Happy Tuesday, Rotarians.

Need to Know:

1. 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.
2. Upcoming speakers include: On May 2^nd, there will be a presentation by Shelly Jones on Project Graduation; on May 10^th, Sheriff Roye Cole will speak to us about the jail project; and on May 17^th, Stan Whitehurst will give a presentation on the Rotary Foundation.
3. Our next board meeting will be on noon on Thursday, May 12th at Southern Missouri Bank.
4. Scott Jones is looking for photos of the Romance Raffle and Easter Egg Hunt. If you have any, contact Scott.
5. The Cherry Blossom Festival begins on Thursday.
6. The Community Foundation of the Ozark’s annual Give Ozarks Day will be held on May 3^rd. There will be events on the Square and during the evening.
7. On May 7^th, Choices Pregnancy Center will be having a Pregnancy Care Walk. Please contact Leslie Thomas if you have any interest in sponsoring a team.
8. Rotary District 6080 annual conference will be in Branson this October.

Meeting Recap

Our guest today was David Stone, who has recently joined the local State Farm Office.

Our program this week was a performance of two talented members of Marshfield High School’s speech & debate team, Tanner Geren and Eli DePriest. Tanner and Eli won the state championship in their “duo acting” category and are headed for the nationals in Salt Lake City in June. Tanner and Eli performed a ten-minute adaption of As Is, a 1980’s play by William Hoffman about the AIDS epidemic. They played multiple parts in the presentation with great skill and sensitivity. The controversial and complex play was specifically chosen to compete at Nationals. Last year, members of MHS’s speech and debate team had the opportunity to compete at Nationals, where they saw other teams tackle weighty subjects like racism and sexism, so to compete at the highest level, they chose to do a more serious program this year.

Our Rotary Board approved sponsorship funds last week, so our club will be helping the MHS speech and debate team on their trip to Salt Lake City.

Tanner and Eli are both seniors. Tanner has signed up for the National Guard and will be attending Missouri State Southern University and Eli will be attending OTC for two years before transferring to MSU or Webster University.

Final Thoughts

“All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances, And one man in his time plays many parts.”

William Shakespeare, As You Like It (1623)

Any other hockey fans out there? Baseball is my favorite sport over a full season but no other sport’s postseason can match playoff hockey. Last night’s Blues/Blackhawks game 7 was AWESOME. My poor Blues lose so often in the first round, it seems odd that they will still be playing into May, but I will happily adjust. Here’s Scottrade Center’s terrific organist, Jeremy Boyer, playing “When the Blues Go Marching In”:

https://youtu.be/68etaSyADh0

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

Yours in Rotary Service,

Kristin Grace Krebs