[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 132 (Thursday, October 19, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1823-E1825]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

[[Page E1823]]



                          TRIBUTE TO BO SHAFER

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. JOHN J. DUNCAN, JR.

                              of tennessee

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, October 18, 2000

  Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, today I want to recognize Mr. Bo Shafer, who 
recently became the International President of the Kiwanis Club.
  He is one of the finest men I know.
  All who know Bo Shafer agree that he is a compassionate leader who 
serves our Country well. His dedication and commitment to community 
service and involvement are an example to everyone.
  He has served for 33 years on the Salvation Army Board, raised 
millions of dollars for the Center of Hope and other organizations, and 
served as an elder and Sunday school teacher at the Second Presbyterian 
Church, just to name a few.
  In 1995 he was named Community Leader of the Year by the Religious 
Heritage of America. Bo Shafer also served as United Way chairman in 
1983 and co-chairman with his wife, Mary, in 1994.
  Bo's devotion to community service can only be outdone by his 
commitment to family. Bo and Mary have been married for 33 years. They 
have a beautiful family, including the recent addition of their first 
grandchild, Christopher.
  This Country would be a better place if we had more men like Bo 
Shafer.
  I want to say thank you to a great Tennessean, a great American, my 
friend, Bo Shafer. I have included a copy of an article written in 
Kiwanis Magazine honoring Bo Shafer that I would like to call to the 
attention of my colleagues and other readers of the Record.

                   [From Kiwanis Magazine, Oct. 2000]

                       At the Heart of Bo Shafer

                            (By Chuck Jonak)

       At Cain Seed Hollow, Bo and Mary Shafer's family finds a 
     Tennessean slice of paradise. Norris Lake laps lightly at its 
     banks some 100 feet below the cottage's second-story deck. 
     Leaves rustle, Hummingbirds flit about in zigzag flight. 
     Vixen lazes away her dog's life, napping between the two 
     rocking chairs where Bo and Mary watch the sun set over the 
     river lake's distant horizon. The quite's so loud, you can 
     hear yourself think.
       Soaking up the serenity, Bo reflects on the countless good 
     times centered on this rustic retreat he carved into a plot 
     of sloping woods: a fireplace crackling on a winter's night 
     with his beloved wife snuggling close; churning up homemade 
     ice cream while his young daughter, Heidi, stands wide-eyed 
     by his side; the scent of the forest as he cuts fallen trees 
     with his teenage son, Andy; the inner-tube train filled with 
     his kids' friends bouncing and laughing behind a slow-moving 
     speedboat's wake. Soon, a grandchild (or two or three) will 
     create new memories, gleefully playing below on his kids' 
     swings--now still.
       Bo counts his blessings. A life rich with love and joy, 
     he's always strived to share it with as many people as 
     possible, and he will be afforded a global opportunity to 
     expand upon a lifelong devotion to community service as 
     Kiwanis' 2000-01 International President--while spreading his 
     homespun ``Boverbs'':


         ``Joy comes from giving; pleasure comes from taking''

       ``I don't think people are born with a servant heart; I 
     think we're born selfish,'' Bo theorizes. ``And if you don't 
     have spiritual help, you really don't have the right heart to 
     do things for other people and expect nothing in return. When 
     I ask people why they help others, the answer I usually get 
     is that it makes them feel good. That's fine, but if you do 
     it for that reason, that's not altruistic service.''
       Bo knows. His civic involvement, particularly in the fund-
     raising arena, in which he's raised millions of dollars, is 
     as deep as his roots to his hometown of Knoxville, Tennessee. 
     He always has devoted about 50 percent of his waking hours to 
     community service of some form.
       Consider a sampling: 33 years on the Salvation Army Board, 
     including $5 million raised for the Center of Hope as 
     campaign co-chairman (with good friend and Knoxville Rotarian 
     Dale Keasling); United Way chairman in 1983 and co-chairman 
     (with Mary) in 1994, including $1.6 million raised for McNabb 
     Children and Youth Center as campaign co-chairman (again with 
     Keasling); Second Presbyterian Church elder and Sunday school 
     teacher for 31 years; and 1995 Community Leader of the Year 
     by the Religious Heritage of America.


             ``We are blessed to be a blessing to others''

       ``With United Way, I'd visit agencies and learn more and 
     more about how many people need help,'' President Bo says, 
     ``I really learned
       Bo's servant heart was nurtured by his parents. His mother, 
     Evelyn, age 93, with whom he lunches nearly every Wednesday, 
     has a master's degree in child development. She taught school 
     for a while but then stayed home to raise Bo, his twin 
     sister, and his brother and other sister.
       His father, Alex, who died in 1967, was the son of a West 
     Virginia railroad machinist, an insurance agent, and a 
     Knoxville Kiwanian. In 1965 alone, he was the Kentucky-
     Tennessee Kiwanis District governor, the Knoxville Elk Club 
     exalted leader, and a local school board member. Still, Bo's 
     dad--and his mother--always were involved in their children's 
     activities.


 ``Don't worry that your children aren't listening to you; worry that 
                         they're watching you''

       ``I had a very supportive family. My parents were the 
     biggest influence on me by far, and my daddy influenced me 
     most on community service,'' Bo recalls. ``He had a good 
     heart; he always was helping people.''
       Born February 1, 1937, Bo had an active childhood, 
     especially in sports. He was on the high school basketball 
     and track teams, and he excelled at football, earning all-
     state honors and a scholarship to the University of Tennessee 
     (UT) in Knoxville.
       Notably, he was a charter member of the West High School 
     Key Club, and then he became a charter member of the UT 
     Circle K club. Years later when Bo was the Circle K club's 
     Kiwanis sponsor, he helped it form a Big Brothers chapter.
       In college, football--which is taken very seriously at UT--
     occupied much of his time. A six-foot-two-inch, 220-pound 
     ``average'' tackle who played iron-man football (offense and 
     defense) for the Volunteers, he saw a lot of action as a 
     junior and was a first-stringer his senior year. (The Vols 
     went to the 1956 Sugar Bowl with tailback Johnny Majors and 
     to the 1957 Gator Bowl.)
       Bo was more than just a jock, though: His senior year, he 
     was elected student government president. He graduated in 
     1959 with a bachelor's degree in business.
       Then it was off to the United States Army for 18 months 
     with his Reserve Officers' Training Corps commission. He was 
     a first lieutenant in the military police with a logistical 
     command unit stationed in Metz, France, for more than a year. 
     He credits that experience (as well as seven years in the US 
     Army Reserve) for enhancing his leadership skills.
       Returning home, Bo began the pursuit of his career 
     aspirations and soon opened the Shafer Insurance Agency with 
     his father in 1963. (Today, the agency has 17 employees, 
     including his son, who also is a UT business grad.)


                     ``Nothing worthwhile is easy''

       ``I wrote a paper in the ninth grade about being an 
     insurance agent; that's what I wanted to be,'' Bo says. ``My 
     daddy never came home and complained about the business; he 
     just talked about it positively. I never had another thing 
     that I ever wanted to do except to follow in his footsteps.''
       Well, almost nothing. By 1966, Bo was active in the Kiwanis 
     Club of Knoxville (having joined in 1962 with his father's 
     gentle persuasion) as the club's sponsor for the UT Circle 
     K'ers, and, in Mary's words, was ``the most eligible bachelor 
     in town.'' Now, it seems that Mary, who was a UT education 
     major, a former Miss


 ``The reason guys don't ask out girls is because we're huge chickens''

       In September 1966, Mary was helping to organize a benefit 
     fashion show. Knowing that Bo was in the military, she phoned 
     him to ask if he would model in his uniform. He declined but 
     said, ``You sure sound pretty; I'm going to come downtown and 
     see you,'' which he did. (What a line!)
       Though Mary had a boyfriend at the time, Bo was persistent, 
     and they eventually began dating. She recalls that on their 
     first date, they went to his office, and some little boys 
     stopped by with their report cards. He had a practice of 
     rewarding these disadvantaged kids with a dollar for good 
     grades, which he did, and then he sent the boys on their way, 
     reminding them to brush their teeth.
       ``I just thought he was the nicest, most others-centered 
     person I had ever met,'' Mary recalls. ``He has a real heart 
     for other people. He never gets mad. He doesn't talk about 
     others. He doesn't get upset with people, always giving them 
     the benefit of the doubt. I mean, He's just a good person.''

[[Page E1824]]

       Bo had an equally positive impression of Mary: ``I had 
     dated lots of girls, but I never had the inclination to ask 
     one of them to marry me,'' he says. ``I knew within three 
     weeks that Mary was the one. She is such a good-hearted 
     person. I was ready to marry her right away.''
       They waited until the following September. ``We've had as 
     near a perfect marriage as possible; never had an argument in 
     33 years,'' Bo says. ``I'm a lucky man.''
       So are their daughter and son. Mary worked as a substitute 
     teacher briefly, but then she stayed home, because she and Bo 
     believe children need a devoted mother's care and comfort.


``Mothers are the most important people in the world, aren't they? You 
         ever see an athlete say `Hi, Daddy,' on television?''

       ``When you think about it, mothers are critical to society, 
     because they're raising the next generation,'' Mary says. 
     ``We put our futures in mothers' hands.''
       Responsible fatherhood counts a lot too, of course, and Bo 
     always stressed the importance of good character and trust. 
     ``It takes 20 years to build a reputation, but it only takes 
     one minute to ruin it,'' he says. ``I told my kids there's a 
     difference between reputation and character: Reputation is 
     what people think about you, and character is what you really 
     are. Your character is determined by what you do when 
     nobody's looking.''
       Mary and Bo clearly succeeded at parenting. Heidi, 29, 
     taught third grade before giving birth to Christopher this 
     past March and deciding to stay home with her newborn. ``You 
     hear about families whose parents never spent any time with 
     them and never told them they love them, and that's just the 
     opposite of ours,'' says Heidi, who fondly remembers her 
     weekly before-school breakfasts with her dad. ``You never 
     doubted that they were there for you, and that they loved 
     you.''


`` `I love you' is the hardest thing in the world to get out. How dumb 
                               is that?''

       Andy, 27, continues in his father's footsteps in Kiwanis 
     and other civic groups. ``We always have been a family of 
     example,'' he notes. ``Heidi and I both saw how much our 
     parents helped other people, so it was natural for me to 
     become a Kiwanian.''
       Though it's not a ``Boverb,'' it is true that into every 
     life some rain must fall. The past year has rained two 
     traumatic events on the Shafer family: Mary's recurrence of 
     cancer (which now is in remission) and an automobile accident 
     that killed Bo's 28-year-old nephew. Still, they keep a 
     positive attitude.


               ``Problems can make you better or bitter''

       ``You realize how important it is to do what you need to do 
     now, instead of waiting to get to it later, because later may 
     not be here,'' Bo says ``(The cancer) really has made us a 
     better couple, love each other better, and love life more. It 
     can make you a better person.''
       Mary echoes his sentiments: ``When you are threatened with 
     a terminal illness, it makes you realize how precious life 
     is. You look at leaves and see that they're absolutely 
     gorgeous. And it helps you realize what's really important.''


           ``Quit complaining, and start appreciating life''

       Bo claims he altered his perspective on life and quit 
     complaining in 1983 when he was the United Way chairman: ``I 
     held a crack baby in my arms, and I looked at this little 
     girl and said, `What did she do to deserve this?' The answer 
     was `nothing.' And I asked, `What did I do to deserve not to 
     be there?' And the answer was `nothing.'
       ``We're blessed beyond most of the world's wildest dreams. 
     We don't even know what a problem is; we have to make them 
     up. The problems we complain about, most people would love to 
     have: `The transmission is out in my third car. My steak 
     wasn't tender enough. The ride's too long in the airplane.' I 
     tell them to look out the window and think about crossing the 
     ocean on the Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria and shut your 
     mouth!'' he concludes with a laugh.
       Bo is well aware of the real problems in the world. He 
     recounts an experience in the Philippines where he saw 4,000 
     families squashed together in houses the size of a car--with 
     no water, no sewers, no electricity, ``When I was leaving,'' 
     he notes, ``I noticed five little girls practicing Kiwanis' 
     second Object (the Golden Rule)--picking lice out of each 
     other's hair.''
       Not surprisingly, Bo has a theory about humankind's woes. 
     He calls it ``10-80-10'': 10 percent of people do something 
     about problems; 80 percent of people don't notice problems; 
     and 10 percent of people cause problems.


                    ``Have you got `a round tuit' ''

       Bo recalls another apropos anecdote: ``I went to a funeral 
     years ago, and I asked a guy who was a friend of the guy who 
     died, `Who's going to take his place?' He looked down at the 
     ground, kicked a rock, and said, `He didn't leave a vacancy.' 
     And that's what happens when somebody doesn't do anything for 
     anybody but themselves. If you don't love other people, who's 
     going to miss you? Most people don't ever get around to 
     helping others. You need something that helps you get around 
     to it, and Kiwanis is a catalyst.''
       It certainly has been for Bo. He is the epitome of an 
     active Kiwanian: 38 years in the Knoxville club with 32 years 
     of perfect attendance; 1975-76 club president; chairman of 
     numerous club committees; 10 years as Key Club sponsor, and 
     another five as Circle K sponsor; 1982-83 lieutenant 
     governor; chairman of numerous district committees; 1988-89 
     Kentucky-Tennessee District governor (distinguished); a 
     member of the International Board since 1994; and so on and 
     so on.


     ``A fish gets caught because it doesn't keep its mouth shut''

       By his own admission, though, Bo never had a driving 
     ambition to reach district and International leadership 
     positions. He had to be talked into running for district 
     governor and International Trustee. Lexington, Kentucky, 
     Kiwanian John Gorrell, the district's 1989-90 governor, was 
     one of the individuals encouraging Bo, and Past International 
     President Aubrey Irby was another.
       ``I was a lieutenant governor when Aubrey made his official 
     visit to our district,'' Bo explains, ``and he told me: `Bo, 
     you ought to go further, but don't run for any job. If the 
     door opens, just go through it. If that one doesn't open, 
     another one will.' Well, the doors opened, I went through 
     them, and here I am.
       ``Now, it's an unbelievable honor and privilege to be 
     President--to be able to say I represent Kiwanians. I'm 
     always amazed when I visit Kiwanians at the dedication they 
     have. There are so many people who are really dedicated 
     Kiwanians.''
       Count President Bo among them, and watch for him to be a 
     true motivator, building enthusiasm wherever he goes. And 
     foremost among his goals is growth--but as a way to a means. 
     ``Growth isn't my real goal; helping more people is,'' he 
     clarifies.
       When it comes to enthusiasm about Kiwanis and the need for 
     more service through growth--stand back and listen to Bo go:
       ``People aren't joining Kiwanis because we're not asking. 
     We've talked ourselves into thinking that nobody wants to 
     join Kiwanis, and that is not right. Surveys show that young 
     adults want to do more (service work), but no one asks them. 
     That's exactly what we need to start doing. As soon as we 
     start asking, our organization is going to grow.''


              ``Ideas are easy: execution is what's hard''

       ``What you have to do is when you're around someone, you 
     should be a Kiwanian and start talking about Kiwanis. And you 
     don't say, `Do you want to join the Kiwanis club?' What I 
     always say is how lucky we are to be able to help other 
     people and talk about a Kiwanis project. Tell people what 
     Kiwanis does, and ask, `Would you be interested in helping us 
     help other people, especially children?'
       ``I talk about what a privilege it is to be able to help 
     others. It's not a duty; it's a privilege. I think in 
     everybody's heart they want to help people, and we need to 
     appeal to that side of it. Hardly anybody can say no when you 
     talk in that context. And the people who say no, well, we 
     don't want them in Kiwanis anyway.
       ``We need to show people what it's like to be a good 
     Kiwanian. If we show them--be happy, have the right attitude, 
     have a smile on your face--they'll be more inclined to join. 
     It's important to be positive, not negative. People just have 
     to look at the pluses instead of the minuses.
       ``In my opinion, if a club is not willing to grow, we need 
     to form another one in the same town with young people. I was 
     up at the lake a few years ago, and I saw this great big, 
     strong-looking oak tree. I looked at it and said, `Man, that 
     thing's been there a long time.' I came back the next week, 
     and that oak tree was down. But I looked around and noticed 
     all these little oak saplings growing around it. And I said, 
     `The woods are OK,' and then I thought of Kiwanis.''


           ``Nothing good happens unless you make it happen''

       ``All we need to do is get a passion to grow. There is 
     about one Kiwanian per 20,000 people in the world, and about 
     50 percent of the world needs help. We have so much to do, 
     and that's why we need to grow. Getting other people to help 
     us help others is an easy project, if we make that a passion.
       ``If we can get the leadership--starting from the very 
     top--to start talking positively about how lucky we are and 
     change that attitude, shoot, we can grow like gangbusters. If 
     we talk about Kiwanis in a positive manner, then people will 
     want to join.''
       ``The more people we ask, the more new members we'll have 
     and more people will stay who are going to be the right kind 
     of members--active members.''
       Get the message? You will. President Bo plans on making it 
     crystal-clear during his time in Kiwanis' highest office. And 
     while he's at it, he'll be stressing a few other points as 
     well.
       Among them will be Kiwanis' sponsored programs--from K-Kids 
     to Circle K. He believes Kiwanians need to pay more attention 
     to these young volunteers.
       ``Our biggest problem is Kiwanians not going to their 
     meetings and not being personally involved,'' Bo says. ``We 
     need to teach youngster about giving. Teaching them that is 
     one of the most important things we can do, because they're 
     in their formative years, and if they learn to help others, 
     well, that changes the world.''
       Which leads to another focal point for Bo: the Worldwide 
     Service Project and its successful completion. ``I used to 
     say, `We can't change the world, but each one of us can 
     change a life,' '' he says. ``But now I realize we literally 
     are changing the world by virtually eliminating IDD (iodine 
     deficiency disorders).''

[[Page E1825]]

       You also can expect Bo to dig into his pockets and pass out 
     an endless supply of his trademark Super Bubble gum. (For the 
     record, he buys about 20,000 pieces annually from Hackney 
     Cash and Carry on Dale Avenue in Knoxville.) He began the 
     tradition with a United Way fund-raising campaign slogan in 
     1982: ``Don't gum up the works by not doing your part.''
       When he's completed his year as Kiwanis' impassioned 
     ambassador, Bo will return to his hometown and his home club 
     with more stories and more sayings. If you go looking for 
     him, though, you might need to drive over to Cain Seed 
     Hollow, because that's where he and Mary love to be.
       You'll probably find him cutting wood, building, and adding 
     touches to the 28-foot by 70-foot ``cabin'' he's constructed 
     over the past 25 years with its rough-cut-oak exterior and 
     wall-to-wall wooden interior. (``I didn't plan for it to be 
     this big when I first had it in mind,'' Bo says. ``I just 
     love to build.'')
       You might arrive as he's sawing two-by-fours for another 
     new deck while listening to a UT football game on the radio 
     (``I guarantee I won't be sitting around watching 
     television,'' he says), whistling away, happy as can be.
       Or maybe you'll catch Mary and Bo on those rocking chairs, 
     waiting for another gorgeous sunset, quietly thanking God for 
     another beautiful day.

     

                          ____________________