Please reserve the date of March 30th for the annual Blair Rotary Aebelskiver Breakfast.  Additional details and a sign up sheet for duties will be available at a later date.  This is the major fund-raiser for the club and everyone needs to be available to help out.

Dan Veskrna reports that over $1,000 has been received in cash and pledges from Blair Rotarians for the Polio Eradication Fund Campaign.  Please contact Dan if you have not given a gift or made a pledge. 

Mark's guest for the day was Brigadier General Mark Musick who is with the Nebraska Air Guard stationed in Lincoln.  Mark is a native of Blair and graduated from the Blair High School.

General Musick gave an interesting overview of the events of 9/11 and offered a number of scenarios regarding the intended targets of the planes in Washington.  The plane that hit the Pentagon was supposed to be used for an attack on the White House, but it is presumed that the pilots could not identify the White House due to the layout of the buildings.  The plane that crashed in Pennsylvania was targeted to hit the Capitol building, but due to the heroic efforts of those on board, it never reached its target.  General Musick remarked that those on board the plane that crashed in Pennsylvania were no different than any of us, they "did what they had to do."

Following the attacks on 9/11 the military took control of the skies over the U.S. for four days.  During that time the Nebraska Air Guard was busy helping with the in-flight refueling of the aircraft that flew over the United States protecting major U.S. cities.  The Nebraska Air Guard is also helps during major events such as the Olympics and other high profile sporting events.

The Nebraska Air Guard has also been involved with the war in Afghanistan, again offering in-flight fueling services.  General Musick briefly commented on the swiftness of the U.S. forces in Afghanistan and the superior technological equipment the U.S. has at its disposal.   In fact, within 30 minutes of the beginning of Afghanistan war, the U.S. had destroyed all radar, helicopter and plane capabilities of the Afghanistan military.  This allowed for low altitude, low speed delivery of food, medicine and supplies to the Afghan people.

General Musick also talked about the current situation in Iraq.  He hopes that the issue can be solved without the use of military action, but realizes that may not be possible given Saddam Husein.  General Musick believes Saddam does have chemical and biological weapons and that he will use them (he has before).  At this point the military objective of any invasion will be the removal of Saddam.  This will be a challenge given the loyalty of his inner circle and the peculiar nature of Saddam (i.e. he never sleeps in the same place twice).  

Finally, General Musick reports that the war on terrorism on our own soil is being aided by the reports and vigilance of common citizens.  During the past week alone, several terrorist groups and individuals have been apprehended based on the tips the federal authorities received from the civilian population.

Rotary Question of the Week

How much has been contributed (cash and pledges) by District 6970 (Jacksonville, Florida) for the Polio Eradication Fundraising Campaign?

Rotary Fact of the Week (from  the RI Website)

While in Jacksonville, Florida, USA, on 6 January, RI President Bhichai Rattakul received more than US$1 million in pledges from District 6970 clubs for the polio eradication fundraising campaign (PEFC). Some 1,200 Rotarians from 15 Jacksonville clubs and other clubs throughout the district attended the event.

"It is important that we finish the job of eradicating polio," President Rattakul told the crowd. " We have come so far and achieved so much, but it is a simple fact that the job is only 99 percent completed. And anything less than 100 percent simply means that the job is not done. Your contributions will move us closer to fulfilling our pledge to the world's children to protect them from polio."

The pledges culminated a six-month effort by district clubs that included individual commitments, raffles, and other fundraisers, even donations of money earned by Rotarians who worked at polling places in last November's elections.

Wilson Smith, district PEFC chairman, said, "Normally when an RI president visits, you present him with a gift. We decided that his gift would be the greatest gift of all. When we passed the million-dollar mark we knew we had something special to surprise him with. It was a high point for us."

"We've been a leader in support of PEFC," District 6970 Governor Thomas L. Grimes says. "A lot of us knew someone with polio and historically we've been a very generous group. We've always responded when presented with a genuine need and our commitment to polio has spanned the past 17 years."

Thought of the Week

"There are two primary choices in life: to accept conditions as they exist, or accept the responsibility for changing them."    - Dr. Denis Waitley

January  Birthdays
Wyman Nelson - 19th