All the news that's fit to print...and a lot that isn't
July 30, 2021 | Volume LXXVI
This Week:
Creating Entrepreneurial Opportunities
Our topic this Friday for our gathering is “Creating Entrepreneurial Opportunities”. The speaker will be Roger Leenerts, the Facilitator of the C.E.O. organization. C.E.O. board member John Johannes will provide the introduction. Looks like another good program to invite a potential member to join us.
Last Week:
"Hoagie" and Assistant State's Attorney Laura Keck
Assistant State’s Attorney Laura Keck was our speaker last week but “Hoagie”, the new Adams County State’s Attorney’s facility dog, got quite a bit of the attention as well. “Hoagie” is a 2 year old chocolate English Labrador that came from the CHAMP Assistance program in St. Louis at no cost to Adams County taxpayers. “Hoagie” is being used to aid victims of violent crimes and help them to return to some degree of normalcy and comfort during a very difficult time in their lives. Mrs. Keck provided several instances where “Hoagie’s” presence helped victims to open up with their horrific story details to aid in the conviction of the suspects. “Hoagie” works both in the State’s Attorney’s office as well as in the courtroom at times. The funding has been made by private donors including the Exchange Club’s $1,000 donation. Thanks to Mrs. Keck, a QND, Truman State and St. Louis University Graduate, for her presentation on the importance of “Hoagie’s” presence for the Adams County State’s Attorney’s office as well as for victims of violent crime in the area.
Thanks to Adams County State’s Attorney Gary Farha for his introduction of Mrs. Keck to the membership. To add some ambiance, large dog biscuits, which eventually were donated to “Hoagie”, were on each table provided by the Big Dog himself.
Birthdays and Anniversaries
7/29 - Rick Veihl turns 66
If your birthday or anniversary has been missed, please let Dennis Koch or Rick Gengenbacher know so we can update the records. Please contact Joel Koch or Eric Thomas to update your information in the member directory.
Upcoming dates of interest:
8/17 - Board meeting - All board members are requested to attend, all members welcome. 11:45 a.m. at Native Wings.
This 'n That
The opening prayer was presented by Mike Lavery followed by Gary Farha initiating the start of the Pledge of Allegiance.
Joe Bocke could have financed his next visit to Marblehead by winning the 50-50 Card Draw worth nearly $1,200, but he drew a 7 of Clubs. With only 12 cards left in the deck in the 50-50 Card Draw, the excitement is growing to see who can draw the Ace of Spades and win the big pot... perhaps this Friday.
The Tail-Twister duties last Friday were conducted by Jeff Dorsey who told, appropriately, two Dog jokes. The first should be buried like a dog bone but the second about a soldier on a foreign train looking for a seat was well received.
President Erik Dolieslager mentioned that our very own Dennis Koch will be running against two other people for National President of the Exchange Club in September. This is a voting process with attendees being able to vote. This event will be held at the world famous Peabody Hotel in Memphis, Tennessee on September 8 thru 11. Joel and Brian Koch will be there to show support for Dennis and there is room for more if you are interested in going. The Club has budgeted money for the cost. Contact Erik or Jeff Dorsey today if interested in going - the deadline for sending in the voting credentials is July 29.
Jim Schlepphorst and Joe Bocke both received their service awards from President Dolieslager. For Joe it was for his 45 years of service and for Jim it was for his 30 years of service in the Exchange Club.
Eric also mentioned the Club received a thank you card from the Hospitality House for our donation to them as well as allowing them to address the Club a few weeks ago.
Bill Stalder took the opportunity to thank the Club for its $550 donation to the Adams Electrical Coop Penny Power Grant Program. With over 26 requests for assistance, there was a need to honor the memory of a local special needs student who went missing and was recently found dead in a pond. His teachers decided to create a bench in his honor at his school. A Go-Fund- Me page collected some of the money needed and the Exchange Club board decided to cover the rest. By doing so, this allowed Adams Electrical Coop to assist the other requests directed to them so the Club, in essence, assisted others as well.
At last week’s board meeting it was announced that 319 flag subscriptions are the new total for the Flags of Honor program. The next setup date is Labor Day. Just a reminder for those on the Labor Day team captained by Joel Koch.
Gary Farha brought several guests with him last Friday including Republican candidate for Adams County Sheriff Tony Grootens, Pat Frazier a retired Master Sgt. of the Illinois State Police, QPD Sgt. Nick Hiland, Adams County Assistant State’s Attorney Todd Eyler, and personal friend Jeff Hirt.
The Elks Lodge will be setting tables with 8 chairs until further notice. They have a shortage of volunteers so leaving them with 8 chairs from the night before (which is their Firefighter’s Bingo Night) will be easier on them each Friday.
Doug Greenwell gets credit for one this week. While collecting money for the 50-50 Card Draw, Doug said
“the odds of winning the pot this week are as good as Elvin Townsend’s phone going off during the meeting”.
The second one goes to the Big Dog who, after hearing President Dolieslager heaping praise toward him for his ability to write the bulletin each and every week interrupted him, said…
“that’s enough already, I only gave you twenty bucks”.
Exchange Minute:
New member process
At the Board meeting on Tuesday, there was quite a bit of discussion on the process for bringing in a new member and then the introduction and induction of said members.
A committee was formed to come up with recommendations to update our process and also to determine what should be included in a new member packet.
Historically, we have always had a board vote on a new member application, then two readings and a member vote on the application before bringing the member into the club. That process, by the way, was a Quincy policy and is not a requirement of the national Exchange Club. It could delay bringing in a member for over a month. We've traditionally had an induction committee, but that has been a while as the the main members of the committee - Gary Peters and Mel Dillman (as well as the goat) have been gone for quite a while.
If you have some suggestions or would like to serve on the committee, please let Erik, Dennis, Jeff or Art know.
We do have a number of Exchange Club shirts in stock. If you would like to purchase a new one, let Dennis know and we'll get one to you. (Due to space limitations, the shirts are not kept at the Elks). Price for the shirts are $25. We do not have any more hats - the consensus was that few people were wearing them or really wanted them, so we used up what we had left and have not re-ordered. If there are enough people that would like to order a hat, we could get an order together.
Remember, if you have an idea for a future speaker for an upcoming meeting, please contact Chuck Venvertloh. His phone # is 217-653-3720 and his email is [email protected].
If you have any information you would like to share in an upcoming bulletin, please email it by Friday at 9 a.m. to Jeff Dorsey
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