Dear Rotarians,

In recognition of Veteran’s Day, our club is honoring our Veterans with our special meeting led by Ted McAdam and PP Steve Linder, both veterans of the Air Force and Marine Corp respectively. The LVRC would like to thank our club veterans, all other veterans and active duty servicemembers for their selfless dedication to preserving our precious freedom. President Ronald Reagan once said, “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same.” Having a strong military to defend us is paramount. How and when did the United States first dedicate a day to Veterans? Veterans Day was originally known as “Armistice Day” on Nov. 11, 1919, the first anniversary of the end of World War I. In 1926, Congress passed a resolution for an annual observance. November 11 became a national holiday beginning in 1938. Unlike Memorial Day, Veterans Day pays tribute to all American veterans, living or dead, but especially gives thanks to living veterans who served their country honorably during war or peacetime. Since its founding in 1776, the United States has fought in approximately a dozen major wars. Every generation of Americans has witnessed combat in one form or another. As such, tens of millions of Americans have suited up for the armed forces, including some 16 million during World War II alone. These servicemembers include 31 of the 45 Presidents. Well over 1 million have died in the vast majority in just two conflicts: The Civil War and World War II. If fact the single bloodiest day in US Military history was the Battle of Antietam Creek during the Civil War where a combined total of 27,717 lost their lives. These war heroes understood how preserving the Union was absolute to the survival of the United States just as all Veterans who have inherited the cause to protect and defend our country. Our veterans come from all walks of life; ethnicity, religion, gender and economic status. They all fought side by side as brothers and sisters. And, incidentally, Great Britain, France, Australia and Canada also commemorate their veterans of World War I and World War II on or near November 11th. Veterans Today

• 18.2 million living veterans served during at least one war as of 2018.
• 9 percent of veterans are women.
• 7 million veterans served during the Viet Nam War.
• 3 million veterans have served in support of the War on Terrorism.
• Of the 16 million Americans who served during World War II, about 496,777 were still alive as of 2018.
• Connecticut was home to the highest percentage of World War II veterans as of 2018 at 7.1 percent.
• 2 million veterans served during the Korean War.
• As of 2017, the top three states with the highest percentage of Veterans were Alaska, Maine and Montana, respectively.

For the veteran, thank you for bravely doing what you’re called to do so we can safely do what we’re free to do.” – Unknown

Jackie Thornhill President Las Vegas Rotary Club

Las Vegas Rotary Club Meeting:  November 7, 2019

• President Jackie Thornhill called the meeting to order.

• Andy Kuniyuki gave the invocation;

• Jerry Engel led the club in singing “God Bless America”, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. President Jackie then led the club in the Four-Way Test;

• The Sergeant at Arms was Arlene Sirois;

• There were (3) International Rotarians, (1) visiting Rotarians and (6) Guests of Rotarians introduced;

• President Jackie reminded the club about the People of Action Campaign and the international convention in Hawaii. She then provided a status update on the 140 Project.  There are currently 12 prospective Rotarians and three applications were to be collected after the meeting.  The Club has upgraded to a Gold Sponsor for the Peace Conference and there is still space available for Rotarians who would like to attend;

• Because it was the first Thursday of the month, the birthday table was introduced, and Ted McAdam led the club in signing “Happy Birthday”;

• Stanica Sretenovic, the principal at Bracken spoke about the upcoming Magnet Conference; Carey Grohs reminded the club that the canned food drive will run through the end of the month and we are currently halfway to our goal.  Janice Lencke reminded the club about the Holiday Party and Annual Fundraiser which will have a committee meeting immediately after the weekly meeting adjourns;

• Joakim Nyoni discussed the upcoming Wine to Water on November 14^th and David Lester’s house; Marie Walsh discussed the upcoming Breakfast with Books on November 12th;

• Michael Williams discussed the Peace Conference on November 16^th at Treasure Island and reminded everyone about the Teen Leadership Camp December 6-8^th; Kirk Alexander gave a wrap up of the recent build in Mexico and discussed Rotary Project Hope and will provide more information to the Club as it becomes available; P. Jim Hunt discussed Santa Clothes and the need for more volunteers for the event;

• The weekly drawing began at $2,412 plus this week’s donations. The Ticket Winner who received $10 was Bob Werner;  the Lawry’s Bucks went to Paul Kellogg;

• Deb Granda introduced our speaker, Glenn Meier, who gave a presentation on effective meetings and a very detailed speech on mindful planning and effective collaboration;

• President Jackie presented our speaker with a “Share What You Can” award to benefit the local USO and then adjourned the meeting.