President Mathy opened our meeting and asked Dr. Nate Kvetny to lead us in the Flag Salute. Standing in for our esteemed and ill Griff Duncan, Dr. Leroy Fulton led us in song with backup from the Grifftones and accompaniment by Don Ludwig. An admirable job was done with "America the Beautiful" and "Smile." Mike Oates provided us with the Thought for the Day by reading an especially clever letter written by a high school senior. Since I believe many of you will identify with this letter through personal experience, or your children or grandchildren, it is presented below:

"Dear Sir:
I have received your acceptance for admission, and I regret to inform you that I will not be attending your university in the coming years. As a senior in high school, I have applied to many other fine institutions to further my education, and, although yours ranks high among them, I’m afraid that you failed to qualify.

Elimination under my system doesn’t mean that you are not qualified to educate other fine young men and women. It merely reflects the high caliber of colleges and universities competing for my acceptance.

My best wishes for your future.

Sincerely,"
XXXX

Alan Atwell introduced Visiting Rotarians Hal Anderson from La Habra,
Roger Rustad from Newport-Irvine, and Nadine Cleberg from Rancho Del Chino. Nadine is a Rotarian and is looking to transfer to a new local club. Guests included Gaye Besler, principal at Woodcrest Elementary School - Dr. Cameron McCune; former member Amy Kluth will be running a marathon in Canada in support of cancer research - Franki Berry; Justin Kwon - Daniel Kang; and Jane Parker alias Mother Muck - Pat House. Jane brought the 1984 Mercedes Coupe that is being raffled off at the Muckenthaler Culture Center Car Show.

Announcements: Scout-O-Rama Sponsorship and Advertising Opportunities

Janie Noppe; Join Unmarried Rotarian Group - See Janie; Big Top Barbershop at Plummer Auditorium on Saturday, April 10th - Howard Wood.

Check email for information regarding Yellow Page Directory which is due March 31 - Bill Mathy.

Lee Myhre announced that Guy Leatherby passed away. Rotarian of the Week is Jim Thompson for the great work he does with the Top 100 Banquets and the Track Meet.

Birthdays, Anniversaries, and Miscellaneous: Jim McKamy levied birthday fines for Al Tetreault - he says he is 23 and incurred a $46 fine, Griff Duncan - 71, Ed Little - 78! Anniversary fine for Mark Zane - 33 years! I missed a couple other fines for Prez Bill and Wally Bartlelt.
My apologies!

Allyn Lean’s ticket was drawn for the Raffle. If he answers correctly, he gets $50. If he doesn’t, he gets Scott Dowds. With that threat in mind, he came through and generously donated the $50 to the Rotary Foundation.

The Program on Mardi Gras was presented by Bob Jahncke who

Jahncke with his camera taking in Mardi Gras

recently visited New Orleans. Bob gave us many inside details regarding the celebration including the fact that his grandfather's brother and father both were Mardi Gras Kings in 1915 and 1966 respectfully. His mother was a Queen and wife Beth was a Maid in 1961. That is really a big deal! Several great slides were shown of the streets, floats and parties. There are 50 parades in two weeks. Some of the newer floats are 150 feet in length., with up to 200 riders. There are no prizes awarded for the floats. It only takes 15-30 minutes to clean up the streets after each parade. The French Quarter is the one that is most visited by tourists and it is the most raucus and risque. Each celebration is privately funded, and the streets are well patrolled by police. There have been no riots in New Orleans.

Prez Mathy closed the meeting by saying, "The greatest thrill to man is not flying. It is landing."