Kiwanis Club 
I have been absent for a couple of weeks and have no information from the meetings. I will see if I can do some news to get up to date. I missed the newsletter when I was gone since my address is not on the list while on vacation. I left a small town of friendly people with no meetings, no traffic, good food, and live music three or four nights a week, and boring gets to be a welcome time. I came back to San Marcos to a different sort of atmosphere. The difference is now I have lots of traffic and meetings on Monday at 8: a.m.; Tuesday meetings at 10:, 11:45, and 2:30; Wednesday meeting at 9:and need to write a column for the paper; Thursday at 12:; Friday is open so far except for a Texas State Softball tournament; and the weekend looks good. Being retired is not as easy as it sounds. Small towns with friendly people sound pretty good sometimes.
PROGRAM: FEB. 2ND: Charles Johnson had some Scout Leaders recall some of the times they had troops out at our camp. I was not there but can imagine that it was an interesting program to hear what Scouts think about our camp and the learning experiences they had while camping. We have a very special camp and it is good to hear how from others that use the camp experience and how they feel about our camp.
PROGRAM: FEB. 9th: Chester Banks has invited Ron First to be our speaker. Ron is the program Director of the Church Ministering to Jewish People. He is a Messianic Jew that signifies he is a coverted Jew to the ministery of Christ. This should be an educational program for our club. It is good to learn about various religions and better understand what the different religions have in common.
PROGRAM: FEB. 16th: Randy Cook has the proram.
PROGRAM: FEB. 21st: Kristin Wingard has the program.
KIWANIS EVENTS FOR OUR CLUB:
FEB. 20th: FLAG DAY - PRESIDENTS DAY. This is a special day to put out flags as it is the last time on this schedule. The other special occassion is the chairwoman of the Flag Program, Jeanne Balkman, has offered to buy breakfast for workers at Cafe on the Square after you put out the flags. Nothing like a well earned reward for your efforts to the community to celebrate national holidays. A big Thank You to Jeanne for this offer.
MARCH 11th: Camp Workday is planned. Start at 8:00 a.m. and finish by 11:30. Good time to social and have an a chance to make the camp ready for the summer season. Refreshments and liquid will be provided for volunteers. Let's have a good turnout and get the camp ready for the Scouts.
Remember to 'like' and 'share' the posts on Facebook that Kelli puts there giving the benefits of belonging to Kiwanis. Invite a person you know to come to our meetings and see how active our club is and let them see first hand how we are active in the community of San Marcos for 100 years.
Remember to send Lon or Jennifer any recollections you have with our club to update the History of the San Marcos Kiwanis Club. Don't worry if you have a hard time writing the event down. Jennifer can adjust it to fit into the booklet. Some events may seem to be insignificant and small but that is part of our history and needs to be shared. Think back at events or even parts of the events that you remember to help us make an interesting booklet to read. Maybe stories of members, present and past, that stick out in your memories is something you recall. If you need help you can contact Lon, Moe, or Jennifer to help you put your memories down on paper. And history starts with last week and goes on back many decades so even recent events are part of history in the future.
NOTES AND QUOTES:
A DIALOG ABOUT ATHLETIC SHOES AND THE ADVANCEMENT OF TECHNOLOGY: When I was young the athletic shoe was a Jack Kramer Converse All Star black high topped shoe. It was used for football, baseball, basketball, tennis, playing tag, climbing trees, and going to birthday parties. Then things began to change. The shoe came out in white. Then it came out in low cut style. The choice of black or white, high top or low cut, was enough to really stress out a young kid. Now it is even worse. For example a guy goes in to buy a tennis shoe. Me: I want to buy a tennis shoe. Clerk: Yes Sir, we can help you out. What kind of tennis shoe do you want? Me: One to play tennis with. Clerk: Yes, I understand. You need to tell me if you are playing on grass, clay, lycole, cement, or indoor surfaces. They all have a different soles for the various sufaces. You have to have the right shoe for the surface you are going to play tennis on.
Then basketball shoes evolved. Some of them today if you put a board on the bottom they could substitute for a ski boot. And basketball shoes can't be used for volleyball, racquetball, running, pickleball, or bowling. Wrestling shoes are for wrestling and nothing else other than in powerlifting and the deadlift event it lets you be lower to the bar so you don't have to lift the bar so far. Football shoes need different shoes and cleats for grass, dirt, or artificial surfaces. When I played in high school we bought nylon aluminum tipped 3" mud cleats as they would last the entire season. Just don't get stepped on by one of those babies as they really did some damage. And you can't play soccer (unless you are the field goal kicker) or lacrosse in them.
Running is in a class by itself these days. You want to try running for the health benefits. When you go to buy a pair of running shoes you need to know if you are a pronator, a supinator, or a neutral foot strike, are you a heel striker or a forefoot striker, do you need a wide toebox or a high toe box, are you a heavy foot strike that needs heel cushion or a light foot striker, and are you going to do recreation running, or training, or racing. And you can't use them for any sport that has lateral movement like raqcquetball, basketball, or volleyball, as you will rip out the sides of the shoe.
And those black Jack Kramer Converse All Star high tops went from a cost of $15 to about $95 or more. Isn't technology wonderful. Go buy some "tennis" shoes like in the old days.
I have been to a lot places, but I've never been to Cahoots. Apparently you can't go alone, you have to be in cahoots with someone to go. I've never been to In Cognito either. I hear nobody recognizes you there. I have been to In Sane. They don't have an airport, you have to be driven there. I have made several trips.
A man tells a Rabbi, "I have a strong desire to live forever. What can I do?" Rabbi says, "Get married." The man asks, "And I will live forever?" Rabbi says, "No, but the desire will disappear."
Inside every old person is a younger person wondering what the hell happened?
With that: "May your coffee always be hot; the lights are all green when you drive; and the parking spot is close in the parking lot."
SEE YOU ON THURSDAY AT GRIN'S FOR SOME GOOD CONVERSATION, GOOD FELLOWSHIP, GOOD FOOD, AN EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM AND A CHANCE TO PROMOTE KIWANIS IF YOU BRING A GUEST. SEE YOU THERE.