Membergram of the Kiwanis Club of Omaha Golden K Vol. 35, No. 9 June, 2015 Omahagoldenk.org Published monthly for Kiwanis Club of Omaha Golden K. Editorial Office, 16116 Ontario Circle, Omaha, Nebraska 68130. Telephone, 402-334-2449. Dale Harris, Editor; C h r i s O l s o n , Leo Graff, Paul Filipi, Dean Marshall, Associate Editors One of a kind Miracle baseball league welcomes everyone who wants the chance to play baseball. The Blue Jays lineup of players and coach Please take time to look over the results of the Club survey that is detailed on pages 4, 5 and 6 in this month’s MemberGram. I believe it provides insight into what you think of your Club and it will help to direct the Board of Director’s efforts over the next year. Richard Williams has done a good job of sorting through the data and presenting it. I believe the individual comments added interesting observations on how you view your Club. The comments showed diverse opinions on some matters and also that the Board can do more to keep you informed on what is happening in the conduct and procedures of the Club during the weekly meetings. The issue of funding for our Service Projects will continue to require the Boards efforts and direction. These are games played that are about more than winning and losing. There are no balls. There are no strikes. No one is called out. All games end in a tie. But, there will be plenty of smiles and laughter and the opportunity to participate and make friends. Golden K Kiwanis members are encouraged to come out and support the Blue Jays and the league. June Schedule ALLPLAY is a major activity for our Clubs participation during the summer. Please look at the schedule of volunteer activities at www.allplay.org especially for the time when our team, the Blue Jays, are playing. Golden K committee Chair Chris Olson can help and provide additional information. Norm Marfice, President ALLPLAY Miracle Baseball League June 6 - June 27, 2015 Seymour Smith Park @ 66th & Harrison Sts June 6…. Blue Jays vs Braves...…...8:30 AM June 13…Blue Jays vs Dia. Backs.10:30 AM June 20…Blue Jays vs Orioles…...12:30 PM June 27…Blue Jays vs Rockies..…..9:30 AM 1 SPAMALOT AT THE OMAHA COMMUNITY PLAYHOUSE Golden K elected it’s leaders for 2015-16 During the Golden K Annual Meeting on May 19 the following people were elected: President -- Nancy Haack President-elect -- Dick Williams Treasurer -- Linda Placzek Vice President -- vacant Immediate Past-President -- Norm Marfice Board members -- Jerry Bland, Betty Foster, Bill Gordon, Robert Kully, Barbara Lund-Irvin, Chris Olson, and Sarah Young. The elected officers and appointed Golden K Secretary Dean Marshall serve one year, beginning October, 1. A special invitation to Kiwanis members and friends to attend a performance of Spamalot at the Playhouse on Thursday, June 25 at 7:30 PM. Seats will be in Rows 5 and 6 in the center section. A group rate of $30 per ticket has been arranged and checks are to be made to: Omaha Community Playhouse (no cash, please!). Reservations will be taken at the Kiwanis meetings on May 26, June 2 and 9. No refunds after June 10 when final reservations are due at the Playhouse. Storm Chasers Baseball Join fellow Kiwanians from the Kiwanis Club of Omaha East for a fun afternoon of baseball with the Omaha Storm Chasers vs. the Round Rock Express. Spamalot, a musical, is a spin-off from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. It takes the audience on a side-splitting romp through legendary tales of King Arthur and the quest for the Holy Grail. It is the ultimate adventure in silliness! Sunday, June 28th at… 2:05 P M $8.00 per person(with 20 people participating) A behind the scenes tour can be arranged at 6:15 that evening for those who may be interested in learning more about the Playhouse and the costume, scenery and carpentry departments. The Playhouse is located at 69th and Cass Streets with parking to the south of the building. Betty Foster See Linda Placzek about ticket information. Showing off her Handwork Barbara Lund-Irvin with display of Golden K memorabilia she had collected, and then presented to the attendees at the Kiwanis’ 100th Birthday Celebration ceremony at the Champion Club on April 23rd. Other Kiwanis clubs in addition to Golden K participated in the event. Jane Erickson, VP of Kiwanis International and Governor Steve McNally were featured speakers. 2 Golden K Kiwanis Brings Joy to Kids On May 15th, Conestoga elementary School Students participated in their annual Field Day. Once again this year, Golden K Kiwanians were on hand to staff one of the stations. That, of course, was a Book Giveaway. Kiwanians Bob Balzerick, Don McWhirter, Carolyn Law, Jim Jirousek, Jim Lastovica, Georgiann Benish, Janet Davis, Bob Williams, Bob Rohde, Bob Van Meter, Ed Atkinson and Linda Placzek worked to make sure the children found just the “right book” for summer reading. The 64 Pre-Schoolers also held book selections in their classrooms making a total of 404 books in the hands of the students. To quote one of the students “I love reading every day! Thank you for giving us free books!” Linda Placzek We Couldn’t Do It Without YOU! Voting at the Kiwanis International Convention On behalf of our Club Officers and Board Members, Betty Foster, Chairperson of Early Child Priority One Committee, Carolyn Law and , and myself, we want to extend our enormous appreciation. Your generosity has made it possible to carry out all of the activities which are included in our club’s NE-IA Foundation Grant to provide literacy education for parents. We will serve the clients of the Assure Program and the parents of our Conestoga pre-schoolers as well as providing books for a Conestoga Pre-School Take Home Library Program beginning this fall. Kiwanians around the world and five Omaha Golden K Kiwanis members are registered to attend the 100th Birthday Celebration and Annual Kiwanis International Convention in Indianapolis, Indiana June 25 - 28. Golden K members planning to attend are Nancy Haack, Dean Marshall, Bob Hasebroock, Kim Pacaj and Rob Rohrbough. Haack and Marshall are official delegates to the convention and will be eligible to vote on proposed amendments and resolutions on behalf of Golden K. Thanks go to: Ed Atkinson, Bob Kully, Don Miller, Nancy Haack, Bob Hasebroock, Les Rygg, Elaine Beard, Patte Martin, Tim Witty, Norm Marfice, Rob Rohrbough, Don Elliott, John and Sara Young, Paul Filipi, Leo Graff, Don Jones, Bob Schropp, Tom Andrews, Georgiann Benish, and Jim Lastovica. If I missed you, I apologize as several people handed me cash the day the program was announced and I may have not been able to recall your name….please let me know if I omitted you. Linda Placzek There are nine amendments on the docket this year for consideration to be voted on and Nancy Haack will be explaining each one during the upcoming Tuesday morning meetings until all nine have been reported to the Golden K membership. If you have an interest or want to have input into how they should vote, please let Nancy or Dean know your thoughts. A Nancy Haack report. 3 Analysis of Golden K Kiwanis 2015 Annual Club Survey Part one… of the survey focused on four areas of club activity: (1)Membership (2)Community Service (3)Public Relations/Marketing (4)Education/Member Experience. Members were ask to rate statements in each category from zero to four: 0 is never, 1 is rarely, 2 is occasionally, 3 is frequently, 4 is always. A total of 56 surveys were completed by Golden K members. Not all of those surveyed answered all questions. Membership: In the membership category, the average score was 3.66, which was second highest among the four categories. This indicates that members feel that membership growth for the club is good. The lowest rated question (3.26) referenced that the membership was not that confident that the club has an active membership committee. The highest rated question in the category (3.91) indicated that the members believe that guests are welcomed and introduced appropriately. Other higher score questions indicated members believe that new members are recognized and get orientation (3.85) and members who sponsor new members are recognized. Community Service: The mean average score for this category was 3.24, second lowest of the four categories. The lowest score (2.80) question referenced the fact that new projects are reviewed and some implemented. This indicated members believe this to only occasionally be true. The highest score (3.78) in this category indicates that most members believe that members assist frequently in Service Leadership Projects. The next highest (3.67) indicated that members believe the club sponsors at least one Service Leadership Project a year. The second lowest score (2.87) indicates that members believe that most of our membership only occasionally participates in Service Leadership Projects. Public Relations/Marketing: This category received the lowest average mean score (2.83) of all four categories. This may indicate the membership feels we only occasionally to frequently meet these standards and that the club may need more efforts in this area. The question with the lowest score (2.06) stated that our club service projects are regularly reported in the media. A related question received a lower score (2.79) stated that the club work with children is submitted to the local media. The highest score (3.45) indicates that members believe the club maintains an informative and up-to-date web site. The second highest score (3.08) referenced that the club members are good story tellers. Education/member experience: This category received the highest mean average score (3.72) of all four categories. This would seem to indicate that members believe the club is doing well in education and member experience. The highest rated question (3.94) indicates that most members believe the club has a good leadership succession plan. Another high score (3.75) stated that the club sends members to the District convention each year. Other high score indicate the club has a good membership directory (3.75), club meetings are fun, organized and productive (3.72) and the club hold social outings for members and families (3.68). The lowest score (3.58) states that there is an expectation that the club will be recognized as a Distinguished Club each year. A Dick Williams report. 4 Analysis Golden K Kiwanis 2015 Annual Survey, Part 2 Part 2 of the 2015 annual survey looked at questions of interest to the club leadership and Board of Directors. It consisted of eight specific questions and two open ended questions soliciting suggestions and new ideas for the club leadership to consider. Question 1… Do you volunteer for Kiwanis Service Projects? A total of 38 answered yes, or approximately 67.8%. There were 13 No, or 23.2%, and 5 no response. Most of the yes members indicated they volunteered for two, three or more service projects. Question 2… How many Interclubs attended in the last 12 months? A total of 19 Yes, or 34%. There were 35 No, or 62.5%. There were 2 no responses. Thus about 1/3 of the club members participate in one or more Interclub visits during the year and 2/3 do not participate. Question 3… Do Officers keep members informed of club activities? There were 51 out of 56 positive responses, i.e. 91% believe this communication is adequate. There was only one No, and four no response. Question 4… Do members read the MemberGram? There were 47 Yes, or 84% of the survey participants read the MemberGram. There were only three No, 5%, and four no response. Obviously the MemberGram is well read and important to the membership. Question 5… How often do you visit the club web site? There were 38 who visit the web site, or 68% of those 19, or 34% visit 1 to 10 times a year, 15 visited 10 times or more a year, 27%. Several visit weekly, and one or two visit 5 times or more a week. These answer indicate that the web site is well used and important to a substantial number of the membership. Question 6… Approximately how many new members did you meet and talk with last year? There were 45 positive responses. Approximately 80% of the responses met and talked with one to ten new members last year. Only 7 responses, or 12.5% did not speak with a new member. This indicates that the membership make a very positive effort to meet and welcome new members. Question 7… How many club committees did you serve on last year? There were 25 positive responses, 44.6%. There were 26 negative responses, 46.4% and 5 no responses. This indicates that about half of the membership serve on one or more committees while the half do not. Question 8… If the annual budget falls short of funds to cover all the current club projects and services, how would you prefer the Board balance the budget? Questions were rated 5 -1 with 5 the highest priority. Options were: - Outside fund raising projects. For 11 responses, or 19%, this was the highest priority (5). There were 15 responses, or 34% that were a 3 or 4. For 8 responses, or 14%, it was the lowest priority and an additional 8 responses were a 2. Thus 28% of the responses were the low priority of 1 or 2. Continued on page 6 5 - Individual project fund raising appeal to members. There were 7 responses, 12.5%, that this was the highest priority. There were 17 responses, 30%, that were a rated a high, 4 or 5. There were 8 responses, 14% that rated this the lowest priority. Also 17 that were rated a low 1 or 2, 30%. - Moderate increase in annual dues, e.g. $25 or $50. There were 13 responses rating this as the highest priority, 23%. 19 responses that were rated 4 or 5, 33%. There were 11 responses, 19.6%, that were the lowest priority and 19 that were rated 1, 2, or 30%. This response had the highest overall average score, 138. - Cut back on projects and services, no budget increase. This was highest priority for 8 responses, 14% and 15 rated 4 or 5, 26%. It was the lowest priority for 11, 19.6%. 19 were 0, a rating of 1 or 2, 34%. This response had the lowest overall average score of the options, 111. - Other options. 5 responded, this was the highest priority, 9%. Nine were rated 4 or 5, 16%. For 5 responses, 9% rated this the lowest priority. Seven responses were 0,1,or 2, 12.5% The results from question 8 seem to indicate that club members are split fairly evenly with no clear leading choice among the solution options. There is a slight edge that members would like to see a dues increase over other options. A cut back with no budget increase is the lowest scoring option. However, there is only a slight statistical difference between all of the options. . The following indicate the average score for each optional solution: Option 1 – 2.88, Outside fund raising projects. Option 2 – 2.98, Individual project appeal to members Option 3 – 3.07, Moderate dues increase Option 4 – 2.74, Cut back, no budget increase. Option 5 – 2.67, Other. A Dick Williams report. A lot of BOB’s in Golden K All Bob’s: Back row L to R: Decker, Dowell, Jones, Hasebroock, Kully, Balzerick. Front row L to R: Williams, Rohrbough, Schropp, Van Meter Not Pictured: Rohde, Huber 6 Secretary’s Report DIVISION 20 COUNCIL MEETING NEBRASKA-IOWA DISTRICT MAY 6, 2015 APRIL ATTENDANCE AVERAGE 68 Here are highlights from Omaha Golden K Secretary Dean Marshall’s April report to Kiwanis International: u Meetings April, 7, 14, 21, and 28 were attended by 68, 67, 68, and 67 respectively, an average of 68. u Members of Golden K in April: 91 u Four members attended the District 20 meeting April, 1. u Nine members worked 18 hours at the Kiwanis One Day Event (ALLPLAY) project #1 preparing the baseball field for play. u Twelve members worked 60 hours at the Millard North High School Mock interviews project #2 serving 96 high school youth. u Four members worked 12 hours at the Westside High School Senior Project, project # 3 serving 20 youths. u Non-Service Leadership Programs involved 39 member sessions for 649 hours with 24 projects completed. Involving SLP only, there were two members working 17 hours serving 19 youths with two projects completed. u Nineteen Omaha Golden K Airport Ambassadors worked 204 hours and assisted 1,780 travelers. u Seven members attended an Inter Club April 20 with Loveland Kiwanis featuring the history of Prospect Hill Cemetery. u The April Skip A Meal project generated $610 Nancy Haack, Linda Placzek, Bob Hasebroock, Norm Marfice, and Dean Marshall attended the meeting from Omaha Golden K Kiwanis. Kiwanis Club of Omaha-East has extended an invitation to join them at Werner Park on Sunday, June 28 at 2:05 P.M. to watch the Omaha Storm Chasers. Contact Benjamin Sande at [email protected] for more information. Lt. Governor, Barb O’Donnell reported that four clubs in Division 20 have not filed their monthly reports to Kiwanis International for at least the last three months. Each Kiwanis Club are required to file a report to Kiwanis International each month. Kiwanis International Vice-President, Jane Erickson, and her husband, Gus, were present. Jane indicated that Kiwanis officials, K-Kids, and Key Club members from across the U.S. had met at the White House in Washington D.C. with the Office of Public Engagement officials. Lonnie Shumate said the deadline for grant requests from the NE-IA District Foundation is June. Lonnie also reminded Club members that all checks and correspondences to the NE-IA or Kiwanis International Foundations should indicate such. Election results for each Kiwanis Club needs to be sent by the club secretary to Kiwanis International by June. The dates for Camp OK have been changed to May 31-June 5. Camp officials had inadvertently double booked the camp for the previous weekend. Linda Placzek gave an Eliminate Project update. NE-IA District members have pledged or given $2,422,747.75 which saved 1,345,971 lives. “Mother’s Day” Zellers honoring a wife, daughter, or close friend. The deadline to order is June 15. President-Elect training for Divisions 19 & 20 will take place at Goodwill facility in Omaha on June 6, beginning at 9 A.M. Bellevue Morning Club helped with a high school art show. They awarded over $1,000 in prizes. Omaha Westside, Southwest, and Greater Omaha are helping with special Olympics. Southwest will host a golf tournament on July 23 at Tiburon Golf Course. Omaha Golden K. raised over $600 for Skip-A-Meal at a regular club meeting. Will the Pancake Feed event happen this year? Individual clubs will need to decide if they want to be a part of the usual Pancake Feed or not. Lots of the products had been donated by Hy-Vee, in the past. This may not be the case this year. The next meeting will be held on June 3, 2015. A Dean Marshall report. Golden K Kiwanis Clubs of Omaha Airport Ambassadors Information Activity Report April, 2015 Booth Shifts Hours Contacts Average North South Totals 38 30 68 Club Workers Omaha Loveland Other Totals Traveler Questions: North South Totals 7 152 120 272 19 6 0 25 Map Bro. 497 223 720 1,390 719 2,109 37 24 31 Hours Contacts 204 68 0 272 1,780 329 0 2,109 Air Port Hotel Attract. Direct. Totals 634 73 68 118 1,390 350 73 27 46 719 984 146 95 164 2,109 OFFICIAL COUPON Osborne m o T h it w g Mentorin 10 cents They look like this INTERCLUB with Kiwanis Club of Omaha MAY 1, 2015 at the Scott Conference Center included Five Golden K members. Norm Marfice, Sam Wall, Bob Williams, Sara and John Young were in attendance. Dr. Tom Osborne was the featured speaker with his topic “TEAMMATES Mentoring”. Coach Osborne and his wife Nancy founded TEAMMATES in 1991 along with 22 Huskers and the program has grown to 7,500 programs in NE, IA and one in San Diego, CA. Osborne stated that there are approximately 1,200 mentors in the Metro Area serving almost all Omaha schools. According to Osborne TEAMMATES is a school based program that serves “young people to help improve their activity and leadership roles.” Also employers who work with these young people become better community citizens because of TEAMMATES. An example of a business involved is U.S. Bank who has 85 mentors at this time. Mentoring has shown to help improve attendance in school by 85% and provides a vision of hope that is positive and creates the “possible!” Another point given by Osborne was that mentoring influences people in the “now and present”, and peoples lives for the future; like a “trickle-down effect”. Caring and time given are very important parts of mentoring. If you would like to consider becoming a mentor and desire to learn more about TEAMMATES please contact: Andi Hallgren:[email protected] (www.teammates.org) Office: 402-3908326. Finally, to end the meeting a drawing was held with the winner receiving a Coach Tom Osborne autographed football. The lucky winner: Our very own SAM WALL! A Sara Young report. Helping Conestoga Year Around Every Golden K Member can participate in supporting Conestoga School. How? Well, by watching for and cutting out Education BOX TOPS. Each one of these is worth 10 cents? Last year Conestoga received a check for over $400 for the labels collected and turned in. You will find them on many products. Example, Progresso Soups, General Mills cereals, copy paper packages, and the list goes on. Bring them to our club meetings and place in box with blue lid. Thanks for all you do for Conestoga! Linda Placzek June Celebrations Birthdays Al Thornton Vern Cornish Sara Young Ed VanSurksum 6 Ray Carlson 8 Ken Gard 14 Bob Williams 15 Rob Rohrbough Bob Rohde 19 23 25 25 27 Wedding Anniversaries Dean & LaRue Marshall George & Linda Stryker Ken & Shirley Gard Ron & Dee Iske Jerry & Wanda Barnes Ted & Linda Heath John & Sara Young Terry &Tony Fangman Don & Elizabeth Miller 1 4 9 11 12 12 14 17 29 Membership Anniversaries Bob Hasebroock John Hoeven Bob VanMeter Norm Marfice Joan Mulder Bob Kully Don Busenbark Barbara Lund-Irvin 8 1993 1996 2004 2010 2011 2011 2011 2014 Program 6th grade members of the Conestoga Economics Club By: Paul Filipi Reviews Lance Morgan President & CEO HO CHUNK translated means People Capital Funds & Economics: Buy Low-Sell High Study Pros & Cons to make stock recommendations for purchase Largest Indian owned Corporation in America Lance Morgan President & CEO of HO-CHUNK Inc is ½ Native American and ½ Caucasian and a graduate of UNL and Harvard Law School. Launched in 1994 HO CHUNK is an economic development corporation for the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska. It began with Morgan being the only employee to over 1,000 today with operations in 15 states and eight foreign countries. The purpose of this organization is to enable the tribe to become more productive and provide the route to a higher standard of living. As the tribe is like a sovereign nation, they have favorable exemptions avoiding paying state and federal taxes. Under Morgan’s leadership the tribe has it’s own ethanol refinery and tobacco factory giving them tax advantages and resulting jobs. HO CHUNK construction companies has been the catalyst providing “hands up” commercial and home ownership on the Winnebago reservation. Accompanied by Principle David Milan, Teachers Susan Hinchik and Karen McElroy the 4th, 5th, & 6th grades of Conestoga Magnet School explained their economic and investment program. The prime focus is learning how the stock market works and the tools that are available for making wise choices in selection of stocks to buy. Learning starts in the lower grades but actual purchases start in 4th grade where they have $1,000 to invest. The 6th grade has $20,000 to invest and at the end of the year any profits are used to purchase something for the school, and add to the special school fund. This year investment profits reached $20,000. The students illustrated in detail the methods used including charts, studies and research that include P/E, cash flow, & earnings. They presented statistics and research comparisons for Wells Fargo vs. U S Bank, Apple vs. Microsoft. Etc. Mindy Ruffalo Omaha Chamber of Commerce Dick Williams reports the results of the Golden K member survey Recruit far east business to NE China is our 4th largest trading partner Mindy Ruffalo Director, International Business Department,for the Omaha Chamber of commerce recruits new business to Nebraska and nurtures existing business with a goal to build more. China was not foreign to her as she had previously traveled, lived and studied in China. She said that the most promising area for trade for Nebraska's economy was the Far East. Nebraska already has three companies that have ties to China: Berkshire Hathaway, ConAgra and Valmont. In addition to serving as a link between Omaha and foreign investors and businesses, she will keep Nebraska companies educated on import and international trade issues. Promising areas are Export Development, Investment, and Technical Training/Licensing and Joint Ventures. Ruffalo has previously worked for blue chip companies in the United States, Europe and far east companies. The Golden K meeting of May 19,2015 was the annual business meeting. Nancy Haack presented the slate of officers and directors and all were elected by acclamation with the office of vice-president open at the time of election. Various committee chairpersons gave project reports. Dick Williams detailed the results of the member survey and tackled the question of what to do with budget shortfall to fund all the Golden K projects. The board will review and listen to suggestions on what may be the best revenue generation method. Golden K’s involvement includes but not limited to the following activities and public service projects: Airport Ambassadors, Reading at Conestoga Magnet School, Skip a Meal, Interviews at Millard North and Westside Schools, Food Bank, Bell Ringers, ALLPLAY baseball and Pancake Feed. 9 Club Service SETUP GREETERS: John Fifer & Joe Engle will be joined by: June 2.....Don Swanson & Bob Williams June 9.....John Young & Sara Young June 16...Duane Horn & Ron Iske June 23...Bob Dowell & Les Rygg June 30...Ed Atkinson & Al Cormaci Invocations Don Jones Bob Williams Mary Ann Sofio Frank Watt Don Mcwhirter Upcoming Programs: Program Chairperson: Bill Gordon June 2……Speaker: Jennifer Morrell, Officer, National Park Service. Subject: National Parks, Monuments and other park areas. June 9.…...Speaker: Dr. James McDowell, Retired Director of Education and Lecturer. Subject: Early migration to America from life in England, Ireland, and Scotland. June 16.….Speaker: Verrelle Gordon, Officer, Lecturer, Omaha Fire Department. Subject: Training and experiences with the Omaha Fire Department. June 23.….Speaker: Dr. Karen Bremer, Specialist in Neurology. Subject: Strokes, headaches and the brain. June 30…..Speaker: Angie Echtenkamp, Officer, Omaha Police Department. Subject: Crime Prevention. Omaha Golden K meets Tuesdays, 9:30 a.m., Countryside community Church, 8787 Pacific Street The monthly board meeting will be at 10:30 a.m. in the church. Date determined by the board PRESIDENT......... PRESIDENT-ELECT VICE PRESIDENT.. TREASURER.......... SECRETARY......... PAST PRESIDENT.. 2014 – 2015 OFFICERS Norm Marfice Nancy Haack Dick Williams Linda Placzek Dean Marshall Bob Hasebroock 8715 N. 54th Ave. Cir 5062 South 130 Circle 12530 Shirley St 207 Valley Road 19525 Pearl Circle 9315 Western Av #4A 68152 68137 68144 68146 68022 68114 402-571-1227 [email protected] 402-894-2413 [email protected] 402-330-5119 [email protected] 402-592-5104 [email protected] 402- 289-3643 [email protected] 402-397-1518 [email protected] 2014 - 2015 DIRECTORS Sara Young Bill Gordon David Hembrough KIWANIS CLUB OF OMAHA GOLDEN K 16116 Ontario Circle OMAHA, NEBRASKA 68130 Jerry Bland First Class MEMBERGRAM 6 Betty Foster Chris Olson
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