HUTCHINSON CHAPTER OF AMBUCS
Duke Wiggins, Editor
Guests:
Ann McDanel President of KS-COPS, our program for today
Larry McConnell Realty Executives, guest of Scott Potucek
Sergeants Playground:
The reining AMBUC COPS came unprepared, so John and Randy roamed the room making up things as they went. Brad T paid for slowness; Dennis R. was found guilty of a sign violation; Jay P paid for chiming in (can you imagine that??). Eric S paid $1 to relate a rather long story about Doyle & Bonnie Ehling getting stuck in a ditch after swerving to miss oncoming traffic on a little used dirt road. Apparently Doyles explanation of why he ended up in a ditch so embarrassed Bonnie that she blushed upon hearing it. Well, expect a good ole farm boy to come up with a better excuse then Uh, we ran out of gas.
TUIT Travels:
Darren W carried the proudly carried the TUIT to his Edward Jones meeting, where Dan P, Dane P, Jay P all failed to ask. Must have been a lively market day to miss such an opportunity. Maybe they all had to P. Darren also visited Bill L, who had just passed the little bugger on several hours earlier, who failed to ask. Later in the week Bills son-in-law failed to inquire about the TUIT, earning the club another $1 from the Long family. The Tuit then passed to Scott Saylor, who will give it a good cleaning at 600 North Adams, just south of the friendly gun and bait shop.
Announcements:
President Scott distributed Committee Preference Sheets to all those in attendance. They are to be completed and returned to Scott ASAP so that new committee chairs can begin their work in early June. Please pick several places to serve, although you will only be asked to serve on one standing committee each year. Since some committees fill up fast, rank them in order of preference to give the committee chairs some flexibility in making assignments. Scott expressed his desire to focus on membership this year, so please consider joining the Membership Committee. Also, the Ice Committee is a semi-permanent committee of 6 or 7 members appointed by the President and the Board. Currently this committee is full, but indicating interest in this committee will allow some OTJ training to be prepared to replace current members as they wish to move on. In their meeting this morning, the Board recommended 2 Amtrykes for the clubs approval. Both recipients are in the 2-4 year age range. One resides in Hutchinson, the other in Wichita. Both came at the recommendations of their therapists. The members in attendance unanimously approved the purchase, and Don G and Doug F were instructed to move ahead.
May Events:
Those who wish to help Jan Strecker relocate her household goods for auction, meet at her house at 10205 Riviera in the Highlands at 3:00 on Friday the 15th. If you have a pickup please contact Jeff Brewer. We will be selling T-Shirts at the NJCAA National Track & Field Meet on the 21st thru the 23rd at Gowans Stadium. Sign up sheets have been going around for several weeks, so if you havent had a chance to add your name to the list, contact Dennis Reiser or check on the Website. Jan Strecker will be at our meeting on Friday the 22nd for a presentation of an AMTRYKE in Als honor. The May 29th meeting will be hosted by the Big Hats and will feature our own Chuck Peterson, who will bring some of his diving equipment and explain how it works. He will be offering club members a chance to attend training sessions to qualify to do some REAL DIVING. Come help install our new officers at Samplers Downtown on Saturday, May 30th. Tickets are $20 per person and BYOB if you wish to imbibe in alcoholic libations. If you have not signed up, contact Jeff Brewer or Steve Harmon as they need a count for reservations.
Program:
Randy Henderson (the REAL SHERIFF) introduced Ann McDanel, who is the president of KS-COPS, who told of her life changing experience of having a cop in her family. COPS is the acronym for Concerns of Police Survivors, and she has been involved with this organization for 10 years as of April 2009. Her daughter Jennie Thacker was married to a law enforcement officer who was killed in the line of duty on April 15, 1998. Overnight her life went from as good as it gets to complete chaos. Overnight Jennie changed from a well-adjusted occupational therapist to a complete basket case. It took over a year, with much help from Ann and a local COPS group, for Jennie to begin putting her life back together. She now travels all over the country sharing her recovery experience, giving hope those who are fighting the same battles she went through. She has a particular concern for the surviving children, who have lost their father figures. Ann will be meeting Jennie in Washington, DC next week to attend the annual national rally for COPS. They have been told that Michelle Obama will be in attendance and that a tour of the White House may be possible. If you desire more information about COPS, you can go to nationalcops.org or KSCOPS.org.com.
Winners & Losers:
The winner of the 50/50 pot was Dennis Reiser, who took home $24.
The loser of the newsletter drawing was Scott Saylor, who left too early to answer the question.
Next weeks newsletter question is: What does the acronym SCUBA stand for?