The Carmi Rotary club met on Thursday and began the gathering with a discussion of the recent fundraiser at the Lion’s Club 4th of July car show. The Rotarians cooked and served catfish sandwich baskets on the hot and stormy 4th, and while they are still waiting for final numbers, it appears the day was profitable for the club. Many ideas of how to improve the event were discussed and will be put in to place next year.
The members also discussed the upcoming trip to the Otter’s game in Evansville. This year the game will be Thursday, August 8th. The group decided to let each member buy their own tickets and food, and the members will sit together for the game. Just one important note, almost every year that the Otter’s game has been part of the Rotary schedule, the game has been rained out. So, if you are planning anything for August 8th, please advised that it will more than likely rain that day.
Lyn Stephens had the program for the day, and handed out a sheet with some very interesting facts about the Pledge of Allegiance. Her talking points came from a Red Skelton program back in the 60’s, where the comedian explained what each line of the Pledge means. Such as: “Allegiance means love and devotion, United means that we are all supposed to come together, and Indivisible means incapable of being divided.
Lyn pointed out that in 1954, President Dwight D. Eisenhower attended a church service where the pastor used the Pledge as his weekly message. After hearing that, the President began urging Congress to add the words “Under God” to the official version.
Ironically, in 1969 Red Skelton lamented on his weekly television show that the Pledge of Allegiance might someday be considered a prayer, and be eliminated from public schools.
In club business, Patrick Haskell was named the day’s phantom, and Dale Peters won the 50/50 drawing but did not claim the day’s jackpot, meaning the cash will roll over to next week’s drawing.
The Carmi Rotary club normally meets every Thursday at noon at the First United Methodist Church on Main Street in Carmi. Anyone wishing to learn more about this civic organization is welcome to attend a meeting or speak with any Carmi Rotarian.
