November 12, 2003

Song: Bill Stracener
Pledge: Carlos Ortiz
Prayer: Joe Culotta
Intro of Guests: Jerry Boyce

Last Week's Speaker Recap:

Senator Jay Dardene

Jay Dardenne spoke about Louisiana's governor election. He predicted that Bobby Jindal would be serving as the next governor. Dardenne commented that the current legislature has been willing to make changes. This willingness would enable Jindal to implement his plans once in office. Dardenne also offered a top 10 list of changes he would propose. Among the changes suggested, he called for the elimination of each state department's least important duty.

Welcome

Kim Seago and Kenny Aydelll, guests of Dale Hodges

Will Annovase, Dominic Micheli, Alison Thibodeaux, Paula Varnell, Robert Blanchard, Charlie Ford and Sally Salvant, members of the Oaks Kiwanis Club 

Bill Koonce, father of Jeff Koonce

Welcome back, George Simoneaux

Upcoming Events

• Jambalaya Sale---Thurs., Nov. 20 at the LSU 4-H Mini Farm from 9:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

• Christmas Party---Saturday, Dec. 20 at Steve Brown's house

• Member Training---Thursday, Dec. 4 for 6:00 p.m. at the district office

Spotlight on DAVID COOLEY

David Cooley grew up in Baton Rouge attending Baton Rouge High. He moved to Slidell, La., for a period while his father helped with his grandfather's law practice. 

Cooley returned to Baton Rouge to attend Louisiana State University. After completing his undergraduate degree, Cooley attended Tulane for law school. He graduated from Tulane in 1970. 

He decided to practice law in Slidell and stayed there until 1993. Upon leaving Slidell, Cooley moved to Colorado. He lived in Colorado for almost two years before returning to Louisiana. 

Cooley began practicing law with Stacey Moak in Baton Rouge. Cooley continues to do work for Moak's firm. In 1998, he was offered the opportunity to be the underwriting counsel for The Security Title Guarantee Corp. of Baltimore. Cooley still serves as the underwriting counsel and his territory presently includes Louisiana and Alabama. 

In 1999, Cooley married Dr. Nataliya Smirnova. The couple currently lives in Baton Rouge with Smirnova's sons, Illya and Anton. Illya is working towards a degree in computer science at LSU. Anton, 13, is a huge LSU football fan and plays for a local football team, the LA Warriors. 

Cooley also has two children. His daughter is a graduate of LSU with a Master of Education. His son is a graduate of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, N.Y. Cooley's son currently resides in Mandeville and is engaged to be married next summer. 

Next Week's Speaker

The Nov. 19 meeting will feature Jon Elvert as the guest speaker. Elvert is the recently appointed director of the Irene W. Pennington Planetarium at the Louisiana Art & Science Museum. 

Elvert is a science educator with over 20 years of experience and comes to LASM from the Lane Planetarium in Eugene, Oregon. He received a Master of Science degree from the University of Tubingen in  Germany. He has held positions at the Carl Zeiss Planetarium in Stuttgart, Germany and the Strasenburgh Planetarium in Rochester, New York.

Elvert is currently the president of the International Planetarium Society and is a past president of the Pacific Planetarium Association.

Announcements

Thursday, Nov. 13 Board Meeting---Dick Luedtke was approved for senior status and Dee Cothern was approved for a leave of absence. Julie Dauzat was nominated for the board vacancy and her appointment will be voted on at the upcoming meeting. The board approved the purchase of t-shirts with a new logo for Kiwanian of the month award. 

Jambalaya Sale---Thursday, Nov. 20 at the LSU 4-H Mini Farm from 9:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Charles Rea is collecting the sales proceeds. Anyone who is buying tickets but not planning on using them please fill out the sign-in sheet at the meeting so we won't have too much food.

Baseball Tournament
Sponsorships---Jerry Boyce has applications available for advertisers and sponsors. Please sell sponsorships!!!

Golf Shirts---Orders will be taken for new white with blue collar golf shirts. 

Reality House---We will be collecting toys for the toddlers of Reality House, a residential facility for female addicts and their children.  Please bring a toy on Wednesday, Dec. 3. Contact Cathy Door.

Thanks to Bob Wales for a great job on getting guest speakers.

Newsletter Team

Ben Brown, Editor
riptidebcb@hotmail.com

Mandy Michel, Staff Writer

Aimeé Shultz, Designer