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Stories
FOR THE WEEK OF JULY 10th, 2017
"You're not going to master the rest of your life in one day. Just relax. Master the day. Then just keep doing that every day."
Attendance for July 6,2017
Doug Balkman, Chester Banks, Del Brown, Charles Johnson, Moe Johnson, Gary Nelson, Kelli Whigham, Ted Breihan, Beverly Crumley, Tracy Herman, John Polk, Glen Rydl (12)
"Here is the list of Greeters for the month of July 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.
July 13...............Andrew Gary
July 20...............Randle Grizzle
July 27................Veronique Hahn
"BIRTHDAYS DURING THE MONTH OF JULY, 2017"
July 30..........Jude Prather
THOSE WHO HAVE ANNIVERSARIES IN THE
MONTH OF JULY, 2017
July 15.............Gary & Sherry Nelson
July 22.............Chester & Betty Banks
July 30.............Glen & Marylou Rydl
And Away We Went Last Thursday With Charles Johnson and his Wonderful Travel Experiences!
This time our club was not only given the pleasure of journeying with Charles to another location on this beautiful planet we call Earth, but again, you could almost imagine yourself going right along with he and his wife, Linda. This time, we were shepherded away to the Galapagos Islands.
The Galapagos Islands (official name: Archepielago de Colon) are part of the Republic of Ecuador and an archipelago of volcanic islands distributed on either side of the Equator in the Pacific Ocean surrounding the centre of the Wester Hemisphere, 563 miles west of continental Ecuador. The islands are known for their vast number of endemic species and were studied by Charles during the voyage of the Beagle, as his observations and collections contributed to the inception of Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection.
The Galapagos Islands and their surrounding waters form the Galapagos Province of Ecuador, the Galapagos National Park, and the Galapagos Marine Reserve. The principal language on the islands is Spanish. The islands have a population of slightly over 25,000.
The first recorded visit to the islands happened by chance in 1535, when Fray Tomas de Berlanga, the Bishop of Panama, was surprise with this undisco9vered land during a voyage to Peru to arbitrate in a dispute between Francisco Pizarro and Diego de Almagro. De Berlanga enentually returned to the Spanish Empire and described the conditions of the islands and the animals that inhabited them. The group of islands was shown and named in Abraham Ortelius's atlas published in 1570. The first crude map of the islands was made in 1684 by the buccaneer Ambrose Cowley, who named the individual islands after some of his fellow pirates or after British royalty and noblemen.
The new Republic of Ecuador took the islands from Spanish ownership in 1832 and subsequently gave them official Spanish names.
Thanks to Charles and Kelli Whigham, who brought Charles for another brilliant travelogue to these very interesting islands.
" Your editor apologizes"
Your editor apologizes for not printing out the names of who put flags out on the Fourth of July . We did not have a sign up sheet at Ted's on the fourth, because we have not had anyone step forward to take Randy Cook's place. Randy has chaired the Flag Committee for quite a few years, and it is time for someone else to 'step up to the plate'. I know that all flags were put out by those responsible for putting them up, but some were putting them up for someone else. Your editor likes to put in the names of our flag people who get up early to put them out and then spend valuable time, in collecting them back up and making sure that the flags are wrapped properly for the next display date. Again, let me say, if you haven't checked on the businesses you are responsible to see if they have renewed their flags for this coming new year, please do so this week if possible. We all know who benefits the money raised by our flags....the Public Library Children's Summer Reading Program. They are counting on us.
Board of Director's Meeting and News!
The Board of Directors met on Thursday, June 29, at Brookdale San Marcos North, with President Tracy Herman presiding. Those in attendance were Doug Balkman, Tracy Herman, Charles Johnson, Gary Nelson, Glen Rydl and Kelli Whigham.
After adopting the minutes from the last meeting and adopting the Treasurer's report, the Board then proceeded to New Business. The following items were discussed, and brought before the Club on July 6th for comments and discussion.
1. Members of the board present approved Frederick Case, Doug Balkman and John Polk as delegates from the San Marcos Kiwanis Club to the District Convention, to be held in Abilene, Texas in August.
2. The San Marcos Kiwanis Club will hold their Annual Awards Banquet at Brookdale San Marcos North on Thursday , September 21, 2017. Time not set yet.
3. The next big fundraiser will be the 5K Great Pumpkin Dash tentatively set for Saturday, October 21, 2017
4. The annual Pancake Day and Silent Auction to be held on Thursday, February 22, 2018. Doug Balkman, the President Elect will look to use the San Marcos Activity Center.
5. Board Members present decided to bring the idea of a 'Gathering' to the club membership. The club then agreed on Tuesday evening, August 29, to be held at the Grist Mill in Gruene at 5:00pm.
6: Motion made by Gary Nelson, seconded by Doug Balkman for the Club to donate $200 to the 'Kiwanis Children's Fund, 78th Anniversary. The Board approved, then took it to the club for discussion. There was none and the club membership passed the motion.
7. There was discussion regarding the "Ram Project". It is a great project. Gary Nelson suggested that our club get more involved in this project. Only three member of our club are currently assisting in this project, Gary Nelson, Doug Balkman and Gary Strunk. More members need to be involved in making modules and helping in building. More discussion will follow.
8. There was discussion about our McBride's Youth Camp. A reminder was made that this our club's camp, and therefore when work is to be done out there, more members need to volunteer to help.
Our Program for this coming Thursday, July 13th.
Randy Cook will be bringing Gary Gilbert to be our speaker for this coming Thursday. Gary is currently the president of our own local Sunset Bowling Lanes. Sunset is a family establishment. They do not have a bar, they have bumpers on each of their 24 lanes. They have ramps for tikes. They offer leagues and classes. They have a proshop. Their food and drink or reasonable. Children are welcome day and night. Kids bowl free 2 games per day. And the lanes have been a non-smoking facility for five years. Sunset Lanes is also a gracious donor for our Silent Auction. Come and welcome Gary to our club.
July 7, 1898 - - President William McKinley signed a resolution annexing Hawaii. In 1900, Congress made Hawaii an incorporated territory of the U.S., which it remained until becoming a state in 1959.
July 8, 1776 - - The first public reading of the Declaration of Independence occurred as Colorado John Nixon read it to an assembled crowd in Philadelphia.
July 9, 1868 - - The 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified. The Amendment defined U.S. citizenship and prohibited individual States from abridging the rights of any American citizen without due process and equal protection under the law. The Amendment barred individuals involved in rebellion against the U.S. from holding public office.
July 10, 1943 - - The Allied invasion of Italy began with an attack on the island of Sicily. The British entry into Syracuse was the first Allied success in Europe. General Dwight D. Eisenhower labeled the invasion "the first page in the liberation of the European Continent."
July 11, 1767 - - John Quincy Adams, the 6th U.S. President, and son of the 2nd President John Adams, was born in Braintree, Massachusetts. After serving just one term as President, he served 17 years as a member of Congress. He died in 1848 while in the House of Representatives in the same room in which he had taken the presidential Oath of Office. He was the first president whose father had also been president.
July 12, 1943 - - During World War II, in the battle of Kursk, the largest tank battle in history took place outside the small village of Prohorovka, Russia. About nine hundred Russian tanks attacked an equal number of German tanks fighting at close range. When Hitler ordered a cease-fire, German tanks remained strewn over the battlefield.
July 13, 1787 - - Congress enacted the Northwest Ordinance establishing formal procedures for transforming territories into states. It provided for the eventual establishment of three to five territories in the area north of the Ohio River, to be considered equal with the original 13. The Ordinance included a Bill of Rights that guaranteed freedom of religion, the right to trial by jury, public education and a ban on slavery in the Northwest.
1.........It is illegal to hunt camels in the state of Arizona.!
2...........In the United States, a pound of potato chips costs two hundred times more than a pound of potatoes!
3...........More than 2 billion pencils are manufactured each year in the United States. If these were laid end to end they would circle the world nine times. The average lead pencil will draw a line 35 miles long or write approximately 50,000 English words!
4............The Spanish word esposa means "wife" The plural esposas, means "wives," but also "handcuffs"!
5............City with the most Rolls Royces per capita: Hong Kong!
6............Of the six men who made up the Three Stooges, three of them were real brothers (Moe, Curly and Shemp)!
7............If Barbie were life size, her measurements would be 39-23-33. She would stand 7 feet, 2 inches tall!
8............In Tokyo you can buy a toupee for your dog!
9............A dime has 118 ridges around the edge!
10...........The largest ocean liners pay a $250,000 toll for each trip through the Panama Canal. The canal generates fully one-third of Panama's entire economy!
"America the Beautiful
"Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada"
" The Valley of Fire State Park is a public recreation and nature preservation area covering nearly 46,000 acres, located 16 miles south of Overton, Nevada. The state park derives its name from red sandstone formations, the Aztec Sandstone, which formed from shifting sand dunes 150 million years ago.
These features, which are the centerpiece of the park's attractions, often appear to be on fire when reflecting the sun's rays. It is Nevsada's oldest state park, as commemorated with Nevada Historical Marker #150. It was designated as a National Natural Landmark in 1968.
Valley of Fire is located 50 miles northeast of Las Vegas, at an elevation between 1320-3,009 feet. It abuts the Lake Mead National Recreation Area on the east at the Virgin River confluence. It lies in a 4 by 6 mile basin.
Prehistoric users of the Valley of Fire included the Ancient Pueblo Peoples, also known as the Anasazi, who were farmers from the nearby fertile Moapa Valley. Their approximate span of occupation has been dated from 300 BC to 1150 AD. Their visits probably involved hunting, food gathering, and religious ceremonies, although scarcity of water would have limited their stay. Fine examples of rock art (petroglyphs) left by these ancient peoples can be found at several sites within the park.
The park opened in 1934; it achieved official designation by the state legislature in 1935."
The Age of Imponderables! - (There are no answers to these imponderables, but if you think of a good answer, let me know and I will put it in?
1......If work is so terrific, how come they have to pay you to do it?
2......If you ate pasta and antipasta, would you still be hungry?
3........Why do they call it a "building" when it is already built
4........If you can wave a fan, and you can wave a club, can you wave a fan club?
5........Why is it called lipstick if you can still move your lips?
6........If you can't drink and drive, why do bars have parking lots?
7........Why is it considered necessary to nail down the lid of a coffin?
8........If you get into a taxi cab, and ask the driver to drive backwards to your destination, will the cab driver owe you money?
9........Why is it that doctors call what they do, "practice"?
10......If you jog backwards, will you gain weight?
""Two West Country yokels were on the train heading homewards through Somerset, England when one of them noticed some cows.
'What a lovely bunch of cows.' he remarked. 'Not a bunch, herd!' his mate replied. 'Heard of what?' 'Herd of cows.'
'Of course I've heard of cows.' 'No, a cow herd.' 'What do I care what a cow heard. I have no secrets to keep from a cow.'"
"Dark And Bloody Ground"
"A title sometimes given to the state of Kentucky, so called because of the numerous raids by Indians upon white settlers in the early days of colonization. Very little was known about the region before 1752, and the first white colony was not established until 1774, at Harrodsburg. Few Indians, mainly Chicasaws near the Mississippi, inhabited the region, but it was claimed as hunting grounds by tribes from Tennessee and from southern Ohio. Despite treaties, therefore, bands of Indians would descend upon isolated farms or even villages to kill and burn. This was especially true under British instigation during the Revolutionary War, when the settlers were neglected by Virginia, in whose territory the country then lay, and were compelled to attempt to defend themselves. John Filson was the first to record the title in his history, Kentucke (1784): 'The fertile region, now called Kentucke, then but known to the Indians, by the name of the Dark and Bloody Ground, and sometimes the Middle Ground.' Filson erred on his translation, however, though the true meaning of the Indian name, Kentucky, is still not positively known"
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"In order to have something new, our comfort zone must be expanded to include that new thing. The bigger the new thing, the greater the comfort zone must expand. And comfort zones are most often expanded through discomfort."
(Oh by the way I couldn't resist putting in this picture of the longest golf course bridge, Charles was talking about last week. It's a quarter of mile long, and it is in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.....I just had to do it!)
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THOSE WHO HAVE ANNIVERSARIES IN THE 
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