Vol. 30. No. 28 February 11, 2005 Meeting 1410 Editor: Henry Francis

 

Today’s program
Scott Shepard: Memphis Business Journal and author of Street Talk.
 

Next week’s program
The fourth annual joint meeting of the Memphis Central Rotary Club and the E.R. Cook Chapter of theAir Force Association will take place next Friday. The speaker will be Col. James M. Rushing, Tennessee wing commander of the Civil Air Patrol. Col. Rushing will tell us about the activities of the Civial Air Patrol, which include search and rescue operations. Jerry Daws serves as this program’s coordinator.

Upcoming events
April 4, 5, 6 and 7 are the potential dates for our annual golf tournament, one of our two top-fund raisers held annually to raise money for our Scholarship Fund.
April 15 is the date for the annual Character Achievement Awards program.Committee members work hard over several months using an impressive review process to select two eighth-graders and two sophomores who have overcome major obstacles. LeRoy Dahler serves as committee chair.

April 22-23: The annual District 6800 Conference will take place at the Hilton Hotel, Memphis. District Governor Dick Wieland, a member of our club, is conference chairman and our club will serve as the host club. All members are urged to serve on committees and to commit to attend at least a portion of the conference. Our club is in charge of the administration of the District silent auction fund-raiser to be held on Saturday, April 23. Once again Jean Patterson has agreed to chair the auction. She’ll need assistance from fellow club members to make this auction as successful as last year’s. Proceeds will go to the Rotary International Foundation.
 

May 5-7: GSE Team from Nottingham, England, will visit the Memphis area. Rotarian families are needed to handle local hosting duties. Please consider volunteering to serve as a host during the team’s stay.
 

May 20 or 27: Annual Scholarship Program at which six high school seniors will be awarded $1500 scholarships. The committee, headed once again by Jerry Daws, selects the winners on criteria based on grade scores, SAT results, activities and an essay. The top dozen candidates are then interviewed individually the by committee before the final selections are made.

District Youth Leadership Conference
Do you know a high school junior who would be interested in attending the upcoming District Youth Leadership Conference? The conference will be held from March 31 to April 3 at the Whispering Woods Conference Center in Olive Branch. Our club will sponsor three deserving students. Once again we are planning to send one or two students from Sheffield High School, our adopted school, to the conference. The club pays conference fees and provides transportation. Please submit names for consideration to President David soon.

In commemoration of Black History Month, many students at Sheffield High will take part in a community service project at Zion Cemetery on South Parkway. More than 200,000 slaves were buried there! The students will clean up the graveyard on Saturday, Feb. 19, and Thursday, Feb. 24. This project will give the students the opportunity to give back to the community. School officials were told that this burial ground has never been cleaned before.

"We need the support of your club to make this project a success," said Linda Williams, a student counselor. Any snacks/refreshments you can provide will be greatly appreciated. We expect approximately 300 students and teachers to participate.

"I would also like to thank you for all the support Memphis Central Rotarians have provided to our school. It has been such a joy to work with you."

Many of you made contributions to the special fund to help Thai fishermen repair their boats. The idea was the brainchild of Bill Francis, son of Henry Francis. Bill has been helping with the on-the-spot reparations in Thailand ever since that terrible tsunami. Here are excerpts from Bill’s latest report.

"Donations to date: $15,827.70. All the money will be used to repair or replace the fishing boats at eight sites on two islands, Ko Lana 5 and Ko Per 3. So far 94 boats are either under repair or have had their repairs completed. A quote from Bill: "What a joy it is to look out in the bay, which was empty when we started, and see beautiful boats bobbing on the waves."

Bill’s visa ran out this week. When he sought an extension so he could offer further help to the Sea Gypsies, the officials waived all fees and granted the extension.