Our newest member, Renee Lauck, did her craft talk this morning. Renee is one of the managers in the imaging department at Kaweah Delta and even took time to poke fun of President Matt. Welcome to the club Renee!

Cal Sisto announced our upcoming Bicycle Assembly on December 5th at Cal Bennetts. We will be assembling over 100 bicycles to be distributed at the Visalia Emergency Aid Center for the Holidays.

Boy, talk about jumping right in! Renee Lauck announces that we will be having a cookie exchange on December 17th. Bring as many plates of your favorite cookie recipe and those will be donated to needy families for the holidays.

After ending up with WAY too many golf shirts, Bob Dickey stole the microphone and sold off quite a few of the surplus shirts for $10. If you want one, contact Bob, cause he's got a ton of 'em!

Mark and Caro raffled off our Paul Harris Fellow. The winner.......Raman Verma was the lucky recipient. Mark and Caro also started another Paul Harris Fellow board at this week's meeting and we've already got over 50 boxes sold.

Tom Fife was inducted into the Aviators Club today. Tom and his wife Mickey love raising animals and always seem to have a house full. But, they had one cat that didn't appear to like Tom and constantly left little presents around the house for him.

One of our Members, Judge Lloyd Hicks, was also our program today. Lloyd talked about the history and purpose of the Civil Grand Jury System. Great and informative talk.

It's me, Daniel, writing from the cold Norway. My time here has been getting better because I've been realizing some important things. I've began to fully realize the weight of the phrase that was repeated to us exchange students so many times, "adapt or fail." It's something that you can only appreciate when you are faced with true difficulties, but something that can be easily overcame by adapting. I think I am learning to act accordingly.

     I have been on many small trips- Blåfjell, the west and east mountain tops of Vealøs, and Lifjell, to name a few. All the trips I take are so beautiful and I love them. My legs are often tired from the several hour hikes.

     A week ago I participated in a running race up one the mountains of Vealøs. At the bottom of the mountain, before the race started, I spoke with a Norwegian man and it turned out he was from the Varden newspaper. We had a small conversation, said our goodbyes and 40 min later when I had finished the race I saw him again at the top and he interviewed me for the newspaper. On Monday my picture and what I had said were in Bamble's largest newspaper for all to see! It is neat to contemplate being in a newspaper in another country. 

-Daniel Lovik, Norway, 2009

Zoe Kirkpatrick, VBR Exchange Student to Ecuador, 2009.

Here Zoe and other "new" students to the school are initiated through various fun things involving cages and some type of mustard-mud.

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November 5th, 2009

Regular VBR Meeting

We had a visit from the Traver School music department raising funds for their band and choral department. They will be performing at VBR for our holiday program on December 17th.

Mark Perry and Caro, our exchange student from Deutchland (Germany) rolled out our first Paul Harris Fellow Board for the year. Each square sold for $10 and we filled it up today. The winner of the Raffle, Raman Verma, will receive a Paul Harris Fellow and the money raised will go directly to RI Foundation to help finish fighting Polio.

Larry Jones announces our reading project at Washington Elementary School. We will have six Rotarians read to the students and donate the book, a great and easy way to get more involved with the club activities.

Dale Bruder was inducted into the Aviators Club as "Disco". Dale took disco lessons in college where he met his wife, Naida.

Todd Trimm was also inducted into the Aviators Club. Todd told the college story about trying to "barrow" a full keg of beer from the boat next to them. One thing they forgot, full kegs don't float, hence the call sign, "Scuttle".

Traveling Rotarians, Gary Amon and Mark Perry, told the story about going back to Tahiti to relive their honeymoon, however, they are not married to eachother. Mark and Gary, coincidentally, both honeymooned with their wives in Tahiti years ago and decided to go back one more time.

Our program today, Patricia Habeck, from the Adult Literacy Program, told the club what was going on around the county when it comes to literacy. She was actually a very good presenter and had some fun with the club.