Thank you from Catherine Ayera

District Governor Dave Weller Speaks

Dave Weller and his wife meet International President Wilfrid Wilkinson and his wife. Dave gave an excellent talk that started by asking "What would the world be like without Rotary?"
He gave specific illustrations of the contributions that Rotary makes in both educational and humanitarian realms. Dave thought that more people may know about Rotary through the work of the Foundation than through the work and members of local clubs. On a more somber note he said that membership in the USA & Canada has been in a steady decline as has the numbers in all service organizations. Our numbers have dropped from 435,000 in 2002 to a current membership of 412,000. Because of this Dave said we need a renewed emphasis in recruiting new members. Each club is challenged to have a net gain of one this year.

On a brighter note the Rotary campaign to eradicate polio is going well. This year to date there have been 285 new cases world wide as compared to about 1500 cases at this time last year.
Finally Dave said his Stretch Goal for his administration is to raise $300,000. He left a Mason Jar for us to put our loose change in as we sign in each week. We passed it around the room and collected $ 200. Dave suggested we take each $1000 collected and give a Paul Harris Fellow to some worthy individual perhaps a local hero.

Football Coach David Elson Speaks

Ben Smith introduced his friend WKU Football Coach David Elson with a fishing story. After that we were left wondering whom we could believe. Coach Elson did have a lot of good news about the team and especially our transition to IA football. Progress on the stadium is going well. David also told us that because of NCAA rules we are ineligible for post season play for the next two years. He did say that due to increased funding most players are on campus this summer in Summer School under full scholarships. It's always a pleasure having coach Elson with us. Next week we are scheduled to have Governor Ernie Fletcher visiting.

Former Police Chief Bill Waltrip Recollects

Our July 25 meeting was interesting for a number of reasons. It was announced that this would be the last meeting that Paul Schnoes would be meeting with us as a member. He is moving to Ft. Myers Florida. With that announcement the members stood in applause wishing him well and God speed. Alex also had Joe Davis and Vickie Elrod display our newly designed banner and Alex being one of the few people in the room tall enough to hang it did.

Here we see Rick Debose talking with Bill Waltrip before the program began. Bill took us through the thirty years he has been in Bowling Green remembering both local, national, and international events. Some things were sad and some things were funny. It was a good trip down memory lane. Bill is now working as a consultant with Randy Capps' group and left us with a poem urging us to live in the moment and he showed us a placard he said was inspired by one he saw in the Reagan Library - it read "it CAN be done". Good job Bill and thanks.

The Civil War in Bowling Green

Rick Dubose introduced Western History Professor Dr. Glenn LaFantasie. Glenn's career has focused on the Civil War. Now at WKU, he also taught at Gettysburg College for a time. He introduced us to Nancy Baird's compilation of a diary of Josie Underwood, a teenage girl who lived on Mt. Aire. LeRoy says they were distant relatives. Her family was pro Union and Glenn talked about the social friction in Bowling Green during the War.

New Officers & Directors Sworn In

Judge John Grise swears in (Left to Right) Shannon Morgan, Past Presdient; Patty Alford, Sergeant-of-Arms; Alex Downing, President; Alan Vilines, Secretary; Mac Jefferson, Club Service Director; Kevin Mays, Vocational Service Director; and Sally Ray, International Service Director. Not pictured were Joe Taylor, Treasurer and Ron Wilson, Community Service Director.

Adopt A Class Rocks!

President Alex Downing gave an update on the 20 kids we adopted in grade school some years ago. They're scheduled to enter college this fall. Nine have already signed up to attend Western and four more from the class are expected to come by the time classes begin. An additional student got a full athletic scholarship to another school so 14 of the 20 are going on to higher education. This is a much higher success rate than we had the first time we tried this and none of the students went on to higher education. This time we paired each student with a club member who stayed in touch during the entire remainder of their schooling. There is an appreciation dinner next Tuesday on campus to meet with these young adults. Alex says we'll be getting the details in an email if you haven't already.
The reason I have Charlie Hardcastle's photo here is because he and his wife have challenged the club with a matching grant to secure the future of our Adopt A Class program. The Board of Directors have accepted that challenge and will be matching those funds over the next five years. I think that's a pretty classey act in itself. Thank you Charlie and Mrs. Hardcastle.