Newsletter - Archive  May 31, 2010

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Tennessee's First Breakfast Club - Charles Crowe - President 2009-10 Rotary Club No. 3878 - Oak Ridge, Tennessee - District 6780 VOTED DISTRICT 6780 BEST ELECTRONIC NEWSLETTER - 2007-2008
Volume 30 - No. 34	Lydia Birk - Breakfast Bytes Editor	May 31, 2010

Notes from Rotary Meeting - 5/26/10

submitted by Pat Powell

Club Assembly Day

Charles Crowe, Club President, opened the meeting; Jerry Young led members in singing the "God Bless America"; David Olson led the pledge to the flag; and Tom Lakers led the Invocation (#4).

Guests and visitors: 

Logan Hickman, District Governor, 

David Flitcroft from The Rotary Club;

Ben Alexander from the Knoxville Rotary Club.

Joe McGrory introduced his son-in-law, Kevin Richardson;

Louise Mixon introduced Jana Martin;

Pat Imperato introduced her husband of 40 years, Nick Imperato;

Christine Young introduced her granddaughter, Amelia Zahn;

David Mosby introduced Brittany Mosby, his daughter, a recent graduate of Carnegie-Mellon with a master's degree in applied mathematics.

Announcements: 

Roger Olson reminded members that our club provides assistance in cleaning up after Graduation Celebration.  He needs as many people as possible to be at the high school at 5 a.m. on June 4^th.  Karen Bridgeman pointed out that Rotarians also will get to help give away the "big ticket" prizes, beginning at 5 a.m. , in a "Wildcat Wheel" event.    Karen also encouraged members to come early to enjoy learning about the giveaways (There are many companies and individuals who provide wonderful prizes, but all graduates must be at the party throughout the evening to be eligible for the big prizes - this is an added enticement for the young people to come and stay and be kept safe for the evening.) Roger said that anyone with questions may contact him at rogerolson@aol.comemail. 

Pat Postma reminded members about the Progressive Dinner being held on June 12^thon the "West End".  The event begins at Pat Imperato's home for  appetizers;  the group will move to Gail Mattson's home for the main course;  and then to Mark Morris's home for dessert.   Members are encouraged to call Mike Morris to sign up for this fun event.  New members, wearing red badges, are strongly encouraged to attend this activity since this would be a great way to get to know other members in an informal and fun setting!   If you have not yet signed up to attend or designated the type of dish you should bring, please contact Pat or Mark right away!

Dub Shults announced that our club has met its Foundation Goals for the year and we still have $400 matching funds left .  The 711 Club (named for Paul Harris' office number, Room 711, where Rotary's first meetings were held) also has openings for 7 more people to participate if they so desire.

"The Rooster":

The Rooster for today was David Mosby, who announced his daughter had recently received her master's degree from Carnegie Mellon in applied mathematics. David invited members who owned their own businesses to stand, and then he carefully pointed them out to Brittany (who is apparently job hunting).

David had one clipping - for an absent member who was at the beach and should be wary when he returns (not to mention any names, but his initials are Dave Coffey).

Happy dollars: 

Karen and Ron Bridgeman are celebrating the arrival of new puppy AND had the pleasure of attending the James Taylor and Carole King concert in Nashville. Karen pointed out that they - along with many of the gray-haired folks in the audience - remembered all the words to all the songs!

Louise Mixon's grandson graduated from Hardin Valley High School and received and Eagle Scout award. 

Christina Young's granddaughter gave a dollar in honor of her brother's birthday. 

Freda Hopper's daughter graduated and had her picture on the front page of the paper;

Judi Gray enjoyed a wonderful time in New York City where she was able to visit the Lower East Side Tenement Museum.

Ruby Miller gave happy dollars because she has been on vacation and her grandson graduated. 

Robin Textor announced that , once again, he was privileged to participate in the Adult Spelling Bee held by the Farragut Rotary Club - he was pleased, as the pronouncer, that he pronounced all the words correctly!

Pat Postma and Emily Jernigan are hosting the "Home on the Range" dinner and looking forward to it. This event was auctioned off for our local charitable works at the club auction held earlier this year. 

Charlie Crowe announced that the Men of Tomorrow Foundation held its 20^th Anniversary Event on May 21^st and it was extremely successful - it was wonderful to be able to recognized and honor so many outstanding young people.

David McCoy informed the club that a "Boys Night Out" event (organized by his wife, Barbara) was held as a fundraising event, the purpose of which is to save the Alexander Inn - they raised $10,000. Jim Bradbury was honored by the Family Resource Center Tutor Program as the Volunteer of the Years, recognizing his ten years of volunteering in this important effort.  A book will be donated to the Willow Brook school library inscribed with his name and that of his late wife, Louise.

PROGRAM- Based on the 1980's, complete with a flyer entitled You Know You Grew Up in the 80's, if...

Nancy Donsbach, Incoming President reminded members that our club was chartered in 1980.  The entire program today was developed to provide an overview of the upcoming year while remembering 1980 when we began.

Ken Sommerfeld, first Club President, provided some interesting history of our origin as a club.  He pointed out that our club started with a bit of controversy.  Red Williams, who was then president of The Rotary Club, was against the charter of this club because he was afraid they would lose members based on the concern that the morning timeframe is much easier for many people to attend.  Because of that, members from the noon club had to wait one year until their membership could be transferred.  Ken stated the first project initiated by our club was to build a patio for NHC - those participating are still members today...Ken was one, along with Robin Textor, David McCoy, Dave Coffey, Clark Meredith, and Keith Craft.  He also talked about the worst and shortest program on record - the club originally met at the Ridge Inn, now the site of the Cancun Restaurant on the Turnpike.  The speaker did not show up so Ken took $5 from the ceramic rooster the club had at that time and went outside.  He offered the $5 to the first person coming into the restaurant if he would speak to the club.  The man agreed and went inside where he "commenced" to imitating animal sounds - he actually crowed like a rooster for 45 seconds.  It was determined that he was drunk and the program and the meeting were promptly adjourned.

Freda Hopper, incoming VP for Internal Operations, gave some interesting "trivia" about 1980 and introduced her "line up" of chairs for the upcoming year.  Jimmy Carter was President; life expectancy was 73.7 years; unemployment was 5.8%; an average new home cost $76,000; the median income level was $17K; a U. S. Postage Stamp was 15 cents; and a dozen eggs cost 91cents. 

Freda announced that the Program Chairs for the coming year will be Jerry and Christina Young.  She also thanked Pat Postma for her leadership of the Program Committee and Foundation Chairs Dub Shults, Tom Lakers, and Martha Hobson, who will be continuing on in this important role.  Dub announced that there is $400 remaining in the Paul Harris Society matching fund if anyone would like to take advantage of that prior to the year's end ($100 donation matched for those who have not yet achieved their PHF).  He provided the following information:  in 30 years, our club has donated $266,176 to the Foundation and most of that was matched by The Rotary Foundation.  We have 158 Paul Harris Fellows.  Robin Textor talked about creative ways of giving to the Foundation, including the ability to remember Rotary in one's will.

Sherry Livengood, Administration,announced that we will try something a little different this year with the Sgt at Arms.  Because there is so much organization and work involved in this role, four people will share the job for the year.  Those sharing the job on a quarterly basis are Brian Buuck, Henry Perry, Tony Lester, and Jim Barnes.  She expressed great thanks to Mason Oakes, who has done a terrific job this year! 

Kathy McNeilly, returning VP for External Operations,gave interesting facts about the 1980's as well.   It was the year that Mt. St. Helens erupted - on May 18^th - and 59 people died.  1980 was a year of a heat wave and a tremendous drought; Memphis reached 108 degrees and Wichita Falls, Texas, reached a high of 117 degrees.  She also pointed out that there were good things that were not so tragic. 

Cathy Toth, Youth Services Chair, shared her committee's goals for the coming year. She reminded members that the Rotary Youth Leadership Academy - RYLA - is one of the few RI-sponsored programs offered in which members' direct relatives (children and grandchildren) can participate.  Cathy also pointed out that the YouthAct club at Robertsville Middle School (soon to be an Interact club since RI has decided to lower the age for what has been a high-school-only project) raised $2,500 for the Haiti ShelterBox drive; projects  for the coming year may included a Pennies for Peace Project, which would follow a successful project in Cambodia from the club's first year.

Brenda Thornburg, President Nominee and incoming chair of the Fund-Raising Committee, announced that Judi Gray will follow her as head of the Service Projects Committee (the project managers' group).   She explained that Oak Ridge High School has opted NOT to host a basketball tournament this year, and she thanked Gene Caldwell for the excellent job he has done the past few years in organizing and carrying out this volunteer effort.  Sherry Livengood talked about the RAM (Remote Area Medical Project) which our club expects to support.  Jim Michaels explained that the free medical clinic project, another group we'll support in the coming year, has served more than 525 patients since January, but they need volunteers badly (need nurses, doctors, office assistance).  They are striving to bring in Hispanic people because they are badly underserved in terms of health care in this area.  He stressed the fact that no immigration questions are asked.

Veronica O'Hearn, Secretary was unable to attend, but will be instrumental in next year's activities.

Karen Bridgeman, Membership Chair, said that we have very ambitious membership goals for this upcoming year.  In order to meet them, we will need to be successful in retaining all current members and to bring new ones into the group. She also announced that the RI Council on Legislation had agreed to allow districts to charter up to two district-based online clubs and that several members from ORBRC had been involved in initial discussions about sponsoring such a club.

David McCoywill serve as Public Relations Chair; Pat Postma and Emily Jernigan will remain on as Party - ah, er -  Fellowship Subcommittee Chairs.

David Harris, Club Treasurer, stated that, in 1980, there were great interest rates (8 - 9%) on savings and that it was also the heyday of Jake Butcher and the beginning of the C&C Bank "issues." There was a recession in early 1980 and inflation was high - mortgage rates were 12%.  David announced that next year's budget is being built to allow $16k for local projects, which will expand our club's ability to support more activities.

Rotary Progressive Dinner, Saturday, June 12, beginning 5:30 PM

(Everything you wanted to know for the Progressive Dinner.)

Time :  It starts at Pat & Nick Imperato's  pool at 5:30 PM. She lives at 131 Whippoorwill.  About 6:30 pm we will drive down the street (~1 mile) to Gail Mattson's at 105 Weldon Lane.  Shuttle vans will also be available.  At about 8:00 we'll go up to Mike & Joyce Morris' at 122 Whippoorwill for dessert until . . . ? You should take your food to the proper house before starting to party rather than leave it in your car.

How to Get Here and Where to Park:  Go West on Oak Ridge Turnpike to Wisconsin Ave. This is the first road on the right past the West End guard gate. Go all the way up the hill until it dead ends into Whippoorwill. Turn left on Whippoorwill to 131Whippoorwill (~ 0.2 miles on left).  There is plenty of parking on the street but the driveway is steep so you may want to drop any passengers that might have trouble climbing the hill.

Going to Gail's continue down Whippoorwill to Weldon, the fourth road on your right.  Her house is at the end of the cul-de-sac. For Mike's, come all the way back on Whippoorwill to 122 on the left-hand side.  This is a long slopping down driveway but the walk down is easy. We can bring anyone who needs it back to their car. You can drive or ride the shuttle van to the first stop and other stops.  It is too far to walk from Gail's to the other 2 houses.   If you get lost call Mike Morris (Cell: 386-4179)

Please don't park in the driveways as we want the shuttle vans to use those.

What to wear:  Outdoor, casual clothing and flat walking shoes.  Wear comfortable everything!

What to bring:  Your dish and any alcoholic or other special beverage you want to share.         

Jim Palmer reports that as things have settled down a bit in Haiti, it is time to get our ORBRC Haiti Water Project back on track.  Jim has put together a draft a project plan that will be submitted to Pure Water for the World - Haiti Project (PWW-HP) for their review.  ORBRC will be partnering with the PWW-HP to install water filters in a school in or very near Port au Prince.  The project will also include providing water filters for many families of students at the school

Stay tuned for more details as the project develops.

 

ORBRC's UPCOMING EVENTS
JUNE IS ROTARY FELLOWSHIP MONTH
June 2	The Re-emergence of Nuclear Power
June 9	Harry Quarles: Invasive Vegetation
June 16	Chuck Puglisi: "Father's Day Ties I have Known"
June 23	Dr. Grissino-Mayer: Tree Rings, Stradivarius & Lincoln's Logs
June 30	ANNUAL MEETING