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Stories
FOR THE WEEK OF NOVEMBER 13th, 2017
."When we feel uncomfortable enough long enough, we tend to feel discouraged (a form of exhaustion), and we return to thoughts, feelings and actions that are more familiar, more practiced, more predictable - - more - - well - - comfortable!"
"Here is the list of Greeters for the month of NOVEMBER 2017
If you are scheduled to be Greeter for a particular Thursday, try to arrive at Grins by about 11:30am, put on the special Greeter's badge and then greet each and every member and visitors as they come in.
............November 16.........Garry White
............NO MEETING........THANKSGIVING
............November 30..........Rhonda White
For Club Meeting, November 9th, 2017
Doug Balkman, Chester Banks, Cynthia Bentley, Del Brown, Frederick Case, Randy Cook, Pam Cook, Steve Furney, Charles Johnson, Rob Martin, Moe Johnson, Gary Nelson, Lon Shell, Charles Walts, Kelli Whigham, Rhonda White, Ted Breihan, David Chandler, Beverly Crumley, Andrew Gary, Garry White, Tracy Herman, Francis Mendez, John Polk, Glen Rydl, McBride Wilson. (26)
Guests: Phyllis Shell (brought by Lon); Neal Kinley (invited by Lon); Stan Sessoms, Joyce Sessoms (Invited by Lon)
"BIRTHDAYS DURING THE MONTH OF NOVEMBER 2017
November 21........Steve Furney
November 16........Doug Balkman
Those who have Anniversaries in the Month of November
November 21...........Charles & Linda Johnson
November 22...........Gary & Nancy Strunk
Our Program from Last Thursday...
What can we possibly say about last week's program except, 'Yeah Lon!" Here's a man that knows tractors inside and outside, has restored bunches of them, and never seems to get tired of it. His power point presentation was outstanding, and most informative. I can't even begin to imagine what it is like to take an old tractor apart, replace certain parts and put it back into good working order. Thanks Lon, and the wonderful guests that you brought with you. You sure do know your 'stuf!
Our Program for this coming Thursday.....Del Brown
Del Brown will be bringing the program for this Thursday (week before Thanksgiving). He will be bringing Eleanor Oshan, Coordinator for Development and Special Events with the San Marcos Food Bank. It will also be the Official Turkey's Tackling Hunger, and I wouldn't be surprised if one of the turkey's will show up at the meeting.
We are asking every member to bring canned goods to this meeting, to aid in the Food Banks collection. Doug asked the Bank just what they might be needing in the way of canned foods and they said 'Nonperishable Items' such as 'Meats(tuna, salmon, chicken, ravioli, Low sodium soups and broths, Tomato products and pasta sauces, Vegetables (carrots, corn, spinach etc., Dried & caned beans (garbanzo, kidney, black), Whole grain pastas and rice, Whole grain/High Fiber Cereals, Natural peanut butter and jelly, Nuts and granola bars, Fruit (low-sugar,/light syrup, Dried fruit, Shelf stable milk (almond, soy, rice). We will also present the Food Bank with their annual support check.
Wow! Not only did Lon Shell invite guests to the meeting, he also presented the program. But 'also' his name was drawn for Big Bucks. How lucky can one person be. Not sure whether he kept it or gave it back into the jar. Good going Lon!
Programs coming up the rest of this month!
Even though we list the upcoming programs on the home page, here's an extra invitation to know what's coming up the rest of the month!
November 16, 2017....Del Brown brings the program.....Food Bank for Thanksgiving
November 23, 2017....No Program Scheduled...Thanksgiving week
November 30, 2017....Steve Traeger with the Sheriffs Department will bring a program on The Hays County Citizen Academy program here in San Marcos.
Note from the Editor: If you can get me information on what your program is at least 2 weeks prior to your program date, this will allow me time to research with pictures and information about your program. Thanks
Flags Displayed on Friday, November 10th
Thanks to the following flag putter uppers and taketh down who put up flags on November 10. They were Garry White, Francis Mendez, Glen Rydl, Randy Cook, Randal Grizzle, Gary Nelson, Del Brown , Frederick Case, Lon Shell & Moe Johnson, Doug Balkman, James Collier and David Chandler.
We know it was a lot of effort, but one in which all of our hearts should be proud, that we live in a country where the Flag of the United States is something to be proud of.
2017 Veteran's Day Parade, Saturday, November 11, 2017
What a beautiful day for our 2017 Veteran's Day Parade. Thanks to all of our club members that turned out on Friday morning over at the warehouse to help put our newly painted float together, and then once completed, took it over to Ted's place, ready to be decorated on Saturday morning. We had a beautiful float this year with two new Kiwanis signs, and a lot of red white and blue decorations making it very colorful and very patriotic.
Those who turned out at 7:45 Saturday morning to decorate the float was Doug Balkman, Cynthia Bentley, Ted Breihan, Del Brown, David Chandler, James Collier, Pam Cook, Randy Cook, Andrew Gary, Moe Johnson, Rob Martin, Francis Mendez, Gary Nelson, John Polk, McBride Wilson (drove Lon's 1954 John Deere Tractor), Lon Shell (who helped decorate, but needed to go drive for 'Daughters of the American Revolution ' float, Courtland Taylor, and Beverly Crumley. Please forgive me if I forgot anyone. It was a grand parade, and being one of several veterans in our club, I once again was proud to be a veteran. (God Bless America!)
Week November 10, 2017 - November 16th, 2017
November 11, 1972 - - The U.S. turned over its military base at Long Binh to the South Vietnames, symbolizing the end of direct American military participation in the Vietnam War.
November 12, 1923 - - Adolf Hitler was arrested in Germany after the failed Beer Hall Putsch.
November 13, 1945 - - General Charles De Gau9lle was appointed president of the French provisional government.
November 14, 1666 - - The first experimental blood transfusion took place in Britain, utilizing two dogs.
November 15, 1777 - - The Articles of Confederation were adopted by Continental Congress.
November 16, 1933 - - President Franklin Roosevelt announced the U.S. and Soviet Russia had resumed diplomatic relations, suspended sine 1919.
Our Club says Thanks and Congratulations!
A great big 'thanks' goes out to our San Marcos Academy who out of the graciousness of their heart donated four 'kids' bikes to be awarded to one lucky boy and one lucky girl whose names were drawn following the Veteran's Day Parade on Saturday, November 11, 2017.
Four Kiwanis members, Doug Balkman, Gary Nelson, Randy Cook, and Del Brown met with two Academy Employees, Linda Maraggia and Hamid Palazios.
The two lucky children who won two of the bikes were Jose Vasguez, who won the boy's bike, and Lala Rodriguez who won the beautiful little girl's bike. The other two bikes donated by Academy will be raffled off at our annual Pancake Day and Silent Auction. That will be in February 2018. Thanks again to Academy and Congratulations to Jose and Lala.
Have You Ever Wondered About Something, and couldn't find the answer? Well! Let's Try a Few Questions and See Where We Go!
"WHY ARE MILITARY MEDALS WORN ON THE LEFT?"
"Military historians generally trace the custom of wearing military decorations on the left breast to the Crusaders, who wore the badge of honor over the heart. Whether this spot was chosen for its symbolic purpose or to use the badge as a shield for the heart is unclear. We do know that the Crusaders carried their shields in their left hands, freeing the right hand for manipulating a weapon.
Military decorations are a relatively recent phenomenon and were originally word at the neck or from a sash. According to S.G. Yasnitskiy, of the Orders and Medals Society of America, the practice changed in the first decade of the nineteenth century. During the Napoleonic campaigns, many awards were given to and by the different governments that participated in these wars. More and more orders were created for the lower classes, as well as medals given to all classes of the military and civil participants, with the proviso that they were to be worn 'from the buttonhole."
Many fighting alliances between countries were forged during the Napoleonic period, and decorations were exchanged frequently. Medal infl;ation was rampant. A good soldier could expect to be decorated not only by his own country but by an ally or two as well. Buttonholes were bursting. Only tailors were happy. What could be done about this crisis?
'Common sense prevailed. No one wanted to hide his gorgeous accumulation of gold and enameled awards, so several methods were tried out. Some had their jewelers make smaller copies of these medals, so that they would all fit into one prescribed space on their uniforms. Others----and this became the more popular method - - would display their own country's decoration from the buttonhole, but mount the other awards so that they extended in a line from that buttonhole, from left to right."
"Not to Know B from a battledore (or broomstick, or from a bull's foot, or buffalo's foot)
"To know not one letter from another; not to know beans; to be wholly illiterate, or extremely ignorant. This accusation of complete illiteracy dates at least to the late Middle English period, according to The Rolls Series (the chronicles and memorials of Great Britain during the Middle Ages). The earlier expression, perhaps originated in an agricultural section, seems to have been that comparing B to the foot of a bull, but by the time of John Foxe's Actes and Monuments of these Latter and Perilous Dayes (1563),I the more courtly battledore was the fashionable term: "He knew not a B from a battledore nor even a letter of the book." Broomstick and the American buffalo's foot were later variations, the latter first appearing in James K. Paulding's Westward Ho! (1832). Mere alliteration, not real or fancied resemblance, seems to have been the only motive back of any of the comparisons, just as in the antonym "To know a hawk from a handsaw," indicative of intelligence."
How to Repair a Car!
When her car broke down, a woman called out a local mechanic to repair it. He lifted up the hood, looked in the engine, whacked something with a hammer and said: 'Try it now.'
To her amazement, the car started straight away. "That's incredible," she said. "You've been here less than a minute and you've managed to fix it. I'm so grateful." "All part of the job, madam. That'll be $250."
The smile vanished from the woman's face. "How much? How can you charge $250 when all you did was hit it with a hammer"? "I can write you out an itemized bill if you like."
"Yes, please," she said firmly. So he wrote out the bill and handed it to her. It read: "Hitting engine with hammer - $10. Knowing where to hit it - $240."
"America the Beautiful.....South Carolina!
1.....The first battle of the Civil War took place at Fort Sumter!
2.....South Carolina is the nation's leading peach producer and shipper east of the Mississippi River!
3.....Stretching 60 miles from Little River to Georgetown, South Carolina's Grand Stand is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the United States!
4.....The first boll weevil found in South Carolina is on display at the Pendleton District Agricultural Museum.
5.....Sweetgrass basket making has been a part of the Mount Pleasant community for more than 300 years. Basket making is a traditional art form that has been passed on from generation to generation!
6.....Bomb Island on Lake Murray each spring and summer is the home of a very unusual event. Each year thousands of Purple Martins return to this island to roost for the summer. The island has been declared a bird sanctuary and it is quite a sight to watch these birds return to Bomb Island each day around sunset!
7.....Red Spider Lilies were first planted in the U.S., in the Willington-Mt. Carmel area when Dr. James Morrow sent them and other plants from the Orient while he served as surgeon with Commodore Perry's expedition to open trade with Japan!
8.....The introduction of tobacco in 1894 rocketed Mullins into the Tobacco Capital of South Carolina. As many as 200 tobacco barns sprang up throughout the community. Warehouses were also constructed and the first tobacco sale took place on August 28, 1895!
9.....Fountain Inn is proud of the town's most famous native son. Clayton "Peg Leg" Bates lost his leg in a cotton gin accident at the age of 12; he overcame his tragedy to become a famous dancer. His signature step was the "Imitation American Jet Plane," in which he would jump five feet in the air and land on his peg leg, with his good leg sticking out straight behind him. During his career, Bates performed more than 20 different times on the Ed Sullivan television show more than any other artist!
10....Beginning Labor Day and running through the following weekend the South Carolina Apple Festival celebrates the beginning of apple harvest season in Oconee County, the largest apple-producing area in the state.
"AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL....Fred Symmes Chapel, S.C.
Fred W. Symmes Chapel (also known as "Pretty Place" because of its amazing view) is one of the many buildings that make up YMCA Camp Greenville. It was given by Mr. Fred W. Symmes for the enjoyment of the boys and girls who camp here each summer and is the spiritual center of the camp.
The current chapel was constructed in 1941 with several additions and improvements made in subsequent years including major upgrades made in 2012.
Camp Greenville has been in existence since 1912 and covers 1400 acres. It is a year round operation serving as a Summer Camp, Environmental Education Center, Group & Conference Center, and wedding venue,.
Camp Greenville welcomes visitors to enjoy the beauty of the Chapel during daylight - except when it is in use for a a Ca,p vent (Sunday and Monday morning worship services by campers or groups), or for another reserved event (weddings, dedications, memorial services etc.)
"My Final Thoughts!"
"The Best way to forget your own problems is to help someone solve his."
2017
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Our Program for this coming Thursday.....Del Brown
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Not only did Lon Shell invite guests to the meeting, he also presented the program. But 'also' his name was drawn for Big Bucks. How lucky can one person be. Not sure whether he kept it or gave it back into the jar. Good going Lon!
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