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The Rotary Club 13 Buzz Saw
This Week's Meeting
November 18, 2021
This week's Speaker is Ryan Maybee, Co-founder, J. Rieger & Co. His topic is, "Kansas City: Paris of the Plains and The Revival of J. Rieger & Co."
As a lifelong bartender, restaurateur, certified sommelier and Certified Specialist of Wine (CSW) from the society of Wine Educators, Ryan Maybee, co-founder of J. Rieger & Co., is a veteran when it comes to wine, spirits and mixology.
 
His entrepreneurial spirit and creativity has led him to many successes including becoming the first person to complete the Bar Master Certification from Beverage Alcohol Resource in New York City, being named  Bartender of the Year by Imbibe in 2013, and a former finalist in Vinos de Jerez Cocktail Competition and the Angostura Bitters Global Cocktail Challenge. Before joining the J. Rieger & Co. team, Maybee co-founded the Paris of the Plains Cocktail Festival, two-time James Beard Semifinalist cocktail bar Manifesto, and The Rieger, located on the main floor of the Rieger Hotel building.
 
It was at Manifesto—located in the basement of the Rieger Hotel—where Maybee became fascinated by the history of the building and he discovered its connection to the historic J. Rieger & Co. distillery, originally founded in 1887. From that point on, he was set on ensuring it was resurrected. After meeting Andy Rieger at the opening of The Rieger in 2010, Maybee and Rieger started putting together a plan to bring back the old distillery.
 
In 2014, the plan fully came to fruition and Maybee and Rieger successfully relaunched the brand with the release of Rieger’s Kansas City Whiskey. As co-founder of J. Rieger & Co., Maybee has played a crucial role in reviving the brand and gaining national prestige. His creative libations have also received national acclaim in top-tier publications like Wine Enthusiast, Food and Wine, Imbibe, Vogue, GQ, Esquire, Vanity Fair and more. He currently lives in the historic Northeast neighborhood in Kansas City with his Great Dane, Moose.
 

We will be meeting in person this week at the Gallery, however a Zoom link for this meeting will be emailed to members who cannot attend in person. If you would like to visit as a guest, please email Executive Director Mandy Sheldon.

Please continue to check our Facebook page and www.rotary13.org for updates.
Last Week's Meeting
November 11, 2021
 
The meeting was held at The Gallery at 14th & Main with select Rotarians participating via Facebook Live and Zoom. The stage at the front of the room was enlarged, perhaps for reasons unrelated to the club meeting.
 
President Tony brought the group to order at 12:07 with words of greeting. In observance of Veteran’s Day, the club performed the official songs of all five service branches with Bob Lager at the lectern and Carl Bolte on the keyboard. President Tony then led us in the Pledge of Allegiance and invited Linn Mills to provide a thematic invocation. She made reverent remarks on the strains that military service can cause veterans, and their need for our kind thoughts.
 
Mandy Sheldon noted that apart from our featured speaker, there were no guests in attendance. She did extend a welcome to those Rotarians watching the meeting via the internet.
 
President Tony acknowledged the members with November birthdays as door greeters at today’s meeting. He shared that no club anniversaries are listed for this particular week—nor was there any news from members entering sick bay, thankfully.
 
A general round of appreciation was announced for making the preceding week’s Rotary Foundation Dinner successful. The silent auction at the dinner created a meaningful contribution to district funding levels. President Tony, with images on a PowerPoint slide, introduced the candidates for the club’s board of directors. They are Kelvin Beatty, Eric Burger, Glenn Crawford, Scott Holsman, Bill Madsen, and Lainie Wilbur. Election ballots will be available by the November 18th meeting.
 
Announcements continued with a reminder to RSVP for the December 9th cocktail party at Drexel Hall ($25, 5:30pm). The Westside Community Action Network is conducting a toy drive for the season. Tim Tholen encouraged club members to sign up for holiday bell ringing—they are still attempting to fill November time slots.
 
President Tony introduced our guest speaker, David Von Drehle, journalist, author, and opinion columnist for the Washington Post. He and Mr. Von Drehle have known each other for some years owing to overlapping activity with the YMCA. A resident of greater Kansas City, Mr. Von Drehle served as editor-at-large for over a decade with TIME Magazine, and also led the Post’s New York City bureau. He is the author of Triangle: The Fire That Changed America and several other titles. A father of four, he maintains a volunteer leadership role with the Truman Library Institute. His comments focused on the ethic of service commemorated on the date of November 11th each year, and what American civic associations have learned from it.
 
In order to fund the Liberty Memorial, Kansas Citians raised the equivalent of $100MM in today’s money in about one week to enable design and construction of the building. That large achievement is but a single example of voluntary behavior in America that dates back into the country’s earliest days. Alexis de Tocqueville noted this as he traveled the young nation in the 1830s: Americans have a propensity to take up causes, organize their acquaintances to promote them, and raise private dollars to pursue those causes. The nonprofit sector in the United States is highly developed because of this, and service clubs are no exception. The Veterans of Foreign Wars, the Alliance Club, the Kiwanis, the Jaycees, the scouting movement, and we Rotarians all link to this impulse to adopt causes. And, Mr. Von Drehle acknowledged, Rotary (1905) is among the earliest of these clubs to flourish in the 20th Century; the Kiwanis (1915), the Lions (1917), and the Optimists (1919) all learned from those who came before them.
 
As a journalist, Mr. Von Drehle shared that he often gets asked questions to the effect of how can we come together again as a nation? His response is short: learn from the service organizations. Those club ties are real connections, the kind that can fight the digital divisions we face in this internet age. What Rotary International has achieved in attracting resources and willpower to combat polio exemplifies the strength of service clubs. And as we know, Rotary began with just four people in a room.
 
Mr. Von Drehle responded to a range of questions posed, including on the lifespan of the Celebrate Community service club event, the word choices of JFK’s inaugural address, and his recent article on Zuckerberg meeting Gutenberg (and their parallels). He observed that Twitter ‘flames’ are far preferable to the kind of flames 16th Century writers faced, and he conceded that Steve Burger’s aunt probably could have solved a good number of supreme court cases in her day by applying straightforward common sense.
 
President Tony thanked Mr. Von Drehle for his comments and presented the customary Club 13 pen to him in appreciation.
 
Next week, our guest speaker will be Ryan Maybee, leader of J. Rieger & Company.
 
President Tony concluded the club meeting by citing the thoughts of Ronald Reagan: “We remember those who were called upon to give all a person can give, and we remember those who were prepared to make that sacrifice if it were demanded of them in the line of duty, though it never was. Most of all, we remember the devotion and the gallantry with which all of them ennobled their nation as they became champions of a noble cause.”
 
The Rotary 4-Way Test closed the session at 12:58.
Westside CAN Center Toy Drive
Help us give a happy holiday to children in Kansas City! We have committed to 60 gifts for the Westside CAN Center, monetary donations are also acceptable via checks mailed or delivered, or given to one of the community service committee members to drop off. You can sign up at this link.
 
We are also asking 10 people to help with deliveries - two already taken.
 
Gifts/donations are $15/gift - please stay consistent as many families have multiple children and it is hard when they vary greatly in value.
 
Another need - not as a Club-sponsored event, but another need is for Thanksgiving dinner sponsors - if anyone is interested they can reach out to Jessica Block or Barbara Dolci or Westside CAN directly to sponsor a meal.
African GSE Team
The African GSE Team was hosted by Club 13 on November 6 through November 10. Dallas Ziegenhorn led the committee that planned the activities for the five days which included tours of the Kauffman Center for Performing Arts, Rotary Youth Camp, Money Museum, Westside CAN Center, Minddrive, WWI Museum and the Tiny Houses.  The group also participated in the Harvesters service event and enjoyed jazz music at the Green Lady. Thanks to the many volunteers and the home hosts President Tony Andresen, Mary Kingsley, David Hanzlick, PDG Marc Horner and Dallas Ziegenhorn.  
Book Discussion Group
Please join the Rotary Book Discussion Group on Zoom for the discussion of the book Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann.  The book is available at Rainy Day Books and the discussion will be led by Vivien Jennings.  All Rotarians and guests are welcome.
 
Event: Rotary Book Discussion Group
Date: Monday, November 29, 6:30 PM
Zoom Meeting
 
About the book:
In the 1920’s. the richest people per capita in the world were members of the Osage Nation in Oklahoma.  After oil was discovered beneath their land, they rode in chauffeured cars and lived in mansions.  Then, one by one, the Osage began to be killed.  Mollie Burkhart watched as her family became a prime target.  Her relatives were shot and poisoned, Other Osage were also dying under mysterious circumstances, and many of those who investigated the crimes were themselves murdered.  As the death toll rose, the case was taken up by the newly created FBI and its young, secretive director, J. Edgar Hoover.  Struggling to crack the mystery, Hoover turned to a former Texas Ranger named Tom White, who put together an undercover team, including a Native American agent. They infiltrated this last remnant of the Wild West, and together with the Osage began to expose one of the most chilling conspiracies in American history.
We meet Thursdays at Noon
The Gallery
14 & Main
Kansas City, MO 
 
 
 @rotaryclub13
 
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Upcoming Events
Satellite Club Meeting
Tower Tavern
Nov 23, 2021
5:30 PM – 6:30 PM
 
Bagel Run
Nov 27, 2021
 
Rotary Book Discussion Group
Zoom
Nov 29, 2021
6:30 PM – 7:30 PM
 
Rotary Bowling League
Ward Pkwy Lanes
Dec 01, 2021 4:30 PM
 
Bagel Run
Dec 04, 2021
 
Rotary Bowling League
Ward Pkwy Lanes
Dec 08, 2021 4:30 PM
 
Rotary Holiday Cocktail Party
Historic Drexel Hall
Dec 09, 2021
5:00 PM – 6:30 PM
 
Bagel Run
Dec 11, 2021
 
View entire list
Speakers
Nov 25, 2021
Happy Thanksgiving
Dec 02, 2021
Dec 09, 2021
Holiday Party
View entire list

Bowling News
by Tim Tholen
Hello Rotary Club 13,
 
Last week was another slower night, not many 200 plus games or amazing splits. But we all had fun!
 
Will Patrick had a 237 and Peter Ho had a 222, which helped him score a 600+ series! Dee Reynolds knocked down a 6/10 split. Team Split Happens captained by Kristine Grimsley was in first, we will see next week if that is still the case!

Salvation Army Bell Ringing
The holidays are just around the corner, and it’s time to kickoff our annual Salvation Army Bell Ringing Drive! THIS YEAR OUR HELP IS NEEDED MORE THAN EVER! There are opportunities to ring on the Saturday before Thanksgiving and the first two Saturdays of December. 
 

 
The Satellite Club will meet on Tuesday, November 23rd, 5:30 PM in the meeting room at the Tower Tavern, 401 East 31st Street.  Taylor Jackson will serve as Moderator and, following networking, the group will have a discussion on membership. All Club 13 members are welcome to attend.

Rotary Holiday Cocktail Party

Thursday, Dec. 9, 2021

5:00 - 6:30 PM

Historic Drexel Hall

$25/person (2 drink tickets included)

Gourmet Hors d’oevres

Featuring the Kansas City Jazz Orchestra Trio

Festive Holiday Attire Encouraged

Register Now!


 
Rotary Youth Camp Update
Are you ready for #GivingTuesday? Mark your calendars for the start of the charitable giving season- November 30th. GivingTuesday was created in 2012 as a simple idea: a day that encourages people to do good. It is now an independent nonprofit and a global movement that inspires hundreds of millions of people to give, collaborate, and celebrate generosity. The official fundraiser date is always the Tuesday after Thanksgiving- first you have Black Friday, then Cyber Monday, then finally a chance to give back with Giving Tuesday! The Camp has been participating in our very own #GivingCampTuesday campaigns since 2018 and look forward every year to the opportunity to get the community more involved in our mission. Over the last three years we have raised almost $5000 toward our operations- and hope to continue the tradition this year. Want to participate? Create your own fundraiser on Facebook and promote the camp!!

Construction Update
The floor/ceiling is being poured!  Footings are in and the slab should be next!

 
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