The Smile

Rotary Club of Moline Newsletter

Editor
Duane Swenson

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK- We were remiss in not mentioning the birth of Rotary on February 23, 1905. Four men – Paul Harris, Silvestor Schiele, Gus Loehr and Hiram Shorey met in room 711 of the Unity Building in Chicago, to discuss the possibility of business men meeting on a regular basis, rotating at different places of the members businesses - hence the calling the group Rotary. Almost ten years later, in November 1914, Moline Rotary came into being. We are club number 131. WOW! What a neat story.

TODAY –WE WILL NOT BE HAVING OUR REGULAR NOON MEETING, BUT CELEBRATING ST.PATRICK’S DAY JUST A LITTLE EARLY. INVITE YOUR SPOUSES OR SIGNIFICANT OTHERS, AND WEAR A LITTLE GREEN. Our meeting is at the Oakwood Country Club out on Route 6.  Let’s hope for a large turnout.

LAST WEEK- The Quad Cities is in a unique position to attract business from across the country.
It is the second largest metro area outside of Chicago, and has easy access to air, highway, and rail service. This story was so big that two folks gave us what Quad City First is all about. Rick Baker from the Illinois Quad City Chamber, and Tara Barney from Davenport One, joined forces to give us an update on Quad City First that was formed in September 2009.

By harnessing the collective talents of both sides of the river, QC First will be able to find ways to attract new business into the area.  To date, QC First has collected about 50% of the monies needed to operate this joint venture. The monies have come from the private sector the two chambers and both sides of the river.

Tara indicated that their focus will not be on the big box companies but small business partners. The QCA has a lot to offer. A major attraction is the river that also offers transportation possibilities.
There is a great work force available, good affordable housing, and a reasonable cost of living that other regions do not have. Education is also

Important, and there is an abundance of good schools here, also with the expansion of the Western Illinois campus. It’s great to see the enthusiasm shown by the two speakers as they see a cooperative effort by both sides of the river.

Lew Steinbrecher, Tara Barney and Rick Baker

NEWS YOU COULD USE -

1– New Member Introduced  - Dr. Rose Campbell, sponsor, introduced Dr. Rick Underbakke, the new president of Black Hawk College. Dr. Rick resides in Moline, and was a former member and past president of the Concordia, KS Rotary Club. Welcome to Moline Rotary.

Dr. Rick Underbakke

2- President Dave announces Spring Clean Up-
The Community Needs Committee announced that barring any spring flooding, we will be on the Ben Butterworth Parkway for our semi-annual clean up. Something new this year will be issuing of recyclable bags with Rotary Logos. President Dave encouraged more volunteers for this project.

3 - Another Future Rotarian – Jim Scott announced the arrival of grandchild # 11. He thinks that will be the last. Anyway, Ean Scott was born in McKinney, TX on February 15. His parents are David and Amy Scott. He weighed in at 6#, 14oz, and is 18.9 inches long. Everyone is doing just fine, including the grandparents. Jim also announced that he and Ann celebrated 56 years of marriage on February 20th. Thanks to Jim for his generous donation to Shelter Box.

4 – We did it – Thanks to some last minute donations, Moline Rotary will be sending $4000 to buy 4 Shelter Boxes for those unfortunate folks in Haiti.  It seems that all that we hear are disasters in different parts of the world.  Chile, last week incurred one of the largest earthquakes on record, 8.8 on the Rictor Scale, and damage is tremendous. Fortunately, that country is a little better prepared to handle this type of occurrence.

Rock Island Rotary is currently hosting a student from Chile, and he has heard that his family is fine.

5 – President Dave wants us to know about some important dates -
April 30 – May 01- District Conference in Rockford at the Clock Tower.
June 03- Moline Rotary Presidents’ Banquet at the Lavender Crest Winery.
June 20-23 – Rotary International Convention in
Montreal,Canada.

6– It still helps to advertise – Committee Chairs-please let SMILE Editor Swens know about your meetings so we can publish them in the bulletin.

VISITORS FROM HERE AND THERE

President Dave hosted Bob Hafeman, Director of the Moline Public Library.
Joe Taylor was a guest of Diane DeBord
Vicky Miller hosted Kristin Glass from the Illinois Quad City Chamber.

ROVING ROTARIAN
Bill Wandrey turned in another make up from Naples, FL. He repeats as Roving Rotarian of the Week.

SMILE A WHILE – Some Southern Humor

Alabama – A group of Alabama friends went deer hunting and went off in twos for the day.  That night, one of the hunters (Tommy) returned alone, staggering under the weight of an eight-point buck.
“Where’s Henry?” the others asked.
“Henry had a stroke of some kind. He’s a couple of miles back up the trail,” the successful hunter replied.
“You left Henry laying out there and carried the deer back?” they inquired.
“A tough call,” nodded the hunter. “But I figured no one is going to steal Henry!”

Louisiana – A senior was overheard saying – “When the end of the world comes, I hope to be in
Louisiana.” When asked why, he replied, “I’d rather be in Louisiana because everything happens in Louisiana 20 years later than in the rest of the civilized world.”

South Carolina – A man in South Carolina had a flat tire, pulled off the side of the road, and proceeded to put a bouquet of flowers in front and the back of the car.  Then he got in the car to wait.
A passerby studied the scene as he drove by and was so curious he turned around and came back.
He asked the fellow what the problem was.
The man replied, “I have a flat tire.”
The passerby asked, “But what’s with the flowers?”
The man responded, “When you break down they tell you to put flares in the front and flares in the back. I never did understand it neither.”

Tennessee – A Tennessee trooper pulled over a pickup on I-65. The trooper asked, “Got any ID?”
The driver replied, “Bout what?”

IN THE FUTURE –
Today Mar 08 – Board Meeting at Denny’s, South
                           Park – 7:30 A.M.
Tonite Mar 08 – St. Patrick’s Day Party

Mar 15 – The U.S. Census –Shawn Christ
Mar 22 – At the Airport – Homeland Security
               Rick Gordon/Jeff Hardacre
Mar 29 – The new I 74 Bridge – George Ryan, IDT
               District Engineer