Month: May 2018

Minutes of the May 17, 2018 Meeting
The Rotary Club of Mobile
Call to Order: The meeting was called to order by John Dukes at 12:15 PM. Todd Drummond offered the invocation. Larry Sindel led the club in song and the Pledge of Allegiance. Les Greer accompanied on the piano. Jeff Zoghby welcomed members’ guests and visiting Rotarians.
Announcements:
• John Dukes announced that the Board meeting is to be held today in the Ashland Suite
• John Dukes reminded us of the good turnout at the recent dine out at El Papi and noted that another dine out is being scheduled for June 19 at the Cheese Cottage. Details to follow.
• John Dukes reminded everyone of the District Conference June 7-10 at the Beau Rivage. The club will pay for a limited number of registrations.
Program: Dr. Mark Foley
Tom McGehee introduced the speaker.
Today is the club’s annual celebration of recent graduates of club members. Many members brought their respective sons, daughters, nieces and nephews to be congratulated, honored and celebrated.
Dr. Mark Foley is an active Christian speaker, teacher, and consultant in the arena of spiritual development. He is an organizational consultant with focus upon guiding organizations to effective purpose-driven presence in changing environments; incorporation of faith principles with strategy and operations; and establishing a culture of mission effectiveness in organizational systems.
Dr. Foley expressed his wishes for this graduate generation to be able to see what is around them, to seek the wherewithal to change the things they see and to embrace change……..to release the death grip on the patterns they helped create. He encouraged the graduates to have responsibility to God, to demonstrate courage and wisdom, take responsibility for others, and to responsibly and voluntarily sacrifice for the greater good.
Dr. Foley’s remarks were well received.
John Dukes thanked Mark for his encouraging remarks to the graduates and noted that in his honor a donation has been made to the Rotary Children’s Foundation
Adjournment
The meeting adjourned at 12:55 PM.
Rob Diehl

Minutes of the May 10, 2018, Meeting
The Rotary Club of Mobile
Call to Order: The meeting was called to order by John Dukes at 12:15 PM. Ken Niemeyer offered the invocation and Larry Sindel led the club in song accompanied by Les Greer on the piano. Jeff Zoghby welcomed visiting Rotarians and members’ guests.
Announcements:
• John Dukes announced that the Rotary District Conference will be held at the Beau Rivage in Biloxi on June 7th through the 10th.
• John reminded the club that next week(May 17th) has been designated Graduate Day when we invite our members to bring seniors and other students to the meeting to hear an inspirational talk by Mark Foley.
• A board meeting will follow next week’s meeting on May 17th.
• The history of the Rotary Clock on the corner of Dauphin and Royal streets was discussed. Tom McGehee relayed its installation dating back to at least 1891 when a clock was placed there by Zadek Jewelry Co. In 1920, after the Zadek firm had closed, the City Commission agreed to let the Rotary Club take over its care and that is when the Rotary symbol was added. In 2000, long after the original clock had been destroyed in an auto accident, the current clock was installed with funds raised by local Rotary clubs. John Dukes noted that the clock has been restored with new lighting and is once again telling the proper time.
• Program: Leon Hirsch: Rotary’s Role in Eradicating Polio
Tom McGehee introduced Leon Hirsch, a member of the Pensacola Rotary Club who gave a history of Rotary’s part in ending the threat of polio around the world.
He stated how important it is for younger members who have little knowledge of polio to learn how dangerous it was and the tremendous role that Rotary clubs have taken in its near elimination.
Leon said that two American men with similar Eastern European backgrounds discovered cures for polio. Jonas Salk developed a vaccination which was believed to inactivate the virus in children. Albert Sabin on the other hand, came up with an orally administered version which would kill 100% of the virus.
The U.S. government chose Salk’s vaccine with disastrous results. In 1955 after some 200,000 children had received the injection, 10 children died and 200 more suffered from some form of paralysis. Meanwhile Dr. Salk who had been forbidden to administer his oral form in the U.S. took it around the world regardless of political barriers and had incredible results.
The Salk method was soon being administered throughout the U.S. and the polio virus vanished. In 1985 Rotary International began its work to eradicate it worldwide and today the number of polio sufferers is estimated to be 33.
John thanked Leon for his program and presented him with a certificate noting that in his honor a donation has been made to Rotary’s Polio Plus Program.
The meeting adjourned at 1:00 PM.
Tom McGehee

05/03/18 Minutes
Submitted by Tommy Fulton, Contributing Editor
Call to Order: The meeting was called to order by John Dukes.
Kathy Miller gave the invocation, followed by Tommy Blankenship, who led us in song and the Pledge.
Introduction of Guests & Visitors: Tommy Blankenship introduced our guests along with visiting Rotarians.
Jeff Luther introduced our student guest.
Announcements: Graduate Day will be May 17th. On May 22nd, the Coastal Alabama Foundation will be honoring Ann Bedsole. The District Annual Conference will be held on 6/7-6/10 at the Beau Rivage. There will be a club social at the Cheese Cottage on Tuesday, June 19th.
Program: Tom McGehee introduced our speaker, Casi (KC) Callaway, who is the Executive Director for the Mobile Baykeepers. She spoke about the threats to our health in the Mobile/Baldwin area.
The Mobile Baykeepers have been an effective group in our area for more than 21 years. Ms. Callaway said that one of the main reasons is that they endeavor to do research first, and then provide the answers to our challenges. They make every effort to engage the entire community in a common cause…clean water and clean air.
The main focus of the Mobile Baykeepers is to foster responsible growth, track infrastructure, educate and engage our community through clean-ups, collaboration and monitoring.
Ms. Callaway stated the 2017 was the worst year for sewage spills in our area in recent history. The causes are many, but the main challenges include rain, blockages, power outages and line breaks. She featured the major challenges with Daphne Utilities. They have filed suit against Daphne to counteract the lack of disclosure of those spills.
The Mobile Baykeepers are also engaged with Alabama Power, with whom they have had a great relationship over many years. The challenge we face now involves the coal ash storage areas which were originally built in 1965. The ponds are full of toxic heavy metals and could easily be breached, causing major damage to our delta/river system. She explained that there are two main options for attacking this problem. One is to “cap-in-place” the existing ash, and the more desirable option of excavating the ash and sending it to more appropriate facilities, away from our watershed.
Alabama Power has been fined $1.25 million for coal ash groundwater pollution, and has had 94 violations since 2016. They have chosen to “cap-in-place” for now. This is not a final decision. Mobile Baykeepers have been monitoring on a regular basis, and has found substantial ash infiltration. Ms. Callaway encouraged the members to ask Alabama Power, and our governmental leaders to act in the community’s interest and use the option to remove the ash, rather than capping it in place.
After a question and answer session, John Dukes thanked Ms. Callaway for her presentation and presented a certificate to her, noting that a donation in her honor had been made to the Rotary International Foundation.
The meeting was adjourned at 1:00 pm.

Minutes of the April 19, 2018 Meeting
The Rotary Club of Mobile
Call to Order: The meeting was called to order by John Dukes at 12:15 PM. Wayne Miller offered the invocation. Tommy Blankenship led the club in song and the Pledge of Allegiance. Jeff Zoghby welcomed members’ guests and visiting Rotarians.
Announcements:
• John Dukes announced that the Board meeting is to be held today in the Ashland Suite
• John Dukes thanked Garrett Williamson for organizing the dine out at El Papi April 17 We had a good turnout and everyone enjoyed themselves. Another dine out is being scheduled for May. Details to follow
• John Dukes reminded everyone of the District Conference June 7-10 at the Beau Rivage. The club will pay for a limited number of registrations.
Program: Tom McGehee presented The Era of Riverboats in Alabama
John Dukes introduced the speaker.
Before steamboats, goods were floated down the Alabama and Tombigbee rivers on keel boats or barges poled by hand and powered by the river’s current. Each held up to 100 bales of cotton.
The first steamboat to be built in Alabama in 1818 by the St. Stephens Steamboat Company at St. Stephens followed by the Steamboat Company of Alabama in 1820 and the Mobile Steamboat Company in 1821.
The only competition for the steamboats was to travel over land. In 1850 a stagecoach ride to Mobile from Selma took at least 3 days and cost $8 or about $250 in today’s dollars. In comparison if all went well a riverboat trip would be 2 hours shorter and cost $10 or about $315 in today’s dollars.
The size and design of the riverboats changed over time. The main thing to remember is that the majority of these vessels were designed for economy, efficiency and speed. They were largely “no nonsense” vessels with no gingerbread.
Early vessels were side wheelers averaging 200 feet in length and 30 – 40 feet in width.
The decks of the vessels got wider from top to bottom.
By the late 1850’s a total of 233 steamboats were operating in Alabama. Each of these vessels was capable of carrying 1,000 bales each. There were some 300 landings along the Tombigbee and 200 on the Alabama River.
The transportation of cotton to Mobile was all important. Not all river voyages went smoothly. Boats often ran aground on sandbars, especially when the river levels were lower. During the 1830’s an increasing number of boilers on the new riverboats exploded. By 1838 the federal government was so concerned that congress passed the Steamboat Act.
As the nineteenth century drew to a close, riverboats were still the main source of transportation up and down the rivers but their domination was eroding thanks to an ever-expanding network of railroads across the south. Next passengers began choosing the railroads for their speed and comfort.
John Dukes thanked Tom for sharing Alabama riverboat history 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 12:58 PM.
Rob Diehl

Minutes of the April 12, 2018, Meeting
The Rotary Club of Mobile
Call to Order: The meeting was called to order by John Dukes at 12:15 PM. Bry Shields offered the invocation and Tommy Blankenship led the club in song followed by Jeff Zoghby who welcomed visiting Rotarians and members’ guests.
Youth Merit Award: Jeff Luther introduced Mathilde “Mattie” Naman who was accompanied by her parents. Miss Naman is Senior Class President at McGill Toolen Catholic High School and in talking about Service Above Self cited her father, Judge Edmund Naman as her role model.
Announcements:
• John Dukes announced that the Rotary District Conference will be held at the Beau Rivage in Biloxi on June 7th through the 10th.
• John reported that May 17th has been designated Graduate Day when we invite our members to bring seniors to the meeting to hear an inspirational talk.
• A board meeting will follow next week’s meeting on April 19th.
• John introduced Chris Eddings from El Papi restaurant on Dauphin Street. He said the restaurant is looking forward to hosting members of our club on Tuesday April 17th from 5-7PM with special hors d’oeuvres and happy hour prices.
Program: Cart Blackwell: The Mystique of the Mystic
Tom McGehee introduced Cart Blackwell, Executive Director of the Mobile Carnival Museum who presented a power point program focusing on some of the collections of the museum and the colorful history of our Mardi Gras.
Cart looked back over the city’s long history noting that before the Civil War Mobile had been the second largest center for banking in the South and was dubbed “the Paris of the South.” Reconstruction left the economy in a shambles and the 1872 founding of the Mobile Carnival Association was an attempt to promote the city’s carnival season and bring in tourist dollars. It worked then and it works today. He noted that Mardi Gras had a $227 million impact on the city this year.
Cart announced that the Carnival Museum will be offering visitors a quarterly changing exhibit in the main building beginning in July of this year. The first exhibit will focus on “The Spirits of Mardi Gras” with artifacts ranging from mid-19th century silver julep cups to a prohibition era martini shaker with a Mystic organization’s emblem. Future planned exhibits focus on the work of talented artists and designers of Mardi Gras art and parade floats.
He was especially pleased to announce that New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art has recently put in a request to borrow the emblem goat from the Striker’s Independent Society (1844) for an exhibit planned for 2021.
After answering a number of questions, Cart was thanked by John Dukes who presented him with a certificate noting that a donation has been made in his honor to the Rotary Children’s Foundation.
The meeting adjourned at 1:00 PM.
Tom McGehee

Minutes of the Rotary Meeting
April 5, 2018
By Kathy Miller
Call to Order: The meeting was called to order by John Dukes at 12:00 p.m. Dan McDaniel offered the invocation and Tommy Blankenship led the Club in song and the Pledge of Allegiance.
Guests: Jeff Zoghby introduced guests and visitors.
Announcements: John reminded members of the next Rotary Dine Around on April 17 at El Papi from 5:00 to 7:00 and asked that members RSVP to Peggy. He also reminded members of the Golf event on April 24. The proceeds will benefit the Rotary Foundation, Wilmer Hall and Habitat for Humanity for Southwest Alabama. He also reminded members of the District Conference at the Beau Rivage. John reported that the Club had made a $5,000 global grant and had joined with several other clubs in the District in a $200,000 grant to upgrade a school in Jaipur, India.
Program: Tom McGehee introduced Board member Garrett Williamson, who presented a program about the Save-A-Stray program. Mr. Williamson is a native of Mobile and a graduate of UMS. He was a pole-vaulter for the University of Georgia and received a degree in Exercise Science. Mr. Williamson has a masters degree from the U.S. Sports Academy and is the owner of Personal Edge Fitness in Mobile. Mr. Williamson introduced his wife, Stephanie, who is the Executive Director of Save-A-Stray. The mission of Save-A-Stray is to save animals in shelters by adoption, spaying and neutering and education. Save-A-Stray has been involved in over 600 adoptions and transports an average of fifty dogs a month from Mobile to New York for adoption. Save-A-Stray partners with Helping Hands in DeWitt, New York, a suburb of Syracuse. The trailers that transport the dogs meet Save-A-Stray’s transportation standards. The dogs that are transported are in good shape, vaccinated, spayed and neutered and have a microchip and health certificate. The dogs are fostered in homes for two weeks after they are removed from the shelter before they are eligible to be transported. This allows Save-A-Stray to determine how the dogs interact with families and to provide feedback to potential adoptees. A number of veterinarians partner with Save-A-Stray to vaccinate and spay and neuter the dogs. John presented Garrett with recognition of the Club’s appreciation for his speaking to us.
Adjournment: After announcing members’ birthdays, John adjourned the meeting at 1:00 p.m.

Minutes of the March 29, 2018, Meeting
The Rotary Club of Mobile
Call to Order: The meeting was called to order by John Dukes at 12:15 PM. K. C. Constantine offered the invocation and Larry Sindel led the club in song followed by Tommy Blankenship who then welcomed visiting Rotarians and members’ guests.
Youth Merit Award: Jeff Luther introduced Patrick Darrington, a senior at Citronelle High School. Darrington spoke of his ultimate goal of working to bring this nation together.
Announcements:
• John Dukes announced that the Rotary District Conference will be held at the Beau Rivage in Biloxi on June 7th through the 10th. A limited number of members’ registrations will be paid by the club. Please contact Peggy for further information.
• John reported that our club has agreed to help sponsor 5 local students to attend the Rotary Youth Leadership Award, a leadership program to be held at Camp ASCA from April 26-29th.
• Mark your calendars for Tuesday, April 17 for a Rotary after hours fellowship event at El Papi on Dauphin Street. At 5:30 PM this new restaurant will provide hors d’oeuvres while offering our members a cash bar.
• John thanked Claire McCarron for her role in the club’s donation to Prichard Prep allowing a new stage curtain in their auditorium. The students, who performed for our club in December are excited about the improved look of their performing space.
• Club members Michael and Rosie Chambers were recognized for their generous contribution as Major Donor II’s to the Rotary Foundation.
Program: James (Jim) Perdue: Our Opioid Crisis
Tom McGehee introduced former probate judge Jim Perdue, who previously served as director of the Alabama Department of Mental Health. In that position he had to try and tackle the growing opioid addiction and its many problems. According to Perdue, there are less than 5 million residents in Alabama , yet there are at least 5.8 million prescriptions for opioids in the state.
According to Perdue, the population of the United States represents 5% of the world’s but contains 90% of the opioid addicts. If the death rate from opioid abuse continues in a year it will have surpassed the number of U. S. casualties in the Viet Nam War, he added.
Perdue said that opioids arrived some 12-15 years ago and at their introduction, congress was assured by pharmaceutical companies that their use was not habit forming. That was soon proven to be completely wrong, he said, but congress gave the companies immunity from prosecution.
Money is the main solution, he said. The budget of the state’s Department of Mental Health has been repeatedly cut but there are ways to raise funds to improve things. One is properly valuing and selling some of the 15,000 acres owned by the department within the state.
Next, Perdue asked who should ultimately pay the cost. The answer: the ones who got us here. Is solution would be to charge a state fee on opioids of two cents per milligram. This would bring in an additional $100 million from the drug makers which would allow funding much needed prevention plans, he said.
After answering a number of questions, Perdue was thanked by John Dukes who presented him with a certificate noting that a donation has been made in his honor to the Rotary Children’s Foundation.
The meeting adjourned at 1:00 PM.
Tom McGehee

Minutes of the Rotary Meeting
March 22, 2018
By Kathy Miller
Call to Order: The meeting was called to order by John Dukes at 12:00 pm. Wayne Miller offered the invocation and Tommy Blankenship led the Club in song and the Pledge of Allegiance.
Guests: Jeff Zoghby introduced guests and visiting Rotarians.
Student Guest: Jeff Luther introduced Lakasha Robinson, the Junior and Senior Guidance Counselor at Vigor High School, who introduced Carrington Bush, a Senior at Vigor High School. Ms. Bush spoke to the Club about “service above self”.
Announcements: John Dukes introduced Jon Green and Crystal Sears of Mobile West who encouraged members to buy tickets to Mobile West Fundraiser on May 12 at the Inca Auditorium on Halls Mill Road. Mr. Dukes reminded members of the next Rotary Dine Around on April 17 at El Papi. He encouraged members to attend the district conference at the Beau Rivage on June 8, 9 and 10 and encouraged participation in the Rotary golf tournament scheduled on April 24. He also noted that there was a Board Meeting today.
Program: John introduced David Bagwell, a former President of our club, who spoke to the club about “The Story of Alabama Train Robber Rube Barrow”. David gave an entertaining talk about the life and exploits of Rube Barrow including the details of his Alabama connections and train robberies he and his gang accomplished, including his last solo robbery near Flomaton in September 1890. Mr. Dukes presented David with a certificate recognizing the Club’s appreciation for his speaking to us.
Adjournment: After announcing members’ birthdays and the program for next week, John adjourned the meeting at 1:00 p.m.

Minutes of the March 15, 2018 Meeting
The Rotary Club of Mobile
Call to Order: The meeting was called to order by John Dukes at 12:15 PM. Sumter McGowin offered the invocation. Tommy Blankenship led the club in song and the Pledge of Allegiance. Tommy also welcomed members’ guests and visiting Rotarians.
Announcements:
• John Dukes announced that the Board meeting has been rescheduled until next week, March 22.
• John Dukes notified everyone there will be a dine out at El Papi April 17 from 5-7pm.
• John Dukes reminded everyone of the District Conference June 7-10 at the Beau Rivage. The club will pay for a limited number of registrations.
• John Dukes notified everyone of the upcoming golf tournament.
Program: Lynn Oldsue, Founder, The Southern Rambler, as well as, Author, Our Southern Souls
Tom McGhee introduced the speaker.
Lynn Oldshue grew up on a catfish farm in Yazoo City, MS. After graduating from Mississippi State University, her first job was working at the Saenger Theatre in downtown Mobile. She is married with two boys and lives on a farm in Fairhope. She started The Southern Rambler magazine five years ago to tell the stories of artists and musicians on the Gulf Coast. This year The Southern Rambler won the Nappie for Best Blog/Website from Lagniappe. Oldshue has written features on editorial cartoonist J.D. Crowe, columnist John Archibald, artists Tut Riddick and Bruce Larsen as well as musicians Emmylou Harris, St. Paul and the Broken Bones and The Revivalists.
An interview with photographer Vincent Lawson about his pictures of the homeless in Mobile, and a story about the city’s bus riders, changed her direction. She started the vignette series Our Southern Souls after telling the stories of people who take the bus for hours every day to get to minimum wage jobs, school, medical appointments and grocery shopping. Almost 850 stories over two years include people who survive cancer, flee from war and persecution, take care of spouses with Alzheimer’s, wait for acceptance letters into graduate schools and serve hot dogs to the homeless. She has interviewed flood victims in Louisiana, parents grieving of the death of a child, and nomads living in caves in Morocco. This summer, her stories and pictures from Havana, Cuba hung on the walls of the Alabama Contemporary Art Center in their “Sister Shores” exhibit.
John Dukes thanked Mrs. Oldsue for sharing her experiences with the club and noted that in her honor a donation has been made to the Rotary Children’s Foundation
Adjournment
The meeting adjourned at 12:57 PM.
Rob Diehl

3/1/2018 Minutes
Submitted by Tommy Fulton, Contributing Editor
Call to Order: The meeting was called to order by John Dukes.
Ken Niemeyer gave the invocation, followed by Larry Sindel, who led us in song and the Pledge.
Introduction of Guests & Visitors: Jeff Zoghby introduced our guests along with visiting Rotarians.
Jeff Luther introduced our student guest, Maya White from Blount High School.
Announcements:
Ken Niemeyer discussed the Neighborhood Library project which has 13 libraries. Our partner is Big Brothers/Big Sisters and will be introducing a new model for the Little Free Lending Library.
Jimmy Lyon has transferred to the West Mobile Club and will still be chairing the multi-chapter Rotary Golf Tourney.
Our chapter will be sponsoring a limited number of members to attend the Multi-District Rotary Conference on June 7-10, 2018 at the Beau Rivage Casino and Resort.
Program: Tom McGehee introduced our speaker, Daryn Glassbrook, Ph.D., the Executive Director of the Mobile Medical Museum.
Dr. Glassbrook has been the director of the Museum for two years. The museum is located in the Vincent-Doan-Walsh House, which is the oldest existing private residence in Mobile. It was built in 1827. The Medical Museum has been at this location since 1927, which is on the grounds of the USA Children and Women’s Hospital.
Dr. Samuel Eichold, II founded the Museum in 1962. The Museum has one of the largest collections of medical artifacts and documents in the Southeast, showcasing more than 300 years of medical history. It has been used as a teaching museum, catering to college, high school and elementary schools.
Dr. Glassbrook relayed the fact that the Medical College of Alabama was originated in Mobile in 1859 by Dr. Josiah Clark Nott, which was re-located to Tuscaloosa in 1920. Eventually, the school became the University of Alabama in Birmingham.
The Museum includes human remains, skulls, x-ray equipment from the 1890’s, bloodletting and amputation tools, an iron-lung, and a 1969 model of a cardio-pulmonary bypass machine. They are currently working on a medicinal garden.
Dr. Glassbrook has initiated a partnership with the Gulf Coast Exploreum and a “Junior Medical Camp.”
After a question and answer session, John Dukes thanked Dr. Glassbrook for his presentation and presented a certificate to him, noting that a donation in his honor had been made to the Rotary International Foundation.
The meeting was adjourned at 1:00 pm.