February 4, 2008

Join us for Shadow Day featuring guest speaker:

Aric Bostick

“Camp of Champs”

Chair of the Day:  Nancy Shivers

Aric Bostick has been nicknamed “Mr. Enthusiasm!” He is known throughout the country for his “Pure Energy” and his ability to fire up and inspire any audience. Aric is dedicated to one thing, helping people find that passion within so they can start living their dreams today! Aric has dedicated his life to learning the key ingredients to living a fulfilled life. He understands the principle of “you have to give it away to keep it,” and he does just that by touring the country and sharing these principles with everyone he speaks to.

Aric Bostick is a graduate of Texas State University at San Marcos where he majored in Exercise and Sports Science and minored in English. He received several academic and leadership awards in college and became a teacher and coach in 1998.

He started the first ever Goal Setters Club at Judson High School that provided the impetus for students to set goals and strive for higher ethical and moral standards.  This club boasted a membership base of over 500 students. This program has now been implemented in several other schools and has helped these schools improve their state test scores, school behavior and attendance.

Now a full-time professional speaker, Aric runs his own company called, Aric Bostick Success Training. Aric’s high energy message of how a person with a Vision, Identity and Purpose provides students with the tools necessary to live their dreams. This message has literally helped thousands of people become motivated to achieve in school and in life. He speaks at High Schools and Middle Schools, Universities and Corporations all over the country. He also helped Eric Brown of the National Football League’s Houston Texan's raise $12,000 for inner-city youth in San Antonio.

Finally, Aric runs and operates his own Leadership Camp for kids called The Camp of Champs. This camp has helped hundreds of kids improve their self-esteem, self-confidence, and social skills. Aric Bostick has appeared on television more than a dozen times due to the success of his Goal Setters Club, his Summer Camp and impact as a Motivational Speaker.

Membership Proposals

On recommendation of the Admissions Committee, the Board of Directors has authorized the following for publishing for membership in accordance with the club bylaws.  They will automatically become members in 7 days unless ten (10) written and signed objections are submitted.

GRIMES, Robert K.

Business/Professional Services - Human Resources

VP Human Resources

NuStar Energy

Proposer: Harriet Helmle

Endorser: Doug Cross

GRIMALDI, Nick

MARKETING - Direct Mail

Former COO - Open First Wise

 Retired

Proposer: Doug Cross

Endorser: Bob O'Conner

Family of Rotary

Our condolences to Linda Gaida on the recent death of her mother.  Our thoughts and prayers go out to Linda and her family.

Congratulations to Gardner Peavy for being named one of the San Antonio Business Journal's "40 under Forty Rising Stars."   The Business Journal honors young people in San Antonio who are making a difference in the business world and the community.  Gardner also serves as vice president of our club's Young Members Board.

Congratulations to Jim Rice and Bennett Allison of Sol Schwartz & Associates, P.C.   Sol Schwartz & Associates was named one of the "Best Companies to Work for in Texas 2009" by Texas Monthly magazine.  Nominated companies are evaluated by workplace policies, practices and demographics and by an employee survey to measure the employee's experience.

2009-2010 Board of Directors

Congratulations to the new officers and directors for the 2009-2010 Rotary year.  They will take office starting July 1, 2009.

President

David Nicolson

Real Estate: Brokerage

The Weitzman Group

President-elect

Ben Brewer

Associations: Downtown

Downtown Alliance/San Antonio

Vice President

Lou Miller

Insurance: Auto/Civilian

State Farm Insurance

Treasurer

Don Philbin

Law: Mediation

ADRtoolbox.com

Sergeant-at-Arms

Karen Rankin

Business/Professional Services: Management Consultant

Keystone International

Directors

Corbett Christie

Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research

Trish DeBerry-Mejia

Guerra DeBerry Coody Co.

Charles Holshouser

Charles H. Holshouser, MD

Ryland Howard

Frost Bank

Charlotte Mitchell

Ramiro Morales

Guaranty Bank

Polly Spencer

Bexar County Probate Court #1

Brian Strange

Catering by Don Strange

John Tate

Oppenheimer Blend Harrison & Tate

Peggy Walker

Bank of America

Thad Ziegler

Thad Ziegler Glass

Advisory Director

Past President Patrick Tobin

Jackson Walker LLP

Young Members Board Representative

Gardner Peavy

Cambridge Realty Group

 The Fight Against Polio

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has awarded US$255 million to Rotary International in the global effort to eradicate polio, bringing the total committed by Rotary and the Gates Foundation to $555 million.

Shortly after meeting with incoming district governors from the four countries where the wild poliovirus is endemic -- Afghanistan, India, Nigeria, and Pakistan -- Bill Gates announced the new grant on Wednesday morning at the International Assembly in San Diego, California, USA.

"Rotarians, government leaders, and health professionals have made a phenomenal commitment to get us to a point at which polio afflicts only a small number of the world's children," Gates said. "However, complete elimination of the poliovirus is difficult and will continue to be difficult for a number of years. Rotary in particular has inspired my own personal commitment to get deeply involved in achieving eradication."

"We are going to end polio now," affirmed Robert S. Scott, chair of RI's International PolioPlus Committee.

In response to the new $255 million Gates Foundation grant, Rotary will raise $100 million in matching funds. In November 2007, RI received a $100 million Gates Foundation grant, which Rotary committed to match by raising $100 million.

The two Gates Foundation challenge grants now total $355 million. Rotary International's matching effort in response is called Rotary's US$200 Million Challenge, which must be completed by 30 June 2012.

The $255 million grant is one of the largest challenge grants ever given by the Gates Foundation and the largest received by Rotary in its 104-year history. Rotary will spend the grant in direct support of immunization activities carried out by the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, which is spearheaded by RI and its partners , the World Health Organization, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and UNICEF. Rotary will distribute the funds through grants to WHO and UNICEF.

Polio eradication has been Rotary's top priority since 1985, with more than $1.2 billion contributed to the effort. Gates praised Rotary for providing the volunteers, advocates, and donors who have helped bring about a 99 percent decline in the number of polio cases. "The world would not be where it is without Rotary, and it won't get where it needs to go without Rotary," he said.

 The final hurdle still is ahead, said RI President-elect John Kenny. This grant shows that the Gates Foundation is just as committed as Rotary to ridding the world of this disease, he said.

 Gates also shared with the incoming district governors and Rotary leaders a story from his trip to India in November, when he held a nine-month-old girl afflicted with polio in his arms in a slum in East Delhi.

"She obviously didn't understand why people were poking her legs and looking so serious. But she'll never be able to kick a ball around, never be able to play hide-and-seek with her friends, because she has polio," Gates said. "As I held Hashmin, I thought, We can end this."

"We don't know exactly when the last child will be affected. But we do have the vaccines to wipe it out," he said. "Countries do have the will to deploy all the tools at their disposal. If we all have the fortitude to see this effort through to the end, then we will eradicate polio."

In addition, the governments of the United Kingdom and Germany announced they have respectively committed $150 million and $130 million to eradicate polio, which will not count toward Rotary's challenge. Government support is key to polio eradication efforts, said Scott.

By Arnold R. Grahl and Dan Nixon 
Rotary International News -- 21 January 2009 

www.rotary.org