Port Isabel Texas Rotary Club District 5930, Area 9 Est. 1936 http://portal.clubrunner.ca/8285 MARCELLO’S ITALIAN RISTORANTE

FRI. DEC. 1, 2017 SERVICE ABOVE SELF

ROTARY BOARD 2017-2018 (Roberta “Betty” Ramirez-Lara District Governor) Roberto “Chiefee” Rodriguez President John Magee Treasurer Jacqui Dempsey Youth Service Bettina Tolin Past President Diana Delgado Secretary Jim Enholm Community Service Kent Mallquist President Elect/Membership Sherman Lee International Service Cristin Howard Club Service Lonnie Gillihan President Elect Nominee/Vocational Auxilliary Board Members: (Open) Foundation, Bob White Sgt. At Arms Ralph Ayers Pilot/Program Calendar, Lonnie Gillihan Printing/Distribution, Paul Cardile Song Master

ROTARIAN SPEAKER NEXT WEEK’S ROTARIAN of the Derry School Choir Round Table WEEK TOPIC REMINDERS & NOTICES The Entire Christmas music Only 23 days until Christmas Club and Holiday Cheer (22 until you MUST start shopping)

TWO WEEKS AGO Margie Jacobs, from the PI Events Center, explained the functions of the Port Isabel Youth Center thatreplaced the former Boy’s & Girl’s Club.

President Rodriguez presented a club flag to two visiting Rotarians from Germany

Samantha Gonzalez was presented as our November Student of the Month, awarding hera certificate and a check for $100.

CLUB NEWS

DECEMBER IS ROTARY’S DISEASE PREVENTION AND TREATMENT MONTH

The SPI Christmas Parade is tonight, 6 pm. Please report to the Post Office at 4:30 pm, if you’re working registration.

Last Saturday 6 Rotarians met to plant trees for the 2016/2017 Tree Project.... Since it could not yet be determined whereto place the trees at Galvan Park, the group planted ten trees at the SPI Birding andNature Center....Special thanks to Jim Enholm who organized the project and to thosewho brought tools....Thanks to all. GOOD JOB!

PICTURE of the WEEK PROGRAM AND EVENTS CALENDAR CELEBRATIONS DECEMBER ANNIVERSARIES 7 - Flags Out, Pearl Harbor Day Nov. 28 - Diana & Danny Delgado * (Memorial Day make-up)

8 - Round Table BIRTHDAYS *(Held over) 11 - Board Mtg., Noon, Marcello’s Nov. 25 - Gewn Krummel *15 - White Elephant Party Nov. 26 - David Dempsey *21 - Dec. Social/Xmas Party (Tentative) Nov. 28 - Don Lackey *22 - Round Table (Christmas) Today, 1945 - Bette Midler (Singer, Actress) 29 - Angel Ramirez JANUARY

5 - Lonnie Gillihan 6 - Causeway Run

THOUGHT for the DAY:

Do you think maybe there’s really only one Christmas fruitcake in theworld...and people keep sending it to each other?JOKE of the WEEK: Maud received a parrot as a gift from her children. The parrot had a bad attitude and an even worsevocabulary. Every word out of the bird's mouth was rude, obnoxious and laced with profanity. Shetried and tried to change the bird's attitude by consistently saying only polite words, playing soft musicand anything else she could think of to 'clean up' the bird's vocabulary. Finally, Maud got fed up andshe yelled at the parrot. The parrot yelled back. Maud shook the parrot and the parrot got angrier andeven more rude. In desperation, she threw up her hands, grabbed the bird and put it in the freezer. Fora few minutes the parrot squawked and kicked and screamed......Then suddenly there was total quiet.Not a peep was heard for over a minute. Fearing that she'd killed the parrot, Maud quickly opened thedoor to the freezer.. The parrot calmly stepped out onto her outstretched arm and said "I believe I may have offended youwith my rude language and actions. I'm sincerely remorseful for my inappropriate transgressions and I fully intend to doeverything I can to correct my rude and unforgivable behavior." Maud was stunned at the change in the bird's attitude.As she was about to ask the parrot what had made such a dramatic change in his behavior, the bird spoke-up, very softly..."May I ask what the turkey did?" HOPE YA’LL HAD A HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

QUOTE for the DAY: “Many Rotary clubs are having Christmas functions over the next week or so where the emphasis is on fellowship....perhaps we should also pause to reflect about what it is that we commit to as Rotarians.....We are fortunate we have

much more than what we need to be content. Let us complain less and give more”. (Dennis Shore, DG, district 9800)

STUFF YOU NEED TO KNOW Dec. 1, 1958: Flower Drum Song, the eighth musical by Rogers & Hammerstein, debuted on Broadway in NY. It was a musical “drama/comedy” about the difficult adaptation of immigrant Asians to American cultureand the generation gaps between 1st & 2nd generation Asian Americans. The Broadway show was widelypraised. The original cast included, Miyoshi Umeki and Jack Soo, who also appeared in the 1961 filmadaptations. That production featured an almost entirely Asian cast for the first time ever. If you’ve neverseen it, it is well worth the effort. The film version made a star of Nancy Kwan, a Hong Kong-bornAmerican actress, who played a pivotal role in the acceptance of actors of Asian ancestry in majorHollywood film roles. Kwan, now 78, was born to a Chinese father and a Scotch/English mother fromLondon. Fearing a Japanese invasion of China the family escaped with Nancy and her brother hiddenin wicker baskets. Her later life ran many parallels to the plot of Flower Drum Song. [Note: I have a personal

connection to the production having worked in Las Vegas in 1960 with a show called Oriental Holiday at the (old) New Frontier hotel casino. Manyfrom our cast were in the film. Two of my best friends then were Virginia & Cherylene Lee, 14 & 7 year old sisters who danced and sang one ofthe films signature numbers, “ The Other Generation.” The girls where also in the movie version of The King and I, and their mom made the best

home cooked Chinese dinner I’ve ever had. Sadly, Cherylene , an accomplished author, playwrite & actress, died last year. -Ed]

USELESS FACT OF THE DAY: The carol, “The 12 Days of Christmas”, actually refers to the 12 days following Christmas, and if you were to give all ofthe gifts listed in order, today it would cost you $107,300. However, since the “calling” birds were actually “Colly” (black)birds and the “golden rings” meant the yellow rings on a pheasant’s neck, it would be a little less expensive. That said, thefirst seven gifts in the carol are all birds. (1 Partridge, 2 Turtle Doves, 3, French Hens, 4 Colly Birds, 5 Pheasants, 6 Geesea laying, 7 Swans a swimming x 12 = 312 birds) + Dancing Ladies, Leaping Lords, Pipers and drummers...a total of 364gifts. (Really? And he’s still your “true love?)

HOW ROTARIANS ARE MAKING A DIFFERENCEA person’s good health is everything, but 400 million people in the world can’t afford or don’t have accessto basic health care. Disease causes misery, pain, and poverty for millions of people all over the world.That’s why treating and preventing disease is so important to Rotary, which leads efforts both large andsmall, to set up temporary clinics, blood donation centers, and training facilities in under servedcommunities that struggle with outbreaks and health care access. Rotary designs and builds infrastructureallowing doctors, patients, and governments to work together. Rotarian volunteers combat diseases likemalaria, HIV/AIDS, Alzheimer’s, multiple sclerosis, diabetes, and polio. Prevention is important, which iswhy Rotary also focuses on health education and projects to bring people routine hearing, vision, and dental care. Diseasesdon’t prevent themselves... Rotary educates and equips communities to halt the spread of life-threatening diseases. Rotaryclubs and members have hundreds of health projects operative around the world at any given time. Many of these projectsneed little more than providing clean water and sanitation. All of them require education. These are but a few of the waysRotary is making a difference and securing a healthier future for the world.