April 30, 2005

Last Week’s Program...
The Owensboro Rotary Club recognized the academic achievement of area students with the Willis Combest Awards and Larry Hager Awards.

Owensboro Rotary established the Willis Combest Award in 1971. Bill Van Winkle recounted the history of the award, which honors the memory of Owensboro teacher, coach and humanitarian, Willis Combest (1913-1969). The award is made each year to outstanding student athletes from four local high schools. Recipients exemplify not only athletic and academic achievements, but also honesty, decency, fair play and consideration of others. Bill recognized representatives of the local high schools, who in turn introduced the award recipients. Cap Gardner, a close friend and teammate of Willis Combest, presented awards to the following students: Gabrielle Murphy from Apollo School, Brad Erickson from Daviess County High School, Luke Thompson from Owensboro Catholic High School, and Mary Chris Durham from Owensboro High School.

In the spring of 1992, Owensboro Rotary began recognizing outstanding seniors from local high schools and colleges with the Larry Hager Award. Marilyn Brookman related the history and criteria of the award, which is named for Owensboro Rotarian Larry Hager in honor of his many contributions to our community. Representatives from the local schools introduced the award recipients, who were then presented their awards by Larry and his wife, Frankie. The 2005 recipients are Sherise Bone from Apollo High School, Whitney Kullman from Daviess County High School, Michelle Bivins from Owensboro Catholic High School, Alison Cooper from Owensboro High School, Emily Bickett form Trinity High School, Scott Ferguson from Brescia University, Lauren Werner from Kentucky Wesleyan College, Roy Enhulsen form Owensboro Community and Technical College, and Adrianne Ratliff from Western Kentucky University in Owensboro.

Congratulations to these award recipients and best wishes for a bright future!

Attendance: 88

Highest Attendance This Year: 103

Invocation, Pledge & 4-Way Test: Bill Gabbert

Fellowship Report: Todd Inman

Introduction of Guests: Frankie Hager, guest of Larry Hager; Roger Brooks, guest of Jeff Ebelhar; Roy Finch, guest of Nancy Fuqua; Cindy Whitmer, guest of Bob Whitmer; Sheila Moore, Shelly Hayden and Karen Raider, guests of Gary Noffsinger; Tammy Smith, guest of Mike Hobson; Dan Griffith, visiting Rotarian from Covington, KY. Other guests included the scholarship recipients’ families, guidance counselors, principals and college presidents.

Meeting Make-Ups: Frank Wagner, at the Daviess County club.

Introduction of New Members: Philip Travis was introduced by Jeremy Bradford. Philip is the administrator of Wellington Parc.

Thought for the Week: "Do not anticipate trouble, or worry about what may never happen. Keep in the sunlight." ~ Benjamin Franklin, (1706 - 1790) American public official, writer, scientist, helped draft Constitution

SPECIAL THANKS!    
A special thank you to the following individuals who did such a great job coordinating our scholarships and awards programs:
• Tom Laswell Scholarships – Steve and Peggy Gardner, Tom and Ann Castlen
• Willis Combest Awards – Bill Van Winkle
• Larry Hager Awards – Marilyn Brookman

ROTARY ANNOUNCEMENTS...
• There will be a meeting of all Paul Harris Fellows following the regular club meeting on Wednesday, May 4.
• Mark your calendar! Our Rotary Gala will be held Thursday, June 30 at the Owensboro Country Club.
• Have you submitted your directory information form? Forms are available at the Fellowship Table or on the club website at: www.owensbororotary.org/directoryinfo.pdf. Completed forms may be faxed to Pat McFarling at 926-3196.
· Indoor Playground contributions and/or pledges may be mailed to Jeff Ebelhar, Owensboro Rotary Foundation Treasurer, at the following address:

Jeff Ebelhar
100 W. Third Street
P.O. Box 1824
Owensboro, KY 42302-1824

YOUR PRESIDENT SPEAKS:
"Everyone has inside of him a piece of good news. The good news is that you don't know how great you can be! How much you can love! What you can accomplish! And what your potential is!" ~ Anne Frank

At its last two meetings, our club celebrated the kind of good news Anne Frank described in her diary. With the Tom Laswell Scholarships on April 20, and the Willis Combest and Larry Hager Awards last week, we recognized some of our area’s brightest and best students. The awards acknowledged not only these students’ accomplishments to date, but also their potential for future success. We hope the awards will encourage them to continue reaching…to continue striving to discover themselves and what they can achieve.

As Rotarians we know our youth are our hope for the future. It’s important to invest in that future today if we expect to some day see a dividend. By encouraging young people to fulfill their potential, by helping them develop leadership skills, and by instilling in them the importance of living lives of service, we’re making a very wise investment.

Have a great week!

Pat

THE FAMILY OF ROTARY  
• Congratulations to Jackie Addington who received national recognition for her contributions to higher education with the Phi Theta Kappa 2005 Shirley B. Gordon Award. She received the award at a recent meeting of the American Association of Community Colleges.
• Congratulations to Anne Federlein on her inauguration as the 30th president of Kentucky Wesleyan College. Anne is the first woman to serve as president in the college’s 146-year history.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...   
Bob Nation - April 30
Clay Ford -  May 1
Scott Holder - May 4
Jody Wassmer - May 4
Alan Braden - May 5
Bob Hunzinger - May 5

ROTARY REMINDERS   
• Don’t forget to make up your missed meetings at Daviess County Rotary, 7 a.m. on Tuesdays at Heavenly Ham Restaurant in Towne Square North.
• Matt Francis is the program chair for May.
• Alma Randolph will be at the Fellowship Table during May.
• If you have an email address and are not receiving the Impetus online, or you have changed your email address, please send an email to kim@mediaworksadvertising.com and you will be added to the Rotary email address list.
• Log on to Rotary’s website at www.owensbororotary.org. You’ll find our current member directory, photos of new members, past copies of the Impetus, some interesting history, and more!

Please mail any questions, suggestions, or comments regarding the Impetus to:

Mike Wallace
MediaWorks Advertising, Inc.
208 West 3rd Street
P.O. Box 1866
Owensboro, KY 42302
Phone: 270-684-4554
Fax: 270-684-7314
Email: mike@mediaworksadvertising.com

DEADLINE FOR ANY ADDITIONAL INFORMATION TO BE INCLUDED IN THE IMPETUS IS THE WEDNESDAY PRIOR TO MONDAY'S PUBLICATION DATE.

UPCOMING PROGRAMS   
May 11 - Dan Heckel, Editor, Messenger-Inquirer
May 18 - Joe Bowen, State Representative, 13th District
May 25 - Tom Shelton, new superintendent of Daviess County Schools

2004 - 2005
OWENSBORO ROTARY CLUB OFFICERS
President: Pat McFarling - Phone # 270-852-3257 Fax: 270-926-3196, email: patmc@kwc.edu
Vice President: Bill Dexter
Past President: Jeff Ebelhar
Secretary: John Kurtz
Treasurer: Bob Nation
Directors: Tish Correa-Osborne, Todd Inman, Patty Drury, Tim Bradshaw, & Noel Maddox

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