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NEWSLETTER

Cedar Rapids Downtown Kiwanis Club

February 15, 2006 

"Now More Than Ever"

 Scribe Report             30 Members in attendance

 Guests:  Deb Fisher (John Schweitzer); Em Schultz (Mel Rhodes)

 Birthdays:  Anniversaries: None this week

 Announcements:  John Schweitzer announced that he is retired, and that guest Deb Fisher took his place; Doug Dix reported that donations were received from Linda Kaas in memory of Bob Gable, and from Al Gravelle in memory of Ed Colton; March 25 is the Mid-Year Conference in Council Bluffs; Kiwanis International Foundation is again holding the “Skip-A-Meal” fund raising campaign to support the Kiwanis Children’s Fund; Kelly Allen reported on the first meeting of the Float Committee, shooting for a mobile display for St. Patrick’s Day; John Locher is looking for a helper for the reading program that he chairs; Dan Breitbach is assembling the teams for the pancake ticket sales competition – more on this next week; Jeff Hollingsworth invites all to meet at Xavier at 7:30 on Wednesday, February 22 for an Interclub with the Key Club there; several members reported that Dr. Jim Manville  is doing fairly well after surgery, but expects to be in the hospital for a while.

Happy Bucks: Paul Anderson added to the above noted donations in memory of Ed Colton; Mel Rhodes just bought a condo; Jack Anderson received a confirmation of support for the Pancake Breakfast from Quaker Oats via cell phone while lounging on the beach in Puerto Rico; Kelly Allen was happy to have been a part of a surprise birthday party for Dan Breitbach; the latter Dubuquer was rendered speechless, so donated a happy buck; Duane Kurrelmeyer was happy for the victory over Michigan State by the Hawks last night; John Schweitzer cast in a dollar, perhaps as a fine for telling the same lame joke two weeks in a row; Joe Schmall threw one in in anticipation of the start of Spring Training in a couple of weeks (Dave Graeff saved a buck by burying the same thought in his Invocation); Bob Dye was happy that his benefit event for Christian youth sold out.

Program: Lonna Drewelow introduced Dr. James McKean, who has written a book of essays relating to his experiences as a major college basketball player, his relationship to Coach Jud Heathcote, and some sports related family events.  Among the latter was researching his aunt’s participation (winning a bronze medal) in the swimming competition of the 1936 Games in Berlin, and teaching his daughter how to shoot a jump shot.

Jim played center for Washington State University, and then some pro ball in Bologna on a team owned by a washing machine company.  He showed a film of him in a 1967 game with UCLA in which he was matched up against Lew Alcindor.  WSU got beat, but made a game of it.

Word for the Day:  Nonplus, n., a state in which no more can be said or done; inability to proceed in speech or action; a stated of perplexity or puzzle.  Almost always in phr. to be at (rarely in) a nonplus = to be nonplussed.

Submitted by Chuck Wehage