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 Otober 17, 2014
All the news that's fit to print...and a lot that isn't
 Jeff Dorsey, Editor
Paul Clarkson - Editor Emeritus                                                                    John Tripp - Editor Emeritus
 
Club Meets at Noon each Friday at Stoney Creek Inn, 3809 Broadway in Quincy
2012-2013 Lincolnland District Exchange Clubs Best Bulletin Award Winner 
This Friday
This Friday will be our Annual Fire Fighter of the Year program. The Firefighter of the Year honors the men and women of area law enforcement agencies who put their lives on the line to protect all of us. Plan on arriving a little bit early for this one and feel free to invite  guest for one of Quincy's finest hours.
 
Friday Last
  

Our guests were Quincy School Board member Jeff Mays and Todd Moore of Architechnics. Both presented their case for the passage of the November $89 million school referendum to build new facilities. Basically, the option is: Pass the new referendum or District 172 will need to spend $66 for repairs and upgrading of the current facilities. The analogy made by Mr. Mays was like the decision we all make on our cars. Should we fix it again or purchase a new vehicle?

 

The School District has taken the debt down aggressively to make this option a reasonable one according to Mays. Mays also said that the debt has been reduced by $29 million and the current tax rate of 4.13% will not go up with the passage of this referendum.

 

Mr. Moore explained that the plan for these new facilities was put together by a collaborative effort of Architechnics, Klingner and Associates and Poepping-Stone- Bach & Associates. The plan includes moving 6th graders to the Junior High School, and 9th graders to the Senior High School. Plus it will better suit the needs of Special Ed students.

It will make all buildings ADA compliant and reduce the transportation costs involved with transporting students to school. This plan would also reduce the total amount of buildings from 8 to 5 and all five buildings will be more energy efficient and should have a life expectancy of 100 years. The election for this referendum is set for November 4th . Thanks to Mayor Kyle Moore for his introduction of our guests.

 

Youth of the Month
Salwa Mikhail

 

We also featured our Student of the Month in Salwa Mikhail of Quincy Notre Dame High School. Salwa, the daughter of Doctors Baseem Mikhail and Buthaina Richeh, is currently ranked #1 in her class and earned a composite score of 34 on her ACT exam. She has a weighted GPA of 4.069 on a 4.0 scale. In other words, she is smarter than anyone else in the Club except Dr. Lenny Bialas, of course.

 

She is a member of the National Honor Society and is involved in numerous other activities. She has also accumulated nearly 200 service hours when only 10 hours are required per year at QND. Salwa's intentions are to become a pre-med student when she graduates from QND.

 
Principal Mark McDowell of QND provided us with her introduction. Thanks goes out to the John Johannes, the Student of the Month Chairman, and his committee for their fine work.
  
VIP Dates

 

10/22 - Andrew & Jennifer Asbury celebrate their 3rd anniversary
10/22 - Flags meeting at ETC Computerland - 6:00 pm
birthdays - The President is 67 and nephew Tony is 55
10/26 - The Big Dog, Jeff Dorsey turns 61
11/8 - Veterans Day Parade
11/7-11/11 - Field of Honor - Illinois Veteran's Home
11/20 - Board meeting - 11:45 at the Pier
 
This & That  

 

The opening prayer was provided by Principal McDowell who pulled double duty as a guest.

 

Eric Thomas, who said "I do" to his lovely bride some 22 years ago, said "I" again but this time it was followed by the word "pledge" to begin the Pledge of Allegiance. Almost the same thing isn't it?

 

Steve Peters handled the tail-twisting duties which included jokes about customer complaints and Roe vs. Wade.

 

Brian Koch conducted the 50-50 card draw worth over $517. Charlie Ledbetter had the correct ticket but drew a 7 of Diamonds. That Ace of Spades is still in the deck. So the pot grows.

 

President Curt Moore announced that the Unity Exchange program for this year will not be happening since a facility to hold the event was not found. Maybe next year.

 

You have two more opportunities to purchase a raffle ticket to win two seats in the upcoming B-25 flights during Veteran's Day. These flights will help offset the cost of a flyover during the Veteran's Parade. A raffle ticket costs $5. The drawing will take place on October 31st. See Mel Dillman to purchase a ticket.

 

Art Awerkamp announced that WGEM and the Quincy Herald Whig donated $1,000 to the Field of Honor campaign. So far $16,000 has been raised. If you or your business pledged a contribution or sponsorship, please get your money in this week! Sign up sheets will be on the table again this Friday as we will need help on November 7th thru the 11th in setting up and taking down the flags with supervision needed in between.

 

Exchangite John Spring was recently in Charleston, South Carolina and toured the dry-docked USS Yorktown, a ship that John's father in law served on during World War Two. During the tour he came across the Exchange Club's Freedom Shrine. What a great place to have one. (As an aside, there are 15 Exchange Clubs in the Greater Charleston area)

 

New Club Shirts
 
If you are interested in purchasing a new shirt, pleas let Dennis know by sending your shirt size to exchange@adams.net. Cost is $32 and the shirts are a 60/40 cotton/polyester blend. We'll place the order before the end of the month to see if can get them before the Field of Honor event, so don't delay!
  
Like us on Facebook
The National Exchange Club is trying to increase its presence on social media sites. One way to do that is to "Like" a site on Facebook. If you go to these links and click "Like", it will help the club, district and National Exchange Club promote the programs of service of Exchange to others. If you are on Facebook, please support Exchange by clicking Like! Here's the links:
In This Issue
This Friday
Friday Last
Youth of the Month
VIP Dates
This & That
Order your new shirt now!
Quote of the Week
New Web Page
Exchange Education
Club Information
Curt Moore - President
Jared Haugh - President-Elect
Brian Koch - Vice President
Chris Parker - Treasurer
Cullan Duke - Secretary
Chuck Venvertloh - Immediate Past President

Board of Directors:
Steve Labs - 2015


Lincolnland District
President - Bill VanKeuren, Mattoon
Division 10 Director - Joel Koch, Quincy

Board meets second Monday every month 11:45 at the Pier  Restaurant

Office of the Secretary:
Cullan Duke
PO Box 1173
Quincy IL 62306


 
National Exchange Club
President - Lou Molitor
Region 3 Vice President - Katie Smith
Line of the Week
 

Can't say we had one (at least that I was able to hear). Serious topic last Friday so look for craziness to return this Friday.

 

  
Web Pages
  
Catch more news and Pictures for the club on our webpages at www.quincyexchangeclub.org and
www.smokeontheriver.net

Or on our Facebook page at
 https://www.facebook.com/quincyexchange 
  
  

Please keep the weekend o November 7 - 11 open to help out at the field! We'll have a road trip meeting to the Illinois Veterans Home on Friday, November 7 and ask that as many of you as possible stick around after the meeting to help set up the flags. It's a simple process, but there are 1,000 flag that need to be set up.

 

On Saturday, Sunday & Monday, we'll need members (and families and friends) to volunteer to man the tent. No heavy lifting - we just need to be there to answer questions and give direction.

 

Finally, on Tuesday, following the Veterans Home ceremony, we'll need help taking everything down. 

     

Exchange Education
  
Leadership Training
 
One of the most important functions of the National Exchange Club and its Districts is to provide leadership training. This past weekend, the National Exchange Club conducted its 50th National Leadership Conference (NLC) in Detroit, Michigan. In attendance, were the District Presidents-elect (DPEs) of all of the Districts in Exchange, including our Lincolnland District President-elect, Dawn Portner of the Naperville Club. In addition to some valuable training for running their districts, the DPEs have the opportunity to meet their "class" of future District Presidents along with their Regional Vice Presidents, National Board and Foundation Board of Trustees. Each class chooses a class name (the current class has chosen the 104th Lightning Squadron in honor of Exchange's 104th year and National President Elect Dan McQueeney's service in the Air Force. Dan's theme for the year was also unveiled during the conference - Exchange Strong.
 
Training included the purpose and responsibilities of the District, as well as training on PR & Marketing, how to navigate the member database of the National Website, how to run an effective meeting and the importance of keeping the lines of communication open with each of the clubs. They also had a presentation on the National Foundation from our own Dennis Koch. 
 
At the District Level, Leadership training will be held during the Mid-Year Educational Conference in Bloomington on December 6. There isn't any charge for the training, which is open to all members of Exchange. All officers and directors of the club are encouraged to attend, and there will be a special breakout session for Club Presidents-elect this year.
 
There will be more information forthcoming on the District Educational Conference in the near future.