Last Wednesday was Media Appreciation day and I want to extend my thanks to the Public Relations committee that coordinated the program. Tom Griscom was our program speaker and I really appreciated the account of his career from the White House to the Editor's office for the Chattanooga Times Free Press. Like I said Wednesday, Tom is one of those guests we could all sit and listen to for a long time!

This week will have Dr Larry Shears as our program speaker. Dr Shears is a heart surgeon at Erlanger Hospital and is a friend of Phil Smartt. With all the medical advances and Erlanger's expansive reach in our region, I look forward to hearing from Dr Shears and new information he has for us related to the medical profession.

Our Board meet last week after our club meeting and we made two significant decisions I wanted to pass along to you. First, the Board unanimously voted to shift our focus from involvement in the Haiti latrine project (where we partnered with the Chattanooga Breakfast Club) to being much more involved with Bess T Shepherd Elementary School, just three miles from where we meet. Bess T is a Title 1 school with 90% of the students living at or below the poverty level. There are many areas we look to have involvement as we apply for a district grant to help partner with us. Some of what we want to do will take money, and some of what we want to do will take money AND sweat equity. Chris Neighbors, as President Elect, is applying for the grant, (with help), and I have agreed to head the project with his help as we move forward. We are very excited about actively partnering with the school and are looking for a date very soon that our club can meet there for a tour. More to come!

Secondly, the board has asked me to attend the District Conference as its representative on the cruise on board the Majesty of the Seas to Nassau, Bahamas and CocoCay. The cruise is April 6-9 out of Port Canaveral, FL. If you would like to attend the District Conference, please let me know. I would enjoy spending that time with you!

I'll see you Wednesday!