• CLUB OUT HUNGER: Once again local civic clubs have been invited to participate in the annual "Club Out Hunger" fund-raising event for the Central Missouri Food Bank, which will be held this year on Tuesday, August 23, from noon to 1 p.m. at the Hearnes Fieldhouse. Attendance at the event on behalf of our club will constitute a makeup, but we will also have a regular club meeting on Thursday, August 25. To fully participate in the Club Out Hunger event, our club needs a man and a woman volunteer to represent us. The woman will compete in a punt, pass and kick competition at Faurot Field from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday, August 16. The man will compete on the day of the luncheon in a "Truman the Tiger Wannabe" contest, donning the Truman costume and performing incognito for the audience to the MU fight song; the Truman Wannabe receiving the biggest applause will win. Volunteers should contact Darcy Wells immediately following the meeting today.

• MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS SOCIETY FUNDRAISER: Our District Governor is urging Rotarians to volunteer to support the 3000+ cyclists who will participate in the Gateway Chapter-National Multiple Sclerosis Society's 21st Annual National City MS 150 Bike Tour based at the Midway Expo Center on the weekend of September 9-11. Volunteer jobs available include: Registration, staffing rest stops, bike checks, communications, parking, serving meals, handling supplies, and finish line activities. For more information or to sign up as a volunteer, contact Emily Jokerst at 314-446-4182 or emily.jokerst@gatewayms150.org. Information also is available at www.gatewayms150.org.
  

• An updated (8/11/05) list of our Committees for the year has now been posted to the website (see link on the Home Page).  Take a minute to check it out.

• CLUB SOCIAL EVENT: Mark your calendar for our next club social, which will be held on Thursday, September 29, from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. at the University Club. The per-person cost will be $10, which will include beer, wine and hors d'oeuvres. RSVP and send checks to Paula Tiernan, 709 Boulder Dr., Columbia, MO 65201 (make checks payable to Paula). Club members who belong to the University Club may pay through their University Club account -- just let Paula know that's what you want to do. Club members are invited to make an evening of it by having dinner at the University Club after the social. For that evening only, club members who are not University Club members may enjoy dinner there but will need to pay with a credit card or cash. To make reservations, call Emily at 882-2586 and tell her you're with Rotary.
  

• BOARD CANDIDATES: The Nominating Committee has nominated the following six club members as candidates for three Board of Directors positions to be filled in the Club Election on September 29: Lex Akers, Jim Elliott, Glen Heggie, Darlene Johnson, Jim Ollar and Al Tacker. Biographical sketches of the candidates will be circulated at club meetings in September.
  

• Our club will be hosting an exchange student who arrived last week.   Her name is Vero and is from Mexico. We are still looking for a host family for the middle of the year (End Nov. to spring break).  She is an outstanding young woman and should be a lot of fun.  We are sharing the responsibility with Metro Rotary and Northwest.
  If you are interested, or know of someone who would be, please contact either Glen Heggie, Paige Scott or Al Tacker.

• FUND RAISER:  The club is now actively selling sterling silver bracelets with a pawprint charm as a fundraiser. 20% of the profits go to the local community and 80% to projects in Mexico.  Check out the flyer for additional details, or see Janice, Darlene or Phil.

HISTORYMOMENT

 ROTARY FIRSTS

• Rotary first presented "Significant Achievement Awards" in 1969 to clubs with outstanding international or community services projects.
• Rotary's first Interact club was organized in Melbourne, Florida, in 1962 to become the pioneer for about 7,200 Interact clubs in 88 countries.
• Rotary's first convention held in the Southern Hemisphere was in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 1948.
• Rotary was assigned the copyright on the "4-Way Test" in 1954 when its author, Herbert Taylor, became president of Rotary International.
• Rotary's first Community Service project took place in 1907 when Chicago Rotarians led a campaign to install a public "comfort station" in the city hall.
• 1964-65 was the first year when The Rotary Foundation received total contributions of a million dollars in a single year. Today more than $45 million is given annually. Contributions since 1917 total more than $750 million.
• Rotary's first appeal for aid to disaster victims was in 1913 when $25,000 was given for flood relief in Ohio and Indiana.
• Rotary's motto, "He Profits Most Who Serves Best," was first expressed at Rotary's very first Convention in Chicago in 1910.

ABCs of Rotary" by Cliff Dotchterman - reprinted with permission).
______________________________________________
 

Mary Ann McCollum introduced MU Vice Provost Jim Coleman who gave an update on the University's life sciences programs.

Some interesting facts and figures:

• Economic impact of research at UMC:  $217 million in research at UMC translates to over $390 million of economic impact in Missouri (mostly Columbia), and supports over 8,500 jobs here.
• University of Missouri is ranked #2 in growth in federal research, falling just behind Washington University in expenditures.
• MU has consistently been one of the top-ten research institutions in securing funds from the National Science Foundation (NSF) in plant genomics

____________________________________________

If interested, please e-mail Tony St Romaine, or see Kristen Smarr, Jane Phillips or Paige Scott for additional details.
______________________________________________  

 Web Editor:  Tony St Romaine

View Past Issues of RotarySpeak