September 18, 2009

THIS FRIDAY

We are back at ABVI for a special presentation of “Lincoln-Douglas Debates After Dark”. Jason Wellmeyer and Phil Quivillion will give us a humorous look at the Lincoln-Douglas debates had the two enjoyed a few brews prior to their legendary debates. Should be good one. (Not sure about their act but am guessing you may want to be selective on who you invite to join us.) See you Friday!

FRIDAY LAST

The road trip to the Dock. A busy program on a beautiful day that included a tribute and moment of silence for those lost on 9/11/01. We appreciated participation by the Quincy Police and Fire departments. Always good to have QU Coach Bill Terlisner and C-SC Coach Christian Guenther with us and to hear a bit about their programs. Even fit in a little Smoke on the River business. (More on that below.)

VIP DATES

9/18 – Ron & Dina Dryer celebrate their 13th anniversary.

9/19 – Russ Gengenbacher celebrates a birthday.

10/12 – October Board Meeting @ The Pier.

11/7 – Veterans Day Parade.

11/9 – November Board Meeting @ The Pier.

SMOKE ON THE RIVER RECAP

Hats off to Chairman Mel Dillman for his leadership prior to and during the Third Annual Smoke on the River – a tremendous success. 39 teams participated in the event, up from 24 last year and eight teams our first year. Could we have ordered any better weather? The event started with the steak contest/dinner and presentation of our Service Person of the Year Award on Friday evening. (Congratulations to Staff Sgt. Robert Billings from Bowling Green – our Service Person of the Year recipient.) A long but beautiful day on Saturday included taste-testing during the “People’s Choice”, the barbecue contest itself, Kids Zone, the award ceremony, and finally good music and drink well into the evening. We’ll wait for the numbers but it was all good. A sincere thank you to all the men who chaired a committee or worked over the weekend.

CHARACTER CHAMPIONS RECAP

Students from six area high schools participated in the Sixth Annual Character Champions on Tuesday, September 15th at Quincy University. The students heard from two Olympic champions (wrester Jim Gruenwald and volleyball player Caren Kemner) and QU Women’s Basketball Coach J.D. Gravino and QU Men’s Basketball Coach Marty Bell. Quincy High School was named the 2009 Character of Champions School and received a $500.00 check. Our thanks to all the men who make this wonderful project possible and to the many sponsors who help underwrite it. Immediate Past District President Dennis Koch shared this information about the program at it pertains to the National Exchange Club: “All of the National Service Award winners were asked to present a seminar on their projects at next year’s national convention (not all of them accept, but we did). Basically, we’ll put on a 90 minute break-out session at the convention. If there is enough interest, we could elect to make a presentation to the National Board about turning this into a National program of Service. Virtually all of our programs started as local club projects such as Adopt-a-Grandparent (in Quincy), Give-a-kid-a-Flag-to-Wave (Galesburg), etc. Jim has convinced WGEM to tape a number of interviews and footage of the seminar itself and create a 5-8 minute video. I’ll use bits and pieces of the video to incorporate into the seminar presentation.” Good stuff. Thanks for sharing, Dennis.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“The 2009 Smoke on the River Grand Champion is Ely’s BBQ.” Smoke on the River Chairman Mel Dillman made the announcement to a nice crowd late Saturday afternoon to close out the competition.

THIS & THAT

Dennis Koch is updating the club directory. If you have a change or need a new picture, please contact him as soon as possible as he would like to get the finished product out as soon as possible… Not much to report in the space but promise more next week… Did you read the article in the Quincy Herald-Whig about our Service Person of the Year recipient? While Staff Sgt. Billings was serving his country, some jerk-off stole his grill. What a low-life, scum-sucking, dirt-bag, crap-eating, son of a b!itch that must be… I feel better now… Not sure if they did the 50/50 last week or not but bring a buck this week because I’m sure we’ll do it then… That's all for now, 'til next time, may God’s love, grace, and peace be with you and the ones you love. And may he forgive the thief who stole Sgt. Billings’ grill!