September 2008

September, 2008

Volume 65, Number 3

A Big Thank You for a Very Generous Donation

Rotarian Eldon Sloan was recognized for his generous gift

From the Editor

Rotary on the world Wide Web

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Rotary International Website— www.rotary.org

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Rotary District 5710 Website— www.rotary5710.org

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Rotary Club Website— www.downtowntopeka rotary.org

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Rotary International Foundation— www.rotary.org/ foundation

I am proud to be a Rotarian. Knowing that I am involved in an organization that does so much to help people around the world inspires me to do what I can for that organization. I am thirty-six years old, I have a wife and two young kids, and a fairly demanding job that doesn't allow me to travel the far reaches of the earth to do Rotary's work. I don't have the financial ability to make the generous gifts that I hope to someday make and I don't have any special medical skills that would enable me to deliver health care in underdeveloped countries. I recently gave a presentation in which I quoted Albert Einstein who once stated "I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious." Like Einstein (who did possess a special talent, regardless of what he says) I am passionately curious. Curious about how technology and sharing of ideas and resources can change the world. I believe that by reaching out to not only our own members through technology, whether it is the Rotopeka, the Rotary eNews (the weekly meeting updates), or Rotary Live, the new live stream of our club, we are not just enabling more people access to our club, we are spreading the mission of Rotary. While there are certainly logistics to work out, I can imagine that at some point, Rotarians from all over the world might just have an opportunity to view our club meetings and if given the chance to count them as a make up, might also be willing to make a donation to our club. We should welcome the opportunity to share Rotary and recognize that every Rotarian has a slightly different way in which they participate. If a hundred Rotarians around the world donate $10 for a makeup, that $1000 is more than I personally would contribute financially to our club. By helping provide the avenue to our club, our community and our world, I am doing far more to enhance Rotary through technology than I ever could do without it. .

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Toby Cook - A Long Time Friend of the Royals As a child, Toby Cook was always a fan of the Kansas City Royals. Back then, though, the Royals were battling ever year for the American League Pennant. Things m ay have changed with the Royals, but Cook’s loyalty and excitement about the Royals has not. Toby Cook serves as the Royals Vice President of Community Affairs and Publicity. He spoke to the club recently and suggested the Royals might be close to returning to that fun and excitement of the glory days. Cook discussed the changes to Kaufman Stadium currently ongoing and the philosophy of General Manager Dayton Moore. toward rebuilding the Royals.

Toby Cook , Vice President of Community Affairs and Publicity, recently spoke to the Topeka Rotary Club about the Kansas City Royals.

Photos by Ann Palmer

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Minutes from August Board of Trustees

Rotary Club of Topeka Officers

PRESIDENT—Kirk Johnson

Treasurer’s Report: We reviewed the financial reports. Gary explained the final results for 2007-08, he then moved to accept the reports as presented, John seconded, passed.

PRESIDENT-ELECT—Terry Wages

July 31 Membership: 205

VICE-PRESIDENT—Gordon Lansford

New Member Nominations: Steve Newell, Rosalind Jennings, Joan moved to approve, Blanche seconded, passed.

TREASURER—Gary Knoll SECRETARY—John Wall SERGEANT AT ARMS—Mike Locke Board Members David Beck Alvin Dvorak Glenda DuBoise Fred Gatlin Jennifer Haller Henry McClure Joy Moser Blanche Parks Susan Mauch Past President—Joan Wagnon THE ROTOPEKA Editor—Greg Hill Published Monthly by the Downtown Rotary Club of Topeka Downtown Ramada Inn, Suite 110 Topeka, Kansas 66607 Subscription $2.00 per year Periodicals Postage Paid at Topeka, Kansas USPS 471860 POSTMASTER: Send address change to Rotopeka 420 SE 6th, Suite 110 Topeka, KS 66607 Rotopeka deadline is two weeks prior to the first Thursday of the month

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Secretary’s Report: Henry moved to approve July minutes, Gordon seconded, passed.

Bangladesh Project Application: Blanche reviewed a written update from Larry Dimmitt. Our club has designated $1500 for this project. Golf Fundraiser – Henry reported it will be held the first part of October at Western Hills Golf Course, he will encourage every member to bring a guest. There will be gifts donated that will serve as prizes and also for a raffle. Topeka Water Festival – Glenda reported that volunteers are needed to help with this project. She will have more information at the September board meeting. Topeka High School Interact – Susan reported there will be a meeting soon to discuss the future of this club. Meetings on Line – Greg reported that weekly club meetings video will be available on line, our club is one of the first to make this available. Pledge Class – Kirk reported that a pledge class of new members with a project is a possible new idea for our club. Meeting adjourned, next meeting will be September 10, 2008. John Wall, Secretary

Message from the President By Kirk Johnson, President How’s Our Vision?

At our meeting on September 13, 2008, Dr. Jerry Farley was our guest speaker. Dr. Farley did not speak about Washburn University, but rather about the Heartland Visioning project. Dr. Farley challenged us to review the draft copy of the strategic plan and to look for ways that our organization might participate. Private and public sector organizations of all kinds and individuals will be asked to endorse the Strategic Plan and become Vision Partners. Vision Partners will be asked to identify those strategies they can incorporate and effectively implement within their normal mission, purpose and scope of operations, or in strategic alliances with other organizations. Each Vision Partner will establish Strategy Benchmarks to facilitate annual measurement of progress and develop Action Steps for the specific Strategies they adopt. A Steering Committee will approve all Strategy Benchmarks before their adoption, and will also provide periodic review. Many of the Priority Issues addressed in the Draft documents touch on areas that have long been Rotary initiatives. For example, Education, Youth and Younger Generation and Quality of Life are among ten items listed as 2008 Priorities. These coincide with Rotary’s emphasis on literacy, youth involvement (through RYLA, youth exchanges, Rotaract and Interact) and a myriad of efforts to improve the quality of life. Let’s keep our eyes (and minds) open as the Final Strategic Plan is released in the next few months. Most likely there will be a number of ways that the Rotary Club of Topeka can become a Vision Partner.

Washington food bank project pays dividends By Donna Polydoros, RI News When the roof of the Bellingham Food Bank was crumbling in 2005, Executive Director Mike Cohen turned to the Rotary Club of Bellingham, Washington, USA, for help. But after then President-elect Jim Cunningham approached then presidentselect Barry Lester of the Rotary Club of Bellingham Sunrise and William Unrein Jr. of the Rotary Club of Bellingham Bay, the presidents-elect decided not to fix the roof. Instead, they proposed building a new, state-of-the-art facility. "It really was a textbook example of how to galvanize a community to help others," says Michael Smith, current president of the Bellingham Sunrise club. "We came together in the spirit of Rotary to make this project real." Grand opening The three clubs committed $225,000 in seed money for the project and raised over $1.6 million more from state agencies and organizations such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Club members donated their own professional services and secured in-kind donations from architects, engineers, and contractors. The clubs celebrated the opening of the new food bank on 31 July of this year. Members of the community and the food bank thanked them for their efforts. "Everyone was really impressed with the quality of what was done and the enhancement to the neighborhood," says Bellingham club member Rod Elin, who served on the project steering committee. Improvements included repairing the street, installing new sewage lines and gutters, and even fixing up the front lawn on a neighboring property. "Before, the [food] recipients would have to wait in line outside. Now there is an overhang they can wait under,‖ says Elin. "It's something that Rotarians can certainly take pride in."

J. Fred Kubik, New Member J. Fred Kubik, CPA is currently a judge with the Kansas Court of Tax Appeals. He is a retired partner of BKD, LLP. Mr. Kubik was an appointed member of the AICPA Federal Tax Division from 1971 to 2002, serving two terms on the Tax Executive Committee and as chair of the S Corporation Taxation Committee, the Subchapter S Task Force, and the Small Business Taxation Committee. Mr. Kubik was the 1995 recipient of the Tax Division’s Arthur J. Dixon Memorial Award, the accounting profession’s highest award for tax service. He received the AICPA Public Service Award in 1988. In May 1996, Mr. Kubik was appointed by Senator Dole to the seventeen-member National Commission on Restructuring the Internal Revenue Service, which resulted in the IRS Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998. He served on the United States Treasury Department’s Small Business Advisory Committee during the Carter Administration. Mr. Kubik is a past president of the Kansas Society of CPAs, the Wichita Chapter of CPAs and the Wichita Estate Planning Council. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Business and J. D. degrees from the University of Kansas. Mr. Kubik is active in a number of charitable organizations. He has served on the Boards of the Wichita YMCA, Music Theatre of Wichita, the Girl Scouts of the Golden Plains, First Presbyterian Wichita Foundation, Presbyterian Manors of Mid-America, and the YMCA Foundation of Wichita. Welcome J!

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New Members of the Topeka Rotary Club Col. Jose Davis COL Davis was born in Panama City, Panama. He earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Science from Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, and a Master of Science in Management from Baker University, Burlingame, KS and a Master's in Strategic Studies from the United States Army War College. COL Davis works full time for the Joint Forces Headquarters, Kansas National Guard located in Topeka, KS. He currently serves as the J5 Director of Plans, Policy and Interoperability, responsible for strategic plans, strategic management implementation and oversees the international affairs State Partnership Program for Kansas and Armenia. Simultaneously, he serves as the J7 Director of Joint Training and Education, Lessons Learned and Exercises. His military education includes Field Artillery Officer Basic and Advanced Courses, at Ft Sill, OK, Defense Information School, Combined Arms Services and Staff School, the Command and General Staff College, Ft Leavenworth, KS, and the resident course of the U.S. Army War College at Carlisle, PA. Colonel Davis is married to the former Jacquelyn Ann Messarosh of Scranton, PA. Davis has one daughter, Tori. He is the son of Carl and Cathy Davis of Junction City, KS. Welcome Jose!

Spike Santee Edward Wesley Santee is more commonly known as Spike Santee. In fact, if you call Spike’s house and ask for Ed, Edward, Wes or Wesley, he’ll know you don’t really know him because everyone, including his mother and his father, Wes Santee, have called him Spike since the day he was born. Wes was at a track meet and someone made a joke that his new born son was missing. The last reported sighting of ―the little Spike‖ had him west of Lawrence with a diaper in one hand and a stop watch in another. So it’s been Spike ever since. Spike is a native of Lawrence Kansas. He has been in Radio broadcasting for thirty five years and is a Senior Vice President with Cumulus Media, Inc. in Atlanta and currently serves as the Market Manager for the six Radio stations at the Cumulus Broadcast Center at 9 th and Kansas in downtown Topeka. Prior to the Topeka assignment, Spike was a Regional Manager with Cumulus supervising approximately 100 radio stations and nearly 800 employees in twenty markets around the country. With the Topeka assignment, Spike gets to come home for dinner every night for a change. Spike has been married to Trena for twenty six years. Trena is a Speech Pathologist. They have two sons, Weston who attends the UMKC Dental School in Kansas City and Hollis who is studying Business at the University of Kansas in Lawrence. They are the fourth generation of Spike’s family to attend KU. Spike and Trena live in the country between Topeka and Lawrence. They enjoy gardening, walking and their two Dobermans who are always on the lookout for strangers. Spike likes to build bird houses and do fixer-up jobs around the house. Welcome Spike!

The Topeka Rotary Club is now on Twitter

What does Rotary Do? The next time you are asked what our club does, remember all the wonderful projects we have helped make a reality. Here are several of those projects:

Christmas in April Help with TARC Winter Wonderland Dictionaries in School Dental Screenings Scholarships for Washburn Students

Heard of Twitter? Consider the hottest trend on the web and the Topeka Rotary Club is now part of it. What makes Twitter unique is that posts are limited to 140 characters or less. Our Twits are immediately posted to the Topeka Rotary Club webpage and you can even follow our updates by creating your own Twitter account. There are a few Rotary Clubs using Twitter, but like the new Rotary Live, we are hoping to lead the way. Rotary International along with several other clubs use Twitter and we hope to create a network of Rotarians around the world, using technology to share the mission of Rotary. Check us out on Twitter. At www.twitter.com/topekarotary

Florence Crittenden Services RYLA Vocational Day for Junior High Sponsor Ambassadorial Scholars Christmas Bureau Sponsor East Avondale Activities Polio Reconstructive Surgery— India Cataract Surgery—Pakistan Ambulance Project—Bangladesh Medical Team—Panama Shelter Box Books for Peace Corp Volunteers And Much, Much More

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RI Focuses on Young Member Recruitment How do we recruit young members into Rotary? Rotary International is asking that question this month on their website. Young Rotarians are the future of our club. It is important to not only recruit young members, but once they have joined, it is imperative to keep them involved. So what are your thoughts on recruiting and motivating young members into our club? Take a few moments and think about a young person that you might recruit to our club. But don’t stop there. Think about how, once they are members, that we can use their passion and talents to make our club stronger. If you have ideas, please share them. rotopeka.blogspot.com/2008/09/recruit.html.

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