STOP THE RAIN EDITION

OFFICERSPRESIDENT

BRAD PULASKIPRESIDENT-ELECT

ROGER WERTSSECRETARY

LORI PALMERTREASURER

CORY GALLIVAN

DIRECTORSCLUB SERVICE

VOCATIONAL SERVICE

CHARLIE KUNZCOMMUNITY

SERVICECHRIS HERZOGINTERNATIONAL

SERVICEROD CROXFORD

YOUTH EXCHANGE

BOB DANNENBERGSERGEANT

AT ARMSRICK HOOKS

EDITORRICK HOOKS

EAST ALTON ROTARY CLUB WWW.EASTALTONROTARY.ORG CHARTERED OCT. 28, 1971 DISTRICT 6460

Service Above Self(The following is from the 3-6 edition of the Las Vegas Review Journal.)Rotary International's growth around the world tied to chance to help communities In the United States, the past few decades have seen a pretty much across-the-board membership decline among service clubs and fraternal organizations .Rotary International, the venerable, 103-year-old organization that currently has about 33,000 members in 170 countries, hasn't been immune to that trend. But, Rotary International President Wilfrid J. Wilkinson notes, look a bit closer and something intriguing appears. While Rotary membership in North America has, indeed, fallen during the past several years, Wilkinson says, that's been offset by Rotary membership increases in the rest of the world. Including, it seems, places that don't immediately come to Americans' minds when they think "Rotary. "Wilkinson, a retire8d Ontario, Canada, chartered accountant, visited Las Vegas earlier this week to meet with area Rotarians. And, Wilkinson says, the challenge for Rotarians now is to show prospective Rotarians "why belonging to an organization like this is really beneficial not only to them, but to their children and their grandchildren and great-grandchildren." Wilkinson, a Rotarian for 45 years, said Rotary's membership declines in North America have been "hidden because we have been growing in other parts of the world, like India, Taiwan, Korea, Eastern Europe. As a result, our membership has not gone down. It's continued going up." In North America, the challenge for both Rotary and other groups stems from, for example, the demands of juggling job and family. Particularly in two-breadwinner or single-parent families, it can be difficult to convince prospective Rotary members that "the time they spend in a service club is worthwhile for themselves and worthwhile for their families."Another problem has been Rotary's historical reticence at blowing its own horn. Rotarians, Wilkinson says, "didn't feel public image was something they had to work on." Reaching younger prospective members today also requires new approaches. "A lot of young people don't read newspapers," Wilkinson says. "They go to YouTube, they go to blogging or what have you. We've got to get into those areas as well, just like media companies are." But when prospective Rotarians finally do discover Rotary International, they'll find an organization whose core values haven't changed in more than a century, beginning with the notion, encapsulated in the Rotary motto: Service Above Self. Rotarians around the world undertake service projects of all sorts, ranging from the Rotary Club of Las Vegas West's adoption of West Prep Elementary School -- Wilkinson toured the school during his visit -- to, on a global scale, partnering with the World Health Organization and UNICEF in a still-continuing effort to eradicate polio around the world. Wilkinson said it's the chance to help their communities that lies behind Rotary's growth around the world. Wherever they live, Rotarians "see the needs in their communities," he says, but, before Rotary, "haven't had a vehicle to do something about those needs." Wilkinson's own first overseas experience with Rotary was in working on a measles immunization project in India in 1982. For many, the image of Rotary may be of businessmen who, Wilkinson wryly notes, "have lunch. That's an image we have to fight. But when you look at (such efforts as) West school and see what they're doing, it's tremendous." Also important, Wilkinson says, is revitalizing Rotary's ties with the business community. According to Wilkinson, one study noted a drop in the American public's confidence in business from more than 80 percent in 1993 to 39 percent in 2003, a drop that stems from the Enron failure and other business scandals." We have to reconnect with business and business has to reconnect with us, because we are an organization that stresses integrity in all our dealings, and that's what the business community has to do," Wilkinson says. "We can provide them a great deal of help." Meanwhile, Wilkinson says he's enjoying his tenure as Rotary International's president, even if it does require a good deal of travel."I just checked and in January and February we slept in 21 different cities," he says, adding that the two nights he and his wife, Joan, were able to spend in Las Vegas was a relative luxury.

WELCOME RHONDAWITH PLEASURE WE WISH TO INTRODUCE OUR NEWEST MEMBER, RHONDA PLUESTER. SHE IS THE BANK OF EDWARDSVILLE AIRPORT BRANCH MANAGER. IF YOU HAVE YET DONE SO, PLEASE GIVE HER A WARM WELCOME.

THE SKINNY-(FROM THE COMBINED CLUB MEETING)SINGING BEGAN WITH CHARLOTTE TICKLING THE 88ʼS AND PINKY LEADING US IN 5 SONGS. AFTER OUR CHICKEN DINNER

BETHALTO PREZ BRIAN WELCOMED THE 45 ROTARIANS IN ATTENDANCE. EACH CLUB PRESIDENT HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO REVIEW THEIR CURRENT CLUB ACTIVITIES. BRAD AND ROD SHARED OUR CLUB PRESENTATION. DID YOU KNOW THAT DAVE HAS A NAME BADGE FROM

ALASKA? WOOD RIVER CLUB PREZ ANDY REPORTED THAT HE WILL BE ESTABLISHING AT LEAST ONE INTERACT CLUB AT EAST ALTON-WOOD RIVER HIGH SCHOOL AT THE CONCLUSION OF HIS TERM. HIS CLUB WILL ALSO BE SPONSORING A GOLF TOURNAMENT ON MAY 9TH. AUSTIN SERVED UP THE FINES THAT BENEFITED HABITAT FOR HUMANITY. IF YOUR WERE SITTING AT THE WRONG TABLE, NOT IN POSSESSION OF A BLUE TICKET OR DID NOT KNOW JOHN MCCAINʼS 6TH COUSIN, YOU PAID THE PRICE. ONE WAG SUGGESTED THAT AUSTIN WAS JUST LIKE THE TAX ASSESSOR, BUT THERE WAS NO APPEAL! AT THE END OF THE EVENING $156 WAS RAISED FOR HABITAT. THE BETHALTO CLUB BUDGETS MONEY FOR HABITAT EACH YEAR. IT WAS SUGGESTED THAT THE OTHER TWO CLUBS FOLLOW SUIT. OUR PROGRAM WAS PRESENTED BY DISTRICT VOCATIONAL SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE BUD RAMSHAW. HE WAS ACCOMPANIED BY ILLINOIS DEPARTMENT OF REHAB SERVICES SPECIALIST MARK AUGUSTINE. THEY TOLD US ABOUT A ROTARY SUPPORTED PROGRAM THAT PROMOTES THE HIRING OF HANDICAPPED ADULTS AND ALLOWS THE EMPLOYER TO RECEIVE SIGNIFICANT TAX CREDITS FOR DOING SO. THE PROGRAM WAS ESTABLISHED IN 2003 BUT HAS YET TO GAIN MUCH TRACTION. WE DONʼT HAVE THE SPACE TO GO INTO GREAT DETAIL, BUT IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN THE DETAILS, YOU MAY CONTACT MARK AT MARK.AUGUSTINE@ILINOIS.GOV. IT REALLY IS A WIN-WIN TYPE PROGRAM. THE MEETING WAS RANG TO A CLOSE AT 7:30.

APRIL 3, 2008

BIRTHDAYS

THE ROTARY BANNER

RHONDA PLUESTER

EAST ALTON ROTARY CLUBPOB 56EAST ALTON, IL. 62024-0056

RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED

FOUR WAY TEST

IS IT THE TRUTH?

IS IT FAIR TO ALL CONCERNED?

WILLIT BUILD GOODWILL AND

BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?

WILLIT BE BENEFICIAL TO ALL CONCERNED?

SERVICE ABOVE SELF

MAKE-UP OPPORTUNITIESMON. NOON-WOOD RIVER ST. JOHNʼS UCC NOON-JERSEYVILLE REACE UNITED CHURCH 6PM-ALTON-GODFREY MOONLIGHTTUE. NOON-COLLINSVILLE HOLIDAY INN NOON-GRANITE CITY NIEDRINGHAUS METHODIST NOON-HIGHLAND MICHAELʼS RESTAURANTWED. NOON-GOSHEN RUSTYʼS RESTAURANT 6:30-BETHALTO VILLA ROSETHU. NOON-EDWARDSVILLE FIRST CHRISTIAN

What is hodgepodge? The word used since the late 15th century, derives from the French hocher, “to shake together,” and pot, “pot”, which yielded the French word hockepot for a stew made of many ingredients. Hochepot became hotchpotch and, finally, hodgepodge in English.HISTORY1776: George Washington received an honorary doctor of laws degree from Harvard College.1860: The Pony Express postal service began with riders leaving St. Joseph, Missouri, and Sacramento, California, at the same time.1882: Outlaw Jesse James was shot to death in St. Joseph, Missouri, by Robert Ford, a member of his own gang.1948: President Truman signed the Marshall Plan, which allocated more than $5 billion in aid for 16 European countries.1968: North Vietnam agreed to meet with US representatives to set up preliminary peace talks.1979: Jane M. Byrne was elected mayor of Chicago.1996: Suspected Unabomber Theodore Kaczynski was arrested. SMILECHANGE IS INEVITABLE, EXCEPT FROM VENDING MACHINES

Empowering girls, women in AfghanistanGirls living in and near the village of DehʼSubz, outside of Kabul, Afghanistan, heard school bells ringing closer to their homes for them for the first time starting in March.Rotarian Razia Jan, a native of Afghanistan, visited her homeland in 2001 after the Talibanʼs reign (1996-2001), and in 2002 she began working with the orphanages in the area. It was during her visits that she decided the girls who walk more than two miles each way on a dirt road to school and those who have never had any formal education needed a school closer to where they live. “A whole generation of girls have never been to school because of the Talibanʼs rules prohibiting girls from attending school and the destruction of the schools,” said Jan, a member of the Rotary Club of Duxbury, Massachusetts, USA. “But that is about to change.”Seeing firsthand the need for girls and women to be educated and productive in her homeland, Jan became inspired to build a school for girls that also will serve as an adult education center for women. “Our club is just about to open a school for girls in Afghanistan to help break the cycle of poverty [through] access to an education in a very poor village,” Jan says. “By providing them with an education, we are giving them a ray of hope to protect them from the vicious cycle of poverty, malnutrition, and hunger. ”The year-round school is scheduled to open with about 200 girls, ages 4-18. The adult education center is expecting 20 to 30 women, many of them widows with children, to come to learn a trade or how to start a business. During two visits to Afghanistan, Jan found the site for the school, which she says is in a safe location and within walking distance of six or seven villages. By the time itʼs completed, the school will cost more than $150,000, and additional funds will be needed to sustain it. The 17-member Duxbury club has raised more than $100,000 so far. “My club is very supportive,” Jan says. “We had two big fundraisers for this project, in 2005 and in 2007, and they both were very successful.” The fundraisers included a program with a book signing by Khaled Hosseni, music by Ehsan Aman, a silent auction and a gourmet Afghan dinner.

“Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there.”- Will Rogers

CLUB ARCHIVESApril 2, 1998

Dave Hopkins told us about the Bluff City Bombers