Category: Meeting Minutes

June 22 , 2017 Minutes
Submitted by Tommy Fulton, Contributing Editor
Call to Order: The meeting was called to order by Tom McGehee.
Tommy Fulton 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.
Announcements: Meal Price Increase from $23 to $24 for Guest and Exempt member meals.
Program: Joe Mareno introduced Travis Randall Short, who is the Founder, Owner and President of Horizon Shipbuilding, Inc.
Mr. Short stated that Horizon, Inc. began business in Bayou la Batre twenty-two years ago. They began with nine employees and have grown to between 250 to 400 employees. They operate their shipbuilding business on more than 30 acres. Their first sale was a rail car cover, but they are now recognized as one of the largest towboat builders in the industry. They also have one of the largest translifts on the Gulf Coast.
Mr. Short mentioned that their initial growth began with building a pilot boat for Iraq, which was delivered to Umm Qasr. This was during the war and it took extensive negotiation to accomplish that feat. He stated that some of the other locations who have received their ships and supply boats include Columbia, Mexico and West Africa. These supply boats service oil platforms throughout the world. However, their greatest growth in the past ten years has been their tugboats.
In what was considered a very challenging effort, Citgo Petroleum spent $55 million to have 40 crew boats delivered in a 20-month period to service the oil fields in Venezuela. Also Mr. Short said that they have won a bid to produce 13 of the new “Lunch-Box” ferries for New York City. He expects that number to increase over the years. The 5th graders at PS 170 in New York City were given the honor of naming each of these boats.
Mr. Short stated that the industry is down substantially, presenting a buyer’s market. Not too long ago, there were 1100 shipyards, but that number has dwindled to 450 currently. Those who are willing to diversify will be the survivors. Horizon Shipbuilding has shown the capability and the willingness to build any type of boat the market requires.
After a question and answer session, Tom McGehee thanked Mr. Short 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.

Minutes of the June 15, 2017 Meeting
The Rotary Club of Mobile
Call to Order: The meeting was called to order by Les Greer at 12:15 PM. Keith Vaughan offered the invocation and Tom Martenstein welcomed members’ guests and visiting Rotarians. Larry Sindel led the club in song and the Pledge of Allegiance.
Announcements:
• Robert Greer brought the club up to date on the recent Rotary International Conference held in Atlanta. Some 80 districts were represented and participants from 150 nations., he said. Next year’s conference will be in Toronto and he urged members to attend.
• Les Greer noted that the price of meals for members’ guests and exempt members is now $24.
• Les also reminded members to get updated photos and/or information to Peggy for the new roster as soon as possible.
Program: Rhett Ross Continental Motors Group
Joe Mareno introduced Rhett Ross, President and CEO of Continental Motors Group, Ltd. Mr. Ross discussed the company’s history and plans for the future:
• History: According to Ross his firm was founded in a barn in 1904 and within a year had a factory built to manufacture automobile and truck engines. In 1927 the firm began manufacturing airplane engines and the Piper Cub was introduced in 1929 using a Continental designed engine.
• World War II: The company began providing engines for small planes and then expanded to provide engines for landing craft and tanks. The 1950’s were the “heyday of aviation” he said, noting that between 20-25,000 planes a year were being built.
• Mobile: In 1966 the firm opened its present facility at Brookley he said, and in the 1970’s the first non- stop, non –fueled aircraft to fly around the world was created here. At one point there were 1,000 employees.
• Today: Ross said that today the firm has 400 employees and is planning a new $70 million expansion in Mobile to help the firm produce the next generation of motors.
After answering a number of questions, Les thanked Mr. Ross for sharing his knowledge with the club and noted that in his honor a donation has been made to the Rotary International Foundation.
Adjournment
The meeting adjourned at 1:00 PM.
Tom McGehee

Minutes of the June 8, 2017 Meeting
The Rotary Club of Mobile
Call to Order: The meeting was called to order by Les Greer at 12:10 PM. Tommy Fulton offered the invocation and Tom Martenstein welcomed members’ guests and visiting Rotarians. Larry Sindel led the club in song and the Pledge of Allegiance.
Scholarship Winners
Jay Turner presented the 2017-18 Rotary Scholarship Awards to Cate Hodges, a graduate of St. Paul’s and Cecilia D’Olive a McGill-Toolen graduate. Miss D’Olive plnas to attend SMU and prepare for medical school while Miss Hodges will attend the University of Alabama and plans to eventually pursue a degree in pharmacy.
Announcements:
• Les Greer announced that a board meeting is scheduled following next week’s meeting on June 15.
• Les Greer noted that the new roster is being prepared and noted that the current roster lacks a number of member’s photo’s. He urged members to get a photo in as soon as possible.
Program: Mike Lee – What’s Happening on the Mobile Waterfront
Joe Mareno introduced Mike Lee, President and CEO of Page & Jones. Mr. Lee brought the club up to date on the following:
• Cruise Ship: Lee said that the cruise ship has become a familiar part of our city’s skyline and has cruises sold through April of 2019. The ship recently sailed with 2,500 passengers and 950 crewmembers and he noted the positive economic impact the cruise industry is having on Mobile’s economy.
• Alabama State Docks: According to Lee, the completion of the Walmart distribution center will lead to an increase of 25,000 containers annually, and that in the future it is likely that the Amazon facility will eventually use the port as well. Steel shipments continue to increase, he added.
• The I-10 Bridge: Lee discussed the future of the proposed bridge noting that the projected cost has risen from $850 million to $1.5-1.8 billion and a construction time of from 5 to 7 years.
Environmental studies continue and he noted that the height of the bridge has been increased from original plans to allow for potential storm surges. Although the federal government will provide 75% this is a matching program and the state would have to make up the difference.
He said that it is now planned for tolls to be put in place for both the new and the old bridge. Some 60% of the vehicles are from out of state, he said, and added that those other states would not be interested in providing funds for the bridge.
After answering a number of questions, Les thanked Mr. Lee for sharing his knowledge with the club and noted that in his honor a donation has been made to the Rotary International Foundation.
Adjournment
The meeting adjourned at 1:00 PM.
Tom McGehee

Minutes of the May 25, 2017 Meeting
The Rotary Club of Mobile
Call to Order: The meeting was called to order by John Dukes in the absence of club president Les Greer at 12:15 PM. Norman Pittman offered the invocation and Jeff Zoghby welcomed members’ guests and visiting Rotarians. Larry Sindel led the club in song and the Pledge of Allegiance
Announcement:
• John Dukes asked members to obtain current photo’s of themselves for the upcoming roster.
Program: Aaron Beam: HealthSouth Part II
Aaron Beam, former COO for HealthSouth returned to discuss the rest of his story. He noted that CEO Richard Scrushy was found not guilty but Beam was sentenced to three months at Maxwell. While the facility was designed for non-violent offenders he said a great number were Miami drug dealers.
Upon his release, he said he had to find a job since all of his material wealth was essentially gone. Unable to find employment he started a landscaping business.
He said his wife encouraged him to go to his alma mater, LSU and talk about his mistakes to MBA students. This was the era in which the real estate bubble burst, Enron collapsed and the nation’s largest accounting firm was out of business.
Beam said he discussed the similarities of the CEO’s behind many of the scandals as being smart and either charismatic or able to lead through intimidation. They typically measure success in dollars, and frankly he said, Americans put successful rich people on a pedestal.
He now lectures college students and warns accounting majors to hold true, that temptations are strong, especially when you get in with the wrong crowd. Beam said he is living proof of it.
After answering a number of questions from the audience, John Dukes thanked Mr. Beam and noted that in his honor a donation has been made to the Rotary International Foundation.
Adjournment
The meeting adjourned at 1:00 PM.
Tom McGehee

Minutes of the May 11, 2017 Meeting
The Rotary Club of Mobile
Call to Order: The meeting was called to order by John Dukes in the absence of club president Les Greer at 12:15 PM. Michael Pierce offered the invocation and Tom Martenstein welcomed members’ guests and visiting Rotarians. Larry Sindel led the club in song and the Pledge of Allegiance
Announcements:
• Robert Greer announced that members’ name badges will be marked thanking them for donations to the Rotary Children’s Foundation.
• John said that a board meeting will follow next week’s meeting.
• Tom McGehee announced that the new Rotary year begins on July 13 with the Passing of the Gavel and that he welcomes suggestions for the new year’s programs. His email is tmcgehee@bellingrath.org
• John reminded members that next week’s meeting will honor 2017 graduates and that the speaker will be Norman McCrummen.
Program: Ruth Carmichael, PhD.: Manatee Sighting Network
Ruth Carmichael of the Dauphin Island Sea lab delivered a power point presentation describing the tracking of manatees as they take their annual seasonal trip from the western coast of Florida to the Mobile Bay area. As the water warms manatees begin a northern trek and have been sighted in both Dog and Fowl rivers where they eat vegetation which often clogs boat engines.
Dr. Carmichael described the careful placement of tracking devices on the manatees and a portion of her presentation showed how they were traced from Dog River, down the Mobile ship channel and over to Florida via the inter-coastal waterway.
Manatees have a curious nature, said Dr. Carmichael and have few natural predators. Their worst enemy is the propeller of a speed boat as they float just under the water’s surface. Dr. Carmichael also said that she relies on volunteer efforts as they study the migratory patterns and distributed a sticker with a contact phone number for anyone on our local waterways to have on hand should they spot a manatee.
After answering a number of questions, John Dukes thanked Dr. Carmichael for sharing her information with the club and noted that in her honor a donation has been made to the Rotary International Foundation.
Adjournment
The meeting adjourned at 1:00 PM.
Tom McGehee

May 4, 2017 Minutes
Submitted by Tommy Fulton, Contributing Editor
Call to Order: The meeting was called to order by President Les Greer.
Sam Siegel gave the invocation, followed by Larry Sindel, who led us in song and the Pledge.
Introduction of Guests & Visitors: Tom Martenstein introduced our guests along with visiting Rotarians.
Announcements: May 18th will be “Graduation Day”, in honor of high school and college graduates.
Ken Robinson spoke about the Paul Harris Foundation.
Program: Ernest Ladd introduced Elizabeth Stevens as our speaker. Elizabeth is the President and CEO of the Downtown Mobile Alliance, as well as a member of the Rotary Club of Mobile.
Elizabeth stated that residential development is on the rise in Downtown Mobile, with approximately 600 units either under construction or in the planning stage. Several of the properties have recently been completed and are currently in the rental/purchase market.
She listed several projects including the Meridian @ the Port, which will feature about 260 rental units. The Staples Pake building will begin renting units in July. Other projects include the following:
Fort Conde Apartments (still in conceptual stage)…130-150 units.
Gayfers Building…80 units + 3,000 sf Commercial space.
Temple Lodge…12 units + 4,000 sf Commercial space.
Russell School Lofts…28 units (technically located in Oakleigh).
Marine Street Lofts and Old Shell Road Lofts.
360 Dauphin Street…8 Residential units, plus Southern National Restaurant.
Warren Street Cottages, near Congress and Cedar.
603 St. Michael St. is an AirBnB.
Hilton Garden Inn…93 rooms and a restaurant/bar.
Elizabeth went on to mention that there are approximately 51 eateries in the downtown area, with more to come. We have the new Moon Pie General Store open now, as well as two new breweries which should open soon. Automobile Alley is seeing a lot of new interest and development including Precision Engineering and Innovation PortAL in the Threaded Fastener building.
Other properties of interest include the new Federal Courthouse, the Old Mobile Antiques project (25,000 sf) and the Fowler Lighting project. Also, several properties are using special incentives to upgrade their parking facilities.
Elizabeth mentioned the Isom Clemon Park Initiative, which is supported by our Rotary Club. She also lauded the efforts by the Business Improvement District (BID), which supports downtown on a 7-day a week basis.
Les Greer thanked Elizabeth 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 13, 2017 Meeting
The Rotary Club of Mobile
Call to Order: The meeting was called to order by club president Les Greer at 12:10 PM. Allen Ladd offered the invocation and Tom Martenstein welcomed members’ guests and visiting Rotarians. Larry Sindel led the club in song and the Pledge of Allegiance
Announcements:
• Dan McDaniel reminded members of the upcoming Rotary Golf Tournament on April 18 and asked that all come out to support the event.
• Les said that the Murphy Interact Club will be sponsoring an intermural sports event on Saturday, April 15.
• There will be no luncheon meeting on April 20. Instead a dinner at the Battle House will take its place that evening at 5:30.
• A Caribbean cruise for the district meeting is scheduled for April 27.
• Les said that we will be honoring the graduating children or grandchildren of Rotarians. Please invite them to the meeting on May 18th.
Program: Aaron Beam: Business Ethics
Bill Kinnaird introduced the former CFO of Health South, Aaron Beam who described his ascent from having recently earned his CPA degree to becoming the CFO of the largest company in Alabama: Health South.
Beam traced the firm back to its beginnings when Richard Scrushy created a company to offer out-patient surgery centers which could provide services formerly only available in a hospital setting, at a fraction of the former cost.
As the company grew its stock price began to skyrocket and Richard Scrushy demanded that the price must continue to climb, leading to “cooking the books” which resulted in 1500 general ledgers and ultimately a $3 billion collapse of the firm.
Beam left the firm to retire in Fairhope and the company’s stellar collapse came a decade later. He was called to testify and Beam said he spent three months in jail and paid substantial fines. Scrushy, on the other hand, “found religion” donated $1 million to an inner city church and walked away from the charges after a six month trial. Jury members later said they could not convict such a “fine Christian man.”
Beam blamed his downfall on simple greed. “It was fun being rich,” he said. He added he was lucky that his wife did not leave him and that had he listened to her in the first place he would probably never have accepted the original offer to work for Richard Scrushy.
Les Greer thanked him for speaking to the club and said that a donation has been made in his honor to the Rotary International Foundation. Mr. Beam said he hoped that he would be invited back to speak to the club to tell the rest of his story.
Adjournment
The meeting adjourned at 1:00 PM.
Tom McGehee

April 6 , 2017 Minutes
Submitted by Tommy Fulton, Contributing Editor
Call to Order: The meeting was called to order by President Les Greer.
Quote of the Day: “Your Destiny is fulfilled as you invest in the destinies of others.”
Rotary Tidbits: In the last 20 years, our club has given out 82 Paul Harris Fellowships. Due to our 100th year celebration of the Rotary Foundation and special drive, we now have approximately 40 more to give out on the 20th of April. We raised more than $10,000.00 in the process. Congratulations!
Eddie Brister gave the invocation, followed by Larry Sindel, who led us in song and the Pledge. Bill Oppenheimer accompanied on the piano.
Introduction of Guests & Visitors: Tommy Blankenship introduced our guests along with visiting Rotarians.
Student Guest: Saty Putcha introduced Angelica Franklin of LeFlore High School.
Announcements: The Golf Tournament will be held on April 18th. The District Cruise will be April 27th. There will be a Board Meeting next week on April 13th.
Program: Bill Kinnaird introduced our speaker, Dr. Terry Ellis. He is an Author, Professional Interventionist & Speaker. His topic was “Addiction & Recovery”
Dr. Ellis began drinking alcohol at the age of 52, in 2003. In addition to several life challenges, his brother was murdered, which contributed to his desire to feel nothing. He lost his desire to actively live. Another minister recognized his problems and told Dr. Ellis that he really needed to get well. It was then that he went through rehabilitation for 90 days in Louisiana. During this time, Dr. Ellis learned much more about his addiction. He was very open about his challenge, which prompted many others to come to him for help and support.
Around a year-and-a-half ago, Dr. Ellis founded Christian Intervention. He stated that there are no demographic boundaries for the problem of addiction. Somewhere between 8 and 10 percent of Americans suffer from this disease. He went on to discuss a tale of two brains, which are the mid-brain and the frontal cortex.
The brain has two neurotransmitters, dopamine, which provides pleasure, and glutamate, which affects memory. In a healthy brain, those are in balance. In addiction, the mid-brain (limbic system) takes over and provides too much dopamine, while the cortex engraves those memories. Addiction wrecks that balance and creates chaos both internally and externally to others.
Dr. Ellis said that addiction causes a catastrophic inability to make proper choices. The brain is sick, but can be healed. In America, 24 million people suffer from addiction. Ninety thousand of those will die each year. Less than 10% of alcoholics get help. Thirty-five thousand will die from Opioid overdoses this year. Anti-anxiety medicines and cocaine will take another sixteen thousand lives.
His advice is that when you even suspect a problem, reach out for help. He made the point that he is now excited about each new day.
During the Q&A period, Dr. Ellis stated that if you suspect you are an alcoholic, you probably have a problem.
Les Greer thanked Dr. Terry Ellis 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.

Minutes of the Rotary Meeting – March 30, 2017
By: Henry R. Seawell, IV
Invocation, Song, Music and Pledge
The meeting was called to order by club president, Les Greer. Frank Harkins offered the invocation. Larry Sindel led the Song and Pledge. Mr. Greer offered the Club a quote from Dr. Seuss, as well as his Rotary Tidbit of the week, informing us that The Rotary Club of Mobile sponsored the Crippled Children’s Ward at Mobile Infirmary in 1930, a sponsorship which grew and matured over the years. The dedicated contributions of our membership culminated in the formation of the Bedsole-Rotary Rehabilitation Center at Mobile Infirmary.
Introduction of Guests and Visitors: Tommy Blankenship.
Announcements: The Rotary District cruise is scheduled to begin on April 27, 2017. Brenda Litchfield offered information related to Project CATE, and announced that the Coastal Kids Quiz will be held at Daphne United Methodist Church on April 27, 2017. Rotarians were encouraged to bring used books in support of Little Free Lending Libraries, which have sprung up all over the area and now comprise of 14 libraries in Baldwin County and 12 in Mobile County.
Student of the Week
The student of the week was Teraney Jackson, a senior at Williamson High School. Teraney has a 4.09 Grade Point Average, is a member of the National Honor Society, theater, and choir. She intends to enroll at University of Alabama-Birmingham next fall, where she will attend on an academic scholarship.
Program
Speaker: Mr. Cart Blackwell, a member of our club and an Architectural Historian with the Mobile Historic Development Commission, was introduced by Robbie McClure.
Cart provided the club with a narrative on Alabama history, along with some important information leading up to our state’s bicentennial in 2019. The presentation offered our members insight into state nicknames, periods of relevance, as well as famous artists, writers, patriots and politicians.
Mobile was described as the “Paris of the South” during the Ante Bellum period and it was noted that Mobile had the country’s second largest banking system of that era, behind only New York. With all the developments of recent years, Cart postulated that we are entering a new golden age for the city. A kickoff event for Alabama’s three year Bicentennial Celebration will be held on Cinco de Mayo (May 5, 2017) at Cooper Riverside Park and all members are encouraged to attend. During the upcoming months, seven traveling exhibits will be making their way around the state recounting our history and tremendous promise. All Alabamians should be proud of our state and participate in our bicentennial.
The meeting was adjourned.