Lawrence Central Rotary

Category: News

  • District Governor Chris Ford Stresses Vitality and Membership

    DG Chris Ford, District 5710

    In introducing District Governor Chris Ford, Lawrence Central President Jim Peters listed the club’s activities, both local and international.  He named community bike rides, wreath sales, and fireside dinners as well as support for LiveWell Lawrence, Willow Domestic Violence Center, Salvation Army bell ringing, the Rotary Arboretum, and internationally, support for Shelter Boxes, the Open World Program, and Sister Cities, among many others.

    “We’re a ‘DO IT’ club,” Peters said.

    This attitude emphasized Ford’s theme of creating an active, vital group. Ford is passionate about Rotary, both its future and its past. He began his talk with a quote from founder Paul Harris that illustrates that enthusiasm. “Be passionate about Rotary. Embrace change,” Harris wrote in 1907 when the social club he had started in 1905 became a service club. “Paul Harris had real foresight,” Ford said. “He said for Rotary to achieve its proper destiny, it must be evolutionary and, at times, revolutionary.”

    Ford said his goal for 2017 is 3,000 Rotarians in District 5710. “We’re a small district with 45 clubs. I want a growth rate of 20% for our clubs.“ He outlined three goals for Rotary clubs: new members, retention of current members, and improved attendance. He said we must inspire members to stay in Rotary and have the quality of programs that will keep attendance high. Rotary projects are important. Polio has been conquered but other worldwide concerns include literacy and education, maternal and child health, clean water, and a host of others.

    Ford closed his talk with an invitation to the District Conference, May 5-6, in Overland Park. His goal for the conference is to make it inspirational with more Rotarians attending. “The conference,“ he said “is to celebrate Rotary.”

  • Feeding the Hungry in Douglas County – Just Food’s Mission

    Brandon DeinesBrandon Deines, President of the Board of Directors of Just Food, presented a program on the activities of the Douglas County Food Bank.

    Brandon grew up in Hoxie, Kansas where he spent many hours working in the family grocery store.  That early experience and a desire to serve the community made his commitment to Just Food a good match.

    Just Food supplies more than 40 partner agencies with fresh produce, frozen meat, bread and other food.  Client services also include instruction on growing vegetables and healthy cooking classes.  The organization believes that access to nutritious food is a fundamental human right and they also teach self- sufficiency.

    Just Food collaborates with numerous community partners and over 400 annual food drives.  Gifts of cash are particularly welcome as currency provides the most efficient way feed people.  An annual dance and a fundraising dinner both receive considerable community support.  The Just Food Pantry is open five days a week and clients may fill a bag or box with food once a month.  However, fresh vegetables and bread are available daily.  A mobile food pantry and several other pantry sites also serve clients.

    Client eligibility is capped at 185 % of the Federal Poverty Index, that translates into some 19,000 people in Douglas County who are identified at risk or in need of food.  The need is great, as Just Food served 13,000 clients in 2016, all by 3.75 employees and gracious volunteers clocked in over 18,000 hours.

    Brandon concluded that there still is a great need and the community response has been gratifying.  For more information about Just Food visit their website at http://justfoodks.org/

  • The Spencer Museum’s Margaret Perkins McGuiness Visits Lawrence Central

    The Spence Museum’s Director of External Affairs Margaret Perkins McGuiness brought Lawrence Central Rotarians up to date on renovations at the museum as well as filling them in on museum history at the Rotary meeting on January 11. Using slides and a video, she detailed the museum story beginning with gifts of art from Mrs. Thayer of the Emery Bird Thayer Company in Kansas City and contributions from Helen Forsman Spencer .

    The museum has gone from being housed in Spooner Hall in 1895 to its own building which is now being enlarged and modernized to make exhibits even more accessible, especially for art classes. “The museum will be brighter, more welcoming,” McGuiness said “with smaller, flexible exhibits that can be moved more quickly. And there will be more art outside around the museum,” she said.

    Begun with Mrs. Thayer’s collection, expanded by Mrs. Spencer, the museum began an internship program in the 1980s, and is part of the Mellon Foundation Academic Programs.
    “We are adding staff members to work with this, “McGuiness said. “The Spencer is one of the leading art education museums in the country, counting the curator of the Manhattan Museum of Modern Art as an alumnus.”

    The collections range from works by Thomas Hart Benton to Andy Warhol, and include a western collection, very contemporary types of art in a room recently built especially for them, and “cabinets of curiosities” –smaller items in collection.

    “Our goal in this renovation,” McGuiness said “ is to make the museum a part of the campus transformation. We want to make it more inviting, with more space for teaching, more open, more functional.

    “We want visitors to the museum to look at art, look around and look inward.”

  • LCR Member Bob Swan Reminisces About His Rotary Foundation Fellow Year in South America

    Bob Swan reminisced about his time in South America as a Rotary Foundation Fellow in 1966 when he spoke to Lawrence Central Rotarians in December.

    Swan, a past president of Lawrence Central, was chosen for a year-long fellowship to travel in Latin America and to attend the University of Bueno Aires. Arriving there, he began to hear rumors of a coup and decided to attend Catholic University of Salvador in Buenos Aires instead, fortunately as the University of Buenos Aires was closed.

    During his 10 months in Argentina, he conducted research on the Peronista movement, culminating in interviews with associates of Juan Peron’s second wife, Isabelita, and a five-page letter from Peron himself answering Swan’s questions.

    He traveled widely while he was in Latin America, being hosted by Rotarians and, at one point was joined by his parents from Topeka. In both Buenos Aires and Cordoba he presented programs on American folk music. He also interviewed three other Argentinian former presidents, Gen. Pedro Aramburu, Dr. Arthur Frondizi and Arturo Illia.

    He said that what impressed him most during his fellowship were the remarkable world natural and cultural sites of the southern hemisphere and a strong lasting impression of the prestige and position of Rotary and its highly successful members in South America.

    One of 50 fellows chosen world wide that year he said “thinking back 50 years now on all the experiences of 1966 and early 1967 I feel very positive about the 11 months I spent representing Rotary International and the United States in Latin America.”

  • Happy Holidays from Lawrence Central Rotary

    Many families gather to take pictures and tell stories during the holiday season and on December 14 Lawrence Central Rotary followed that trend. Instead of having a speaker or a program, each member told stories about holiday gatherings in the past and plans for this year. Past holidays included everything from big family reunions to small dinners with friends and the occasional holiday upset. Grandchildren figured prominently. Sometimes the Rotarian had been the grandchild, relating fond memories. Christmases had been celebrated in other countries, on family farms and college campuses.  Christmas 2016 plans range from hosting dinner at home to traveling abroad to be with relatives.

    At the close of the meeting, President Jim Peters assembled everyone for a family picture.

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