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ALL TOGETHER ISSUE
FEBRUARY 20, 2021
VOL. 1 NO. 6
IT'S OFFICIAL-1ST RIVERBEND EAST (IN PERSON) CLUB MEETING BEGINS
NEWS-NOTES-NONSENSE
It was so nice to be together for the first time as the Riverbend Easy Rotary club. Fingers crossed, we can continue face-to-face...The room was full of energy and there was no shortage of table talk.
The newly appointed Great Rivers and Roads President/CEO, Cory Jobe, joined us and brought us up to speed on the current state of tourism in the seven counties that comprise the GR&R service area. It's no secret that tourism took a monster hit during the pandemic. Since his arrival three months ago he has been focused on safely rebuilding area tourism. He was familiar with the area via his post with the state tourism agency. Cory feels that our immediate area offers a lot for all tourists, locally or globally. He's especially pleased that the two current major river cruise companies will use Alton as an embarkation point. Alton will also be a featured shore excursion when Viking rivers cruises begins service next year. He ended his presentation by encouraging everyone to go find some eagles! More information can be found at their web site http://www.riversandroads.com
We had 22 smilin' faces, mostly masked, at Julia's on Thursday. Three members joined via Zoom.
Opening duties were handled by PaulH, ??, and BillP via Zoom.
Please take a few minutes to visit our web site riverbendeastrotary.org and review/update your personal information.
First to arrive were Prez Chris, RodneyD, LoriP, BradL and JoeS.
We have established a Venmo account to accept payments. Add it to your contacts @RiverbendEast-RotaryClub.
The buffet featured pork 'n apples, whipped taters w/gravy, peas and carrots, rolls, Caesar salad, pie and icing (held together by a sliver of cake).
Happy Rotary anniversary to ChrisH-12 years, SherryT-7, SandyS-7, ChrisL-5 and RobinK-2 .
In this space last week we asked who is #2 on our seniority list with almost 47 years. That person would be MarkS. However, when we include GeorgeT's time with the Alton Rotary club, his total Rotary service time would be 49 years. To recap, our most "senior" members are HenryS, GeorgeT and MarkS. Let's go ahead and tag #4 on the list, AllenH with almost 46 years.
GeorgeT reports that his cancer radiation treatments have been successful and he plans to rejoin us this coming Thursday. Great news!
Happy Birthday to ScottL on the 24th and ErinP on the 25th.
If you are scheduling a speaker for a zoom meeting please request that they join us at noon for their presentation. They will have the first 20 minutes, or so, of our meeting. Please provide their name and presentation topic to LoriP for listing on our web site.
RhondaB encourages everyone to start sharing info about our Music Trivia night via all your personal and social network contacts. There is no limit to how many participants we have that evening. There will be 6 or 7 rounds of trivia.
Prez Chris circulated the finished image of the Oiler media backdrop provided by JohnP (image below)
SAA Sherry brushed off the cobwebs to pose a variety of trivia Q's. PreZ Chris assisted as the lugmeister. Topics included Jonas Bros, Canada, Brazil, French food, savory flavors and Brazilian agriculture. PattiA knew the national animal of Pakistan, whoa! Fine du jour was happy to be back together? Pay a $.
Everyone had the chance to share who they were, or maybe, wanted to be.
DarrenC was sporting the "Miami Vice" look. He's a bit worried that spouse Robin will not vote for him for mayor. Considering his is the only name on the ballot...
LoriP has ordered the Baseball Mania tix.
When RhondaB entered the room she wanted to know why everyone was "spaced out".
JoeS was our solo "scooter". A $2 self-imposed fine made it all good.
Rhonda is planning to offer one auction item per day via our Facebook page as the lead in to our Music Trivia event on March 12th. Don’t forget that DJBigPapaG (find him on Facebook with that handle) provides free music bingo opportunities every Wednesday evening @ 6. Join him so that you can tell folks how our event will roll. You can play using either Facebook or Zoom.
PattyA announced that she is now "homeless" (with the qualifier that she is domiciled with her son, looking for a new, and final, house to buy).
At the recent virtual District Conference District 6690 (Ohio) Membership Chair Jenny Stotts made an enthusiastic presentation entitled "Rotary Happy". Here's a link for your viewing pleasure. https://vimeo.com/510510001
The 50-50 joker game returned. SherryT and SteveD whiffed, TommieM won the scratch-off (although she drew a card) Is anyone more lucky than Tommie??
So, a reshuffled deck of cards was used for the Queen of Hearts game on the previous Thursday. On the fourth try MarkS pulled the red lady. His net will be $25.Everyone else will pay the "grim reaper", AKA RickH, for their indiscretions the prior four weeks.
What technology are insurers using to generate near-instant repair estimates after auto accidents?
A-A new generation of satellite-based cameras
B-Sensors imbedded throughout new cars
C-Artificial intelligence
D-Monte Carlo simulations
(Answer can be found at the end of the newsletter)
Today is national Cherry Pie Day
Which is NOT one of the four colors used for passport covers worldwide?
Red
Blue
Green
White
Passports around the world are only made in four shades: red, blue, green, and black. While there aren’t any official rules around color, the reason for the limited variety is because these simple, dark hues make the documents look more official. Blue is the most common choice, followed by red, green, and, black. Malawi and New Zealand are among the just seven countries with black covers. The color used is often symbolic: Many Islamic states have green passports due to its religious significance. And colors don’t always stay the same: Before the switch to blue in 1976, American passports were green.
Today in History
1472 – Orkney and Shetland are pawned by Norway to Scotland in lieu of a dowry for Margaret of Denmark.[2]
1792 – The Postal Service Act, establishing the United States Post Office Department, is signed by United States President George Washington.
1872 – The Metropolitan Museum of Art opens in New York City.
1877 – Tchaikovsky's ballet Swan Lake receives its premiere at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow.
1933 – The U.S. Congress approves the Blaine Act to repeal federal Prohibition in the United States, sending the Twenty-first Amendment to the United States Constitution to state ratifying conventions for approval.
1935 – Caroline Mikkelsen becomes the first woman to set foot in Antarctica.
1943 – American movie studio executives agree to allow the Office of War Information to censor movies.
1943 – The Saturday Evening Post publishes the first of Norman Rockwell's Four Freedoms in support of United States President Franklin Roosevelt's 1941 State of the Union address theme of Four Freedoms.
1956 – The United States Merchant Marine Academy becomes a permanent Service Academy.
1962 – Mercury program: While aboard Friendship 7, John Glenn becomes the first American to orbit the earth, making three orbits in four hours, 55 minutes.
1965 – Ranger 8 crashes into the Moon after a successful mission of photographing possible landing sites for the Apollo program astronauts.
1998 – American figure skater Tara Lipinski, at the age of 15, becomes the youngest Olympic figure skating gold-medalist at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan.
2005 – Spain becomes the first country to vote in a referendum on ratification of the proposed Constitution of the European Union
FROM THE ARCHIVES
Sourced from the Make-Up and Banner newsletters
Early March 2008
The three club (WR, EA and Bethalto) 2nd annual combo meeting was scheduled for March 26th at Villa Rose Retirement Village in Bethalto
LeonardB reminded everyone that they need to file a 2007 tax return to take advantage of the federal economic stimulus package
JoeS visited as a a former member. AllenH was working on Joe's reactivation
JimH received congrats on his upcoming wedding anniversary with wife Jane and the wedding of his daughter
RickH presented a couple of make-us from his time in Las Vegas
PaulG won $1 in the 50-50 but failed to draw the Queen of hearts for the $324 jackpot
Everyone thanked Lori for coordinating our new logo shirts
RhondaB and LoriP took a pass on the $126 50-50.
BradP was looking for someone to chair the golf tournament
GeorgeT would be handling the greeter duties for the March 17th meeting
DATELINE:RI
Incoming Rotary international President Shekhar Mehta urged members to become more involved in service projects, saying that caring for and serving others is the best way to live because it changes not only other people’s lives, but also our own.
Mehta, a member of the Rotary Club of Calcutta-Mahanagar, West Bengal, India, revealed the 2021-22 presidential theme, Serve to Change Lives, to incoming district governors on 1 February during the Rotary International Assembly. The assembly, a yearly training event for district governors-elect, was originally set to take place in Orlando, Florida, USA, but was held virtually because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mehta spoke about how participating in service projects through Rotary changed him as a person and made him empathize more with the needs of others. Soon after joining his club, he helped carry out projects that benefited rural communities in India.
Some of the poor conditions he saw in those communities strengthened his commitment to service. “I truly understood the plight of my brethren,” he said.
"Rotary kindled the spark within me to look beyond myself and embrace humanity,” he said. “Service became a way of life for me and I, like many others, adopted the guiding philosophy that ‘Service is the rent I pay for the space I occupy on this earth, and I want to be a good tenant of this earth.’”
Mehta encouraged district governors-elect to lead by example during their term and inspire Rotary and Rotaract members to participate in projects that have measurable and sustainable impacts. He’s asking each club to conduct a Rotary Day of Service.
AND I QUOTE
"The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits."-Albert Einstein
"My opinions may have changed, but not the fact that I'm right."-Ashleigh Brilliant
As a child my family's menu consisted of two choices: take it or leave it."-Buddy Hackett
My favorite machine in the gym is the vending machine."-Caroline Rhea
SMILE
The fact that Kansas and Arkansas are [pronounced differently bother me way more than it should.
Is the "S" or "C" in scent silent?
Why does fridge have a "D" in it, but refrigerator doesn't?
You can drink a drink but not food a food.
The word "queue" is just a Q followed by four silent letters.
Why is "W" called a "Double-U" when it is clearly a "Double-V"?
Why are Zoey and Zoe pronounced the same but Joey and Joe aren't?
Tonight we're having Himalayan rabbit stew for dinner. We found himalayan in the road.
Type caption here
BY THE NUMBERS
Venmo’s user base increased 32% in 2020, to nearly 70 million accounts transferring almost $47 billion in the fourth quarter
The number of e-commerce packages returned in 2020 rose 70% from 2019-Narvar Inc.
In 2020 Casey’s General Stores served 75 million slices of pizza, making it the 5th largest U.S. pizza chain
A new survey of 2,200 U.S. workers found that 44% of employees polled didn’t know their company’s plans to return to the workplace, up from 37% last September-Conference Board
According to Deloitte’s survey of 1,100 people in October, 46% of respondents canceled at least one streaming service in the last year, vs the 20% who said in a similar survey in January 2020
