WHERE'S THE JOKER?

• This week's program was presented by magician Chris Carpunky. He presents over 100 local family friendly shows a year in the Riverbend area. Check out his presentation at our web site. His web site is www.sillychris.com  he can be reached at 618.614.3250. Poof!!
• 19 members were in the house. Mark 1 and Wendell were the first to arrive in Julia's "front room".  Among the last to arrive were Paul and Rhonda. "Jailbreak" Joe made it before we adjourned.
• Brad L was drafted to serve as the chief bell ringer and cat wrangler.
• Lunch included chicken 'n rice, teriyaki chicken, Bourbon Street chicken (call it what you will) noodly lasagna, g-beans, Caesar salad, cake and pie.
• Was it cold in here?
• opening duties were handled by Fred, Mark 2 and Bill.
• Mark 3 was escorted by DC based daughter Jessica, who, by the way, just had her PhD dissertation topic approved. 
• Dave had a make-up from the A-G club. 
• Did you know that the military are not allowed to use GPS to land an aircraft? 
• Among the table topics were transportation, logistics, Amazon and Ross Dress for Less.
• If you need any information about 335 Church Street, Wendell is your guy.
• Our guest speaker observed that our 50-50 jackpot just about covered a trip to Pontoon Beach and lunch at Uncle Linnies.
• Rick offered everyone an opportunity to sign the photo album we are sending to Red as a Christmas gift from the club. The book will be back next week if you want to add a thought and your signature.
• Fred and Rhonda recently interviewed 10 (it may have been nine) Roxana students and selected two for our scholarship program. Shouldn't there be some way that we can name the program in Charlie's honor?
• Bill guarantees (money back?) that anyone attending our Christmas party will have a good time. He also wanted to see if the magician could make Mark 1 disappear. Didn't happen.
• Don't look for Chris to be buying a prom dress anytime soon. 
• Bill and Sherry worked the crowd for $$$. He promises better jokes next week. If you weren't here last week, pay up. We celebrated Pat's birthday.Sherry provided a shameless plug for a raffle. Some of the correct answers included: lunch, Caesar, Miss Universe, Shula, 1892, Sherman, (buried in Calvary Cemetery in STL) and Lions.
• The Turkey Fund balance is now $227. Next week (the 19th) will be the last opportunity that you can make a donation. All $$ will be give to Operation Blessing for their holiday food drive. Thanks for your generous support.
• The first go-around of the Christmas tip envelope for lunch server Karen netted $42. The envelope will circulate until December 17th. 
• The $22 50-50 jackpot was left untouched by Pat, and our speaker, who did try to really hard to find the buried joker. Brad P won the scratch.
• That's all from here. Have a fine and dry weekend. 

1. Dropping cash from drones
2. Issuing two-month bonds
3. Building a new monument in Washington out of pennies
4. Putting Karl Marx on the ten dollar bill

• Roger is still looking for chili ticket money.  If you took a bag(s) of chili, it's $10 per.  He is also looking for suggestion on how we can increase attendance next year. If you have any ideas, let him know. 
• The Christmas party will be held on December 3rd at High Flyers grill @ the airport. The sign-up list is circulating. Chicken or beef?
• Lori is looking for names of potential Christmas flower recipients. They will be delivered on December 18th.
• Mark 2 is circulating the sign-up sheet for the Salvation Army bell ringing on December 12th.
• The basketball tournament will take place on January 30th. Joe, Chris and Fred are coordinating.
• The Wood River library is sponsoring an Elves' Craft Workshop on December 5th. It's for K-8th grade. 10AM-NOON. It's an opportunity for the young ones to make gifts . For additional info www.woodriverlibrary.org or lindsey@woodriverlibrary.org or 618.254.4832

• Brad P was serving as club President. Current club members serving on the board were Paul, and Rick
• We were meeting at Wood River Township Hospital
• LCCC President Dale Chapman presented the day's program. Beverly Farm representative Candy Runion presented the previous week's program.
• Scott Smith was inducted as our newest Rotarian.
• The board of directors recommended a change in our bylaws to allow officer succession. (We are blessed to have Lori and Cory serving today.)
• We would be hanging Christmas lights in the mini-park at Main & Shamrock on December 7th.
• Dick and Carole would host the Christmas party on December 12th.
• Salvation Army bell ringing would happen on December 14, the coldest day of the year.
• Rick was looking for suggestions to include in  a 25th anniversary special edition of The Rotary Banner.
• Do you remember Jim Mahalich? 

DATELINE:RI

Here's a link to the most recent district newsletter http://www.rotarydistrict6460.org/Newsletters/2015-2016/GNLOct1516.pdf

ALUMNI ARE STAYING CONNECTED THROUGH SOCIAL MEDIA

More than 20 years later, the friendships forged during the Rotary Tour of the USA in 1991 are thriving thanks to social media. Over 250 of the 300-plus participants from the Eastern States Student Exchange program stay connected through Facebook and share how Rotary Youth Exchange has made a lasting impact on their lives. Discover the ways alumni can connect and get involved through Rotary:

• Follow Rotary Reconnect on Facebook.
• Join an alumni association. Can’t find one near you? Form your own.
• Share your story with the Rotary community and you could be featured in this newsletter, on the Rotary Voices blog, or on Rotary.org!

• Amazon plans to hire 100,000 seasonal workers to staff its shipping and sorting centers during the holidays, Up from 80,000 last year.-CNBC.com
• American Airlines earns half of its revenue from 13% of its customers. The other 87% of its customers fly once a year or less.-Qz.com

• "Better to be busy than to be busy worrying."-Angela Lansbury
• When something is important enough, you do it even if the odds are not in your favor."-Elon Musk