2009-2010 Front Page News
District Governor Jim Mattes Visits Olathe Rotary September 2, 2009
DG Jim Mattes spoke to Olathe Rotarians about our district's successes and goals. He praised our club's accomplishments and presented President Bob the Rotary International banner for 2009-2010, The Future of Rotary Is In Your Hands.
Olathe Rotarians Enjoy a Great Luncheon Provided by Olathe North High School Students in the 21st Century Culinary Award Winning Arts Program (click for photos)
Dollars for Dwight Olathe Rotarians quickly rallied to gather $5000 for fellow Rotarian Dwight Douglas. Rotarian Dwight Douglas is in need of a second heart transplant, as his body is rejecting his current transplanted heart. A communitywide and nationwide effort is ongoing to raise needed funds to help Dwight secure his transplant. Please make your check to SAMARITAN AVIATION and either give it to Ernie Hicks or mail it to him at Olathe Rotary Club, P.O. Box 4376, Olathe, KS 66063. Donations are tax deductible. For more information about Dwight go to: http://www.heartfordwight.com/
2009 Heartland Habitat for Humanity Workdays in Olathe
November 6th and 7th, Olathe Rotarians sanded, painted, landscaped, and did a number of other jobs at the Heartland Habitat for Humanity home site at 130 S. Emma Street. Meghan Speak will buy the home. She has 2 daughters, 12 and 14 years old. The home is progressing nicely and there is a good chance they will be in their home by Christmas! Click for full story...
2009-2010 Olathe Rotary RI Foundation Drive Thanks to each Olathe Rotarian who gave to our Rotary International drive. We collected $8,500, meeting our 100% goal. "Every Rotarian, Every Year" is the primary source of funding for Rotary International programs. Thanks also to Chair Darrel for helping to make our drive a huge success.
Happy Birthday Tom Hall! Olathe Rotarians celebrated Tom's 102nd birthday in January. Tom transferred to Olathe Rotary in 1939, is a Paul Harris Fellow, and was club President in 1945.
October 14th KICKOFF FOR THE DAYS OF WINE AND ROTARY President Bob Wilhelm announced the KICKOFF for our 2010 fundraiser. Our goal is to raise $75,000. 500 tickets will be sold for $50.00 each, to raise $25,000. There will be a silent and live auction to raise $45,000, Major sponsors will complete the fundraising package.
The fundraiser will benefit Heart to Heart International, Elizabeth's Kids (Deb's House Orphanage) in Romania, AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination-Olathe School District), Olathe Rotary Club Foundation.
The kick-off featured Olathe Rotarian's Elizabeth Alex, news anchor for Kansas City's KSHB-TV41, Bob Wilhelm, President of Olathe Rotary, Jon North, President of Heart to Heart International, and Joe Beveridge, Marketing and PR Chair for event.
OUR NEW WEBSITE WAS ANNOUNCED: www.thedaysofwineandrotary.com This beautiful interactive dedicated website for The Days of Wine and Rotary was created and donated by Chip Johnson of Builder Designs.
Click on image above for blog updates and photos from trip to Guatemala near Lago de Atitlan during the week of November 4th through the 11th, 2009. Olathe Rotarians traveled with Heart to Heart International to help with clean drinking water and community development efforts. This is a district supported effort. Thanks to Olathe Rotarian Michael Ashcraft for putting together this blog.
Garmin Hosts Olathe Rotarians Click for photos
Following lunch November 11th, Rotarians were treated to a tour of the Olathe Garmin facility. Garmin International Inc. is a subsidiary of Garmin Ltd. (Nasdaq: GRMN), the global leader in satellite navigation. Since 1989, this group of companies has designed, manufactured, marketed and sold navigation, communication and information devices and applications - most of which are enabled by GPS technology. Garmin's products serve automotive, mobile, wireless, outdoor recreation, marine, aviation, and OEM applications. Garmin Ltd. is incorporated in the Cayman Islands, and its principal subsidiaries are located in the United States, Taiwan and the United Kingdom.
Olathe Head Football Coaches Make Their Annual Visit to Olathe Rotary Todd Dain, Northwest High School, Jeff Meyers, Olathe East, Pete Flood. North High School, and Jeff Gourley, South High School spoke to Rotarians about their respective teams, ethics, strong players, etc. Meetings are always well attended when the coaches give their presentation. Eric Hughes carried on his Dad's tradition of putting together the coaches' visit and introducing them. Thank you Eric for a great program.
Owners of Olathe Ford Visit Olathe Rotary Sam Mansker, co-owner of Olathe Ford, spoke to Olathe Rotary about the interesting history of the growth and changes of Olathe Ford. He also announced Olathe Ford would help with our May 1st fundraiser. Olathe Rotary will be given $20.00 for each Rotarian, friend, or business associate who test drives an Olathe Ford car! He said they have cars that massage your back, talk to you, and tell you if you are about to run into something. He said we needed to try the new Ford products.
100 MEMBERS! We did it! Our club's 100th member was inducted February 17th. Dr. Marlin Berry, who will be Superintendent of our Olathe School District when Dr. Pat All retires in June, was our 16th new member for this Rotary year, and our 100th member. Thank you Nichole Asquith for sponsoring Marlin!
2009-2010 OLATHE ROTARY COLLEGE SCHOLAR Dwight Douglas presented our annual International scholarship to Steven Barney, from Oxford England. He is a freshman at Mid American University. He is on the Soccer Team, playing Center Defender and has started every game as a freshman.
Past District Governor John "Buck" Newsom Guest Speaker February 24th Buck, a retired U.S. Navy Capt., shared Rotary stories when his father, Eugene Newsom, was Rotary International President. Eugene was a friend of Paul Harris, founder of Rotary International. Buck knew Chester Perry, Secretary of RI for many years, as well as many heads of state and dignitaries world wide. Buck was District Governor from 1990-1991. He is a member of the Lawrence Rotary Club. Buck attended the U.S. Naval Academy before service in World War II in the Pacific Theater aboard the USS Hopkins, USS California and USS St. Paul. Before retiring in 1964, he served as Navy ROTC faculty at KU. He later became vice president of Centron Productions, Lawrence.
Olathe Rotary Honors our Agricultural Community Luncheon guests February 17th, included our friends in our agricultural community. Thank you Tom Knappenberger for organizing this event, as you have for many years.
Rotarians Celebrate Tom's 102nd Birthday Tom Hall turned 102 on January 26th. Tom transferred to Olathe Rotary in 1939, was President in 1945, is a Paul Harris Fellow, and is a dear friend to us all.
The 2010 Days of Wine and Rotary Team Give Presentation January 27th Updates and expectations for our fundraiser May 1st were presented by John Curran, Bob Wilhelm, Michelle Gressel, and Amy Martin. Our goal is to raise $75,000 to $100,000. 500 tickets will be sold for $50.00 each, to raise $25,000. There will be a silent and live auction to raise $45,000, Major sponsors will complete the fundraising package. Almost $30,000 has been gathered in sponsorships! Total Sponsorship Goal is $40,000.(Bob thinks we will exceed that!) Each Olathe Rotarian is being asked to make a commitment of $800 to help reach our total goal of $75,000. To meet this commitment Rotarians can: Ask merchants or business aquaintances for donation items, or sponsorships. Purchase tickets to event May 1st. Purchase items at silent/live auction May 1st. Donate auction items or sponsorships.
Nichole Asquith
