MADISONVILLE KY ROTARY NEWSLETTER FOR WEEK OF              March 12, 2008

GUESTS - Bob Burke re-introduced Rick and Michelle Burnside, whom we met back in the fall. Bob announced they both have turned in their Rotary member applications.

BIRTHDAYS / ANNIVERSARYS / SPECIAL EVENTS - Marion Miller gave 5 bucks to announce her and Ron Sanders new business “I surf Hopkins County”. Chaun Castleberry gave one dollar to congratulate David Thomas as the “new” President Elect for next year. I am the Rotarian who recruited him to join. I can only hope the next person I recruit will take the Rotary motto to heart just as David has “Service above self”.

ANNOUNCEMENTS - President Kent Waide made several announcements including the following.

Kent introduced new Rotarian Candiest Sachel, she was a guest of David Thomas last fall, and her application was approved for membership. Make sure to personally welcome Candiest Sachel to our Rotary Club!

Bill Tandy has withdrawn as President-Elect for 2008-2009 due to the uncertainty of what the future months may hold. (Bill, we all hope for the best for you, your family and a future that will keep you in Madisonville).

Lisa Miller who has been an honorary Rotarian has resigned for a while due to her new job obligations. She will be back as soon as she can.

Our deepest sympathy and prayers go out to the family of former Rotarian Woody Yonts who recently past away.

Please continue to keep Skip and Melinda McGaw in your prayers.

Contact one of the Auction Co-chairs Charlie Willett, Sandi Brooks, or Shane Fortner if you have any questions about what you can do to help with Rotary Auction 2008.

Sharon Smith is the Blacksheep Chairperson for this year’s Rotary Auction. Sharon is asking each Rotarian who is able to donate $100 to Blacksheep in addition to any auction items you may buy or donate. Sharon hopes all Madisonville Rotarians will be able to become Century Club members!

If you have an up coming program, but do not have a guest speaker, Kent has a Rotary DVD that can be used for an informational program.

The cool Rotary sweatshirts provided to those who rang the Salvation Army bell in December will also be provided to the remaining club members for the auction. If you did not get one before, please contact Margo Scott and give her your shirt size. It is a small benefit of being a contributor to the best service organization in the community.

Dr. Morris Yates, announced the Hopkins County Long Term Disaster Recovery Corporation who has helped 200 families from the 2005 Tornado and 4 families from the recent most recent tornados, on April 6th will have a benefit concert at HCCHS, Country Music Singer John Berry will be performing, and tickets are $15

MADISONVILLE ROTARY HISTORY MOMENT - Our Historian, Blis Powell was in attendance at Wednesday’s Rotary Club meeting, however Blis must have been under a GAG order because he didn’t speak.

PROGRAM - Jeanie Barnett and Frank Williams were responsible for the program. But, Assistant District Govenor Bob Burke introduced our speaker Charlee Nicole Doom. Charlee is a senior at the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture. After her graduation in May, she will travel to the University of Western Australia to serve as a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar and complete a masters program.
Charlee shared a very heart-touching presentation on her time in Tanzania, Africa. She learned to speak Kiswahili while there and how 90 percent of the population lives off only $2.00 per day. (Can you imagine that is the price we each pay weekly if we participate in the half pot drawing)? If you are interested in learning more of how you can help feed these wonderful people log on to www.freerice.com

Upcoming Programs/Events - According to the program schedule… March 19 is up to Jayne Barton and Kent Waide. Trish Noel from the Hopkins County Tourism Commission will speak about upcoming events and the proposed Youth Sports Complex.