Meeting of the Kingman Rotary Club: Aug 20, 2008

Posted by Cullen Linn 
 

"Here Come da Judge"

Dave Hawkins the Newshawk Rick provided our program this past Wednesday in which he invited Kingman's own Newshawk, Dave Hawkins. Having been a resident and news reporter in Kingman for over twenty years, Dave can be considered a community historian and was happy for the opportunity to take us down memory lane. Dave was also able to weave in some fun recollections of interactions with many of our members over the years.

 

Dave described the Kingman area as a rich and robust news market and recalled several events throughout Kingman's recent history and identified some interesting trends. One such trend is the history of tragedies in the area that have taken place on the Fourth of July including the propane explosion, a handful of fireworks accidents, the Rollerina fire, and the K-Mart killing.

Dave recalled cutting his news teeth with the help of Bev back when she worked in radio and he was a green horn, getting tips from Roy during the Evan Mecham impeachment that helped Dave break some important news before anyone else, giving school career talks with Charlie, broadcasting Moon's basketball games, interviewing Steve, and playing softball with Les. He emphasized the local relationships in Kingman but also referenced some of the celebrity visits to Kingman. Dave recalled visits by Sam Kinneson, Pamela Anderson, Willie Nelson and John Kerry.

The Newshawk ended by remembering some of the events that gave Kingman national exposure. He reminded us of the train derailments, in particular when Kingman residents took displaced passengers into their homes and cared for them during the ensuing confusion and the resulting law suits. Dave recollected the the Laughlin biker fight, the Olympic Torch Run, the visit by then presidential candidate John Kerry, and the '85 steam pipe explosion.

Thank you Rick and Dave for the fun and reminiscent program!

Announcements

  • The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, along with Google have provided several million dollars (over $3.5 M) to the Rotary Foundation to be matched by the foundation. This means that all of our Foundation contributions will be matched by these funds, so our contributions are going to do twice as much to help eradicate Polio.

  • You can now get your Rotary sponsored credit card. When you spend money with it, a portion of the fees are contributed to the Rotary Foundation. To learn more, see the Rotary International website.

  • There will be an RI Training coming up in Williams September 13. For more information on RI Training events, see the RI website.

  • The District is still in search for individuals who are wheelchair bound and are interested in making up part of the outgoing GSE team. If you know anyone that may be interested, please contact Billy

  • We are looking for a chairperson for our Vocational Fund. If you are interested in finding a way to increase your involvement and help out the club, please contact any board member about this exciting opportunity.

  • District Governor Charlie Teagarden will be visiting our club this September 24th, so please sure to attend and show your support.

Guests

  • TC (Honorary Member)
  • Ray Osuna (Visiting Rotarian)

Thanks

Thank you to all of the members that helped with duties!

Raffle Tickets - Randy, Invocation - Jeff, Song - Cathy, Fines - Eric, Attendance - Cullen