November 9, 2004

WE WILL NOT MEET NEXT WEEK ON NOVEMBER 15
AS WE HONOR OUR VETERANS

NEXT MEETING, NOVEMBER 22… Dr. Phil Walker, from the Ridgecrest Baptist Church, will be our annual Thanksgiving speaker.

LAST MEETING, NOVEMBER 8… General Harold Cross of the Mississippi Air National Guard gave us an inspiring Veterans’ Day message. He pointed out that there are more than 600 Mississippians presently serving in Iraq, and another 4,370 National Guardsmen have been mobilized and are in training. There are more than 42 million veterans in the U.S. today, and 1.2 million have died defending our liberty over the years. We all owe them an overwhelming debt. Stand tall as we honor them this Thursday and next Monday. Thanks to General Mickey Walker for introducing this program.

OUR GOLF TOURNAMENT… is set for Tuesday, November 16, at the Country Club of Jackson. We won’t meet again before that date, so if you want to play and haven’t signed up, call Chairman Joel Bobo at 949-8656.

GIFTS FOR OUR SOLDIERS… if you were at our November 8 meeting, you know we’re going to pack a gift box for our fighting men in Iraq (to be delivered through our own Col. Brad MacNealy). We’ll take up another donation at our November 22 meeting, and then pack the box. Thanks to Walter Michel for spearheading this effort.

NOMINATIONS… for officers next year were presented by Heber Simmons on behalf of the Nominating Committee. Here are the candidates: For President: Ron Applewhite. For Vice President: Jennifer Hall and Stuart Kellogg. For Directors: Bill Allison, Michael Caracci, Sue Cherney, Karen Crews, Barbara Dorr, Rick Fountain, Vickie Greenlee, Doug Hudgins, David McMillan, Don Paxton, Tommy Shepherd, Tom Tabereaux. We’ll have a sample ballot available at our next meeting, and we’ll vote on December 6.

MAKING A LIST AND CHECKING IT TWICE… mark your calendars for our Children’s Christmas Party. It’ll be on Monday, December 20, and will include a visit by Santa, special musical entertainment, a holiday menu, and much more. Chris Grussaute and her committee are hard at work.

PRESIDENT’S CORNER… Each of you recently received a letter from Jennifer Hall, Chair of Raffle Ticket Sales, and me, reminding you of our ONLY OFFICIAL Fund raiser of the year. As you know, our goal is 100% participation. Please plan on budgeting for two tickets each, which will help special young people pursue their college dreams. Also, you need to mark your calendar for our special Sweetheart Banquet, planned for February 3. Ann Neal and her committee are working hard to provide us a memorable evening with our sweetheart. You heard from Joel Bobo, Golf Tournament Chairman, about our upcoming event to be held at the Jackson Country Club on Tuesday, November 16. Sign up soon! One last thing – Royce Boyer, COG Chair, invites you to join his COG table for lunch on Mondays. It’s a great way to meet our newer members. - Yours in Rotary, Danny