Our first road trip in a long time took us to the Quincy Mall for the dedication of the newest Freedom Shrine which was an Eagle Scout project of Stephen Coy of Troop 22. If you weren't there, make a point to go to the Mall and check it out.

We first heard from Michael Jenkins of the Quincy Mall who complemented Stephen for his Eagle Scout Project and thanked the Exchange Club for providing the Freedom Shrine. Mr. Jenkins updated us on some of the future activities for the Mall which also includes monthly visits by the Tri-State Lugnuts of which our very own Charlie Ledbetter is a member.

We also heard from Dave Gilbert, the Eagle Ridge District Executive for the Boy Scouts. Mr. Gilbert mentioned that there are 8512 young people eligible to be scouts in the 12 county Mississippi Valley Council and some 15% of them are in a scouting program in the area. That is almost twice as many as the national average. The Boy Scouts mission is "to prepare young people to make moral and ethical choices in life." For a Scout to become an Eagle Scout they must go through 7 different ranks. They must also earn 21 Merit Badges, hold a position of leadership, do community service and must have an Eagle Scout project that leaves a lasting effect on a community. That is exactly what this Freedom Shrine has done thanks to Eagle Scout Stephen Coy. According to Mr. Gilbert, the first Eagle Scout award was presented in 1912 and only 2 million people have earned the right to be called an Eagle Scout. One of those 2 million is our very own Joel Koch who was also in attendance.

A big thank you to Perry Terwelp for chairing our Exchange Club team of "mudders" for the YMCA's Mud Mania endurance event last Saturday. Special thanks to his teammates of Joe Long, Alex Huddleston, Brandon Mayfield, and Travis Beaver. We will check behind Perry's ears for remaining mud this Friday.

A reminder that the upcoming Exchange Club golf outing is set for Friday, June 21^st at Spring Lake Country Club. The cost is $40 per person. Even if you can't play we will still hold our regular weekly meeting there on the 21^st. Contact Jared Haugh if interested in playing.

Chuck Venvertloh conducted the 50/50 drawing by his lonesome since he was a no-show last Friday. Unless he and his wife were lounging on the beach somewhere with our 50-50 money, the pot should be worth over $1034 for this week's drawing.

Mel Dillman mentioned that if you want to be a judge for the upcoming Smoke on the River Event in September make sure you go to our website and sign up quickly. Mel also mentioned that this event will be needing a chairperson for next year so please consider doing so. If interested, please let Mel know as soon as possible. He would like to have next year's chairperson work with Mel this year to create a smooth transition.

Our newest member to join our wonderful club is Andrew Asbury of Royal Printing. Andrew has been with Royal Printing since 2001and we welcome him to the Exchange Club. Gary Peters handled the induction ceremony with Rick Gengenbacher as Andrew's sponsor.