Warm greetings for everyone today came from greeter Jim Stolhanske, while Claudia Simmons and Tim Kane handled ticket sales. President Maygarden called the meeting to order and led us in the four-way test. Prayer and pledge was led by Roger Vinson, and Jerry requested a moment of silence for the recent passing of Henry Keener Tippins, Jr. M.D.
President Maygarden began announcements by encouraging Rotarians to attend the upcoming District Conference April 11, 12, and 13 in Panama City. There will be a stand up Membership Committee meeting today after the meeting. June 22 will be Family of Rotary at the Yacht Club.
Martin Harwood announced that all new members since 2000 (104 people) are automatically on the “greeter committee”. These folks are asked to go to the Rotary website to see what date you are greeting. President Maygarden shared the excellent news that Sam Goldberg and his wife Joyce have been named national hospice volunteers of the year.
In honor of St. Patrick, the Rotary Rooters graced us with Irish tunes. Roger MacDonald was festive in his green and white striped ‘Cat in the Hat’ hat. Mr. Sunshine, Richard Sherrill, dutifully carried out his duties, introducing military guests, guests and visiting Rotarians. His ongoing attempts at humor brought on numerous requests for “the hook”. Birthday cheers went out to members, accompanied by John Appleyard on piano.
Jim Martin introduced today’s speaker, Dr. Thomas Delaino, the fifth and current Pensacola Junior College president. Dr. Delaino is a native of Cedar Key, a die hard Gator fan, and was in the US Air Force. He was at Santa Fe Community College in Gainesville prior to joining PJC. In 2002, Dr. Delaino was named president of PJC and under his stewardship the college serves more than 30,000 students each year. He will soon be retiring. In recognition of his positive impact on this community Dr. Delaino received a standing ovation by the club.
Dr. Delaino provided an overview of PJC’s 60-year history. It was founded in 1948 and began at the corner of Palafox and Cervantes streets. That year, 128 students attended. In 1954, Dr. Henry Ashmore became the first president of PJC. In 1956, the Southern Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools granted accreditation, and in 1957, the college relocated to its present Ninth Avenue location. A little later the PJC Foundation was created that now has more than $16.6 million in assets.
WSRE-TV began operations at PJC in the late 60s; and in the early 90s it became the area’s first digital television production studio. In 1971, PJC’s Milton campus opened, and then moved to its present site on Highway 90. PJC’s third campus opened in 1977 on Highway 98 in Warrington. In 1989, the college opened the Downtown Center. For more information regarding PJC’s history, Dr. Delaino referred to the book, “Recollections: The Story of Pensacola Junior College”, by John Appleyard.
Speaking to the future of PJC, Dr. Delaino mentioned a groundbreaking of the Edward Chadbourne library coming soon, as well as renovations to the adult high school. Another exciting new venture is a brand new $22 million academy for public safety training in conjunction with the County and the Sheriff’s department. It will be located in the northern end of the county on Hwy 29 and will house training for police, emergency medical technicians, homeland security, etc.
Dr. Delaino shared his concern about the current governance of higher education, and the possible renaming of the ‘community college system’ to a ‘state college system’. He worries about things that could see the college’s focus move away from its mission. He provided a short update on the search for his successor; eight names have been provided to the Board of Trustees, tonight they will decide who to interview, final interviews will take place over the next 2-3 weeks, with a final decision to be made soon after. Any time is fine for Dr. Delaino as long as it is wrapped up by May 31st.
President Maygarden closed the meeting by thanking all who participated, and “Rotary Shares”.
See where this month Ted Nickinson and Jack Fleming will step down from their long roles as heads of the St. John’s Cemetery Foundation, where they’ve done so much to improve the burial ground.
Many members were in attendance on March 10th for the funeral service for former member Keener Tippins. Our sympathy to his daughter member Julie.
Alan Bookman and Teri Levin are board members for Kids House, and Rodger Doyle is on the Symphony Board.
Commissioner Grover Robinson has the concern of having to trim county funds from agencies led by fellow Rotarians Jean Norman, John Clark, Leigh Broxton and Gary Bembry.
With growing problems with subprime mortgages, rising unemployment, credit concerns and more perhaps the club should consider a panel of members to address the local situation. After all, we have twenty-seven members whose work is allied with those activities.
As of March 12th Jim Martin was in the final four in the PJC presidents race.
Wylie Hogeman – March 20 - born in Baton Rouge, LA,in Rotary 12 years
Lew Doman – March 21 - born in Alton, IL, in Rotary 42 years
Rick Nickelsen – March 21 – born in Pensacola, FL, in Rotary 7 years
Teri Levin - March 23 – born in Jeffersonville, IN, in Rotary 3 years
Shawn Brantley– March 24 – born in Cocoa, FL, in Rotary 7 years
NANCY FETTERMAN:
Nancy Fetterman is a member of the Board of Trustees of University of West Florida; Honorary Chair of the Vice Admiral John H. Fetterman State of Florida Maritime Museum and Research Center; member of the Florida Humanities Council; member of the Sacred Heart Hospital Advisory Board and member of the Board of Directors of Sacred Heart Health System; member of the Pensacola Children’s Chorus Advisory Board; Vice Chair of the Pensacola Library Foundation; and an advisor to the Oriskany Reefing Project. Nancy is also active with the St. Michael’s Cemetery Foundation (having chaired its formation and now serving as Chairman Emeritus) and with ECARE, and she has previously worked with a number of other local nonprofit organizations. Nancy holds a Master of Arts degree in Public History from UWF and formerly served as Program Coordinator for UWF’s Office of Public History.
ALEXIS BOLIN:
Alexis is a Charter Member of Pace Rotary Club since 1994, has served on the Pace Rotary Club Board of Directors, Club Service Chairman, and Editor of the Pace Rotary Club Newsletter, and was named Rotarian of the Year for Pace Rotary. The Pace Rotary has honored Alexis by naming her a Paul Harris Fellow in 2002 by Rotary International. She is also a Sustaining Member, a Benefactor as well as a member of the Bequest Society for Rotary International. Alexis is a member of Impact 100 Pensacola and involved in various community activities such as Manna Food Bank, Muscular Dystrophy, Cancer Society, Covenant Hospice, Habitat for Humanity, Building the Community Play Ground in Pace, Friends of the Saenger, Gulf Breeze Chamber of Commerce, Donated to the St. Luke Methodist Church building fund and was appointed to serve on the 2000 Census committee.
Alexis along with her family established the Alexis Bolin Endowed Scholarship in memory of Rachel Barshafsky and Sonia Burchett at Pensacola Junior College. This scholarship goes to a child of a single parent or a single parent who is working towards improving their education.
BARRY COLE
Barry Cole was born in Jackson, Mississippi and moved to Pensacola at the age of 13. He graduated from Washington High, received his AA in business from Pensacola Junior College and then attended the University of West Florida. Barry is married to his high school sweetheart, Laura, and has two boys, Conner age 13 and Harrison age 8. He started Bere’ Jewelers 24 years ago with a partner and now owns the stores in both Pensacola and Gulf Breeze. Barry is a LeaP graduate, a board member of the Sacred Heart Hospital Foundation and on the Board of Governors for Pensacola Junior College. He is active in the Fiesta of Five Flags, the past Chief of the Mayoki Indians and a member of the Pensacola Big Game Fishing Club. If you have been to a fundraiser in town, you have more than likely seen or bid on a piece of jewelry that Bere’ has donated to the cause.
BILL DOLLARHIDE
Bill is the co-owner with his wife, Margaret, of Dollarhide’s Music Center, Inc., in downtown Pensacola. They opened for business in 1988 and are currently celebrating their 20th anniversary. Bill earned his graduate and undergraduate degrees in music from the University of Southern Mississippi. He was a public school music teacher in Florida and Mississippi prior to entering the music products industry in 1975. He is a member of the Pensacola Bay Area Chamber of Commerce, the Better Business Bureau of Northwest Florida, the International Music Products Association, the Music Teachers National Association, the American Guild of Organists and the Pensacola Music Teachers Association. He has served in various community service activities in Pensacola including the Better Business Bureau, the Downtown Improvement Board, SpringFest and Bravo for Kids. He is currently the vice president of the Pensacola Symphony board of directors.
SCOTT GRISSETT
Scott was promoted for membership by President Jerry, who has known Scott’s family for a number of years. Scott was “raised a Rotarian” as Jerry put it, and was particularly involved with Interact. One of the motivations behind bringing Scott in as a member will be that he can fall in line to take over Interact duties behind Ed Wonders. Scott is a salesman for Buffalo Rock. His family business—which he will likely take over at some point down the road—is hardware and heavy equipment in the Atmore area. Scott is young, energetic and eager to be a part of our group. Among other things, Scott will bring down our Club’s average age!