Month: May 2018

Minutes of the February 22, 2018, Meeting
The Rotary Club of Mobile
Call to Order: The meeting was called to order by John Dukes at 12:15 PM. Kathy Miller offered the invocation and Larry Sindel led the club in song accompanied by Les Greer. Jeff Zoghby welcomed visiting Rotarians and members’ guests.
John Dukes recognized Police Chief Lawrence Battiste who was here as a guest of George Talbot. The club gave him a standing ovation.
Youth Merit Award: Bob Chappelle introduced Sarah Kate Stokely, a senior at Saraland High School. Miss Stokely discussed her participation in a program called Project Outreach which aims to pair up each special needs student with a mentor/friend. She plans to attend the University of Southern Mississippi and major in speech pathology and audiology in the fall.
Announcements:
• John Dukes thanked Joe Mareno and his committee for their successful Mardi Gras parade party.
• A board meeting will be held today following the meeting.
• John discussed several recent grants from the club:
a. Money was given to assist members of Young Life to build stoves in a Guatemalan village.
b. A grant to the Dumas-Wesley Center allowed for a needed gym upgrade which has been completed.
c. A grant to Prichard Prep will assist in an update to their theatre.
d. Ken Niemeyer will soon announce the installation of another mini-lending library.
Program: Scott Page, U. S. Marshall
Judge Billy Cassady introduced Scott Page of the U. S. Marshall’s Service. Page discussed the need for all businesses to implement a plan for the handling of a shooter. Recent current events indicate that these situations are a reality of our lives today, he said and having a plan in place is good for employee morale as well as safety.
Police forces are spread thin he said and response time might be as long as 30 minutes so every second counts. Page said this is another reason to have a plan in place. Employees should know where every exit is located and each floor should ideally have a “safe” room where employees can wait safely. Cinder block walls are especially good given the fire power of many weapons being used, he added.
A special notification system with a code should be established to notify employees in the event of a shooter and to avoid panic. These can be arranged over an intercom or through emails and text messages which can be sent instantaneously to all employees.
Page said that in every case numerous law suits have followed. Having an established policy in place may not avert a lawsuit, he said, but would certainly help in the defense.
The Mobile Sherriff’s Department can assist in the setting up of a feasible program and he said that David Robinson at (251) 574-1994 is trained to assist.
John thanked our speaker and said that in his honor a donation has been made to the Rotary Children’s Foundation.
The meeting adjourned at 1:00 PM.
Tom McGehee

Minutes of the February 1, 2018, Meeting
The Rotary Club of Mobile
Call to Order: The meeting was called to order by John Dukes at 12:15 PM. DKen McElhaney offered the invocation and Tommy Blankenship led the club in song accompanied by Bill Oppenjheimer. . Tommy Blankenship welcomed visiting Rotarians and members’ guests.
Youth Merit Award: Jeff Luther introduced Eugenia O’Connor, a senior at UMS-Wright who discussed her memorable experiences on mission trips to Central America. Miss O’Connor plans to attend W & L in the fall.
New Members:
• Sumpter McGowin introduced Jordan Walker who has recently moved to Mobile to open the local office of Kimberly-Horn, Planning and Design Engineering Consultants.
• Claire McCarron then introduced Janet Hayes an investment counselor with Leavell Investment Management of Mobile.
Announcements:
• Joe Mareno reminded members of the Mardi Gras parade party next Thursday at 5:30 PM at the Mobile Carnival Museum. This will take the place of the luncheon meeting and he reminded members to please RSVP to Peggy so that we can have a head count. John Dukes added that this event will seek to raise funds from donations for the Rotary Children’s Foundation.
• Brenda Litchfield presented the club with a banner from a club in Thailand. She has just completed teaching there for six months as a Fulbright Scholar she explained.
• Program: Megan McCall, PhD: Antarctic Adventures
Brenda Litchfield introduced Megan O’Neill McCall a teacher at Bayside Academy. Mrs. McCall presented a PowerPoint program describing her nearly three months spent in the Antarctic. Her travel to the Palmer Research Station required traveling to South America followed by a three day boat trip in 18’ seas.
Once at Palmer she described her studies of Antarctic ice fish as well as the tagging of whales using suction cups to hold the tags. Her program included images of these activities as well as the local wildlife which included different varieties of sea lions which she explained could be aggressive as well as types of penguins whose black and white color make them blend into the snowy, rocky landscape.
Mrs. McCall shared beautiful images of a mountainous landscape featuring crystal clear seas the color of sapphires. She noted that she joined the tradition and jumped into the icy sea in her bathing suit adding that the salt water freezes at a lower temperature than fresh. The sun never rose high in the sky and daylight lasted just four hours she said.
After answering a number of questions, John Dukes thanked Mrs. McCall and presented her with a certificate noting that in her honor a donation has been made to the Rotary Children’s Foundation.
The meeting adjourned at 1:00 PM.
Tom McGehee

Minutes of the Rotary Meeting
January 25, 2018
By Kathy Miller
Call to Order: The meeting was called to order by John Dukes at 12:00 pm. Todd Drummond offered the invocation and Tommy Blankenship led the club in song and the Pledge of Allegiance.
Program: Tom McGehee introduced Phil Savage, Executive Director of the Senior Bowl. Mr. Savage made brief remarks to the club including comments about Robert Brazile’s remarks earlier in the week about the Senior Bowl. Mr. Savage discussed several other Senior Bowl players including Shaquille Griffin. Mr. Savage introduced Bill O’Brien, Head Coach of the Houston Texans. Mr. O’Brien spent 10 years as an assistant coach in the ACC including working with Georgia Tech, Maryland and Duke before becoming head coach at Penn State after Joe Paterno. After two seasons at Penn State, Mr. O’Brien joined the Houston Texans. Mr. O’Brien updated the club about the status of Deshaun Watson. He talked about Alabama, Auburn and local Senior Bowl players he had met this week. Mr. O’Brien discussed the issues relating to players remaining in college versus turning pro. He saw the positive of remaining in college being further growth as a player. John presented Mr. O’Brien with recognition of the Club’s appreciation for his speaking to us.
Guests: After Mr. Savage and Mr. O’Brien departed for Senior Bowl commitments, we returned to the regular order of business and Mr. Martenstein introduced guests and visitors.
Student Guest: Jeff Luther introduced Dr. Becky Murray, the Senior Assistant Principal of Theodore High School, who introduced Cathlene Quizon, a Senior at Theodore High School. Ms. Quizon spoke to the Club.
New Members: Nick Holmes introduced new member William Latta who is a graduate of St. Paul’s and Auburn. Mr. Latta is an engineer with Clark, Geer, Latham and Associates.
Announcements: Joe Mareno reminded members of the Mardi Gras event on February 8th at the Carnival Museum from 5:30 to 8:30 and asked that members confirm their attendance with Peggy. He thanked the sponsors of the event.
Mr. Dukes announced to Club members that the Club had made contributions to Dumas Wesley for gym renovations, to Prichard Prep School for a theater and to Mobile Bay Keepers for the purchase of kayaks. A $5,000 district grant has been made to Light of the Village for a literacy project and the Club has contracted to repair the Rotary clock located at the corner of Royal and Dauphin Street.
Adjournment: After announcing members’ birthdays, John adjourned the meeting at 1:00 p.m.

Minutes of the January 11, 2018 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 Larry Sindel led the club in song as well as the pledge. Tom Martenstein welcomed our visitors.
Youth Merit Award: Jeff Luther introduced Addison Smith from St.Paul’s School who discussed his memorable experience during a mission trip to Nicaragua.
Announcements: John Dukes made the following announcements:
• Board meeting is set for January 18 following the luncheon meeting.
• Invited members to attend the first Dine Around scheduled for Tuesday, January 16 at Noble South. John introduced the restaurant’s chef/owner, Chris Ranosek and the general manager Miles Meade who briefly discussed the event and welcomed members to attend.
• Bo Mattei distributed the last of some $100,000 in distributions from the Rotary Children’s Foundation. The first check was presented to the Epilepsy Foundation to assist with summer camp expenses and the second was presented to Boy Scouts Troop 15. Henry Callaway discussed his 15 year association with this special group and the help he receives from Boy Scouts from St. Paul’s School. The money will go to pay the Scouts’ dues and some expenses related to their annual camp out at the Exploreum. Bo reminded members to keep the foundation in mind for future donations. Since 1984 he said that over $3 million has been distributed to local organizations.
• Mardi Gras Parade Party will take place on the evening of February 8 at the Mobile Carnival Museum. There will be no Noon meeting on that date.
Program: Bon Temps – Alabama’s Mardi Gras
Cart Blackwell introduced the author, Eleanor Inge Baker, and photographers, Jeff and Meggan Haller, of the recently published book Bon Temps – Alabama’s Mardi Gras.
Jeff Haller discussed the ten years’ worth of photography that he and his wife put into the project. The 100,000 photos were originally developed for an exhibit before joining forces with local writer Eleanor Baker.
Meggan Haller then spoke about the photographs which attempt to tell all aspects of Mobile’s Mardi Gras including behind the scenes looks. The hope is that they will reveal a new aspect of the celebration to every one looking at the book, she said. She concluded that while this is certainly Mobile’s oldest tradition, it is ever changing.
Eleanor Baker then discussed the essays she provided for the book and read from the book’s introduction discussing her early childhood memories of watching a parade which are now being repeated by her own two children. She said that in order to raise the money needed to publish the hard cover book she had presold a number of them to friends and family. Of 1,000 printed only 320 remain she added.
Mrs. Baker said she took special effort to have each of her essays read by those she discussed to ensure accuracy. She also thanked David Cooper, Sr. for his assistance as a mentor.
The meeting adjourned at 1:00 PM.
Tom McGehee