Club of West Knoxville

Bearden Banquet Hall June 6, 2014

Engaged in Service and Growth

Meeting Make-ups

For a list of Knoxville-area Rotary clubs

for makeups and visits, click here.

Membership

If you know anyone who might help us

to achieve our membership goals for

this year, please bring them to our next

meeting! For more information on how

to become a Rotarian, click here.

Rotary Links

Rotary International

Rotary District 6780

Rotary Club of West Knoxville

Future Speakers

Jun 13, 2014 - Professor Charles Miller,

“History of the Duel”

June 20, 2014 - Lisa New, Executive

Director, Knoxville Zoo

June 27, 2014 - Rotary Assembly

July 4, 2014 - No Meeting

Presiding: Oliver Smith

Song & Pledge: Haynes Smith

Invocation: Jeff Day

Guests & Visitors: Dick Hinton

Humor: Alan Smeltzer

Editor: Charlie Biggs

Club Business and Announcements

President Oliver Smith thanked Amy Bolling, Scott Bolling’s wife, for serving as one

of the celebrity judges at the Rockytop BBQ last week.

President Oliver Smith welcomed back Anne Hart from the Bearden Shopper News.

Walt Beahm, John Beahm (Walt’s son), and Phil Parkey delivered Mobile Meals.

Rotary Moment: Phil Parkey provided brief biographies of two new members: Greg

Chambers and Janice Mitchell.

Greg Chambers is a native Knoxvillian and a graduate of the University of

Tennessee College of Communications with a BS in Advertising. He is married

and has three children: Ellis 15, Michael 13, and Jorgi 12. Greg is a member of the

Greek Orthodox Church and an active leader in the church’s youth programs.

He likes any kind of project involving construction. He also likes most kinds of

music, and he reads whenever possible, particularly biographies and history. He

has been shooting since he was about 6 years old, and still enjoys skeet and

sporting clays whenever possible.

Janice Mitchell is married to her husband Wayne and has three children:

Deanna, H.E. III, and Michael. She has lived in Alabama, Iowa, Illinois, and

Tennessee. Janice is a graduate of Auburn University, where she majored in

Vocal Performance with a minor in Piano/Organ. She teaches music at the

Montessori International School on Northshore Drive. She also teaches privately

in her home studio - piano, voice, and brass instruments. Janice became a

Rotarian on May 8, 2000 when she joined the Rotary Club of Rockwood, TN. In

January 2001, she became a member of the Forsyth Sunrise Rotary Club in

Illinois, where she served as Secretary and as President. She graduated from the

Rotary Leadership Institute, a three-year program, in 2008 and served on

District committees for District 6490. She is a Paul Harris Fellow +2. Music

(opera, ballet, symphonic band, piano, vocal, organ/church/youth literature)

and musical dramas are her passion!

President Oliver Smith thanked Mike Bailey for doing a tremendous job on the

Membership Committee this year. At the last Presidents Meeting, President Oliver

learned that the Farragut Club inducted nineteen new members this year but nine

Rotary Club of West Knoxville

P.O. Box 10457

Knoxville, TN 37939

Rotary Club of West Knoxville 2

left during their first year. The other Presidents asked

how we keep members. President Oliver said he

bragged on Mike’s list of the nineteen steps it takes to

bring in a member and how Mike was creating a system

for this. He said we have been up and down all year and

we currently have 89 members.

Mike Bailey said that our Rotary College does a great

job orienting new members and he thanked Phil Parkey,

Richard Bettis, and Karl Kemmer (who moved to the

Southwest last month) for their work on this. Mike also

thanked the current members of the Club for bringing in

such great new members.

President Oliver Smith thanked Bob Boothe for doing a

great job getting good speakers for our meetings. He said

having good programs is one of the keys to having people

come back.

Anita Henderlight - Update on South Sudan

President Oliver Smith introduced Anita

Henderlight, an Honorary Member of our

Club and Executive Director of Africa

Education & Leadership Initiative (Africa

ELI), which provides access to secondary

schools for young people in South Sudan,

especially girls, in an effort to bridge

gender gaps through education.

Anita began by noting that despite what

we read in the news, life in South Sudan is

not just poverty and war, and she played a

short video, “Happy in South Sudan” which

shows people there dancing and having a

great time. (You can watch the video here.)

Anita then talked about Africa ELI and how Rotary’s support

helps young people in South Sudan. She said Africa ELI’s

goals include:

Increased access to education for girls

Raised student retention rates and reduced at-risk

behaviors

Improved student performance and preparedness for

advanced learning courses or employment

To show how Rotary helps Africa ELI achieve these goals,

Anita traced a dollar bill from Knoxville to South Sudan.

The process starts in the West Knoxville

Rotary Club. Ted Hotz collects money and

wires it to South Sudan. It arrives in Yei,

South Sudan, where it turns into South

Sudanese pounds. Once it gets there, it is

used in a variety of ways.

A dollar from Rotary may become triple

decker dorm beds for students from the

Nuba Mountains, who had to leave their

homes due to fighting there. Africa ELI was

asked to help, and funds from Rotary made

it possible for them to have beds.

A dollar from Rotary may also help drill a

well to provide clean water for one of the schools supported

by Africa ELI . The most recent well was dug at the site of

the new Excel Academy campus in Jansuk (see pictures

below). When Africa ELI drills a well, the water is also shared

with people in the surrounding community, where it can

literally transform life. When a well is dug, death rates in

the community decrease because of access to clan water.

The time saved by being able to get water more easily can

enable children to attend school longer and more regularly,

causing education rates to rise. Conflicts about access to

water decrease, bringing peace to areas that had been

marked by violence. And for the Excel Academy, water

Drilling a well for the new Excel Academy campus in Jansuk, South Sudan.

Women and children getting water from the well at the Excel Academy campus in Jansuk.

Rotary Club of West Knoxville 3

President Oliver Smith thanked Anita for her presentation.

He said it was a testament to the power of Rotary that a

small group of people here in Knoxville could reach across

the world to help education children in Africa.

Phil Parkey announced that nominations for the Barney

Thompson Rotarian of the Year Award are still open. He

encouraged members to submit nominations.

Gary Ricciardi announced that the winners of the Service

Above Self Award will be announced at the June 26th

meeting. Phil Parkey noted that the new officers will be

sworn in at that meeting as well.

President Oliver Smith thanked Tom Daughtrey for doing

an incredible job on the Rockytop BBQ fundraiser last week.

He said Tom spent an immense amount of time working on

the BBQ, and it really paid off. The event was mentioned on

television 19 times last week - publicity that Anne Hart

agreed was worth over $30,000.

Club Business and Announcements (continued)

President Oliver also thanked Helen Harb, who he said also

did an incredible job. He noted that we had an amazing list

of national sponsors - including Pilot, Regal, Bush, and

Wells Fargo - and he said that all the sponsors he talked to

said that the event was very professional and that they had

a great time.

President Oliver noted that over 100 volunteers helped

with the BBQ, including members of our Club, the ESK

Interact Club, and the Knoxville Rotaract Club. Over 2,000

people attended the event, including cooks, judges, and

the public. The cooks and judges all said we did a fantastic

job. Five Presidents from other local Rotary Clubs attended

the BBQ and all of them were very impressed as well.

President Oliver Smith closed the meeting with a quote

from an unknown author:

One day your life will flash before your eyes. Make

sure it’s worth watching.

ABC’s of Rotary

For the next several weeks, the ABC’s of Rotary will feature

videos from the recent Rotary International Convention,

which was held in Sydney, Australia, on June 1-4. Our first

video is “Rotary Convention Officially Opens in Sydney,”

which provides coverage of the opening plenary session.

You can watch the video here or by clicking on the image at

right. You can watch more videos from Rotary International

here.

enables the staff to mold bricks for a new dorm that will

provide housing for 100 girls.

A dollar from Rotary can also help build new latrines or a

whole new campus for Excel Academy.

Anita noted that Africa ElI plays an important role in South

Sudan. It is helping to build leadership skills and create the

basis for a peaceful civil society. Sooner or later, the war will

end, and people need to be ready to move when it does.

Educating young people is critical to this process.

Thanks to Africa ELI, young people in the South Sudan are

improving their communication skills, developing practical

skills, keeping healthy, and celebrating real achievements. In

2013, four of South Sudan’s top ten students were at Excel

Academy.

Anita closed by thinking members for all they do to help

Africa ELI and students in South Sudan. She asked us to

share the “thank you letter” on the right to show how much

the students at the Excel Academy appreciate our support.

Thank You from a Student in South Sudan

Dear Sirs and Madams,

I am delighted to write this appreciation letter to you for the

work you are doing for us (in South Sudan). I am one of the

sponsored students. Because of your love for us and the effort

you have put in to (help) us study, we are encouraged. Thank

you very much. Some who had no support from parents are

now helped.

I am indeed impressed by what you are doing through Madam

Anita who is one of your members. She has shown us a great

love and this implies that all of you love us too.

My prayer is that God Almighty bless your work and all things

you plan will prosper!

Yours faithfully,

Nidal

Excel International Academy - 4th year student (senior)

Yei, South Sudan

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Scenes from the Rockytop BBQ Cook-Off

Thanks to Charley Garvey for taking these great pictures!

We will print more in bulletins over the next several weeks.