Rotarians were greeted by Debbie Ford and Carol Law. Sandra Smith encouraged all to participate in donations to Manna Food Bank.
President Keith called the meeting to order and welcomed all attending. President Keith called upon Leonard Swartz to give the prayer and led the Pledge of Allegiance. A special recognition was made to Bo Carter with a Paul Harris Plus 5 for his continued work for Rotary International and all other Rotary projects.
Henry Roberts introduced Dr. Ephtimios with Sacred Heart Hospital as a new member of the club. Dr. Ephtimios works in the infectious control department at Sacred Heart Hospital. Sandra Smith spoke to the club about the needs of Manna Food Bank in helping the needy in our community. She said the numbers of those in need of food have increased due to lay offs in the area. Earl Hutto encouraged club members to sign up for the annual Bell Ringing which will be held at Best Buy, Sam’s Club and at some of the Walmarts. Earl said there are lots of time slots available and asked everyone who can to sign up for the event. Bell ringing will be conducted on Fridays and Saturdays over four weekends beginning November 28 and 29. Another announcement included the groundbreaking for the new Ronald McDonald building on Bayou Boulevard today. R P (Rodger) Doyle gave us some Sunshine by welcoming the military, visitors and Rotary visitors. He also noted the birthdays of “Skippy” Furlong, Ben Early and Bill Elebash. He led us in the birthday song. Applause was heard for the sunshine story he told. Thanks RP.
Our speaker was Tim Evans, Executive Director of Manna Food Bank. Tim told us about his work at Manna and his work on helping poverty in Escambia County. He talked about the “Bridges Out of Poverty” program that is currently being addressed. He recognized Sam Goldenberg for his strong support of the program. He said that Escambia County has one of the highest incidences of poverty in the state. The objective of the program is to reduce poverty ½ over a twelve year period. The long term goal is to see Escambia as a community without poverty. He said this program is both national and statewide as it takes a nationwide effort to sustain the resources needed in all cities. He encouraged all to join in this vision of uniting Escambia County to accept our responsibility in addressing the issues of poverty.
President Keith thanked Tim for his talk and all who participated in making our meeting a success.
A salute to Andrea Farage and her McDonald’s group. They’ve broken ground on the new Ronald McDonald House which will aid parents of children in Sacred Heart’s specialty hospital.
Cal Moore and Miller Caldwell are mighty pleased at the progress of the bronze figure of De Luna that their committee’s been pursuing. Sculptor Bob Rasmussen is well along on the work, which is supposed to be dedicated as
De Luna Park in April. Another 450th Anniversary note: Coy Irwin succeeded in having the new issue of the AT&T Phone Book cover show the official seal and art for the celebration.
Hats off to Sam Goldenberg and Sandra Smith for their ongoing efforts on behalf of Manna Food Bank. In this difficult year the work of that and similar agencies is truly important.
Mort O’Sullivan was one of the speakers at the funeral for long-time Rotarian Carl Leahy. Mort did a fine job.
Alan Bookman, November 28, New Orleans, LA, 30 years
Gary Bembry, November 29, Tallahassee, FL, 8 years
Dave Galloway, November 29, Atlanta, GA, 38 years
Auby Smith, November 29, Boaz, AL, 4 years
Jimmy Coe, November 30, Pensacola, FL, 18 years
Debbie Ford, December 1, Owensboro, KY, 5 years.
The nominating committee proposes the following slate for the 09/10 rotary year:
President: Margaret Stopp
President Elect: Ray Jones
Secretary: Innes Richards
Treasurer: Ron Jackson
Sear gent at Arms: Tim Kane
Past President: Keith Bullock
Board members for the ‘09 through ‘11 term: (to be voted on)
Henry Roberts
Shawn Brantley
Andrea Farage
David Stafford
Continuing Board members will be: (not to be voted on)
Tommy Tait
Rex McKinney
Debbie Ford
Sandra Smith
Elections will be held at the December 9th meeting.
Nominations can be proposed from the floor.