ANNOUNCEMENTS

(notes provided by the retired and relaxed Allan Penwell)

Please welcome to our club a new Rotarian, Brian Bradshaw, who is sponsored by Gary Olsen.  Brian is an engineer, and his wife is a micro-biologist working for a start-up company in San Francisco.  Brian said this was a great opportunity for her, but it’s a commuter marriage with an end-date (the commute, not the marriage).  We’re glad to have you on board, Brian!

March 1: Monticello Rotary Club’s 90^th Anniversary Dinner and Auction Celebration. Tickets are $20 per person for the event. For tickets, buy direct from Monticello members Kelly Crawford, kcrawford@fsbcorp.com or Shelly Crawford-Stock, shelly@cfhins.com.

March 1:  We have a great volunteer opportunity on Saturday March 1^st at Lincoln Square Mall in Urbana from 10 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. It’s Read Across America which our club has continually supported.  We will be looking for up to 12 total volunteers to read to kids.  It’s only 30 minutes.  Bring your own book or use one there.  Contact Phillip Holthaus for more information.

March 6^th:  Don’t forget bowling and don’t forget your checkbook for our annual night of bowling in the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Champaign County Bowl for Kids’ Sake.  The event will take place starting at 7 p.m. at Western Bowl in Champaign, and all are invited (non-players encouraged to attend and heckle).  Practice session is Thursday, March 5^th at Old Orchard Lanes at 4:30 p.m.

March 12:  All Area Clubs Rotary Meeting – 109th Anniversary of Rotary, organized by Champaign West.  Noon at Round Barn Center.

March 13:  The regular CUSR meeting is canceled on this day.

PROGRAM

Our speaker on Thursday was Patrick MacKay who is a managing director of 004 Technologies USA which is a mobile app development shop.  Patrick is also a member of Champaign West Rotary.  The company sponsors workshops as well as development of IOS and Android apps.

Here are a few amazing statistics:

*There are 143 million people in the U.S. who use smartphones.

*About 50% use Androids and 41% use Apples.  The remaining 9% is divided between Microsoft, Blackberry, and Nokia.

*There were 143 million smartphones sold worldwide in 2013.

*There were 300 million tablets sold last year.

*Ninety percent of smartphone users keep their phones within three feet for 24/7.

*The smartphone is the Swiss Army knife of media.

Smartphone applications:

*Are intimate, interactive, and immediate.

*Provide unrivaled access to the customer.

*Support the seller’s brand.

*Are proactive in changing consumer behavior.

Visit www.004usa.com to contact Brian or learn more about his services and products.

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Upcoming Schedule

February 27th – Dr. Irfan Ahmad will discuss the history of Islam, the local Muslim community, and the Avicenna Community Health Center

March 6th – Rotarian Lin Warfel will discuss 21st century farming and his newly released book of poetry

Wednesday, March 12th – All Club meeting at the Round Barn Conference Center

March 20th – Jim Dey, Opinions Editors at the News-Gazette

March 27 – Bruce Hannon, President and Director of the Land Conservation Foundation

Announcements
(notes provided by the distinguished gentleman from Connecticut, Ed Perry)

The month of March events is filling up with various Rotary activities:

March 1: Monticello Rotary Club’s 90^th Anniversary Dinner and Auction Celebration. Tickets are $20 per person for the Dinner and Auction event. For tickets and more information see Chuck or buy direct from Monticello members Kelly Crawford, kcrawford@fsbcorp.com or Shelly Crawford-Stock, shelly@cfhins.com.

March 7: Dave announced that our annual night of bowling in the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Champaign County Bowl for Kids’ Sake.  The event will take place starting at7pm at Western Bowl in Champaign, and all are invited (non-players encouraged to attend and heckle). Our goal is to have two teams of six members each, and have two lanes of fun. The Club will be donating $600 and in addition each member who signs up is asked to raise a minimum of $50 each for BBBS’s. The ability to bowl is not a requirement to sign up as it is a night of fun for a good cause (Ed Perry can attest to this). Dave passed a sign-up sheet around. Please contact Dave,dkrchak@aol.com, to get on the team. There is also an optional practice session at Old Orchard Lanes being planned for March 6th to help get back in shape. Time is TBD, but will likely take place in the happy hour timeslot.

March 12: at 12 noon, All Area Clubs Rotary Meeting – 109th Anniversary of Rotary, organized by Champaign West @ Round Barn Center (No Sunrise Meeting Thursday, March 13).

Program

Allan Penwell and Ken Buel presented information on The Rotary Foundation. Alan noted that the Rotary Foundation collects voluntary donations from the membership and helps to fund many Rotary projects. He noted that the Foundation started in 1929 with a donation of $500 and now totals over $900 million and will distribute $240 million this year. Polio Plus is one such project.  Rotary is partnered with The Gates Foundation and will spend $129 Million this year to try and eradicate polio from the last remaining countries: Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria.

Allan noted that our club has over forty Paul Harris Fellows, including six multiple Paul Harris Fellows.  Furthermore, Allan stated that since our club began we have donated over $90,000 to The Rotary Foundation.

Ken Buel has served Rotary for many years. His professional career in broadcasting has taken him to many locations throughout the state of Illinois and Missouri. Ken is currently with the Champaign Club and has been past presidents of several Illinois clubs and a past District Governor in Missouri.

The portion of Rotary donations he focused on this morning was the Paul Harris Society as a method of giving to Rotary. To become a member of the Paul Harris Society a Rotarian needs to pledge a donation of $1,000.00 a year for as long as one is financially capable. The Paul Harris Society was started in 1998 on the district level in the United States and now is an official method of giving for Rotary International.

Ken noted that to become a Paul Harris Fellow, one still can give a one-time donation of $1,000.00. This has been the same since 1957 when it was first formed. Rotary has continued to give money to projects and the need increases as our Rotary International membership has note grown over the last 10 years. There are many ways to donate to Rotary and the motto “Every Rotarian Every Year” should be part of those Rotarian’s who are capable of giving. if you are interested in more information on this and the many ways to donate to Rotary, please see Allan or go to www.rotary.org/en/take-action.

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Upcoming Schedule

February 20th – Patrick Mackay, President, 004 Technologies USA

February 27th – Dr. Irfan Ahmad will discuss the history of Islam, the local Muslim community, and the Avicenna Community Health Center

March 6th – Rotarian Lin Warfel will discuss 21st century farming and his newly released book of poetry

Wednesday, March 12th – All Club meeting at the Round Barn Conference Center

Mar 20th – TBD

ANNOUNCEMENTS

(notes provided by the venerable Neal Chamberlain)

The meeting was opened with an invocation by Kris Young.

Barb Lintner is recovering from an injury due to a fall.

February 15: Rotary Leadership Conference @ Richland Community College in Decatur being organized by Kathy Rector.

March 12: All Area Clubs Rotary Meeting – 109th Anniversary of Rotary, organized by Champaign West @ Round Barn Center (No Sunrise Meeting Thursday, March 13).

Allan Penwell reported on his trip to Moonshine, IL.

Mary announced that we need nominations from our club for various district awards.

PROGRAM

Veronica Valli, author of a new book “Why You Drink And How To Stop” was our speaker of the day.   Veronica described her personal problems with addiction:

*From early childhood I felt “uncomfortable in my own skin”.

*I struggled with anxiety, low self esteem, and depression.

*At the age of 15 I tried alcohol – then everything was good, I felt good, I felt normal.

*Alcohol became an anesthetic for an inner darkness inside.

*When I’m high, nothing matters – I’m free.

*The temporary effect wore off, then I needed more.

*Outside stuff wasn’t fixing inside problems.

*When it stopped being fun I knew I needed help.

At the age of 27 she first admitted that she was an addict:

*She found a pathway to a spiritual experience.

*Her life changed, for the first time in her life she “Felt comfortable in my own skin”.

Why do persons who “have everything” turn to drugs?

*They haven’t dealt with their inner problems.

*They are driven by a feeling that “what ever I have, it is still not enough”.

Addicts deal with the feeling of shame and are unable to accept the fact that they need help. She said the root cause of addiction is spiritual, our relationship with others, with our self and with our God. Veronic ended her presentation by saying, “when I got sober I didn’t want happiness as much as I just wanted peace”.

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Upcoming Schedule

February 13th – Ken Buel, Past District Governor from Missouri and current Champaign Rotarian, will discuss the Foundation

February 20th – Patrick Mackay, President, 004 Technologies USA

February 27th – Dr. Irfan Ahmad will discuss the history of Islam, the local Muslim community, and the Avicenna Community Health Center

March 6th – Rotarian Lin Warfel will discuss 21st century farming and his newly released book of poetry

Wednesday, March 12th – All Club meeting at the Round Barn Conference Center

Mar 20th – TBD

ANNOUNCEMENTS

(notes provided by the unconventional and unorthodox Paul Conforti)

2/6: Club Social @ Krannert Center’s Uncorked from 5pm – 7pm

2/15: Rotary Leadership Conference @ Richland Community College in Decatur being organized by Kathy Rector

2/22: Cary Woolard announced the Unity Booster’s A-Capella concert

3/12: All Area Clubs Rotary Meeting – 109th Anniversary of Rotary, organized by Champaign West @ Round Barn Center

Jeff Van Buren announced that host families are needed (starting at the end of August). Family does not need to be Rotarian to apply

PROGRAM

Our speaker for the day was Chris Catanzarite, Illinois Program for Research in the Humanities.

Chris gave a very entertaining presentation on the history of the Oscars (The Academy Awards).

Chris is a self-proclaimed “Oscar geek” and she attributes this beginning when as a 1st grader her Mom made her stay home to watch Fred Astaire in Top Hat on TV rather than go to school.  Her mom said she would learn more from watching the movie than attending class that day.

Chris regaled our meeting with Oscar history, trivia and nuances:

-This year’s show is later than usual (March 2) as NBC needs time to get its equipment from the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia back to Hollywood.

– Oscar, made in Chicago, stands 13.5″ tall and weighs 8lbs. Oscar’s pedestal is a 5-chambered film reel representing the 5 original award criteria: Production, Direction, Writing, Acting and technical.

-Oscar was named “Oscar” when Bette Davis noted it had a resemblance to her uncle Oscar.

-The first award ceremony was held at Hollywood’s Roosevelt Hotel on May 16, 1929. There were 14 awards, all given out in a 25 minute ceremony hosted by the Academy’s president Douglas Fairbanks.

-The 25th awards ceremony was the first televised in 1953, which changed the event to what we recognize now as a star laden extravaganza followed by billions worldwide.

Chris concluded with Oscar trivia. We learned about diamond dimmers and cleavage covers as well as how Oscar follows social norms of the times when in retrospect certain films, actors and songs have become footnotes compared to the films, actors and songs they beat out. Films such as The Greatest Show on Earth beat Singing in the Rain and High Noon. Oliver beat 2001 A Space Odyssey and Rosemary’s Baby and Fred Astaire, Alfred Hitchcock, Stanley Kubrick and George Lucas have never won an Oscar. And of course there was the famous 1973 streaker event!

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Upcoming Schedule

February 6th – Veronica Valli, Addictions Expert

February 13th – Ken Buel, Past District Governor from Missouri and current Champaign Rotarian, will discuss the Foundation

February 20th – Patrick Mackay, President, 004 Technologies USA

February 27th – Dr. Irfan Ahmad will discuss the history of Islam, the local Muslim community, and the Avicenna Community Health Center

March 6th – Rotarian Lin Warfel will discuss 21st century farming and his newly released book of poetry

Wednesday, March 12th – All Club meeting at the Round Barn Conference Center

Mar 20th – TBD