GUESTS John Young, Saint Francis Community Services Foster Care Program, a guest of Doug Foss. Monty Montgomery, Greater Hutchinson Chamber of Commerce President, a guest of Darren Wicks.

AMTRYKE PRESENTATION We presented Madison Little, age 9, with an AmTryke. He was with his twin brother Mason and mother Stephanie. His therapist, Sarah Hasty, recommended him for the AmTryke.

FINES Bob Bush and Jeff Brewer were our New Sergeants-At-Arms this morning. Ward Davis was fined for being his usual unsociably being late along with Eric Steinle who was also fined a winners tax for winning the 50/50 last week not to be confused with the whiners tax that ward Davis paid later. Rick Mitchell paid a fine for missing several weeks in a row. Darren Wicks paid for being later than his guest plus an additional dollar for talking with Dan Power and Curtis Mitchell who were also fined. Stan Macgirvin, Tim Davies and myself for eating before the (yet unknown) Sergeants. Darren Wicks was fined (again) for drinking Rock Star (sold by a Wichita company) and not the (Bob Bush approved) energy drink Monster. Vern Powers announced that he and Alva were celebrating their 65 wedding anniversary and did not have to pay but everyone else did on their behalf. In homage to Scott Potucek Bob Bush continued Today in History fining those tables (almost all) who did not know the correct answers.

ANNOUNCEMENTS Jerry Regier reminded the group to mark their calendars and invite guests for the State of the City address with the Mayor and other invited dignitaries on February 24th. Jay Pitzer reminded us that the club is working a special Casino Night at the Cosmosphere this Saturday, February 11tth, which is a fundraiser for a therapy dog. Additional help is requested for this large event. Jay also handed out Ask about AMBUCS buttons to promote visibility month. The club Photo Op was moved to this Friday due to Reta Joy Campbell being absent due to illness.

PROGRAM Darren Wicks introduced Monty Montgomery, the new President of the Greater Hutchinson Chamber of Commerce. Monty moved here from Big Spring in West Texas having been an economic development consultant. Born in Crane, Texas he was a graduate of Texas Tech University with a business degree. After working in several economic development positions in Texas and then Grand Island, Nebraska he returned to Texas to work in the oil business and an electric utility. He has big shoes to fill following Dave Kerrs retirement after 5 years here as President. Monty was looking for a reason to return to the Midwest and feels he has found it in coming to Hutchinson. With the recent Oil and Gas development in Western Kansas getting three times the production that North Dakota is pumping. Monty feels this could boom Western Kansas which would put Hutchinson on the doorstep of economic development locally. He also wants to bring more sports tournaments to Hutchinson being an avid sports enthusiast himself. Monty also implemented the new corporate wellness program at the chamber and will use it to promote other companies adding it as a benefit for their employees. Other issues needing attention are the Hutchinson Mall and the Ramada Convention Center. Continued promotion of the H-Factor program to shop locally especially during tough economic times with high gas prices. Most importantly he feels the Chamber and its various divisions are to provide outstanding service to their stakeholders during his tenure.

50/50 DRAWING Paul Brown won $28.00. Its only been 2 weeks since he won last!!

NEWSLETTER DRAWING Duke Wiggins was present and knew the answer to last weeks question that the National scholarship range was $500 to $1,500 and that a special two-year scholarship was given in the amount of $6,000.

QUESTION OF THE WEEK How much money is annually awarded for National AMBUC Scholarships?

NEXT MEETING John Young with Saint Francis Community Services Foster Care Program will be our guest speaker.

Steve Conard, Editor

GUESTS Curtis Overton with First National Bank a guest of Harley Macklin.

FINES Jerry Regier and Scott Potucek were our morning Sergeants at Arms. Harley Mackin was fined for not greeting his guest at the door. Hmmmwe usually allow them to make there way into the room.Curtis Mitchell fined for starting the meeting at 7:0?. Is this getting to be a habit? He felt the board should pay for being long-winded. Or is it the person running the board meeting? Darren Wicks was fined for a comment he made in the board meeting referring that Don Grossardt was old. Many of us are getting there! Dennis Bockenstedt was fined for a legal notice in the paper. You can ask him about that. Followed by yet another round of pin taxes.

ANNOUNCEMENTS Reta Joy asked for any AMBUC photos that members might have that could be copied and used for the display booth at the Chamber annual meeting. I also received an e-mail that she will take a group photo this Friday. Eric Steinle paid to announce that Jim Kicklighter was the proud new father of two baby goats. I better leave that one alone. Doug Foss paid to announce that Dennis and Julie Bockenstedt has been a great asset to Circle of Hope at Trinity United Methodist Church. Jay Pitzer passed a signup sheet around for the next casino night on February 11th. Jerry Regier announced that he needs weekly dirt by phone, e-mail or hand written notes.

PROGRAM There was no speaker this week because there was an open discussion about building a replacement building for our booth at the Kansas State Fairgrounds following a committee meeting last week. It is too late to get a building built this year and we are looking at possibly doing this for the 2013 fair. Ward Davis did a preliminary cost estimate of approximately $79 per square foot for a conventional stick built building. Due to our building size traditional stick built would be less expensive than a steel building. This price does not include the cost of a vent hood for the waffle cone machines or any fixtures such as new serving or storage cases. This was based on our current building size of 24x45or approximately 1,100 sq. ft or $86,000 plus. The fair has offered us approximately 10 of additional space to the South of our booth because the Taffy booth is moving and the Corn booth could be moved over. There was discussion of adding this area to our present building size and also using the space for possible picnic tables in the interim. We will need to investigate if the new underground electrical service will need to be moved that is either in or near this area. The fair currently charges us $1,100 annually for our space and adding this additional space would add about $450 to our annual costs. If we build on this space it would add approximately 450 sq. ft. to our building costs or a total of $121,000 plus. After much discussion the decision was to first investigate what grant monies would be available to us which would greatly reduce what we would need to borrow to complete the project. We will also investigate grants available through National AMBUCS as well as local and area grants that might be available. The fair would like a letter of intent, as to what our plans are, as soon as possible. Final plans would be submitted later. Several members of the committee will meet with the fair to get answers for some of our questions and report back with this additional information.

50/50 DRAWING Eric Steinle won $28.

NEWSLETTER DRAWING Rick Mitchell was not here and did he know that William L White graduated from Auburn University, June 22, 1919, in Auburn Alabama? No one noticed my AU hoodie that I wore as a clue.

QUESTION OF THE WEEK National AMBUCS scholarship awards are given in what usual range of dollar amounts and there was one special award in the amount of?

CALENDAR – February 11, Casino Night, Kansas Cosmosphere, fund-raiser for a therapy dog.

NEXT MEETING Monte Montgomery, President, Greater Hutchinson Chamber of Commerce will be our program. Confirmed!!

Steve Conard, Editor

GUESTS Dave Kerr, Past President Greater Hutchinson Chamber of Commerce, our speaker and guest of Darren Wicks and Justin Kilmer, a guest of Brenda Janda.

PRESENTATION We presented an AmTryke to 9 year old Sal Mariscal, son of Victor and Helen Mariscal. The AmTryke was recommended by Sarah Hastey, USD 308 Physical Therapist. Sal received the AmTryke with his Mom Helen and sister Debbie.

FINES Jerry Regier and Scott Potucek were our Sergeants-At-Arms. Curtis Mitchell was fined for starting the meeting at 7:01, Eric Steinle and Ward Davis were fined for arriving at 7:04 and 7:05 respectfully. I was fined for not using information sent by e-mail from Jerry Regier for the State of the City breakfast. Following a club pin and invitation-to-breakfast card check they rang out.

ANNOUNCEMENTS Scott Potucek paid to announce that there were so many items submitted to the Hutchinson Art Gallery special exhibit showcasing his mother Pat Potucek’s work, that items had to be turned away for lack of space. This free exhibit will run through February 9th.

Jay Pitzer wanted to thank all those who worked the casino night last Thursday. Also a BIG Thank You to Jay for securing the casinos that we have had this season.

Special Board Meeting next Friday at 6:15AM to discuss building a new building for our Ice Cream booth at the Kansas State Fairgrounds.

Jerry Regier announced a committee consisting of Jay Pitzer, Eric Steinle, Tom Hymer and Rita Joy Campbell met last Monday with Mayor Ron Sellers regarding the possibility of our club hosting a State of the City Breakfast. It was recommended and accepted by the board that on February 24, 2012 the club hosts the State of the City Breakfast. There will be approximately 15-20 special invited guests and media at the breakfast and members are encouraged to mark their calendar and attend this first ever event. The goal is to make the State of the City Breakfast an annual event and reach out to other organizations to help AMBUCS grow the event, which would include the business community as well as residents of Hutchinson. Additional information will be forthcoming about this Visibility Month activity. If you have any questions, contact Jerry Regier at 966-3315 or email jerry@hutchrodrun.com.

PROGRAM Darren Wicks introduced Dave Kerr, past President of the Greater Hutchinson Chamber of Commerce. Dave attended K-State with degrees in Biological Science and Psychology then graduating from KU with a Masters of Business Administration. Dave began his career with Trans World Airlines in Kansas City for 5 years, he started a landscape company in Saudi Arabia and was in the Kansas Senate for 20 years before joining the Chamber and completing 5 years. Some of his greatest accomplishments at the Chamber have been in Economic Development. Most notably the Siemens Nacelle facility but also many others including; Shield Industries, Damon Worldwide, Kroger Accounting Services, Kroger Human Relations and Kroger Convenience Store management. We were one of 84 cities that Siemens was looking at to build their plant. Shield Industries saved several jobs from going to Mexico by staying here. Damon Worldwide purchased their first property here for offices and personnel that manage smaller accounts private label management. Hutchinson was the largest community in Kansas not served by a four-lane highway in 1984. Our community probably benefited the most from the 1989, 1999 and 2010 State Highway Plans and is looking toward the 2016 plan for further development of the K96 and I-70 Northwest passageway. Hutchinson is loosing some residents to Wichita because a lack of urban style apartments. In a recent resident survey 42% named Kohls as a store they would like to see in Hutchinson which is now forthcoming. Dave also mentioned that the US Congress needs to look at changing the 2 year Production Tax Credit for Wind and Renewable Energy to a more favorable 10 year window. Hutchinson will continue to reap the benefits, for many years to come, from the many projects that Dave Kerr has been involved with.

50/50 DRAWING Paul Brown won $14 and it was donated to the Head Start Project.

NEWSLETTER DRAWING Dan Power did not know the answer that Two Million Turpentine Cups were sold to finance the first AMBUC club in Birmingham, Alabama.

QUESTION OF THE WEEK William L White graduated from what college June 22, 1919?

NEXT MEETING Darren Wicks did not call me back in time so I do not know if Monty Montgomery, President, Greater Hutchinson Chamber of Commerce will be our program or not.

CALENDAR February 11, Casino Night, Kansas Cosmosphere, fund-raiser for a therapy dog.

Steve Conard, Editor

GUESTS David Roe, Corporate Sales Manager for Ramada Inn, a guest of Curtis Mitchell and Bailey Stiggins, Community Development Coordinator for the Chamber of Commerce, our program and guest of Darren Wicks.

FINES Our Sergeants-of-Arms this morning were Jerry Regier and Doug Foss. Jerry started by asking Bob Bush if he knew what Chinese New Year this was? Bob muttered Dog, Rat, something and didnt know. Jerry informed us it was the Year of the Dragon. He also mentioned that someone should inform HCC. I was fined for getting my plate ahead of the Sergeants. (Lapse of protocol) After a very lengthy pin and breakfast card check of the membership they departed.

ANNOUNCEMENTS John Knipp paid to announce that his son Brian, who was our guest speaker last week, was offered an area job and it was the one that he wanted.

Dennis Reiser paid to announce that he has found that there are worse referees out their than Curtis Mitchell, after having two daughters who have played high school basketball.

Jerry Regier announced that our regular club meeting at the Town Club on February 24th will be the State of the City breakfast, discussed last week, with our Mayor speaking and council people and other invitees attending. We are doing this for National AMBUCS Visibility month in February.

The Chamber of Commerce offered a free booth space to the club for the Chamber Annual Meeting on February 13thm. Preston Clark volunteered to help run the booth. If you are able to help with this please see Preston.

Jay Pitzer re-announced the Big Hat Club is working a Casino Night this Thursday, January 19th at the Ramada for a Water Dealers Convention. Additional help from members would be greatly appreciated.

PROGRAM Darren Wicks introduced Bailey Stiggins celebrating her fifth day as the new Community Development Coordinator with the Greater Hutchinson Chamber of Commerce. Bailey was raised just outside Hutchinson attending Nickerson schools and graduating K-State. She was with Reno County Communities That Care for four and one-half years prior to this job with the Chamber. This new position developed out of the Reno County Growth Coalition program. This department will have its own advisory board and budget. The first priority is to bring qualified workers to our community and to get them to become residents. Other projects include; continued development of the bike and walking trail, sidewalks, and community wellness as well as assisting HR managers with workplace wellness. Also assisting the Young Professionals, who are beginning their fifth year, with administrative help. The Community Development departments funding is from the Hutchinson Community Foundation, the Chamber and Reno County.

50/50 DRAWING Jeff Brewer won $28.

NEWSLETTER DRAWING Stan Macgirvin did not know the answer of May 18, 1922 as the date that the first American Business Club was founded.

QUESTION OF THE WEEK William L. White credits the sale of what for the beginnings of the first American Business Clubs chapter in Birmingham, Alabama?

NEXT MEETING Dave Kerr, past Chamber of Commerce President, will be our guest speaker.

Steve Conard, Editor

GUESTS Katheryn (Katie) Conkling retired, WWII Veteran of the Army Air Corp and Brian Knipp, First Lieutenant, Army National Guard and Johns son. Both were guests of John Knipp.

FINES Jerry Regier with help from Scott Potucek were our Sergeants-of-Arms this morning. They began with a fine to past editor Tom Hymer for an error in the last 2011 newsletter. I was introduced as the new editor without fine. They asked for one person from each table to stand and deputized them as assistant Sergeants-of-Arms collecting a dollar from everyone else at their table. I guess it sometimes pays to stand when asked.

ANNOUNCEMENTS – Dave Shuler paid to announce that he was a new grandfather of granddaughter Khloe Lynne Williams 6# 10oz. 19-1/2.

Dan Power paid to announce that a new free exhibit in appreciation of Pat Potuceks work opened Friday at the Hutchinson Art Center. Area individuals were also invited to loan pieces of Pats artwork for display. Also exhibited will be artwork that the center has in their collection.

Jerry Regier reminded the group that February is National AMBUCS Visibility month. There has been discussion and a committee formed to see if we want our club to host a State of the City breakfast with the mayor and invitees on February 24th. More information to follow next week.

Jay Pitzer announced again and a signup sheet passed for a casino night that the Big Hat Club is working Thursday, January 19th at the Ramada for a Water Dealers Convention. Additional help from members would be greatly appreciated. Also, mark your calendars for an upcoming casino night on Saturday, February 11th at the Kansas Cosmosphere that will be a fundraiser for an individuals therapy dog that was discussed last month.

PROGRAM John Knipp introduced his son Brian, who is a First Lieutenant in the Air National Guard, returning from a 2010-2011 tour of duty in Afghanistan. Brian was stationed on a base in Laghman Province, Northeast of Kabul, one province West of Pakistan. He has an Agronomist degree from K-State and was serving as a coordinating Agronomist with the 36ADT Agra-Business Development Team. They were in Afghanistan assisting local farmers with farming practices and crop development for their area. With a 2 inch average rainfall and 130 degree midday temperature the area is all deserts except where it is irrigated. Brian showed a PowerPoint of his experiences there. Farms are bounded by walls, instead of fences, into compounds. Eucalyptus trees are plentiful but toxic and they do not allow vegetation to grow beneath them. Most farming is either river bottom or terrace farming with wheat, corn soybeans and their local vegetables as the predominate crops. Farms average 2 acres along with a few cows and chickens. The team using greenhouses for research and development introduced the farmers to some new plants and plant varieties. Unfortunately, due to poverty, the farmers pretty much just stick to what they know and can afford. The farmers barter 10% of their crop yields to others who have tractors who thresh the crops. The team also taught classes for the farmers and area high school and college students. The officers food and provisions were contract air-lifted to the base as needed.

50/50 DRAWING Anita Warren won $22.

NEWSLETTER DRAWING Duke Wiggins was not present to win.

QUESTION OF THE WEEK The first American Business Club was founded when?

Steve Conard, Editor

MEETING: Friday December 30, 2011 EDITOR: Tom Hymer

WELCOME GUESTS: Jim Jacobs introduced his wife Kristen and his daughter Mallory. Ward Davis brought his son Colby. Darren Wicks introduced todays program presenter Lori Webb.

Vice President Darren Wicks was in charge of todays meeting substituting for President Curtis Mitchell.

FUN & FUND RAISING SERGEANTS: Scott Potucek, last minute substitute for the regular sergeant, and Steve Conard started their tour of duty by educating the members on healthy living by dealing with stress. Being that the dialog was not raising any money Rita Joy was fined for tardiness. Upon launching This Day in History the sergeants accelerated their cash flow with trivia questions that stumped innocent members. Duke Wiggins was fined for losing his name badge, while the sergeant read famous headlines and news stories for 2011. Eventually their tour of duty came to an end when they rang the bell.

PAID ANNOUNCEMENT: Rita Joy said that Clifford Miller is in hospice care and she offered to take memos and notes from Ambucs members who know Mr. Miller and deliver them to him.

ANNOUNCEMENT: Darren Wicks provided an update on last weeks meeting in which $720 was raised and given a needy family. Darren expected that maybe $200 would be donated. He congratulated the members on their amazing generosity and how the lady communicated her gratitude.

PROGRAM: Darren Wicks introduced Lori Web of the Hutchinson Chamber of Commerce. She has recently been appointed to the position of membership recruitment and retention. Her career experience includes advertising sales in Wichita and Salina. In her program today she highlighted various functions of the Chamber and the benefits it brings to the community. The Chamber strives to bring economic development to Hutchinson and retain existing businesses. Citing the fact that businesses need two things, employees and customers, the work of the Chamber is to focus on those two qualities. In discussing the benefits for Chamber members she stressed three points. 1. Legislative influence to benefit the community, e.g. roads and highway projects such as making K61 four lanes between McPherson and Hutchinson. 2. Networking opportunities for members such as the Chamber after hours. 3. Advertising and Marketing possibilities through the web site and the Action Pak. Currently the Chamber web site is producing a 49% increase in visits this year over last.

50/50 DRAWING: Colby Davis won the 50/50 pot of $18.

NEWSLETTER DRAWING: Julie Bockenstedt could have won $5, but she was not present at todays meeting.

NEWSLETTER QUESTION NEXT WEEK: You will win $10 if you can answer this question: Who were the sergeants for last weeks meeting.

UPCOMING PROGRAMS: Program Manager Darren Wicks announced that the programs for January will focus on the Hutchinson Chamber of Commerce. Speakers from the Chamber will be Dave Kerr, Rick Mitchell, and new Director Monty Montgomery.

MEETING: Friday December 23, 2011 EDITOR: Tom Hymer

WELCOME GUESTS: Jeff Roberson introduced his brother Ron from Washington, DC. Don Rogers introduced his guest John Stutzman.

SERGEANTS: Brad Thompson and Jeff Brewer were last minute substitute sergeants who seemed overly excited about the opportunity. Therefore they went back to the old bag of tricks and fined President Curtis and Treasurer Don. Program manager Darren Wicks attracted the attention of the sergeants because he had no program to introduce. Darren paid his penance and then they invoked the guilty by association law to fine his table mates, Dan Power, Paul Brown and Steve Conard. Talking about a White Christmas Sergeant Thompson asked how many White Christmases have there been in Hutchinson and when did the National Weather Service begin to record the data. Going from table to table they collected mucho dinero due to bad guesses and other silly responses. They even busted gadget freak Dane Power for cheating to get the answers with his smart phone. The answers – 13 White Christmas since 1888. In the category of trash and rubbish fines Don Rogers paid for Mr. Thompsons dumpster being placed askew by the Stutzmans refuse truck.

ANNOUNCEMENT: Don Rogers announced that Stutzmans will be offering a Recycle Points program to reward those who recycle. The points can be used like coupons and applied to the purchase of all kinds of products. Starting in January a monitoring device will be attached to the dumpsters to measure the weight of recycled materials. March 5, 2012 is when the program will go into operation.

ANNOUNCEMENT: Jay Pitzer announced a Casino night will be held for the Kansas Ground Water Association on Thursday January 19th and 15 dealers will be needed.

ANNOUNCEMENT: President Curtis Mitchell talked about the upcoming Ambucs Awareness month and proposed the strategy of advertising on the electronic billboards in Hutchinson and making contacts to learn more about such a plan. On another matter of club business Curtis mentioned the NJCAA Tournament will be coming and plans need to made for printing the T-shirts. The Tournament will be held March 20 24, 2012.

PROGRAM: Actually Darren Wicks had a program for today, he himself presented The True Spirit of Christmas as requested by President Curtis. This is how he did it. He called on various members to share their most meaningful Christmas stories. Tom, Jeff B, Jeff R, Rita Joy, Doug, Dane, Dan, Fred, and Harley shared the Christmases that were most meaningful to them. Then Darren shared. He was born into a poor family single mother with other kids. He was adopted as a little boy for which he is very thankful. His thankfulness caused him to visit the Salvation Army to ask about a most needy family. This is a family of six children including twins. A few months ago the mother was experiencing a difficult delivery and went into ICU. Her recovery required the father to take time off from his job to care for the kids and he eventually lost his job. Darren proposed that the members of the club donate some money for this family to help them and say Merry Christmas.

THE FOLLOW-UP: After todays meeting Don Grossardt, Jay Pitzer, Darren, and his eight year old granddaughter delivered the box of money to the family. $720 was raised along with a ham and can goods from Rita Joy. As they were leaving her house they could hear her exclamations of thanks for what she had been given. Darren Wicks, the Christmas Angel, no other words are necessary.

50/50 DRAWING: Doug Foss won the 50/50 pot of $22 and put the money in the box for the aforementioned family.

NEWSLETTER DRAWING: George Kinny was not present to win $40, but Jeff Brewer said that if George was here he would have donated the money to the family. Next weeks question for $5 is: Can you name 3 Ambucs who shared their most meaningful Christmas stories?

NEXT WEEKS PROGRAM December 30, 2011: Lori Webb, Director of Sales, Recruitment and Retention of Members for the Hutchinson/Reno Chamber of Commerce.

MEETING: Friday December 16, 2011 EDITOR: Tom Hymer

WELCOME GUESTS: There were no guests attending this meeting.

SERGEANTS: Scott Potucek and his assistant Doug Foss fined Steve Conard for carelessness in handling important documents. Bob Bush and Jim Kicklighter paid for being tardy. Bob Bush paid again for being in the newspaper and failing to mention Ambucs. Jim Seitnater was a late arrival for breakfast at the Airport last week and he also bought a fine to talk about something which seemed important at the time, but now forgotten. The sergeants gave kudos for Larry Sloan and John Knipp for their efforts on the Head Start for Kids. The big fundraiser for the day was Today in History Trivia. Each table in the room had to answer a question, for example, besides the tax on tea, what were the other four commodities heavily taxed by the British Empire in 1773. The answer is paint, paper, lead, and glass.

ANNOUNCEMENT: Head Start for Kids Elves Fred Conner and Dwight Wiehl reported that they delivered 380 presents to the Head Start facilities around the area. Dwight reported that one of kids said that his present is the highlight of the year as it will be his only present.

ANNOUNCEMENT: Jay Pitzer announced a Casino night will be held for the Kansas Ground Water Association on Thursday January 19th and 15 dealers will be needed.

ANNOUNCEMENT: President Curtis Mitchell addressed some club business concerns. One of which is $500 that was unspent for the Head Start for Kids Christmas boxes. A general discussion developed questioning Head Start, a function of the Early Education Center, as an appropriate out reach target complying with the Ambucs mission statement. Someone said that quite of few of the Early Education kids have some kind of disability and therefore qualifies Head Start as a fit for our mission statement. Someone else said the gift boxes have too many things in them and the Head Start leaders say that caps and gloves would be sufficient. The ladies that knit the caps would like to start knitting the caps for next year and need $400 to buy the yarn. The membership approved the motion to give $400 out of the $500 that was unspent for this year to the knitting ladies to buy the yarn they need.

PROGRAM: There was no program today.

50/50 DRAWING: Bob Bush won the 50/50 pot of $24 and gave the money to Early Education.

NEWSLETTER DRAWING: Jerry Regier could have won $35 but he was absent today. Next weeks question for $40 is: How much does it cost to buy the yarn to knit the caps for Head Start kids?

MEETING NEXT WEEK: There will be aregular meeting next week on Friday December 23RD.Enough membersindicated by a show of hands they would come to next week’s meeting.

MEETING: Friday December 2, 2011 EDITOR: Tom Hymer

WELCOME GUESTS: Gary Withrow was a guest today bringing todays program.

SERGEANTS: Scott Potucek and Rita Joy Campbell were the new sheriffs in town. Somebody noted that President Curtis was sporting some facial hair because he lost his Lady Shick razor, ka-ching. Then the sergeants pontificated on new goals for collecting fines. Really, they have to think about that when the only goal is to fill the toilet with money. Well, getting some laughs also is admirable. Jim Seitnater was fined for messing up something, Curtis Mitchell for letting the Siemens presentation running 25 minutes overtime, Dan Power for clipping his toe nails during some program. Dane Power was on a video for Wild Cat Pride and fined for making funny hand gestures. The sergeants fined many more people via a silly trivia quiz and finally rang themselves out of commission, which later they realized they were already out of commission.

ANNOUNCEMENT: Jay Pitzer provided an update on fulfilling the Head Start Christmas Boxes and added that the Knights of Columbus donated $500 thanks to the effort of John Knipp. Dillons donated apples, Hutchinson Bag Co. donated the sacks, thanks to Love Box for the boxes, Donna Pitzer for getting candy with super savings, and thanks to Jay for all his diligence on his efforts and follow-through.

PAID ANNOUNCEMENT: Bob Bush announced the Red Stocking Breakfast which is a fundraiser, call him for information.

ANNOUNCEMENT: Preston Clark reported on a Community Service need that concerns an individual with post traumatic stress disorder due to bullying. In this situation the person can be treated with dog therapy, a specially trained dog requiring $15,000. After some discussion there was a consensus to conduct a fund raiser with a casino event in February.

PROGRAM: Darren Wicks introduced Gary Withrow who made a bicycle tour across the United States. Withrow started his tour in Northern California and arrived in North Carolina. He traveled through 3 mountain ranges, deserts, and other terrain. He traveled with a friend, they had several flats, semi truck drivers were the most respectful, and took 6 weeks to complete the journey. Withrow at age 73 was motivated by the challenge to make this tour while he is still able. Already new is planning another tour in New Zealand.

50/50 DRAWING: Curtis Mitchell won the 50/50 pot of $25. Because he left the meeting early his honorable table mates donated his winnings to Head Start.

NEWSLETTER DRAWING: Mark Treaster could have won $30 but he left meeting early. Next weeks question for $35 is: How long did it take for Gary Withrow to cross the USA on his bicycle?

MEETING: Friday November 18, 2011EDITOR: Tom Hymer

WELCOME GUESTS: Vicki Tangeman Ambucs District Governor making a field trip. Chris Block and Jennifer Latimer of Special Education USD 308 bringing todays program. Jim Jacobs introduced his wife Kristen.

SERGEANTS: Reiser and Conard fined Dan Power for late arrival, Sherriff Henderson for an occasional visit, Foss was fired for making a mess changing money, Knipp forgot to wear his Ambucs pin for some unknown function, all the Edward Jones guys neglected to wear their pins, and again Dan Power getting into a auto accident with a City of Hutchinson worker. The resurrection of the Dead Butt society cost Jerry Regier, Fred Conner, Brad Thompson, Stan Macgirvin, and Jeff Brewer. However when they arose their butts reverted back to normal. Dont spend too much time thinking about this. President Mitchell got his first deer hunting license but someone said he doesnt even have a gun, chuckle chuckle. Anita was forced to pay for the sergeants guarding her purse, and Tony Powers offered President Mitchell an eye chart to qualify him to referee games that children of Ambucs participate.

ANNOUNCEMENT: Randy Hendrickson announced the annual Christmas Social on Wednesday December 7TH at 6:00pm at Jillians Restaurant which is offering a select menu bar. The Sign-up sheet is going around.

ANNOUNCEMENT: Thanks to the Big Hatters and other donations of goods our annual Head Start Santa Boxes will take place. That means our Friday meeting on December 9TH will begin with breakfast at the Airport Steak House. Afterwards we will cross the street at L & B Storage and Equipment Rental to assemble the boxes for the Head Start kids.

PAID ANNOUNCEMENT: Ryan Thompson said he is leaving Hutchinson and moving to Oakley to work in the family business there. He said Oakley is well known for having one of the greatest rip-offs in all of Kansas by selling admission tickets to watch prairie dog parades.

PAID ANNOUNCEMENT: Bob Bush advertised that his company is offering certain brands of beer known as craft beers including New Belgium, Sierra Nevada, and others. Maybe he will offer a tasting party for Ambucs as a marketing strategy to kick-off his new products.

ANNOUNCEMENT: Jay Pitzer said he is lining up a Casino event with Midwest Ford in February and has a couple more inquiries. More information to come.

PROGRAM: Darren Wicks introduced the speakers today, Chris Block and Jennifer Latimer employed by USD 308 Special Education professionals. Their work involves working with children diagnosed with autism. Autism manifests itself in a many different ways, some are verbal, others are non-verbal. There is no known cause or cure although medications like Zoloff and Ridilin are administered. Autism is on the rise with a 30% increase and the cause is unknown. About 1 out of 100 infants will be diagnosed with Autism. At HMS7 there are 5 autistic students under the care of the Chris and Jennifer. Ambucs has donated Amtrykes to USD to use for therapy for the autistic kids. Autistic kids vary greatly in communications, some respond to visual stimulus, others by using objects. I-pads with special programs help the kids to respond with symbols. They talked about a fundraiser which is a Walk Event held in April and they hope that Ambucs will participate.

50/50 DRAWING: Jerry Regier won the 50/50 pot of $29 and donated his winnings to the cause of helping Autistic kids.

NEWSLETTER DRAWING: Jim Kicklighter could have won $25 but he was absent. Next weeks question for $30 is: What is the name of our Ambucs district governor?