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BEING THANKFUL ISSUE NOVEMBER 20, 2021
VOL. 2 NO. 18
DECISION TIME
NEWS-NOTES-NONSENSE
Don't forget to check out our Facebook and Instagram pages (links are available at the top of our main web page. Also, join our Facebook group.
The next Eastender News will hit your inbox on December 4th. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Today is our basketball tournament. Don't forget to show up for your assigned shift. Post event analysis and review will take place at the Pump House no later than 6 tonight. Feel free to come and offer your review.
DaveA spoke about the book The Legend of Doc Ping that was published this past June. Dave has had the pleasure of meeting "Doc" and shared some highlights of Ping's amazing life journey.
Birthday greetings to BradP on the 23rd.
FYI-We now have 2-7'X3' and 2-8'X1' RbE club banners that are available for use at any event. Additionally, we have 6 safety vests and 6 aprons with our club name/logo on them.
Early arrivals included JoeS, RodC and AllenH.
Continue to keep RandyN and TommieM in your thoughts and prayers as they deal with their medical issues.
Congrats to WendellR on his 30 years of service.
RobinK is now serving as the club coordinator for our Imagination Library project, which is off to a strong start.
Salvation Army bell ringing will take place at the WR Wal Mart Market Place door on Saturday December 11th from 10AM-8PM, 1 hour shifts, 2 people per shift. We will also ring the evenings of December 12th and 14th. The sign-up sheets are now moving around the room and they are almost filled.
By the Way, want to ring on your own? The Alton Salvation Army uses only volunteers to ring bells and collect donations. There are multiple location in the Riverbend area where the Red Kettle's are stationed for donations, including the Wal Mart and Schnuck's stores in Wood River. It's easy to select one or more two hours shifts by going to the web site http://registertoring.comOpportunities begin today and last thru December 24th, but never on Sunday. Go ahead and pick your shifts today. The sense of fulfillment and fresh air are hard to beat!
The sign-up sheet for our Christmas Wonderland event began circulating Thursday. BillP is our coordinator. Our shift will be from 5:30-9PM on December 8th at Rock Spring Park in Alton.
LoriP shared information about the "A Night of Christmas" event on December 4th. The free event will be open from 4-8PM at the the East Alton Village Hall and History Museum.
Soon to be Rotarian Tom Stalcup joined us for lunch.
Scooters included PattiA and BradL.
Thanks to RhondaB for coordinating our polio event at Blue Ice Creamery and JJ Thermo's. We have made a donation of $220.55. By the way, was she too good to show up on her birthday?? Prez Lindsey made it to preside on her natal day. Belated greeting to both these fine ladies.
Ring, ring-JoeS and LeonardB.
Well done! Our final Turkey Fund tally was $537. Thanks to all for your generous contribution. Prez Lindsey will be making a presentation to Operation Blessing real soon.
Chef Bob was MIA so we got the Sonic meal. 21 members dined on spicy and naked chicken nuggets, giant curly fries and Steak 'n Shake style fries, taco salad and cake. AllenH was first in line and as noted by BradP "Got to have a leader".
Last to arrive included LeonardB, GeorgeM, PattiA and BradL.
Opening duties were handled by Prez Lindsey, RickH and BillP.
SAA LeonardB took us on another verbal adventure that touched on Knox College, a comparison of Prez Lindsey's stature with Minnie Mouse and the recent District 6460 Conference. Stop and let me get off!
The 50-50 jackpot presented opportunities for Christmas $$ to GeorgeM and BillP. Not this week. AllenH won the scratch-off.
Ciao! Have a fine and dry weekend. Stay safe.
NO JOKER FOR THE JOKER
CAR OR CASH?
ALL THINGS TRIVIAL
Verizon and AT&T agreed to postpone their Dec.5 rollout of 5G phone cell service by a month. Why?
A-A desire to tighten security on planned 5G networks
B-The need to reprogram millions of telephone SIM cards
C-Concerns about aircraft safety
D-A global shortage of G's
(Answer is found at the end of the newsletter)
Today is National Absurdity Day
Which state produces the most honey?
North Dakota
California
Utah
North Carolina
In 2018, North Dakota's bees produced a total of 38.2 million pounds of honey, nearly triple the amount of the next largest honey-producing state. Overall, the U.S. is the fifth-biggest honey-producing country in the world, with China taking the top spot. After North Dakota, most of America's honey comes from Montana, California, South Dakota, and Florida.
TODAY IN HISTORY
1789 – New Jersey becomes the first U.S. state to ratify the Bill of Rights.
1805 – Beethoven's only opera, Fidelio, premieres in Vienna.
1820 – An 80-ton sperm whale attacks and sinks the Essex (a whaling ship from Nantucket, Massachusetts) 2,000 miles from the western coast of South America. (Herman Melville's 1851 novel Moby-Dick is in part inspired by this story.)
1947 – The Princess Elizabeth marries Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten, who becomes the Duke of Edinburgh, at Westminster Abbey in London.
1962 – Cuban Missile Crisis ends: In response to the Soviet Union agreeing to remove its missiles from Cuba, U.S. President John F. Kennedy ends the quarantine of the Caribbean nation.
1974 – The United States Department of Justice files its final anti-trust suit against AT&T Corporation. This suit later leads to the breakup of AT&T and its Bell System.
1977 – Egyptian President Anwar Sadat becomes the first Arab leader to officially visit Israel, when he meets Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin and speaks before the Knesset in Jerusalem, seeking a permanent peace settlement.
1985 – Microsoft Windows 1.0, the first graphical personal computer operating environment developed by Microsoft, is released.
1992 – In England, a fire breaks out in Windsor Castle, badly damaging the castle and causing over £50 million worth of damage.
1993 – Savings and loan crisis: The United States Senate Ethics Committee issues a stern censure of California senator Alan Cranston for his "dealings" with savings-and-loan executive Charles Keating.
1998 – The first space station module component, Zarya, for the International Space Station is launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
FROM THE ARCHIVES
Sourced from the Make-Up and Banner newsletters
Mid-November 2012
The WR club members shared fond memories about Dick Bell who had recently passed away following a lengthy illness.
PaulH presented the program about healthcare issues at the EA meeting.
WR Salvation Army bell ringing was scheduled for November 24th at Wal Mart.
Three Junior Rotarians from EA-WR HS attended the WR meeting-Scott Miner, Ashley Robinson, Levi Harmon
RickH announced that $230 had been collected for the Turkey Fund.
DaveA was thanked at the WR meeting for organizing the dictionary distribution to area 3rd graders. ScottL and PattiA assisted with the logistics.
LoriP was looking for three more EA folks to receive Christmas flowers.
TommieM missed an opportunity to pocket a $244 50-50 jackpot at the WR meeting. JoeS left $83 on the table at the EA meeting.
WR Happy Fines were offered by MikeK and PaulG.
JoeS offered good news at the EA meeting, daughter Alexa signed a letter of intent to play softball at Mississippi State University.
JeanK served as the meeting greeter while JimH handled the program chair duties at the WR meeting.
DATELINE:RI
NOVEMBER IS FOUNDATION MONTH
By John Germ
When people ask me what The Rotary Foundation is, I tell them it’s the heart of Rotary. You may have heard before that Rotary has an intelligent heart. The Foundation combines our emotional response of compassion with pragmatic action. With both heart and brains, you can change the world. So, what does the Foundation mean to you? November is Rotary Foundation Month, but do you really know our Foundation? First, it truly is our Foundation. The Rotary Foundation doesn’t belong to me or the other 14 trustees, nor to the RI Board of Directors, nor to the RI president. It belongs to each Rotarian around the world. And it’s there for all of us to change the world. We save mothers and children because we have compassion, and we know how to plan. We provide clean water and sanitation where they’re needed to those who need them, because we build strategies based on a community’s needs. We combine support for peace, education, and economic stability for at-risk communities with an ability to manage big projects. Giving to the Foundation is smart, too, because in doing so, you multiply the value of that gift. How many other foundations can you think of that identify the projects, fund them, and run them on the ground themselves? Ours is the only one I know. And we get it all done at such a relatively low administrative cost. This is one reason Charity Navigator consistently gives the Foundation a four-star rating. I sometimes get asked a question: How much should I be giving to the Foundation? Each year, make a gift of what you can afford to give. For some, that is $100, and for others, more. What’s most important is that you give something, because each generous gift helps us meet the increased demand we’re seeing from members for global grants and our other programs. This year, we want to raise $50 million for PolioPlus, which will be matched 2-to-1 by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, for a total of $150 million. If every Rotary club contributed just $1,500, we would surpass this goal. We have other goals as well — for the Annual Fund, the Endowment Fund, and outright gifts — adding up to a grand total of $410 million. We will get there if we set our hearts — and minds — to it. But remember, it’s not about the money; it’s what the money can do. There’s a saying that goes, “I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.” The Foundation is that stone, so let us turn ripples into great waves with it, using our hearts and our minds.
AND I QUOTE
"Happiness? Nothing more than a good health and a poor memory."-Albert Schweitzer
“Someone's sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago."-Warren Buffett
"Christmas is the season when you buy this year's gifts with next year's money."-Anon
"The grass is always greener over the septic tank."-Erma Bombeck
SMILE
Albert Einstein little brother Frank was an absolute monster.
Orion's belt is a big waist of space. Terrible joke, only three stars.
I want to tell you about a girl who only eats plants.You've probably never heard of herbivore.
Eat alphabet soup. Have a vowel movement.
There are three kinds of people in this world. Those who are good at math, and those who aren't.
Just got a job as Senior Director at Old MacDonald's Farm. I'm the CIEIO.
BY THE NUMBERS
There are 11.2 million RV owning households in the U.S, about 400,000 of which are considered full-time RVers-RV Industry Association
Restaurant prices have climbed at a 6.8% annual rate in the past six months, the fastest pace since 1981-U.S. Labor Department
The American Trucking Associations estimates the industry is some 80,000 drivers short of the workers needed to keep goods moving freely this year (over 70% of domestic cargo travels by truck)—up from an estimated shortage of 61,500 drivers before the pandemic
44% of parents pay $1,000 or more per month for child care-The Penny Hoarder
The secondhand apparel market is projected to reach $77 billion by 2025 — up from $36 billion in 2021 — and is growing at 11 times the rate of the broader retail clothing sector-GlobalData and ThredUp
In the first half of 2021 marketers launched 383 food and beverage products with immune-health claims-Innova Market Insights
