Memphis (Tennessee) Central Rotary Club
meets Friday 11:45 at Chickasaw Country Club
main dinning room, Galloway Ave
between Holmes and Highland Streets
|
|
|
Memphis Central Rotarian
Vol. 30. No. 39 May 13, 2005 Meeting 1422 Editor: Henry Francis
Today is Scholarship Day
Our club will present $1500 scholarship to six deserving high school seniors today. These youngsters represent the cream of the crop from the many who applied for these scholarships. These are the winners:
FATOUMATA DIALLO, Sheffield. She is a refugee from Guinea. She was happy to come to America, but she found it very difficult to fit in at first because she didn’t know a word of English. She hasn’t seen her family since she left Africa. She will be able to return to visit once she becomes an American citizen. She has been working at Kirby Pines, and she sends as much money as she can to her family in Africa. She is the valedictorian, and she plans to continue her studies at the University of Massachusetts. Last summer she attended a special class at Exeter Academy in New Hampshire. She will major in international business. She says she is motivated to do well
by what she left behind in Africa.BRENT CRENSHAW, SBEC. Tennis is his passion, but pharmacy is his choice for a life’s work. He plans to pursue this vocation at the University of Mississippi, which has a six-year pharmaceutical program. At his school he has earned the title Mr. SBEC. He was a nominee for the Wendy’s Heisman Trophy. He was a frequent winner in tennis tournaments throughout high school, but he did not try for a tennis scholarship. "I want to concentrate on my studies and I don’t want any distractions," he said. He attended the District Youth Leadership Conference last year, finding it "momentous." He also was a Knowledge Bowl contestant.
DANIEL HARGROW, Bishop Byrne. He was active in sports and student activities. He was on the varsity teams in football and baseball, and he was a student ambassador. He earned the title Mr. Bishop Byrne. His goal is to become a physical therapist, and he plans to attend Greenville University in Illinois, which has a fine physical therapy curriculum. He plans to join the football and baseball teams there. He has been working at Neely’s Barbeque to raise money for his college studies.
KEVIA BELL, Oakhaven. She is really impressed by the Memphis climate. "It’s so good to get away from Wisconsin to Memphis where it’s nice and warm." She also finds Memphis to be very friendly. She is the valedictorian and the class president, and she has maintained perfect attendance for several years. She plans to attend the University of Memphis where she will study to become a ophthalmologist. She has tutored math and science. She is a major wrestling fan, attending bouts whenever she can.
TERRIKA WILLIAMS, Whitehaven. Number 2 in her class, she plans to attend Vanderbilt where will major in biology. Her goal is to become a dermatologist. She is class president and a member of the student council. But her first love is Girl Scouts, where she has been active for six years. As a member of Bridge Builders, she enjoyed getting to know students of different races and faiths. She has been working as a cashier at Kroger’s, and she also is very active in volunteer work.
ANDREA PIETRZYK, Woodale. The French language is her passion. She intends to major in French at the University of Memphis. Her long-range goal is to be an interpreter or a translator for either the government or the United Nations. She is the valedictorian, and she has helped others by tutoring French. She has been very active in DECA, and she recently represented her school in the national championships. Her project was retail management. She also was active in the People-to-People Ambassador program. She was captain of the Knowledge Bowl team. On a totally different plane, she is also taking harp lessons. She does volunteer work at the Pink Palace.
Jerry Daws, chairman of the scholarship committee, will talk about the scholars and the scholarship program before presenting the students with their scholarships. Each student will tell us about the school they plan to attend, their major and their goals after finishing college work.
Working with Jerry on the committee were Bert Canfield, Henry Francis, Doyle Lemons and Carlton Smith.
We need more golfers!
Our annual golf tournament is one of the two major sources of funds for our Character Achievement and Scholarship awards. We all have to pitch in to help raise the money. At present we need non-golfing volunteers to handle all the peripheral tasks.
So far we don’t have enough golfers for our tournament on June 2 at the Fox Meadow Links. It isn’t enough that you play – get some of your friends interested in filling out a foursome. If you’re not going to play, you can still help out by sponsoring a hole. The cost is $125 whether you are going to play or be a sponsor.
You’ll be playing for some fine prizes. There are prizes for first and second in each flight, closest-to-pin, the putting contest and holes-in-one. There’ll be refreshments throughout the day, including lots of Dave Luiken’s Blue Bell ice cream.
Tournament Chairman Bert Canfield (850-8813) is planning to have two flights if the field is large enough. Bill Matthews (345-5650) has the applications all ready for you. Make your checks payable to the Memphis Central Rotary Foundation, Inc. Either give your check to Treasurer Bill Eddings or mail it to Bill Matthews Sr., 2991 Directors Row, Memphis TN 38131. If you’re going to be a sponsor, get in touch with Jeff Jones (854-8109).
Mark June 24 on your calendar
June 24 is going to be a great social day for our club – we’re going to celebrate at a Redbirds game. It will be a great time to get the family together. We’re going to have a barbeque feast with all the fixin’s and then we’ll watch the Redbirds play in their magnificent ballpark. The game starts at 6:05, but of course we’ll gather about an hour earlier for food and socializing.
We will not meet at Chickasaw that day – the club has a special event and our usual space will not be available. So the gathering at Autozone Park will be our meeting that day. Members will attend free, since this is taking the place of the regular meeting. The charge for guests is $18.50, which covers the game and the food.
The fishing boats in Thailand
Here is the final report on the fishing boats of Thailand from Bill Francis, son of Henry."We did it! And we really did. We succeeded beyond, way beyond, our original goals. Remember the vision? Bring on a wave of human kindness and light bright enough to wash away the dark terror of December 26th 2004. Well, I wish you could see their faces – my friends, family, benefactors, contributors, prayer partners, supporters and angels. Men cried in gratitude. Stoic seafaring men hugged me openly in public. One man kept pointing to the sky.
"We repaired, and/or replaced 130 boats. As our reputation spread and trust grew, so did the numbers. Locals said we helped 10,000 people! While that’s a wild exaggeration (there aren’t that many people here), you get the idea. 2000 comes closer; but that’s not important. The whole point is we helped restore individual lives, families and villages, not numbers. Somehow we aided everyone who asked, and many who didn’t.
"We repaired 108 boats and replaced 22. We bought 13 brand new engines, a number of used engines, power tools, a bunch of "long tails", a couple of gas tanks, and a whopping 150,000 baht worth of fishing nets. We repaired a Spirit House and gave a little cash to two very poor hungry families."Ours is an International miracle. We’re from the United States, Canada, Mexico, Spain, France, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Romania and Australia! Our combined donation was $62,162.92 U.S.. That’s 2,374,596 Thai Baht. I remain humbled and thankful for the trust you placed in me. Do you realize this would not have happened without your personal contribution? I do. Thank you."
Rotary notes
The Rotary emblem was printed on a commemorative stamp for the first time in 1931 at the time of the Vienna Convention.
The first Rotary club banner (from the Houston Space Center) to orbit the moon was carried by astronaut/Rotarian Frank Borman, a member of that club.
English visitors enjoy local hospitality
The Rotary Group Study Exchange Team members from Nottingham, England, were our guests at last week’s meeting. They told us how they have learned more about their vocations as they traveled through District 6800. They also talked about their experiences here and about the work they do back home in England. Their sponsor was David Hagues, a Rotarian from Darby South, England. All the team members are non-Rotarians.
"They have come to further their own callings," Hagues said. "They have come to see how you do things and to share how we do things."
Matthew Mitchell of Nottingham is a Health Service Project Manager at the Nottingham City Hospital and is involved in breast cancer research. "We're working on writing a standard treatment plan for breast cancer patients," Mitchell said. "We have toured some of the medical facilities in this area and they are phenomenal."
Helen Ryder of Derby is an adult education teacher for the YMCA. She works with older youth ages 16-18, teaching "literacy and numeracy and life skills." She said that she mainly works with what we would consider at-risk students or those who have been expelled from traditional teaching programs.
Charlotte Kerry of Nottingham earned a degree in nursing, then followed with certification as an Emergency Nurse Practitioner. "Most doctors have opted out of emergency or after-hours service," she said. "People in my position are not only first-responders, but they also fill in the gaps after the doctors’ offices close."
Stephen Wilson of Darbyshire is a police inspector. He explained that law enforcement in his country is quite different from the United States. "Although we have different structures, we have pretty much the same problems," Wilson said.
Our club was the last the group visited. They returned to England the day after they visited us. Many thanks to Bert Canfield and Bob Neal for their expert handling of the team’s visit.
The Rotary Group Study Exchange program was founded in 1955 by a New Zealand district and was known as the Rotary Overseas Travel Award. It was adopted as an educational program in 1965 and is the only free Foundation program for which all Rotary districts in good standing may apply.
Upcoming programs
May 20 – Ed Horrell, author and radio talk show host for "Talk about service" - On the trail of world-class customer service.
May 27 – No meeting – Memorial Day weekend
June 2 – (Thursday) Annual club golf tournament at Fox Meadow Links.
June 3 – No meeting as of this time
June 10 – Chuck Bates, FAMC, economist (Still needs to be confirmed)
June 17 – Bill Williams, Underage Drinking
June 24 – No daytime meeting. Club party at Memphis Redbirds game.
July 1 – No meeting – Independence Day weekend
July 8 – Induction of new officers
|
Access our club web site our club, the District and Rotary International |
Nearby club meetings
No meetings close to Memphis.
Collierville – Noon, Ridgeway Country Club
Memphis – Noon, Cook Convention Center
Olive Branch – Noon, Olive Branch Country Club, Germantown Rd.
WEDNESDAY
Memphis East – Noon, Racquet Club, 5111 Sanderlin Dr.
Germantown -- Noon, Germantown Country Club
THURSDAY
Bartlett/Cordova – Noon, Colonial Country Club
Southaven – Noon, Boiling Point Restaurant
FRIDAY
No meetings close to Memphis area
Club roster
Rod Ashley 363-6000
L.D. Beard 369-9642
John Bennett 853-3460
Bert Canfield 850-8813
Larry Conn 682-1800
Jim Crone 754-0777
Leroy Dahler 362-9700
Fred Davis 761-9486
Jerry Daws 757-8578
Bill Eddings 386-3182
**Mark Edwards 795-9260
Pedro Fernandez 601-1125
Henry Francis 754-3405
Doc Harris 312-5104
Al Hollingsworth 767-3600
Laura House 323-6216
Rick James 362-3492 X27
Jeff Jones 853-8109
Doyle Lemons 756-6536
R.E. Linkous 754-0700
Dave Luiken 382-3823
Harvey Marcom 761-2016
Bill Matthews 345-5650
John May 761-3000
Floyd McDaniel 327-2013
Chris McDermott 377-1000
Tom Michael 759-2143
Bob Neal 685-7772
**Don Palmer 662-429-1542
Jean Patterson 332-5586
Chester Perry 685-0972
Andy Peters 821-4145
Marty Petrusek 755-5945
Mike Robbins 363-5880
Randolph Reeves 681-0507
Jack Robinson 213-3993
Gary Rutherford 753-7957
*Tidwell Semmes 767-5752
John Shepherd 850-1061
Carlton Smith 690-1203
*Henry Springer 757-9005
Jack Springer 681-0025
Wesley Tomlinson 747-5561
*Jim Vanderburg 735-7003
Lee Whipple 755-8350
Dick Wieland 322-8630
Gordon Wilson 678-4101
Buddy Wright 680-0340
* Honorary member
** On leave of absence