FEBUARY 15, 2008

A NOTE FROM PRESIDENT TONY CUMMINGS: “Happy belated Valentine’s Day everyone! Thanks again to those members who joined us at the Festival of Lights this year for setting up our display, donating items for the Silent Auction, selling raffle tickets and, yes, even staffing the Candy Cane House! I am happy to report that our club earned $1,379.00 for our efforts! Congratulations and let’s start thinking about next year’s Festival of Lights effort. At our recent board meeting intrepid club member Chris Palmer regaled those in attendance with his vision of this becoming our top fundraiser. He reported that some organizations earn over $4,000.00 and with a concerted effort our club could double our earnings. Please keep thinking about items that we could present at auction and selling raffle tickets as these are the keys to success ***** Thanks to Larry Windau, Pat and Gee Gee Scheid for attending the Division 12 Meeting in Clyde on January 16 at the Clyde Moose 134 Eaton Ave. The topic of the council meeting is the Mid-Year Education program on March 8^th in Columbus. I’m still welcoming any club member to attend this important program. As soon as I receive more details of times and programs I will send them out. ***** We have five members who have signed up for bowling on Saturday February 23rd in Port Clinton. I would like a few extras just in case somebody cannot make it for some unknown reason or a second team would be great! ***** We held our first Golf Committee meeting on Wednesday February 13 at Ohio Business College and made decisions on the golf team registration and hole sponsor flyers. Many great ideas were generated for the event to be held on Wednesday, May 28th at 8am at Sleepy Hollow Golf Course. The hole sponsors are crucial for our success and the key to making a profit. Our event is also doubling as the Division 12 Golf Outing and we hope each club sends a team and sponsors a hole. Our Goal this year is to clear $1500 after expenses. If we can get each member to secure one hole sponsor we will exceed our goals. If a hole sponsor is not possible; we will need door prizes and volunteers as well. And of course four-member teams! ***** Last, but not least, we sill need someone to step up to be vice president. It is not a difficult job and I assure you that you will enjoy the experience! Have a great week and think about potential new club members.”

UPCOMING EVENTS:

February 19     Program: Lisa Beurksen, Erie County Recycling

February 23     Division 12 Golf Outing in Port Clinton

February 26     Committee Day – @ FRMC – South Campus, Brainstorming for Golf Outing

March 4           Program: Firelands Symphony/Jamie Steinmann & Ellen Scott

March 8           Ohio District Mid-Year Education Program in Columbus

March 11         Program: SMCC Key Club will run our meeting

March 12         Board Meeting @ FRMC – South Campus Cafeteria

March 18         Program: Timothy Nyman – Black Tie Dance Studio

WHAT CAR NAMES DO PEOPLE LIKE BEST? The Ford Mustang is the big winner here. The next five names that people like best are Chrysler 300, Toyota 4Runner, Honda Civic, Chevy Malibu and VW GTI.

MEMBERSHIP IS EVERYONE”S JOB: Our club has 33 great members and we need more in order to provide the community services we’ve come to be known for. Most of us became members after a current club member invited us to attend a meeting and this is still the most effective way to recruit new members. We must continue our efforts to do our part to help Kiwanis International reach 1 million members worldwide by 2015!

CARS REALLY CAN LAST A LONG TIME: Driving your car for several years instead of buying a new one can save money, especially if the car is paid off. Studies show that a well-maintained car will run for about 128,500 miles without major repairs. Drive one that long and you'll save money on principle, interest, and insurance. If your car has 30,000 miles on it and isn't requiring a lot of repairs, you can probably drive it three years more, says Philip Reed of edmunds.com. But if it's regularly requiring expensive repairs, you should probably get a new car.

TAP VERSUS BOTTLED WATER: Cities say water from the tap is as good or better than bottled! In times past, many homes had a big bottle of water in the refrigerator. Glasses were filled with the cold water at dinner, and people would pour themselves a glass when they were thirsty. It was thought of as special water though it came from tap. Those days are gone. Instead, you will find gallon bottles bought at the store or half a dozen smaller bottles made of plastic and held together with a heavy plastic strip. Oddly, though bottled water is expensive, most makers readily admit that their product is filtered tap water. The phenomenal growth of water sales isn't just costing consumers a lot of money, it stresses the environment. It takes oil to make and transport those plastic bottles. And that means greenhouse gasses.              Fewer than a quarter of the plastic water bottles are recycled, leaving billions of pounds of them in landfills. Water is one of the healthiest drinks, and in the U.S., tap water is generally very good. One advantage of tap water is that it usually contains fluoride, which protects against tooth decay. If you prefer filtered water, inexpensive faucet attachments and pitchers can deliver an excellent product. In spite of the environmental situation and local government problems caused by the bottles, if you still like the convenience of carrying water with you, at least recycle your bottles.

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY: On February 15, 1898, one of the first American battleships, the USS Maine, explodes and sinks in Havana harbor, killing 260 crew members and helping spark the Spanish-American War. It weighed more than 6,000 tons and was built at a cost of more than $2 million. The Maine had been sent to Cuba to protect the interests of Americans there after a rebellion against Spanish rule broke out in Havana in January. Though the American public immediately blamed Spanish saboteurs, investigators in 1976 concluded that the explosion was caused by a fire that ignited the Maine’s ammunition stocks.

QUOTE OF THE MONTH: “Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds you plant.”  Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894) Novelist and poet

TRIVIA QUESTION – How many golf hole sponsors did we have at last year’s golf outing? (January Trivia Answer: Our very own President Tony Cummings played Santa Claus on our night to staff the Candy Cane House at the Festival of Lights).

THE NEXT ISSUE of the “Sandusky Kiwanian” will be published on March 15, 2008. Submissions are due by March 13 and can be sent to Newsletter Editor, Jim Sennish, via FAX @ (419) 557-6835 or by e-mail Jim.Sennish@firelands.com. Please be sure to visit our club and other Kiwanis websites at www.sanduskykiwanis.org, www.ohiokiwanis.org, and www.kiwanis.org to see all the new information about our club and Kiwanis in general.