April 10, 2006


The District Conference will be held in Starkville April 27, 28, and 29 at the Comfort Suites Inn. Registration materials have been mailed to each club president and complete information is available on-line at www.rotary6820.org — just check the District Conference Box.

The District Conference features Club Service Projects. On Friday morning, each Club President or representative will have about 2 minutes to crow about his or her projects — a great source of ideas and an opportunity to learn more about other clubs’ activities.

Vicksburg and Eupora have new meeting sites. Vicksburg now meets at the Vicksburg Country Club. Eupora meets in Magnolia Tea Room at 120 N. Dunn. (There’s an antique shop in the front.)

Door Prizes for the Conference. May we remind you to bring some? Try to keep prizes at a $20 value or more. Thank you.

Memorial Service. Joe Harris, North Jackson Rotary Club, will once again conduct the Conference Necrology Service on Saturday morning. Joe does a great job with this service. Please report deceased Rotarians to Joe by April 15 — by e-mail at modseam@nedoor.com, by fax at (601) 362-2413, or by telephone at (601) 362-2412.

Jay Leno celebrated his birthday this week. Born in 1950, he recently observed “the reason we have two Senators from each state is that . . . one needs to be the designated driver.”

The H5N1 Virus (“bird flu”) is treacherous. It has a high fatality rate in humans, and scientists believe that more than half the people who have contracted it have died. “It can jump the species barrier to infect humans and is prone to mutation,” according to Dr. M. Chan of WHO. “We know that a pandemic is possible and the world must prepare now for the threat of a global public-health emergency. This is going to be an enormous challenge that will require coordination among agencies, national governments, and the private sector.” Might we find ourselves involved in this sooner rather than later? I have asked our Foundation Breakfast speaker, Jennifer Mann of the Center for Disease Control, to comment on this in her talk.

The GSE Team now visiting District 6820 from Japan arrived in Jackson on Saturday, April 1. DGEN Merrell Fischer, Joe Dove (of North Jackson, who led our team to Japan), and I were on hand to greet them. They will spend the month of April touring our district and wind up in Starkville to present a program at the District Conference. Many, many thanks for those who have helped Merrell Fischer and Joe Dove arrange and host the group. Yes, they do speak English.

Club Meeting Etiquette:

Turn off cell phones and pagers

  • Be quiet . . . you’ve invited a speaker; give him or her your attention
  • Give the time . . . start your meeting early, but by all means give your speaker MORE time than you have promised.
  • End on time . . . don’t embarrass the speaker and club by forcing the meeting beyond closing time.

 What to Wear at Conference. For the Bar-B-Q, come as you are. Don’t dress up for the theatre. Small town. Business casual is appropriate for sessions and day meals. A jacket would be in order for the Awards Banquet.

Greenville will again be hosting hospitality at the Comfort Suites at Conference. What would we do without this generous, fun-loving group?

It’s time to keep on doing the things that make your Rotary Club an effective club as we still have nearly one-quarter of the Rotary year remaining. And it’s time to get your Conference Registration sent in!

Yours in Rotary,

Stuart Vance