The Scoop...June 10, 2013
President Jim Osmon called the meeting to order at 12:10pm and Rita Brown gave the invocation and led the Pledge of Allegiance. Jim Chiles was back in town and he led the room in a rousing rendition of Happy Birthday to June, then God Bless America. Bob Christian reported that 79 Rotarians attended the previous week’s meeting and 62 were present at today’s meeting. Don Bruns had an interesting story for Fellowship: The father of late Rotarian Harold Goodnight’s wife Jean invented the Multi-Mixer, which makes multiple milkshakes at once. His star salesman was a man named Ray Kroc, who had sold a large order to a California hamburger chain owned by the McDonald brothers. Kroc thought that with his increasing sales he should get a raise and a promotion. Jean Goodnight’s father refused, so Kroc approached the McDonald brothers about buying their restaurants. Thus, if it were not for Jean Goodnight’s father, McDonald’s as we know it would not exist!
Did you know that you could save $6,000 a year by taking the bus instead of your car? That’s the word from Rose Christian, Executive Director of the Lima/Allen County RTA. She started her presentation with some great old photos of previous mass transit systems in Lima, including the horse drawn railway system and electric railway. The RTA provides more than 200,000 rides every year, a number that is constantly increasing. In fact, ridership is currently at its highest level since 1989.
The RTA provides 3 services: Fixed Route Services – traditional bus routes; Para Transit Service – providing door to door service for the disabled; and Contract Services. Partnering with other agencies such as the Board of Developmental Disabilities, the Council on Aging and the United Way has allowed the RTA to bring more federal money back to our community to assist with operating costs and capital purchases. Christian is hoping to replace several high mileage busses with new ones in the near future, and she’s also hoping to have fixed bus stops instead of the ‘flag stop’ system by which riders wave to have the busses pick them up. Christian is passionate about her work and promotes public transportation as a cost-effective, environmentally friendly alternative to driving a car.