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SPRING BLOOM ISSUE
MARCH 27, 2021
VOL. 1 NO. 11
IN SEARCH OF THE JOKER
NEWS-NOTES-NONSENSE
Your unnamed newsletter is taking a brief spring break and will return on April 17th. In the meantime...you received an email from Rick on Wednesday requesting your input on a newsletter name. If you have not already cast your ballot, please email your two favorite choices to him @ riki917yohoo.com or via text 628.792.0256. (Apologies to those that had issues with the @outlook email address.)
Here's a bit of tax information about charitable donations that LeonardB shares with us- During the 2021 tax year each person is allowed a tax deduction of $300 for charitable contributions made this year; and $600 for married couples (In the 2020 tax year this amount was capped @ $300 single or married). This deduction of federal taxable income can occur even if you do not itemize deductions. Donations to our club foundation as well as the Rotary Foundation can count toward this deduction.
MarkV is very much a fan of the May15th tax deadline.
We had 21 "roomers" in the house and 7 "Zoomers" on Thursday. We welcomed CherylM and MarkS for their first in-person appearance.
An FYI-The photos taken during our meetings and events are available for viewing in the photos section of our web site by looking under the Rotary year or event title. The thumbnail pix can be enlarged by double-clicking on the photo.
Early arrivals included AllenH, MarkS, LoriP and EmilyW.
The lunch buffet featured mostaccoli, steamed zucchini, rolls, salad, cake and pie.
PattiA offered a shout-out to LoriP for her hiring tip at the East Alton Police Department. Patti's daughter was recently hired as an EA police officer.
If you participate in the Amazon Smile program you may have received a recent email from Amazon indicating that since the former East Alton club began participating in the program our foundation has received almost $400 in donations from Amazon. The program is pretty straight forward, you link your Amazon account to the East Alton Rotary Foundation account and .5% of your purchase goes to our foundation. It's easy $$ for our foundation.There's a direct link on our home web site or you can look us up using smile.amazon.com.
LoriP returned from a week in the Smoky Mountains sporting some stylish leopard skin shoes, definitely not suitable for trail hiking.
Last to arrive on Thursday were PaulH and ChrisH
LoriP now realizes what you use to put the raspberry vinaigrette dressing on her salad.
Virtual Color Run registration is under way. Adults are $30, kids are $25. Sponsorships are available from $100 to $500.The event is scheduled for the June 4-6 weekend. It's time to start promoting this great event. The last Color Run (2019) netted $7000. Here's the link to sign up https://bit.ly/3kOlgrp
LoriP has your pack of 10 Baseball Mania tickets. Each ticket sells for $10. Complete the bottom of each ticket and return with payment to her. We keep 65% of each ticket sold. The contest begins in July and runs 10 weeks. There are 35 weekly winners, from $10 to $250. If you win, look for a check in the mail. Online versions will be available soon.
The opportunity to win the $61 jackpot was offered to guest JasonW and table mate GeorgeM. They politely declined. AllenH won LoriP's scratch-off.
Ciao! Have a fine and dry weekend, a blessed and Happy Easter. Stay safe.
MARK CLAIMS HIS JANUARY VIRTUAL QOH WINNINGS
BOARD NOTES
Below are items discussed and decisions made at the February 25th board meeting-
International Service Chairperson RodC proposed $1,000 contribution toward an international toilets/washing stations water project in the African country of Zambia. The $1,000 donation would also allow the club to designate a Paul Harris Fellow award. Motion approved.
Vocational Services Chairperson RobinK is working on a vocational membership directory.
Youth Services Chairperson DonnaK is working on the details of a new scholarship program featuring the details of the two previous club programs.
District 6460 is offering a membership workshop for club board members. LoriP will secure available dates.
Discussed the possibility of mentoring new club members, a feature that both previous clubs failed to fully develop and utilize.
Several possible community service projects were discussed, no decision was made.
The board approved GeorgeM, CoryG and MarkS as authorized signers of our club checking account.
Authorized the purchase of a club banner, letterhead, badges and speaker gifts reflecting our new name.
LindseyH would contact the current Bethalto club President, Neene Frish, to explore possible merger discussions. Our new club name was chosen to allow for incorporation of the Bethalto service territory.
Our club Facebook "group" will be for members only. Our Facebook "page" would be for public outreach.
A "Why Rotary" campaign recruitment tool was discussed by RobinK. A club member would be featured on our Facebook page with a statement/video on why they are a Rotarian.
RobinK advocated for more avenues of service committees to be established and utilized with the goal of having increased member involvement and sharing the workload.
RobinK requested all chairs submit goals that would be used during the next two years.
Expanded membership types were briefly discussed.
Official board minutes can be found in the documents section of our web site.
ALL THINGS TRIVIAL
Tesla CEO Elon Musk added a new title. what weas it?
A-Tweetmeister
B-Technoking
C-Electroczar
D-Chief operating officer
(Answer can be found at the end of the newsletter)
Today is National Spanish Paella Day
Where can you climb the world's longest staircase?
China
India
Switzerland
Brazil
The 11,674 steps it takes to climb the two-mile-long staircase winding up the side of Switzerland’s Mount Niesen are no joke. Not only is it the world’s longest staircase, but it also might be one of the most scenic. Located on a 7,700-foot-tall mountain in the Swiss Alps, the staircase climbs at a 65% gradient beside an early 20th-century funicular railway. The stairs are usually open only to maintenance workers and not for public use — except during the Niesen Treppenlauf, an annual event in which 500 participants race to the top of the staircase. The record time is just one hour and two minutes.
Today in History-
1513 – Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León reaches the northern end of The Bahamas on his first voyage to Florida.
1625 – Charles I becomes King of England, Scotland and Ireland as well as claiming the title King of France.
1794 – The United States Government establishes a permanent navy and authorizes the building of six frigates.
1871 – The first international rugby football match, when Scotland defeats England in Edinburgh at Raeburn Place.
1886 – Geronimo, Apache warrior, surrenders to the U.S. Army, ending the main phase of the Apache Wars.
1915 – Typhoid Mary, the first healthy carrier of disease ever identified in the United States is put in quarantine for the second time, where she would remain for the rest of her life.
1958 – Nikita Khrushchev becomes Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union.
1964 – The Good Friday earthquake, the most powerful earthquake recorded in North American history at a magnitude of 9.2 strikes Southcentral Alaska, killing 125 people and inflicting massive damage to the city of Anchorage.
1975 – Construction of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System begins.
1977 – Tenerife airport disaster: Two Boeing 747 airliners collide on a foggy runway on Tenerife in the Canary Islands, killing 583 (all 248 on KLM and 335 on Pan Am). Sixty-one survived on the Pan Am flight. This is the deadliest aviation accident in history.
FROM THE ARCHIVES
Sourced from the Make-Up and Banner newsletters
Early April 2013
The WR board authorized a $100 sign sponsorship for the Oiler /Booster Club Golf Tournament. A similar request was denied by the EA board.
RodC told the EA club that the $13,000 raised for the cleft palate program in now in the hands of the Columbian clinic where the surgeries will be performed.
The WR club was searching for a Vice-President.
BradL requested Business of the Year nomination forms.
RhondaB announced that officers for the Roxana HS Interact club had been selected.
AlanaY served as the official greeter for today's meeting.
AllenH was lobbying for a trivia fund raiser. LoriP and RhondaB offered suggestions.
Heather Robinson and Shane McKee were the Junior Rotarians representing EA-WR HS.
DISCO BINGO 2018
DATELINE:RI
By Jeff Lake, Rotary Club of Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
I began to work with the nonprofit organization Chin Community of Indiana in 2016 after our club’s foundation granted them $250,000 over five years, with a three-year extension through 2023. Many Burmese Chin, fleeing persecution in their home country, have chosen Southport as their new home. Almost 20,000 Chin live on the south side of Indianapolis, making it one of the largest concentrations of Chin people outside of Myanmar.
I was asked to be the liaison to the Chin organization and one of the first things I did was to create a Chin Support Committee. This committee meets quarterly to determine what type of additional assistance the Chin residents need. All along, I have worked closely with their leadership. It was decided a couple of years ago that starting a Satellite Club of Chins and non-Chins would help them assimilate into the greater Indianapolis community.
The satellite club meets at The Chin Center, which is the heart and soul of the Chin community. It took some time but in the fall of 2020, they had 22 members and applied to receive a charter to be their own Rotary club. Importantly, the president of this new club, Southport International, is a Chin. Though I’m a member of the Rotary Club of Indianapolis, the host club, I attend most of their meetings, whether in-person or via Zoom. To continue reading, link herehttps://bit.ly/3smIzeR
AND I QUOTE
"It's a miracle that curiosity survives formal education."-Albert Einstein
"No man is totally useless-he can always serve as a bad example."-Anon
"I'm not young enough to know everything."-J.M. Barrie
"I couldn't repair your breaks, so I made your horn louder."-Steven Wright
SMILE
For his birthday, I got my friend a telepathic abacus. It's the thought that counts.
I have a chicken proof lawn. It's impeckable.
Huge fight at seafood restaurant. Battered fish everywhere.
If you have to wear both a mask and glasses, you may be entitled to condensation.
Dove chocolate taste way better than their soap.
Germany is now advising people to stock up on cheese and sausages. This is called the Wurst Käse scenario.
BY THE NUMBERS
$24,000 is the average premium that rising lumber prices have added to the cost of building a single-family home in the U.S.-National Association of Home Builder
In 2020 the FBI Internet Crime Report received 791,790 complaints of cyberattacks , up 69% from 2019, resulting in a loss of $4.1 billion
In September 2020 spam accounted for over 47% of all emails sent across the globe-Statists
Before he pandemic, roughly 5% of work days were sent at home. That number rose to 50% in November. When the pandemic is over the figure is projected to be about 22%-Becker Friedman Institute
In the first nine months of 2020, lenders extended $2.8 trillion of mortgages-Inside Mortgage Finance
The estimated basic annual cost for caring for a dog is $1,381; a cat, $908-American Pet Products Association
1926-A small dairy shop in Athens Greece introduced Fage Greek yogurt
