March 24, 2008

GOLDEN TRIANGLE REGIONAL AIRPORT

Rotarian Mike Hainsey, Director of Golden Triangle Regional Airport, is today’s speaker.  He’ll give us a report on GTRA and an update on any progress on increasing service.

MARYNA WILL SPEAK NEXT MONDAY

She’s attended almost every meeting since she arrived in Starkville in late July and now Maryna Melnik will have her chance to tell us about her family and home in Belarus.  She’ll also share some of the experiences and observations of her year as a Rotary Exchange student.

LAST WEEK AT ROTARY

Attendance: There were 112 members (82 active and 30 exempt) present and 88 members  (54 active, 26 exempt, and 9 honorary) missing.  Two actives are on leave.

Invocation and Pledge: Warren Housley

Visitors and Guests: Visiting Rotarian was Bill Overstreet of West Point. Guests  included Harry Freeman of Betty Black; Richardo Inzunaz of Marshall Molen; and Club guests Negrita Caicedo and Maryna Melnik (Rotary Youth Exchange students); Bill Ford; and Skip Descant (Columbus Commercial Dispatch).

Makeups: Gary Jackson logged two makeups in Kosciusko; Andy Gaston made up March 10 in Aberdeen.

Meeting Notes: There were new folks at the helm last week. In the absence of both President Ned Browning and President-elect Chip Templeton, the task of chairing the meeting fell to Martha Wells, who will serve as Club president for the 2009-2010 Rotary year.

Martha announced that Paul Millsaps is a new grandfather and issued congratulations on behalf of his fellow Rotarians.

Bo Haynes, attending his first meeting since recovering from a stroke,  received a warm welcome.

Director Brent Fountain introduced the guests and visiting Rotarian.

Classification Talk: Rick Smith, one of our newest members, welcomed Rotarians at the door, then was invited to tell us about himself. Rick is marketing manager for Synergetics DCS, Inc. He and his wife, Judy, are parents of two daughters.

He said he is a three-time graduate of Mississippi State, where he was active in vocal music and drama.  He gave a comprehensive rundown of his varied career and activities. He is a former high school teacher of speech, drama, and English. He served as a U.S. Naval officer, and before joining Synergetics, worked for the Mississippi Choctaw Indians.

His Rotary sponsor is Larry Mullins.

BOLES DESCRIBES ATLANTA EXPERIENCE

Dave Boles was called on for a report on the SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament that was disrupted when a stage 2 tornado ripped through downtown Atlanta, damaging the Georgia Dome and interrupting overtime play between the MSU Bulldogs and Alabama Crimson Tide.

“It was a Twilight Zone experience. I thought it was an earthquake. We had  no pre-warning of any kind. I want to say thank you to that Alabama boy who hit the three-point shot sending the game into overtime. If the game had ended in regulation play, there would have been four or five thousand fans out on the street when the storm hit. We were very lucky.”

Coach Boles said losing to Georgia the next day dropped the Bulldogs to an eight seed, “probably the worst seed in the entire tournament. If we can get by Oregon we’ll see how good Memphis really is. The good thing is we’ll play in Little Rock, near enough we should have a good crowd of fans.”

Rotary Minute: Lloyd Rose gave Rotarians "a reminder of what we’re all about.” He summarized when and how Rotary was formed, how it was named, and how it grew into an international organization dedicated to service. “The Objects of Rotary are on the banner behind me – and that’s my Rotary Minute.”

STARKVILLE LIBRARY – A RICH RESOURCE

March is “Literacy Month” in the world of Rotary, so last week’s program on Starkville Public Library was very timely. In introducing our two speakers, Bill Parrish called the Library one of the greatest assets of our community. The two enthusiastic young ladies who described the Library’s offerings and services were Laura Foxworth and Anna Ruhs.

Laura Foxworth, Children’s Librarian for the past 2 ½ years, said the Library’s goal is to provide equal access to its resources to everyone in the community. She reminded us that “no matter what our background or occupation, reading is the door to opportunity.

Starkville Public Library has something for everyone – reference materials, fiction and non-fiction, periodicals, on-line access, audio books, and wide-ranging programs for all ages.

“The newest wing houses the Randolph Room...our geneology section, the Stark collection, and many rare books,” she said.

Friends of the Library is a major support group. It sponsors the “Lunch with Books” and the “Starkville Reads” programs and holds book sales the first Monday of every month. The Library also has a 50-cent room where you can pick up used paperbacks for a good read at very little cost.

Laura then described her “Wednesday for Kids” programs. Her goal is to get children interested in books as early as possible. Each Wednesday from 9:30-9:45 a.m. (“they don’t have a long attention span,” she explained) she has a program for children up to 3 years old. “We read stories, sing songs, and have finger plays.”

She has two story hours for pre-schoolers (ages 3-6) at 10 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. “This is an hour of stories, we sing, dance, and sometimes do short crafts.”

Each Tuesday afternoon, there’s an hour-long after-school program for upper elementary age children called Through the Wardrobe.

A creative writing class for children in grades  4-6 meets Monday afternoons at 3:30 in the Geneology Room.

A summer reading incentive program for children has proven highly successful. She said 4,870 were checked out last summer. Checkouts of children’s books are now averaging 4,000+ per month.

A community celebrity reading with MSU Football Coach Syl Croom was extremely popular as was the celebration for the last book of the Harry Potter series. And prize books are awarded for reading.

The theme for this summer’s reading program will be “Catch the Reading Bug.”

Anna Ruhs is the Young Adults Librarian. “There haven’t been many programs for teens in the past,” she said. Because “that’s the age you lose readers,” the Library started a new and expanded section funded by Friends of the Library.

“We’ve added many graphic novels. Some people question these graphic novels (some label them comic books), but I’m convinced they are a foot-in-the-door to keep teens reading,” she explained.

Other programs for teens include book clubs, writing and photo contests, and  monopoly competition. She said the Library has enjoyed a significant increase in the teen section checkouts, now averaging 500 per month.

Martha Wells presented Laura a check for $500 to Friends of Library from Starkville Rotary Club. 

A RESIGNATION

The Board of Directors has accepted with regret the resignation of Monty Hughson, Deputy Director of the MSU Simulation Center, who became a member early last year.