General News                                                                                                                   

Next Sunday, April 15th is the annual Blair Rotary Aebleskiver Breakfast.  This is our major fund raising event for the year and everyone's help is needed. Last week Abranda sent out a work sign up sheet - please be sure to respond to Abranda.

Please reserve the date of June 22nd for the annual Blair Rotary Golf Tournament.  Begin now to form your teams!

We have received a membership application from Kevin Hall.  If any member has just cause for not granting Kevin membership please contact a club officer immediately.

Reminder: attendance should be at least 60%, if you can't make a meeting you can do a make-up on the web at the following address:  http://www.rotaryeclub7890.org/makeup.htm 

Notes from April 3rd Meeting- Lana Pleak
(Information obtained from USFWS brochure)

Lana's program guest was Sue McDonald, Supervisory Park Ranger at the DeSoto National Wildlife Center.  Sue has been at DeSoto since last fall and she thoroughly enjoys the area. Dedicated in 1958, DeSoto is part of a network of refuges devoted to preserving and restoring increasingly scarce habitat for migratory waterfowl and other wildlife.  The seven-mile long lake that is the heart of DeSoto refuge was once a hazardous bend in the Missouri River.  The federal government made a shorter route through the bend in 1959, to improve navigation.  The DeSoto Bend got its name from the nearby town of DeSoto.

Desoto's primary purpose is to serve as a stopover for migrating ducks and gees.  During typical years, 550,000 snow geese utilize the refuge as a resting and feeding area during their fall migration between the Artic nesting grounds and the Gulf Coast wintering areas.  Peak populations of 50,000 or more ducks, mostly mallards, are common on the refuge during the fall migration.  Bald eagles follow the geese into the area with many wintering there until March.  Peak numbers of bald eagles usually occur in late November and December and again in early March.  As many as 145 have been seen at DeSoto at one time. 

One of the prominent features of the DeSoto National Wildlife Center is the display of items recovered from the steamboat Bertrand.  The Bertrand sank in 1865 when it hit a snag on the Missouri River.  The river quickly covered the boat and its cargo in mud, creating a time-capsule of Civil War-era material.  In 1968 the sternwheeler was discovered on the refuge and unearthed the following year.  The cargo contained all manner of goods needed for the new Montana Territory gold mines, logging camps, farms  and households.  Aside from tools and equipment, even food and clothing were recovered from the boat.  These items, and more, are on exhibit in the Visitor Center at the refuge which is open from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (except federal holidays).

If you would like more information on the DeSoto National Wildlife Center please go to the following website: http://midwest.fws.gov.desoto                

Rotary Question of the Week

When was the Rotary four-way test adopted by Rotary?  What are the four questions of the four-way test?

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

From the earliest days of the organization, Rotarians were concerned with promoting high ethical standards in their professional lives. One of the world's most widely printed and quoted statements of business ethics is The Four-Way Test, which was created in 1932 by Rotarian Herbert J. Taylor (who later served as RI president) when he was asked to take charge of a company that was facing bankruptcy.

This 24-word test for employees to follow in their business and professional lives became the guide for sales, production, advertising, and all relations with dealers and customers, and the survival of the company is credited to this simple philosophy. Adopted by Rotary in 1943, The Four-Way Test has been translated into more than a hundred languages and published in thousands of ways. It asks the following four questions:

"Of the things we think, say or do:

1. Is it the TRUTH?
2. Is it FAIR to all concerned?
3. Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?
4. Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?"

Thought of the Week

"Do what you feel in your heart to be right - for you'll be criticized anyway. You'll be damned if you do, and damned if you don't." Eleanor Roosevelt

April Birthdays
Lana Pleak 7th
Mary Jean Rahlfs 16th
Chris Boswell 17th
Mick Jensen 27th