News Items:

We were honored to have as our guest speaker today our County Court Clerk, Sally Howe Smith.  She has been a faithful servant of our county for many years.  Miss Sally, as she is affectionately known around the courthouse, gave us an overview of her responsibilities as court clerk and also some insights into the inner workings of county government.  She also spoke about some emotional trials with which she has been involved.  Most of us were surprised at how diverse and complicated the court clerk job actually is. Sally is also a devoted Kiwanian and is a member of the Downtown Club.

We were also blessed to have as our guests several Key Club members from Union High School.

 
 These are great kids!  (Future Kiwanians)

New-Old Key Club

                               John Maxwell is the T/O District Region 3 Advisor for Key Clubs. He                                is a member of the East Tulsa-Broken Arrow Kiwanis Club and came                                to talk to us last Thursday. He shared his experiences – both good and                              not so good – with us. His Region 3 is all of northeast Oklahoma                               combining our Kiwanis Divisions 15. 27, and 31. We appreciate the                                 time and effort that John gives to this worthwhile cause.

Jerry Powell introduced John, but first: Jerry had just come from a meeting with the Metro Christian Academy Key Club and told us about them! We were their sponsors back several years ago and watched them dissolve. Now, out of the blue, that club has come alive again and we are to continue as their sponsor. What great news for us. Their meetings are scheduled for only once a month; 11:40 am to noon on the first Thursday. Jerry invited their faculty advisor to come and meet with us so we can all get acquainted and asked him to send over a couple of their members each week like they used to do. We will also enlist the advisor as a member of our Kiwanis Club, as we have done for the advisors of the two Key Clubs at Union.

Isn't this a great opportunity for us to enlarge our influence in this very important aspect of service ro our community? We will all benefit from the contacts we will make with our next generation.

Ron Sigler has volunteered to be the liaison with our new-old Key Club at Metro Christian Academy. Jerry Powell is already involved with Union Senior and Marsha Schmidt is working with Union Intermediate.

                            Also this week, we were honored to have as our guest Rene Chapuis, a                                patient at the Cancer Treatment Center of America at 81^st and Lewis.                                He is a founding member of a 14-year-old Kiwanis Club in Switzerland                                and has been their president and also a lt. Governor. He stood proudly                                beside our American flag because he is officially an American citizen.                                His treatment while here in Tulsa is to combat prostate cancer. We                                wish him well and hope to have him visit us during his stay here.                                 He plans to join us for our Christmas party at Dick & Lil Green's.

RSVP

                              It’s not a word for you to pronounce; it’s a mnemonic that stands                                     for Retired Senior Volunteer Program. The Assistant Director of the                                     local office, Pamela Dose, was our speaker last Thursday and told                                     us about the many old folks (they say over 55) who are involved in                                     a wide variety of services to the community as volunteers. They help                                    strangers at the airport find their way to wherever they are going.                                   They teach other seniors how to use a computer. They sit in                                     courtrooms to help find ways to reduce stress on those being                                    judged. They become surrogate grandparents for young children who need help in school. They prepare bulk mailings for other United Way Agencies. These are only a few examples of the ways this organization helps match senior citizens with opportunities that enrich their own lives as well as those who they serve.

The Tulsa RSVP was one of the pilot programs that started about 33 years ago by the Tulsa Metropolitan Ministry. RSVP is now active in more than 760 communities in the United States. We are grateful to Mike Bagby for inviting Pam to bring us up to date on the organization. We have heard about RSVP from Claudia Meiling and Sherry Clark in the past, but their work continues to grow and now we are reminded of their importance.

Hey, guys; we are volunteers too!

MEMBERSHIP DRIVE

We’re off and running on the membership drive, scheduled for the next two months. This week, Mike Lang brought a dentist as his guest and Kenny G. brought a young lady, Jennifer, as his guest. Both left us armed with information about Kiwanis that included an application for membership in the back pocket. We shall see whether either or both accept our invitation.

Mike Lang promises to call each of his team members a little later every week until he/she brings a guest/prospect. He warned us that his weekly call might be as late as 3 am if we fail to bring someone to visit us by the middle of January. Mike Nash agreed and will probably do the same. So, you have been warned. Invite somebody and be sure they come to our meeting.

Quota

That’s the name of another service club in our neighborhood. In fact, there is a chapter downtown, one on the south side, one in Bixby, and one in Sand Springs. But those four are the only chapters of this organization in Oklahoma. The president of the South Tulsa Quota Club is Kay Davis, who told us about their work last week. She said that they have about 7000 clubs internationally.

Kay’s club has 15 current members who meet once a month and have one board meeting a month. They have been working to help support “Happy Hands”, which is a program to prepare deaf pre-schoolers to live in a world of people who do not have that handicap.

We were glad to hear about their work here in Tulsa and thank Mrs. Davis for coming to tell us about it.

MEMBERSHIP CAMPAIGN

Here are the teams for our membership drive which starts Nov. 1st:

Mike Lang’s Team          Mike Nash’s Team
      Austin                                 Bagby
      Bennett                               Boyne
      Brockoff                             Carter
      Carroll                                Geriets
      Farris                                 Green
      Harl, D.                              Harl, C
      Lang                                   Meade
      Mathis                                Nash
      McFadden                         Phillips
      Musselman                         Powell
      Sigler                                  Wackenhuth
      Schmidt                              Whitaker
      Graham                              White
      Rowell                                Swafford

Watch What You Eat

Rusty Wilcox is a nutritionist. She brought an array of food packages to discuss the value to us of selecting healthful foods. This, after we had just consumed our usual selections from the buffet line at The Fountains! But we listened and appreciated her suggestions to help us live longer and happier lives. Incidentally, her packages were all empty so we didn’t have any samples. But we can remember things like low fat and high fiber content better when we see the packages that she brought.

Thanks to Dick Green for asking Rusty to speak to us and acting as Kiwanian of the Day as well as stepping in as VP because Prez Brent couldn’t make the meeting. Dick’s wife, Lil, came along to our meeting too.

Football at TU

                        We heard about the football program at Tulsa University from the                               coach’s father, Dave Kragthorpe. We hear about his son, Steve,                                 frequently during football season and follow the feats and defeats of                                 their team. But now we have met the dad, who was also a football                                  coach during his career. He now “works” as a dollar-a-year assistant                                  to his son, although he said that he has not yet been paid for last year.

Dave is a member of Rotary in his hometown, Logan, Utah. But he has been in Kiwanis and Lions over the years when he was an active coach. Now, he and his wife come to Tulsa for the spring training period and the full football season and then return home to Utah during the snow and cold -- and he says beautiful – winter.

Dave pointed out that the facilities at TU for most of its athletic programs are excellent, but the football program suffers with an ancient and inadequate stadium, locker rooms, and coaches’ offices. We can only wonder whether his voice will be heard by the administration and whether they will act on the information.

Thanks to our new president Brent for asking Dave Kragthorpe to come and talk to us.

The Governor’s Visit

T/O Kiwanis Governor Gene Jantzen and his brand new wife Renee chose our Division 15 for their first official visit of their new year. We were there at the noon meeting of the Sapulpa Kiwanis Club on Thursday, October 7.

Governor Gene challenged us to double our T/O membership, which, is down to 12,100 members, by having each of us bring in just one new member. That sounds simple and it is, so let’s go with it. Check with Lloyd if you need an invitation card, and use it to find one new member to join with us to provide service to our schools and community.

Gene’s wife, Renee, introduced another project for us this year. We are asked to make crib blankets for local distribution here in Tulsa.

We had an installation party

Our new Lt. Governor Bob Mackechney installs Brent Carroll as the new president.

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 Kenny G. congratulates Brent as he turns over the reins, then he gives Lowell Phillips a plaque to honor his service to the club.  Among the other honorees were Dick Green, Kiwanian-of-the-Year, Jerry Powell for his work with our Key Clubs and Lloyd Austin for his fine work as Secretary. 

Then we had some fun!

Mike Lang introduced us to the Hippopenduck and, with help from Mark Wackenhuth and Brent Carroll, awarded it to Kenny G. in honor of his jokes that he shared during the year

Good luck to all the new officers and directors.  We look forward to another great year serving the children of our community.

Be All That You Can Be

Bob Hidde came to talk with us again, and his message was, essentially, “Take control of your life.” He is an example of a person who has listened carefully to that advice during his own life. It is amazing to just listen to him and know that his voice, which could be heard easily throughout the room, comes from the single vocal chord that he has left after life-threatening surgery. His motivational story was based on his own experiences. He also told us about other examples of people who rose from poverty to a successful life. Like he said, a positive attitude is an essential part of making our lives better.

Kenny G. was responsible for getting Bob to come and visit with us again. Bob is an inspiration to each of us, reminding us to, like the Marines ad says, “Be the best that you can be.”

Therapetics
 

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We had a chance to learn about the Therapetics organization last Thursday. Here we have Director Kael Marsh being greeted by her Service Dog. Looking on is wheelchair-bound David Skaggs and his Service Dog, Martin. David explained the ways his life has been enriched by his companion dog and together they demonstrated a basic practical service – the dog picked up an object from the floor and gave it to David. This allows David to retrieve an article that he has dropped without dangerously leaning out of his wheelchair to get it.

Kael gave us a wish list of items that they need for their newly-occupied quarters. She also gave us a recent newsletter that included the announcement of a DogFest coming up on Saturday, October 9 and requesting volunteers to help at that event. Do we have any takers? I am sure that Mark Wackenhuth, who brought the program to us, will be happy to put us in touch. We are volunteers, aren’t we?

The American Red Cross

                                  What does our American Red Cross do? Our speaker last Thursday                                   was Bob Roberts, who was representing our local chapter at 11^th                                   St. and Route 169. He showed us a list, taken from the Yellow                                   Pages of our phone book, to show us the wide variety of services                                   they provide. Some are local, such as sustaining families who are                                   displaced by fire. Some are national; for example, the current efforts                                  to bring aid to the hurricane victims in Florida. And others are international, working through Red Cross and/or Red Crest organizations in 182 countries in our world. Still others are associated with our armed forces, conveying messages to service personnel concerning life and death in the families they left behind.

They provide all of these services, plus collection of blood, without any government funds. They accept donations from individuals  and from the United Way. Thank you, Mike Bagby, for bringing Bob to speak to us.

A little sidelight: I remember that I was president of the Junior Red Cross in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in 1927.  They have been around for a long time.

OSU TULSA

                             The Oklahoma State University at Tulsa was the subject of                                     discussion on Thursday, led by “Nekki” Reagan. At least that is                                      what her friends call her. And we are her friends, so it’s OK. She                                       is a recruiter for the school.

                              She explained to us that OSU-Tulsa is basically a finishing school,                                     providing the last two years for a Batchelor’s degree in many fields                                    and the most common source for students is Tulsa Community                                     College or similar two-year institutions. They also offer specialized courses in a variety of fields and advanced degree work. Shuttle buses make round trips several times each day so local students can reach the Stillwater campus and students from Stillwater can commute to the Tulsa campus to reach special classes and/or teachers, etc.

We can thank Paul Musselman, our Kiwanian of the Day, for finding and inviting Nekki to came and talk with us.

We also had a visit from Bob Smith of the downtown Kiwanis Club. And speaking of downtown, we have several of our members signed up to visit that club this Monday to hear a debate between U.S. Senate candidates Coburn and Carson. It will be a full house.

Historic Places

                           We heard about the U.S. National Register of Historic Places from                                  Kathy Ambler at our meeting last Thursday. She told us that the                                  Register includes homes, neighborhoods, buildings, statues, almost                                   anything that helps us all to remember our collective history. She said                                  that the National Register does not include the restrictions on changes                                   to the exterior of a building, but that local and state registries do.

                          Thank you, Fern Farris, for being our Kiwanian of the Day and bringing this young lady and her message to us.
 

Lock Your Doors

This week we had a visit from Brooke Gwartney, the president of our local Citizens Crime Commission. That’s the program that has featured Lucky Lamons and Scott Walton telling the public about unsolved crimes that have been committed in our area and asking for help in solving them, with cash rewards to those who provide the help.

Brooke told us that she herself had been a victim of crimes -- breaking and entering, and car theft.— and is familiar with many other crimes that are more serious. She emphasized that we need to be more vigilant in our daily lives because we are all much more vulnerable than was true in the past. Lock our cars. Keep the garage doors closed except when we are right there. Be cautious about approaching strangers. Use your alarm systems. Call 911 whenever you sense a dangerous confrontation. In short, become conscious of the drastic changes of modern lifestyles. Too bad, but it is creeping up on all of us.

We tried to get a picture of Brooke to include with this report but the darned camera just would not take a picture. When I got home, I found that the trouble was that the batteries were discharged, so I was to blame. Apologies.

God Bless the U.S.A.

Today we had the honor of a visit from Damon Quinton, a Marine who was, with his wife, Gina, visiting his mother, Pat, in Sand Springs. Damon has had a tour of duty in Iraq and is on leave from there. He gave us a first-hand glimpse of the “real” conditions that he experienced there while encamped near the Baghdad airport. He assured us that, although there are threats from insurgents, the presence of our troops is welcomed by most Iraqi’s. So much for our media coverage that sells papers by emphasizing the bad stories. A balanced viewpoint makes us want to wave our flag.

Thanks, Kenny G., for inviting your neighbor Pat to share her precious time with her son and daughter-in-law with us.

We Love to Hear the Stories

                                 Then for our program, we heard Fran Stallings tell us several                                  spell-binding stories. Fran is a professional story- teller and is                                  active as the Oklahoma State Liaison for the National Storytelling                                  Network and is a co-founder of Tallgrass Tellers which is a                                  storytelling group in Bartlesville (her home). She is an Artist-in-                                 Residence for the Oklahoma Arts Council and conducts                                  workshops for teachers and librarians as well as entertaining
children and adults with her stories.

We were certainly fortunate to have Mike Lang discover her availability and invite her to be our speaker. He had to make a quick trade as Kiwanian of the Day with Harold Brockoff so we could get to hear her.

It was about Foster Parenting

As promised, Toni Hereford returned last Thursday and her story was a first-hand report on becoming a foster parent. It was one of those things that just happened - not planned. Toni’s son brought Samantha into their lives just when both of Toni’s natural kids “left the nest.”

Toni was able to house Samantha in an empty spare bedroom and then proceeded to learn about Sam’s troubled background. Her parents were into drugs and alcohol and Sam, as a result, was a troubled teenager, suspicious of everything and everyone.  Toni had to take a six-week course on parenting in order to qualify as a foster parent for Sam. Then she was able to become Samantha’s foster mother.

With loving and tender care, Sam blossomed into a well-adjusted lovely young lady. If we are lucky, maybe we will meet Sam some day. Thank you very much, Toni, for bringing your heart-warming story to us.

Did you notice the “musical chairs” that went on at the head table? It was because we had 36 chairs in the room for 37 people! When Kenny was leading the opening, we swiped his chair to accommodate a late comer. Then he introduced Noel Bennett as Kiwanian of the Day and Noel’s chair was moved over so Kenny could sit down again. Then Noel introduced Toni and took her chair while she spoke to us. But wasn’t it great to have such a crowd at our meetin’ house?

We also had the pleasure of  having this group from our Key Club at Union High School. The Division 15E Lt. Governor, Jacob Lambert, is the tall guy in the back row. Their sponsor, Gayle Graham, is at the right. Next to Gayle is Mary Elias, the president for next year. Their monthly report tells us that they have 101 members! Way to go!

They also reported an interesting work project. They showed 84 man-hours working at the OU-Shusterman Medical Center for the Relay for Life, benefiting the American Cancer Society.

Bob Batchelor brought us a nine-person interclub from downtown. Mike McFadden brought his son, Terence. And Charlie Simons was back, guest of David Harl.

Also, we had the honor of having two of our next- year’s Lt. Governors Thursday; Jacob Lambert for Key Club and Bob Mackechney for Kiwanis.

The  Lady in Red

Whoever thought we could laugh and have a good time while talking about blood! But that’s just what we had last Thursday when Toni Hereford came to discuss it with us. She is the blood program coordinator for the Tulsa branch of Oklahoma Blood Institute (OBI). Their office is at 4601 E. 81^st Street, where we are all welcome to come and donate blood (if we qualify). They even put your name in for a drawing for a cruise when you donate blood.

It was surprising to learn that OBI is the sole source for 60% of the blood used by hospitals and clinics in Oklahoma. They do not compete with the American Red Cross, but instead provide 100% of the blood service to a long list of designated locations and the Red Cross serves the other locations.

We learned from Toni that there are three major components in our blood that can be separated and used for different situations. The red and white blood cells are delivered throughout the body in a stream of plasma and there is a supply of platelets that travel along. The blood cells carry oxygen and CO2 to and from our body cells. The platelets gang up to seal an opening into an artery or vein; she said that platelets resemble thick applesauce. Any or all of these components can be used for a transfusion, depending on the circumstance.

So we say “thank you” to Toni for this enlightening and entertaining program. And we thank Dick Green for acting as Kiwanian of the Day in place of Ron Sigler, who was ill.

Help Line

                               Our speaker last Thursday was Shelly Thurman. She is the                                       person who Mark Wackenhuth contacts each spring and fall                                       regarding those air conditioners that have been our regular                                      work projects for several years. She wears many hats, all                                       associated with providing help for the needy in our community.

                                Shelly pointed out that she, or someone from HelpLine, visit                                      each location for which assistance is requested and select                                       which will be answered this year. She says that there are 250                                       air conditioners available and there are 750 requests, so her job is not very pleasant in that respect. She wishes she had more units or more donations to purchase some more. Donations of used equipment are discouraged because of the maintenance requirements.

We learned that the phone number for emergency aid will be 211, similar to 911 for medical emergencies. This will be effective soon on a 24/7 basis.

Thank you, Mark, for inviting Sherry to talk to us. We are expecting to be called on soon to install air conditioners. Last July’s high was 104 with 29 days 90 or above. In August we had a high of 106 and it was 90 or above during 28 days. Let’s help as many people as we can to beat our Tulsa heat.

About those Elderhostels

                              Mike Lang brought Andy Anderson to tell us about                                     Elderhostels last Thursday. This term defines a travel experience                                    for those of us who have been around for a while – like 65 years                                   or more. He explained that there are two general types of travel                                   opportunities; one is for simple enjoyment and the other is for a                                    chance to work at some special assignment.

                                Andy and his wife enjoy bicycle tours together and have been                                    to places such as Egypt, England, and Belize. This summer they                                    will be bicycling through Sweden. He told us that they travel in a                                    group about 25 miles each day and then stop overnight. A van carries along their luggage and a couple of spare bikes.

The other type of travel involves a work project. Andy told us about teaching English as a second language to a group of children in Italy. In another trip, he worked on a Habitat for Humanity house in the coal fields of eastern Kentucky. He said that the coal trains kept him awake the first night but he was so tired by the second night they didn’t bother his sleep at all.

He had literature and catalogs telling about trips coming up for which we (when we are old enough) can sign up. The catalogs are also available in our libraries.

Chili

We did it! It was great! We had excellent cooperation from our Kiwanians and from the Key Clubs. But we need to clap our hands real loud for Dick and Lil Green – they did so much to help us make this a big success. Kenny gave Dick one of our Kiwanis Bell paper weights. He should share it with Lil – they can ring it when they need to gain attention.

The final profit figures are not in yet, but we know that it was well worth our time and effort. Our Key Clubbers will get to the convention.

Boys and Girls Clubs of Tulsa

The Salvation Army operates six Boys and Girls Clubs in the Tulsa Area (including Sand Springs, Sapulpa, and Broken Arrow). Don Fyler is the Executive Director, and he told us about them last Thursday. They offer their 6000 members a wide variety of services for ages 6 through 18 and for families. Their after-school activities include a snack, time for homework with tutoring, physical activities, and spiritual exploration. Their grade-school-age football teams compete against each other and against some public school teams as well. They serve a need in our community and we are grateful for our Salvation Army Boys and Girls Clubs.

Thank you, Lori Mathis, for inviting Don Fyler to be our speaker.

A Double Whammy

Don Boyne

We really had a very different kind of program last Thursday. Our newest member, Don Boyne, stepped up and talked with us about what service he expects we could and should be doing and how he can become a part of it. This generated a discussion among us and led to the idea that we should evaluate our service to the community and find more ways to help other people. We all enjoy the “meet and eat and hear” part of Kiwanis. We are proud of our  influence on our Key Clubs. But we will all be happier if we find some additional service project(s) right here in River City.  Then . . .

Tax Time

Mike Bagby was our Kiwanian of the Day for last Thursday. He tried to have someone from the Internal Revenue Service speakers bureau come and advise us about our income taxes. Nobody called him back so he stepped up to the plate and told us some of the things he knows about the subject. And he is well versed on it.

He started by telling us about income taxes for the State of Oklahoma and how there are surprises that we need to know about. Then he moved into the area of estate taxes and finished with some details about the Federal Income Tax. I don’t think he scared anybody – we made a fun thing out of his presentation.

And wouldn’t you know? He did not want another bell, so Kenny G. offered him a special coffee cup. And he said no to that too. Mike, we tried to reward you for a fun presentation but you turned us down. Many thanks anyway.

Get Ready for Our Chili Feast

Our table is all set and ready to go. This will be a major fund-raiser to support our Key Clubbers as they attend their Annual District Convention in Houston, April 1 through 4.

We Learned About INCOG

The multi-faceted functions of INCOG – the Indian Nations Council of Governments – was the subject of our program this Thursday. Rick Brier is from the INCOG staff and put together a slide program that was designed specifically for presentation at the Kiwanis Club of Tulsa Southeast, and it said so on the first slide. Doesn’t that make us feel important?

INCOG is an overseer of governmental activity in the entire region and helps to plan and carry out issues that affect us all. They have bragging rights about the trails systems that they have built from Sand Springs to Bixby and from Skiatook to Jenks. They are involved in reducing air pollution. They generate detailed maps and aerial views for various purposes. Their activities are generally reported through the local press, radio, and TV news.

Thanks to Mike McFadden for bringing this program for us. Incidentally, Mike is going to disappear until mid-April again so he can help people file their income taxes.

Before it was Tulsa

Just a little over one hundred years ago, this was Indian Territory, soon to become the thriving City of Tulsa. Our fellow Kiwanian Mike Lang is a history buff and he brought us a program about this subject last Thursday, It was so interesting that everybody stayed awake through the entire presentation! . Mike Lang has earned  the “distinguished” designation as club president as well as lieutenant governor of our division. Kiwanian of the Day Mike Nash introduced him properly and also mentioned that our speaker is a “Hixson Fellow” which is a coveted Kiwanis award.

Back to the story. We heard about the paddle-wheel mail boat coming up the Arkansas River and mooring at what is now 41^st St. Then the mail was carried up the hill to the Perryman house – also the post office – close to Utica Ave. There is a small monument on 41^st Street at that location that commemorates this fact.

The Perryman property was tremendous. It was bounded by what is now 21^st St. to 71^st St. and the Arkansas River to Lynn Lane in Broken Arrow. It was a local version of “Bonanza.” The pictures that Mike showed us in the history book that he brought with him helped us to visualize how rough the territory really was.

This was also a trading post on the river where hunters had traveled up into (what is now) Kansas and brought back loads of animal skins to sell at the trading posts.

Bringing it more up to date, Mike told us about missing some of his high school graduation events because his aunt’s home was close to the river and 41^st St., and had been flooded by a heavy rain storm. Mike and some of his friends helped rescue her household furnishings.

Tulsa Air and Space Museum

Lee Rainey came to tell us about this exciting educational facility that is out at the north edge of the Tulsa Airport. At this time, it is housed in an old hanger but, as a part of the 2025 Vision program, it will soon be in two brand new air-conditioned buildings. The first will tell a lot of the history of the aircraft industry as it relates to Tulsa. The second building will be a domed planetarium that will feature glimpses of outer space. Although it will be a place to observe the many facets of air and space travel, it will also be a place that encourages young people to study math, science, and technology in order to prepare for a better and more exciting future in their lives. We were invited to come and visit, both now and in the future.

Thank you, Mike Lang, for finding this man and having him bring the story to us together with a piece of the News that was on Channel 6 in which he was interviewed.

Court Appointed Special Advocate

CASA is our Kiwanis Governor’s special project for this year. Jerry Powell found Marilyn Loukes, the CASA program director for Tulsa, and brought her to tell us about it. Marilyn happens to be the daughter of Jerry’s band director who helped Jerry get started playing the saxophone in Junior High School lo these many years ago. But that is not part of the story this week.

Marilyn explained to us the many facets of CASA. The one most important is the volunteers, because they are assigned by the court for a one-to-one relationship with a family that has one or more youths who are abused or neglected and who need help to grow up right. The individuals normally get in trouble of some kind and are brought into juvenile court as a result. When a CASA volunteer is assigned to that juvenile, he or she meets with the kid and tries to help him or her get their life back on track. Each case is unique, and the volunteer gets training by CASA before getting an assignment.

There are two specific things we can do to help CASA. One is to become a volunteer – Lori Mathis has been one and tells us that it is a wonderful personal experience. The other is to support their efforts with financial help. Let’s get behind this special Governor’s Project.

Thank you, Jerry, for bringing Marilyn Loukes to talk to us.

Welcome Back, Tom Boone

Kenny Geriets promised us a surprise for our program last Thursday and his surprise was Tom Boone, who had to resign from Kiwanis last year because of business pressures. Now it looks like we will get him back with us. In case you wonder, the cowboy hat is part of Tom. So was his topic, the nature of advertising. He said that only 60% of ads, in any medium, are for specific products, and the other 40% are for brand name or source recognition.

He mentioned several nostalgic ads, like “Where’s the Beef” and the Burma Shave series of highway signs and their comic messages. Most of us remember, which proves the ultimate value of advertising.

Tom brought along a new member of his radio team, Katie Newhous, who is also interested in joining a civic club. We hope she will choose ours.

An Award

This was a happy group. Jerry Powell with Key Club Lt. Governor Matthew Summers, Union High School Key Club President Chee Yang, and Richard Lowry (he spoke on Reverse Mortgages two weeks ago). Mr. Lowry had a drawing at the end of the meeting, after he spoke to us, and drew Jerry’s name. So Jerry chose Key Club as his favorite non-profit organization. Chee Yang is holding the $50 contribution from Mr. Lowry in this picture.

Richard Lowry will be out of town for a few weeks, but has promised us that he will be one of our new members when he returns.

You Can’t Tell the Players... Without a Program

So we had not one, but two, good programs lined up for this week (although one of them was supposed to be next Thursday, but then . .) My camera needed new batteries, so I don’t have their pictures, darn it!

First we heard from Gabrielle Duda, a senior at Tulsa University, who is organizing a fundraiser for a mission trip to Gautemala next summer. She has been in Key Club and Circle K, so it was natural for her to turn to Kiwanis to support her plan. So we are all invited to go to a dance – with a big band – to be held at Christ United Methodist Church in February. The proceeds will fund the proposed mission trip. More on this later.

Then we heard Don Sheriff tell us about making jig-saw puzzles in a workshop at his home. He brought several puzzles of the Anerican Flag and President Kenny G. gave one to each of our visitors. Then, with one left over, he raffled it off with proceeds going to the scholarship fund. Chip Meade is now the proud owner of that item.

There were several requests for a way to contact Don, so here it is. Don Sheriff, 3544 S. Winston Ave., Tulsa, OK 74135. His phone number is 743-8268.

Tulsa Historical Society

Clayton Vaughn returned last Thursday to bring us some more background and an update on the Tulsa Historical Society. Although it has not yet officially opened to the public, we were invited to come and see what has been accomplished to date.

There are so many things about Tulsa’s history that have accumulated that it will be of interest to young and old. He mentioned that art-deco has to be one of the important features because Tulsa is the third most important city (after New York and Miami) in art-deco history. There will be many other items that help spell out our 100+ years. We’ve gotta see it.

Thanks, Jerry Powell, for getting Clayton to come and talk to us again.

We regret that we have had to say goodbye to this faithful long-time friend and member. She passed away on Saturday, October 23 and her memorial service was last Tuesday. Her obituary included the fact that she was a proud member of the Kiwanis Club of Tulsa Southeast.

During the service, her pastor called our attention to the dash between her birth year and her death year. This dash is the time that she had with us and all of her other friends here on earth. We are grateful that we were among them.

We will  miss her but know she is in good hands forever. We collected a generous donation for the Texas/Oklahoma Kiwanis Foundation to be given in her memory.

Story of   a Farm Tractor

It was a little bit of history, some nostalgia, and a romantic story told by Mance Cannon, a fellow Kiwanian from the East Tulsa Club. He gave us some background and then showed us some video of the restoration of his father’s Fordson tractor that included a Ferguson system.

Mance recalled that the tractor was purchased when he was 15 and he was the principal driver, working an 85 acre farm on the Oklahoma-Arkansas border. He kept the tractor   through the over 50 intervening years and then had it restored by a rebuilder in north Tulsa. His video showed the dirty inoperable hulk being delivered to the restorer, scenes taken during the restoration, and a final scene showing a smooth-running new-looking tractor backing off a trailer in Mance’s back yard.

Many of the necessary replacement parts were not available for the restoration, and duplicate parts – mainly from Japan – had to be used as substitutes. But the final result is a shiny show-piece that Mance is proud of.

Ron Sigler served as Kiwanian of the Day. Did anyone notice that Past Lt. Governor Mance Cannon spoke to an audience that included six other Past Lt. Governors from our Division 15?  That was partly due to his bringing along an interclub from East Tulsa.

The Governor Was Here!

Our OK/TX (!) Kiwanis Governor, Darell Booth, and his wife, Delores, were our guests last Thursday and the Governor was our speaker for the day. He promised that we will have a better year this year and encouraged us to enrich our lives with Kiwanis projects. We need to continue IDD. We should become active in CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) and other projects that serve the children in our community and throughout the world.

The Governor’s wife, Delores, is also an active Kiwanian. She inducted Phyllis Dupois as our newest member. Welcome aboard, Phyllis. We are glad that you are out of the hospital and hope you stay out.

Connie Harl was the fourth member to shake hands with Brent Carroll (the secret shaker) so she took away the reward.

State of the City

Our Tulsa City Councilman for District 8, Bill Christiansen, discussed a variety of local issues of interest with us at our meeting last Thursday. He was the guest speaker invited by Dick Green, who was our Kiwanian of the Day. Both Bill and Dick are involved in The Tulsa Run – in fact, Bill has been in it for 18 years!

Among other things, Bill predicted that Boeing will not choose to come to Tulsa, so our sales tax will not increase by the full penny that we voted on at the last election. As an interesting side-note, the Tulsa World reported on Friday that Governor Henry is about to call a special legislative session to consider the state’s role when Boeing does come to Tulsa. They can’t both be right, can they? We’ll see.

The Chiropractor’s View

Dr. Barry Roberts brought us up to date on the place of a chiropractor in today’s medical society. It is a respected profession that deals with the functions of nerves in our bodies with the attitude that we naturally attempt to heal our various ills and we just need a little guidance and help to be successful.

Dr. Roberts told us about being attracted to a chiropractic career because of a sister who had some serious ailments including epilepsy. When he learned that she could be helped by a chiropractor, he switched from the study of law and pursued this healing profession.

He has earned a variety of honors and credentials during his career. One of them is president of the Northeast Oklahoma Chiropractors Association.

Thank you, Kenny G., for bringing Dr. Roberts as our speaker. As usual, Kenny G. saw to it that the good doctor was invited to join us in Kiwanis.

Succeed

What an upbeat message we heard last Thursday. Don Rolison brought Randy Clay to talk to us about how to be successful in business, in our daily lives, and in all our relationships. He demonstrated the fact that we visualize our responses to advertising as well as verbalizing them. Michelin.. Coke.. Wranglers.. Craftsman.. Each of these brand names brings a picture to our minds first, and then identifies a product.

At the end of his fast-paced talk, Randy pointed out that one of the most important tools each of us can have is a Rolodex because we need to have access to any of the thousands of people we come to know, even casually. Each person on your list is a potential contact for some future purpose. You never know how important that name and address can be some day.

Thanks Don, for bringing Randy to visit with us.

University Village

Last Thursday we were treated to a brief history of University Village, an excellent retirement center right here in our midst. Paul Musselman, Kiwanian of the Day, brought Desiree Doherty, their Community Relations person,  to tell us about it.

Desiree explained that the ‘village’ was created originally by Oral Roberts Ministry and that a large number of his followers came from all over to be a part of this venture. For them, it was a life commitment. Some of them are still residents in the village and are cared for as they expected to have it when they moved in.

At this time, the University Village is associated with the Hillcrest health system. The cottages and apartments are rental units for the newer occupants. They offer both independent and assisted living. A health clinic is a part of the total facilities, as well as social activities, fitness classes, a library, and a computer center. According to Paul Musselman and Jack Oliver, it is a great place to live.

Court Watch

Lori Mathis invited new Kiwanian Sherry Clark, the volunteer coordinator for RSVP (Retired Senior Volunteer Program), to be our speaker for last Thursday. Sherry in turn asked Tim Gray, a lawyer for DVIS (Domestic Violence Intervention Services) to share the story about Court Watch for us. The reason is that these two separate organizations have shared the formation and support of this important service.
     RSVP provides the volunteers, who are trained before they serve one half day per week in our family courts at the Tulsa County Courthouse. They observe the judges, the lawyers, and the individuals who are present in the courtroom and report any behavior or events that should not occur in the court. They have been helpful in restoring dignity and justice for the benefit of all concerned.
     RSVP has also started another valuable service in the family court area. They provide volunteers who man an information desk in the main hallway. This eliminates much of the confusion that was present before there was an information desk.
     Thanks, Lori. Good program.