Ken Thomas and Tess Taylor attended the Sertoma meeting to talk to us about the Radiothon for Child Abuse which is in its thirteenth year. Their boss, Mike Boen, who introduced them as two other famous Brainerd radio personalities to start off the merriment, brought the Radiothon to Brainerd with him and it has been going strong ever since. The money raised goes to area agencies that work with abused and neglected children in Cass, Crow Wing and Aitkin counties.

The crisis training program that takes people from the courtroom into counseling that is aimed at eliminating the problems that caused the court appearance has been so successful that it is a statewide role model.

The radiothon auction site is provided by Ann and Bob Sherman at brainerd.com. The first event raised $12,000 and the last one was $637,000 +. You can also donate your old cell phones to Cellular One to add more money to the efforts. As a group we donate $300 to the cause, but individuals are encouraged to pledge more and to purchase items from the auction site.

Cashew trees make an excellent replacement growth for areas that have lost their rainforests. The big problem has been to give the farmers the means to market their products themselves for a fair price versus selling them through a middleman.

Her work in Honduras is centered around getting the funding together to provide the cashew farmers with solar ovens. Sign up with Joe Schulte next week to order bags of cashews at $4 each that will help support the cause.

Our President encourages us to win the cashew war--Rotary bought all of her available bags and Sertoman needs to buy more!

Carol Winegar set high level for her protégé Anita Traveca to follow in terms of entertainment but Anita had one thing going for her that Carol could never top. Anita's maiden name is "Dick" It took her until she was in junior high to realize what her parent's had done to her in giving her that name, but she seems to have had a great deal of fun with it.

Her most embarrassing moment was when her college biology professor who was dividing people into lab groups from his podium using his microphone called out her name and then stopped to ask if it was a "joke". Anita tells us that she knows all of the jokes. She is married to a great guy named Dan but she missed the "love of her life" We did have a man named Dick Frikken who opened a bar on the Gull Dam Road who would have provided her with the absolute appropriate answer to the question if they had married.

All kidding aside, Anita has two lovely children who are grown up. She works at the YMCA where she has been for 18 years. She recently changed jobs from personal trainer to membership director. Her sponsor at Sertoma was Karen Owen and she has been a member three months. That was long enough to help plan the "Best Rookie Party Ever". Anita joined Sertoma because it's the right thing to do. We enjoyed hearing about her eight brothers and sisters, the beer distributing memoirs, and thank the "jock with rhythm" for a great presentation.

• Sergeant Bill was in the right place at the right time. Ken and Tess had a match game contest and he was the lucky contestant. The members of the Swinging Sertomans participated along with our president. The question everyone answered was at the end of the following story. "Big Mike was suppose to bring home a lighted Santa Claus for his wife to place in their window. When he forgot, his wife stuck a light bulb in his ______ and put HIM in the window. Bill, of course, went for the non family hour answer--as Ken tactfully explained "the thing the Wise Men rode to Bethlehem". Bill won his $25 gift certificate to Morey's because a couple of other people thought the same way. Bob Nibbe had to play the dumb guy and give a totally off the wall answer, "steak dinner" . Thanks for all the fun Ken and Tess. The Vikings joke is worth repeating!!!
• Raboin heard about the Cashew speaker and decided to run the Brazil Nut Shop at introductions.
• Dave Burggraph got in trouble for stealing the 80 year old man's hat today--Clausen wanted to know where the cold guy was so he could give it back.
• The Mayor of Nisswa participated in the Belching Brian scandal today. One should not burp into the microphone at Sertoma.
• Paul Gropper was disappointed because Ken hogged the microphone. He voted to hear more from Tess next time.
• Mary Marana had something or someone tied up in a big red bow that was sticking out of her trunk. Hopefully it was just her Christmas wreath. She was "whining" about her long stint in the cold bell ringing and was told by our president, "If you are looking for sympathy, become a Rotarian."
• Mark Korte will be paying $2 a week until he gets the barn cleaned. For more details see Mark.
• Another language lesson for all ( as a former English teacher I think this is great)--Rick Besmehn got fined for referring to Raboin as an "old" air force guy. The appropriate word according to Bill is "experienced".

Kari Barnes and her assistant Cathy Picek are the go-to folks for Pipe and Drape information.

Need awards? Did you lose your pin? Tami Webb is the person in charge of awards and meeting paraphernalia.