Rotary Club 13

"Promoting National and Economic Security: The Impact of Federal Defense Spending in Missouri"

Congressman Ike Skelton

     Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, Congressman Ike Skelton has served Missouri's Fourth Congressional District for 33 years.  That district includes all or part of 25 counties in west central Missouri stretching from Jefferson City west to Blue Springs. It includes much of the Ozark region of the state. The northernmost part of the Fourth District includes Ray County, north of the Missouri River. The southernmost point of the district is Webster County, only 30 miles from the Arkansas border.

     A native of Lexington, Skelton, is a graduate of Wentworth Military Academy and the University of Missouri at Columbia where he received A.B. and L.L.B. degrees. He was named as a member of Phi Beta Kappa and the Law Review. Prior to his election to Congress, Skelton served as Lafayette County Prosecuting Attorney and as a Missouri State Senator.

     Skelton is an Eagle Scout, a member of Sigma Chi social fraternity, a Lions Club member, and vice chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation. Skelton is an elder of the First Christian Church in Lexington. He and his late wife Susie have three sons. Skelton remarried Patricia Martin in 2009.

CPR/AED DUTY SCHEDULE

Comfort Station - The 2009 $217 Challenge

Rotary Assistance in Haiti

Many Rotarians have inquired about contributions to assist Haiti.  Please know that a Donor Advised Fund has been established that is accepting contributions.  Complete information is available at www.rotary.org/haiti.  Information is also available on the home page, www.rotary.org.  For more information, Annie Palubicki (annie.palubicki@rotary.org) will be happy to answer additional questions that you might have on the fund.

In Memoriam

Howard E. Adrian

1921-2010

Due to the holiday printing of the Buzz Saw schedule the synopsis for our December meeting was not printed.

Following are meeting highlights for the Dec. 16, 2009 board of directors meeting:

Membership resignations requests for Milton Clarke, Roger Coldsnow, Bill Howie, Tom McGee and Rex Whitton were accepted with regret.

We did not have any new member proposals to review and approve.

The dues exception policy was granted for one year for Noel Andrews-Sotta and Jeff Lanza. 

Jan. 20, 2010 Board of Directors meeting highlights:

Membership resignations requests from John Byram, Mike Chieppo, Nancy DuVall, Troy Harrison, Rich Hastings, Ed Newcomer and Bob Parfitt were accepted with regret.

The membership proposals  of John Lowry, Anthony Matthies and Jerry Munson and the reinstatements of Matt Gettys, Hal Lowenstein and Marty Mease, published in the Jan. 21 Buzz Saw, were approved.

The dues exception policy was approved for one year for Jim Monahan.

President Matt reported on the November financials noting that we are down in our revenues and down on our expenses just barely breaking even with our budget.

The next board meeting will be Feb. 17 at the American Red Cross, 211 W. Armour Blvd., KC, MO 64111.

Call for Memories

BOWLING NEWS:  by Dick Retrum

     There were a few four letter words uttered on the lanes today.  Foul, Help, Gosh, Ouch!, Darn, Heck, Crud, Oh-No, and  Over just to mention a few.  Mostly related to the number of stubborn ten pins and numerous splits.  A few records might have been broken in the number of ten pins left standing.  It was just one of those days.

It was so bad, the first half first place team, the Off-N-on's didn't have a strike for 32 frames.  The teams anchorman, Norm Waters didn't have a strike for his entire first game.  He suggested that Platetechtonics was to blame for this unusual situation. When asked if the shifting of the Earth's crust would have any impact on his ability to roll a strike, he said, that is my story and I'm sticking to it.

Karl Roscoe reported that the Past Prez's had nine splits in a row.  They claim to have started the four letter word ranting that spread across all the lanes.  Leave it to our elder Statesman to set the example for others to follow.   Karl indicated that next week he is wearing golf shoes to bowl in to improve his game.  The media has been alerted.

However, there was a brief light at the end of the tunnel for Bill Buckner on the Split Ends team.  He rolled a 202, the only high game of the day.  Nice game Bill.    

Last Thursday - January 14, 2010

by Lee Brumitt

President Matt took the podium to welcome a "lively group" of members and numerous guests on the much publicized Guest Day. Charlie Huffman, in particularly good voice, sang the now familiar "Welcome to Rotary" and led the throng in "God Bless America." John Jespersen called upon the proclamations of Martin Luther King in his invocation.  Steve McCue then assumed the unenviable job of introducing around 40 guests and, in the process, having to decipher the well-meaning but not always legible handwriting of his fellow Rotarians. President Matt debuted the Centennial Minute and related two stories from the early days of Club 13 including the 1912 vindication of Rotary before the Kansas City Commercial Club and the gifts showered upon the lady friends or spouses of Rotarians at the 1916 Ladies Night Dinner including, among other useful items, a putty knife! Curt Watkins then introduced our speaker, Dan Hesse, former Army Brat, Ivy League scholar, and current CEO of Sprint.

 Hesse, a man of elevated stature, both in the communications industry and at the podium, started by noting Sprint's long history of giving in the metro area and pledged to remain a generous member of the community. With an annual outlay of $750 million in Sprint salaries alone, not to mention the contributions to its vendors, Sprint continues to be a significant and indispensable community asset and economic engine. While discretely acknowledging the local angst caused by disappearing jobs, Hesse noted that the media coverage of Sprint gets better as one gets away from KC. 

As CEO, Hesse has challenged Sprint to excel in three areas:  consumer satisfaction, brand identity, and cash generation. In fact, Sprint has enjoyed resurgence in customer satisfaction since Hesse took the helm two years ago. Sprint was just named "No. 1" in quality in the voice and wireless voice and data industries by the Yankee Group, a respected evaluator. Hesse, a rock-star in the communications industry, has been asked to serve as the keynote speaker for this week's annual, all-industry Customer Satisfaction Conference held by J.D. Power. He will address "how Sprint has made so much progress, so quickly." While consistently winning "brown bag" tests in which brand names are unknown, branding is a significant market maker in the communications industry. While Sprint does not have the financial clout of AT&T and Verizon, Nielsen has given Sprint's "brand recall" high marks. Lastly, Sprint generated cash flow exceeding $2 billion in the first 3 quarters of 2009 and used the cash to make a sizeable investment in Clearwater, Sprint's 4G endeavor.

While Sprint's progress is impressive, the assembly became spell-bound considering the possibilities which the industry holds when Hesse remarked that there are more cell phones in use than PCs, TVs, and cars combined! There are more cell phones with cameras in use today than cameras of any kind…in the history of cameras!! Hesse continued capturing imaginations when he embarked on discussion of the advent of 4G wireless networks, already in place in 27 markets and coming soon to KC, as well as the wireless innovations which are in store for, among others, the consumer, retail, and medical fields. Get ready for a world without cables and cords, where your doctor conducts examinations remotely, where you read your paper through an electronic device, and where consumer goods and medical devices contain wireless chips. The possibilities are endless, and Hesse, a visionary, hopes to put Sprint on the forefront of developing these new and endless technologies. It was a good luncheon with great camaraderie, humor, and wonderment for what the future holds.

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF SERVICE:   ROTARY CLUB THIRTEEN!

with proud Club 13 spirit                                                                                                            words and music by Carl E. Bolte, Jr.

Lyrics

We put the heartbeat in the Heartland,

Proud of our great scene.

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF SERVICE  from

ROTARY CLUB THIRTEEN.

We stand for good in Kansas City,

We help make it keen.

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF SERVICE from

ROTARY CLUB THIRTEEN.

Ours are high principles

And an honor to fulfill.

We're thrilled to be a century,

And next century we'll be here still.

We're dedicated and we're caring;

Folks know what we mean.

ONE HUNDRED YREARS OF SERVICE from

ROTARY CLUB THIRTEEN

 (Tag)

That's  ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF SERVICE from,

ROTARY CLUB THIRTEEN.

Copyright © 2009

Carl E. Bolte, Jr.