June 8, 2021
We welcomed Ellen Moryl, a longtime manager of cultural affairs and activities in Charleston and someone who has a deep history with the Spoletto Festival. She provided some great insights into the event and the state of the arts in the city. Don’t forget our Transition Social event on June 29 at 5 PM at 5 Faber (no daytime meeting that day!).
Ellen Moryl spoke to us this week about Spoleto, Piccolo Spoleto, and the arts in Charleston. Ellen was the executive director of the City of Charleston Office of Cultural Affairs from 1979 to 2012. 1979 was just two years after the debut of Spoleto Festival USA and the festival played a role in bringing her to town. Ellen came to Charleston from Montgomery Alabama where she had served as Arts Director and had recently founded the city’s first Black Arts Festival in 1978.
Ellen was very involved in those early years of the festival and shared some of that history. Gian Carlo Menotti proposed Spoleto USA to Mayor Riley in 1975. He was looking for an American location and studied many cities but found Charleston to be the perfect setting. Mayor Riley understood and was committed to the festival from the start and with the assistance of College of Charleston President Ted Stern and others in the community welcomed the first festival in 1977. Over the next 44 years, Spoleto has changed not only the cultural climate of the Charleston, but the city as a whole.
When Ellen arrived, there was not an option to allow local artists at the festival. She founded Piccolo Spoleto to give these artists a chance to share their art with an international audience. Piccolo also was a chance to bring in an audience that may not have been able to afford to attend a Spoleto event or may not have had the interest to do so. The exposure of these people to Piccolo performances, helped to raise interest in the arts and build a new audience for the main festival. Piccolo events also allowed children to attend. Ellen told a story about a Piccolo performance of Brahms at Grace Episcopal Church that was reviewed by a New York Times critic. The glowing review did not mention that it was a Piccolo event, and this caused some consternation from Menotti. Ellen reminded him of the role that Piccolo was playing: “We’re building an audience for you.”
Ellen has been involved with the Charleston Symphony Orchestra since she came to Charleston. She said the CSO is the cornerstone of the arts community in Charleston. In addition to their amazing performances, CSO members perform in smaller groups in other settings and give music lessons to our kids. COVID has been a challenge to CSO like many other arts groups, but the support of the Gailliard Center, MUSC, and Roper St. Francis Hospital has been critical in sustaining the CSO in the last year. Ellen took several questions and thanked the club for inviting her.
To access the recording from this week’s meeting, go here.
IN OTHER MEETING NEWS
- Andrew Rosenfeld gave the Invocation and led us in the pledge.
- Amy Riley introduce our visiting Rotarians & guests.
- President Lisa Van Bergen presented Health and Happiness.
- Mary Peters, introduced our guest speaker and former member, Ellen Moryl, who discussed the CSO and the arts in Charleston.
MORE IN THIS WEEK’S KEYWAY
June 15, 2021 | Issue 5009 President: Lisa Van Bergen
COMING EVENTS
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- June 15 – Suzie Shannon, SC Council of Competitiveness
- June 22 – Capt. Veronica Brecht, USCG in Charleston
- June 29 – Board Transition Social
- July 6 – No MEETING – Happy July 4th!
NEWS BRIEFS
Important – COVID Meeting Protocols Updated
In alignment with the new CDC guidelines, the Rotary Board has determined that the club needs to make adjustments to our Rotary meeting procedures. Effective immediately, we will no longer take temperatures upon arrival or be required to sign a waiver at the door. Face masks are now optional for all Rotarians and visitors, who are fully vaccinated. Those Rotarians and visitors, who are not yet vaccinated, are encouraged to continue to wear masks. Name badges will again be worn at meetings.
The staff and servers at Hall’s will continue to wear masks.
For the safety of our members and guests, we ask all members to please comply with the CDC guidelines and our protocols.
Board Transition Social – Mark Your Calendars
As we have done all year, we are going to do something a little different for our last meeting of this Rotary year. A Happy Hour Social from 5-7pm is scheduled at Hall’s Signature Events on Tuesday, June 29th in lieu of our lunch meeting that day. There will be a “brief” meeting, but mostly it will be a fun time to celebrate the year, ring in the new Rotary year and catch up with our Rotary friends. We hope you will plan to bring your spouse or guest and join us!
TY (Thank-You) pins
Our Rotary Club is now recognizing former, long-time retired Rotarians, so we may present them with a lapel pin. The pin was designed by Rotarian Don Oswalt. In the middle of the pin the initials “TY” = Thank-You. On the outside of the pin states that the TY is from your Club – The Historic Club of Charleston – Rotary.
This past Tuesday, Past President Rob Dewey was honored to recognize and thank for their many years of service three outstanding “retired” Rotarians — Jim Geffert, Foster Gaillard and our speaker, Ellen Moryl. These three Rotarians served our club for many years in various capacities and we appreciate all they have done for our club and our community over the years. It was wonderful to see Jim, Foster and Ellen!
Our Board feels it is imperative to show appreciation to our former, retired Rotarians, who have given so much of their time, talents and treasure over the years towards making our Club ‘Even Better’.
Contact Membership Chair, Cleave Ham [email protected] with others whom we need to recognize.
Program Committee Meeting
Rich Dukes will hold a meeting of the 2021-2022 program committee this Tuesday, June 15 at 11:45am upstairs at Faber.
PGA and Fundraiser a Success
One for the Ages!! Congratulations to Phil Mickelson on winning the PGA Championship at 50!
And, congratulations and thank you to all of our members and friends, who signed up and helped our Rotary Club volunteer efforts in the 8th Green Market Tent.
A big THANK YOU to President Digit Matheny for his eagerness and willingness to take on this fundraiser for our club and coordinate our volunteer efforts! He personally is forever grateful to have been able to be there every day, and meet and talk with the almost 300 all-star
people we had volunteer throughout this week.
A special thank you to all of you who helped in the kitchen area!! That was a hot, fast-paced job, and you were the biggest cog to the wheel that drove the tent to success!
The final numbers will be announced soon, but preliminary figures are projecting that we have raised the most money in the history of the club for the RCCF with this single volunteer effort!!
Again, thanks to Digit and all of our volunteers for your willingness to donate your time and talent on behalf of our club. Your efforts contributed greatly to the success of this event!
PR Committee Seeking Volunteers
Our club’s PR Team is looking for additional members to join their committee. Specifically, volunteer photographers are needed to take photos at our meetings. If you are interested in serving on the PR committee and helping in this role, please email Mike Sottak at [email protected]. Fancy cameras are not required, an iPhone will do! It would be wonderful to have a couple of volunteers alternating the weekly duty.
Support The CART Fund
It is easy for club members to make individual contributions and support The CART Fund electronically. The CART Fund has 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.
Become a PHF & Support the Rotary Foundation
Do not forget your opportunity to be recognized as a Paul Harris Fellow. Eighty-five dollars a month gets you there. Please reach out to Karl Riner, Club Foundation Chair, to sign up or ask questions.
You can also donate to Rotary’s efforts to end polio now: https://endpolio.org/donate.
Our Club is on Social Media
Members are encouraged to follow all of our social media channels and share posts with their followers too! We also need members to send us pictures 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 sent to Mike Sottak, [email protected], or Rob Byko, [email protected].
MEMBER NEWS
Our thoughts, prayers and get well wishes are with Virginia Lee as she is recovering at home from surgery. We wish her a speedy and full recovery.
We welcomed 3 new members into our Rotary family this week – Angela Craig, Stephanie Dasher and Andrew Rosenfeld. Angela was sponsored and introduced by Rob Byko. She joins us under the classification of Library/Administration. Skip Fink sponsored and introduce Stephanie, who will hold the classification of Eleemosynary/Executive. Andrew is a former Rotarian from the Florence, SC Rotary Club and was sponsored by Past President and Membership Chair, Digit Matheny. Andrew join us with the classification of Consultant/ Finance.
Continuing the legacy of our founder, the Paul Harris Fellow program recognizes individuals who contribute, or who have contributions made in their name, of $1,000 to The Rotary Foundation of Rotary International. Rotary Foundation Chair, Karl Riner, proudly recognized several long-time, dedicated Rotarians with Paul Harris Fellows this past Tuesday.
- David Cohen PHF +1
- Bill Raver PHF +1
- Jeanne Jamme PHF +5
- Digit Matheny PHF +8
It is with much regret that the Board accepted the resignations of Nathan Allen and Charlie Palmer effective with the new Rotary year. We will miss these Rotarians and wish them all the best.
MEMBER SPOTLIGHT
Rotarian: Stephanie Dasher
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- SPONSOR: Skip Fink
- MEMBERSHIP INVOLVEMENT: New Member
- CLASSIFICATION: Eleemosynary/Executive
- PROFESSION: Executive Director, Warrior Surf Foundation
- SOMETHING UNIQUE ABOUT YOURSELF: Though I graduated college with a Nuclear Engineering & Science degree, I actually dropped out of Algebra II in high school because I said it was too hard and I wasn’t good in math. I truly believe this and I hated math, but loved science. To me, this is proof that all of our brains mature at different rates and given enough time we can learn to do anything.
Birthdays
- 6/18 – Past President Patterson Smith
- 6/19 – Erica Taylor
- 6/19 – Conor Bini
- 6/19 – Tiffany Vanek
By the numbers
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- Attendance on June 8, 2021 (In-Person and Zoom): 67
- Not in attendance. Baus, Berry, Bickley, Bini, Brack, Ceccato, Champman, Coe, Combs, Cook, Coxe, DeGraff, Diminch, Drafts, Dopp, Fason, Fellabom, Fink, M., Gill, Goxhaj, Hanger, Jones, Jones, Kaynard, Lee, Loredo, Lucy, Minson, Moore, Moring, Oswalt, Palmer, Patrick, Phipps, Plotner, Ravenel, Rust, Scott, Seguer, Shahid, Sidebottom, Smith, H., Smith, M., Stockdale, Taylor, Tecklenburg, Tecklenburg, Vanek, Wackym, Ward, Webb, Weston, Williams
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- Out of Town Make-ups: None
WELLNESS TIP
EXERCISE DAILY
There are many ways to exercise during the summer, when the weather is warm and inviting. Jogging, swimming, and bicycling are all popular summer workouts. Exercising is not just for keeping off the pounds–it is also a good way to take care of your brain.
A good cardiovascular workout can improve circulation in your brain and promote balanced brain chemistry. High intensity aerobic exercise can release endorphins into your body. Endorphins in turn help release mood-boosting neurotransmitters such as dopamine.
In addition, regular exercise can help regulate the stress hormones cortisol and adrenaline. These hormones are the ones that directly impact the fight-or-flight response system in your brain. By keeping cortisol and adrenaline levels in check, exercise can help your stress levels stay stable.
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: 7:30AM Hall’s Signature Events, 5 Faber, 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: Lisa Van Bergen
- 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