July 23, 2005

Last Week’s Program...
Steve Winkler, Executive Director for the Cliff Hagan Boys and Girls Club gave an informative presentation about his organization. The Boys and Girls Club is an organization founded by a group of concerned ladies in Massachusetts 99 years ago as a means to inspire young people by giving them opportunities to realize their full potential and to become productive and caring citizens. Today, the Boys and Girls Club is a multi-billion dollar industry serving approximately 4.4 million youth annually. This is accomplished through the generous contributions of major corporate sponsors and the help of well-known spokespersons such as First Lady Laura Bush, Colin Powell, Denzil Washington and Owensboro’s own Brad Wilkerson, just to name a few. The local Boys and Girls Club was opened in 1967 and later named in honor of Cliff Hagan, a local athlete who excelled in high school, college and professional basketball. The Club offers various programs which help our local youth with character, leadership, educational and career development, drug and alcohol prevention, arts and crafts, sports and recreation. Each year the Club honors one young person as Youth of the Year. This year the honor went to Jamie Barnett who spoke, via a taped message, on the impact the Cliff Hagan Boys and Girls Club has had on her life. The Club operates at three locations in Owensboro, including the C. Martel Wightman Unit name for fellow Rotarian Martel Wightman, and the Dugan Best Teen Center. The Club has also assisted in opening a facility in Rockport, Indiana and their SMART Moves program for drug and alcohol prevention is being introduced in Henderson. The Cliff Hagan Boys and Girls Club expects to move into their new facility located in Heritage Park by September of this year. The Club which served 1,963 youth in 2003 and 3,297 in 2004 at their current location hopes to serve 5,000 youths at their new home. The new facility has a baseball field, two outdoor basketball courts, water spray park, indoor basketball and volleyball courts, arts and crafts areas, a computer area, and is handicap accessible.

Thank you Steve for "creating opportunities one youth at a time".

Attendance: 82

Highest Attendance This Year: 92

Invocation, Pledge & 4-Way Test: Phillip Travis

Fellowship Report: Patty Ray

Introduction of Guests: Art Bickers, visiting Rotarian from Henderson. Jane Noble introduced her guest, Jan Young. Jody Wassmer introduced his guest, Tony Sholar.

Thought for the Week: "Beyond talent lie all the usual words: discipline, love, luck -- but, most of all, endurance." ~ James Arthur Baldwin, (1924-87), American writer, critic

ROTARY ANNOUNCEMENTS...
• We need READIFEST VOLUNTEERS!!! Rotary Readifest is Tuesday, July 26 from 1:00-5:30 pm at the Executive Inn. Contact Pat McFarling if you can help out. We still have plenty of slots to fill!
• 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:
In a previous Impetus, I promised to give you a report on my trip to the Rotary International Convention in more detail. Shirley and I attended the Rotary International Convention in Chicago on June 18-22 in the city where Rotary was founded by Paul Harris and three associates 100 years ago. It was quite a birthday party! There were approximately 40,400 registrants at the convention from 159 countries. Only a facility like McCormick Place could accommodate such a crowd of enthusiastic Rotarians. We were welcomed by video presentations from President Bush, Mayor Daley and Kofi Annan, Secretary General of the United Nations.

There were many valuable programs on membership retention and development, Rotary programming, Rotary Foundation grants and international humanitarian projects. It was announced that over $500 million had been raised by Rotarians in its efforts to wipe out polio worldwide. President Estes noted that there had been a 99% reduction in the cases of polio, and that the goal of complete eradication could be achieved by the end of 2005.

On Tuesday, our featured speaker was Ted Turner of CNN fame. Mr. Turner has personally given $32 million to the Rotary Polio Plus Program. His father was a Rotarian and Mr. Turner credited his father’s spirit of serving as the basis for his own philanthropy. At the president-elects’ luncheon on Tuesday, the featured speaker was Carl Wilhelm, the incoming Rotary International President. He invited all Rotarians to next year’s international convention to be held jointly by Sweden and Denmark.

Rotary International is considered the world’s oldest and most effective service organization. It is helping millions of people around the world through the eradication of disease and by improving the quality of life for the less fortunate. We should be proud to be a part of such an effective, worthwhile organization. Shirley and I thank you again for the opportunity to represent you at this year’s convention.

Have a great week!

Bill

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...
John Bickel, Jr. - July 25
Steve Gardner - July 27
Jim Goetz - July 28
Ruth Ann Hughes - July 28
Tom Smith - July 28
Richard Edwards - July 29

THE FAMILY OF ROTARY
Bill Stinnett is in the hospital.

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.
• Tim Bradshaw is the program chair for July.
• John Kurtz is the program chair for August.
• Patty Ray will be at the Fellowship Table during July.
• 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
August 3- Keith Harpole - GRADD Transportation Update
August 10 - TBA
August 17- Mathew Gunterman - Progress on Green
August 24- Jim French - USPS Mail
August 31- Clint Hardy - Daviess County Ag Extension Agent

2005 - 2006 OWENSBORO ROTARY CLUB OFFICERS
President: Bill Dexter
Vice President: John Kurtz
Past President: Pat McFarling
Secretary: Tish Correa-Osborne
Treasurer: Bob Nation
Directors: Tim Bradshaw, Patty Ray, Noel Maddox, John Kazlauskas, John Medley, and Sister Suzanne Sims

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