Mike Lavery handled the delivery of our opening prayer with words of thought and condolences to former Exchangite Dale Venvertloh and his wife Marty on the loss of their son, D.J., who passed away after a battle with brain cancer.

Rick Goughner began the Pledge of Allegiance with a robust "I" which set off a thunderous response from the rest of the Club members to complete the recital.

Jeff Dorsey handled the tail-twisting duties and on Halloween told an audience participation Halloween joke about a coffin chasing a man home. It was enjoyed by almost all (minus the rest of the Club members in attendance). I guarantee it was told by others later in the day although no one will say so. This tail-twisting is getting tough on me.

Brian Koch completed the duty of the 50-50 Card Draw. Hal Broadwater had the correct ticket but drew a 5 of Clubs. So the pot of $578 will grow again.

Art Awerkamp revealed that we received a $1,000 check from Refreshment Services Pepsi for the "Field of Honor" campaign. That brings us to a total of $17,000 raised for the event so far. Signup sheets were on tables and help will be needed for this event from Friday thru Tuesday (Nov. 11th). Thanks to those who have signed up. If you haven't signed up and now can assist, contact Art Awerkamp for an assignment.

The Exchange Club will be participating in the Veteran's Day Parade this Saturday. We will be carrying a banner and the huge American Flag down Maine Street. We will need about 15 members to help us with this. We will gather at the Jr. High parking lot at 9am. We are entry number 6.

Don't forget, you are all welcomed to attend the Veteran's Day Ceremony at Lippincott Hall at the Illinois Veteran's Home on Tuesday, November 11th at 10am.

President Curt Moore is actively looking to find some people who will assist him with the Character Champions event. For the past 12 years, Jim Benz, Jim Totsch and Kurt Frageman have done a remarkable job with this program but all three requested that they would like to step down. If you can help, contact Curt.

Steve Labs placed pamphlets on the tables for the November 13th    Hy-Vee Holiday Show to benefit the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. There will be some 60 beer and wine sampling tables at the event at the Oakley-Lindsay Center.

Come armed for the next several weeks with some extra cash as we will begin collecting our annual tip for Jennifer, our weekly waitress. For new members to the Club, we usually collect at least $10 from each member. If you attend all 50 meetings during the year, that comes to 20 cents a meeting (sometimes I amaze myself with my math abilities).

We held the drawing to determine the winner of two seats on the B-25 and the aforementioned Jennifer drew the name of Jeff Dorsey. Thanks to Mel Dillman for handling this project.

Make sure you head to the polls today (Tuesday, November 4th) and vote. Polls will be open until 7pm.