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Apr. 28 - Tom Cain "How to be a 'Judge' (of Barbeque')

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Bloodied and bruised by the annual Spring confrontation with “That which we put up with to ensure the continuance of civilized society,” we sang “You Are My Sunshine,” thanks to CRES McFALL.  And then DICK BLANDING assured us with the knowledge that Pericles and Mark Twain join us in our displeasure over signing that check on the 15^th.

RED BADGES AND BATIKS

KATIE NUTTER reported on the RED BADGE AUCTION, which netted $12,746.  Bravo!  KATIE is now off to the Amazon for a rest.  HEINZ Blennemann displayed several batiks from the War Relief Academy in Botswana, which are now available for purchase from him, with the proceeds going to the purchase of educational materials for the children in refugee camps in Botswana or to help with Tsunami Relief.  SOSHANNA ZIMMERMAN warned us that a cheap batik may result in a big expense.  She discovered that she had to replace practically everything in her bedroom after buying a batik.  So beware!

ART SHOW STILL NEEDS HELP

VAL CARPENTER advised that the Art Show, fast approaching, is still short a few good men, and women.  In particular, members and friends with gas guzzlers like SUV’s and vans and large sedans our daddies used to own, are desperately needed to volunteer them for shuttle service on Saturday and Sunday mornings.  And we also need takedown and cleanup specialists for Sunday evening.  Phone VAL if you can fill the bill.

MORE RED BADGE NEWS

LARRY CHU THE YOUNGER introduced two new Red Badgers to the assembled peanut gallery, VICTOR ECHEVARRIA, employed by Rambus, and MICHAEL STADLEN, who owns a professional training company.  Welcome to LARC!

FINE, FINE, FINE

MEL KAHN fined right and left.  He even fined JOANNE KAVALARIS after she told him how very handsome he was!  JEAN NEWTON volunteered to pay a hefty fine because her two sons are showing signs of becoming self-supporting.  DAN DUTTON convinced us all that he should be in Washington upholding the inalienable rights of the Democrats to filibuster anything and everything.  MEL still managed to fine him $29.

ROTARY MOMENTUM

GINNY LEAR, President in 2000-2001, recalled the advent of the Internet to LARC, along with the help of STEVE GRUBER, who made it all possible.  GINNY also reminded us of the visit of ROTARY BIG BIRD RICK KING, whose name appeared on every page of every Rotarian Magazine for the entire year he was President of Rotary International.  Just kidding.

ULTIMATE MOMENT OF FEAR AND SHAME

TRACIE MURRAY, who has always seemed so nice, asked SAM HARDING, and then LARRY CHU THE YOUNGER, what they had done for charity this month.  Both members demonstrated remarkable mental agility and came up with something, anything, to avoid ridicule and scorn.  Good for you, guys!  Let this be a lesson for the rest of us.  We have just a precious few days to pad our resumes before TRACIE inquires again. 

SPEECH CONTEST REDUX

JACK KELLY reported that one of our winning speech contest contestants came in second place in the District 5170 Regional Speech Contest, and she now advances to the finals, which will be held at the District 5170 Convention. 

TODAY’S PROGRAM

VAL CARPENTER introduced LESLIE LARSON, a former recipient of a Rotary International Graduate Fellowship, who spoke about volunteer-based travel.  In 2000 she spent three months assisting with various projects at a newly established wildlife preserve in Kenya serving as a corridor for elephants to safely migrate from one water source to another.  Lately she has volunteered to help with the San Lorenzo Protected Area near the Atlantic entrance to the Panama Canal.  One project she assisted with was the construction of a bird watching deck for ecotourists in the Protected Area.  Tourist volunteers and local people toiled together to build the deck, which will attract affluent tourists for years to come.