Rotarian Jim Bowers shares his experiences meeting and speaking with Warren Buffett, Ross Perot, Mickey Mantle, Bruce Crampton, and Alex Karras during Wednesday’s meeting.
College and business opportunities led Rotarian Jim Bowers to learn some important life lessons from famous names in business and sports which he shared during this week’s meeting.
Beginning in the late 1970s, Bowers said he was planning a move in his banking career and he researched an opportunity in Rockford. While trying to benchmark best practices to help with a turnaround of the bank he was going to join, he came across nationally published data showing another Rockford Bank was a standout leader in many key indicators. He arranged a meeting with the bank president and earned his respect when he could explain why someone had come into their bank with an unusual $100-denomination bill showing it was a rare bank-issued national note from depression-era days. The bank president arranged for a phone conversation with their owner who was none other than Warren Buffet. During their conversation, Buffet stressed the importance of having good people, making loans of quality over quantity, and keeping a conservative investment strategy.
At a banking conference he attended, Bowers personally met H. Ross Perot, the billionaire founder of Electronic Data Systems (EDS). This was at the time when the book “On Wings of Eagles” was published recounting the success of Perot’s organized effort to rescue two employees jailed in Iran at the time of the revolution. Bowers was again told the importance of having good people to count on. Several years later, Perot recognized Bowers at another event and initiated a renewal of their acquaintance.
Sports figures with an influence on Bowers came from the worlds of golf, baseball, and football. Bowers met and played with Australian golf great Bruce Crampton at the Rockford Country Club Pro-Am. Once Crampton realized how well Bowers played a particularly challenging hole better than he did, he gave Bowers some of his own special tips for the rest of the game which continued through dinner and on into the evening (and this special tip, when driving a long fairway, it is better to go for a distance normally favorable to you rather than trying to overpower the drive with an abnormal swing). He got signed baseball cards and photos with legend Mickey Mantle thanks to a name drawing at a banking convention. The advice given by the New York Yankee superstar was to always do extra practicing. And while at the University of Iowa, Bowers became friends with Alex Karras. The future Detroit Lions player and actor had a contentious relationship with his college coach but Bowers said he was one of those convincing him not to quit the team despite his threatening to do so several different times.
Thank you, Jim Bowers, for sharing these good advice tips with your fellow Rotarians!
The war in Ukraine is having devastating consequences on civilians as families flee their homes. According to the United Nations, more than 3.5 million people, most of them women and children, have sought refuge in neighboring countries and across Europe, while about 7 million more people have been displaced within Ukraine.
Rotary and Rotaract clubs in Europe and around the world have taken swift action and are working with members nearby to provide food, water, medical equipment, and shelter for refugees.
Below are some of the latest projects as of 1 April
Clubs in Rotary District 2231 (Poland) are using a $50,000 disaster response grant to provide transportation, accommodations, food, and medical assistance for refugees who crossed the border from Ukraine.
Rotary District 2240 in the Czech Republic is purchasing $50,000 worth of sleeping bags, medicine, food, and defibrillators, EKGs, and oxygen concentrators to victims.
District governors in Germany created a national task force to coordinate member initiatives and relief efforts on an online platform. A liaison office for government agencies and nongovernmental organizations has been established in Berlin.
Rotary clubs throughout France have mobilized to collect and distribute necessities to refugees. District governors are coordinating donations from French clubs to help Rotary clubs in Ukraine as well as to assist refugees traveling through Poland and Romania or taking refuge in those countries. The needs are determined by the France-Ukraine, France-Poland, and France-Romania-Moldova intercountry committees.
District 1910 in Austria is using a $25,00 disaster response grant to provide accommodations, baby supplies, medicine, hygiene materials, psychological care, food, and appliances to Ukrainian refugees in Austria.
Some historians speculate that April Fools’ Day dates back to 1582, when France switched from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar, as called for by the Council of Trent in 1563. In the Julian Calendar, as in the Hindu calendar, the new year began with the spring equinox around April 1.
People who were slow to get the news or failed to recognize that the start of the new year had moved to January 1 and continued to celebrate it during the last week of March through April 1 became the butt of jokes and hoaxes and were called “April fools.” These pranks included having paper fish placed on their backs and being referred to as “poisson d’avril” (April fish), said to symbolize a young, easily caught fish and a gullible person.
Donations are currently being requested for the Sycamore Food Pantry. Bring a bottle of laundry detergent...or $10 for Julie Sgarlata to purchase one. Money is easier to handle.
Personal hygiene items (bar soap, shampoo, etc.) are also being sought.
March 29, 1982 – 19-year-old North Carolina freshman Michael Jordan makes a 16-foot jump shot with 15 seconds left to give the Tar Heels a 63-62 win over Georgetown for the NCAA Tournament championship.
March 30, 1981 – President Ronald Reagan survives an assassination attempt by John Hinckley after being shot in the left lung; his press secretary, James Brady suffers permanent brain damage after also being wounded.
March 31, 1968 – President Lyndon Johnson makes the surprise announcement that he will not seek reelection because of the Vietnam conflict.
April 2, 1513 – Spanish explorer Ponce De Leon sights present day Florida and claims it for the Spanish Crown.
.png)
