Month: August 2017

Minutes of the August 17, 2017 Meeting
The Rotary Club of Mobile
Call to Order: The meeting was called to order by John Dukes at 12:15 PM. Bill Kinnaird offered the invocation and Tom Martenstein welcomed members’ guests and visiting Rotarians. Larry Sindel led the club in song and the Pledge of Allegiance. Bill Oppenheimer accompanied on the piano.
Announcements:
• The 100% attendance members were recognized. Twenty-eight members have perfect attendance records ranging from Ariel Chavez and Larry Sindel with two years to John Moses with thirty-four years.
• John Dukes announced that there would be a Board meeting immediately following today’s regular meeting.
• John Dukes announced that the new rosters were available to pick up after the meeting.
Program: Ben Raines, Author, Environmental Reporter, AL.com
Russell Ladd introduced Ben Raines.
Raines’ major topic of the day was the underwater forest located off of Gulf Shores in an undisclosed location. The forest was discovered by a local fisherman after Hurricane Ivan. It consists of Cypress and Oak tree stumps each as much as waist high that had been covered in sand approximately fifty eight feet below the surface. The fisherman had kept the discovery secret for several years before finally confiding in Raines and a couple of others. Given Raines’ vast knowledge and experience with matters environmental he recognized the importance of the discovery. Raines called in scientists to study the find.
Through several years of research and discovery the scientists determined that the area is approximately ½ mile square and that the trees are approximately 60,000-80,000 years old. They had been hermetically sealed under several feet of sand therefore are still very solid. They believe that the height of measured waives in Hurricane Ivan (as much as 98 feet high in that area) created such a stir at the forest depth as to uncover the forest.
It is believed that the area was once an island and dates back to the ice age. Some of the trees are massive……….one in particular nearly ten feet around.
The Alabama Coastal Foundation funded a film titled Underwater Forest which can be seen on YouTube. Raines showed the film during his presentation.
After answering a number of questions, John thanked Mr. Raines for sharing his knowledge with the club and noted that in his honor a donation has been made to the Rotary Children’s Foundation
Adjournment
The meeting adjourned at 1:05 PM.
Rob Diehl

Minutes of the August 10, 2017 Meeting
The Rotary Club of Mobile
Call to Order: The meeting was called to order by John Dukes at 12:15 PM. John Pisarkiewicz offered the invocation and Tom Martenstein welcomed members’ guests and visiting Rotarians. Larry Sindel led the club in song accompanied by Bill Oppenheimer on the piano. The reciting of the Pledge of Allegiance followed.
Announcements: John Dukes made the following announcements:
• Attendance Recognition Day is August 17.
• A board meeting will follow the regular meeting on August 17.
• The Tarpon Tournament was a great success. John thanked Ernest Ladd for his leadership and said that he will be re-capping the results at a future meeting.
• The newly printed rosters are available to be picked up.
• Wished members well on their up-coming birthdays.
Program: Rob Holbert: Co-Creator and Managing Editor of Lagniappe
Tom McGehee introduced Rob Holbert who was a co-creator of Lagniappe, Mobile’s weekly newspaper. He serves as its Managing Editor. From the size of the crowd, members were obviously interested to hear from him.
Mr. Holbert reported that Lagniappe has recently celebrated its 15th anniversary as Mobile’s weekly newspaper and currently boasts a readership of 80,000 per week. He outlined numerous stories covered by the paper over its history and said that he finds himself vilified as too liberal by some readers while far too conservative by others. He concluded he “must be doing something right.”
His goal for the publication, he said, was to have it “lively, active and non-partisan.”
He said that the paper consists of two full time reporters and a number of freelance writers who cover stories in Mobile and Baldwin counties. The paper has recently purchased a building at 704 Government Street and he and his staff are looking forward to being a part of downtown Mobile.
Holbert allowed time for questions from the floor. A number of members took him up on the offer and the subjects ranged from environmental concerns to both the senate and mayoral elections.
John Dukes thanked him for speaking to our club and noted that in his honor a gift has been made to the Rotary Children’s Foundation.
Adjournment: The meeting adjourned at 12:50 PM.
Tom McGehee

Minutes of the Rotary Meeting
July 27, 2017
By Kathy Miller
Call to Order: The meeting was called to order by John Dukes at 12:15 pm. Wayne Miller offered the invocation and Larry Sindel led the club in song and the Pledge of Allegiance. Tom Martinstein welcomed members’ guests.
Announcements: John Dukes reminded members of the Tarpon Tournament next week and the Captains’ Reception on August 3rd at Ruth’s Chris. He also gave an update in regard to Camp ASCCA. Ken Neimeyer updated the Club about the Little Lending Libraries. Brenda Litchfield reported on her upcoming trip to Thailand and the Rotary GED project there.
Program: Tom McGee introduced Thad Beeker, M.D. Dr. Beeker serves as Director of the stem cell transplant program at Mitchell Cancer Institute. Dr. Beeker is a graduate of Wake Forest University and East Carolina University School of Medicine. He completed a fellowship in Hematology and Oncology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. He was in private practice as a hematologist/oncologist for over 20 years and in March 2007 he joined the Southern Cancer Center.
Dr. Beeker described the mission of the Mitchell Cancer Institute: Research, Education and Healthcare. He outlined statistics regarding the occurrence of cancer. Significantly, one in two men and one in three women will develop cancer in their lifetime. He explained that MCI’s emphasis is providing “diseased focused care” and developing comprehensive, state of the art treatment programs customized for each patient. MCI is employing physicians who specialize in certain tumors.
Dr. Beeker’s focus is multiple myeloma. He described multiple myeloma and the progression of this cancer. He outlined the history of the treatment of multiple myeloma and state of the art therapies. He described how survival rates from multiple myeloma have increased over the years. Mr. Dukes presented Dr. Beeker with a certificate recognizing his speaking to the Club.
Adjournment: After announcing members’ birthdays, John adjourned the meeting at 1:00 p.m.
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Minutes of the July 20, 2017 Meeting
The Rotary Club of Mobile
Call to Order: The meeting was called to order by John Dukes at 12:15 PM. Dan McDaniel offered the invocation and Tom Martenstein welcomed members’ guests and visiting Rotarians. John Smith led the club in song and the Pledge of Allegiance. Bill Oppenheimer accompanied on the piano
Announcements:
• Frank Harkins reported on the upcoming Camp ASCCA trip. Our Rotary club has supported the camp for 33 years through the Rotary Children’s Foundation. There will be 101 campers this year with the week beginning August 3. Frank invited everyone to come to the Goodwill Easter Seals main office the morning of July 30 to see the campers off.
• Bob Chappelle presented the Lance J. Bodden award which is commonly known as the Rotarian of the Year award. The award is bestowed periodically to deserving Rotarians, but not annually. Tom Martenstein is the recipient. Tom has been an active member since 1962 and has served a number of positions including the Board of Directors (served every Board capacity), President, Paul Harris Fellow and currently Club Secretary since 2001.
Program: Steve McNair, McNair Historic Preservation, Inc.
Tom McGehee introduced club member Steve McNair owner of McNair Historic Preservation, Inc. Mr. McNair discussed his company and the various services they provide.
McNair Historic Preservation is a national full-service Historic Preservation consulting firm offering clients a range of services including government relations, historic tax credit and economic incentive consultation, historic economic development project management, historic real estate and design consultation, and research/fieldwork services to document and promote their customer’s historic assets.
McNair Historic Preservation delivers strategy and experience to their clients to help make the most of their historic investments. Some specific projects include the Wheeler Building, the former Blue Bird Hardware, the former Nash/Ford Automotive, the former WALA building, the former St. Francis Street Methodist Church and the former Dodge Automotive
After answering a number of questions, John thanked Mr. McNair for sharing his knowledge with the club and noted that in his honor a donation has been made to the Rotary Children’s Foundation.
Adjournment
The meeting adjourned at 1:04 PM.
Rob Diehl

Minutes of the July 13, 2017 Meeting
The Rotary Club of Mobile
Call to Order: The meeting was called to order by Les Greer at 12:15 PM. Jimmy Lyons offered the invocation and Tom Martenstein welcomed members’ guests and visiting Rotarians. Tommy Blankenship led the club in song and the Pledge of Allegiance.
New Member: Mike Brown introduced Ryan New, Senior Vice President of Renasant Bank as our newest member.
Program: Annual Passing of the Gavel
Former club president Les Greer reviewed events over the last 12 months and highlighted the many successful events which raised a substantial amount of money for club projects and causes ranging from the Tarpon Tournament in August to the first annual Rotary Golf Classic this spring. He also mentioned the club’s involvement in establishing a new Interact Club at Murphy, 45 new Paul Harris Fellows this year and the gathering celebrating 100 years of the Rotary Foundation. Les thanked all of the members for their assistance in what he termed “an amazing year.”
Passing of the Umbrella
Since the hotel staff misplaced the club gavel over the 4th of July break, there was none to be passed. Instead an umbrella was substituted since its handle was shown to be able to ring the Rotary bell just as well as the missing gavel. The umbrella was passed from Russell Ladd to an assorted crowd of distinguished former presidents until Les Greer handed it to John Dukes, our newest president.
President Dukes
John Dukes congratulated Les on a job well done, presenting him with his past president pin and badge and his very own copy of the book, “The Rotary Four Way Test.”
Next he thanked the members for this opportunity to serve this club noting this year’s theme is “Rotary Makes a Difference.” John told the audience that our regular attendance at club meetings and inviting prospective members to those meetings will definitely make a difference.
According to John, we have 8 Rotarians who have been members of the club over 50 years, 49 over 30 and 38 who have been here over two decades. This longevity in membership shows the value of belonging to our club, adding that everyone takes a part in that.
John made the following announcements:
Announcements:
1. Rotary Tarpon Tournament will be held on August 5 and a reception on the evening of Thursday, August 3 will take the place of our weekly meeting.
2. Dumas Wesley has 40 members of their summer program attending an event at the Exploreum learning about drug education thanks to the club and Rotarians Kate Carver and Jan McKay.
3. Camp ASCCA: More information will be forthcoming from Frank Harkins regarding the July 30 sendoff of campers.
4. Mardi Gras: Looking ahead, the club is planning a party at the Mobile Carnival Museum with secured parking and stands for our members and children or grandchildren to watch a parade.
5. Board Meeting will be held on July 20, following the lunch meeting.
6. Meal Prices – As previously mentioned, the price for guest meals as well as Exempt Members has increased $1 to $24.
Adjournment:
After announcing members’ birthdays, John adjourned the meeting at 1:50 PM.
Tom McGehee