Cogittor 090826

What a meeting!   Began with a fireworks display, followed by a distribution of cash bonuses to all members.  The surf and turf free lunch was sensational and we all loved the parting gift baskets. Those who missed this meeting missed a great one.

Now..the news for those who were there.

Grand High PooBa MacKenzie, wearing his AMICA suit, put the meeting on hold for 10 seconds as Robert Allen Greene scrambled for his name badge.   Once he was properly attired, the meeting began.  No meeting begins until everyone is identified.  An unidentified person was present at a recent meeting, causing a bit of consternation.  He finally put on a badge and we were relieved to see it was President MacKenzie.  It seems he is not well known without his identification.

For those of you who thought John Eastman had a screw loose, it turns out you were right.  He has been in the hospital, ostensibly for back surgery.  However it was reliably reported he had a couple of screws tightened and a couple more added.  The good news is he has terrific posture, but the bad news is he can never get through an airport metal detector again.  He will be moving slowly for some time and we send our wishes for a speedy recovery.

We were joined by former Rotarian Doug Moody, the guest of Bob Miller.  Doug was a perfect Rotarian for 23 years, then sold his company and now lives most of his life on the high seas on Surf Song.

Bob Miller now spends most of his days cruising Rhode Island in his new Ford Mustang Convertible.  Being old, Bob doesn't know about I pods and turns the radio up real loud.  This is so embarrassing his wife won't ride  with him and now takes taxies everywhere. The loud radio  resulted in an arrest by EG Police, using the new "motorcycle Noise Ordinance.  We don't like noisy punks and we don't like noisy geezers, said the chief.  Dave Iannuccilli was extremely relived that the damage he caused to the Mustang as he arrived at the meeting was only minor.   Dave said he just "tapped" the car, as he tried to park.  "I don't think I was going more than 30 miles an hour", he said.   Miller thanked all his patients in the room for helping him buy the car and said their initials were pasted under the trunk door.  Several people wearing glasses left the meeting early and made sure their initials could be seen clearly on the driver side door.  The car is a lovely Royal blue, which sets off Bob's eyes and matches the golf bag he carries in the trunk o his way to the club. Bob says he is very happy with the cash for clunkers program and plans to vote for Obama in the next election.

Happy Anniversary to John Eastman and Wil Yoder.  And Happy Birthday to me.

The phone book is pretty well wrapped up.  Our aggressive chair, Jonathon Widmark and aggressive former Chair Bill Ten Eyck hit the streets last Saturday and actually threatened some merchants into buying ads.   If you turn in a 2 inch ad or more by this coming Wednesday, Jonathon will buy you a liquid refreshment.

The Citrus committee continues to meet, with another meeting after the regular meeting.  This meeting was to discuss when the next meeting would be held.  During the meeting they learned that citrus prices may be higher this year.  There was some discussion of moving to a carrot drive, but it didn't seem to have the same attraction.  Rutabaga is still under discussion.

Congratulations to Wil Yoder, whose name was picked from his group of five as a recipient of a Paul Harris award.  The Paul Harris Award represents a contribution of $1,000 to the Rotary Foundation.  Wil now has eight awards.

How I spent my summer vacation.  Stan Reuter went to Guatemala where he spent two weeks building houses for Habitat for Humanity.  The only challenging part of the two weeks was when they came off the plane and his wife said, "hey, this doesn't look like Aruba".  Stan convinced  her the economy had been tough on Aruba and they would be building their own room.  His other activities including climbing an active volcano, and making it up 8,000 feet although he was the oldest person in the group.  After cooking a couple of burgers on the hot rocks it dawned on the group that the lava seemed to be getting a little more bubbly and they climbed back down.

For anyone interested in a similar excursion Don Anderson says a band from the Dominican Republic will be performing at the BaptistChurch on September 16^th at 7:00 pm.   The Baptists have been going to the DominicaRepublic for years to help with infrastructure in a local community.

Andy Erickson is in Alaska ( I don't think he is building houses), but sent a happy buck so it could be announced that AMIDC has won another J.D. Power award, making it the 10^th year in a row. 

Florence Clement paid Chub's dues, but says she is stepping down from membership to enjoy the summer and Grandchildren.   She also enjoys the quiet in the house for the two hours Chub is at Rotary.

Ladd Cook is also taking a leave of absence, but will be back next year.

Our speaker was recovering talk show host Steve Kass, now communications director at RIEMA.  Kass says the agency has been reorganized and is newly invigorated.  He answered questions about various areas of responsibility.  In response to a question he bemoaned what he sees as the slipping standards of broadcasting and voiced concerns about a population uninformed about the world around them.