2008-09 Rotary International theme: Make Dreams Real

We are Rotary club #3931.
Visit our web site: www.memphiscentralrotaryclub.org

Reminder: No meeting this week in observance of Good Friday.

Future meetings
04/17/09 - 11:45 a.m. – Chickasaw Country Club Program: Character Achievement Awards
Program coordinator: Leroy Dahler

04/24/09 – 11:45 a.m. – no meeting at Chickasaw. Instead, plan to attend the District Conference that will be held at the Double Tree Hotel in downtown Memphis adjacent to the Peabody.

Note: All meeting information is provided to the newsletter editor by the Program Committee. We believe our meetings listings are current and as accurate as we have been made aware. Please contact Jean Patterson, newsletter editor, if you have update/corrections for the future meetings section.

Character Achievement Awards recipients – 2009

Character Achievement Awards will be presented at the April 17^th meeting. As is the custom, we are presenting background information about the recipients of the awards in this week’s edition of the newsletter, one week in advance in advance of the presentation. Learn about our four achievers now.

Our first winning achiever is a ninth grade student at Christian Brothers High School. He definitely has a “can-do” attitude. He says that he believes he was nominated to receive this award because “I have a lot of perseverance and a good attitude. I have cerebral palsy which makes it harder to walk and get around. Even though I have cerebral palsy, I don’t like to have any modifications made. This is because I can do anything I set my mind to. I play baseball and basketball, rock climb, go backpacking and many other things.”

Our second winning achiever is an eighth grade student at Holy Rosary School. This young lady has endured many physical hardships since she was born. Her parents took her to many specialists before her condition, a very rare condition, Prader-Willi Syndrome, was diagnosed. This condition causes low muscle tone and short stature if not treated with growth hormones.

Despite facing many difficulties this award winner is very independent, goal-oriented, tenacious and hard working, according to the teacher who nominated her. “I wish you could meet her. She has a wonderful work ethic and great behavior. She is very kind to others and she goes out of her way to be thoughtful and courteous. Despite the obstacles, she always gives her best,” says the nominator.

Our third winning achiever is a tenth grade student at St. Benedict at Auburndale School. According to his nominating teacher, this student “is an outstanding young man who has overcome much adversity in his life”. He and his sister were basically passed around by their biological parents to anyone who would take the children. After years of physical and emotional abuse this student was providentially adopted by a loving couple who met him at church. With his adoptive mother’s help he caught up in school after being three grade levels behind.

This student’s new mom had a medical accident that left her completely disabled. Our winner helps out at home quite a bit and watches over his younger sister who was adopted by the same family. He also says it was a tremendous honor to be nominated for consideration to receive our Character Achievement Award.

Our fourth winning achiever is a ninth grade student from St. Benedict at Auburndale. This winner was chosen by several of his teachers to be nominated for the Character Achievement Award. One of the teachers wrote, “He is in our PLUS program for students with learning disabilities and/or attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder. This disability makes it more difficult for him to be organized, do his work, study for tests and do well in school. But he really separates himself from others in that he is well liked by all his classmates and his teachers. He maintains a positive attitude and exhibits a drive and maturity not often seen in ninth graders”.

Our winner does not allow ADHD to hold him back. He is a kind, giving and responsible young man who, unasked, arrives early to help with Kids Kan Drive for the Memphis Food bank.

The 2009 Rotary District conference will be held in Memphis on April 23-25 at the Double Tree Hotel in downtown Memphis adjacent to the Peabody Hotel. DG King invites everyone to the conference and said he is asking all Shelby County Rotary clubs who have regular meetings during the conference to suspend their meetings so that all area Rotarians will have an opportunity to attend the District Conference.

Flyers promoting the District Conference will be available at today’s meeting.

Will you attend the District conference? Let President Jack Robinson know prior to Friday, April 17 which events you plan to attend.
Conference planners have requested that each club in our District advise them of the number of club members who plan to attend the lunch on Friday where the key-note speaker will be in the international president-elect of Rotary.

Also, if you plan to participate in the District golf tournament, please let President Jack know.

For more information about the District Conference, visit www.rotarydistrict6800.org

Mikah Meyer invites you to attend a performance of the opera “Penelope”
The opera will take place at the University of Memphis at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, April 17 and again at 3:00 p.m. on Sunday, April 19. For more information, contact Mikah at: mjfmeyer@juno.com

Club members celebrating April birthdays
None – how about inviting someone with an April birthday to attend----and join our club? We could add their name to our birthday list! (And fill in this blank!)
Club meetings in the surrounding area
For the convenience of our members we’ve provided a list of nearby club meeting sites where we can make up our misses. Please save this list for future reference.
MONDAY
No meetings close to the Memphis area.
TUESDAY
Collierville – Noon, Ridgeway Country Club
Memphis– Noon, University Club
Olive Branch – Noon, Olive Branch Country Club, Germantown Road
Oxford– Noon, Oxford University Club, 300 North Lamar
WEDNESDAY
Germantown-- Noon, Germantown Country Club, 1780 Kimbrough
Hernando – Noon, Windy City Grille (NW side of Square)
Holly Springs – Noon, Annie’s Restaurant, 198 N. Memphis Street. Phone 662-658-2825.
Memphis East – Noon, Racquet Club, 5111 Sanderlin Dr.
Robinsonville -- 8 am, Tunica National Golf & Tennis facility, Highway 61 & Casino Strip Blvd.
THURSDAY
Bartlett/Cordova – Noon, Colonial Country Club, 2736 Countrywood Pky, Cordova
Southaven – Noon, Boiling Point Restaurant, 55 Church Rd. (near Civic Center)
Tunica – Noon, Women's Club Building, corner of River and School Streets
FRIDAY
Senatobia – 12:15 p.m., Northwest Junior College campus, Haraway Center

Are you unable to make up in person at a nearby Rotary club location? Then you may wish to consider going on-line to make up your missed meeting(s) at Rotary’s e-club one. It’s very easy to do and the variety of program topics allows you to learn a lot about other Rotary club projects worldwide in addition to business subjects and critical needs.
Make-up meetings at your convenience, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Spending 30 minutes on the website constitutes an on-line Rotary meeting. It is mandatory that your visit MUST be 30 minutes or more. Visit www.rotaryeclubone.org today!

Our mailing address

Memphis Central Rotary Club
P.O. Box 772296
Memphis TN 38177

Your individual Rotary membership number is printed on your copy of the Rotarian magazine.
Or contact our club secretary to find out your number before corresponding with Rotary International.

Honorary members of the club*
John Bennett 853-3460 *
Henry Francis 754-3405 *
Floyd McDaniel 327-2013 *
Chester Perry 685-0972*
Tidwell Semmes 767-5752 *
Henry Springer 757-9005*
Jim Vandenburg 735-7003 *