Club members are reminded to save the date of August 13th for the annual Blair Rotary Golf Tournament.  Additional details and assignments will be given at a later date.

Club members are reminded they can do make-ups on the web at  http://www.rotaryeclubone.org.

Notes from the May 18th Meeting - Program Chair - Rev. Shirley Schmidt

Shirley used her program time to thank the Blair Rotary for supporting the many local charities and activities with which she is involved.  As the pastor of the Blair Congregational Church, Shirley is involved with a number of local programs including the Building Block Boutique, Washington County Food Pantry, Rebuilding Together, Joseph's Coat and the Washington County Ministerial Association (Shirley is currently the chairperson for the association).  Over the years the Blair Rotary has supported nearly all of these activities.  

Shirley gave an update on some of the programs listed above.  

• The Washington County Food Pantry is currently stable but if past trends repeat, the food pantry will experience an increase of demand during the summer.  This is due to school aged children being home during the summer and not having access to the school lunch program.  
• Joseph's Coat is doing well but experiencing the problems of limited space.  Clothing and related items are packed into the space on Washington Street in Blair.  The organization is looking for a larger space and if anyone knows of a space, please contact Shirley.
• Both Joseph's Coat and the Food Pantry need volunteer help.  This is particularly true during the summer when the Dana College students who typically volunteer to help will be gone for summer break.  The hours of operation are 9 to 5, Monday through Friday and 9 to 1 on Saturday.  If sufficient volunteers groups (local social clubs) can be engaged the store could be opened on Thursday evenings.

Shirley also shared the plight of some of those needing assistance from the local charities.  She also indicated that the various agencies try to work together to insure that there is not an abuse of the system.  Although this may occur Shirley does not feel this is a problem.  She feels it is far better to help those in need rather than worry about the occasional person taking advantage of the services. 

Rotary Question of the Week

Which four countries could be polio-free within months?

Rotary Fact of the Week (from  the RI or District Website)

The World Health Assembly is the annual meeting of the World Health Organization's 192 member states, represented by their health ministers. Polio is one of several health concerns being addressed at the 17-22 May event.

On the first day of business, health ministers from the six remaining polio-endemic countries — Afghanistan, Egypt, India, Niger, Nigeria, and Pakistan — announced a two-pronged strategy to further accelerate eradication activities in both regions. Latest figures show that Afghanistan, Egypt, India, and Pakistan now have record low levels of polio. Together, the four countries have reported only 21 cases in 2004, compared to 94 this time last year

Thought of the Week

"Charisma becomes the undoing of leaders. It makes them inflexible, convinced of their own infallibility, unable to change." - Peter F. Drucker

May Birthdays
Ed Jipp 12th
Jim Peterson 16th
Ken Rhoades 22nd
Blake Dillon 27th
Dan Veskrna 28th
Eric Sternberg 29th

Service Above Self!