KIRKSVILLE, MO -- The Rotary Club of Kirksville announces the upcoming Rededication and naming of the Ray Klinginsmith Amphitheatre at 12:30 p.m. on Wednesday, October 5, at Rotary Park.  A private club meal will precede the event. 

Ray Klinginsmith, a member of the Rotary Club of Kirksville, was the Rotary International president in 2010-11.  Rotary International includes over 34,000 clubs with over 1.2 million members in almost 200 countries and geographical regions.  Klinginsmith suggested the construction of the Rotary Park Amphitheatre in 2003 to commemorate Rotary's 100th anniversary in 2005. 

Klinginsmith used the theme Building Communities - Bridging Continents as his presidential theme which succinctly explains what Rotary does.  He traveled to over 60 countries his presidential year to advance Rotary's ideal of service above self and Rotary's efforts to eradicate polio worldwide, a cause it undertook in 1979 when there were 500,000 cases of polio every year.  Through august this year, only 358 cases of polio were reported worldwide.  Ray is well known in Rotary for his theme song of cowboy logic and his advocacy for common sense and simplicity.  He created a culture of innovation to help Rotary change at all levels to meet the challenge of a changing society. 

A native of Unionville, Klinginsmith earned business and law degrees from the University of Missouri and studied at the University of Cape Town, South Africa, in 1961 as a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar; he has maintained a strong interest in Africa ever since.  Ray practiced law in Macon before coming to Kirksville to serve as General Counsel for Truman State University in 1973.  He retired from Truman after 22 years of service and was elected as Adair County Commissioner from 2001 to 2004. 

Klinginsmith is one of the founding parents of the Chariton Valley Association for handicapped citizens in 1982 which has grown to an organization helping over 80 individuals annually in fifteen residential and non-residential programs.  He was active in the Boy Scouts earning its Silver Beaver Award plus the Kirksville Chamber of Commerce, the United Way and many other local civic projects.   He is married to the former Judie Wilkinson of Pendleton, Indiana.   They have two children, Leigh and Kurt. 

*in the event of heavy rain, the dedication will be held at the Church of the Nazarene, 2302 N. Lincoln, Kirksville.