Spotlight 6 29 09
Only one member was missing from the meeting tonight. We were treated to a fine summer supper and the buzz was about the July 11th activities here in Marcellus. The food pantry will be selling Brats and opening the pantry for inspection. We are looking forward to seeing all of the classic cars in town. With all of the sales going on, the weekend should be a lot of fun and finding good deals.
Program chair Ralph Parker invited his brother Jerry Parker to share part of his life from 1940 to 1944.
Jerry left home as a twenty year old and went through basic training in Ft Benning GA. He left there as a Private and began training in flight school. He was one of the few pilots that were enlisted to serve before the Army decided that it would be better to just have officers as pilots.
His first assignment was in North Africa." I served for 20 months and it seemed like most of my duty was in North Africa. The temperature got up to about 130 degrees during the day and the food was terrible. Most of the food was freeze dried [or powdered] and consisted of dried potato, powdered eggs and a lot of green beans. Every morning it was green beans." Parker said. He went on to describe how the limited food was always the same and at one point, he weighed only 105 lbs.
Jerry described the dessert conditions and how he had to land a plane on a mountain side during a move of the battalion. A few days later, the plane was repaired enough to fly it out of there. The runway was groomed on the slope. Imagine having a runway that runs down hill. What a feat!!!
Jerry also had time served in Sicily Italy and Holland.
Parker was described how gliders were used in the war delivering guns, Jeeps etc.
Jerry had a lot more to share with us but space and time limitations leave us requesting another speaking engagement when he again visits Marcellus his young brother, Ralph.
Celebrate our freedom and Independence! Thank a Veteran for your freedom.
Spotlight 6 15 09
Guest were Wilber Breasmen, John Messner from Marcellus, Valerie LeVan and Judy LeVan both from Jones.
Wilber was able to attend our meeting this week because his trip to China was cancelled. The swine flu has hindered travel to China. Breasmen volunteers his services with Alliance for Smiles. Nearly 240 children were ready for cleft palate lip surgeries. Hopefully, travel restrictions will be clear when their next trip is planned.
Valerie LeVan who was accompanied by her grandmother, Judy LeVan, accepted a $300 math science scholarship from the Marcellus Rotary. She had a photo album of her recent trip to the UK with "People with People" to share her trip with club members and guest.
Program chair Jim Hosbein invited Pastor John Messner to speak to the club about the Marcellus Community Food Pantry, [MCFP].
The pantry will be located in the former bait shop location on Centre Street. The building originally was the G.W. Jones exchange bank before they relocated to their current location on Main Street.
The project is a true community service organized by service organizations, churches and individuals to be a source of food supply to the needy within the Marcellus school district.
The intent of the MCFP is to supplement and not compete with the efforts of other service agencies and organizations. Messner states that "the MCFP won't be limited by federal regulation requirements as other providers are".
West Michigan Gleaners will be a source of food provision. Located in Comstock Park, distributed out of St. Joe, food is available to food pantries at about 16 cents a pound.
A fundraiser event will be held July 11th in front of the pantry with Brat's and sweet corn. This coincides with the area garage / yard sale weekend.
Spotlight 6 8 09
Guest were Bob Wagel from Dowagiac, Kay Jones and our guest speaker, Keith Dodge accompanied by his lovely wife, Rhonda.
Keith and Rhonda have a huge collection of Indian artifacts and were invited by program chair Cordell Jones to share information and show some of his collection to the club.
Indian artifacts can be found here in Cass County. The Dodge collection had arrowheads, pottery, bones shaped as tools and he had a porcupine quill basket.
His favorite hunting sites are in Kentucky and Tennessee. He has been to Alabama, Mississippi and other states to collect items.
He keeps approximately 65 to 100 buckets of broken arrowheads he uses when he speaks to students.
Dodge passed around the arrowhead blue book. Prices listed are from $10 up to $13,000. There were four publications he presented that had collections from all over including select items from him. He also had at least four display cases, 2 photo albums and several individual items to view.
One display was a "cache" of arrowheads. A cache would be a collection of arrowheads found in one location and have been kept together as a group.
Most arrowheads are made of flint. More modern weapons were made of iron and copper.
Thanks for the great program Keith and Rhonda.
Katy Gerring will again be participating in a cancer walk in Chicago IL to raise money for the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer on June 6th and 7th 2009. Her last event was two years ago in Detroit MI. Katy is raising support for the event.
"We’ll walk up to 26.2 miles on Saturday, and 13.1 miles on Sunday—all so that medically-underserved women and men can get the medical care they need and leading research teams can receive vital support in their ongoing search for a cure."
The Avon Foundation places a priority on returning funds to the geographic area in which each Avon Walk takes place with a special emphasis on reaching low-income, elderly and minority individuals and those with inadequate health insurance.
Everyone has a personal reason for taking part in the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer. It may be a sister, mother, best friend, or possibly even yourself. But for one weekend, whether you walk, donate or volunteer, we’ll all be reaching for the same goal—finding a cure for breast cancer. The web page is: walk.avonfoundation.org You can go to the" make a donation" page and search for Katy Gerring by clicking the pink "find a walker" button.
Similar walks will occur in various cities across the US all through the year.
Join the army of women and help prevent breast cancer today. You may contact Katy Gerring by calling 269-646-2685
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