Happy Wednesday, Rotarians.

Need to Know:

1. Upcoming speakers: On April 19^th there will be a presentation on Marshfield Strategic Location.
2. We will be doing Marshfield’s first “Color Run” as a joint project with Marshfield Schools on May 21, 2016. We are all encouraged to solicit sponsors and to encourage people to sign up to participate in the Color Run through a link through the club website. There are three levels of sponsorship: Platinum ($500), Gold ($250) and Silver ($100). All paid entrants to the event will receive a t-shirt and goodie bag. Contact Adam Blanch with any questions about the event.
3. Our board meeting is scheduled for noon on Thursday, April 21^st at Southern Missouri Bank.
4. Debbie Wiese is looking for assistance in organizing the upcoming ATV raffle fundraiser for our club. Please contact Debbie if you can help.
5. On April 19^th at 7:00 PM, Marshfield H.S. will be putting on a fashion show. Marshfield students have made all the clothes in the show.
6. The Rotary Clubs of Springfield will be hosting their annual Rock ‘n Ribs on April 22^nd & 23^rd.

Meeting Recap

Congrats to Brian Drane and his wife. They are expecting their first child this October.

This week we inducted a new member into the club – Darrin Garrison with Simmons Bank. Doug Andrews is his sponsor. Welcome to the club, Darrin!

Kelly Coffey from Bolivar Rotary Club was a visitor to our club this week.

We “sang” Happy Birthday to Janet Silvus and Debbie Wiese.

Happy Rotary anniversary to Kara Johnson (12 years).

Our speaker this week was Greg Fritz, SW Protection Regional Supervisor with the Missouri Department of Conservation. Greg spoke to us about feral swine and black bears in Missouri. Feral swine are an enormous problem in Missouri. A feral swine is any hog roaming free without ear tags or on landowner’s property without consent. The swine were introduced for the purpose of hunting, and have prolifically reproduced and become a large nuisance to crops, land, livestock and native species. Feral swine will eat anything and put livestock and humans at increased risk for disease and parasites. The Conservation Department strongly discourages hunting of the swine and would prefer that you report sightings of the swine rather than shooting them. The Conservation Department is working on eliminating the problem with the use of traps, and other methods.

In more positive news, Missouri’s black bear population seems to be flourishing. The population declined in the 1800s but is improving. The Conservation Department works to snare and tag as many bears as possible, and to collect hair samples with “hair snares” for genetic testing. Per the results of said testing, the Department believes that the bears in southern Webster County are “heritage bears”, bears native to Missouri and not descended from bears captured in other states and Canada and then reintroduced in Arkansas. The Department of Conservation would like to remind everyone “a fed bear is a dead bear”. Do not feed bears as they may become a nuisance and have to be euthanized.

Final Thoughts

https://youtu.be/eH2coWVi9Vg

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

Yours in Rotary Service,

Kristin Grace Krebs