Gallipolitan 5-24-2011
Wednesday, May 25th, 2011Members Present: Bonnie McFarland, Shana Booher, Kevin Dennis, Nayyer Hussein, Emily Dailey, Lee Bauman, Matt Willis – also attended district conference 5-14-11, John Ellison, Gordon Amsbary, Jodie McCalla, Debbie Saunders, Paul Koch – district conference, Melissa Kimmell,Zac Fosler, Cleeland Willis – played golf district conference 5/12/11, Kurt Dailey, Clyde Evans, Emily Davidson.
President elect Shirley called the meeting to order, as residing President Lou Ellen is out of town. Shirley’s induction will be June 21st; this will also include the other officer’s inductions. We started out with split the pot, the lovely Bonnie McFarland was the winner, she drew a spade. She fined everyone who hadn’t signed up to walk/sit at the tent for Relay for Life. Shana Booher passed around a Relay signup sheet and informed the group of the details. June 3rd and 4th at the City Park, be there or be square! Margaret then led the whole club in a rousing rendition of Happy Birthday to Bonnie, whose birthday was the 15th.
Gordon entertained the group, informing us that Oprah Winfrey is saying goodbye after 25 years, making $90 million a year. Lady Gaga, in her meat dress, moved her out of the top spot, as someone who can’t sing, act, or dance and does all three. Also Duchess Fergie’s daughter wore a hat that looked like a reindeer to the recent royal wedding, and it sold on eBay for $131,000.
Margaret paid a happy buck to announce that her little brother FINALLY got married, congratulations to him!
University of Rio Grande Provost Ken J. Porada introduced Dr. Greg Miller from the University of Rio Grande. Greg grew up in Southeastern Ohio, living with his grandparents and family. He went to Ohio University after graduating from Jackson High School. He began working in the fine arts/theatre arts, ran a successful program. Eventually he went to the dark side of Administration, started a graduate program, and has brought in many successful teachers. About 8 years ago he began having weekly chats at McDonalds with Clyde Evans. Through research and discussion they realized that story telling has been identified as the unit of human understanding. He explained to us, “Personal dignity is something you earn by decisions, making the right ones, and developing them. It becomes personal dignity and that’s what people see. How you conduct yourself and see yourself is a big thing. Kids need to know who they are, where they came from, and where they’re going. They need a sense of purpose, and storytelling helps that grow.” Greg, who is now the Director of Cultural Advancement started off his program by challenging 4 Welsh exchange students at The University of Rio Grande. He had them shake their family tree and tell stories of their lives and family history to each other. He found it to be very positive and even emotionally touching at times. Greg wants to increase the cultural footprint and community outreach with every student and people in our community by incorporating more storytelling. He’s helping to do that by working with The Appalachian Ohio Story Tellers Group out of Athens. He suggested we find people with a talent and enthusiasm for telling stories and put them with a theatrical group and be on call for presentations. This group would be a live rendition of a true life story.
Keep an eye on the local newspaper for more information and updates!
Announced: Eye Doctor William Thomas daughter Susan and her step daughter will be on Wheel of Fortune this weekend. Check out our local celebrities!
Thanks to Emily Davidson for taking minutes today!
Shirley Doss closed the meeting.