July 23, 2002

NEXT MEETING, JULY 29… we’ll be hearing from the U.S. Navy’s Chief of Naval Air Training, Rear Admiral John E. Boyington, Jr., who’s coming from Corpus Christi, Texas, to speak to us.

LAST MEETING, JULY 22… Jack Kyle was good enough to step in and substitute for our scheduled speaker, who had an emergency conflict. Jack, of course, is one of the nation’s leading impresarios, who just happens to be a native of and live here in our state. He has been the leading force in staging three outstanding exhibits in Jackson, recalling the splendors of Russia, France, and Spain, and attracting more than 1.1 million paying visitors. Jack told us about the next step, called The Glory of Baroque Dresden. From 8 different museums in old Saxony will come art treasures (Rembrandt, Rubens, Titian, and the like), coins and medals, five rooms of outstanding porcelain, and three rooms of treasures from the only Royal collection of jewelry still intact in Europe. Jack has enhanced our city and state immeasurably with past expositions, and this new one, scheduled to run from March 1 through Labor Day next year, will undoubtedly be another that will achieve the goals Jack has set: to educate our school children, to help economic development, to attract tourism, and to enhance the image of the state. Thanks to Al Sage for arranging and introducing this program.

DUES, DUES, DUES… how does the old saying go, “dues are due?” Well, they are. If you haven’t already paid your semi-annual Rotary dues, please do so pretty soon. We even made it easier for you – you can now use a credit card. And, unlike some places, we take both Visa and American Express (as well as Master Card and Discover). Be warned: if you don’t pay up before August 10, you’ll owe another ten bucks penalty.

PRESIDENT’S CORNER… a note from President Howard: I would like to encourage all committee chairpersons to have an organizational/planning meeting with your committees, if you have not already done so. Four committees have sent their reports to me, and I hope to hear from the others soon. If you would like for your club director or me to meet with you, we will be happy to do so. You could meet at your office or my office, have a luncheon meeting at the Capital Club, or get together after our Monday club meeting.

YOUR STOCK PORTFOLIO MAY BE GOING DOWN, BUT ROTARY’S NOT… Rotary clubs added 54,939 members to their rolls in the 2001-02 Rotary year, bringing net membership worldwide to 1,243,431, a 4.6 percent increase over the previous year and the best one-year growth ever. More than 1,100 Rotary clubs were chartered in the year ending June 30, 2002, bringing the net total to 31,256 clubs in 163 countries.

CHECK US OUT AT… http://www.rotaryclubofjackson.org