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"We had a very nice Christmas," said Craig. "We went to church, visited my parents and his family, taking our time driving on the skating rinks - uh - I mean streets! All of you have meant so much to us this past year."

Jack received the Bronze Star from his commander and also received several "commander coins" which generals give out to individuals who they feel have done a exceptional job.

Rotary’s Centennial will be celebrated next year from June 18-22 in Chicago, where Rotary got its start. This is an excellent opportunity for our members to get involved on the international level.

Dan Weddle of Edmundson Northstar spoke to us about the sales process at our last meeting., He called sales "the oldest profession" around.

Leadership is important to the sales process, he said. "Sales play a major part in our economy. A strong sales culture is most critical to the success of a business. Everyone in a business is involved in the sales process." He added that the three critical elements of success in sales are behavior, attitude and technique.

Our club needs new blood, and these statistics show why. More than half our members have been in the club at least 15 years. The Old Guard is still doing a great job, but they won’t be with us forever.

Does it surprise you that 11 of our present members have been with us almost since the day the club was formed? That’s slightly more than 25%, quite a high percentage. Four are charter members, two more joined the club in the first year and five became members the second year.

The charter members are Chester Perry, John Shepherd, Jim Vanderburg and Tidwell Semmes. In the same year – 1975 – Leroy Dahler and Bob Neal became members. Al Hollingsworth, Lee Whipple, L.D. Beard, Jeff Jones and Bill Matthews joined in 1976.

Three more members have 25 years of Rotary service under their belts – John Bennett, Henry Francis and R.E. Linkous became members in 1980

Another 10 became members later in the Eighties: Tom Michael (1982), Jerry Daws and Marty Petrusek (1983), Rod Ashley (1984), Gordon Wilson (1985), Floyd McDaniel and Don Palmer (1986), Bert Canfield, Henry Springer and Randolph Reeves (1988).

"There were bodies everywhere – I just broke down and cried." That was how Bill Francis felt as he worked with other volunteers to dispose of the bodies of those killed by the tsunami on the beaches of Phuket and Phi Phi in Thailand. Bill is the son of Henry and Dorthy Francis.

It was such a major change for Bill – just a week earlier he had been Santa Claus, red suit and all, for scores of children in Borneo. When Bill heard of the devastation in Thailand, he immediately went to Phuket to offer any help he could in the rescue and recovery efforts.

His efforts were major. He organized 350 foreigners who wanted to help, and he took an active part in the dirty work. He was overwhelmed by what the sights and the smells in the town where all the bodies were being gathered. "I spent the entire day carrying bodies. I must have lifted and carried hundreds of bodies today. I never knew anything could smell so bad."

Bill, a 21-year retired veteran of the U.S. Air Force, feels he is well protected from disease. "I had all my shots and vaccines before I came over here last May. And I was wearing two pairs of gloves, a face mask, a body suit and thigh-high boots."

He called his father after his first day working with the bodies. "I needed to hear his voice. .I needed something to help me get through this emotionally. There were times when I thought I might lose my equilibrium."

Bill’s work has been recognized by the media. He was interviewed on CBS News by Dan Rather on Tuesday. He talked with Rather for about two hours. He also was featured on Fox International News on New Year’s Day. During the course of the interview they showed several photos of him as he played Santa Claus for the children in Borneo.

Twice the TV cameras made their way to Henry’s house – they wanted to find out more about Bill. Channel 13 ran an interesting segment on the Monday evening news that once again showed Bill as Santa Claus. The next night it was Channel 3 telling about Bill’s outstanding work in Thailand.

During the interviews, much was made of Bill’s reason for spending so much time in Asia – he has been there since May. "I’m on a spiritual journey" is the way Bill puts it. He is not the usual kind of American traveler. He has been alone and on his own throughout the past months. He mixes with the local folks, and he has made a lot of friends in Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia.

One of the high spots of his trip was meeting – and singing for – the king and queen of Malaysia.

Meanwhile Bill is still in Phuket, seeing to it that the foreign volunteers are doing work that is really helpful to the recovery efforts. How long does he plan to stay in Thailand? "Until the work is done."