PITTSFIELD ROTARY CLUB   12-10-08

                  President-Elect, Jan Bleigh announced there will be NO MEETING at Noon on Christmas Eve!!!!!

                  Student Guests from Griggsville/Perry:   (Walter Lamb claimed he had a program lined up for that day)..

                  Eric Berquist, son of Robert and Lori. He currently is in College Prep, HS Scholastic Bowl, NHS, basket ball,

                  Pike County Soccer, FFA, 4-H, Jr. Leader for 4-H, works at jobs around home, and for grandparents,

                  Likes BB Camp, vacations in Wisconsin, Reading and Art. Plans on attending Washington U, or U of

                  Illinois in Architecture.

                  Ross Smith, son of Donald and Carmen.  He is a Section Officer for FFA, in 4-H, NHS, Student Council,

                  Scholastic Bowl, attends Youth Camp and Church.  He does normal Farm Chores, enjoys hunting, fishing, bow-

                  Hunting. Plans to attend WIU-C majoring in Environmental Science.

                  Sp3ecial Student Guests from Pittsfield: 

                  Corrine Pennock, daughter of John and Lisa;  Amy Stewart, daughter of Mark and Julie;  and Samantha

                  Gallotti, daughter of Christina Topp.

                  They were here to pick up the gifts that Rotarians had gotten for the gift tree the students at school had

                  obtained youngsters in need tags from the TRCOPO office. The gifts filled their vehicle.

                  Roberta Dolbeare collected the coats and blankets that Rotarians had donated for refugees in Iraq..

                  Her car looked full also.  If you still wish to give, contact Roberta….

                  Program:  Randy Hires had originally planned to had one of his ‘up-beat, but totally nonsense’ programs,

                  But it ‘fell through’.  So, he contacted Ken Bradbury, and Ken rescued the Rotarians from another

‘                 Randy  ‘fate wore than death’ Program.

                  Ken played the truly  non American written Christmas song for us ,’Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer’….

                  (Originally written by an Englishman….and Rudolph was originally Ralph, later Ray, then the present

                  Name).. It was originally recorded here by Gene Autry….

                  He also told us how Isaac Watts wrote a hymn a day for 10 years, and several years later also wrote the words to a

                  New hymn, ‘Joy to the World’  (and he played that also.)

The only original American written song we sing at Christmas time, ‘Jingle Bells’, was originally written for Thanksgiving.  The author’s kids thought it would fit better for Christmas time….

The best selling Christmas song was written by a Siberian, Irving Berlin, while sitting at a pool in Phoenix, AR.

He told his secretary it was the best Christmas Song ever written…maybe the BEST song ever written!!!   

                  ‘White Christmas’….

                  About one out of ten songs in our Christian hymnals are African in origin.  The only Christmas song, however

                  Of that origin is ‘Go tell it on the Mountain’….Ken played all of them and more…finishing up with the origin of

                  ‘Silent Night’…..