Union City Rotary Club - Weekly Bulletin & News

Today, Rotary member Al Oliver leaves the audience and takes to the podium, along with his wife, Laura, as they share their experiences while on a recent trip to Australia. They will have a power-point presentation for us and discuss some facts about Sydney.

Al and Laura have brought along two students from Union City Middle School, John Alex Warner, son of Jack and Mellany Warner and Justice Walker, son of Shelly E. Watson, who will enlighten us on school in Australia, and will teach us some of the Australian slang words.

Al and Laura met while attending UTM and were married in 1992. Laura has taught school for the last 17 years, and for the last 10 years in the Union City School System, teaching 6th, 7th and 8th grade Advanced Reading/Language Arts.

Al was born and raised in Union City, graduating from U.C. High School and attended UTM, graduating in 1989. He is currently the Executive Vice President of Westan Insurance Agency her in Union City.

Al and Laura have two daughters, Mary Ali (13) and Anna (11). Both attend Union City Schools. They are members of First United Methodist Church here and the family enjoys camping and the outdoors.

Next week, another Union City Rotary member will be our speaker, as Kurt Baggett discusses the background and the future of the all important United Way Foundation.

The United Way dates all the way back to 1887, when a Denver Priest, two ministers and a rabbi recognized the need for cooperative action to address their city’s welfare problems. They put their heads together to plan the first united campaign for ten health and welfare agencies. They created an organization to serve as an agent to collect funds for local charities, as well as to coordinate relief services, counsel and refer clients to cooperating agencies, and make emergency assistance grants in cases which could not be referred.

United Way of Obion County has been in existence since about 1966, and has distributed thousands upon thousands of dollars to local organizations and worthwhile causes.

United Way of America in the 1997-98 campaigns alone, there was $3.4 billion raised for various projects and worthwhile causes.

Last week, Rotarians got a first hand report of the two day Battle of Mogadishu in Somalia, as Retired Colonel Chuck Harrison, one of the Helicopter Pilots who flew support to the troops on the ground, gave us a power point presentation of the battle.

His detailed report was very interesting, showing the exact location of the area the battle took place and where the two Blackhawk Helicopters were shot down. The battle was later made into a Oscar Winning Movie, "Blackhawk Down" which he said was pretty accurate as to what happened in those two days.

He began with a short history about how the United States Soldier got into Somalia. He said Somalia gained independence after WWII, switching their political stand many times, using the United States and the Soviet Union for huge favors. "In 1991 after the Cold War the country just fell apart" he said because the Soviets and the U.S. Got tired of their antics and just let them go. In that same year a Civil War began amongst the clans, and in 1992 the United Nations forces entered the country to make them stop fighting. After that wide spread starvation set in and food which was sent in was being taken by certain clans for their own use and was not getting to the right places. So at that time President Bush sent American Soldiers in to take over the situation. The United Nations, about the same time stepped in and established a relief of Somalia, 30,000 U.S. Troops were sent in. The fighting stopped and food began to be distributed to the right places. In 1993 President Clinton began withdrawing and the clans went back on the offensive against the U.N. and against each other. Therefore a Task Force was sent in to capture one of the leaders of this Clan. When they went in they were met with brutal resistance, and because they were a small group, they were outnumbered radically and spent the next two days getting their dead and wounded from the area where the two Blackhawk Helicopters were shot down.

Coming Attractions

Feb. 12 - Kurt Baggett, United Way of Obion County

Feb. 19 - Barry Duncan

Feb. 26 - Dr. John Cummings

Mar. 05 - Dennis Kosta

Mar. 12 - Major General (Ret) Gale Pollock

Birthdays

Feb. 05 - John Miles

Anniversaries

Feb. 06 - Julius and Ellise Falkoff

100 Years Ago - 1910

Rubber cultivation in East Asian plantations occupied 1 million acres, as the growing use of automobiles increased demanding rubber tires, by 1920, some 4 million acres would be devoted to rubber trees, the figure exceeded 9 million by 1945, and 50 years later it was more than 15 ½ million.

Basketball Tonight

Union City Hosts Halls

So. Fulton Hosts Greenfield

OCCHS @ Haywood Co.

Tomorrow

UTM Men Hosts TN State

UTM Women Hosts TN State

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