Covering April 24 meeting                Jorge Gonzalez reporting, Snappy Jarvis behind the lens
A painting for host Duffields	Nikki and host sister Jenn

Today’s meeting (April 24) began on a good note with a big smile and firm handshake from our greeter Max Zellweger who made sure all of our members and their guests felt at home. To our good fortune, Linda Hendrickson and Susan Webster took care of the all so important front desk operation, I am sure that raffle ticket sales were brisk as a result of their good effort. Good job in setting today’s “Dity” Roster Mr. President. 

During the social “hour” it was notorious how some of small groups would disband just as soon as they saw Tana coming their way. To our guests this behavior seemed strange, why any Rotarian would do something like this, however later in the meeting the unsuspecting witnesses realized why. More on this subject later.  

At 7:15 Pres. Gary rang the bell to announce that breakfast was ready. By 7:15 ½ Bob Russell was sitting down eating his while everyone else was going through the food line without incident, however not without noticing that the fruit plate had been broken into prior the bell ringing, to our dismay the grapes were gone!  

At 7:30 Pres. Gary’s commanded Hugo to lead the group to the Flag Salute, and then he led us in prayer followed by Al’s emotional reminder of the tragic events of last week at Virginia Tech prior to leading us into singing America the Beautiful. 

Susan Webster presented the guests in attendance, Asst. Dist. Guv Steve Lingenbrink, Donna Whitsell and Rosario Gonzalez. Not wanting to be left behind and upon learning that Donna and Rosario were in attendance as guests of their husbands, Larry Duffield immediately called Elna on her cell phone to ask her to stop whatever she was doing and rush to the meeting, which she graciously did just in time for Nikita’s presentation.

 

After the guest introductions Pres Gary gave a detailed and sometimes emotional account of the events that took place at last weekend’s district conference in Coeur d’Alene, and encouraged everyone to make an effort to attend next year’s conference because not only in this event members have the opportunity to bond, but also to learn about amazing stories of Rotarians that dedicate a portion of their lives to make a difference in this world for the betterment of others who are less fortunate. Some of their accounts can be heartfelt and profound and bring tears to one’s eyes which they did. At the conference Pres. Gary was awarded with the Presidential Citation something we are all proud of. Noteworthy in his account of the events was Nikita’s participation during which she did an outstanding job addressing the audience about her experiences during her year as an exchange student, and to the delight of the audience she acknowledged the impact on her life of her co-sponsoring Rotary club’s motto: “having fun is a serious business”.

           Past 30      Pushing 30  

Pres. Gary made some important announcements (see elsewhere in this publication) and recognized the four members celebrating birthdays, Greg Gratz (left), Julian Denes, Bill Schink, and Burke Barker. Bill and Burke were absent. Julian talked about last year’s events in his life, and shared among other things his feelings of being almost 30, leaving some of us to ponder of our feelings of having 30 left, maybe.  Admitting he's beyond 30 . . . Weddings, graduations, a job change have made Greg year's more eventful than usual.

Nikita then gave us weekly report which included her experiences at the District Conference, and her new host family. Principal Vicky informed us of the upcoming Prom that Nikita is attending, and appealed to the membership’s generosity to continue on with the customary “pass the hat” tradition to help Nikita mitigate some of the expenses she will have to incur on to attend Prom. As always the members responded enthusiastically, Nikita now counts with a $300+++ war chest to prepare for this so important event in her life. 

Guests suddenly realized why some members walked away from Tana at the beginning of the meeting, all she was doing was looking for (personal and confidential) information to publicly get them in trouble as a way to take with some of their hard earned money. She rightfully fined some people for not attending the District Conference, for missing their assigned duties, and others for leaving behind at the Grange valuable items such as raffle prizes, and others for thievery of nametags, and misuse of personal IDs, but then she got carried away by fining others simply for being nice guys like Daryl, Larry and this reporter who had to pay unduly fines.  

For the final portion of the meeting, Nikita took the stage again, but unfortunately and for circumstances beyond her control, she was not able to make part of her original presentation, she did however take time to acknowledge her host families with thank you notes, artwork, and kind words. The rest of her presentation consisted of a couple of videos she recorded to take back home in India so that her family and friend can see how kids behave at HS football games, and another one of “how to” cut a Christmas tree in America. 

                                              Respectfully submitted  --- Jorge

 

                      

Nikki thanked Susan and Vicki for their contributions to her great year here.