December 18, 2002

THERE WILL BE NO ROTARY MEETINGS FOR THE NEXT TWO WEEKS AS WE CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR’S. OUR NEXT MEETING WILL BE ON MONDAY, JANUARY 7.

WE HOPE THAT YOU AND YOURS WILL HAVE A WONDERFUL HOLIDAY SEASON AND A HAPPY AND PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR.

LAST WEEK, DECEMBER 17… we celebrated our annual Christmas party. Chairman Mark Terpsta and his committee did an excellent job in preparing a gala holiday event, which was enjoyed by 157 Rotarians and 34 children (a few of whom were, of course, GRANDchildren). The Jackson Four, a barbershop quartet led by our own David Carter, sang a number of holiday songs prior to the meal, and several seasonal tributes during the program. Sam Bruce spoke in a meaningful way about the meaning of Christmas, and Santa Claus (who was allegedly transported to the luncheon by Richard Redd) entertained the kiddies. The committee distributed a number of gifts for Rotarians, including a unique chocolate Rotary Wheel fabricated by Nandy’s Candies.

OUR GIFTS TO CHRISTMAS CHARITIES… will have been distributed to the residents of the Home Place and the Community Nursing Home by the time you read this. Bill Huff and his committee did a great job organizing this effort. We are, though, still a few dollars short of our goal. Knowing Rotarians will rally to the cause, we took the balance out of our club budget, to be made up later. If you’d like to contribute, please drop a check in the mail to the Rotary office. Our address is listed in several places on this Rotagram. Or you can bring a check to the next meeting.

A THANK-YOU… is long overdue to Malcolm Ewing. Whenever a speaker needs audio-visual help, we call on Malcolm, and he always comes through. You can see him at many meetings loaded down with projectors of various types and setting things up so the speaker can have an easy time using visuals. Thanks, Malcolm, for exhibiting a true Rotary spirit of service. We appreciate you.

UPCOMING ROTARY PROGRAMS… might make it look like we’ve gone into hibernation or something, since we’re not meeting three out of the next four Mondays. But, for your planning purposes, here are our programs for the next month, from Program Chairman Danny Williams: