Newsletter - Current  Dec 27, 2011

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Rotary Ringers for Salvation Army

A cadre of volunteers from the Jefferson City West Rotary Club helped ring the bells for Salvation Army on the closing day of its Red Kettle Christmas Campaign. Bernie Fechtel, pictured above with Alan Mudd, coordinated the club's annual involvement with Salvation Army, and what a day it was! Located at Hy-Vee Foods near Capital Mall, the Christmas Eve crowds were big and so were the smiles and the happy greetings of "Merry Christmas." After some five hours of bell-ringing, Bernie said the kettle pot got so full that "we could hardly squeeze another dime into the pot." Also working the kettle earlier that morning were Tom Stegeman, Corey Backues and Corey's son, Evan, pictured on the right. Others who helped ring the bells included George Welling and his daughter, Shelby, along with Ed Hughes and Ric Telhorst. Meanwhile, Mudd offered Rotarians a challenge that he would meet member's giving to the Salvation Army, up to $500. It brought a quick response at least $770 was submitted by club members. OUr thanks to all who volunteered and provided support for the Salvation Army during its Christmas fund-raising effort.

Big eyes for Santa at Southwest

Three and four-year olds at Southwest Early Childhood Center got to meet Santa one-on-one at a special Christmas Party held at the center, made possible by a donation from a local resident who had seen a news article about West Rotary's involvement with the Southwest Center. West Rotarians Winston Rutledge, pictured on the right, and Stacy Lynn Welling, pictured below, helped with the school staff with some 90 kids excited about Santa and getting gifts.

Meanwhile, Ed Hughes took a photo of each kid while they were with Santa or Mrs. Claus. Alan Mudd, who is also president of the Jefferson City Public Schools Board, said the event was "a wonderful way to get into the Christmas spirit." The Southwest Center is the West Rotary Club's on-going recipient of its literacy outreach, working with the Public Schools Foundation. The Center recently announced that a $30,000 gift from the Scholastic Publishing in Jefferson City will help fund a new classroom for the next two years, thus enabling Southwest to enroll another 15 needy children into its innovative pre-school program.

Gifts for Boys & Girls Club, RACS

Ann Maxwell, wife of Rotarian Bill Maxwell, places wrapped packages into boxes marked for the Boys & Girls Club of the Capital City Area and to RACS (Rape & Abuse Crisis Services), two Jefferson City agencies which are headed by West Rotary members. The Christmas gift program was coordinated by Rotarian Tim Haas. Thanks to all who responded to this unselfish act of Christmas cheer.

Songs of Christmas

District Gov. Rita Easterly, far right, joins in with her fellow members, Frank Newell and Jason Call of Jefferson City West Rotary, in singing "The 12 Days of Christmas" during the club's annual Christmas luncheon on December 16. The club was entertained with music performed by Rotarians Tim Haas and Warren Prost. Later, Warren led members and guests in singing "The 12 Days" with each table responsible for singing one of the 12 verses. Some 53 attended the luncheon, making it the biggest turn-out since July 2009 when the club was honored with the visit of then Rotary International President Ray Klinginsmith.

Two new members

West Rotary inducted our two newest members on December 9, Lonnie Schneider, left, and Dr. Michael A. Bess. Lonnie is associate executive director of the Missouri Council of School Administrators and was sponsored by Dr. Richard Graham. Michael - also known as "Mike" - is a general surgeon with Capital Region Medical Center, and a former member of the Fulton Rotary Club. He was sponsored by Club Secretary Ed Hughes.

Program Highlights for December

JCPS Mentoring Program: Gara Loskill, an administrator with the Jefferson City Public Schools, noted on December 2 that nearly 50 per cent of all students in JCPS qualify for the government-sponsored lunch program, making the district's mentoring program an extremely important adjunct of the total curriculum provided by district. "We are not in the business of raising children," she said. "We are raising adults, and our district has been recognized nationally for having made special efforts to meet our commitment in providing quality education." ... Kurt Hafley, in his 19^th year as a science and social studies teacher with JCPS, said there are 150 students in the district's mentoring program. His goal in overseeing the mentoring program is to have 20 to 25 mentors for each school in the district. "We only need 20 to 40 minutes of your time each week," he said.

Judicial Review in Iraq: State Supreme Court Judge William Ray Price was one of three jurists from Missouri invited to participate in a Judicial Review Seminar in Iraq to provide some insight on how the U.S. judicial prudence system works and how it could help the Iraqi judicial system do a better job when that government takes over in managing its own affairs. ... Judge Price told Rotarians on December 9 that Iraq has a long way to go before its judicial system will be able to operate without being "puppets" of the ruling government. "Today, if you are a judge in Iraq, you have to do what the government wants." He said 2 to 3 judges are killed each year ... He said there are some very fine women lawyers in Iraq, but because women are not allowed to talk directly to men, "it makes life hard for a woman lawyer in Iraq." ... "Everything in Iraq is run by oil money," said Judge Price. "It will be interesting to see how law and order will survive once we are gone," Price said "Those who are judges that seek to protect the rights of the people in Iraq understand the problem, but they don't really have a good idea how to deal with the problem they face."

Star Light, Star Bright: In the spirit of the season, Secretary Ed Hughes went from the star over Bethlehem to "the zillion" of stars and their galaxies out in space, even outside of our own solar system, that have been captured by the NASA Hubble Space Telescope to show the magnitude of God's work. He quoted an astrophysics friend of his, Dr. Robert Brownlee (shown on the right) of Los Alamos National Laboratories, that "you have to think big to understand our universe." ... Ed also showed a series of photos taken by the Hubble Telescope over the past 15 years, such as the Monocerotis Star, 20,000 light years away (shown on the left). "The enormity of the heavens seems to emphasize the infinitesimal existence of us who are human beings - no matter the size of our egos," Hughes said. "Even so, we have been given a special place in God's huge sovereignty to serve as God's caretakers and care-givers, although at times it seems we have handled our chores in a very irresponsible manner."  ... Ed playfully recalled he once told his mother he had counted all the stars in the sky as a young lad. "She didn't question my ability to "count that high," Hughes said. "Her only question was whether or not I might have counted one or two of those stars twice!"

Board Approves "Optional" $25 Foundation
Donation per quarter

The Jefferson City West Board of Directors have approved the inclusion of an "optional" or voluntary giving line in quarterly statements, beginning January 1, to the Rotary Foundation. Each member can choose whether to participate in the optional program. The request was made by Warren Prost, the club's Foundation Committee chair, as a way to help the club (and its members) achieve the goal of $100 per member giving to the Foundation each year.

Following are other highlights from the club's Board Meeting of November 18:

Fund-Raising: The Board approved continuing the club's fund-raising Trivia Night event, and tabled until further study the idea of returning to the old club fund-raiser of raffling a car in order to raise even more dollars for a local charity. Other smaller fund-raisers might be held during the year as well.

Endowment/Foundation Update: The Board discussed the concept of rolling over its Endowment Fund, which now stands at or near $10,000, into a Group Account with Rotary Foundation, thus making it a full 501[c][3] tax-deductible fund that would be administered and managed by experts at RI. With a Group Account, the club would have to provide the Foundation with a 1% grant on July 1 each year, plus a 1.3% administrative fee. The Board asked Treasurer Mark Naeger to learn more about RI Foundation Group Accounts, in particular what happens if the club account falls below the minimum $10,000.

New By-Laws: Secretary Hughes submitted a draft of new club by-laws to reflect Rotary-imposed changes and changes in the way the club elects officers and directors, in particular making directors serve 2-year terms on a staggered basis. The proposed revision is still under study, and will be presented to the membership in 2012.

Former Rotarian of the Year dies

John William "Bill" Carmichael, former member of the Jefferson City West Rotary Club, passed away on December 3. He was 82. He owned an auto dealer in Jefferson City, Carmichael Inc., and was a former president of the Jefferson City Area Chamber of Commerce and United Way, and served on the board of the Girl Scouts for many years. He was named Rotarian of the Year in 1992 by his West Rotary club. His survivors include his wife of 62 years, Betty Carmichael.