Minutes of the January 16, 2020 Meeting
The Rotary Club of Mobile
Call to Order: The meeting was called to order by Tom McGehee at 12:16 PM.
Angela Dunn offered the invocation. Tommy Blankenship led the club in song and the Pledge of Allegiance. Jeff Zoghby welcomed members’ guests and visiting Rotarians.
Jeff Luther introduced our student guest Alex Everett of Saraland High School
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Russell Ladd led the meeting for election of new officers. The nominated slate of officers is:
• President: Claire McCarron
• President elect: Elizabeth Stevens
• Vice President: Garrett Williamson
• Secretary: Bob Chappelle
• Treasurer: Frank Harkins
• Director: Kate Carver
• Director: Sumpter McGowin
• Director: William Latta
• Director: Meg Fowler
• Immediate Past President: Tom McGehee
Mr. Ladd reported that there were no individual nominations received therefore the nominated slate was elected by acclamation.
The club Board will meet today after the regular meeting in the Leinkauf Suite.
Program: Pratt Paterson introduced Jim Nagy, Executive Director, Reese’s Senior Bowl.
Nagy reported on the upcoming festivities over the next week as the players begin arriving Jan. 18 and culminating with the game on Jan. 25. Nagy and his staff introduced updated marketing this year. The rebranding effort is known as “The Draft Starts in Mobile”. This is a concerted effort to spotlight Mobile in a manner similar to the 2019 draft which was held in Nashville. There were some 600,000 people in attendance in Nashville. With the introduction of new events including a Mardi Gras parade, followed by a live concert in Cathedral Square by the Revivalists on Jan. 24, a new event known as The Summit on Jan. 23 at the Saenger theater, Nagy hopes to attract many more fans to Mobile and, of course, the game itself.
The 2019 Senior Bowl had 10 first round picks which was the highest in some years. Nagy believes that number will be higher this year.
President McGehee thanked Mr. Nagy for his presentation and noted that, in Nagy’s honor, a donation had been made by the club to the Rotary Children’s Foundation.
Adjournment
The meeting adjourned at 12:52 PM.
Rob Diehl