MEETING: Friday February 18, 2011EDITOR: Tom Hymer
WELCOME GUESTS: Randy Henderson introduced guests Hasan El Khatib and his daughter Nermine and they are presenting todays program.
FUN & FUND RAISING SERGEANTS: Darren Wicks tried his best to wriggle out of paying a fine for misinformation service, however the sergeants prevailed. Anticipating that Steve Harmon would leave early the sergeants collected in advance. Brewer paid his 50/50 tax, should have been double for winning two weeks in a row. President Rick was fined several times for bloopers at the Chamber Breakfast, the latest report has it that he has fully recovered. Mark Clark discovered he had a birthday this month and paid for it. Steve Conard, normally Mr. Follow-through, failed to make a badge for new member Craig Johnson. Jerry Dalton said something about an honor to sit with Bob Bush, maybe that was buy-a-fine. John Knipp negotiated away his fine trading flag set-up for losing his badge. Everyone who was wearing jeans today was fined for violating the business dress code unwritten by Dennis Reiser. Upon ringing out there was peace at last.
TUIT: After two weeks Darren Wicks gave his Tuit report. He said he was besieged at the Chamber Breakfast with Ambucs asking about the Tuit that it made him feel like a rock star. However some Ambucs did not care about the Tuit including Jerry Dalton, Jeff Brewer, a parked L&B truck, and Randy Hendrickson, and Brenda Janda. Brenda now has the Tuit, because she totally ignored it and also its care-taker.
ANNOUNCEMENT 1: President Rick Mitchell announced that during February, Ambucs will celebrate National Visibility Month in which well focus on promoting our organization. He and Darren Wicks are attending a convention in Salina.
ANNOUNCEMENT 2: Curtis Mitchell announced that the sign-up sheet is going around for shifts at the NJCAA tournament. If members take two shifts each all the time slots will be filled. Only a few shifts remain to be filled.
PROGRAM: Substituting for Guy Gann (can that be done?) Sherriff Randy Henderson introduced Hasan El Khatib and his daughter Nermine. Hasan is the Town Club manager who left Egypt and came the United States in 1967 when President Gamal Nasser was in power while at war with Israel and with a Russian military presence in the country. Hasan stayed with a friend in New York and he found a job in a hotel in the city. Moving to Florida he found employment with the Brock Hotel Corporation in restaurant management. He was transferred several times and came to Hutchinson in 1988 to manage the Holiday Inn. As his employment with Brock was coming to an end he was offered and accepted employment at the Hutchinson Town Club in 1988. He and Nermine talked about politics in Egypt and Sadat who made a peace treaty with Israel. This angered a group of radical Arabs named the Muslim Brotherhood who assassinated Sadat. Mubarak then became president who ruled well, but over time fell into corruption. He then persecuted his opposition with imprisonment and torture. The country is 40% critically poor people. Jobs are scarce and young people with college degrees were unemployed. The middle class has shrunk considerably leaving an upper class and a huge lower class. Nermine recently spent six months in Egypt and feels in time Egypt will stabilize its government with the upcoming election. She sees no chance that the Muslim Brotherhood will come into power. She commented that American media often delivers wrong information or incomplete information. The military is well respected in Egypt in stark contrast to the police who are totally corrupt with bribes and abuse of the citizens. The people of Egypt want the same freedoms like the United States and this yearning caused the demonstrations in the country with Mubarak finally resigning. Egyptian nationals living in the United States are now returning to their country with hope and restoration for the future of their nation. They concluded their program with news about the Town Club. A membership drive is in place with no initiation fee and $50 per month. Each month a special meal is offered featuring foods and dishes from a selected country. It has become a very popular event at the Town Club. Many thanks to Hasan and his daughter Nermine for a fascinating program about Egypt from an inside point of view.
50/50 DRAWING: Doug Foss won an undetermined amount, probably $24.
NEWSLETTER DRAWING: Chuck Petersons name was drawn, but he was absent today. He could have won $25, next week the pot will be $30.
NEWSLETTER QUESTION NEXT WEEK: Who was the president of Egypt when Hasan El Khatib came to the United States
UPCOMING PROGRAMS:
February 25th Todd Ray, International Baccalaureate Coordinator for USD 308
March 4th Our own Mark Treaster, Hutch for Haiti relief program