PITTSFIELD ROTARY CLUB              District 6460         1-24-07

Chuck’s back to our meeting.  He gets operated on Thursday…. Memorial Hospital… should be there only 3 days…..Johnson gets his hip operated on Tuesday, the 30^th… don’t know which hospital.

Pastor Dorothy Fellhauer is now recovering ( for the next couple of months, from her shattered thigh)…at Montebello Health Care Center, Rm 41, 1599 Keokuk St., Hamilton, IL 62341….217-847-2782….I talked with her, and she says ‘Hello to everyone’.. she’s doing better. Not counting the holes in the ceiling tile, …..yet…

Art Vail, who we’ve been missing for several months, is now in the Heritage Manor, 219, 509 N. Adelaide, Normal, IL 61761.  I know he’d like to hear occasionally from his fellow Rotarians..

Eldon Atwood almost had to ‘miss’ a meeting, due to problems in California…thought he would lose his 44+ years of perfect attendance…but Chuck and Carole put him in touch of some Rotary Clubs that can be attended and have their meetings ‘on line’….so he’ll be able to keep up that perfect attendance record… Thanks to Chuck and Carole!!  Eldon also sent several regular make-ups….

Theatre Guild production with  dinner theater at Collver Family Winery is Feb. 1, 2 and 3…get your tickets…..it should be excellent….Rotarian Dan Long keeps us abreast of their activities….

New Rotarian:  Francisco Escobar MD was inducted into our club today.  He’s the lst  Medical Doctor to join us since Tom Bunting move to Arizona… WELCOME  Francisco!!!  We are Happy to have you with us.  Enjoy the fellowship and what we accomplish.

Election of the club President…will be February 7, 2007…Be sure to attend and vote.

We’ve a tough choice between Connie Schroeder and Debbie Dugan…. (notice I listed them alphabetically by lst name….sounds better that way).  They will be giving their reasons for wanting to be elected… so come, listen and vote.

Program January 31:  Judge Mark Drummond….who has helped us greatly with our Rotary Drug Program , and has agreed to do it again

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Program:  Linda Bradshaw introduced ‘Farmer’ Roger Dunham.  Roger farms in the Griggsville area, but also is one of a select group of volunteer farmers who work with Illinois Farm Bureau in an ‘off-shoot’ of ‘Ag in the Classroom’, called ‘Adopt a Classroom in Chicago’.  This matches urban students and teachers to make a class link with farmers and their families.

Roger started 4 years ago with a Chinese school. He now is assigned a black school.

  Farm Bureau matches farmers with Chicago schools, and has about 60 volunteers working on this program. They try to show the children where the food they get actually comes from. … not just the super market….

(The youngsters also had the nicest way of putting that Roger was apparently long-winded when they wrote that the letter he sent them was a lot longer than they would have sent….)

The young students seem to really appreciate everything pertaining to the rural area.

At the black school he visited, the kids eat breakfast and lunch at school…which may be the only food they get for the day… and some go hungry for the whole weekend…which was an eye-opener for Roger…and us.. (Perhaps our government needs to address the issue more strongly to prevent this from occurring in America)…

He also talked about his trip to Uganda, Africa, where he also actually taught on his visit to that country.

The letters he had received from students and teachers in the Chicago schools that participated,  are beautiful, touching and rewarding. The program is very worthwhile, and he tries to correspond with the schools 4 or 5 times a year in addition to the time actually in the classroom .

This was a very informative program, and shows a side of agriculture most do not know occurs…….One which a local farmer is helping improve the knowledge of our area, and the food chain, with the next generation of consumers…..

Rotary  Board meeting Feb. 1 at FSB at noon. .BYOBag for lunch….

My latest count shows we have 53 members of this Rotary Club….Most in several years.

Only 5 without email……that’s modernization!!!   See YOU at Rotary!!