8/29: District Governor Lou Mello

Aug 28, 2023

Lou Mello, District Governor for our District 7770, visited our club this week to give us an update on all the exciting things happening in our District and ways we can help support important Rotary initiatives worldwide

Reminders: No meeting this week (September 5). Join us at the Starlight Motor Lodge and its Burgundy Lounge instead: 6-8PM on 9/5 for our monthly social.

To access a recording of this meeting, go here

Passcode: Yc9D@P6L

 

IN OTHER MEETING NEWS 

• • • • Past President Rob Dewey gave the Invocation and led us in the pledge.  
      • Karen Clark welcomed our visiting Rotarians & guests.   
      • Health and Happiness was presented by President Cleave.
      • Past President and Assistant District Governor, Sandy Morckel, introduced our speaker, District Governor Lou Mello, who updated the club on happenings around the District and Rotary International.

 

MORE IN THIS WEEK’S KEYWAY
September 6, 2023  |  Issue 5100   President:  Cleave Ham

UPCOMING EVENTS

• • • 9/1 – RCCF Grant Applications Due    
    • 9/5 – No Meeting – Happy Labor Day! 
    • 9/5 – Sept Social. Starlight Motor Lodge, North Chs. 6PM
    • 9/12 – Tiffany Ervin, The CART Fund / 11am Board Meeting
    • 9/16 – Adopt-A-Highway “Trash Talk’in” @ 9am, Bee Street
    • 9/19 – Coach Pat Kelsey, CofC Basketball
    • 9/19 – Reading Partner Training 
    • 9/26 – Dr. Eric Gallien, CCSD Superintendent of Schools

 

NEWS BRIEFS

IMPORTANT – No Meeting on September 5 / Social At Starlight Motor Inn

We will NOT meet for lunch this Tuesday, September 5th, but instead hope you will make plans to join us from 6-8pm for a social at Starlight Motor Inn, 3245 Rivers Avenue. There will be an on-site tour of the venue, and live music featuring the V-Tones jazz trio in The Burgundy Lounge.

 

Reminder … Guest RSVP Protocol

If you are planning to bring a guest to Rotary, please let Carroll know by no later than Monday at 5pm.  There is some preparation that needs to be done for all guests prior to the meeting. 

 

Special Dietary Requests

If you have a special dietary request or need, be sure to let Carroll know in advance of a meeting. She will work with the staff at Hall’s to ensure that you are prepared a special plate that meets your restrictions. Please do not enter the kitchen area to make a last minute special request. 

 

Maui Fire Relief Efforts – How You Can Help

We are deeply saddened by the tragedy in Maui, Hawaii. As Rotarians, such tragedies are a call to action, and our Rotary Club wants to do all that we can to create hope and help the people on Maui devastated by this disaster. 

Thanks to the generosity of many of our club members over the past two weeks, our Club has collected $2270 in the Blue Buckets and via Venmo. If you didn’t get an opportunity to donate, we will continue to collect individual donations to the Rotary Club of Charleston Foundation (“RCCF”) for “Maui Disaster Relief” . 

• Checks should be made payable to “RCCF”, indicate “Maui Disaster Relief” on the “for” line on the checks) 
• via Venmo (state your name and how the funds should be directed, i.e. “Maui Support – attn Jay Gibson”).

We will then send the aggregate collected funds to the District 5000 Foundation (District 5000 represents the more than 50 clubs on 5 Hawaiian islands —  learn more at https://rotaryd5000.org ).

Our Rotary Club’s Board is also in the process of discussing a donation directly from the RCCF to the District 5000 Foundation from budgeted funds designated for “Disaster Relief

Adopt-A-Highway “Trash Talkin” Service Project

Our next Adopt-A-Highway trash pick-up is scheduled for Saturday, September 16th at 9am. Come join us as we do our part to keep downtown and Bee Street beautiful!

 

Reading Partner Training

On Tuesday, Sept. 19th, at 10:45 am, prior to our Tuesday luncheon meeting, our Rotary Readers literacy partner, “Reading Partners”, is having a training session for Rotarians interested in being a part of this wonderful program to improve young students’ reading skills at local schools. [how to sign up to attend on Sept 19th] [who to contact on our club for more information]  [if you missed the presentation by Christine Messick of Reading Partners at our club meeting on Aug. 22, you can watch the recording of the meeting by using the link https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/9NtGbhaNLWL1_f2D9wrXi_uuysJ2uj94CU1P7VI1Nq9U5ZkBIZxeohZJVrGmSGWs.3rJmqgQufxRzqCPv 
Passcode: 2vAH7+83

 

Run with Bernie – Fight to End Polio

Run with Bernie is done in an effort to raise awareness and funds for our fight to end Polio. The event runs from July 1st to October 24th (World Polio Day), getting involved is easy! You can either:

1. Be an Active Participant: you will keep track of your mileage (Runs, Walks, Swims, Bikes, Rowing, Shopping, etc.)
2. Be a Supporter: as a supporter you will help through money pledges or direct contributions

Anyone can join our team: club members, family, friends, etc. If you have any interest in either being a participant or a supporter, please reach out to Alex Bourland, our club captain for the Run with Bernie campaign, at [email protected] or 843-860-7141. We appreciate your support of this important event. 

 

Get Involved on a Committee!

At our Rotary Club Assembly meeting on Tuesday, July 11, our Club committee chairs gave excellent presentations about their committees and their plans for this Rotary year. Their enthusiasm and leadership for their committees was apparent to all! We are grateful to them, as well as to all of their subcommittee chairs and committee members who help accomplish their committees’ goals on behalf of our Rotary Club.

For members in attendance at Hall’s 5 Faber on July 11, sign-up sheets were on the table to indicate committees in which they are interested in participating, which I then sent to the committee chairs.

Other members can also sign up to explore and potentially help with Club committees as well, as follows:

“I attended the Club Assembly on Zoom, not in person. How can I sign up to help with a Club committee(s) that interests me?” 

• Click on this link to a “Google form”, and follow the prompts to input your name, contact info (email and cell phone), and check-off committees of interest. Committee Chairs are indicated for each committee. 
• When completed, click “submit”.
• This information will be shared with the Club’s committee chairs

“I could not attend the Club Assembly last Tuesday. How can I access the information which was presented about the Club committees and sign up to help with a Club committee(s) that interests me?” 

• To watch the recording of Tuesday, July 11 meeting and the committee chair presentations, please use this link (the Club Assembly portion of the meeting begins at about the 12:20 mark): https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/UsVssdFBsyCBl1wG8EQYdKuOHj7WSsKSppoqQmN3WGMpDQP55eABw3NOjagrXExB.NgmO3b0fbeq50lBAPasscode: 2pb8KYP#

If you attended the Club Assembly on Zoom, or watch the meeting recording, please let Carroll know and she will give you “attendance credit”.

We look forward to your participation and engagement!

 

Outbound Youth Exchange Students Needed for 2024-2025

The District needs your help in finding potential Outbound Rotary Youth Exchange Students for the 2024-2025 exchange year. They ask that you share information with local school guidance and foreign languages teachers, church youth groups, friends, neighbors, etc. 

The District will start accepting preliminary applications now from the students via the Rotary Sponsor Club only. In order to make it much easier on the Clubs in terms of finding host families, the following rules are in effect immediately.

The rules going forward for Outbounds and Clubs:

• Outbound Preliminary application must be submitted by the Sponsor Club.
• Outbound must secure three Host Families for the Inbound student and have at least 2 before the District Interviews in January.
• Parents of Outbound must Host an Inbound (unless this would create a hardship, we will decide as a committee)
• Sponsor Club of Outbound must accept an Inbound student.

 

July-Dec 2022 Dues Are Past Due – Credit Card/Bank Transfers Accepted On-Line

July-December 2023 dues invoices have been distributed and are now 60 days past due.  Past due notices were sent out this week and payment is due promptly.  As a reminder, we are able to accept credit card and bank transfer payments on-line.  Members just simply have to click on the “pay now” button on their invoice and make payment.  We hope this feature makes those of you paying by credit card or bank transfer easier. We also continue to also accept payments by check.

 

Support The CART Fund

It is easy for club members to make individual contributions and support The CART Fund electronically. The CART Fund has 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.

 

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 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]

 

Proposed New Members

The following membership candidates have submitted an application and signed letter of agreement to the Historic Rotary Club of Charleston:

Chito Walker – sponsor:  Digit Matheny; Classification:  Law Enforcement

Mickey Renner – sponsor:  David Baggs; Classification:  Banking/Regional

DJ Hampton – sponsor:  Hugh Lane; Classification:  Eleemosynary/ExecutiveIn the event you know Chito, Mickey or DJ, please tell a member of the Board how they will serve the ideals of Rotary.

 

MEMBER SPOTLIGHT

Rotarian:  Katherine Demoura

• JOINED: July 2022
• SPONSOR: Kerby Teller
• CLASSIFICATION: Architect/Business Development Management
• PROFESSION: Regional Business Development Leader
• CURRENT PROFESSION McMillan Pazdan Smith Architecture
• Community Service Organizations, Current Activities or Activities/Volunteer Work in the Past: Was an active member of Rotary where she lived in Pickens, SC from 2009-2014 and recently participated with Kerby Teller for LLS-Man and Women of the Year raising more than $130,000 for LLS research.
• Something Unique About Yourself:I began my career as a City Manager in Pickens, SC right after grad school. I spent 5 years learning there and was heavily focused on physical aspects of community building.  This is eventually what lead me to work for McMillan Pazdan Smith and help communities as they plan for their capital needs. On a personal note, I grew up in Maine, but got to SC via Clemson as soon as I could to warm up.

 

Birthdays

• Sept. 1 – Barb Walters
• Sept. 4 – John Warren
• Sept. 7 – Ben Kloepping & Karl Brady, Sr.
• Sept. 10 – Thomas Berry
• Sept. 13 – Candy Oliver & Rob Byko
• Sept. 14 – Alan Uram

 

WELLNESS TIP

Watch those tailgate party calories  

Four quarters is a long time to be in front of the t.v. while indulging in high-calorie foods. If you do it for every college and pro game, that’s a whole lot of extra calories and pounds over one football season. Enjoy, but modify your own game plan. Drink a light beer, fill up on veggies, and consider healthy alternatives to normal game day fare.

OTHER AREA ROTARY CLUBS

 

Mondays

https://www.cainhoyrotary.com/

Summerville – Oakbrook: 7:30 a.m., Monday, Westcott County Club, 5000 Wescott Club Drive, North Charleston

North Charleston: 12:30 p.m., Monday, Hilton Garden Inn, 5265 International Blvd, North Charleston, SC

Summerville Evening: 5:30 p.m., Monday, Montreux Bar and Grill, 127 W. Richardson Ave., Summerville

Tuesdays

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

Cainhoy: 6PM, on the first and third Tuesday of the month, King’s Cross Church, of Clement Ferry Road

Wednesdays

Daniel Island: 7:30 a.m. Wednesday, Daniel Island Club, 600 Island Park Dr., Daniel Island

Mount Pleasant:  12:30 p.m., Wednesday, Hibben Methodist Church, 690 Coleman Blvd., Mount Pleasant

Summerville:  1pm-2pm on 1^st & 3^rd Wednesday. Hilton Garden Inn-Homewood Suite/Lowcountry Conference Center, 406 Sigma Drive

Thursdays

North Charleston Breakfast: 7:30 a.m. Thursday, Marriott Hotel, 4770 Goer Drive, 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: Cleave Ham

 

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