May 19, 2020:
Just as we are getting used to our new virtual format, we may be closer to holding our first in person meeting since early March. Stay tuned as we make a decision on when that will happen. In the meantime, this past week we were honored to have General Hank Taylor as our guest speaker and he gave us an update on the One Region economic development effort in these challenging times.
Henry L. Taylor, Brigadier General, United States Air Force (Retired) and interim director of our Tri-County “One Region” joined us last Tuesday to discuss “One Region”, a global competitiveness strategy for Metro Charleston and efforts to restart the region’s economy safely.
Brigadier General Taylor currently serves on the Boards of Directors for Kellstrom Defense; a global provider of comprehensive support for U.S. manufactured legacy defense platforms and Thomas and Hutton; a comprehensive engineering and consulting firm. He is also a former member of the Board of Advisors for the SunTrust Bank in the greater Charleston region and the Charleston Southern University Board of Visitors. He served as Vice President, Global Business Development for the three-county Charleston Regional Development Alliance. In this position, he was responsible for the global marketing of Dorchester, Charleston, and Berkeley Counties. He also led a team that facilitated the relocation and expansion of companies in the region. Prior to this position, he served at the South Carolina Department of Commerce. In that capacity he was active in the recruitment of new businesses and the expansion of existing businesses in the state. He is currently Chairman of the Board for the Dorchester County Economic Development Corporation. He also sits on the Board of Trustees for the Trident Medical Center where he is the current Chairman.
General Taylor served 33 years of active military service in the United States Navy and the United States Air Force. He retired from active duty in 2005 as Vice Director for Logistics, J-4 on the Joint Staff at the Pentagon. In this capacity he served as a key advisor to the Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff.
General Taylor has earned: The Bachelor of Arts Degree in Psychology, Cum Laude, from Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa in 1975. The Masters of Human Relations Degree from the University of Oklahoma in Norman, Oklahoma in 1986. The Masters of Science Degree in National Security Strategy from National Defense University in Washington, DC in 1996
The overarching goal of One Region is to become a globally competitive place where all people and businesses flourish requires action. It means working together with One Vision as One Region.
Four shared, regional values form the foundation of the strategy:
– Attainable Opportunities for All Residents to Live, Learn & Earn
– Balancing Growth with Nurturing Our Unique Character
re|IGNITE, an effort led by One Region, seeks to provide guidance to businesses and employees on how and when to safely reopen businesses in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The strategy leverages expertise from business, healthcare, nonprofit, and government sectors to create a coordinated, science-based approach to restoring the local economy.
Although fundamentally a public health crisis, COVID-19 has created a corresponding economic crisis in our community. Businesses and individuals are suffering financially and the calls to reopen the economy grow louder each day. But how do we balance these calls for action while following the guidance of the medical community and protecting citizens?
This will involve a multiphase plan.
Phase One is Stabilization which is a phased opening of the region’s economy.
Phase Two is Recovery to stay under the crisis curve in the months ahead.
Phase Three is Thrive which is to return to full activity once a treatment or vaccine is widely available.
Full economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic will require sustained focus and effort from our region’s leaders and citizens.
More information can be found at oneregionreignite.org.
Submitted by Dan Baus, Keyway Committee
IN OTHER MEETING NEWS
- Virginia Lee gave the Invocation and led us in the pledge.
- President Sandy welcomed all visiting Rotarians & guests.
- President Sandy Morckel presented Health and Happiness.
- David Baggs welcomed and introduced our guest speaker, General Hank Taylor, who joined us to discuss re|IGNITE, an effort led by One Region. It seeks to provide guidance to businesses and employees on how and when to safely reopen businesses. The strategy leverages expertise from business, healthcare, nonprofit, and government sectors to create a coordinated, science-based approach to restoring the local economy.
MORE IN THIS WEEK’S KEYWAY
May 26 2020 | Issue 4964 | President: Sandy Morckel
COMING EVENTS
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- May 26 – NO MEETING (Memorial Day Week)
- June 2 – Meeting @ Faber/Zoom (Tosha Conners, My Sisters House)
- June 9 – Meeting @ Faber/Zoom (Kristopher King, Preservation Society)
- June 16 – Meeting @ Faber/Zoom (CCSD Teacher of Year/Rotary Scholars)
- June 23 – Meeting @ Faber/Zoom (Gracie & Lacy)
- June 30 – Meeting @ Faber/Zoom (Presidential/Board Installation)
NEWS BRIEFS
Rotary Club of Charleston History Moment
At each meeting, President Sandy plans to share some of the snippets of our club’s amazing 100 year history and our impact on Charleston and around the world. It will be a fun trip down memory lane and will also be shared in the Keyway.
The 2000’s (2000-2003)
We broke ground for the Rotary Fountain in Marion Square. The Club continued to raise the $100,000 pledged for the fountain. Programs included Mayor Riley and improvements of the East side and the SC Aquarium. Rudy Macke talked on the nature of the area. We continued our support of the Project Living Waters. The Rotary Club of Charleston Fund now totaled $218,000. Programs included reports on the new Copper River Bridge and our continuing Rotary Readers program. We again moved our meeting place from the Rifle Club to the Citadel. Finally we dedicated the new Rotary Fountain on Marion Square as it was one of our many Rotary involvements in that area including helping raise funds for the Francis Marion Hotel in the 20’s and refurbishing the park in the ‘40’s. The “Keyway” was named best newsletter in the District and Carroll Schweers was named District 7770 Secretary of the Year.
No Meeting This Tuesday / In-Person Meetings Coming Soon
As a reminder, we will NOT be meeting this Tuesday, May 26. We hope everyone has a happy and safe Memorial Day weekend.
We will continue to meet via Zoom the first part of June and then move back to holding in-person meetings at Faber either June 9th or June 16th. We have a small committee working to iron out some of the details of our future in-person meeting logistics, which will be passed on to you prior to returning to in-person meetings. Please know that as we adapt to a new way of life, dining and meeting, we are keeping everyone’s safety and wellbeing as the highest priority.
Volunteer Opportunities
Any Rotarians and their family members who are healthy and able, we have several COVID-19 related volunteer opportunities that are looking for volunteers. Please understand these are opportunities to volunteer in the community for those who want to, but with the understanding that you will do so with careful consideration and discretion as to not put yourselves or others in jeopardy.
Camp Happy Days Build-A-Box Event (NEW OPPORTUNITY)
Rotarians needed to volunteer for this event to take place June 13th and 14th on James Island. We will have 2 sessions (9:30am-12:30pm and 1:30pm-4:30pm) each day. Volunteers can sign up for one or more sessions. We will be packing boxes that will be mailed to our campers. Since our campers will not be able to attend camp in person this year we are sending camp to them, in a box. The boxes will be packed with arts/craft, fun activities, and projects based on age groups. We are going to be packing around 375 boxes during the two-day event. We would love any help you all can provide. Please contact Melinda Slider at 843-571-4336 Ext. 25 or Email: melinda@camphappydays.com to register for a shift.
CASC MEALS ON WHEELS
The Charleston Area Senior Citizens (CASC) has secured COVID funding to provide each of our current Meals on Wheels clients extra meals! Arriving this week are 10,000 shelf stable meals for our clients.
Now CASC needs a team of people willing to deliver a route once a week to seniors across Charleston County. Meals would be picked up from the CASC center on Meeting Street each week and delivered by a volunteer.
Volunteers will come to the center between 10- Noon to pick-up their meals and delivery can be made that day anytime. Volunteers will call each recipient and food will be left on the porch for a contactless delivery.
We hope to keep each route about 2 hours.
Would you be able to help with this?
If so- please email Donna Cool ASAP with the area you would like to deliver and what time you can come pick up your boxes.
Donna Cook at [email protected]
Shifa Clinic’s Lowcountry Food Pantry is in need of Rotary volunteers. The pantry in Mount Pleasant has seen a dramatic increase in the number of families accessing the food pantry as a lifeline due to the economic impact of the Coronavirus containment efforts. Formerly serving 250 families per month, they are now serving 375 families per week. Volunteers are needed to sort, load, and unload food boxes for delivery throughout the region Monday-Friday for the foreseeable future. To register for a shift, go to https://m.signupgenius.com/#!/showSignUp/60b0d45aba72ba7fa7-covid1
Update on 3D Mask Assembly Project
Over 100 hours have been devoted by a dozen Rotarians to the 3D Mask Assembly Project in partnership with The Citadel and local healthcare providers since April 10. On March 4, The SC Army National Guard has come on board, and more than 400 reusable masks have been distributed to local healthcare workers at MUSC and other health care providers in the Lowcountry. The Guardsman will be able to continue full-time until June 13, when Rotarians will once again take over the volunteer duties with shifts on Wednesdays and Fridays, 9 am – Noon starting on June 17. Thank you to Rotarian and SC Guard Major Howard Chapman for making the connection, and our Veterans Chair Skip Fink for serving as liaison for the project. Rotarians who would like to volunteer for any shift beginning June 17, please contact Skip Fink at 703-994-7341 or by email at [email protected].
Also, our Rotarian and Ironman Don Oswalt is helping to raise money for Water Mission by doing a solo Half Ironman on Sunday, May 24th. He will be swimming 1.2 miles, biking 56 miles and running 13.1 miles for a total of 70.3 miles! Funds raised will help bring safe drinking water to the 1.8 billion people around the world currently lacking access to safe water. Below is a link to the Water Mission donation page if you would like to donate to the effort. We know that things are tight for a lot of us but any small donation is appreciated. https://watermission.everydayhero.com/us/half-ironman-for-water
Also, if you are out there and helping in our community during this crisis, please take a photo of you volunteering and email it to Mike Sottak. We would love to highlight the good works being done by our members.
Rotary Makes Covid-19 related donations
Our club used excess funds originally earmarked for the Y Achievers program to make donations to community program aimed at Covd-19 relief. These included Shifa Clinic/LowCountry Food Pantry, Morris Street Baptist Church Food Bank, St. Patrick’s Catholic Church, and White Oak Manor-Charleston, as well as to the Y Achivers.

COVID-19 Rotary Relief Scholarship Fund
We understand some of our Rotary members have been impacted financially by the COVID-19 economic fallout. Our Rotary District 7770 has set aside funding to allow the Board of the Rotary Club of Charleston to create a COVID-19 Rotary Relief Scholarship Fund to help offset dues for the July – December 2020 dues period for those impacted financially and who may not be able to pay their full dues. Active members in good standing will be eligible for this support. Partial funding is available to offset the upcoming Rotary Dues that will be billed later in June for the July 1 – December 31, 2020 dues period. All requests will be kept confidential.
To request relief, please contact Executive Secretary Carroll Schweers (843-412-1009), President Sandy Morckel (614-306-8856), President-Elect Lisa Van Bergen (843-607-3192) or Treasurer Alan Uram (843-518-8977) or submit an application, which was emailed to the entire club last week, to Carroll at [email protected]:
The deadline to submit a request is May 30, 2020.
January Dues Past Due
January 2020 Membership dues are now PAST DUE. If you have received notice, deadline for payment is May 27. If you received a notice and have questions or concerns, please reach out to Carroll or Treasurer, Alan Uram. July dues statements will be distributed late June/July.
Club/District Emails
As a Rotarian and a member in District 7770, you are receiving emails from our club and the District. Both the club and the District try to minimize the number of emails being sent, but in today’s world of staying at home and no contact, emails are the main way to get information out and keep Rotarians connected. Please do not unsubscribe from District emails as this also effects your ability to receive club emails. If you unsubscribe from the District emails, then you are also unsubscribing from receiving club emails.
Contribute to The CART Fund On-Line
It is now easy to contribute and support The CART Fund electronically. The CART Fund has just rolled out a new portal www.mycartfund.org, which you can easily access. As a Rotarian and a DACdb user, you automatically have an account already set-up in your name. Your user name and password are the same as it is for the DACdb.
50/50 Raffle
The 50/50 Raffle continues at our next in-person weekly meeting. Members will have a 1 in 8 chance to win. The pot will start at $224. Bring your cash and let’s grow the pot. You do need to be present to win. Tickets are available at meetings – 1 for $5 or 3 for $10.
Our Club is on Social Media
Members are encourage to follow all of our social media channels and share posts with their followers too! We also need members to send us picture of anything they do that relates to Rotary – service projects, meetings, events, etc. We would love to keep our accounts full of smiling Rotarians! Photos can be send to Mike Sottak, [email protected], or Rob Byko, [email protected].
Member News
Congratulations to Courtney Plotner and her family on their new addition – Tucker Harrison was born yesterday and is said to be a happy boy! Mom and baby are both doing well.
Congratulations to Anthony Weston, who has been named Head Girls Basketball Coach for Pinewood Prep.
Best wishes for all of us to stay safe and continue to stay connected as we help those who are most vulnerable in our community. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to fellow Rotarians if we can help you in any way in the days and weeks to come!
Proposed New Member
The following membership candidate has submitted an application and signed letter of agreement to the Historic Rotary Club of Charleston:
Sarah Imam – sponsor: President Sandy Morckel; classification: Education/Military/College
In the event you know Sarah, please tell a member of the Board how he/she will serve the ideas of Rotary.
MEMBER SPOTLIGHT
Barbara Walters
- JOINED: 11/12/2019
- SPONSOR: President Sandy Morckel
- MEMBERSHIP INVOLVEMENT: Operation Warm coat distribution, Salvation Army Bell Ringing, Rise Against Hunger food packing, 100 Year Anniversary Committee, Boat Raffle Ticket sales at boat show
- CLASSIFICATION: Commercial Banking
- PROFESSION: Banking
- SOMETHING UNIQUE ABOUT YOURSELF: First (and, to this date, the only) pregnant President of the Delaware, Ohio Rotary Club (1998). I have traveled to Ireland to meet relatives on my mother’s side of the family
Birthdays
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- 5/30 – President-Elect Lisa Van Bergen
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By the numbers
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- Attendance on May 19, 2020: 54
- Not in attendance: Allen, Altman, Beam, Berry, Bickley, Brack, Brady, Carico, Clark, Coe, Cohen, Cole, Cook, Cooper, Cooper, Crouch, DeGraff, Diminich, Dopp, Drafts, Dukes, Echols, Frume, Gill, Goxhaj, Hanger, Holmes, Howard, Husser, Jones, Jones, Kaynard, Lietzow, Loredo, Lucy, Matheny, Minson, Morelli, Moring, Palmer, Patrick, Plotner, Ravenel, Rust, Savage, Seguer, Shahid, Sidebottom, Smith, H., Smith, M., Staley, Strickland, Taylor, Tecklenburg, Tecklenburg, Tecklenburg, Teller, Vanek, Weston, Willey
- Out of Town Make-ups: None
WELLNESS TIP
WELLNESS TIP
Prioritize Sleep — Your Mood and Immune System Are Counting On It
When it comes to taking care of your health and well-being, sleep is pretty much always part of the answer. Getting enough good-quality sleep keeps your immune system running at its best to fight off infections, like the one caused by the new coronavirus. Indeed: There are parts of the body’s immune response that happen only during sleep. Scientists know sleep is also one of the top ways we can help keep stress in check, as sleep deprivation can make us more sensitive to the effects of stress, ramping up our reactions (or overreactions). Finally, the brain needs sleep to function; without it you’ll be less patient and focused, make poor decisions, and be more moody, irritable, and emotional.
AREA CLUB MEETINGS
Mondays
- Summerville – Oakbrook: 7:30 a.m., Monday, Westcott County Club, 5000 Wescott Club Drive, North Charleston
- North Charleston: 12:30 a.m., Monday, Hilton Garden Inn, 5265 International Blvd, North Charleston.
- Summerville Evening: 5:30 p.m., Monday, Montreux Bar and Grill, 127 W. Richardson Ave., Summerville
Tuesdays
- East Cooper Breakfast: 7:30 a.m. Tuesday, Cooper River Room at Waterfront Park, Mount Pleasant
- Charleston: 12:30 p.m., Tuesday, Hall’s Signature Events, 5 Faber, Charleston
- Goose Creek: 12:45 m. Tuesday, Gilligan’s, 219 St. James Ave., Goose Creek
Wednesdays
- Daniel Island: 7:30 a.m. Wednesday, Daniel Island Club, 600 Island Park Dr., Daniel Island
- St. John’s Parish (John’s Island): 7:45 a.m. Wednesday, 2817 Maybank Highway, Unit 1, John’s Island
- Mount Pleasant: 12:30 p.m., Wednesday, Harbor Breeze Restaurant, 176 Patriots Point Road, Mount Pleasant
- Summerville: 1 p.m. Wednesday, Sticky Fingers, Summerville
Thursdays
- North Charleston Breakfast: 7:30 a.m. Thursday, Embassy Suites, 5055 International Blvd., North Charleston
- Moncks Corner: 12:30 p.m., Thursday, Gilligan’s Restaurant, Moncks Corner
- St. Andrews (West Ashley): 12:30 p.m., Thursday, Bessinger’s BBQ, 1602 Savannah Highway, Charleston.
Fridays
- Charleston Breakfast: 7:30 a.m., Friday, Harbour Club, 35 Prioleau St., Charleston
SOCIAL MEDIA
Our Rotary club actively uses social media — and we encourage you to interact with us through social media.
- We’re on Facebook. Take a look at our page and be sure to “like us”.
- We’re on Twitter. You can follow us @chasrotaryclub.
- We’re on Instagram. You can follow us @ChasRotaryClub.
ABOUT THE KEYWAY
The Keyway has been published weekly as a newsletter for the Rotary Club of Charleston for more than 90 years.
- President: Sandy Morckel
- Keyway editor: Don Baus [email protected]
- Executive secretary: Carroll Schweers, [email protected]
- Mailing address: Rotary Club of Charleston, P.O. Box 21029 ,Charleston, SC 29413-1029
- Copyright 2018, Rotary Club of Charleston. All rights reserved