Blackhawk Golden ‘K’ General Meeting
Minutes
June 10th, 2026
President Richard Johnson presided, and called the meeting to order with a ring of the bell at 9:30AM.
Richard Johnson led with the singing of America, the National Anthem, and the Pledge of Allegiance.
Invocation: Dave Calverley, mentioning the children.
Raffle: John Janes oversaw the ticket sales and drawing this week.
The weekly pot was $13 and the big (Joker) pot was $141.
Don Anderson drew a ticket from the bucket, ticket number 288. Congratulations to the winner, Maury Frey.
The deck of cards has 43/53 cards remaining. Maury Frey drew the A♠.
Happy Box: Richard Johnson announced he is happy because it is his 80th birthday!
Maury Frey announced he is happy because he won the raffle, and he and Glenn Disrude are donating the proceeds to the club!
Jokes: Joker Mel Lemirande had a good joke about seagulls near the sea, and bagels.
Joke Steve Skelly had a good joke.
Joker Carl Creamer had a good joke about how to remove a skunk in his basement. After asking a friend, he left a trail of bread crumbs.
Other Announcements: Luci Cramer spoke upon the club visit to Camp Wawbeek. Twelve members are signed up to go Thursday, June 25th. The plan is to leave at maybe 10:30am from Rotary and have lunch in the Dells before arriving at 1PM.
Committee Reports: Tom Neumann announced the Janesville Farmer’s Market booth is this weekend!
John Janes announced the club is seeking a solution for speakers on the parade float during the 4th of July parade.
Carl Cramer announced the club elections are next week! John Janes added, Vice President is an important role and track.
April Wright introduced the day’s speaker, Chris Tazelaar. Chris has been with Second Harvest for nearly fifteen years. He is their Media Specialist and Public Relations Manager.
Second Harvest of Southern Wisconsin provided 26.3 million pounds of food last year.
They try to provide high nutrition meals. For example, they passed on an opportunity for truck loads of a name brand sugary cola.
Chris shared some facts: 40% of the food made in this country never makes it to someone’s table.
Kiwanis member Tom Neumann asked, “Does Second Harvest use income verification?” Chris replied, “No. The government, The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP), have requirements.”
Kiwanian Ray Szczepaniak inquired, “Who distributes?” John Janes offered, “Many locations are available,” including three he knew personally (including churches).
Kiwanis member Richard Johnson asked, “Does Second Harvest help people that don’t drive?” Chris answered, “Some pantries have people that deliver to others. For example, sometimes new or expensive cars come. Our policy is no judgement. It may be patrons are there for others, or their situation is different that what you might assume.”
A 38% share of Janesville residents live below the ALICE threshold.
Kiwanian Jim Farrell asked, “Do you have data about how ALICE skews by age.” “Not at this time.”
Second Harvest works with pantries to empower them. ‘How can we help you go from once to twice monthly? New fridge?’
Tom Neumann commented about, “WMTV15 has “Share Your Holidays.” Does Second Harvest do similar?” A member reminded Tom, “Share Your Holidays is Second Harvest sponsored.”
Jim Farrell inquired, “Do corporate sponsors help?” Chris responded, “Maybe 80% of the financial support received was from corporate sponsors.” After further inquiry, “The government does not assist Second Harvest.”
Ray Szczepaniak asked, “What percentage of the budget goes to overhead?” Chris replied, “Seven percent! Nationally, the average is 30 percent.”
Kiwanis member Maury Frey inquired, “Do recipients reciprocate?” Chris confirmed, “Absolutely! Some in need, and those whose situation has improved.”
Currently, Second Harvest is working on ‘Adopt a Dairy Cow’ with names including Daffny, Browny and Clementine. They are ways to purchase milk.
Chris Tazelaar’s presentation was well received and appreciated.
April Wright thanked Chris Tazelaar for speaking and presented him with a Kiwanis Parker pen.
Richard Johnson adjourned the meeting with a ring of the bell at 10:55AM.
On this day:
1194 Major fire at Chartres Cathedral, France, leads to it rebuilt as the high point of French Gothic style
1610 First Dutch settlers arrive from New Jersey to colonize Manhattan Island
1639 First American log cabin at Fort Christina (Wilmington, Delaware)
1652 John Hull opens the first mint in America in Boston
1692 First victim of the Salem witch trials, Bridget Bishop, is hanged after being found guilty of witchcraft in the Colony of Massachusetts
1752 Benjamin Franklin tests the lightning conductor with his kite-flying experiment
1760 New York passes the first effective law regulating the practice of medicine
1770 British explorer Captain James Cook is the first European to discover the Great Barrier Reef off Australia – by running aground on its coral causing the ship to leak (ship later beached and repaired)
1793 First public zoo opens in Paris
1801 Tripoli declares war on US for refusing tribute
1805 First Barbary War: Pasha Yusuf Karamanli of Ottoman Tripolitania signs a peace treaty with American envoy Tobias Lear, ending hostilities with the US over its refusal to pay tribute; the US pays a ransom to secure the release of prisoners and lifts its naval blockade
1809 First US steamboat to make an ocean voyage leaves NY for Philadelphia
1829 The first Oxford and Cambridge University Boat Race takes place (Oxford wins)
1845 Andrew Jackson’s African Grey parrot “Poll” is removed from his funeral for swearing at The Hermitage, Tennessee. Funeral attendee William Menefee Norment records: “Before the sermon and while the crowd was gathering, a wicked parrot that was a household pet got excited and commenced swearing so loud and long as to disturb the people and had to be carried from the house”
1846 Robert Thomson obtains an English patent on a rubber tyre
1847 Chicago Tribune begins publishing
1848 First telegraph link between NYC and Chicago
1854 German mathematician Bernhard Reiman proposes that space is curved
1854 The first class of the United States Naval Academy students graduate
1857 Britain passes an act putting Canada on the decimal currency system
1899 Improved Benevolent & Protective Order of Elks forms in Cincinnati
1905 First forest fire lookout tower is put into operation in Greenville, Maine
1908 Aeronautical Society of New York, the first flying club, opens
1929 American biologist E.O. Wilson, who was recognized as the world’s leading authority on ants, was born.
1932 First demonstration of artificial lightning in Pittsfield, Massachusetts
1933 Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker flip their car into a ravine. Parker suffers serious third degree burns from the accident which would affect her for the rest of her life.
1933 John Dillinger robs his first bank, taking $10,600 from the National Bank in New Carlisle, Ohio
1933 US President Franklin D. Roosevelt issues executive order making Mount Rushmore, in the Black Hills of South Dakota, part of the National Park Service
1935 In Akron, Ohio, Dr. Robert H. Smith (Dr. Bob) from Akron & Bill Wilson from New York City form Alcoholics Anonymous (date of Smith’s last drink)
1944 Relief pitcher Joe Nuxhall at 15 years, 316 days, debuts for Cincinnati Reds; youngest player in MLB history; becomes All Star and broadcaster
1946 Rear Admiral Sidney W. Souers, USNR, ends term as 1st director of CIA. Lieutenant General Hoyt S. Vandenberg, USA, becomes 2nd director of CIA
1947 Saab produces its first automobile
1949 80,000 people attend the fifth annual Philadelphia Music Festival at Municipal Stadium, largest crowd to date for a cultural event in the city; performers include jazz legend Armstrong, concert violinist Jeanne Mitchell, and pianist and vocal improvisor Alec Templeton
1952 US President Harry Truman expresses a desire to nationalize the steel industry
1955 First separation of a virus into component parts is reported
1959 American motorcycle racer John Penton (33) arrives in downtown Los Angeles, after cross-continental New York ride covering 3,051 miles in 52 hours, 11 minutes, 1 second, besting previous record by over 25 hours (this record broken in 1967)
1962 A one-day record 54 home runs hit in baseball
1963 US Equal Pay Act signed into law by President John F. Kennedy
1964 Rolling Stones record their “12×5” album at Chess Studios in Chicago, Illinois
1966 Janis Joplin plays her 1st live gig with Big Brother & The Holding Company, at Avalon Ballroom in San Francisco, California
1966 The Beatles release single “Paperback Writer” / “Rain” in UK; “Rain” featured experimental studio tricks of slowed down bass and drums tracks, and backwards vocals in the fade out
1966 The Mamas & the Papas are awarded a gold record for “Monday, Monday”
1967 15,000 attend Fantasy Faire and Magic Mountain Music Festival, California
1967 American pole vaulter Bob Seagren sets a world record mark of 17’7″ in San Diego, California
1971 44th National Spelling Bee: Jonathan Knisely wins spelling “shalloon”
1972 Elvis Presley records a live album at NYC’s Madison Square Garden
1972 Sammy Davis Jr.’s cover of “The Candy Man” by Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse (from the film “Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory”) goes to #1 on the charts – his biggest single
1973 American rock band the Grateful Dead perform their longest concert, 30 songs clocking in at approximately 4:41:37, at Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium in Washington, D.C.
1973 NASA launches Radio Astronomy Explorer 49 into lunar orbit
1976 49th National Spelling Bee: Tim Kneale wins spelling narcolepsy
1977 American golfer Al Geiberger becomes the first player in history to post a sub-60 score, 59 (−13), in a PGA Tour-sanctioned event during the second round of the Danny Thomas Memphis Classic at Colonial CC in Tennessee
1977 Apple Computer ships its first Apple II computers
1982 American TV sitcom “Taxi” last airs on ABC, cancelled after 4 seasons and 15 Emmy Award wins; moves to NBC in the fall, airing for 1 season and wins 3 more Emmys
1984 US missile shoots down an incoming missile in space for first time
1985 Coca-Cola announces they’re bringing back their 99-year-old formula
1987 NASA Discovery’s SRBs & external tank are mated
1988 Greatest number of participants (31,678) on a bicycle tour (London)
1989 “Tales From The Crypt” TV Anthology debuts on HBO
1996 Intel releases the 200 MHz Pentium pro processor
Ballpoint Pen Day celebrates the achievement of László and György Bíró, two Hungarian brothers who were the architects of the ballpoint pen. The consensus is that Ballpoint Pen Day takes place on June 10th because it was on June 10, 1943, that László Bíró applied for a patent for his pen.
László Bíró first tried to stop pens from smudging by attempting to use newspaper ink in fountain pens. This proved ineffectual as the ink was too thick for the pens. With the help of his brother, Bíró then created the ball and socket for the ballpoint pen. A metal ball at the end of the pen sat inside a socket, which allowed it to rotate. Quick-drying ink rolled onto the surface the pen was placed on, while more ink was gathered on the side of the ball that faced the inside of the pen, which then rolled onto the surface, repeating the process. Bíró invented his first ballpoint pen in 1931, which he showcased at the Budapest World Fair that year.
Today we celebrate the black cow, which in many locations is simply another name for a root beer float—a drink consisting of root beer and vanilla ice cream. They are sometimes called chocolate cows or brown cows when chocolate ice cream is used in place of vanilla. In some locations, a black or brown cow is made with cola instead of root beer. In other locations, root beer and ice cream are mixed together, instead of the ice cream sitting on top.
Frank J. Wisner, owner Cripple Creek Brewing in Colorado, made the first black cow on August 19, 1893, after observing the snow caps of Cow Mountain the night before, and thinking they looked like ice cream scoops on top of soda. The first drinks were made by combining Myers Avenue Red root beer and vanilla ice cream. He soon began making the drink using cola, and it became known as the Black Cow Mountain drink. It is said that children shortened the name to the black cow.
National Iced Tea Day celebrates the refreshing summer-friendly drink, which makes up about 85% of tea consumed in the United States. People first started drinking iced tea in the United States around the 1860’s, and the first recipes for it were printed in cookbooks in the 1870’s. The growth of iced tea can partly be attributed to the availability of ice, which began being shipped from the northern states to southern states and the Caribbean at the beginning of that century. But, the primary impetus for the expanded popularity of the drink can be credited to Richard Blechynden, who served it at the World’s Fair in St. Louis in 1904, which led to many people bringing it to all parts of the country. Prohibition, which lasted from 1920 to 1933, also helped keep iced tea drinking popular. Black iced tea is the most common, but many types of tea leaves can be used. The tea can be sweetened or unsweetened, and lemons, limes and herbs can be added. There are many possible health benefits of drinking tea, and it contains flavonoids that quite possibly have antioxidant properties. But, if the tea is bottled with high amounts of sugar or high fructose corn syrup, the health benefits may be partly neutralized. Home-brewed tea may be the most healthy, as the brewer knows exactly what’s in it.
Minutes by Ryan Lewis.
Credit: Dave Figi, and Ryan Lewis, photographs.
Note: Kiwanis and its members are not responsible for errors or omissions. We are open to discussion if you would like to request an alteration. This content may only be reproduced without alteration and with credit to the original author(s).
rev. 10-21-2025
