A special congratulations to Blair Rotarian Mick Mines who was elected as the District 18 State Senator on November 5th. 

Our Assistant District Governor, Martha Webb, will be visiting the club on November 26th.  Please plan to attend the meeting so we have a good showing for the club.

Club members have voted to "ring bells" for the Salvation Army for the upcoming Holiday Season.  At this time we are scheduled to work the 2nd Saturday after Thanksgiving, December 7th, at No Frills.  Please schedule some time to help out on the 7th.  Please contact President Shirley for available times on the sign up sheet.

Notes from the November 12th Meeting - Program Chair - Mick Mines

The club approved the following grants to local programs and projects:

• $500 to the Washington County Ministerial Association Good Samaritan Fund
• $500 to the Dana College Leadership Development Program
• $500 to the Salvation Army

Due to a late cancellation of his program speaker, Mick Mines gave a presentation on the Nebraska Legislature.
Mick shared some of the information he received at the orientation for new State Senators.  The Nebraska State Legislature is the only one-house, nonpartisan Legislature in the nation.  The unicameral structure was accepted by voters in 1934.  The new structure reduced the number of senators from 133 to 43, the number of committees from 61 to 18 and reduced the cost of running the legislature from $202,000 to $103,000. 

Mick does not yet know on which committees he will serve.  There are currently 14 standing committees of the legislature including:  Agriculture; Appropriations; Banking, Commerce and Insurance; Business and Labor; Education; General Affairs; Government, Military and Veterans' Affairs; Health and Human Services; Judiciary; Natural Resources, Nebraska Retirement Systems; Revenue; Transportation and Telecommunications and Urban Affairs.  Given Mick's background he has interest in the committees underlined above.

Under the Legislature's personnel policy, as a freshman legislator, Mick may hire two people for his office, an administrative assistant and a legislative aide.  Mick has been receiving a number of applications for these two positions has been able to hire two individuals with experience working for other legislators.

Given the current fiscal challenges facing the state the freshman senators received a day-long review from the State's Fiscal Office regarding state revenues and expenditures.  One need not worry that state legislators are contributing to the budget shortfalls - a senator receives $12,000 per year for his/her services.  In addition, the senator receives a per-diem allowance of $85 per day, during session, if he/she lives move than 50 miles from Lincoln.  The sessions are either long (January to June) or short (January to April) on alternate years.  Mick will begin serving his term on January 8, 2003.

There is no doubt that the club will be hearing more about the activities of the legislature from Mick in the future.  Mick reports that it was a wonderful experience running for office and he looks forward to serving the people of the 18th Legislative District.

Rotary Question of the Week

What is an NID?

Rotary Fact of the Week (from  the RI Website)

During synchronized National Immunization Days (NIDs), 16 countries across West Africa recently collaborated to vaccinate all children under five within their borders against polio. About 70 million children were targeted in the 9-15 November campaign that saw local and visiting Rotarians leading volunteer efforts to rid the region of the crippling disease.

In Nigeria, which faces major challenges that include lingering cases of the disease and the wild poliovirus, 43 Rotarians from the United States Midwest joined some 3,500 local Rotarians to help deliver the oral polio vaccine to 40 million children.

"Though we've made great progress toward eradicating this crippling disease, we must remain steadfast if we are to realize our dream of a polio-free world by 2005," said the leader of the group, David Groner, a past governor of District 6360, Michigan. "No child today should ever have to suffer from this disease as it is totally preventable. Just 50 cents [U.S. currency] worth of vaccine can protect a child for life."

Thought of the Week

"Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work." - Thomas Alva Edison

November Birthdays
Luanne Lathrop 1st
Don Boswell 14th