August 20, 2010

THIS FRIDAY

We’ll welcome Tim Koontz, president of Dale Koontz Builders, who recently earned the designation of Certified Green Professional by the National Association of Home Builders. Tim is the only person in Adams County to have the certification and one of only 4,000 people nationwide to earn it. He will speak about green building principles in both residential and commercial settings. Should be another good one. See you Friday for Quincy’s Finest Hour!

FRIDAY LAST

An interesting look at Advanced Trading Inc. by Chuck Schroeder. Chuck did a great job working the room and teaching us a bit about the agricultural based “hedging” his firm does. Chuck works with grain, corn, and beans but others in his office deal with beef, pork, and poultry. This is a great way for farmers to, as Chuck put it, build space and manage it in their often risky business. Admittedly, a more interesting program than I anticipated. Vic Welper with the outstanding introduction.

VIP DATES

8/18 – Kent & Ann Anderson celebrate their 31st anniversary and Chris & Kathy Parker celebrate their 20th anniversary

8/19 – Rich Zeidler celebrates a birthday and Smoke on the River Meeting (5:30 p.m. @ the Dock)

8/21 – Carlos Fernandez celebrate a birthday

8/22 – Rob Copley and Dan Brink both celebrate birthdays; the 50th for Rob

8/23 – Richard Cole celebrate this 55th birthday and Mike & Julie McLaughlin celebrate their 20th anniversary

8/24 – Ted Awerkamp celebrates a birthday

8/26 – Smoke on the River Meeting (5:30 p.m. @ the Dock)

8/27 – ROAD TRIP to Sunset Home

9/2 – Smoke on the River Meeting (5:30 p.m. @ the Dock)

9/3 – The Gridiron Report

9/10 – ROAD TRIP to Smoke on River site (The Dock) & later that evening, Smoke on the River

9/11 – Smoke on the River

9/13 – September Board Meeting (11:45 a.m. @ The Pier)

10/11 – October Board Meeting (11:45 a.m. @ The Pier)

10/15 – ROAD TRIP to the Art Center

SMOKE ON THE RIVER

Committee meeting this Thursday – 5:30 p.m. at the Dock. Chairman Mel Dillman provided these updates on the fast-approaching event:

· 19 teams signed up as of Monday (8/16) morning. We hope to see that number rise to around 40 teams.

· Sign-up sheets have been out the last several weeks. If you haven’t signed up to help on the weekend, please do so. If you can’t work that weekend, how about following the lead of Bill Stalder? Bill will be out of town during the event but is attempting to sell 50 raffle tickets; he has already sold 32.

· Please consider submitting an application for Service Person of the Year. This is a great program and can be done on-line (www.smokeontheriver.net).

· Vic Welper and committee has done a great job on sponsorships but there is always room for more. In 2009, we raised $9,150 from sponsors and we are already at $10,300 this year.

· Please sell those raffle tickets!

SOTR TEAM RAFFLE CONTEST

Congratulations to Team Dorsey who turned in 259 tickets last week (in a two week cumulative total) to take honors in the Smoke on the River Team Raffle Contest. Here are the results:

Team Dorsey – 259

Team Haugh – 216

Team Awerkamp – 144

Team Peters – 92

This is a fun little contest that has both individual (chance to win cash) and team (more chances to win the cash) incentives. Expect more about this in the weeks ahead.

50/50 ACE OF SPADES

Dick Wentura had the right ticket (AGAIN!) but picked the wrong card (thankfully, AGAIN! It was the seven of hearts) last week so the pot grows. An incredible $2,170 this week with only 8 cards remaining! If the ace of spades isn’t picked within the next few weeks, is it possible to see a pot of $3,000? Would that be insane or what? Or, how about a scenario where the Ace of Spades is the only card left? Would guys be spending $25-$50 on the raffle? Crazy, I say!

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“County Market is starting a new program. We are providing cab fair, a BB gun, and directions to Hy-Vee to anyone interested.” This Art Awerkamp quip brought down the house. Art, of course, is making reference to the genius who robbed Steve Lab’s Hy-Vee store last week using a cab to get to the store and then as the “get away” car. Brilliant.

THIS & THAT

Rev. Jim Totsch with the good prayer and Dr. Joe Bocke leading the pledge… Guests included John Niemeyer (with Dennis Koch), Kelly Stupasky (with Art Awerkamp), and Bill Anderson (with Hal Broadwater)… Your humble editor back after a brief leave. My thanks again, to Dennis Koch and Bill Stalder for writing the Exchangite in my absence… President Kent Anderson reporting on action from the August 9th board meeting; the club will sponsor a hole in Blessing Hospitals SLICE tournament… As expected, another full house last week and lots of fun. I chose Art’s quote but could have used any number of them. Eric’s Schultz’s “We’ve improved!” just after speaker Chuck Schroeder told us we “were an average group” was priceless! Good stuff… Please note that we have added THREE Road Trips to the VIP Dates with the first one being a week from this Friday to Sunset Home. This will be a great chance to visit our friend, Max Johnson. In September we’ll visit the site of Smoke on the River and in October we’ll visit the Quincy Art Center to check out a respectful exhibit on art and the Vietnam War. Several Exchangites involved in putting that exhibit together… That's all for now, 'til next time, may God’s love, grace, and peace be with you and the ones you love.