PITTSFIELD ROTARY CLUB   District 6460  5-9-07

Chuck led singing….and tried the memory of the ‘older’ Rotarians by singing the no longer published : “The 4-Way Test”…which appeared in the Rotary Song Book when he was inducted into Rotary (Boy!!  Was THAT a long time ago!!!)   For those who didn’t know it…it starts out:  Oh, the 4-Way Test is the very, very best that you may ever see…Is it true, is it Fair, Will it build Good Will………(and continues on from there…Nice song….)

VERY SPECIAL GUEST:  Chabra Kelley, Griggsville Perry Middle School, who was accompanied by her school Principle, Andy Stremlaw.

Chabra was the winner of the IPOD given to the student who complied by all the rules of our ROTARY Alcohol/Tobacco/Drug Awareness Program, and who won the ‘draw’ from the other compliant students.

Chabra won, was very conversant on the program…..

We can be very proud of the number of students attending, their active participation, the reports by their teachers/parents/grandparents/ townspeople of the values the received from the program….(Guess that kind of re3action means to the organizers:  “You Done Good’….)

Visiting Rotarian:  Assistant District Governor Debbie Naught, Quincy.   Debbie reminded us of the Rotary Leadership Seminar at the Crown Plaza, Springfield, IL on June 2, 2007…  And she encouraged our Board to try to attend…..

Gaylord Rhoades reported that there is a ‘Bar-B-Que’ group starting in this area…..and of course, there will be a BIG Bar-B-Que cook-off on the square in Pittsfield on July 7….at PIG DAYS….

Our Rotary Club needs to have a great entry  to try to recover our lst Place Trophy, which we won the lst year it was held….Come on folks…get your skills honed, and prepared to WIN !!!!!

Walter Lamb, Rotary Foundation Chairman, struck again with fines for those who had no Rotary Badge on, or no Rotary Pin…or…..the way-ward  member whose cell phone went off during the meeting, AND he answered it….(Naughty Chuck

Card was signed for Connie Schroeder, who had serious surgery….and can’t ride her horses for quite a while… Fortunately, the surgery was successful and she WILL  recover

nicely…..We’re pulling for you Connie….and want you back as soon as possible…..

Jim Filbert reported that he had just seen Johnson Stilwell, and he appeared to be recovering…’.he looked ‘pretty good’…

Program:  Debbie Dugan introduced Brenda Middendorf of the Access Illinois Program for an up-date on the program.

Brenda reported that the hunting in Pike County has made a big difference in incomes for farmers, outfitters, lodging providers, restaurants, gas stations,  and many other local businesses.   Land values have increased over 800 million dollars since 1994.

Hunting is an important economic too in Pike County.  Access Illinois opens private land to public use at no cost to the state., with over 250,000 acres currently available  directly from the farmer….(NOT under control of outfitters)

The  Access Illinois Program Food Project encourages hunters to take a doe, to help control the deer population , PLUS….provide meat to the needy….(distributed through the food pantries in Pike County).  Processing cost of $70.00 per dear, and due to by food pantry Regulators, deer MUST be processed by Federally inspected establishments.. That means there are only 3 in the entire area….

A local cold storage was provided by a cooperator, local volunteers transported the deer to the processing plants, 6900 pounds of processed deer meat was provided the 2 Pike County Food Pantries….((They could have used more….)

Food pantries here are feeding about 1200 people per month.

There would have been more deer process if the weather had been better…the 12+ inches of snow the second season really slowed down hunting, as did the bad weather in the hand gun season.

Better arrangements have been made for ’07, since Todd Smith, Taxidermist, purchased a large cold storage unit that he has indicated the program can rent reasonably..

Brenda has done a magnificent job in bringing this program to the fore, and looks for a big improvement for this year.

How good is the Access Illinois Program for Deer processing?????

10 percent of the statewide total of deer meat provided to food pantries was provided here in Pike County…

Let’s keep this going by helping with processing, getting others to contribute to the program, and  (of course) shooting does , if you are a hunter….and contributing the meat……

Excellent program with a lot of information…..Thanks….Brenda!!