Newsletter - Archive  May 16, 2010

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Spouse Joins Hubby as Newest Rotarian

Jefferson City West Rotary just became a “mom and pop” club -- again. Stacy Welling, vice president of operations for Whaley’s Pharmacy in Jefferson City, became a member of the JC West club on May 14 and joined her husband, George Welling, as the club’s third husband-wife members. George was, of course, her sponsor and was given the honor of pinning on her Rotary badge during induction ceremonies. They are the proud parents of a one-year-old son.

    Stacy is not new to Rotary. She was among the charter members of the Jefferson City Rotaract Club, made up of young professionals up to age 34. She also served as their third president. George serves the JC West Rotary Club this year as its program chairperson.

    Also members of the club as husband-wife are Bob Ahsen (joined 1983) and Jane Rackers (1997), along with Julia (1992) and Gary Sharpe (2005).

New Officers for 2010-2011

Linda Nichols, professional photographer and a Rotarian for 18 years, will be the Jefferson City West Rotary Club’s new president for the coming fiscal year 2010-2011, beginning July 1. She heads the slate of new officers, which will include Ed Hughes as Secretary, and Mark Naeger and Jill Dobbs as Co-Treasurer. A new President-Elect is still up for Board approval with the resignation of President-Elect John Woods, who will be relocating to St. Joseph, Mo. on June 1. Current President Steve Houser announced that a member has volunteered to serve as a candidate for president-elect. The Board will meet May 21 to make its recommendation for that position. Meanwhile, new directors and committee heads will be announced later this month or early June, said Nichols.

Another Raffle loser … No, we have a Winner!

Trae Lorts holds up his winning Joker card. At right is
Walt Rottman, Sgt.-At-Arms.

The drama was building, as the card deck got slimmer and slimmer, and the elusive two jokers never seemed to get pulled by each week’s Raffle drawing. Time and again, it was “Sorry, you lose.” But with only six cards left in the deck, Sergeant-at-Arms Walt Rottman announced “We’ve got a winner” when Trae Lorts pulled a joker card from the last remaining cards at the club’s May 14 meeting. The cash pot had grown to $3,521 – so half that amount will go to the winner. (Check out "Raffle Drama" on the Photo Album Page.)

Program Highlights: Who’s That Yo-Yo?

One could say Rotarian Chris Neff has a knack for making one’s head spin. Actually, he is really good at making yo-yos spin – you know, walk the dog, climb the ladder, loop the loop, milk the cow, shoot the moon and other generally unimaginable tricks. Chris’ yo-yo magic had Rotarians’ heads spinning on May 14 – testimony that a fad that rocked the nation 20 to 30 years ago has not lost its luster or its legendary acts of feat.

    One must understand that Chris was once a yo-yo pro in Kansas City. Yep. He got paid teaching young yo-yo enthusiasts how to do tricks. He was paid by a well-known yo-yo manufacturer to conduct seminars all over the country. He misses those days, but working for real money (he’s an architect) helps pay for groceries and the mortgage these days. He has a briefcase full of famous yo-yos, some costing well over $100. He has even invented a combo yo-yo/spintop and brags that “I am the only one of a few in the U.S. who can do this trick” – the so-called “off-string whip catch” – and that’s because only a few in the U.S. has one of his special yo-yo/spintop that is designed to make that “off string” trick work. Fortunately for Chris, there were no black eyes or knotted strings that could spoil some yo-yo’s idea of showing off instead of walking the dog.

Program Highlights: The Food Bank

In today’s tough economic era, food pantries have become a life-saver for those seeking to make ends meet, financially. Rotarian Rick Huffsteder, a director with the Central Missouri Food Bank, says more than 982,000 pounds of food were distributed to local and regional food pantries last year, and that will probably be well over a million pounds this year. “What we have is situational poverty,” Rick told Rotarians on May 7. “These are families that, because of an ill child or a cantankerous old car, must find a way to figure out how to pay the rent and buy food. They are feeling the pinch, and the food pantry is a way of helping make ends meet.” He said 70 percent of food pantry participants are working – both mom and dad, but certainly mothers in single-parent cases.

    Children are big benefactors of the food pantry, too. As the result, the Central Missouri Food Bank based in Columbia has a “buddy pack” program in which children (picked by each individual school) receives a pack of nutritional food that will help tie them over the weekend when school is not in session. He said more than 48 percent of all children in elementary schools in Jefferson City qualify for the “buddy pack” program. He said more than 22,000 volunteers help load and store food products at the Food Bank facilities in Columbia. Out of every dollar received by the Food Bank, some 98.6 percent goes directly to buying food. “Or, to put it another way, for every dollar we receive, we can provide 20 pounds of food or 15 meals for a family. We have a very cost-efficient program,” he said. The biggest participant in the food bank program in Jefferson City is the Samaritan Center, along with several churches and the Salvation Army.

Upcoming Programs

May 21 – Linda Nichols, Ecuador International Mission Project.

May 28 – Mayor John Landwehr.