Rotary’s World Polio Day is October 24^th and District Foundation Committee member Jim Stoddard from our club used the occasion to talk up the good that comes from making regular Foundation contributions.  The Polio eradication efforts that began in 1985 demonstrate the international impact of the Foundation, but through a formula of contribution and interest sharing, almost half the funds come back to local Districts for use as matching grants to help locally originated projects. When a Rotarian’s contributions to the Foundation reach $1,000, they are named a Paul Harris Fellow.  Future $1,000 increments bring additional Paul Harris recognition and there are other recognitions for contributions of even larger amounts.  Stoddard explained that the Foundation encourages recurring giving through their “Every Rotarian Every Year” campaign.  Stoddard’s research of the Sycamore Club identified 157 members as Paul Harris Fellows in the club’s 81- year history.  Stoddard invited club members to attend the District Foundation Dinner November 19^th in Rock Falls.

 

Stoddard highlighted several District grants this year made possible because of the foundation sharing of contributions.  Two of these involved scholarships.  Candidate Kristen Fisher from Roscoe was awarded $17,000 to pursue her Master of Science in Forensic Medicine with a specialty in Forensic Anthropology in Greece and Mohammed Salem from Rockford was awarded $17,000 to pursue a Master of Science in Health System Evaluation at England’s University of Oxford.  Also on the list were several different water projects on Guatemala and Africa, a refugee center in Poland, a mental health program in the Republic of Kosovo, and a Spotted Fever prevention project in Mexico.

 

Contributions to the Foundation may be made on-line at www.rotary.org/donate.  Reservations for the November 19^th District Foundation Dinner may be made using this link: https://www.crsadmin.com/EventPortal/Registrations/PublicFill/EventPublicFill.aspx?evtid=c127ee07-4925-49c8-b0d4-df4effb2ee85.

October 20, 1882 – Hungarian born actor Bela Lugosi, best known for his portrayal of Count Dracula in the 1931 horror film ‘Dracula,” is born in the city of Lugos. 

 

October 21, 1917 – The late modern jazz great Dizzy Gillespie is born in Cheraw, South Carolina.  The trumpet virtuoso and improviser was also an accomplished composer and band leader entertaining audiences in a career that spanned more than five decades. 

 

October 23 – 1869 – American football coach John Heisman of Heisman trophy fame is born in Cleveland, Ohio.  He legalizes the forward pass and originates the center-snap during a career with multiple colleges achieving an overall coaching record of 186-70-18.

 

October 25, 1881 – Abstract artist Pablo Picasso is born in Malaga, Spain.  His controversial sculpture in Daley Plaza in downtown Chicago was dedicated August 15, 1967.

October 19, 1781 – British General Lord Cornwallis surrendered to General George Washington at Yorktown effectively ending the Revolutionary War (although the final peace treaty is not signed until September 1783).

 

October 21, 1879 – Thomas Edison successfully tests an electric incandescent lamp at his Menlo Park, New Jersey laboratory keeping it lit for 13 hours.  

 

October 24, 1901 – 63-year-old school teacher Annie Edson Taylor become the first person to take the plunge over Niagara Falls in a barrel. Strapped for cash and hoping for fame and fortune, she came up with her dramatic attention getting plan after reading about interest in the falls because of the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo.  She survived, but only got fleeting fame for her efforts and no fortune.

 

October 25, 1983 – The Caribbean Island of Grenada is invaded by the U.S. to, in the words of President Ronald Reagan, “…restore order and democracy…” following a political coup and execution of their Prime Minister.