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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