Minutes of the August 10, 2017 Meeting
The Rotary Club of Mobile
Call to Order: The meeting was called to order by John Dukes at 12:15 PM. John Pisarkiewicz offered the invocation and Tom Martenstein welcomed members’ guests and visiting Rotarians. Larry Sindel led the club in song accompanied by Bill Oppenheimer on the piano. The reciting of the Pledge of Allegiance followed.
Announcements: John Dukes made the following announcements:
• Attendance Recognition Day is August 17.
• A board meeting will follow the regular meeting on August 17.
• The Tarpon Tournament was a great success. John thanked Ernest Ladd for his leadership and said that he will be re-capping the results at a future meeting.
• The newly printed rosters are available to be picked up.
• Wished members well on their up-coming birthdays.
Program: Rob Holbert: Co-Creator and Managing Editor of Lagniappe
Tom McGehee introduced Rob Holbert who was a co-creator of Lagniappe, Mobile’s weekly newspaper. He serves as its Managing Editor. From the size of the crowd, members were obviously interested to hear from him.
Mr. Holbert reported that Lagniappe has recently celebrated its 15th anniversary as Mobile’s weekly newspaper and currently boasts a readership of 80,000 per week. He outlined numerous stories covered by the paper over its history and said that he finds himself vilified as too liberal by some readers while far too conservative by others. He concluded he “must be doing something right.”
His goal for the publication, he said, was to have it “lively, active and non-partisan.”
He said that the paper consists of two full time reporters and a number of freelance writers who cover stories in Mobile and Baldwin counties. The paper has recently purchased a building at 704 Government Street and he and his staff are looking forward to being a part of downtown Mobile.
Holbert allowed time for questions from the floor. A number of members took him up on the offer and the subjects ranged from environmental concerns to both the senate and mayoral elections.
John Dukes thanked him for speaking to our club and noted that in his honor a gift has been made to the Rotary Children’s Foundation.
Adjournment: The meeting adjourned at 12:50 PM.
Tom McGehee