Fellow Kiwanians,

Thank you all for attending our Valentine's Day meeting today at Kiwanis. I knew it would be a great meeting when I ran into (not literally) Bob Alderman in the parking lot, beaming with his gorgeous wife Eunice on his arm, then saw Don McCaleb as soon as I walked through the door of the Monday Club, followed by Bob Stratton and the ever charming Lois. No wonder that Bob is always smiling!

Special Thanks to Ron Kyker for not only bringing his wonderful bride Betty, but for bringing three other members of the Gold Coast Chorus who opened our meeting with a pair of harmonies, and later helped us in singing Happy Birthday to Rich Carsel- who brought his elegant bride, Jan. Two of the other members of the Gold Coast Chorus stayed for lunch and brought their brides as well, which was a great contribution to our meeting.

Attendance was again stellar, with 19 members and 16 guests joining us for a great lunch and meeting. We had several toppings for the salad, an incredible ham, and seasoned potatoes and some very surprisingly good apple pie. We had only two members not in attendance and who were greatly missed. Roger Frederickson was excused as he informed me in advance that he had to attend a meeting of the Bar Association, and Jim Frye, who was not only Fine Free this week, but will be allowed the opportunity again next week. We hope to see you BOTH next week, along with the other members. Thank you to all of you for your continued great attendance. The meetings are a lot more fun with so many members in attendance, and this helps to build the membership, as guests recognize the fun and comaraderie that we experience in our meetings.

After the serenade and the usual opening protocol, Hilding introduced Lt. Governor Bonne Scott from the Atascadero club who partook of our great food and fellowship today.

Doc Steele was kind enough to not only bring his bride Gail, but he refrained from his Henny Youngman jokes until later in the meeting. Chris and Cindy from Doc's office also graced us with their presence.

Shane, following Doc's lead, willingly gave a kind introduction of our perrenial guest, his lovely wife Bridget.

Bart, who was kind enough to provide us with an invocation, introduced the adorable Denise, with no explanation of how he got so lucky. I won't tease Bart about attending twice in a row if he promises to attend next week and lead us in song.

We thanked Sue Conrad for her years of faithfully serving our members through Phoenix Catering, and asked her to consider joining as a regular member when her Personal Training business attains a solid footing. She has taken an application for membership, and we have promised to stay in contact with the hope that she will join in a few months. Keep that in mind and do not forget to call her if the need to get in shape arises. Her number is 423-2515 and her website address is www.fitnesscanbfun.com.

After Kevin Hauber extracted Happy Bucks from a good portion of the membership, Henry Rible introduced our guest speaker, Nancy Beighley. Nancy is the College and Career Technician at San Luis Obispo High, where Milt Batson's Bride Pam attended about 15 years ago. Nancy had a short presentation about her job, which was followed by considerable questions from the membership. Among items discussed were Career Day at the high school, which is occurring on March 27. Anyone interested in volunteering or considering a new career can contact Nancy at 596-4040 or by email nbeighley@slcusd.org.

We had two winners of $15 each this week, spreading the wealth, and if I were younger, I might remember who besides Jim Haack won.

John Carsel, with $152.50 on the line, missed the Ace of Spades by several of the ten cards left. Next week may be your chance to win $155 from the club!

Next week we will be led in pledge by Bob Stratton, followed by Bart Topham who should know a patriotic song by next week. Jim Haack will provide the invocation, after which Henry Rible will dazzle us with his soap-box. Gary Simas has agreed to return to the lecturn as Finemaster, and will bear in mind that Jim Frye, as discussed above, will be Fine Free.

Thank you again to all members for the support in kind words and by making a successful effort to attend our meetings. I look forward to seeing you all next week when Eric Hubbs will again supply us with an interesting speaker (if only I had remembered to ask who we have scheduled).

In Kiwanis,

Sean Fitzpatrick

Acting President

Past President, 1996-1998