Sunfield Area SPY's Report---12/31/09

Chocked Full O’ Good Stuff Column

+ A BIG Thank-You goes out to everyone who contributed to either the Eighth Annual Local Kid’s Gift Drive or Firstbank’s Christmas Wish Tree. There was a good response from the community that helped many local folks that are in dire straights have a better Christmas. Thank you all who stepped forward and pitched in! Your efforts are appreciated!

+ The Sunfield Area Sponsors of Programs for Youth would like to acknowledge a couple of contributions to the Scholarship Fund. They came in from:

* LeRoy Jackson & Elaine Merryfield gave in memory of Mary LeVan-Owens.

* Reinhold & Kay Bodenmuller made a donation in memory of Keith Klotz.

Thank you for using this means to help us help kids!

+ Thought #1: No one is in charge of your happiness but you.

+ Trivia Question-Of-The-Week: On the Pringles potato chip can there is a cartoon caricature that is the head of a man with a large mustache and parted bangs. What is his name? How did “Pringles” get its name? (Answer later in this column).

+ Hey SPY’s ! Get your Annual Meeting RSVP cards back ASAP!!!! We need to know how many people to plan for. Do it now!

+ “Honest Roy’s” Quote-Of-The-Week: “Just be happy I’m not a twin”.

+ Andy Woodman’s Sports Trivia Question-Of-The-Week: In this list, which head coach, (at the start of this season), had the fewest career NCAA Division I wins---Billy Donovan (Florida); Tom Izzo (MSU); Fang Mitchell (Coppin State); Steve Alford (New Mexico); or Tubby Smith (Minnesota)? (Answer later in this column).

+ Be sure to check the great coupon values every month on your SPY’s Community Celebration Calendar.

+ Hey SPY's, 2010 dues are due! They are still just $20. See our treasurer Bill Weller before he sees you! You can get up-to-date on your dues at the Annual Meeting.

+ Did you happen to see this bizarre news tid-bit in the paper recently? “After stopping for drinks at an illegal bar, a Zimbabwean bus driver found that the 20 mental patients he was supposed to be transporting from Harare to Bulawayo had escaped. Not wanting to admit his incompetence, the driver went to a nearby bus stop and offered everyone waiting there a free ride. He then delivered the passengers to the mental hospital, telling the staff that the patients were very excitable and prone to wild fantasies. The deception wasn't discovered for 3 days.”

+ The “Sports Trivia Question Just For ‘Smarty-Pants’ Mac Cready Question-Of-The-Week: What did Jim Benton do to the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving Day in 1945? (Answer later in this column)

+ “Honest Roy’s Year-End Bonus Quote: “It isn’t the jeans that make your butt look fat!”

+ Notice #1: Attention all SPY's! There will NOT be a regular membership meeting held in January due to the Annual Meeting of the Membership meeting on January 12th.

+ Notice #2: Attention all current SPY officers! Please remember to bring a wrapped gift to the Annual Meeting for the "White Elephant Raffle".

+ Calendar Of Upcoming SPY Events:

* Annual Meeting of the Membership, Saturday, January 9th.
* The SPY’s annual Wild Game Dinner is coming up on Saturday, February 6th.. We need all kinds of general helpers the night of the event---like prize ticket sellers---prize runners---gofers---etc.! This is one of our top fund-raisers and is an important event for the kids! If you would like to help, give Buddy Collins a call at 566-8753.
* The SPY's annual Euchre Tournament is coming up on Saturday, February 13th.
* The SPY’s next Texas Hold ‘Em working event will be March 11th thru the 14th. at Tripper’s in Frandor.
Please make a note of the above dates and make plans on attending. Further
details to follow on each event.

+ Trivia Question-Of-The-Week Answer: The Pringles logo is known as "Julius Pringles". The “Pringles" name came from a Cincinnati telephone book, inspired by the street name of Pringle Drive.

+ Andy Woodman’s Sports Trivia Question-Of-The-Week Answer: Tom Izzo has the fewest wins with 336. Donovan has 345; Smith has 429; Mitchell has 371; and Alford has 354.

+ The “Sports Trivia Question Just For ‘Smarty-Pants’ Mac Cready Question-Of-The-Week Answer: Receiver Jim Benton, playing for the Cleveland Rams, became the first player in NFL history to amass over 300 yards of offense in a single game. It was a record that would stand for over 40 years.

+ To find out more about the SPY’s organization, download forms or applications, or catch-up on past issues of the “Dirt Sheet”, go to the SPY’s website at www.sunfieldspys.org.

Ravings Of The Mad Columnist

The following appeared in the December 22, 2009 edition of the Michigan Education Digest:
PINCONNING, Mich. - A Pinconning Area Schools board of education member said that "personal threats" led him to resign, The Bay City Times reported.

Tom Hornacek, whose term would have expired in December 2010, would not specify the nature of the threats, but indicated they are connected to his actions as a board member, The Times reported. Hornacek is co-owner of the Pinny Food Center and Northwoods Wholesale Outlet in Pinconning, and told The Times that he has lost business among school employees.

"I've received threats against my family and business," said Hornacek. "Someone made it personal."

School districts must make cuts in order to balance budgets, but then are blamed for such things as staff reductions, larger class sizes and cutting extracurricular activities, Hornacek told The Times. The article did not detail cuts made in
Pinconning.

"Anyone on a school board who has a retail job in the community, you can't do both because any decision you make is going to hurt somebody," Hornacek said, according to The Times. "Being a school board member in Michigan is the dirtiest job in America right now."

The tragic thing about this article is that it points out who catches the grief for the ineptitude of the politicians in Lansing. The government calls the shots on school funding. When they argue and delay their budgeting process and in effect hold school districts hostage, they don’t get the wrath of irate citizens---the local School Board members do. School Boards can do nothing about operational funding. It’s all handled in Lansing---by law. But, they get passed on the “mess” to deal with from the politicians.

Then there was this in the Wall Street Journal:

“State lawmakers will soon face large budget deficits again, perhaps as much as $100 billion across the U.S. Here's some free budget-balancing advice: Steer clear of the Michigan model. The Wolverine state is once again set to run out of money, and it is once again poised to raise taxes even as jobs and businesses disappear.
Every state has seen a big jump in joblessness since 2007, but with a 15.2% unemployment rate Michigan's jobs picture is by far the worst. Some 750,000 private-sector payroll jobs have vanished since the start of the decade. For every family that has moved into Michigan since 2007, two have sold their homes and left.
Meanwhile, the new business taxes didn't balance the budget. Instead, thanks to business closures and relocations, tax receipts are running nearly $1 billion below projections and the deficit has climbed back to $2.8 billion. As the Detroit News put it, Michigan businesses are continually asked "to pay more in taxes to erase a budget deficit that, despite their contributions, never goes away." And this is despite the flood of federal stimulus and auto bailout cash over the last year.
There are now 637,000 public employees in Michigan compared to fewer than 500,000 workers left in manufacturing. Government is the largest employer in the state, but the number of taxpayers to support these government workers is shrinking. The (latest delayed) budget deadline was November 1, and (the Governor) is holding out for tax increases rather than paring back state government. (It still isn’t resolved---and schools; kids; businesses; and communities suffer while the politicians dither).

If any larger good can come of the experience, it is that Michigan is teaching other states how not to govern.”

Wishing Everyone Out There In “Dirt Sheet Land” A Better & Happier New Year!

+ MDLXIII