Category: Meeting Minutes

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.

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.