Meeting date: August 20, 2015
By Monde M Donaldson
Speaker: Phil Savage
Executive Director of the Senior Bowl
Invocation, Song Music and Pledge
Robbie McClure called the meeting to order. Rob Hackbarth gave the invocation.
Gordon Kolb led the song and pledge..
New Member
Ariel Chavez was introduced by Ken Robinson.
Program
Phil Savage started his presentation by thanking the Mobile community for their support of the Senior Bowl for the past 67 years. He said the game is the ultimate bridge between college and the NFL. Only one player who played in last year’s Senior Bowl is not playing in the pros this season and he is with the Canadian football league.
New to the Senior Bowl this year will be a flag football program at the Hearin-Chandler YMCA. This NFL Flag concept for non-contact football will be offered for 6-12 year olds. In the last three years, there has been a 29 per cent decrease nationally in the number of youth going out for football.
Savage gave his insight on both Alabama and Auburn. He said for Alabama the big question is will be how their quarterbacks will be used. There are three quarterbacks in consideration for the slot and skills of each player will be finely tuned once the season starts. He predicted Kenyan Drake, who was hurt last year, should have a superior season. For Auburn, Jeremy Johnson will be a standout at quarterback. He has played the same offense for four years of high school and two years of college. The addition of Will Muschcamp as defensive coordinator is another big plus for Auburn. The Iron Bowl will be the determining game for both teams.
Teams to watch this year include: Michigan State, Notre Dame, Georgia Tech and Oklahoma, he said. Many of these teams had big losses at the end of last season and are motivated to do better. He predicted players being mentioned for the Heisman would be probably be from Georgia, Ohio State, TCU, Penn State and Michigan State.
The meeting was adjourned.
Sept. 24, 2015–Ben Raines / Executive Director Weeks Bay Fndn., Inc.
Ben Raines is the executive director of the Weeks Bay Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to protecting coastal land in Alabama. In his first two years with the Foundation, the organization has protected more than two million dollars worth of wetlands, pitcher plant bogs and maritime forests. He served for 14 years as the environment editor for the Mobile Press-Register, where his environmental reporting garnered more than two dozen state and national journalism awards. Prior to joining the Press-Register, Raines worked at newspapers in Oregon and for NBC Nightly News in Washington D.C. Born in Birmingham, he attended Duke University and New York University, where he earned a film degree. His underwater film work has appeared in documentaries on the Discovery Channel, National Geographic Television and the HD Network. His film, America’s Amazon, about the Mobile River Basin and the Mobile-Tensaw Delta, was nominated for an Emmy.
Breaking the Public Trust: A reporter’s perspective on the BP oil spill and the federal government, 5 years later.
Sept. 17, 2015–Amy Rice
AMY M. RICE
Amy moved to Mobile Alabama a little over a year ago after living in Hawaii for 25 years. She graduated from the University of Maine and is a licensed civil engineer and also holds an associates degree in architectural engineering. The majority of her career has been spent working on large scale real estate projects throughout the Hawaiian islands. She has been involved in a variety of projects including affordable housing, luxury residential neighborhoods, high rise condos, private beach clubs, large lot subdivisions, waste water treatment plants, archaeological digs, and even golf course construction. The last 5 years in Hawaii Amy was employed by the US District Courts overseeing a $120 million dollar renovation of the Hawaii Federal Courthouse, while it was in use and occupied.
Amy transferred with the Courts to the Southern Alabama District to oversee the construction of the new courthouse as well as the renovation of the James Campbell courthouse in downtown Mobile. She lives in Baldwin County and has become a member of the Fairhope Yacht Club.
Sept. 10, 2015–Tony Zodrow
Biography: Tony Zodrow, Executive Director
For over 25 years, Tony Zodrow has served as an administrator for educational non-profits including a private university, two large museums and, for the past 10 years, as the founding Executive Director of GulfQuest, also known as the National Maritime Museum of the Gulf of Mexico.
Since 2005, Zodrow has worked with the GulfQuest Board of Trustees and the City of Mobile to fund and establish the new interactive maritime museum’s exhibits and facilities. Featuring 90 interactive exhibits, simulators, displays and theaters, GulfQuest will be the first maritime museum dedicated to the Gulf of Mexico’s rich maritime heritage and culture. GulfQuest will open to the public on Saturday, September 26.
Prior to GulfQuest, Zodrow served as CEO of McWane Science Center, a $43 million interactive museum in downtown Birmingham, where he spearheaded an expansion that enabled the museum to host blockbuster exhibitions such as Titanic, Tutankhamun, and Einstein. During his tenure, Zodrow increased museum attendance and revenue through innovative programming and marketing strategies.
Before McWane Science Center, Zodrow served as Deputy Director of Omniplex, Oklahoma’s premier science center, in Oklahoma City. Zodrow managed fundraising, marketing and public relations and, in 2000, oversaw the marketing launch of the OmniDome Theater, Oklahoma’s first large-format theater ̶ an effort for which Omniplex received the IMAX industry’s top marketing award for the most successful launch of a new theater.
Prior to Omniplex, Zodrow served as Associate Vice President for fundraising, marketing and public relations for Phillips University, a liberal arts university in Enid, OK.
Tony and his wife, Shawna, a third-grade teacher in the Mobile County Public Schools, live in Mobile and have two children, Jackson and Rachel.
Sept. 3, 2015–Quin Hilyer
Biography of Quin Hillyer
Quin Hillyer is a Contributing Editor of National Review magazine, a Senior Editor for The American Spectator magazine, and a nationally recognized authority on the American political process. He has won mainstream awards for journalistic excellence at the local, state, regional and national levels. He has been published professionally in well over 50 publications, including the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, the Houston Chronicle, the San Francisco Chronicle, Investors Business Daily, National Review, the Weekly Standard, Human Events, and The New Republic Online. He is a former editorial writer and columnist for the Washington Times, the Washington Examiner, the Mobile Register, and the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, and a former Managing Editor of Gambit Weekly in New Orleans. He has appeared dozens of times as a television analyst in Washington DC, Alabama, Arkansas, and Louisiana, and as a guest well over a thousand times on national and local radio shows.
Hillyer also has worked in professional or volunteer capacities in dozens of political campaigns, and served for five years as press secretary for U.S. House Appropriations Committee Chairman Bob Livingston of New Orleans. He was an original executive board member of the internationally acclaimed Louisiana Coalition Against Racism and Nazism, formed to halt the then-meteoric political rise of former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke.
Hillyer also has volunteered in leadership roles for numerous church, civic, and educational organizations. He is a cum laude graduate of Georgetown University, and is a Fellow of the Loyola University (New Orleans) Institute of Politics and of Leadership Coastal Alabama. He is married to the former Therese Robinson of Mobile.
251-656-2820
qhillyer@gmail.com
August 13, 2015
Minutes of the
August 13, 2015 Meeting
The Rotary Club of Mobile
Call to Order: The meeting was called to order by club president Robby McClure at 12:20 PM. Jeremy Milling offered the invocation followed by Gordon Korb who led the club in song accompanied by Bill Oppenheimer on the piano. Tom Martenstein then welcomed visiting Rotarians and guests of members.
New Member: Rev. Wayne Miller, pastor of Grace Lutheran Church, was introduced as the club’s newest member by Rick Harvey.
Announcements: Robby McClure made the following announcements:
• The board of directors will meet on August 20, following the regular weekly meeting.
• Mobile West has announced they will not meet on August 18.
• Please save the date of October 1, 2015 for the Rotary Gala to be held at the new Maritime Museum.
Touchpoints Recognition: Garrett Williamson recognized Bill Oppenheimer as the Touchpoints winner and announced that a donation in his honor had been made to St. Mary’s Home. Garrett encouraged members to increase their level of participation to win a donation to a charity of their choice.
Program: Future Growth in Mobile – County Commissioner Jerry Carl
Saty Putcha introduced District 3 County Commissioner Jerry Carl who discussed economic growth in Mobile. He noted that much of the new growth is happening in his district which includes the new Airbus facility. He credited the Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce for their diligent work in recruiting new businesses including future arrivals of “sub-companies” doing business with Airbus.
Carl also stressed the importance of Austal and its workforce of 4,000 while noting the exciting plans to turn St. Louis Street into an IT hub. He also praised Mayor Stimpson’s announcement to spend city funds to repair infrastructure and said that in the past the county has been footing the bill for a number of paving projects which fall within the city limits.
After a series of questions and answers, Robby McClure thanked him for speaking to our club and told him that in his honor a donation had been made to the Augusta Evans School.
Adjournment: The meeting adjourned at 12:55 PM.
Tom McGehee
August 6, 2015
Mr. Lichtenfeld began his talk with a tribute to the “Greatest Generation”, which is widely recognized as those who lived through the trying times of World War II. More than 16 million served the country during that war, 458,000 of whom gave their life. He then proceeded to ask whether the “Greatest Generation” should also include the 35,500 of our military and supporters who died in Korea, or the 58,000 who perished in Vietnam. Even further, he said, don’t those who served our country during the Cold War, Granada, Lebanon and throughout the Middle East be honored in the same manner.
As a rifleman in WWII, who was captured during the heroic stand known as the “Battle of the Bulge”, Mr. Lichtenfeld saw the greatest struggle against tyranny of all time. He is also a member of only 7,000 of the 144,000 POW’s still living today. In one of the coldest winters in the previous 50 years, he and his fellow soldiers survived unbelievable challenges with a lack of food, lack of proper clothing and coping with constant bombardment. Lack of sleep became one of the real challenges.
It became even worse after his capture by the Germans. His first emotions included great humiliation and shock. Among the worst feelings he described was the fear that your family would never know if you were alive or not, and that you may never see each other again. As a Jew, the likelihood of survival was even more tenuous.
The prisoners were separated in the camp according to their nationality. At one point, the American contingent was lined up and anyone who was Jewish was asked to step forward. In keeping with orders from their commanders, none of the soldiers stepped forward. This infuriated the Germans. The next time the order was given for the Jews to step forward, the order changed. This time “all” of the prisoners stepped forward.
Once they were eventually liberated by the Russians, they were subjected to a total lack of cooperation in reuniting with the Americans. Several weeks later, Mr. Lichenfeld and five others traversed more than 100 miles through German and Russian lines to find the American troops. By that point, he had lost 65 pounds, now only 100 pounds.
Finally, Mr. Lichtenfeld stated that one of the lessons they will never forget in the real difference between good and evil, and the true value of friendship. He closed with the “POW” Pledge of Allegiance.
July 23, 2015
Minutes of the Rotary Meeting
July 23, 2015
By Christopher Jones
The meeting was called to order by Robby McClure. Beth Stafford gave the invocation. Larry Sindel led in song with Bill Oppenheimer providing piano accompaniment. Tom Martenstein introduced guests and visitors.
Robby McClure made several announcements and recognized Jay Turner as a Paul Harris Fellow.
Introduced by Bill Sisson, Dr. Ulrich Weber of Airbus America presented on the Airbus 320 Family Final Assembly Line of Mobile. Having joined Airbus as an engineer in 1990, Dr. Weber has been a leader in the establishment of new production lines in China and now in Mobile. In his formal presentation, he first gave an overview of the Airbus Group, which employs 138,000 worldwide and consists of four lines of business: aircraft, helicopter, defense and space. Of those, the aircraft line accounts for approximately 2/3 of overall revenue with 55,000 employees who work in 11 production sites and 4 assembly sites. Dr. Weber then described the “family” of aircraft that share high commonality of design and components while varying in size and capability. The aircraft industry is growing consistently with a forecast of double traffic every 15 years, which equates to 32,000 aircraft needed over the next 20 years. The demand for the A320 – which will be assembled in Mobile – is very strong worldwide; however, it currently only has 20% market share in US while enjoying 50% market share in the rest of the world. The best selling and most profitable aircraft for Airbus, the A320 has a backlog of over 5,000 planes – more than 10 years of production. That backlog continues to grow as demand outpaces production. Last year 1,545 orders were taken but only 490 planes were delivered.
Dr. Weber reviewed the timeline of the assembly line in Mobile that will become the 4th such facility for the A320. Of great interest to all in the room, he provided the latest status: buildings and components are nearly complete and production is expected to start in September! The first delivery (to Jet Blue) is expected in the second quarter of 2016. Once fully operational, the assembly facility will deliver four aircraft per month. Interestingly, the constraint on production capacity is not the Mobile facility (which could deliver up to eight aircraft per month) but is the network of suppliers (such as engine manufacturers and other components) who are challenged to meet demand worldwide to Airbus as well as other manufacturers.
After his presentation, Dr. Weber graciously took several questions from across the room. Of note, he said that guided tours would eventually be offered once the facility is ready and it is safe to do so. In honor of his speaking, a donation was made to the Museum of Mobile.
Robby McClure adjourned the meeting.