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Tuesday, October 24, 2006 No. 4 Vol. 85 Today's Speaker:
Dar Webb The Palladium Theater
Our speaker today, Dar Webb, is a retired entrepreneur, having been a
founding partner in a startup software company, Best Software, through
the 1980s and 1990s. As an executive with Best Software, Ms. Webb
participated in virtually every aspect of management on every level. As
Best Software grew, her specialty became “rapid growth situations.” The
acquisition by Best of a then-small St. Petersburg company brought her
to St. Petersburg in 1991.
Ms. Webb retired from Best about seven years ago following Best’s
successful IPO and subsequent acquisition by a British firm. She then
co-founded a new business, Loftsville, which develops small infill
residential projects in downtown St. Petersburg. Loftsville’s first two
projects are Straub Court, which is located on 4th Avenue N. between 3rd
and 4th Streets, and Charles Court, which is located on 4th Avenue S.,
between 3rd and 4th Streets. Ms. Webb’s company currently has a
seven-story, 22-unit condo going up on the intersection of 5th Avenue
and 2nd Street North. As a result, she finds she has become intensely
interested in St. Petersburg’s downtown renaissance.
Before she started Best Software, Ms. Webb spent roughly fifteen
years in urban-issues organizations such as The National Urban
Coalition, Soul City, The National League of Cities, and Partners for
Livable Places. She holds an AB degree from Vassar College in Music
History and an MA from New York University in Musicology.
Ms. Webb has served on the boards of several St. Petersburg
non-profit organizations: The Arts Center, The Palladium Theater, The
LiveArts Peninsula Foundation, Bay Area Music (which produces the annual
Summer Chamber Music Workshop for young musicians), and the newly formed
Community Foundation of Greater St. Petersburg.
Ms. Webb cares deeply about the future of St. Petersburg, as do we
Kiwanians. Let’s give a big Kiwanis welcome to entrepreneur and
community booster, Dar Webb!
TODAY’S QUIZ
-
Who was the only deceased jockey to
win a race?
- What does the botanical name of cocoa beans mean?
- What is the largest island in the world?
- What made the Mad Hatter in Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland
“mad?”
- Who were the shortest and the tallest U. S. presidents?
LAST WEEK AT KIWANIS
Kiwanian-of-the-Day Bill Holloway introduced our guest speaker,
Jennifer Maxwell, President and CEO of the Police Athletic League of St.
Petersburg, and her guest, Chris Ferguson, a board member of the Police
Athletic League. A native Floridian with an extensive background in
education and a desire to help children, Ms. Maxwell saw the PAL as a
new opportunity to enrich children’s live and better their futures. A
non-profit, private, community supported, social and recreational youth
organization assisted by the police department, the Police Athletic
League provides constructive alternatives to prevent juvenile
delinquency serving children ages 6 to 17. Supervised recreational,
educational, athletic and social activities instill positive self-esteem
and a full time police officer is assigned to PAL for programmatic and
operations oversight. The mission of the PAL is to prevent crime through
character building with the help of after school programs, athletics and
educational enrichment.
Officer Boyd of the Police Department runs the athletic and education
programs with a focus on making kids productive members of society.
Although in the past, recreational sports and team-building was the
primary focus, Officer Boyd and Ms. Maxwell have expanded programming to
encompass educational enrichment, tutoring and mentoring, serving
approximately 400 children a year in the St. Petersburg area. In
addition, the PAL works with a varying number of truants in St.
Petersburg in a related program discussed below.
Ms. Maxwell explained that there are many Police Athletic Leagues
throughout the country and one in every major city in Florida as well as
a Pinellas County one. The PAL organization for which she works devotes
itself to improving the lives of youth in St. Petersburg specifically.
Fifteen full-time and part-time coaches work with the children and many
volunteers are involved in the educational component including after
school tutors.
One of the PAL’s most recent accomplishment is the establishment of
the South Pinellas Truancy Interdiction Program (TIP) for which they
receive funding from the Juvenile Welfare Board to prevent truancy and
dropping out of school through a program involving police, school
officials, and parents. Although developed primarily as a crime
prevention tool, TIP's major objective is to get truant children back
into the school mainstream immediately and to provide early intervention
to prevent dropouts.
Once apprised of Florida statutes regarding mandatory school
attendance, parents must immediately take the child to school for a
conference with the school contact person, usually an assistant
principal. The program seeks involvement of parents in a way that helps
reduce the incidence of recidivism. PAL provides support for families
struggling to keep their kids in school and makes a lot of referrals to
other agencies for family therapy, alcohol and drug abuse treatment
centers and the like.
At any one time, there are 9,000 truants in Pinellas County, 20% of
whom are repeat truants. When truants are taking into custody and a
plan for future school success is agreed upon by the police, the school
and the parents, St. Petersburg police report substantial reductions in
two daytime crimes: residential burglaries and robberies.
At present, the Police Athletic League depends on grants, such as the
one from the Juvenile Welfare Board, a county-wide telemarketing
program, from which they receive the bulk of their funding, and
individual donations. A Founders’ Club Breakfast is held every year.
Attending Kiwanians last week were very impressed with Ms. Maxwell’s
and the Police Department’s work to help kids and prevent crime. We
wish them every success in keeping kids in school and on track.
INTERCLUB VISITS
Sunshine City Guests at St.
Petersburg Kiwanis We were pleased to welcome
eight members of the Sunshine City Kiwanis Club who joined us for lunch
Tuesday. They were Judy Nicholson, Imogene Cordova, David Morris, Ed
Caton, Ernie Lotman, George Wilsey and dual member, Ed Lillich.
St. Petersburg Guests at Sunshine
City Kiwanis St. Petersburg Kiwanians visiting
Sunshine City a week ago Friday were Ted Wall, Bernie Lodge, Cynthia
McGowan, Russell Lampe, Doug Lampe and Jim Beach.
Other Notable Guests
Lorin Bridge brought his son Lorin, and Chris Ferguson
was introduced by our guest speaker, Jennifer Maxwell.
Three Minutes of Fame
New member Nick Gizzarelli gave his three-minute speech to
the Club by way of introduction. Now a manager of the Bruce Watters
Jewelers store on Beach Drive, Nick grew up in Barrington, RI, received
a Bachelor’s of Science in Marketing and worked for jewelers for many
years. He is a certified gemologist and a member of the American Gem
Society. He has a wife, Geri who works as an office manager for a busy
doctor’s office, two children Ken and Suzanne and two granddaughters,
Hollyanne and Maria. He is a Corvette enthusiast and a Yankees fan.
Welcome, Nick!
What’s Happening?
New Look Not Just For St. Pete Times! The
Communications Committee is working hard to keep you informed.
Today’s larger newsletter
printed in full-color is the latest improvement. Other changes in
content are forthcoming! A survey will go out next week to get your
feedback.
Advertising Opportunities The Communications
Committee met to discuss how we can improve the lines of communication
within our club. The first product of this meeting is today’s “new
and improved” newsletter. As you can see,
The Kiwanian is now
50% larger and there’s more color. This expanded format will be more
readable and allow us to include more news items and stories about Club
activities. It’ll also allow room for your ads. Until now, new members
have had to wait for space for their ad. (At last week’s luncheon, Bob
Piplitz said he’d been waiting four months to get his ad in!) If
you’d like to take advantage of this opportunity to support your Club
and generate more business, contact Frank Ranieri at
frank@communicasting.com
or call him at
(727) 463-7265.
Other changes are forthcoming. We want to know what you like about
the newsletter, and what you feel could help improve this vital tool. A
survey will go out next week to get your feedback on content and layout.
Keep watching and reading and please patronize our advertisers!
Member Directory Al Karnavicius is moving ahead
with the new membership directory. If you have not responded to his
requests for updates, your entry will appear as it does in the current
directory.
PRAYER OF THE DAY Merciful God, look with
compassion on the whole human family; take away the controversial
teachings of arrogance, divisions and hatreds which have badly infected
our hearts; break down the walls that separate us; reunite us in bonds
of love; and work through our struggle and confusion to accomplish Your
purposes on earth; that, in Your good time, all nations and races may
jointly serve You in justice, peace and harmony. Amen.
LAST WEEK’S QUIZ:
1. The only father and son to hit back-to-back home runs in a major
league baseball game were Ken Griffey, Jr., and his father, Ken
Griffey, Sr., both of the Seattle Mariners in a game against the
California Angels on September 14th, 1990.
2. Mata Hari, born Gertrud Margarete Zelle, World War I spy,
was executed by firing squad in 1917. She refused a blindfold and threw
a kiss to the executioners.
3. On February 6, 1971 the first golf ball was hit on the moon by
Alan Shepard.
4. The Ouija board is named for the French and German words for
yes - oui and ja.
5. All clams start out as males; some decide to become females
at some point in their lives.
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