Happy Tuesday, Rotarians.

Need to Know:

1. December has five Tuesdays. We will not have a regular club meeting on the 5^th Tuesday; instead we will be having a 5^th Tuesday bowling party on Tuesday, December 29^th from 6:30-8:00 PM at Andy B’s, 1127 E. Battlefield, Springfield MO (formerly Battlefield Lanes). The club will cover lane fees/shoe rental. Spouses, kids/grandkids and potential new members are welcome, but we need to know how many lanes to reserve, so we need a headcount ASAP. Please sign up on the club website today with how many you are bringing. Thanks to Brian Drane for organizing this fun event!
2. Our board considered fundraiser proposals yesterday and voted to proceed with two new fundraisers for 2016: a “color run” 5K and a Gator (or similar substitute) raffle. Gator like the farm/ATV-like vehicle – not the animal, obviously. Adam Blanch has agreed to chair the color run project and Debbie Wiese has agreed to chair the Gator Raffle project. If you would like to assist with planning either of these fundraisers, please contact Adam or Debbie.
3. Leslie Thomas proudly invites all to her daughter-in-law Alannah Thomas’ art exhibition. Alannah will be graduating this month with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Ceramics from MSU. Alannah’s work will be exhibited at Rock Castle at 242 E. Washington, Marshfield on Friday, December 18^th from noon-5:00 PM. Refreshments will be served. Janie Sartin is also hosting an open house at her business (First Realty) at the Rock Castle at the same date and time. So drop by on Friday and see Janie and check out Alannah’s work.
4. It’s pecan time again. Bags of both halves and pieces are available at MFA. Pecans are $10.00 per bag of either halves or pieces. ****We need to know how many have been sold so please turn money or unsold pecans in to Marlena at MFA within the next week or so. ****
5. Upcoming speakers: Marshfield Superintendent Alan Thomas will be here to discuss OTC; there will be no meeting on December 29^th; on January 5^th, there will be a presentation on Harmony House; on January 12^th, the Mayor will be here to discuss economic development; on January 19^th, Reanna Anderson with MSU’s Small Business & Technology Development Department will be with us. There are lots of great speakers on the calendar, so invite a guest!
6. Our next board meeting will be Wednesday, January 13th at noon. It will be held at Southern Missouri Bank. All members are welcome.
7. Webster County Friends of the Library will be hosting a trivia night at the United Methodist Church on January 23, 2016 at 6:15 PM. The cost is $50.00 per table.
8. Go ahead and put this on your calendar now: our 3^rd Annual Romance Raffle will be held on Friday, February 12, 2016. Start soliciting sponsors now! Sponsor receipts will be available soon.
9. Go ahead and put this on your calendar now: the Marshfield Easter Egg Hunt will be held on Saturday, March 12, 2016, with a rain date of March 19^th.

Meeting Recap

Karen Stevens, our Membership Chair, is working on a promotional brochure for the club and passed around a proof for review.

Scott Jones challenged members to invite prospective members to a club meeting. There are a lot of classifications without representation in our club and we would like to see the club grow.

Our speaker today was author Susan Keene. Ms. Keene is president of the Webster County Friends of the Library and of the Ozarks Mystery Writers Association. She has had five books published, including three children’s books and a thriller, and her “Kate Nash Mysteries” series will soon be published by Black Opal Books. Ms. Keene spoke about her long journey in fulfilling her dream of becoming an author. She has been an X-Ray tech in a trauma ward, set up bars/pool halls, trained staff at Sears, co-founded a pickle factory (which was later closed), and worked at Wyndham Resorts. Finally after falling and injuring her back, she decided to do what she really wanted to do – write.

Final Thoughts

“There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.”

Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961)

https://youtu.be/ysIzPF3BfpQ

Marshfield Rotary Club: Raising the bar through leadership, giving and education.
Yours in Rotary Service,

Kristin Grace Krebs