Prayer:  Tim Glor

Sergeant at Arms:  Joe Starck and Mike Austin

Music: Barb Henry

Finemaster: Tony Decillis

Ken: Ed Markarian

February 11th Pod Assignments:

Sergeant at Arms:        Invocation:        Finemaster:         Ken Writer:

Tom Lippard                Tim Glor            Tony DeCillis        Ed Markarian

Joe Starck

A timely ringing of the gong occurred when the Ken writer wasn't looking so he doesn't know if Larry rang it or if it was the gong phantom.  Either way, it was more of a thud than a ring, so either Larry or the phantom needs to practice.

Barb Henry (our Alicia Keys) led us in the National Anthem, followed by Tim Glor's prayers that we do good work for Rotary, and that Punxsutawney Phil's prediction of an early spring comes true.

Barb reported that snowbird Harold told her that it was President Larry's birthday.  We sang to him and then fined him.

During announcements:

Stu Schnettler reported that we should be on the lookout for weekly emails from the Club concerning rsvp's for Club meetings and other events.  Stu is also building out the website with content.  Great job Stu!

 Larry told us that the "Purple Pinky Project" generated $1,700 for polio eradication, and that the Interact Club and our Club received favorable publicity for its efforts.

 Larry reminded us that our February 18 meeting (yes we are meeting on President's Day) is our prospective new-member meeting.  We should have an excellent speaker, so please bring a guest/possible new member.  Letters will be sent to the already-identified prospective members.

 Shari McDonough (the good cop) announced that our wine tasting fundraiser is scheduled for May 15 so Save the Date!  Ed Markarian (the bad cop) stated that our goal is 250 attendees.  If we all sell 5 tickets or come with a group of 5, we will meet that target.  It's an easy sell.  Everyone loves the event.  It is fun.  The cost is very reasonable ($30 per ticket) and it is our biggest and most important fundraiser! 

 Larry announced that Rotary-sponsored leadership programs for high schoolers are upcoming in March (New Generations conference) and in April (Slapshot).  If you would like to nominate a deserving student, please let Larry know.

Tony Decillis was our finemaster.  He took confessions from Tim Glor (mislabeled photograph in the Niagara Gazette), Rick Graham (for not winning a Super bowl pool), and Stu Schnettler (for winning $30 and a cigar).  Tony then told us that a 30-second Super Bowl commercial cost $4 million.  He wanted to see if the advertisers got fair return on their investment.  He gave us the tag lines to several commercials, to see if we remember the product being advertised.  Turns out the ad geniuses were pretty smart because we knew them all.  Having failed to raise money based on his questions, Tony fined us en masse.

Our speaker was Nancy Pray from the Ken-Ton Schools.  She was brave enough to admit to knowing the Ken Writer from their youth, as we grew up in the same neighborhood.  She then said that she wasn't surprised that I was in charge of Wine Tasting.  I think this was a violation of the rule "what happens in Willowgrove stays in Willowgrove."

 Nancy is a Curriculum Specialist for the Career Academies at Kenmore East and West (notice that East comes first).  There are four academies: Computer Networking & Technology; Information Technology; Pre-Engineering; and Virtual Enterprise & Finance.  Academy students take the core curriculum, and use their electives to take the academy courses.  This allows them to concentrate on the career field they wish to pursue.  It's a focused pathway to graduation.  Funding for the program comes from a New York State Perkins grant.

Nancy was joined by student Kayla Gurney, who was very well spoken and said she might wish to be a Rotarian some day!  Kayla mentioned that academy students earn college credits at several colleges.  She provided several examples for why it is a great program. 

Nancy and Kayla also described other high school programs at Ken-Ton, including the International Baccalaureate program (very high achievers), the Big Picture School, and internships.

We had two great speakers, and it was an excellent meeting.