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June 26, 2007 No. 38 Vol. 85
This Week’s Program: Jim Leavitt,
Head Coach
USF
Bulls
Football
Team
Leavitt grew up in
St. Petersburg,
Florida and was a star quarterback for
Dixie Hollins
High School. After graduating from high school, Leavitt
pursued studies at the
University of
Missouri–Columbia, graduating in 1978. From 1978 to 1980,
Leavitt worked as a graduate assistant, then left for the
University of
Dubuque, where he spent two years as their football team's
defensive
coordinator. Following his years there, he went to
Morningside
College in 1982, spending one year as special teams
coordinator before being promoted to defensive coordinator. After a
brief stint at the
University of
Iowa where Leavitt pursued a doctorate degree in psychology,
he continued to
Kansas State
University in 1990. At Kansas State, Leavitt spent two years
as linebackers’ coach, then four more as defensive coordinator, leading
Kansas State from relative obscurity to having a consistent, highly
regarded defense. Finally, in 1996, Leavitt was hired as the head coach
for the new South Florida football team. He has been, to date, the only
head coach for the South Florida Bulls.
Since the inaugural season in
1997, Leavitt has guided the team through the I-AA ranks into
Division I-A,
into
Conference USA
and finally into the
Big East
Conference. In December of 2005 the team played its 100th
game and first
bowl game
in
Charlotte, North
Carolina at the
Meineke Car Care
Bowl. One year later, Leavitt led the team to its first ever
bowl win in the
PapaJohns.com
Bowl against
East Carolina
University in
Birmingham,
Alabama on
December 23,
2006.
In his 10 years at the University
of South Florida, Leavitt has been courted by a number of universities
eager to benefit from his success as a coach. True to form, Leavitt
expressed his desire and intent to stay with the program he established
at USF and dismissed any speculation about a future elsewhere.
Leavitt's on-field success, drive
and dedication to the university have produced significant improvements
in athletic facilities, such as a new athletic training center that
includes an Academic Enrichment Center for student athletes, new
administration facilities, and new practice fields for the football
team.
Welcome, members of Leadership
St. Pete! Thanks for joining us.
Last Week’s Program: Carol Kingsley, Church of
Scientology
Kiwanian-of-the-Day Cathy Swanson introduced Carol
Kingsley, our speaker from the Church of Scientology in Clearwater. Ms.
Kingsley graduated from the University of New Mexico in 1970 with a
Bachelor of University Studies degree in the Honors program. After years
of study, she became fully trained as a professional Counselor in the
Church of Scientology.
Kingsley spoke only briefly about the school she
helped open – the Mace-Kingsley Preparatory Academy in Los Angeles in
1980 with Freedom Medal winner Debbie Mace. She touched on her work
helping disaster survivors return to productive lives after Hurricane
Andrew, in Oklahoma City after the bombing and with survivors who lost
family members and friends in the bombing of the World Trade Center in
New York City. For most of her talk, Ms. Kingsley focused on
similarities between the mission of Kiwanis and that of Scientology
regarding children. She described her desire to help children and
families from a very young age, drawing on what she observed in her
neighborhood. She believed even then that everyone deserves to be happy
and successful, and she feels she found the tools to realize that
through Scientology.
She read the Poem of Asia by L. Ron
Hubbard, founder of Scientology, to bring home the message that there is
love enough to encompass the world, seen and unseen. She talked about
Applied Scholastics, based on the writings of L. Ron Hubbard, as they
apply to children, and the training center headquartered in St. Louis
where they equip parents with the tools to prepare the children of today
for the adult world of tomorrow.
At each of our place settings was a small booklet
entitled “The Way to Happiness.” Kingsley said that hundreds of copies
had been translated and brought to Baghdad to establish the path to
peace. She referred us to a number of books in the back of the room that
emphasized different aspects of scientology and dianetics and encouraged
us to visit the Center. When asked whether the belief system of
Scientology required giving up one’s current religion, Kinglsey said no,
that Scientology encompasses everything and is nondenominational. For
more information, go to
www.scientology.org or call 727-443-4111.
Things To Know About June 26th
- Baseball Day - In
observance of Abner Doubleday's birthday
- Bicycle patented
in 1819
- Rat Catcher's Day
– Observance of the Pied Piper getting rid of all the rats Hamelin,
Germany in 1284.
- Rose Day
- Toothbrush
invented in 1498
June 26, 2002 - A federal appeals court declared
that reciting the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools is
unconstitutional because of the words "under God" inserted by Congress
in 1954. This ruling was reconfirmed in February 2003. Source: www.ushistory.org/betsy/flagfact.html
Guests and Visitors
We had quite a number of guests and visitors last
Tuesday as the Sunshine City Kiwanians visited us as an InterClub
opportunity. Joining us from there were Imogene Cordova, Fred Kenfield,
Past Lt. Governor Ray Watson and Don Knowles. Harry Eisnaugle
brought his wife, Peggy, and their friend, Dorothy Longstaff. Lt.
Governor Eddie Lee joined us from Gulf Beaches. Jane Baldwin
introduced us to Janis Albritton and Cyndi Mulligan brought her
boyfriend, Joe Frisze. Our speaker, Carol Kingsley, brought with her
three colleagues, Linda Tucker, Jeff Aviram and Marie Dominique.
What’s Happening?
A Bounteous Birthday
Al Karnavicius and John Biesinger
had great news about the Jim Fischer Birthday Bash that took place
Saturday the 16th. Over 100 people enjoyed dinner and bid on
50 silent auction items and five live auction items, bringing our
proceeds for scholarship to a little over $26,000! Englander & Fischer
has pledged $13,000+ from their golf tournament as well which puts us at
about $40,000 all told. This is a record year for our Club in terms of
raising scholarship funds and we thank all of you who attended or
contributed in some way. Our corporate sponsors, Cornerstone Bank,
Canerday, Belfsky and Arroyo Architects, Englander & Fischer, Beck Group
Construction and Bayprint covered all the expenses of the evening, so
that all money raised could be used solely for scholarships. Thanks,
sponsors. You and all of those who contributed to the success of the
evening helped improve the lives of many young people in our community.
Give A Guest A Gift Of Lunch
Mike Humlicek reminds us that we all need
to focus on introducing newcomers to Kiwanis through a lunch and program
invitation. Those who do will have the pleasure of showing off our
Club’s volunteerism and philanthropy to a friend or colleague and will
get a little sticker for their ID badge!
TODAY’S QUIZ:
1. An ear of corn
averages how many kernels in how many rows?
2. Ancient Chinese
artists would never paint pictures of what?
3. Which weighs more: fresh water or sea water?
4. Name the USF Bulls’ mascot.
LAST WEEK’S QUIZ:
1. Oranges, lemons, watermelons, and tomatoes are
berries.
2. The largest body of fresh water in the world
is Lake Superior.
3. Tying tin cans to the back of the newlywed’s
car recalls the ancient tradition of making loud noises to frighten
away evil spirits.
4. The inimitable Mark Twain said “Nothing
seems to please a fly so much as to be taken for a currant; and if it
can be baked in a cake and palmed off on the unwary, it dies happy.”
PRAYER OF THE DAY
A Coach’s Prayer
Build me an athlete, who will be strong
enough to know when he is weak and brave enough to face himself when he
is afraid, one who will be proud and unbending in honest defeat and
humble and gentle in victory.
Build me an athlete whose wishbone will not be where his backbone
should be, an athlete who will know you and that to know himself is the
foundation stone of knowledge. Lead him, I pray, not in the path of ease
and comfort, but under the stress and spur of difficulties and
challenge. Here let him learn to stand up in the storms; here let him
learn compassion for those who fall.
Build me an athlete whose heart will be clear, whose goal will be
high; an athlete who will master himself before he seeks to master
others; one who will learn to laugh, yet never forget how to weep; one
who will reach into the future yet never forget the past. And after all
these things are his, add, I pray, enough of a sense of humor, never to
take himself too seriously. Give him humility, so that he may always
remember the simplicity of true greatness, the open mind of true wisdom,
the meekness of true strength. Then, I, his coach, will dare to whisper,
"I have not lived in vain."
Amen.
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