PSC Rotaract Club Fundraiser

 

PSC Rotaract Club

 

 
 On Friday at 7:30, I went to the Riverboat Inn, where the PSC Rotaract Club sponsored a fundraiser that featured a fun-filled group of people and excellent entertainment provided by Sum Guise.

I asked one of the club members, Lindsey Toman, to provide a summary of this special group's activities this past year:



This year, our club has been active helping a variety of organizations.  

In the fall we partnered with the Auburn Rotary Club for the Polio Fundraiser, we brought Invisible Children on campus again to share their new video, grew mustaches to raise awareness for men's health during "No Shave November," created and sold calendars for our Movember Project, organized a "Rake and Run" in Peru, and went caroling around campus in December to raise money for the BackPack Program.  In February, our club also participated in the Auburn Chocolate Festival.


In November, nine of our members traveled to Washington DC to participate in the MOVE:DC event organized by Invisible Children.  The members who attended are:  Seph Fauver, Brooke Earnest, Lindsey Toman, Lexi Fudge, Tyler Nutsch, Ryan Twehous, Jake Hedden, Natasha Bradely, and Tj Beckert.

For the spring semester, our club wanted to focus on the BAWA Health Initiative, inspired by Dr. Dennis Richardson, one of the Distinguished Speaker Series speakers from last year.  

Last year, our club was inspired by Dr. Dennis Richardson and his passion for helping the communities in Africa. We wanted to do our part to help Dr. Richardson and be involved in the efforts to empower the people of Bawa. 

The purpose of this event was to raise awareness and fundraise money, through free will donations, for the Bawa Health Initiative in Africa. 

We were approached by John Chaney about having his band play at an event, and the wheel started turning.  Since we already knew what organization we wanted to help, we contacted the River Boat Inn in Brownville, and Jane and Randal Smith were kind enough to lend us their boat for our cause, free of charge.  

We had a great turn out and everyone seemed to have a wonderful time.  We ended up raising around $1,300, all of which will be donated to the BAWA Health Initiative.

To learn a bit about Dr. Richardson's efforts with the BAWA Health Initiative, listen to what Richardson has to say from a ten-minute talk about his efforts from June of 2012.

I posted photographs from the good fun for a great cause.  The images indicate that everyone did indeed enjoy a wonderful time.

And Sum Guise certainly helped make the event both special and enjoyable for everyone lucky enough to attend.

 

 I posted two videos of Sum Guise.  You must watch the band's innovative version of The Peru State College Color Song.   If you recognize the tune, you graduated a few years ago:

For the second video, I recorded sections of a number of Irish-flavored selections for your entertainment.  As the level of background conversation indicates, the event attracted a energetic  and,  given the amount raised, a generous crowd.

Sum Guise

Squaw Creek on March 7

On Thursday afternoon, I visited Squaw Creek Nature Preserve, around fifty miles to the south of Peru in Missouri.

As you can see from the official counts, the area attracts a huge assortment and impressive numbers of birds.

A severe allergic reaction to something laid me up for most of the week with hives (not pleasant) , but I decided to forget about steroids and the like and visited the sanctuary--and happy that I did, for the four hours of fresh air and noise served me well.

As you can see from the photographs, a few hundred thousand Snow Geese filled the water and the sky--down from a million from last month! 

The Trumpeter Swans kept their distance, so I did not get the shots I would have liked.  But as the short video of from my stay--sorry for the noise from the wind here and there--makes clear the birds made my stay both entertaining and loud.

  

 

Chet and Bill in Tarkio

 

For the tenth or eleventh year in a row--Chet and I cannot keep the years straight or remember out lines, even when we read from "Green Eggs and Ham"--on Monday, March 4, Chet and I headlined the Dr. Seuss Celebration at Tarkio Elementary School in Missouri.

 As the photographs should indicate, the youngsters in Kindergarten and First Grade, the teachers, and we two enjoyed a wonderful time.

I read "Hop and Pop" to the children, and afterwards, they hopped and popped on plastic bubbles--you will see the fun in the first of the two videos.

And then Chet Harper entertained the group with "The Cat in The Hat."  After the reading, everyone gathered in a circle and sang the "Green Eggs and Ham" song.

Before enjoying in the cafeteria some green eggs and ham and green pineapple juice, along with Cat In the Hat cupcakes, the students watched as Chet and I "performed" our manic version of "Green Eggs and Ham."

Video ONE:  Reading, Hopping, and Singing

Video TWO:  Green Eggs and Ham

 

 

 

2003 Novel Peace Prize Winner Dr. Shirin Ebada of Iran at PSC

Dr. Shirin Ebadi with her translator Shirin (I will get the name)

Dr. Ebadi with my Nonwestern Literature Class

On Monday, February 25, Dr. Shirin Ebadi, winner of the 2003 Nobel Prize for Peace,  visited Peru State College as part of the college's Distinguished Speakers Series.  

As part of her long day on campus, she came to my 9:30 Nonwestern Literature and both lectured and talked with my students until 10:45, a great thrill for me and my students.  

Ebadi is a remarkable person and a thrill to meet.

At seven that evening after lunch, a discussion in another class, various meetings, and dinner with students, Dr. Ebadi gave a speech to a most warm reception in the PSC College theater.

 

Her presentation focused in the main on the deep divide between what the overwhelming percentage of Iranians feel and desire and what the leaders argue, from the role of religion to the enriching of uranium.  

 Owing to restriction in the speaking contracts arranged by agents, I am no longer allowed to video these presentations; however, you can check out the PSC Library a DVD of Dr. Shirin Ebadi's talk.

But you will find many interviews and speeches on Your Tube including the following selections for your edification:

Women's Forum Global Meeting (4:07 minutes)

Conversations with History:  Shirin Ebadi (54 Minutes)

Shirin Ebadi: Iran Awakening: Human Rights Women and Islam (57 Minutes)

One on One - Shirin Ebadi (25 Minutes)

Shirin Ebadi, Seminar on Iran's 2009 Election   (47 Minutes)