Nov. 9, 2017– Chief Mark Sealy / Mobile Fire-Rescue Department

Mark Sealy
Fire Chief
Chief Mark Sealy has served with the Mobile Fire Department for over 26 years. He began his career as a Firemedic and has progressed steadily through the ranks of the fire department. He has experience in all aspects of fire service including Driver on both suppression and medic units, Captain on both engine and ladder companies, and as a District Chief in both operations and in training. He was promoted to the position of Fire Chief for the City of Mobile on May 14, 2017.
Sealy’s specialty training includes hazmat, urban search and rescue (USAR), as well as being a SCBA specialist (smoke diver), nationally registered paramedic, and fire instructor. He is well respected among firefighters for his professionalism and his ability to motivate others.
Born in Mobile, Alabama, Chief Sealy began his professional career as a United States Marine, where he served as Sergeant of a Reconnaissance Unit, earning consistent commendations for devotion to duty. He earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Fire Science from Columbia Southern University. He is presently enrolled in the Executive Fire Officer Program at the National Fire Academy.

Nov. 2, 2017–Bill Barrick, Exec. Director Bellingrath Gardens and Home / “Mums and Magic”

WILLLIAM E. BARRICK, PhD.
Dr. Barrick began his formal career in Horticulture by serving as an Assistant Professor in Ornamental Horticulture at the University of Florida. He later became the Executive Vice-President and Director of Gardens at Callaway Gardens in Pine Mountain Georgia serving in that capacity for almost twenty years before becoming Executive Director of Bellingrath Gardens and Home in November 1999.
Dr. Barrick is a Past President of the American Public Garden Association, Past Chairman of the American Horticultural Society, 1994 recipient of the Arthur Hoyt Scott Horticulture Medal and the 2012 Governor’s Tourism Award from the Alabama Tourism Department, Recently he has been awarded the Liberty Hyde Bailey Award from the American Horticultural Society and a Distinguished Alumni Award from the College of Agriculture at Auburn University.
Bill has been a member of the Rotary Club of Mobile since 2000 and is a Paul Harris Fellow.

Oct. 26, 2017–Paula Webb / Historian & Author "Mobile Under Siege"

Paula Lenor Webb, Government Documents Reference and Outreach Librarian at University of South Alabama, Mobile, Alabama, obtained her MLIS from the University of Alabama. Paula is a member of the Southeastern Library Association and Alabama Library Association. She has appeared in many academic publications, including two published this year. Paula also received 2011 Mover and Shaker Award and the 2012 ALLA CUS Research Award. In 2016, she decided to try something new. She broke away from working only on academic publications and tried to learn and write more about the city she was born in: Mobile, Alabama. She has since edited the Mobile Genealogical Society publication, Mobile Mayor’s Court Reports: 1865 and authored the History Press publication, Mobile Under Siege: Surviving the Union Blockade. In 2017, she co-edited the Mobile Genealogical Society Publication, Mobile Mayor’s Court Reports:1864. This month, she has an article about Octavia Walton LeVert published in the Mobile Bay Magazine.

Oct. 5, 2017–Rick Frederick / Mobile Bay National Estuary Program "Three Mile Creek Transformation"

Mobile Bay National Estuary Program- Community Relations & Business Resource Manager
Rick Frederick is the Community Relations and Business Resource Manager for the Mobile Bay National Estuary Program. Having spent over 20 years as a Business Development Professional with diversified experience in sales and marketing for the healthcare, education, hospitality, and utility industries, Rick joined the NEP in March 2014. Rick combines his business background with his love of coastal Alabama to meet environmental challenges that lie ahead.
Rick first came to Mobile in the late 1960s when his dad, Rex, was hired as the first head basketball coach at the University of South Alabama. He is a graduate of St. Paul’s Episcopal School and Auburn University, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management. After graduation Rick spent several years in Birmingham, New Orleans, Colorado, and Nashville, Tn., before moving back to South Alabama in 2002 and currently resides in Fairhope, Al.
Rick works with private industry, community leaders and local citizens of Mobile and Baldwin counties to ensure they understand the purpose, goals, and objectives of the Mobile Bay NEP. He looks to involve numerous stakeholders from all facets of the community to help ensure a healthy estuary and bay and takes a community based approach to advance local environmental projects on both sides of the bay.

Sept. 28, 2017–Dale Speetjens / Shipe Shape Urban Farms

Gulf Coast native Dale Speetjens co-founded Shipshape Urban Farms with his wife Angela in the spring of 2017. After high school he joined the US military and served in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Following his serve he earned a BS in Environmental Design, a Masters of Landscape Architecture, and a Masters of Community Planning for Auburn University. In 2015 the couple moved back to Mobile for Dale to take a Project Manager position with the Mayor’s Innovation Team. During his time with the Innovation Team he conducted geospatial analysis and helped develop the blight index. A year later he began teaching in Auburn University’s Masters of Landscape Architecture program. Additionally, Dale was a visiting professor at the 2016 Galapagos International Architecture Studio. There he worked with a diverse team of students, practitioners, and professors from around the world to explore the current and future development of the islands. His research interest include; blue urbanism, geospatial design, environmental and social justice, food systems, resilience design, and national park design.

Sept 21, 2017–Greg Cochran / Alabama League of Municipalities

Thursday, September 21, 2017
Our program today: Greg Cochran – Alabama League of Municipalities
Greg Cochran attended the university of North Alabama in Florence where he majored in Political Science and Psychology. During the mid-1980’s he began working on political campaigns as a volunteer before joining the staff of the Medical Association of the State of Alabama where he represented the interest of Alabama physicians.
Since 1996 Greg has served as the Director of Intergovernmental Relations for the Alabama League of Municipalities. In that position he is responsible for both federal and state legislation. The league was established in 1935 as a voluntary association of Alabama’s cities and towns and is the primary lobbying advocate for Alabama municipalities.
He is also president of the Alabama Municipal Funding Corporation which was developed by the league to assist municipal members with the refinancing of debt and funding local projects through low interest loans.
Greg lives in Montgomery with his wife Kelly and their two children, William and Sanders.

Aug. 17, 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