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Tuesday, March 28, 2006 No. 26 Vol. 84
Today’s Speaker:
Lane Hosmer ST. PETERSBURG FESTIVAL OF STATES
Our program
today will be presented by Lane Hosmer, Executive Director of the
St. Petersburg Festival of States. He will be introduced by our
Kiwanian-of-the-day Bob Byelick. Our speaker, a native of Rome,
Georgia, has served as the Executive of the Festival since July 2000.
Prior to coming to St. Petersburg, Lane lived in Huntsville, Alabama
where he was the Director of Panoply, Huntsville’s Festival of the
Arts. He also served as Director of Community Relations for Alabama
Live, the State of Alabama’s largest website. Before becoming involved
in special event management, Lane was a teacher at Randolph School, a
private preparatory school. He taught theater, creative writing and
literature.
Lane is a graduate
of the University of Alabama in Huntsville with a Bachelor of Arts in
Communications Arts/English. He has received awards from the State of
Alabama and the Southeastern Theater Conference for outstanding
achievement in the performing arts. He is an avid tennis player and
movie junkie. He added a new member to his family this past Christmas,
a Chinese Crested puppy named Riley.
Our speaker is sure
to talk about this year’s slate of Festival activities. The rich
history of the Festival dates back to 1913, when Arthur L. Johnson
organized what is recognized as the full festival forerunner. There
were parades, athletic tournaments, dancing and fireworks. Although
there was a DeSoto Celebration held in 1914, the 1917 festival,
organized again by Johnson along with Captain William Neal and St.
Petersburg Mayor Al Lang was the next Festival. It was called the
Festival of States because of the 48 state tourist societies in the city
participating with floats and queens featured in the Parade of States.
This format continued for many years, and established the festival name
nationally. Let’s give our speaker a very warm Kiwanis welcome!
TODAY’S QUIZ:
1. In what state is Capitol Reef National Park found? 2. What was the
first human organ to be successfully transplanted? 3. In what church
can you find the graves of Geoffrey Chaucer, Isaac Newton and George
Frideric Handel? 4. What is known to California farmers as green
gold? 5. What was the first book in Laura Ingalls Wilder’s series
about life in the pioneer Midwest?
LAST WEEK AT
KIWANIS
Our program last week was presented by Linda D. Benware,
principal of St. Petersburg College Collegiate High School. She was
introduced by our Kiwanian-of-the-day Paul Renker. Our speaker
began by thanking Charles Kaniss for the $96,000.00 he raised while she
was principal of St. Petersburg High School for new band uniforms. She
then began her presentation by recalling how a story in the St.
Petersburg Times talked about charter schools and how excited it made
her feel. St. Petersburg Collegiate High school (SPCHS) is a charter
school for motivated students eager to take on greater academic
challenges. The purpose of SPCHS is to provide an opportunity for
qualified high school students to accelerate their education by earning
college credits toward an Associate in Arts degree while completing high
school graduation requirements. It is located on the St.
Petersburg/Gibbs Campus of St. Petersburg College. Out speaker stated
that a charter school is an independent public school of choice and is
under the control of the public school system. Her school has a limited
number of students and has absolutely no discipline problems.
Linda gave a very
comprehensive presentation on what SPCHS is and how it operates. Among
the many items she covered were the requirements for admission (must be
eligible to begin grade 10 or 11) and must have a preferred high school
GPA of 2.5 or higher. Application can be made between January 1 to
March 1 and the students are chosen in March through a blind random
lottery. The school’s high school graduation is 100% and high school
credit is given for similar college courses which have been taken and
passed. There is no cost for application, tuition, course fees or
textbooks. The program is subsidized through state education funds.
Juniors and Seniors are fully enrolled in college courses. There is no
sports program at the school, but students are able to participate in
school clubs. The school has a yearbook, a prom and other social
activities. Many thanks to Paul Renker for bringing such an interesting
and informative program to our attention.
VISITORS AND GUESTS
Worth Blackwell brought Hunter Booth to our meeting again. Hunter
is applying for membership. Also Simon Shumaker, who came to our
meeting with our speaker Linda Benware, attended and spoke briefly about
his feelings as a student at SPCHS. Welcome, and please feel free to
visit with us often!
TRENT SHADRICK
GIVES THREE MIINUTE SPEECH
After securing the required fifty member signatures on his Kiwanis
Apron, Trent began by stating that he grew up in St. Petersburg and was
a graduate of St. Petersburg High School where he played basketball for
the Green Devils. Moving on, Trent graduated from Clemson and upon
graduation, went to work for the State Farm Insurance Company. After
eleven years in administration, Trent decided that in order to gain more
experience, he would switch to the sales end of the insurance business,
a position he now holds with the company. Going to the University of
Tampa at night, Trent earned his MBA. He is engaged and if all goes
well, the marriage is scheduled for August of this year. While he is
looking forward to being a very active member, we all welcome Trent into
our membership.
ASAP HOMLESS
SERVICES RECEIVES YIS GRANT
Boys and Girls Committee Member Guy VanMiddlesworth presented a
check in the amount of $1,000.00 to ASAP Homeless Services. Karen
Butler and Lisa Glonek were on hand to receive the check and to thank
our club for this financial help. This is another fine example of your
YIS dollars working to help children.
"MARCH MADNESS”
SOCIAL
Social Committee member Doug Lampe announced a big “March Madness”
event will be held at Billy’s Restaurant on Tierra Verde on April 1st,
beginning at 5:30 p.m. Cost will be $20.00 per person which will
provide two drinks and an appetizer. In addition, meals can be ordered
if desired. Also, the Final Four basketball tournament will be underway
and should add excitement to the evening’s activities. A sign-up sheet
is being passed around. Plan now on taking your significant other.
They won’t be mad.
NOMINATION BALLOTS AVAILABLE TODAY
Nomination ballots, along with a list of eligible candidates,
are available for members to take with them, fill out and return no
later than our meeting on April 11. Those nominees receiving the
top vote count will be included on the official ballot for the election
scheduled for May 2, 2006. Please be sure to check with the member or
members who you are placing in nomination to be sure that they will
serve if selected as a candidate. This election is for the Officers and
Directors who will direct our club during the 2006-2007 program years.
ITEMS NEEDED FOR AUCTION AT FISCHER BASH
A Silent Auction will be held in conjunction with the
annual Jim Fischer Birthday Bash which is scheduled for June 10th
at the St. Petersburg Yacht Club. Members are being asked to secure
donated items from baskets to any large ticket items to help raise
additional dollars for the Jim Fischer Scholarships. Contact either
John or big Al for details. Here is another way you can help make this
year’s bash an even bigger success!
SAVE THE DATE
Our Guest Speaker from January, Dr. Ginger Baber has invited our members
to the ribbon-cutting ceremony of the Dr. Carter G. Woodson African
American Museum on April 7th at 6 p.m. The ceremony will be at 2240 9th
Ave. So. in Historic Jordan Park
INTERNATIONAL
CONVENTION SET FOR MONTREAL
The upcoming Kiwanis International Convention is scheduled for
Montreal on June 28 to July 2, 2006. Members who go on the junket do
not have to attend any of the scheduled meetings at the convention
unless they want to as the club has two designated representatives in
the form of President Cathy and President-elect Mitch. A good time for
all attendees is assured. President-elect Mitch will take the entire
group from our club to dinner at least one time during the convention.
So, start making your plans to attend NOW. June 28 is not far off.
PRAYER OF THE
DAY:
O God, we ask your blessing upon the Kiwanis Club of St.
Petersburg. Use it we pray to open our eyes to your glory and to the
opportunities that lie before us to serve thee and our country. Grant
that the leaders of our club may be both wise and daring. Stir up in us
the will to share joyfully in the work of our club. In thy Holy Name we
pray. Amen.
LAST WEEK’S QUIZ:
1. Jacob and Esau are the first twins mentioned in the Bible.
(Genesis 25: 23-26) 2. The sport Robert Redford’s character in the
1984 film “The Natural” played was baseball. 3. Kansas
is known as the “Land of Ahs.” 4. Thomas Jefferson wrote the
first draft of the Declaration of Independence. 5. Grover
Cleveland was known as the People’s President.
SIGN ON A
TAXIDERMIST WINDOW – We really know our stuff.
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