May 19 Meeting Recap

Song – Bill Stracener & Dale Hodges
Pledge – Wilson Baldridge
Prayer – Max Constantin
Intros – Rick Martin

Our guests were Tommy Warder, Asst. Dir. of Atchafalaya Basin Program, Annette Wiegleb, Adm. Asst. of Sandra Thompson (both with guest speaker), and Claudia Ortiz and friend, daughter of Carlos and Nataly Ortiz.

The jackpot rolled over once again.

Dick Roberts has resigned due to health problems.

Guest Speaker: Sandra Thompson, Director of the Atchafalaya Basin Program

She has a Master of BA from LSU & a Bachelor of Arts degree in Govt. from Southeastern LA University. In 1979, she ran for Secretary of State & lost by less than ˝ of 1% statewide.  In 1980, she formed an oil field trucking company and served as owner, president and CEO for 15 years.  In 1995 she returned to state govt.  She was President of River City Kiwanis in 2000.

She talked about the history of the Atchafalaya Basin program.  Its mission is to conserve, restore, and enhance where possible, the natural habitat and give all people the opportunity to enjoy the Atchafalaya experience.  In 1986, Congress authorized $250 million dollars to preserve and enhance the Basin through the Corps of Engineers by expanding public access, environmental easements, water-management, and recreation.

In 1996 Governor Foster directed the Dept. of Natural Resources to be the lead state agency in the development of the basin along with the US Army Corps of Engineers.

In 1999, the LA Legislature voted unanimously for the master plan of the Atchafalaya Basin (Act 920), authorizing  $85 million to be spent over a 15 year period, in order to match the federal dollars.

The Atchafalaya Basin is the nation’s largest river swamp, containing almost one million acres of our nation’s most significant bottomland hardwoods, swamps, bayous, and back-water lakes.

Quick Facts:

• Covers nearly 1 millions acres

• Five times more productive than any other river basin in North America

• Stretches nearly 100 miles from North to South

• It was named in the Choctaw tongue, “hacha”(river) “falaia” (long)

• First began to form around 900 AD when the ancient Miss. River moved from one channel to another

A tourist welcome center is being built and is expected to have 1500 to 2000 visitors daily.

End of the Year Banquet

The event will be held at Ashley Manor this year on Friday, August 20^th. Mark your calendars and start looking for a date now. More details to come later.

Happy Birthday

St. Clair Bienvenu – May 6
Bob Schmidt – May 16
Bert Daigle – May 26

Benefits you probably didn’t know about

As members of Kiwanis International, we are entitled many discounts and benefits. Straight from the KI website, the CCR is now proud to inform you about one of them.

TRUGREEN ChemLawn is proud to be a national Kiwanis partner and extends this exclusive offer to all members: Now you can have a green, weed-free lawn and support Kiwanis at the same time. Save 15 percent on an annual lawn care program and TruGreen ChemLawn will contribute $10 of each purchase to the Kiwanis Scholarship Fund. Call 1-800-368-5604 ext. 5005, to schedule an appointment.

Next Week’s meeting

When: Wednesday, May 26, noon

Where: Taste of China

Note: This will be our last meeting at Taste of China. Let’s make it one to remember!

New Meeting Place:

Walk On’s

Starting with the June 2 meeting, Capital City Kiwanis will hold our meetings every Wednesday at noon at Walk On’s, at Burbank and Nicholson. This LSU sports themed establishment was founded by two former LSU basketball walk-ons, Brandon Landry and Jack Warner. They employ several former Key Clubbers. We will be served Cajun cuisine buffet style. The May 26 meeting will be our last at Taste of China.

This bulletin was edited by Ben Brown.