worthy charities after a careful screening by our Foundation Board members, it should not take too much deep thinking to realize the importance of making the event a success. After all, we are not doing it for ourselves. Isn't it a good example of Service Above Self? Isn't that why we exist as a Rotary Club?

If you think it is just a place to go for lunch on Monday, you are entitled to that opinion. But most of us think beyond that rather narrow boundary.

About the wine raffle, it made us a good profit at the auction last year. I didn't count the number of bottles brought in on Monday, but there were quite a few. If you forgot it last Monday, please remember to bring in a bottle of wine and a bottle of beer this coming Monday.

If you are not interested in participating, that is your prerogative also. If we were all in a row boat together, some of us would be rowing and some of us would not. If you just want to go along for the ride, find and dandy. But if you want to grab an oar and start rowing, you will gain much more respect from your peers. I think all of us should be able to figure that out.

Best wishes for a great Ball and an accompanying fund-raiser that will accomplish but one thing -- help those who need help. Is that not a reasonable motivation?

Your scribe,
Jim Collins

July 29, 2008

Fellow Rotarians:

The theme of the Rotary Ball this year is "Life Is a Highway."
But like the Autobahn in Germany, there is no speed limit.

Keep several things in mind as the Ball approaches:

• We will again auction a Mountain of Wine and a Mountain of Beer.
• The day to bring in a bottle of wine and a bottle of beer is Monday, September 15.
• In case you are unable to be at that meeting, the fall-back day to bring in wine and beer is Monday, September 22. This feature worked very well last year because of the fine participation by our members. Let us make it even more successful this year.

Also, start thinking raffle items. We make significant money from our silent auction. The greater participation by members, the more we make and the greater the extent we are able to support our various charities.

Raffle tickets on the Corvette/$40,000 are lagging somewhat behind last year's sales at this point. You should carry some of them with you at all times. Believe me, they are not difficult to sell. All you have to do is flash one of the tickets and say, "I'm sure you will want one of these." The answer is either a simple yes or no.

The Captains' game is coming up soon -- Thursday, August 7. There will be only one more opportunity to sign up -- this coming Monday. It is an entertainment bargain. You get a ticket to the game and all you can eat for $19.95. The Captains are fine entertainment. Win or lose, they put on a good show. Some of the players you will see in future years wearing the uniforms of the Cleveland Indians. Michelle has made a special arrangement for a loge this year. But the money has to be paid in advance.

Speaking of the Rotary Ball -- attendance last year was 178. The committee is hoping for about 200 this year. Since this is an election year, and candidates love the exposure, that is an attainable goal.

The word for today is "grufeling." It means "closely wrapped up and comfortable in a lying position; used in ridicule."

Have a nice day!

Cordially submitted,
Your slave to the keyboard,
Jim Collins

July 9, 2008

It is time for another Rotary newsletter!

These seem to be becoming semi-annual productions, but Michelle insists she will not fire me -- so, how do you write a newsletter?

Oh, now I remember. It goes like this:

NEW MEMBERS --

Your board of directors had a very productive meeting Wednesday morning. The status of three new members was discussed and they all will be excellent members. Kathy Dugan, the new Willoughby-Eastlake librarian, was proposed by Dale Fellows. Bob Weger, the mayor of Willoughby Hills, was proposed by Dave Reichelt. And Chuck Roman, the new head of school at Andrews-Osborne Academy, was proposed by Bob Ranallo and myself. These are the caliber of people we should strive to propose as new members. They will not only increase our ranks, but will do so in a manner of which we will be proud.

CHARITY BALL --

Plans are progressing smoothly. Committee meeting times have been changed from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., with Dave Schell continuing to host them at Breckenridge. This will make attendance easier for people such as me, as I am usually booked at 8 a.m. with other concerns/matters, none of which have to do with the Rotary Club. The date of the Ball is Saturday, October 4, at Kirtland Country Club, or, as some of our members call it, "the club." As you know, it is the hottest social event of the year in Lake County. You should plan to attend. Unless, of course, you have some objection to having a good time.

TOWER OF WINE AND BEER --

This auction is part of the Charity Ball, and worked out very well last year when it was inaugurated. Meaning, we made some money on it. The format may be altered slightly this year, but any changes are guaranteed to be improvements. The date that every member is asked to bring a bottle wine and bottle of (exotic) beer is September 15. For any member who forgets, the fallback date is September 22. We had excellent participation last year. If we can have 50 or 60 bottles of wine and beer this year, it will be well worth doing. Al Zwegat has guaranteed storage space for the spirits at the fire station. He promised there would be no unruly parties during the brief period of time in which he is reigning as guardian of the cache.

YOUTH EXCHANGE --

 George Brown has done a marvelous job of coordinating this program. I am sure he will have a complete update at a meeting in the near future. As usual, he has left nothing to chance.

CAPTAINS' GAME -

If you haven't signed up yet for this game, there is still time to do so. It is on Thursday, August 7, the price is $19.95 per person, which includes a ticket to the game and all you can eat, gates open at 6 p.m. and the ball game starts at 7 p.m. You can stuff yourself on burgers, hot dogs, cookies, and watch future stars of the Cleveland Indians in action. Lord knows, they could use a few. Last year, Rotarians from Mentor and Painesville joined us and we had an attendance of 65. Let's try to surpass that number this year!

CHRISTMAS PARTY --

Debbie is thinking of booking either Thursday, December 4 or Friday, December 5. I pointed out that we have not traditionally booked events on Fridays, and we start doing that we are going to lose some people -- Bob Riggin and me, for two. We have obligations every other Friday night, all year long, 26 Fridays a year, and we would hate to start missing Rotary events because of double-booking. But that choice is not up to us. I am merely voicing a personal opinion. The majority, as they say, rules.

CODA--

That takes care of most of the important stuff. We have an Ad Hoc committee consisting of John Barbato, Craig de Fasselle, Tim Wright, Tim O'Keeffe and Michelle Hauser, but I don't know what it is that they are working on.

That is all for now. I have had my say. Oh, and one more thing. I was informed that we are going to have a huge celebration in 2011 for the 50th Anniversary of the club and that I have been appointed chairman of it. This appointment apparently was made at a meeting which I missed. See what can happen when you miss a meeting. The good news is that 2011 is a long ways off, so we won't be forming any committees or holding any meeting just yet.

And now, as they say at the end of the prayer, Amen.

See you all on Monday.

Your faithful and hard-working scribe:

Jim Collins C-4144
(That is not my Social Security number, it is my Army laundry mark).

May 1, 2008

My Fellow Rotarians:

 I have booked Thursday, August 7 for our annual Captains game at Classic Park. It is a 7 p.m. game. I will begin circulating a signup sheet very soon. Last year we invited Rotarians from Mentor and Painesville and we had a total attendance of 65. The price of $19.95 includes a picnic dinner in the left field pavilion and a ticket for the ball game. Hope to see all of you there.

Jim Collins

January 16, 2008

The day is rapidly approaching when the Willoughby Rotary Club will honor:

Bob Meil as the 2008 Distinguished Citizen

AND

The Willoughby Evening Lions Club as the Distinguished Civic Organization

The event will be Monday, February 4 at Pine Ridge Country Club.

This is a REGULAR LUNCHEON MEETING of the Rotary Club, and every Rotarian should make an effort to attend, as most of usually do on Mondays at Gavi's.

On this special occasion we will be joined by many citizens from the community who want to join us in paying tribute to these two "Distinguished" winners.

Here are the particulars:

Lunch will be served beginning at 11:30 a.m. This will allow us to begin the program at noon and complete it by 1 p.m.

For all non-Rotarians, the price is $15 per luncheon. Those who wish to attend should call Andrea at the Merhar Nationwide Insurance Agency. There will be no tickets issued, but names will be placed on a list -- those who have pre-paid and those who will pay at the door. It is preferable for non-Rotarians to pay in advance. This will make life a lot hectic for Judy Bash, who will be collecting from those who pay at the door.

Checks for $15 should be send to Andrea at Merhar's Nationwide Insurance Agency, 4077 Clark Avenue, Willoughby OH  44094.

But whether paying in advance or at the door, anyone outside the Rotary Club must call Andrea, because we must have an accurate count of how many will be served lunch.

Deadline for reservations is Monday, January 28.

Please encourage your friends to attend.  This is a SPECIAL occasion, and one of the many positive things that Rotary does for the community.

SPREAD THE WORD!

Thanks so much,
Jim Collins

November 16, 2007

I told the Rotary Board Wednesday morning if I were them I would fire the entire Newsletter staff because of inactivity. The board members refused the offer. Truth of the matter is that I have difficulty finding time to compose a newsletter. Every time I start I am interrupted. The false starts are not worth keeping. So here is another attempt. I hope this one works.

The Rotary Ball was a resounding success. As was the car raffle. Thanks to a lot of hard work by Michelle Hauser and her committee members, the event was probably the finest ever. So congratulations to everyone who helped and who attended.

I noted that the District Governor and a few others have started calling the event the Charity Ball. I do not believe that is correct. It is, insofar as I know, the Rotary Ball, which began many years ago as a social event. The charity aspect was added later. The Ball, whatever you want to call it, is one of the finest social events in Lake County every year. We should be proud of it. And this year a lot of people kept on dancing until the music stopped.

The annual Christmas Party is coming up soon. The date is Monday, December 10 beginning at 6 p.m. at the beautiful Mooreland Mansion on the Lakeland Community College campus. Don't go to Gavi's for lunch that day. You will be the only one there. If you are a newer member and have not been exposed to the gift exchange, here is how it works: Each person who attends is expected to bring a wrapped gift. It is a good idea to make it impossible to figure out what is inside. The price was once set at $10 or $15 per gift, but some people really go overboard spend what I would calculate to be $75 on stuffed dolls. When you select your gift from the table, you may keep it or take a gift that someone else has chosen and give that person your gift. If you get something really bad and use it to select something you like better, the person you stick your gift with will end up with it at the end of the evening. On the other hand, if you take something away from a Rotarian or spouse that is really neat, you will probably not keep it for long. The next person will probably take it from you. Remember, if something looks like a framed portrait, judiciously wrapped, beware! It could be a framed picture of Carmen Sesa. And remember the Steve Byron rule (it was he caused the rule to be instituted). If you get a jar of cashews or other delicacies, you cannot open it and begin eating it until the party is over. Nobody wants to swap for a half-consumed jar of nuts.

The directors spend a great deal of time Wednesday discussing a real dilemma: succession of officers for next year. Michelle will be the next president. But after that there is no president-elect. It is not a job for a board member with limited experience. But as with all matters in our club, I expect this will be resolved in good fashion.

Judy Bash would be a fine president someday, but we need to keep her as treasurer for as long as possible (20 or 30 years?). This may be unfair, but she does a job that not many people could step into.

And let's keep our eye on John Barbato for leadership potential. He has some great ideas as Membership Chairman and they will soon pay off.

I do not mean to offend anyone by overlooking them, because we have a great talent pool with great possibilities for leadership roles. But I don't have the space to list all of them.

That is sufficient for now.

Your faithful scribe,

JKC

The word for today is "fangast." It means a marriageable maid.

August 16, 2007

My Dear Fellow Willoughby Rotarians:

The Rotary Ball, the finest social gathering each year in Lake County, is two months away, but crunch time is upon us for selling tickets for the Corvette raffle. It is imperative that we adopt a sense of urgency to get all 800 tickets sold!

Michelle has put her heart and soul into what, in all likelihood, will be a one-time project. It is not likely that we will have another endeavor such as this. It behooves us to make the raffle a success.

The tickets are not difficult to sell. I have sold 27 and I am now taking five at a time from Michelle to sell. My pledge is that if I have any unsold tickets I will go to friends and sell them on a 50-50 basis. (I have already had some offers). If I have, say, three left over, I will put up $150 to buy halves of them and others will put up $50 per ticket. That creates that many more chances to win.

Nothing would please me more than to sell the winning ticket. That would certainly make someone that I know feel good. The more I sell, the better the chance of selling the ultimate winner.

I would hope that every member of the club will join in this effort. If you haven't sold any tickets yet, you will discover that selling them is not difficult.

Having said that, I understand that some members have indicated that they are not willing to sell tickets, as a matter of principle -- that the club was not founded to be a "tin cup" organization.

I fully understand that attitude and I can easily be sympathetic with it. We said when the club was founded in 1961 that we were not going to emulate other clubs in the area and were not going to sell pancakes, peanuts, roses, white canes or whatever.

I subscribe to that theory. I -- and a handful of members -- have never bought a weekly Rotabuck 50-50 raffle ticket because I don't believe in it. But that's just me -- and a few others.

I think the car raffle is different -- a one-time opportunity to undertake a project that will, if successful, be one of the best that we have ever done. Remember, the board and the membership at-large endorsed the project when Michelle proposed it. We owe it to her not to go back on our word and to make it a success. At the same time, we should not be critical of any members who choose not to participate. That is their right. Anyone who has decided NOT to sell car raffle tickets is every bit as good a Rotarian as anyone who DOES participate.

But I re-iterate -- for those who have chosen to take part in the project, time is of the essence. I plan to sell a lot more tickets, and I hope you do also. It is a fine way to support the charities that we help underwrite.

ON ANOTHER TOPIC -- Monday, September 10 is the date when we are all being asked to bring ONE BOTTLE OF WINE and ONE BOTTLE OF BEER, imported if possible, create a huge Mountain of Wine as a silent auction item at the Rotary Ball. I attend a lot of benefits at which silent auctions are held, and it is my observation that wine collections generate more interest than almost all other items. Imagine if we can offer 90+ bottles of wine and beer to a bidder!

We have a great club. We can keep it great if everyone dedicates himself/herself to these projects. As noted previously, if it is your choice not to participate, I respect that decision. No member should be criticized for making this choice.

As always,
Your faithful scribe,
JKC

The word for today is "grammar-folk." It means educated people. I hope all of you are grammar-folk.

June 27, 2007

The installation dinner at the Bed and Breakfast was a very nice affair. Those who did not attend don't know what they missed. We now have a new regime and it is time to move forward. Debbie had a great year and I am sure Dale will do the same.

There are several things for Willoughby Rotarians to be thinking about.

1. Selling tickets for the Corvette raffle. Michelle is working exceptionally hard on this project, and we owe it to her to expend every effort to be helpful. I have sold all 15 tickets that I had her allot to me, and selling them is not at all difficult. It does not take high pressure salesmanship. Usually, all you have to do is mention the project or show someone a ticket and that person will respond positively.

2. I must have all checks for the Captains game by Monday's meeting. I will give them to Judy and she will write a single check to the Lake County Captains. I will send a list of the names of all of those who are attending to the Captains, and the list will be at the Will-Call gate the night of the game. When you tell the person at the counter your name, you will be given your ticket(s) and ID for the food. The gate opens at 6 p.m. ANYONE WHO HAS NOT YET SIGNED UP CAN DO SO MONDAY.

3. Don't forget to get your brick for the Rotary memorial at the new Willoughby Municipal Court. Mike Wildermuth has all the details.

4. Don't forget to bring a bottle wine to the Sept. 10 meeting. That will be designed as WINE MONDAY. Also, we would like each member to bring a bottle of imported beer. The MOUNTAIN OF WINE and the MOUNTAIN OF BEER will be auction items at the Rotary Ball Oct. 13. If all of us participate, this can be a huge auction item at the dance.

5. Dale would like us to have a new design for the Willoughby Rotary flag that we exchange with visitors from out of the area (or out of the country).  I am sure he will have more to say about this very soon.

6. The firefighters did a great job of cooking for the annual picnic at the Wick Pavilion, and all of the food was exceptional. Congratulations to our enlightened leadership for another outstanding picnic. And thanks to Fire Chief Al for demonstrating that fire does, indeed, have useful purposes.

The word for today is "peascod wooing." If a young woman, while she is shelling peas, meets with a pod of nine peas, the first young man who crosses the threshold afterwards is to be her husband.

As always,

Submitted in good faith and with the best of intentions,

Your faithful scribe,

JKC

May 9, 2007

The Rotary Ball, as we all know, is one of the social highlights of the season -- an opportunity for our club members and their guests to gather for an evening of fun and frolic. Food, dancing, fellowship and a chance to become better acquainted with our members are highlights of the evening.

Let us not forget, however, that the fund-raising side of the evening is important, for it is that aspect of the Ball that gives our Foundation the ability to support the many charities that we endorse.

The ball, this year scheduled for Saturday, October 13, will be a bit different, thanks to the innovative thinking of Chairman Michelle Hauser. As you are aware, the big item on the agenda this year will be the drawing for a shiny new Corvette. The winner has the option of taking a $40,000 payoff. There will be other prizes as well. Only 800 tickets are being sold, at $100 each, and so far the sales are going well.

Here is another big departure from the past. There will be no Silent Auction of items this year. There will, however, be a Chinese Auction of several items. This is the format in which party-goers purchase tickets and deposit them in bags next to the items they wish to win. Winning tickets are selected from the bags as a highlight of the evening. You can put tickets in every bag, if you wish, or you can concentrate your tickets in one or two bags to increase your odds of winning. It is a lot of fun -- and there are a lot of winners!

There will be two divisions -- inexpensive tickets and higher-priced tickets, depending on the auction items. Everyone can play and everyone can win.

Now, here is an idea I came up with for one of the Chinese Auction items. It has been endorsed by the board, and you will be hearing more about it at future Monday meetings.

I attend a lot of fund-raisers. And I have noticed that the auction items that attract the greatest interest are baskets of wine. At the recent Andrews School dance, I saw more vigorous bidding on the wine -- 12 or 18 bottles in a collection -- that I did on any other item being offered.

So here is my plan. It is to offer at the Chinese auction a "Mountain of Wine," to be won by the winning ticket holder who puts his ticket or tickets in the "Wine Bag." I think 99 bottles of wine would be a great prize for anyone to win, and I know it would draw a lot of interest at the Ball.

So we are asking every member of the Rotary Club to bring ONE BOTTLE OF WINE to be included in the auction item -- the "Mountain of Wine." This is not very demanding upon any member. You can buy a decent bottle of wine for $10 or $12. You don't have to break the bank to participate in this auction item. You might even have a bottle of wine in your wine cellar that you can contribute.

So that the wine bottles will not be dribbling in all summer, we propose that our meeting on Monday, September 10, be designated as "Wine Monday." On that day, every Willoughby Rotarian is being asked to bring a bottle of wine to the meeting for the auction. You will notice there is a little cushion between Sept. 10 and the Ball so that those who forget to bring in their wine on Sept. 10, or those who miss the meeting that day, will have a couple of other opportunities to participate.

You will be reminded of this on several occasions, I am sure.

Now, here is another twist on the auction -- a similar auction item. You have all heard the college song "99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall." Well, we also want to auction off, as a single package, 99 bottles of beer from all over the world. So all of our members are also being asked to bring in one bottle of beer on September 10. "International Beer for Rotary International!" A couple of great auction items! Everyone in the club can participate, and the cost to each of us is minimal. The power of the "Tower of Wine" (and Beer) lies in the cumulative effort of all of the Rotarians to take part.

I hope you like the idea. I think it will make us some money.

As always, thanks for your help, your interest and your participation.

The word for today is "puzzomous." It means disgustingly obsequious.

Your faithful scribe,

JKC

April 18, 2007

What's your favorite number?

If you don't have one, make one up -- but keep it under 800.

Then tell it to Michelle Hauser, give her $100, and she will give you a raffle ticket with your favorite number on it -- that's if it isn't sold yet.

You know, of course, what the grand prize in the raffle will be, don't you. It's a brand-new Corvette convertible.

It will be awarded at the Charity Ball, Saturday, October 13 at Kirtland Country Club.

If you don't have a ticket, you obviously cannot win the car. If you have two tickets, your chances of winning are twice as good.

If you have no use for a new Corvette convertible, and there are people who are in that state of mind, you can take a cash payoff of $40,000 -- not bad for a $100 investment.

It would be great if every member of the Rotary Club would buy a ticket. I am certain that you have friends who would be interested in taking a chance on winning such a gorgeous prize.

So don't put off making the decision to buy a chance on the car. If too many people wait until the last minute, planning becomes difficult.

Monday would be a good day to tell Michelle your favorite number, hand her the $100 necessary to seal the deal and spend the rest of the summer dreaming about that new car.

As every, your faithful scribe,
JKC

And the word for today is "runcy." It means a woman of coarse manners and doubtful character.

March 1, 2007

It is almost baseball time again, and thank goodness we are finished with February. Many of our Willoughby Rotarians have enjoyed an evening at a Captains game in Eastlake, and I am once again setting up an outing for our club. The only drawback in previous years was scheduling the game too early in the season (April or May) when it is too cold. This year it will be in July. How great is that!

I am going to do a survey Monday to determine whether the majority wants a Wednesday, Thursday or Friday game. If it is Wednesday, it will be July 11. If it is Thursday it will be July 19. If it is Friday it will be July 13.

We will have our designated picnic area in the left field pavilion. After dinner, we will have box seats in a bloc. The per-person price will be $19.95 and includes your game ticket and your meal, which consists of freshly grilled hamburgers and hot dogs, potato salad, cookies, chips, soft drinks and water.

We can go up to the $24.95 level, but the only additional food is grilled chicken and fruit salad, so I thought it would be best to contain the price at the $19.95 level, because many of our people will be coming in couples.

So be prepared to vote on a Wednesday, Thursday or Friday game and I will -- before long -- pass around a signup sheet. I must have an exact count two weeks prior to the game.

I hope we have a good turnout for the game. We have a lot of new members who will enjoy the food, the game and the fellowship, and a lot of members of longer standing (I didn't not say older) who have enjoyed the games in the past.

That's all for now.

The word for today is "fubbery," meaning deceit, deception or cheating.

Your faithful scribe,
JKC

February 13, 2007

You are probably wondering how Mary and I were able to win the Sweethearts Competition at the Valentine's luncheon held at Mario Fazio's. The competition was tough, because the competition was such a high level. Larry-Lorraine and Charlie-Roxy are extremely nice people and well-adjusted to each other, but Mary and I have a mental telepathy that worked to our advantage.

I don't recall all of the questions, but here are a couple of answers I chose because I knew they would resonate with Mary when she read the four choices. As to which Island we would choose, I said "Treasure" because Mary once lived on Treasure Island near Sarasota, Fla., and I was hoping that would occur to her when she answered. And it did. Another was to describe our relationship. The answer I chose was "Puuuurfect" because we have two adorable kittens, and I was quite certain she would think of that. And she did.

The thing is, you can't study for a test like this. You just have to tell your lovemate, "Look, darling, think along with me," or something like that.

A word or two about a recent program- the one Ray Somich did on the human brain. It was fascinating. I will ask my good friend, Dr. Bob White, the world's leading expert on the brain, if Ray is now ready to perform brain surgery.

What I noticed is that the planning/emotion/judgment area is in the very front of the brain, while the coordination of physical action area is slightly removed from it. What this means is that you could have a prefrontal lobotomy and not lose your golf swing.

But on a serious note, the Sweetheart meeting was a success and a credit to the people who arrange these things. Was it Debby? If so, kudos to her. We will now return to the House of Gavi provided there is not four feet of snow, resulting in a parking lot that will not accommodate cars. If that is the case, and there is room to park at Daniels Park, perhaps we can have our cookout on that date.

On another note, I was with another group the other day and the conversation got around to service clubs and why the Willoughby Rotary Club is the most highly respected service club in Lake County. I said it is because we don't do all of the silly and foolish things that a lot of other clubs do to make a buck. We just have one big fund-raiser year and don't spend the entire year trying to nickel and dime the membership. As a matter of fact, when our club started in 1961, we had members who transferred from other clubs that did silly things.

I am of the opinion that attendance at meetings could be better. I think -- correct me if I am wrong -- it averages under 60 percent of the members. Why anyone would not attend a meeting, unless a business obligation got in the way of it, is unfathomable to me, especially since the meal must be paid for anyway.

As, always, we accept letters to the editor from those who have divergent feelings.

The word for today is "snattock." It means a scrap, or fragment.

Peace, with honor, all of you tigers out there.

Lovingly,
Your faithful scribe,

JKC

January 31, 2007

Post Holiday greetings to all of my fellow Rotarians:

You have probably been wondering why you haven't received a newsletter since Dec. 21. The reason is that I haven't written one since then, and nobody else has bothered to write one. There are several club members who could write excellent newsletters if they wanted to, but no. They never step up to the plate to do that. I would nominate Morris Beverage, except that he already has plenty to do at Lakeland Community College. He does, however, write a masterful column every Monday called "Morris' Musing" and it goes out to everyone at the college who has a computer -- faculty, staff, etc. It is really a high quality piece of writing. One which he wrote a year or so ago following a West Virginia coal mine disaster was so good I took over to The News-Herald and told Glenn Gilbert (a former Rotarian, no longer with the paper) if he was smart he would put it in the paper. He turned out to be smart. He printed it. But Morris, like all people who are qualified to write a newsletter, does not have the time. So that leaves it to the likes of me. Be patient. Whenever I think of something to write, I will do it. I thought of something the other day, but it turned out to be a Sunday column I could use in the paper. So I put it there instead. Actually, there were two columns relating to Rotary -- one about Barry Byron and one about the "Distinguished" awards we handed out and featuring Dave and Tom Anderson. So you didn't get to read those in a Rotary newsletter, you had to read them in The News-Herald. And since the paper pays me to write a column and Rotary does not pay me to write a newsletter, guess what? I may save my best stuff for the paper.

Now, about some real newsletter stuff.

Our program at Pine Ridge to honor the Distinguished members of our community was outstanding. The turnout was gratifying. This is a tradition that must be continued. Fortunately, the Rotary Club stepped in at the time the program was being discontinued and offered to continue it on a regular basis. If you look over the list of citizens and civic organizations that have been honored since 1956, you get the distinct impression that these awards programs are an essential part of the fabric of our community and signify what it means to be a part of it, and to deny any of the recipients this honor would be unconscionable.

The list of citizens includes at least a dozen members of the Rotary Club, which gives a clear indication of the caliber of people we have in our club. Next year Rick Stenger will be added to the selection committee, along with myself, Bob Riggin, Jerry Merhar and Dale Fellows. Dale will be the next club president. After that, Dale will remain on the committee and each current president will also serve on it, along with the liaison person with Pine Ridge. This year that liaison was Jennifer Allen. I hope she is willing to continue in that position.

The past presidents dinner was a great success. Connie Mac did a fine job of hosting it at Corks Wine Bar, catered by Gavi's. We paid tribute to the outstanding job Debbie has done as president in the current year and we taught Dale the secret handshake and grip to help launch his year as president. The installation dinner is Friday, June 22, at the Bed and Breakfast on West Spaulding Street -- behind the Arabica Coffee House. Don't miss it!

Also, remember to bring your sweetie to the Valentine's Day luncheon on our regular meeting date, Feb. 12, except that it will be a Mario Fazio's Restaurant in Willoughby Hills. It's on the South side of Route 6 (Chardon Road) just west of Route 91.

Footnote: I just counted the Rotarians who have been honored as "distinguished." I came up with 14. And to think that this program almost got scrapped!

Ta ta for now.

Peace, with honor. And much love.

Your faithful scribe,
JKC