Honoring PDG Jim and Jo Ann Futrell as Major Donors

I returned to the Winnsboro Rotary Club on December 20th to honor a longtime friend, PDG Jim Futrell, and his lovely wife, Jo Ann. PDG Jim and Jo Ann made a decision to become Major Donors to The Rotary Foundation this year. They were recognized publicly at our Foundation Banquet in November, but they were traveling at that time. I wanted to personally recognize them in a special location and encourage other club members to contribute generously to our wonderful foundation. 

Despite this meeting happening only a few days before Christmas, they had great attendance and we enjoyed some exuberant singing of Christmas carols by club members led by Rotarian Jim Baughman's wife, Esther. Esther is a real estate agent, but also works with her church choir. Most Rotarians are not good choir members, but Esther clearly had command and brought out the best in everyone! 

I enjoyed a great meal, fellowship, and spending some quality time with PDG Jim and Jo Ann Futrell. Club President Arthur Lathan is doing a great job leading his club, and I know they are going to have a great year!  

My last Official District Governor Club Visit in Westminster!

After interviewing a top candidate for my residency program in Greenwood, I quickly drove to Westminster, South Carolina for my final official club visit for the 2011-12 year! Club President Amy Childress, President Elect and Treasurer Jack Newby were excited about the visit and very proud of their club! I was very pleased to see that the club grew by 4 members last year, significantly increased their donations to The Rotary Foundation, and have some remarkable service projects. In response to my question to the board about whether the club was the premier service club in Westminster, they enthusiastically answered "yes"! Area citizens recognize the club for their great scholarship program for area high school students and their participation in the city's Apple Festival. The club provides canned goods for local food pantries, fruit baskets for elderly in community, dictionaries to 6th graders, area trash pick‐up along with Interact club and support for local school needs in their community. They have assisted communities in other countries by providing shelter boxes  and funding for Haiti projects. 

From the web site for the City of Westminster: 

Located in Oconee County in the Upstate Region of South Carolina 950 feet above sea level, the City of Westminster is in the foothills of the beautiful Appalachian Mountains. With a diversified economic base, ranging from modern industry to the quaint shops along Old Main Street -- and surrounded by rivers, lakes, forests, mountains and golf courses, Westminster offers a wide variety of occupational and recreational opportunities. A treasure trove of wonderful architecture, Westminster, SC boasts more than one hundred homes that are unique to the late 1800's and turn-of-the-century. Our residential and business historical districts offers a visual smorgasbord for the sightseer along our Crape Myrtle-lined streets.

I was very pleased to recognize Rotarian and Past Club President Reba Butts as the club's Notable Rotarian. She was cited for her service to the club since 2004. Reba always puts others before self, gives selflessly of her time, and is always willing and available to help with any projects and events. I learned after the meeting that Reba's husband was a brigadier general in the South Carolina National Guard where I served for many years. I recalled meeting her husband and enjoyed hearing many of her stories about their many friendships and activities with the SC National Guard. 

My final DG presentation went well and several club members and a new prospective member told me that the presentation really helped them understand better the tremendous impact that Rotarians make in our world. District Governor Elect Kim Gramling, Assistant Governor Patrick Lee, and PDG Bob Hanson also attended the meeting today, and I thoroughly enjoyed spending time with them during this special club visit. I was thrilled to receive a very kind note from club President Elect Jack Newby thanking me for coming. I can't think of a better way to end this very special part of my year as District Governor! 

A year of great growth at the Rotary Club of Woodruff

Kathy and I enjoyed a beautiful drive through rural South Carolina to Woodruff, our 54th official club visit of the year. President Keith Kelly has done a terrific job leading the Rotary Club of Woodruff this year. The club has already increased membership by 10% (2 new members including a younger member who is working on the club web and Facebook sites), and every member of the club agreed to contribute at least $150 annually to The Rotary Foundation. Club secretary Curtis Dillard expressed excitement about taking club members on a field trip to Water Mission International in Charleston for a service project (assist in assembling a water filter). The board also shared about their great service projects -- The Rotary Night of Singing that supports 4 local students at the college of their choice ($800 per semester for up to 8 semesters); the annual Christmas program; and iPast President Theron Willis now teaching English in Korea. Thanks to the new member, Brandon Leonard, the club was able to connect via Skype with IPP Theron Willis in Korea. The Woodruff Rotary Club is clearly on the move and has some great ideas that other clubs in our district could use!

The club meets at the Woodruff Leisure Center, a great facility for a club of 20 members. We enjoyed a great meal catered at a local restaurant and brought each week to the club by Notable Rotarians Pat Taylor and Ron Dean. President Keith had the club's aging banner thoroughly dry cleaned last year, and each member had a professional badge with their name and classification. The meeting was well run and finished exactly on time despite a slightly long-winded District Governor presentation!

I was pleased to present certificates to Notable Rotarian Ron Dean and Pat Taylor.  Ron Dean has been a member of the club since 1999 and served as club president in 2009-2010. Ron is an investment advisor, a graduate of the University of Tennessee, and is married to Ava. Pat Taylor has been a member since 2004, served as past club president, and works as the office manager for a local water utility company. She is married to Bob, and they have two married sons.  Pat cooks a homemade dessert every week to accompany the catered meal brought to the club by Ron. Both Ron and Pat have done this yeoman's work for years without recognition! I am so pleased to be able to recognize these valuable members of the Woodruff Rotary Club!

DG Official Visit #53 at the Rotary Club of Inman

Kathy drove to Inman, SC today while I participated in a teleconference with our residency program directors in the South Carolina AHEC system. The 1.5 hour trip seemed so much shorter! We arrived early at the Pancake House and had the opportunity to meet with President Holly Foster, Treasurer James Pace Jr., and Secretary Cathy McMillan. They are excited about increasing membership from 20 current members to 25 members this year. The board also supported putting a new emphasis on Rotary Foundation giving by encouraging members to donate at least $25 per quarter. The club supports a women's shelter, the Rotary Peace Park, CART, PolioPlus, dictionaries for 3rd graders, providing Christmas presents for the needy, reading to local elementary school children, providing scholarship for Chapman High School students, and the Adopt-A-Highway project. 

President Holly announced today that the club now has a President Elect who will attend PETS in March 2012. Holly has now served for two years, and many club members have already served as president. This announcement was followed by a lot of applause! 

My presentation went well and PDG Ted Hammett expressed his appreciation of our ambitious goals for the 2011-12 year. PDG Ted and Juanita plan to join us for the Council of Governors meeting on December 9th in Greenville. 

I  I was very pleased to recognize Dr. David Stokes as the club's Notable Rotarian. Dr. Stokes is the first physician recognized this year as a Notable Rotarian. I also learned that he was the founding program director of the Spartanburg Regional Family Medicine Residency Program! I was so pleased to see a family physician continue to be active in Rotary and a physician leader in South Carolina. Dr. Stokes has been a member of Rotary since 1980 (31 years) and has served as club president. He is a Paul Harris Fellow, Sustaining Member,  Benefactor, and Major Donor. Dr. Stokes has truly paved the way for others to follow his leadership.

   Many members stayed to talk with Kathy and me after the meeting. We thoroughly enjoyed meeting with this very friendly club with such a rich history. I thanked President Holly for her service and congratulated the club's President Elect.

Good times at the Rotary Club of Easley

President Robert Sams was waiting for Kathy and me when we arrived at the Carr Conference Center in Easley. The clubs meets in a very nice former school renovated by the City of Easley. I met with the club's board upstairs in the United Way conference room and learned about their strong desire to be an active club with hands-on service projects. The club has many long-time members, but I was pleased to see several young, energetic members today. I had the opportunity to meet Miss Teen Clemson and her mother, a potential new club member! The club focuses on literacy and is the lead club for our district's literacy work in Haiti. Dr. Sara Mansbach gave an excellent presentation during the meeting of her recent work with 20+ libraries and literacy training in Haiti. We enjoyed a great meal and had the opportunity to speak with many club members during and after the meeting. My presentation went well and several members thanked me for the information not heard in the past. 

Club Secretary Terry Garrison has worked with several scholarship pageant students in the past. I was pleased to recognize him today as the club's Notable Rotarian. Terry has been a member of the club since 1977 (34 years ago!) and has perfect attendance since 1984. He has served as Club President (1994-95) and the club secretary for the past 18 years. As a former recipient of the Service Above Self Award, he is dedicated to improving club membership and attendance, consistently brings interesting guests that brighten and beautify an otherwise normal Tuesday, and is a Multiple Paul Harris Fellow, Double Sustaining Member, and Benefactor.

A full Rotary Day -- Visiting the Seneca Rotary Club, Our District Foundation Event

After interviewing an outstanding medical student whose career seemed amazing similar to mine (private pilot, interest in medical missions, ROTC and military health professions scholarship), Kathy and I departed about 9:15 AM for Seneca again. Kathy drove to Seneca (at or below the speed limit) while I participated in a teleconference with the South Carolina Medical Association Continuing Medical Education Committee, provided a job reference for a former colleague, and answered a few calls and e-mails. We located Jimmy's Family Restaurant where the Seneca Rotary Club meets. The energy and excitement present in this club was apparent from the moment we walked into the meeting room. Longtime club and former District Secretary Steve Sokol and President Helen Westmoreland greeted us warmly. I meet with the board initially and was excited about their plans to increase membership from 45 to 55 members this year. They are well on their way and even had a visitor interested in joining the club and starting a new Young Professionals Rotaract Club. The club had great service project plans for the year -- install a bus shelter at the community medical center, participate in Salvation Army bell ringing at Christmas, make home repairs for indigent clients through their Rotary Repair Force, host a Holiday Party for a local children's home, continue the annual Community Appreciation Day, and assist in infrastructure improvements in a school in a depressed country. The club was certainly aware of the difficult economic conditions and challenges for the club, but I suspect their "can do" attitude will move this club forward with many new members and projects to benefit their community and the world.

I was pleased to recognize Rotarian Curt Davis as the club's Notable Rotarian. Curt has been a member since 1975 and has served as the club president. He has been recognized as a Paul Harris Fellow. He is very involved with the Salvation Army and organizes the Bell Ringing for the Rotary clubs in the Seneca area. Curt always finds “good” locations for club members so they can make a difference! He also directs the "Rotary Repair Force" that assists the elderly, disabled or less fortunate to have some assistance with light home repairs and maintenance. Curt has turned many of his fellow Rotarians into "gold miners" by leading several "mining" expeditions and sharing with others the art and addiction of "gold mining“. He is married to the love of his life, Whyoma.

Kathy and I had a great time with the Rotary Club of Seneca. Despite the lack of much sleep the night before, my presentation went amazing well. Rotarian Steve Sokol reminded me after the meeting that he was always direct and blunt. However, Steve told me he could sit through my presentation a second time because he enjoyed the detail and interesting information about our Rotary world. Thanks for a great compliment, Steve!

I drove back to Greenwood (please go back and review my first blog about my driving at the Atlanta Motor Speedway) so I could get a little rest, catch up on a few e-mail messages, and prepare for our District Foundation Banquet and Seminar at the Arts Council at the Federal Building. A few Rotarians called during that time asking if they could come without being registered. I made an executive decision and told them to come on. We had a wonderful seminar led by PDG Rich Waugh and banquet featuring Rotary Foundation Trustee and RI Director Elect Anne Matthews. Anne's message was an inspiration to everyone. I was honored to be able to spend some time with this decisive and innovative leader with good down-home Southern charm. As I think about the highlights of this year as District Governor, the privilege of meeting so many outstanding leaders at the RI, Zone, District, and Club levels has been remarkable. Tonight I head home ready for a good night's sleep!

Visiting our District Governor Elect's club -- Seneca Golden Corner

After a wonderful day supporting my home club's major annual fundraiser, Election Day BBQ, on Tuesday, November 8th, Kathy and I elected to drive to Seneca, SC and spend the night before meeting with the Seneca Rotary Club the following morning. Our hotel was next to the Seneca Family Restaurant where the club meets, so we had no problem being on time. We enjoyed great fellowship with President Steve Willis and the club's members. I was pleased to see District Governor Elect Kim Gramling and Assistant Governor Patrick Lee. We had a short lived panic when my presentation would not project, but quickly discovered that the wrong cable was connecting the computer and video projector. 

My presentation seemed to go well, and we finished on time after some great Happy Dollar comments and club announcements. The club actually met in the center of the restaurant, so I had an even greater audience of non-Rotarians sitting in the restaurant. As I was talking about the future of Rotary and my goals for the district, I could not help but wonder whether anyone in the restaurant hearing my talk might develop an interest in Rotary. Several club members told me about the difficult economic conditions in this area. I hope my visit today will stimulate growth in membership and Rotary Foundation support. 

I had the opportunity to recognize Paul Porter as the club's Notable Rotarian. Paul has been a club member with perfect attendance since1996. He has served as Club President and is a Paul Harris Fellow, Sustaining Member, and Paul Harris Society member. He has worked tirelessly in the area of member recruitment and retention.  Many of the current members remain in the club due to Mr. Porter’s diligence in this crucial area.

the club presented a donation to Volunteers in Medical Missions, and I was honored to be able to present this check to Kathy Cater, the Associate Director and Trip Coordinator that has worked with me for many years. 

This is an exceptionally busy week for me. I quickly left Seneca and returned to Greenwood (1.5 hour drive) for a hospital meeting and nursing home rounds. DGN Lorraine Angelino and PDG Isaac Shaffer met me at my office to drive to the District 7690 Foundation Banquet in Greensboro, NC (4 hour drive) where we met RI President Kalyan Banerjee, RI Director John Smarge, RI Director Elect Anne Matthews and about 800 other Rotarians and spouses. AG Jeff Updike connected with us in Concord, NC and was the first person dropped off on the return to Greenwood. We arrived back in Greenwood definitely ready for bed at 2 AM! My day starts tomorrow (Thursday) at 8:30 AM with a medical student interviewing for residency training.