Double Issue: December 26, 2006 and January 2, 2007 No. 13 Vol.
85
December 26th Program: Roundtable Luncheon
Join your Kiwanis Brothers and Sisters for a friendly round-table
discussion.
January 2nd Program: St. Pete. Kiwanis 2006 Year in Review
Bob Byelick and Cathy Swanson will take us through the
2006 Kiwanis Year in Review over a pleasant lunch with friends. Time to
reflect is a gift we give to ourselves. Thanks, Bob and Cathy,
for helping us to remember the good times!
What’s Happening?
Lost amidst the various celebrations of
this holiday, the football games and family gatherings that welcome in
the new year, is the Feast of St. Clarus, which also comes on the
first day of January. By heaven's good fortune and great insight, Clarus
is the perfect saint for New Year's Day, being the patron saint of those
who suffer from myopia, who are shortsighted.
Rub your eyes today and ask St. Clarus, who
was a French monk of the seventh century, to make you long-sighted so
that you can see the big picture in life. Just as myopia causes distant
objects to be blurred, myopia of the spirit causes you to lack
discernment in planning ahead.
St. Clarus, aid us today that we might see
clearly with both eyes, that we might be wise in planning ahead for the
various possibilities hidden in this new year, and that we might behold
all the blessings directly in front of us.
O good St. Clarus, whose name means
clear, on the eight day of Christmas, when the vision of so many is
focused not on the family but only on a televised football game, give us
the gift of clear vision.
--
Ed Hays, The Old Hermit’s Almanac
Fun Fact
Ready to take down your Christmas tree, but don’t know what to do
with it? Tired of turkey, but don’t know what to eat in its place?
Christmas trees are edible! Many parts of pines, spruces, and firs can
be eaten. The needles are a good source of vitamin C. Pine nuts, or pine
cones, are also a good source of nutrition.
LAST WEEK AT KIWANIS (12/19) The Spiritual
Aims Committee and Kiwanian-of-the-Day Dick Koch presented the
Bell Choir from Lutheran Church of the Cross (LCC) for our holiday
program. Under the direction of Rebecca Peterson, Music Director, Bell
Ringers Nancy Hartney, Joan Mathre, Kari Sheppard, Chris Sheppard, Ken
Rush and Shirley Pyle performed a medley and other compositions to
capture the essence of the holiday season. Songs performed included
Angels We Have Heard on High, Angels from the Realms of Glory, Hark! The
Herald Angels Sing, Savior of the Nations, Come, American Folk Melodies
and more.
In addition to performing for our Club, the LCC Bell Choir has
already performed holiday concerts at the Northeast Publix, The Arts
Center and Allendale Park. They are scheduled to perform at First Night
on December 31.
Everyone enjoyed the dulcet sounds of the LCC Bell Choir. What a
lovely send-off for the holidays!
The Christmas Angels Program Brought Some Angels To Our Midst
In the spirit of the season, our fellow Kiwanians brought their
specially chosen and beautifully wrapped gifts to our luncheon Tuesday
for the 100 Christmas Angels Program Foster Children we “adopted.” When
Ms. Mentha Thomas of the South Pinellas Foster Parent Association
arrived to pick them up for distribution, she brought with her two of
her five foster children, Benita and Bobby Jo, ages 6 and 4, who sang
two songs for us. Thanks go out to Ms. Thomas for opening her heart and
home to children adrift, to Benita and Bobby Jo for their carols, and to
Ron Scoggins and Kathy Condon, co-chairs of the Young
Children Priority One Committee, for coordinating this wonderful
opportunity for each of us to help bring a ray of sunshine into the
lives of children for whom too many days are less than sunny. Thanks,
too, to all of you for giving so much and so often to children in need.
Sinawik Raises Funds For The Kettle
Sinawik, the Kiwanis ladies’ auxiliary
club which allowed women to participate in our organization’s efforts
before Kiwanis became “co-ed,” raised $481 recently for the Salvation
Army Kettle Challenge. Thanks, ladies, for helping us give Rotary a run
for its money!
Did you know? In an effort to solicit cash to pay for a
charity Christmas dinner in 1891, a large crabpot was set down on a San
Francisco street, becoming the first Salvation Army collection kettle.
Kathy Condon let us know that the front page story in the
Saturday, December 16th New York Times mentioned Kiwanis
International along with the World Health Organization, the World
Bank and others as leaders in the effort to prevent Iodine Deficiency in
children in third world countries. Our Club participated in that effort
several years ago.
Gift Wrapping Party Wrap-Up Nearly a dozen
Kiwanians helped assemble toys and wrap gifts for Help A Child at the
United Methodist Church on the 15th. Saturday morning, 250
excited children had presents to open as a result. More good work from
the hardest working Club in Florida!
Clerk of the Court Thanks the Kiwanis Club of St. Petersburg
Our last week’s speaker, Ken Burke, sent a thank you note to our Club
thanking us for our hospitality. He encouraged us to let him know when
he might be of help. Let’s make a list of all our plans and invite Ken
to give us a hand!
Florida District Governor Visits Tampa Bay
Charles Stuart tells us that Florida District Governor Phil Yorston
was in town on December 8th. He spent the day in the Tampa Bay area at
a Kiwanis prayer breakfast, the Sunshine Club and then the dinner held
at Tropicana Field. Beside our division, the Clubs from north Pinellas
and Hillsborough Counties were present, about 250 people in all. Our
Club was represented by John and Nancy Biesinger, (both Past Lt.
Governors), Charles and Judy Stuart, Past Lt. Governor
Ed Lillich and Chris Lillich, and our
President-Elect Markus Mittermayr. The Governor is a Native American
and in his opening remarks included a comment that they were taking back
the country one casino at a time.
TODAY’S QUIZ
1. Name the most popular New Year’s Day parade.
2. Between 600,000-700,000 people attend the annual New Year
festivities in Times Square. How many actually witness the celebration
via television?
3. What year did they first drop the New Year's Ball in New
York's Time Square?
4. What is the Jewish New Year called?
Bonus Questions:
5. Who first used a baby to symbolize the new year?
6. Name four of the ten most popular New Year’s resolutions.
LAST WEEK’S QUIZ:
1. The longest-running (20 years) series on television was
Gunsmoke.
2. A jiffy is the actual name of 1/100th of a second.
3.
Sesame Street
characters
Bert and Ernie were named after Ernie the taxi driver and Bert
the cop in It’s a Wonderful Life.
4. The lack of a moustache distinguishes the King of
Hearts from the other kings in a deck of standard playing cards.
Diamonds, clubs and spades are by association linked respectively with
the corruption of wealth, war and death. In contrast, the heart as an
organ is pure, open, undisguised - it does not wear artifice - hence the
clean-shaven King of Hearts.
Something to think about:
We learn only what we do,
And what we do, we become.
Live therefore, in the ways you desire
to have as part of your personality.
Practice being the person you wish to become.
The
Way to a Happy New Year
To leave the old with a burst of song;
To recall the right and forgive the wrong;
To forget the things that bind you fast;
To the vain regrets of the year that's past;
To have the strength to let go your hold
Of the not worth while of the days grown old;
To dare go forth with a purpose true,
To the unknown task of the year that's new;
To help your brother along the road,
To assist with his work and lift his load;
To add your gift to the world's good cheer,
Is to have and to give a Happy New Year.
-- author unknown from
Guideposts Christmas Cards
PRAYER OF THE DAY
In the New Year may we
remember today's decisions shape tomorrow's outcomes,
that living each moment the best we can creates a harmonious life. May
we remember by holding fast to integrity others see we are trustworthy.
When times are rough may we remember to turn in to our close and ready
Source of comfort.
On New Year's and every day may we remember that each new moment can be
a fresh beginning. And may we especially remember that personal
peace preserved leads to world peace, well deserved.
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