Volume 57 Issue 14 Issue Date: February 9, 2012 Next Meeting: February 14, 2012 South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson to Address Club Alan Wilson was elected South Carolina s Fifty-First Attorney General on November 2, 2010 and took office on January 12, 2011. Prior to his election, Wilson spent his legal career as an Assistant Solicitor, an Assistant Attorney General, and as a civil litigator in private practice with Willoughby & Hoefer, P.A., in Columbia, SC. Growing up, Wilson s parents, Joe and Roxanne, stressed the importance of service to all four of their sons. Each has achieved the rank of Eagle Scout and each presently serves our nation in uniform. Immediately following his graduation from Francis Marion University in 1996, Alan joined the South Carolina National Guard. And over the past fourteen years, Alan has been promoted to the rank of Major and received the Combat Action Badge for leading troops through enemy fire in Iraq. A 2002 graduate of the University of South Carolina School of Law, Wilson began his legal career working for the late Judge Marc H. Westbrook before prosecuting crimes across South Carolina including violent crimes, white collar crime, public corruption, DUI, domestic violence and child abuse as both an Assistant Solicitor and as an Assistant Attorney General. In 2009, Wilson left the Attorney General s office and entered private practice as a civil litigator with the firm of Willoughby & Hoefer in Columbia, SC. Iin addition to serving as Attorney General, Wilson serves as a Judge Advocate General in the National Guard where he provides legal support for soldiers and assists in the prosecution military crimes. Wilson and his wife, Jennifer, have two young children, Michael and Anna Grace. This is Wilson s third stint in the Attorney General s Office. Previously, he served the office as a prosecution division intern under Charlie Condon and as an Assistant Attorney General under Henry McMaster.
New Member News Feb. 28 - New Member Orientation @ Greenville Symphony Orchestra Board Room from 11:15 a.m. 12:00 p.m. (RSVP Club Calendar) Mar. 5 - New Member Luncheon @ City Range from 12:00 p.m. 1:00 pm (International Projects) Mar. 27 - New Member Orientation @ Greenville Symphony Orchestra Board Room from 11:15 a.m. 12:00 p.m. (RSVP Club Calendar) Apr. 2 - New Member Luncheon @ City Range from 12:00 p.m. 1:00 pm (Publicity / PR) New Member Lunch On the first Monday of each month, new members are invited to join other new members for lunch (dutch treat) at noon at City Range Grill, 615 Haywood Road (across from Haywood Mall). This is a great opportunity to get to know each other in an informal setting with time for conversation and networking. These meetings count as a makeup for a regular meeting up to 2 weeks before or after. Orientation for New Members Greenville Rotary invites you to New Member Orientation, customarily held on the fourth Tuesday of each month, starting at 11:15 a.m. Orientation is held two doors down from the Poinsett Hotel in the board room of the Greenville Symphony Orchestra office. Help Us Recruit New Rotarians Our club needs to expand our membership. Please check your Rolodex or Blackberry for two people you can bring to our next Discover Rotary meeting! Invite your friends and colleagues who may be interested in joining our rotary club, for an informative meeting to discover what rotary is all about, and how they can participate. If you cannot attend with your guest, let Mandy know and she will arrange for someone to host your guest. If you have someone who is interested in attending please contact Mandy Dutton clubadmin@greenvillerotary.com
Mark Thornburgh wins Roto for Charity! Speaker Mike Demaine Lt. Colonel Thomas Gilleran Mark Dullea and Bert Strange draw for Two Complimentary Southwest Airlines Tickets from the Holiday Lights contest
STRANGE STUFF We always seem to get a lot of bad news repeated, so I d like to begin by repeating the exciting good news I sent out in an email last week. Rotary International has met the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation challenge to raise $200 million for polio eradication and we did it six months ahead of schedule! As a special thank you for this outstanding effort, the Gates Foundation is contributing an additional $50 million over and above their original commitment. In addition, it has also been announced that India was polio free last year, meaning that the disease is now endemic in only three countries Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Nigeria. That does not, of course, mean that the battle against polio is finished. A major commitment of time and money is still required to eliminate the last 1% that remains. You ve seen the emails about the District 7750 Face Off Against Polio event at the Bi-Lo Center this coming Sunday. I hope you will take this opportunity to support the continuing effort toward final eradication of this scourge while also enjoying a fun family activity. As you have seen elsewhere in this issue, our program for Tuesday is one of our annual high points the day when we recognize and extend our appreciation to the city, county, and federal law enforcement officers who serve our community in such a remarkable way. As they go about their daily routine often with personal risk these men and women exemplify the Rotary motto, Service Above Self. Thanks to Trey Suggs and his committee for their efforts in putting together this meaningful event for us. While our meeting emphasis on Tuesday will be on our own community, it should not escape our attention that February is World Understanding Month in the Rotary calendar. It can be very easy to focus simply on what s happening in the Greenville area, or perhaps even in South Carolina or the United States. But, we do belong to Rotary International. Through the years the Rotary Club of Greenville has been a leader in our District in the support of Rotary s international efforts through numerous Major Matching Grants for projects in other countries (India, South Africa, and Haiti, for example); through sponsorship of Rotary Youth Exchange students and Group Study Exchange team leaders and members; and certainly through our generous financial support of The Rotary Foundation s Annual Program Fund and the End Polio Now campaign. Thanks to Craig Lundgren and the International Projects Committee for keeping our eye on the ball of International Service. Finally, let me remind us all of our individual and corporate responsibility to ensure the long-term prosperity of the Rotary Club of Greenville through bringing new members into our ranks. Continue to be alert to opportunities for inviting friends, neighbors, and co-workers to share in the wonderful experience that is Rotary. Our annual membership goal can still be met, but it will require each of us to do to our part to make it happen. See you on Tuesday for the next meeting of the best and best-looking Club in the Rotary world. Yours in Rotary Service, Catch the Vision Make it Happen
Exciting Opportunity for Greenville Rotary Members February 16 (12:00-1:00) Facebook Training for Members Greenville Chamber of Commerce/ Ogletree Deakins Room Training Provided by DNA Creative Communications February 23 (12:00-1:00) Twitter Training for Members Greenville Chamber of Commerce/Ogletree Deakins Room Training Provided by DNA Creative Communications For more information about sessions please contact Debbie Nelson 235-0959 ext 2 or debbie@dnacc.com District 7750 Conference 2012 March 2-4 You Can Never View Too Many Sunrises and Sunsets Over the Ocean. Treat Yourself to Nature at the District 7750 Conference in Hilton Head March 2-4, 2012. Register NOW for District Conference - March 02-04, 2012 or send your regrets that you cannot attend by clicking here. Please note that the Conference Hotel has not changed, however it has a new name. It is now called the Omni Hilton Head Ocean Front Resort.
Each One Recruit One Stephanie Knobel Ashley Foster Cindy Roddey Jacqui Bomar Melitta Holcombe Scott Timmons Paul Savas Rod Smolla Josephine Bernson Fay Brown David Smith Scott Powell Anna Bowen Ravi Sastry Katie Johnson Jeff Bullock Michelle Shain Will Huss Upcoming Speakers 14-Feb 28-Feb 13-Mar 27-Mar 10-Apr 24-Apr 8-May 22-May Law Day Black History Month Presentation, Jeremiah Dew, Holiday Lights Celebration Career Day Group Study Exchange both Inbound and Outbound Teams Literacy Day Robert Bobby M. Hitt III, Secretary, South Carolina Department Of Commerce Greg Hillman - SCLaunch Governor Nikki Haley
ROTARY HISTORY QUIZ The question from the last issue of The Greenville Rotarian was: The Rotary Club of Greenville was organized in 1916 through the efforts of what club? a. Birmingham b. Atlanta c. Savannah d. Charlotte The answer is: b. Atlanta Catch the Vision - Make it Happen And the question for this issue is: Where was the first Rotary club outside of the United States? a. Mexico City b. Winnipeg c. Edinburgh d. Toronto The Rotary Club of Greenville hosts a monthly evening fellowship hour open to Rotarians from any club. Feb 20th - 5:30PM - 7:30PM 533 Haywood Road 234-0334 Typically held at a Greenville-area restaurant, the Health & Happiness Hour (HHH) includes complimentary hors d'ouvres, a cash bar and great fellowship with Rotarians in a nonmeeting setting. These events are typically on the third Monday of each month at 5:30pm, although schedules may change. HHH events count as a makeup. Mar 19th - 5:30PM - 7:30PM 550 South Main Street 335-4200 Be sure to check the Club Calendar for location and possible date changes.
Rotary Grants Each year we have the opportunity to make small grants to community based projects. This year the Grants Review Committee will have the opportunity to recommend $10,000 in grants to local organizations. Our main source of grant requests is through word of mouth of our membership to organizations you are involved with. The application process is simple. The guidelines and application can be found at www.greenvillerotary.org Forms Rotary Grant application. The deadline for applications is March 1, 2012. If you have any questions you can contact me, Walter Kivett, 370-7279 or walter.kivett@mssb.com Upcoming Discover Rotary February 15-7:30 Commerce Club February 29-7:30 Commerce Club March 14-7:30 Commerce Club March 28-7:30 Commerce Club The Greenville Rotarian Newsletter of the Rotary Club of Greenville Organized January 7, 1916 Volume 57, No. 14 February 9, 2012 RI President District Governor President President-Elect Secretary Treasurer Bulletin Editor Kaylan Banerjee Gary Goforth Bert Strange Elizabeth Lyons Judith Prince Terry Weaver Tim Nanney Rotary Club of Greenville 728 N. Pleasantburg Drive Greenville, SC 29607 Office: 864-235-2293 Fax: 864-235-3328 Office Hours Monday - Thursday - 9:00 am to 2:00 pm Friday - 9:00 am to 12:00 am Make-up Reminder February Birthdays Member Birthdays Mickel, Charles C. (CHARLIE) Ahn-Wilson, Maria S (MARIA) Barber, Paul (PAUL) Thomas, Jane W. (JANE) Landrum, Adam (ADAM) Wilfong, Terri (TERRI) Little, Charles L. Jr. (CHARLES) Watson, Philip B. (PHIL) Redmond, W. Louis (LOUIS) Vales, Jill M. (JILL) Birthday 1-Feb 1-Feb 2-Feb 4-Feb 6-Feb 7-Feb 8-Feb 9-Feb 12-Feb 13-Feb Remember that you are the best manager of your attendance and make-up record. If you need a makeup for a missed meeting, and you have attended an authorized make-up event (committee meeting, Health & Happiness Hour, New Member luncheon, service project work, etc.), you should enter the make-up from your personal page in the District and Club Database (DaCdb). Should you encounter any problem with the procedure, feel free to e-mail Mandy (clubadmin@greenvillerotary.org).