CURRENT NEWS

July Meetings – Nancy Foster, Chair:

July  1 – Sarah Gordon, RN, BSN, Kansas Eye Bank (Please bring old eye-glasses no longer needed)

July  8 – NO MEETING

July 15 – Katie Burenheide, Pharmist, Stormont-Vail – Over-The-Counter Medications

July 22 – Carol Bragdon, MSN, Phd, ARNP, Cotton-O’Neill Heart Center – Heart Health

July 29 – Gary McKnight, AuD – Balance, Dizziness and Hearing

CURRENT NEWS:

It appears that our club had another successful Pancake Breakfast and Bake Sale on June 18.Secretary/Treasurer Rod Obermeier reports that we earned $1,230 from the Pancake Breakfast and the Bake Sale brought in $185. President Ron Brown expresses his thanks to all who helped, especially, Rod Obermeier, Nancy Foster and Sharon Lewis, Bob Lewis’ wife. Which doesn’t mean he doesn’t appreciates everyone else who helped.

Congratulations to Suzie and Rod Obermeier, who will celebrate their 40^th wedding anniversary on June 29.

The next District Convention will be held in Topeka during the third week-end in August.  Once again we have been asked to man the hospitality room. We will need volunteers and a sign up sheet will be available later on.

Ted Heim is reported to be doing well at Atria Hearthstone, but will probably be there until sometime in July.  We’ve had no further word about Jim Shannon’s wife, Jean.  We hope they are doing well.

The McPherson Optimist Club will hold its 4^th Annual Memorial Golf Tournament on July 18 at the Turkey Creek Golf course in McPherson.  The Club has asked for prizes to be awarded during the tournament.  If you have any thoughts, contact President Ron Brown.

Meeting of June 17, 2011:

When as many as 53 tornados hit the State of Alabama last May, they left a trail of 600 miles of devastation, 10 miles wide with 240 fatalities. According to Sgt. Lance Feyh, of the Topeka Police Department, who recently spent two weeks in Birmingham assisting with the recovery, if that same amount of destruction had occurred in Kansas, the cities of Wichita, Emporia, Topeka, Lawrence and Kansas City, would have all been affected.  One can imagine just how devastating that would be.

 Sgt. Feyh and two other men from Kansas were assigned to assist in Alabama in accordance with a nationwide compact established in 1991, whereby assistance would be given to any State which suffered a disaster.  Sgt. Feyh, who has served as a public relations officer for the Topeka Police Department, was assigned to similar duties in Birmingham. Eighty public relations officers occupied one entire floor of an 18 story building which had been taken over by FEMA and the Alabama Emergency Management Department.  Their assignment was to make certain that any information released to the public was factual.   Since there were many rumors and incomplete reports, this proved to be a full time job.  “There was a lot of red tape to get a anything released”, he said.  He said they did issue a Daily Update Sheet to the public and a more detailed one for the Governor. Sgt. Feyh went on to say that each floor of that eighteen floor building was assigned to an individual function, such as the Corp. of Engineers, local contractors, etc.  Each floor included approximately 100 personnel.   

 Sgt. Feyh did find time to visit many of the devastated areas.  He found the citizens very appreciative that he was there, even as they sorted through the destruction.  Feyh did have a camera and he showed us a number of scenes in and around Birmingham.  They were very sobering, and for some of us, brought back memories of June, 1966, here in Topeka.  His photos have been edited and are available on U Tube.

One of the more frightening things to come out of this disaster was that just going to the basement or hiding in the bathtub did not work.  He noted that in Birmingham in the future any new buildings would be required to have “safe rooms”, built to rigorous specifications.  He also recommended safe rooms for everyone.  So we, here in Kansas, should give that approach serious consideration.

 We had three guests, Thomas Kruger, who came with Mother, Misty;   Will Kastens, Bill Kasten’s son from Adelphia, Maryland and Will’s daughter and Bill’s granddaughter, Katarina.  Ron Brown finally got his chance to read the jokes he had been waiting to read; Clayton McMurray won the drawing to share $16.00 with O.I. International; Don Buchanan was not present and so missed out on the “Pot-O-Gold” of $5.00; and Rod Obermeier won the President’s Prize, which he gallantly presented to Katarina Kastens.

Meeting of June 24, 2011:

Vickie Brokke, President and CEO of the Topeka Civic Theatre began her duties in February of this year and is already an enthusiastic booster for the Theatre.  She noted that the Theatre has a staff of only thirteen and depends heavily upon over six hundred volunteers to make the Theatre a success. Vickie estimated that these volunteers furnished the equivalent of $1,000,000 of services each year. Our member, Bob Lewis, she pointed out has been a long-time volunteer.  Vickie went on to say that TCT has a two-fold mission; first, to provide wonderful productions which provide volunteer opportunities, and secondly, conduct an academy for children to participate in the theater.  And, in addition the Theatre offers quality meals for most performances.

As most of us already know, the Theatre is supported by an amazing number of talented performers, not only from Topeka, but also from the surrounding area. 

Vickie said that TCT was very conscious of the “Civic” part of their title and is always interested in hearing from citizens about what the people want.  So if you have a favorite production you would like to see, let her know. Again, the Theatre is a wonderful volunteer opportunity if you would like to be involved.

TCT is celebrating 75 years of entertainment and has occupied several locations.  Many of us remember the “Warehouse On The Levee” and the long waits for the trains.  But when TCT raised $5,000,000 and moved to the former Gage School, many improvements occurred.  Even with larger quarters, the present location is almost “bursting at the seams”.  Vickie offered a tour to anyone interested in looking behind the scenes.  You will see rehearsal halls, costume rooms, prop rooms, etc., all of which are in use daily.

As for the future, she mentioned several concerns:  How to get more young people involved?  How can the Theatre grow, since it is at full capacity now?  How can we generate more funds to finance the growth and add needed staff?

One way may be to add more memberships. She stated that they have very flexible membership opportunities.  If you are interested in a membership contact the Theatre and they will most happy to explain them to you.

Finally, Vickie offered the possibility that our club might hold one of our noon meetings at the Theatre, an idea that our Board of Directors may consider.  One comment that Ron Brown offered was that TCT might consider partnering with the Topeka Performing Arts Center and White Concert Hall at Washburn University.  Vickie said there is some communication among all three now and appreciated the thought.

There was one visitor, Carrie Lancaster, Art’s wife; Nancy Foster offered the joke of the day;  Bob Lewis won the drawing to share $12 with the OI Foundation (it seems the move to the Starlite Room has had a negative effect upon those members of the  infamous table from the “Lounge days.” )  Art Lancaster won the “Pot-O-Gold: worth five gold dollars!; and Mike Akulow was the winner of the President’s Award.  

                Someone has said that the following is Clyde Kensinger’s philosophy of life:

                        “The local paper sent a reporter out for Clyde’s latest birthday.   

                             The reporter asked Clyde for the secret of his longevity

                                    Simple, Clyde said to him… Keep breathing”