Bob Ash introduced Dr. Bill Whitehurst whose time at ODU and 9 terms representing Tidewater in the US House of Representatives make him known by almost all present. Dr Bill as always maintained everyone’s keen interest as he reviewed the 13 Keys to The Presidency, which were taken from a 1990 book by Allan I. Lichtman & Ken DeCell. He brought copies of the keys and almost everyone had one. Indeed Dr. Bill opined that our Club was too big since he didn’t bring enough! The keys have correctly predicted the outcome of every Presidential election since 1876.

 

He went through all 13 Keys, getting group approval on the answers with 7 True Keys and 5 False Keys, not including Key 11. There was some discussion about the real answer to Key 11 (“The incumbent administration had no major failure in foreign or military affairs.”) If Benghazi was to be a major failure, the answer would be false. If not, it would be true. The issue here is that by the rules of the 13 Keys, if there are 5 or fewer false verdicts, the incumbent wins. Our unscientific vote suggests Donald Trump will win – unless of course Bengazi wasn’t a major defeat in which case Hillary Clinton wins.

 

After a soliloquy that included detailed about the good old days where members of the House could have serious differences of opinion and debate on the floor of the House and then proceed to the House gym where non-partisan paddle ball teams would compete (imagine Tip O’Neill playing paddle ball), Dr. Bill turned to other thoughts.

-          from Larry Sabato, the best political commentator East of the Mississippi:

o   Hillary should win

o   Republicans will lose Senate seats in Wisconsin and Illinois and Missouri is a toss up

o   Republicans should hold the House since gerrymandering has resulted in only 18 real toss up races

o   40% of eligible voters have already voted (and missed the latest October surprises!)

o   Many people are not saying how they will vote, making polling difficult.

 

Dr. Bill also thought it unlikely that a viable third party will develop, comparing this election to the one in 1972 when many Democratic leaders did not support McGovern’s candidacy.

 

Visitation was given by Joey Rothgery.  Gene Justice is recovering nicely. Walt Grandy was reported to be as ornery as ever but doing well at Atlantic Shores. Cynthia Carter-West’s husband is out of the hospital but the diagnosis was incomplete. Joey Rothgery is now head of the Visitations Committee.

 

The slate of officers for the 2017-18 Rotary Year was announced by President Bryce. See adjacent article for details to the left.

 

Jay Kossman was inducted as the newest Rotarian. Jay is a Norfolk native who stayed in local schools, finishing at ODU. He became a health care consultant and in 2013 after 30 years in Connecticut he and his wife returned to Norfolk. He subsequently retired.

Marty Raiss announced the Club outings scheduled in the next few weeks:

            November 5^th at 10 AM, K-9 demo by Norfolk Police Department

            November 9^th, at 9 AM, tour of NIT (pre-registration required)

            November 11that 5:30 PM, Million Bulb Walk at Norfolk Botanical Gardens

            November 29^th at 11:30 AM,  Victorian Holiday Tea at Hunter House

 

Special mention was made of the REACH reading program which requires training to be held at Hampton Roads Community Foundation at 4:30 PM on November 16^th. Participants must have their background checked. Contact Jim Kitz at 477-9193 for more information.

 

The Christmas Party will be December 20^th.

 

Makeups need to be given to Jane by November 14^th.

 

There was a ballot governing the meal structure. If we maintain the traditional hot meal, meal dues will go up by $1.00 per meal. If we go the cycle of soup and sandwich, salad and sandwich etc we will keep the current price.

 

-          Edna Kolovani for an article in Inside Leadership

-          Chip Vogan for his son’s job

-          Bob Latimer for something

-          Michael Desplains for his 12^th wedding anniversary and for the outstanding help by Club members at Norfolk Botanical Gardens

-          Edna Kolovani for a very successful international trip

-          Gus Stuhlreyer for the result of EOS study at Sentara finally being publicized. (Major reductions in serious bugs were reported, a big success for EOS.)

-          Sigur Whitaker for a performance of the Mozart Requiem on Sunday afternoon at 5:30 at Christ & St. Luke’s.  Reception follows.

 

Linwood Beckner introduced Judge Marc Jacobson

Jim O’Brien introduced Francis Lewis a Norfolkian returning from San Diego and looking for work in the health care industry.

Edna Kolovani introduced a very large contingent of Danish students who are doing an exchange at TCC. When they return to Denmark, an equivalent number of TCC students will do an exchange in Denmark.

 

Next Week’s Program: Chuck McPhillips, Mel Price and John Garrett – “The Innovation Corridor & The Elizabeth River Trail

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