Pensacola Sub-West Rotary

Meeting Notes for June 24th

2010-06-26T09:03:00.001-07:00

Blessings to you, Sub-West!

We had another great meeting this week! What a way to end the Rotary year. Bill Sheffield got us started with a groaner. Harry Tuttle led us in Prayer, followed by Tom Johnson with the Pledge to our glorious Flag, and Charlie Haas with the 4-Way Test.

This is my last update as President of Sub-West. I extended my thanks to the club for all the support given to me this year. I also thanked the Leadership Team for getting the job done. We have been blessed and have been a blessing to others.

Happy Dollars were started by Patrice Whitten and her excitement over PJC being changed to Pensacola State College. Ferdie Salomon II was happy the US is in the Final 16 in soccer. Jane White shared her joy over her son being home from Czechoslovakia. Bill Cleary was happy to report Rodrigo’s party was a success and his appreciation to all those who came out. PDG Paul Parks was happy to have his wife, and Honorary Rotarian, Jinny with him. Guest speaker Leah Daugherty happily reported her husband was graduating from Marine Pilot Training. Heidi was jubilant over the grand opening of her new USO facility. Regina Baniakas was happy to invite everyone to the Open House at her new location on Friday.

Johnny Fayard introduced our Visitors and Guests. Visiting Sub-West were my son Alex Lambert; John & Lynn Berry, guests of Bill Sheffield; and Virginia Parks, wife of Paul Parks. Visiting Rotarians included Bob Campbell from Five Flags; and Gene Killinger from Downtown.

We celebrated Rotarian Anniversaries this week with Reed Eubanks (16 years), Brett Parra (7 years), Johnny Fayard (2 years), and Honorary Rotarian (and girlfriend of the president) Suki Lambert (1 year).

Fist Full of Dollars
I was happy to report the fundraiser will be bringing in about $15,000 in total donations collected! After the prize money is given, we will net about $5,000. I appreciate the tremendous effort of the Fundraising Committee and the leadership of Patrice Whitten and Laverne Baker. I’m also thankful to all those who put their best effort into the project. It was a good result for our first time using this method of fundraising.

The Woolly Booger was PDG Wayne Etheredge who serenaded us with a song about a new Cadillac.

Tom Johnson had the winning raffle ticket and drew the four of spades from a deck with only 25 cards in it to miss a pot worth $997. We all felt bad.

The program was Pace Rotarian Leah Daugherty from the Bay Area Food Bank who shared how this organization works and the projects it is involved in.

Next week there will be no regular lunch meeting. We will hold our Change of Command that day starting at 6:00pm at the Saenger Theatre. We will be in the Conference Room on the 2nd Floor in the new addition to the building. The easiest entrance will be from Intendencia Street. You can take the stairway or the elevator just inside the doors to the left. If you need transportation to and from the event, please let me know.

Be blessed or be a blessing,

Rick

Meetng Notes for June 17th

2010-06-22T15:41:00.000-07:00

Hello Sub-West!

We had another great meeting this week! Wes Nicholls got us started with a groaner. Bill Sheffield led us in Prayer, followed by new Sub-Wester TJ Edwards with the Pledge to our glorious Flag, and new Sub-Wester Kirk Waters with the 4-Way Test.

I had our Long-Term Exchange Student, Rodrigo Lima, come forward. He thanked the club for sponsoring him and let everyone know he had a wonderful experience. We also extended thanks to Charles & Nina Howard and Mike & Susie Marshall for sharing their homes with Rodrigo.

Happy Dollars were started by Bill Spain who is happy to be in Pensacola and also happy the RI International Conference will be taking place next week. Charlie Peppler had 3 happy dollars and was happy to report his father’s 90th birthday, his mother-in-law turning 90, and his son coming home June 21st. Al Swann expressed his joy over selling BP just in time. Mike Woods was happy to share celebrating his 59th wedding anniversary. John Stein was happy to be back from Washington DC.

Jack Brown introduced our Visitors and Guests. Visiting Sub-West were Peyton Parra, daughter of Brett Parra; Stephanie Gregory, granddaughter of Don Gregory; John Voleppe, Amalie Ostertag, and Elery Ostertag, guests of Bobbye Carroll. Visiting Rotarians included Charles Howard, Richard Peterson, and Dan Livingston from Pensacola North; and Bob Rogers, Fred Sitten, Roger MacDonald, and David Stafford from Downtown.

We celebrated Rotarian Anniversaries this week with Ken Pfeiffer (36 years), Romesh Canekeratne (18 years), Bill Ramsey (11 years), and Bob Bothfeld (9 years).

Fist Full of Dollars
All Donations need to be in by Thursday, June 24th!
The following incentives are available to anyone collecting donations for the fundraiser.
Top Donation Collectors
1st Place - $300 gift card from Wal-Mart
2nd Place - $200 gift card from Wal-Mart
3rd Place - $100 gift card from Wal-Mart
Beat Rick on most tickets – additional $100 (I’m at 37 so far)
If you collected the donation for the winning ticket - $100 (doesn’t matter how many sold)
For every 8 donations collected – 1 free admission to Change of Command ($25 value)

The Woolly Booger was Bill Cleary with trivia from the USMC (University of Science, Music, and Culture).

Kirk Waters had the winning ticket (again) and drew the five of clubs from a deck with only 26 cards in it to miss a pot worth $970.

The program was Dr. Ed Meadows with an update on what is happening at PJC.

Next week’s program will be Leah Daugherty from the bay Area Food Bank.

Be blessed or be a blessing,

Rick

Meeting Notes for June 3rd

2010-06-07T17:43:00.001-07:00

Hey Sub-West!

We had another great meeting this week! Win Boyles got us started with a groaner. Moses Atwood led us in Prayer, followed by new Sub-Wester Kirk Waters with the Pledge to our glorious Flag, and Jane White with the 4-Way Test.

I berated inspired the crowd to get involved with the Fist Full of Dollars Fundraiser. People are now looking forward to me talking about it each week with giddy anticipation.

Happy Dollars were started by Bill Cleary who has been to the beach every weekend with his daughter. Bob Bothfeld shared the joy of his grandson getting married. Jerold Hall took the floor for three dollars to tell us of his daughter’s K-4 graduation, and his other daughter’s stellar achievements in elementary school, and that Tracy Dickerson is moving closer to us and will be in Foley. Visiting AG Leon Hirsh hopes Sub-West is successful in its fundraiser so it can support the Costa Rica Backpack Project next year. Paul Parks was happy to share he has been a Rotarian with perfect attendance since 1972. Ronnie Arnold shared his thanks for the people who came to Hallmark & Yniestra Elementary School’s Field Days. Ervin Byrd was happy to see Rosie Mendoza (guest speaker team) at Sub-West. Ferd Salomon III happily reported his wife is done with chemo! Also, his son has achieved the rank of Navy lieutenant. Bill Spain spent Memorial Day morning at Wall South. He also mentioned Harry Tuttle’s father, Robert Tuttle, was one of the first troops killed in Vietnam and we need to remember these fine defenders of our nation who gave the ultimate sacrifice. John Stein was happy to report he was back from his oldest granddaughter’s graduation. Johnny Fayard was happy to see visitor Mark Stark at Sub-West. And Kirk Waters had a happy dollar because he has known Mac & Far Parker for many years and he’s happy to be in Sub-West with Mac.

PP Bill Cleary introduced our Visitors and Guests. Visiting Sub-West were Taylor and Travis Carroll, guest of grandfather Reed Eubanks; Christine Reeder, guest of Charlie Hindman; Mark Stark, guest of Ervin Byrd; and Ben Marshall, guest of Mike Marshall. Visiting Rotarians included AG Leon Hirsh from Pensacola North and Gary Sammons from Downtown.

We celebrated Rotarian Anniversaries this week with PDG Wayne Etheredge (28 years), Jim Holifield (20 years), and Justin Beck (4 years).

Fist Full of Dollars
The following incentives are available to anyone collecting donations for the fundraiser.
Top Donation Collectors
1st Place - $300 gift card from Wal-Mart
2nd Place - $200 gift card from Wal-Mart
3rd Place - $100 gift card from Wal-Mart
Beat Rick on most tickets – additional $100 (I’m at 25 so far)
If you collected the donation for the winning ticket - $100 (doesn’t matter how many sold)
For every 8 donations collected – 1 free admission to Change of Command ($25 value)

The Woolly Booger was Heidi Blair who gave us a lesson on the Rotary Long-term Exchange Student Program. I probably said that wrong and owe some additional money.

Kirk Waters had the winning ticket and drew the three of hearts from a deck with only 28 cards in it to miss a pot worth $876.

The program was Melinda Crawford, Director of the Pensacola Airport who gave us and update on recent construction and improvements at the airport.

Next week’s program will be Junior Achievement.

Be blessed or be a blessing,

Rick

Meeting Notes for May 27th

2010-05-31T10:51:00.000-07:00

Greetings Sub-West!

We had a jolly good meeting this week! Bobbye Carroll got us started with a groaner. Bill Cleary led us in Prayer, followed by Kat Davis with the Pledge to our glorious Flag, and Jerold Hall with the 4-Way Test.

I gave an update on Leon Starr and let everyone know he is improving. He’s not out of the woods yet, but the aggressive cancer treatment is working.

Happy Dollars were started by Bill Spain who encouraged us to remember what Memorial Day means. Moses Atwood was happy the fugitive he guaranteed bail for was caught in Georgia. Charlie Hass was happy his son was in town from California for his 10th class reunion. Mike Marshall shared his happiness to have all three of his sons home at the same time. Ed Holt celebrated his wife Cindy’s achievement of completing her master’s degree from UWF. Heidi Blair complained was happy about today being her 5th Rotary meeting this week.

Ed Holt introduced our Visitors and Guests. Visiting Rotarians included Dan Livingston from Pensacola North; Betty Roberts and RP Doyle from Downtown; Steven Barry from Cantonment; and Leah Daugherty from Pace.

We celebrated Rotarian Anniversaries this week with Ed Holt (26 years) and John Boivin (3 years).

Fist Full of Dollars
The Fundraising Committee has added another incentive to the fundraiser. Anyone who collects donations for 8 tickets will receive a free admission ticket to the Change of Command dinner at the Saenger Theatre. Multiples of 8 get multiple free Change of Command tickets.
So here’s the potential for the top donation collector:
Collect most donations - $300 gift card from Wal-Mart. 2nd place gets $200 and 3rd gets $100.
Beat Rick on most tickets – additional $100
If you are responsible for the winning ticket - $100 (doesn’t matter how many sold)
You collect donations for 8 tickets – 1 free admission to Change of Command ($25 value)

The Woolly Booger was Angie Neumann with Memorial day tirvia. I think we have a permanent job for her.

Bob Stone had the winning ticket and drew the two of clubs from a deck with only 29 cards in it to miss a pot worth $850.

The program was Penney Nixon-West from Etta Projects who gave us an update on the Clean Water Project we helped finance in Bolivia.

Next week’s program will be Melinda Crawford, Director of the Pensacola Airport.

Be blessed or be a blessing,

Rick

Meeting Notes for May 13th

2010-05-17T17:10:00.000-07:00

Greetings Sub-West,

We had a fun meeting this week! Paul Sinor got us started with a groaner. Huntley Johnson led us in Prayer, followed by Regina Baniakas with the Pledge to our glorious Flag, and Win Boyles with the 4-Way Test.

It was my great pleasure to induct TJ Edwards into Sub-West. Thanks to PP Bill Cleary for sponsoring our newest Rotarian.

Happy Dollars were started by PDG Wayne Etheredge over the joy of having 4 grandsons with the newest arriving this week. Reed Eubanks was happy about something (I wrote “93 old day”. Must be someone’s birthday). Bill Cleary was happy about TJ’s induction and his opportunity to go to the beach with his daughter. Courtney Peterson was happy to announce the arrival of his daughter on April 27th. He also added he qualified for the ballot for City Council. John Boivin was happy to report his perfect attendance starting this week. Bill Spain was in concurrence with others on how great Pensacola is and how blessed we are to live here.

Mac Parker introduced our Visitors and Guests. Visiting Rotarians included Richard Peterson from Pensacola North; and Jeff Lewis and PDG John Tice from Downtown.

We celebrated a Rotarian Anniversary this week with Skip Dennis (27 years).

Fist Full of Dollars
Leorah Mims is still in the lead with 20 tickets donations for our fundraiser. I have collected 15 donations leaving Leorah only 5 ahead of me. Of course the offer still stands that whoever collects donations for the most tickets will receive a $300 gift card from Wal-Mart and $100 from me personally. Figure the odds on whether I will be outsold and give up a hundred bucks. At any rate, please get involved and help us collect donations!

The Woolly Booger was Skip Dennis with some Memorial Day trivia.

John Boivin had the winning ticket and drew the ten of hearts from a deck with only 31 cards in it to miss a pot worth $790.

The program was attorney Kevin Doyle, Editor of the Pensacola News Journal who discussed the evolution of the newspaper industry.

Next week’s program will be Malcolm Thomas, Superintendant of Schools.

Be blessed or be a blessing,

Rick

Meeting Notes for May 6th

2010-05-08T11:58:00.001-07:00

The Mighty Membership of Sub-West,

We had a great meeting this week! Johnny Fayard got us started with a groaner. John Stein led us in Prayer, followed by Wes Nicholls with the Pledge to our glorious Flag, and Roland Smith with the 4-Way Test.

It was my great pleasure to let everyone know Sub-West was awarded the District Governor’s Citation Award at the District Conference. Only around nine clubs in the district received the award.

Happy Dollars were started by me as I reported being happily married to my girlfriend Suki for 21 years. Tim Couch was happy to report his son graduated from Mississippi State and got engaged. Heidi Blair was happy to report she saw an 18 wheeler with an End Polio Now sticker on the back. Bill Spain expressed his joy on the way our community is responding to the oil spill. Jack Brown was happy to report a wonderful week spent in the mountains. John Stein is happy to be flying again after being sick for two weeks. Bill Sheffield was happy to be nice to Tim Couch. Paul Sinor was happy to report his perfect attendance for one week in a row.

Tim Couch introduced our Visitors and Guests. Visiting was Charles Bare, guest of Bill Sheffield; and Bud Myer, guest of Mike Woods. Visiting Rotarians included Dan Livingston from Pensacola North; and Nathan Ford from Gulf Breeze.

We celebrated Rotarian Anniversaries this week with Bill Bassett (13 years).

Quite a few people reported they had collected donations for our fundraiser. Ferd Salomon II, Bill Sheffield, John Stein, and a few others have collected donations for multiple tickets. Leorah Mims is in the lead with 20 tickets. I have collected donations for 4 tickets leaving Leorah only 16 ahead of me. Of course the offer still stands that whoever collects donations for the most tickets will receive a $300 gift card from Wal-Mart and $100 from me personally. Figure the odds on whether I will be outsold and give up a hundred bucks. At any rate, please get involved and help us collect donations!

The Woolly Booger was Bill Spain and some Rotary trivia. Most people knew the answers, but Bill did his job by making those who had never been to an International Conference pay $2.00.

Jack Brown had the winning ticket and drew the Jack of Clubs from a deck with only 32 cards in it to miss a pot worth $771.

The program was attorney Steve Quinnell who discussed the issue of elder exploitation.

Next week’s program will be Kevin Doyle, Editor of the Pensacola News Journal.

Be blessed or be a blessing,

Rick

Meeting Notes for April 29th

2010-04-30T06:38:00.000-07:00

Friends,

We had a tremendous meeting this week! Tom Johnson got us started with a groaner that gave us a new look at ducks. Bill Sheffield led us in Prayer, followed by Ferd Salomon III with the Pledge to our glorious Flag, and David Williamson with the 4-Way Test.

It was my great pleasure to induct Charlie Hindman into Sub-West. Charlie’s wife pinned the Rotary Wheel on him. Thanks to Johnny Fayard for recruiting him.

Happy Dollars were started by Bill Spain who was happy we were honoring our teachers and celebrating Women in Rotary and for Rotary embracing young people in a new program designed to mentor youth ($3 dollars). John Brick was happy to share he attended the 60th reunion of his graduating class at Annapolis. Bob Jacobson happily announced his daughter is graduating from UWF in a few days. Skip Dennis shared his nephew has graduated from college and has been drafted by the Atlanta Falcons. Regina is happy her business is moving from the Blount Building to a new building she purchased on Alcaniz Street. Regina also shared Sandy Starr’s appreciation on the support she has received from Sub-West regarding her husband Leon’s cancer.

Bob Jacobson introduced our Visitors and Guests. Visiting was Kirk Waters, guest of Bill Sheffield. Visiting Rotarians included PDG Ron Richards, Ron’s wife Innes, Bob Rogers, and RP Doyle from Downtown; Rock Penfold from Five Flags; and Charlie Roose from Gulf Breeze.

We celebrated Rotarian Anniversaries this week with Ervin Byrd (1 year) and Mark McBride (1 year).

I sent a check to the Rotary International Foundation and ensured every Sub-Wester received a minimum $70 contribution credit making us an EREY (Every Rotarian Every Year) Club. Since a contribution was made on your behalf from the Sub-West Foundation, I am respectfully asking for your help with our Fist Full of Dollars Fundraiser by taking some tickets and soliciting donations. The tickets are being offered for a donation of $50 each. The tickets come in groups of four and I’m sure, with a little effort, you can find someone to offer them to. You can be creative with the donation. Five people can put $10 each in for one ticket and divide the proceeds. Organizations can donate for tickets. People can donate for tickets and name a charity as the beneficiary. There is no Boat Show this year. You will not be encouraged to buy things from a silent auction. You will be asked to sit at the Mall over a weekend. This is our fundraiser. Please don’t be a RINO (Rotarian In Name Only). Instead, help us with the fundraiser.

The Woolly Booger was Ervin Byrd with history questions we thought we knew the answers to.

Bobbye Carroll had the winning ticket and drew the Nine of Diamonds from a deck with only 33 cards in it to miss a pot worth $745.

The program was the Teacher of the Year Awards put together by Vocational Service Chair Wendy Simon and assisted by Angie Neumann.

Next week’s program will be Steve Quinnell discussing Elder Exploitation.

Be blessed or be a blessing,

Rick

Meeting Notes for April 22nd

2010-04-27T17:12:00.001-07:00

Friends & Countrymen,

We had another great meeting this week! Paul Sinor got us started with a groaner that made me want a Big Mac. Harry Tuttle led us in Prayer, followed by PDG Paul Parks with the Pledge to our glorious Flag, and Charlie Hass with the 4-Way Test.

I reminded everyone to remember our fundraiser – Fist Full of Dollars. Please get involved.

Happy Dollars were started by Bill Sheffield who was happy only one person was drunk & disorderly in Tennessee. Bill Spain was happy our support of Take Stock in Children and our work with Yniestra & Hallmark Elementary Schools make a difference. Courtney Peterson’s wife is due immediately with their first child. Harry Tuttle’s nephew is taking over command at Whiting Field. Jerold Hall is counting the days to the rematch between the Saints and Vikings. Brett Parra’s kids got all “A’s” and that’s not cheap. Charlie Hass’ son was responsible for the video production for the Twilight 3 movie coming out soon. Romesh Canekeratne was happy to report his son scored very high on his college admission tests. Johnny Fayard was pleased that his friend Charlie Hindman was becoming a Sub-Wester. Huntley Johnson was happy Romesh’s son takes after his mother. Bob Bailey was happy his kids were coming to visit after a long time away. Ervin Byrd was happy to report he has a new job with U-Haul.

PP Mike Marshall introduced our Visitors and Guests. Visiting were Gary Michaels, guest of Laverne Baker; Charlie Hindman, guest of Johnny Fayard; Kenny Lovelace, guest of Mike Marshall; Kirk Waters, guest of Bill Sheffield; and Jim Hightower, guest of Ed Holt. Visiting Rotarians included Chuck Hoskin and Jonathan Taylor from Pensacola North; and Martin Harwood from Downtown.

We had no Rotarian Anniversaries to celebrate this week.

The Woolly Booger was Bob Bailey with vintage cartoon trivia. You could pay $1, $2, or $3 to be wrong.

Visiting Rotarian Martin Harwood had the winning ticket and drew the Four of Diamonds from a deck with only 34 cards in it to miss a pot worth $726.

The program was Dr. Rick Harper from the Haas Center at UWF who gave us a Global down to Local look at the economy and his opinion on the recovery.

Next week’s program will be our annual Teacher of the Year Awards led by Wendy Simon.

Be blessed or be a blessing,

Rick

Paint Your Heart Out

2010-04-18T15:17:00.000-07:00

The Sub-West Crew and Home Owner

Discussing the philosophical ramifications of the project

Sub-West at work!

Dr. Brett Parra and Bill Sheffield

Bob Bothfeld painting eves!

Charlie Peppler sent to the corner.

Reed Eubanks up high!

Meeting Notes for April 15th

2010-04-18T15:15:00.000-07:00

Dear Sub-West,

We had another great meeting this week! Ronnie Arnold got us started with a groaner. Bill Sheffield led us in Prayer, followed by me with the Pledge to our glorious Flag, and Laverne Baker with the 4-Way Test.

Thanks was given to all those who participated in the Paint Your Heart Out project last Saturday. Thanks were also given to those who came to Report Card Night at Yniestra Elementary School. Kudos to Ronnie Arnold for engineering both events.

Happy Dollars were started by Bill Cleary who was happy Dennis Lockhart was able to come to our club. Ferd Salomon III was late, but happy, to acknowledge the Blue Devil’s win. Mike Marshall’s oldest son is getting married. Bob Bothfeld had a couple friends with him at the meeting. Paul Park’s was happy to have his wife, and Honorary Rotarian, Ginny with him. Jerold Hall happily shared his daughter got all “A’s” on her report card. AG Leon Hirsh was happy to report there have been only 56 cases of Polio reported this year! AG Ted Kirchharr was happy to report that his daughter Clair had her 16th birthday this week and that today was Leon Hirsh’s 60th birthday. Arnold Babcock was happy to let everyone know that today was his last day of work (he’s a volunteer tax counselor).

IPP Bill Cleary introduced our Visitors and Guests. Visiting were Mary Golden and Don Freeman, guests of Bob Bothfeld; Todd St Ones, guest of Bill Sheffield; and Corinne Swann, wife of Al Swann. Visiting Rotarians included Jonathan Taylor, Richard Peterson, and AG Leon Hirsh from Pensacola North; Andy Remke and Lee Magaha from Five Flags; and Ken Woolf and Britt Landrum from Downtown.

We had no Rotarian Anniversaries to celebrate this week.

Pensacola North is having its Annual Rotary Bargain Charity Sale on April 24th from 9:00am to 1:00pm. The sale will be held at Award Masters on the corner of Pace and Palafox. Organizers are looking for donations of household items in good condition. Small items can be dropped off at Award Masters and large items (furniture, appliances, etc.) can be arranged to be picked up by calling Fran Crumpton at Gulf Coast Trade Exchange or Award Masters directly.

The Woolly Booger was PDG Wayne Etheredge who went around the room testing our knowledge of Pensacola.

Courtney Peterson had the winning ticket and drew the Seven of Clubs from a deck with only 35 cards in it to miss a pot worth $704.

The program was Dennis Lockhart, President and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. Dennis gave us his overview of the economy and things that could impact the recovery. Dennis is a Rotarian.

Next week’s program will be Dr. Rick Harper from the Haas Center at UWF.

Be blessed or be a blessing,

Rick

Meeting Notes for April 8th

2010-04-11T13:05:00.001-07:00

Happy Spring Sub-Westers,

We had another superb day at Sub-West (of course it was. I’m back from vacation)! Ferd Salomon II got us started with a groaner. Don Gregory led us in Prayer, followed by Mark Smith with the Pledge to our glorious Flag, and Courtney Peterson with the 4-Way Test.

I was happy to award Assistant Governor Ted Kirchharr with his second Paul Harris Fellowship Award. Ted received a Paul Harris Pin with a Blue Sapphire.

Happy Dollars were started by Ferd Salomon II who is happy to be a graduate of Duke’s Class of 1951, along with several family members, and Duke’s Basketball championship win. Jerold Hall was happy to attend his second Rotary Club meeting this week. Principal Leorah Mims is happy the FCATs are over. John Stein was happy Yours Truly is back from vacation in Korea. Bill Sheffield announced he, too, passed the FCAT. Visiting Rotarian and Superintendant of Schools Malcolm Thomas said he would check into Bill Sheffield’s score. Charlie Hass is happy about his record of perfect attendance. Ted Kirchharr is happy his daughter Claire had her Sweet 16 this week. And Mark Smith is happy his four boys have a baby sitter while he and his wife take a vacation.

PP Jerold Hall introduced our Visitors and Guests. Visiting Rotarians included Roger Enzor and Malcolm Thomas from Downtown; Jay Overman from Seville; Chuck Hoskin from Pensacola North; and Tom Vaughn from Gulf Breeze.

We celebrated a Rotarian Anniversaries with Ted Kirchharr (14 years); Jim Lent (8 years); and Hope Allen (3 years).

Ronnie Arnold reminded us of the Paint Your Heart Out event this Saturday and Report Card Night on Monday, April 12th at Yniestra Elementary School.

The Woolly Booger was Bobbye Carroll who quizzed us on insurance claim trivia. Sitting on a paperclip can be profitable.

Visiting Rotarian Roger Enzor had the winning ticket and drew the Five of Hearts from a deck with only 36 cards in it to miss a pot worth $681.

The program was our annual Core Values Awards led by Vocational Service Chair Wendy Simon. It is inspiring to hear the hearts of these fine young people.

Next week’s program will be Dennis Lockhart, President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.

Be blessed or be a blessing,

Rick

Meeting Notes for March 11th

2010-03-13T11:51:00.000-08:00

Greetings Sub-Westers,

We had another superb day at Sub-West! Tim Couch got us started with three groaners that weren’t worth the price of one. PDG Paul Parks led us in Prayer, followed by David Williamson with the Pledge to our glorious Flag, and Al Swann with the 4-Way Test.

Happy Dollars were started by Jerold Hall via email regarding Ronnie Arnold’s 4th Place finish in the BBQ competition and missing a medal by 2 ten thousandths of a point. Jerold will be happy to pay a $5.00 service fee for the relaying of his happiness (I’m not cheap). I continued the happy dollars because my son is home for spring break from the University of Florida and was with me at the club meeting. Brett Parra was happy to be the best daddy to his daughter. Don Gregory had a great time at Bike Week despite the cold. Bill Spain was happy it was 73 degrees outside. Bill Sheffield is happy the Tennessee Women’s Basketball Team won a championship. Ferd Salomon III was happy to share Duke won the ACC Championship.

PDG Wayne Etheredge introduced our Visitors and Guests. Visitors included Jennifer Fayard and Charlie Hindman, guests of Johnny Fayard; Corinne Swann, lovely wife of Al Swann; Tommaso Camilleri, guest of Bill Sheffield; Joseph Stansberry, guest of Moses Atwood; and my son Alex Lambert.

We celebrated a Rotarian Anniversary with Ed Ellis (12 years).

Patrice Whitten presented the Fundraising Committee’s fundraiser for this year. The committee has put together a drawing for $10,000 cash! She asked for the club’s help to sell 600 tickets for a suggested donation of $50.00 each. Ticket sales will start next Thursday, March 18th and go through our last regular club meeting on June 24th. The prize drawing will be during the Change-of-Command at 7:00pm on July 1st. The object is for Sub-Westers to sell the tickets outside the club and not to each other. There will be a 1st, 2nd, & 3rd prize for the Sub-Westers who sell the most tickets. Additionally (next Thursday only), any Sub-Wester who buys a ticket will receive a separate raffle ticket for an opportunity to win one of ten tickets being given away for the $10,000 prize! The drawing will occur at the end of the meeting.

The Woolly Booger was Bill Sheffield who started by fining anyone without a symbol of Rotary $5.00. Congrats to those who have won this honor two weeks in a row. Bill continued by slamming me for $5.00 for having a big mouth (Note to self: Don’t mess with the Wooly). He then went from table to table seeing who could identify the originator of certain quotes. He raised some money!

John Stein had the winning ticket and drew the Seven of Spades from a deck with only 40 cards in it to miss a pot worth $589.

The program was Phillip Howell with a discussion on Amendment 4 that will be on the ballot this fall and what impact it will have if voters put it in place. This is definitely an item to be educated on.

Next week’s program will be former NFL coach Kay Stevenson sharing his experiences in professional football.

Be blessed or be a blessing,

Rick

Meeting Notes for March 4th

2010-03-07T11:05:00.001-08:00

Greetings Sub-Westers,

We had another great day at Sub-West! Bill Sheffield got us started with a groaner derived from newspaper clippings. PP Jerold Hall led us in Prayer, followed by Jane White with the Pledge to our glorious Flag, and Mark Smith with the 4-Way Test.

Happy Dollars were started by Jerold Hall and his tribute to Kenny Morgan making another attempt to use video in a presentation. Mike Marshall shared his youngest son has made Eagle Scout. Bill Spain was happy to see the Rotary Leadership Institute (RLI) being held at PJC. Bill Cleary was happy Sub-West is so much fun compared to other club he’s visited. Bill continued his happiness over Sub-West’s contributions from his requests for Big Brothers & Big Sisters, and that he saw Kirk Ball at church recently. It was a lot, but he did give $5.00. PDG Wayne Etheredge concurred with Bill that Sub-West is the best club. And Bill Sheffield was happy Tennessee beat somebody! Kentucky at Basketball.

Ronnie Arnold introduced our Visitors and Guests. Visitors included his own guest, Nick Edwards; Charlie Hindman, guest of Johnny Fayard; Sonya Rutledge, and Jon & Koyoko McCarver, Guests of Bill Sheffield. Visiting Rotarians included most of the Downtown Club with Terry Scruggs, R.P. Doyle, Jeff Lewis, and Terry Terrell.

We celebrated Rotarian Anniversaries with Bob Jacobson (4 years) and Jane White (4 years).

The Woolly Booger was John Boivin who started by fining anyone without a symbol of Rotary $5.00. A warning for next week? John continued on with a geography quiz that accomplished its purpose of raising money for the RI Foundation.

Kirk Ball had the winning ticket and drew the Three of Clubs from a deck with only 41 cards in it to miss a pot worth $561.

The program was former Sub-West member and Past President Kenny Morgan with a presentation on AC-130 Specter Gunships.

Next week’s program will be Phillip Howell to discuss Amendment 4 on this fall’s ballot.

Be blessed or be a blessing,

Rick

Meeting Notes from Feb 18th

2010-02-21T11:05:00.000-08:00

Greetings Sub-Westers,

The Greatest Hour of the Week continues on! Ronnie Arnold got us started with a groaner. PP Skip Dennis led us in Prayer, followed by Brett Parra with the Pledge to our glorious Flag, and Mike Woods with the 4-Way Test.

Happy Dollars were started by Andy Hinton who gave us a lesson on Alabama greatness. Skip Dennis piped in that the Crimson Tide quarterback has never lost. However, Brett Parra had to comment that not all of Andy Hinton’s facts were true. Craig Smith was happy Vanderbilt beat LSU.

John Boivin introduced our Visitors and Guests. Visiting Rotarians included Rex McKinney and Chris Kelly from Downtown; Bobby Fair from Five Flags; George bailey from Gulf Breeze; and Jerry Black from Spruce Pine, NC.

We celebrated Rotarian Anniversaries with Ferdie Salomon (24 years), Win Boyles (1 year), Charlie Stokes (1 year), and Jim Yenzer (1 year).

The Woolly Booger was Judge Mac Parker presiding over the Sub-West Kangaroo Court. Mac handed out fines determined by a rigged jury of the offender’s peers.

Betty Wasson had the winning ticket (again) and drew the Eight of Clubs from a deck with only 43 cards in it to miss a pot worth $515.

The program was Robin Herr from United Escambia who shared the efforts of the organization.

Next week’s program will be historian Wesley Odom and the Battle of the Pensacola Yacht Club.

Be blessed or be a blessing,

Rick

Meeting Notes From Jan 21st

2010-01-23T09:18:00.001-08:00

Greetings Sub-Westers,

The Greatest Hour of the Week maintained its name! Charter Member Huntley Johnson got us started with a Groaner that seemed more like pure torture. PP Skip Dennis led us in Prayer, followed by Harry Tuttle with the Pledge to our glorious Flag, and Don Gregory with the 4-Way Test.

Happy Dollars were started by PP Jerold Hall over the Saint’s success. Ronnie Arnold was impressed that Romesh Canekeratne had arrived before the program started. Bob Bothfeld was happy about the Republican win in Massachusetts. Bob’s sentiment was echoed by John Boivin. Brett Parra was happy he will not have to build another clinic in the near future. Jack Brown was happy to see VP Ferd Salomon III mentioned in the Team Santa Rosa article in the PNJ. Bill Sheffield said something about George Dooley? And Mac Parker was happy he traveled 300 miles without incident, although he saw a few.

PP Jerold Hall introduced our Visitors and Guests. Visiting were Chip Henderson, guest of Laverne Baker; and Greg Brown, guest of Gil Bennett. Visiting Rotarians included Dan Livingston from Pensacola North.

We celebrated Rotarian Anniversaries with John Brick (33 years), Mac Parker (25 years), and Tim Couch (7 years).

The Woolly Booger was Paul Sinor with random trivia that cost you money regardless of your answer.

AG Ted Kirchharr had the winning ticket and drew the Jack of Hearts from a deck with only 47 cards in it to miss a pot worth $410.

The program was Sally Lee from Take Stock in Children. We also heard from Leann, a student who directly benefited from the scholarship Sub-West provided.

Next week’s program will be Kirstin Fairchild from Chain Reaction.

Be blessed or be a blessing,

Rick

Meeting Notes from Jan 14th

2010-01-23T09:04:00.000-08:00

Howdy Sub-Westers,

What a week! Johnny Fayard got us started with a Groaner. PDG Wayne Etheredge led us in Prayer, followed by George Harley with the Pledge to our glorious Flag, and Wes Nicholls with the 4-Way Test.

I was blessed as president to induct our newest Rotarian, Bob Bailey into our club. PP Bill Spain sponsored Bob and pinned the Rotary Wheel on him as part of the induction. Bob is pastor of Warrington United Methodist Church. Make sure you make him feel welcome.

Happy Dollars were started by Andy Hinton; bet you can guess why. Paul Parks followed saying he was giving an IOU for a birthday check. Bill Spain was happy we have inducted 2 new Rotarians recently. Huntley Johnson thought Bill Spain was in good company. Sub-West VP Ferd Salomon III was happy it was not freezing. AG Ted Kirchharr was happy about the Saints and to have his daughter Claire visiting today. Skip Dennis was happy his nephew was on the front page of the PNJ. And PP Buck Hall is happy the new Seville Rotary Club has 35-40 new Rotarians at its meeting each week.

VP Ferd Salomon III introduced our Visitors and Guests. Visiting were Kat Davis, guest of Betty Wasson; Corine Swann, wife of Al Swann; Beverly Vaughn, guest of Visiting Rotarian Tom Vaughn; Jennifer Fayard, wife of Johnny Fayard; and Dan Cauley, guest of Bobbye Carroll. Visiting Rotarians included AG Leon Hirsh from Pensacola North, Malcolm Thomas from Downtown, Tom Vaughn from Gulf Breeze, Joe Boyles from Five Flags, Stu Williams from Westfield NY, and Donna & Gary Bogle from Holland MI.

The Woolly Booger was Ronnie Arnold who drilled us on football trivia.

Visitor Kat Davis had the winning ticket and drew the Five of Spades from a deck with only 48 cards in it to miss a pot worth $388.

The program was Cathy Lyon, a jazz singer who sang a few songs from her repertoire.

Next week’s program will be Sally Lee from Take Stock in Children.

Be blessed or be a blessing,

Rick

Bikes for Hallmark & Yniestra Pre-K Kids

2009-12-21T17:52:00.001-08:00

Santa's Special Agents

The Kids First See the Bikes at Yniestra

The Parade at Hallmark

Everyone Gets a Bike at Yniestra

The Kids from Hallmark Say "Thank you Sub-West"

The First Look at the Bikes at Hallmark

Too Much Fun

Meeting Notes for Dec 17th

2009-12-21T17:48:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas Sub-Westers,

What a week! Johnny Fayard got us started with a Christmas Groaner. Reed Eubanks led us in Prayer, followed by Harry Tuttle with the Pledge to our glorious Flag, and Mark Smith with the 4-Way Test.

We were hugely blessed both before and after the meeting. Before the meeting, we went to Hallmark Elementary School and gave away 18 brand new bicycles—one to every Pre-K child at the school. We did the same thing after the meeting at Yniestra Elementary School. Thanks to Community Service Chair Ronnie Arnold, Vocational Service Chair Wendy Simon, Mark Smith from Wal-Mart, Club Service Chair Mark McBride, Bike Transporter Robert Waddell and all those who came out when the bikes were delivered.

Lunch at Sub-West – $13
36 New Bicycles – $1600
Making every Kid in Preschool Smile – Priceless.

Happy Dollars were started by John Stein because he was blessed to tell a little boy the bike was his to keep. Heidi Blair had multiple dollars for a successful trip to Disney with the Long-Term Youth Exchange Students, the USO needing snacks, and for being in Rotary for 20 years. John Boivin was happy Army beat Navy. Wayne Etheredge celebrated the announcement of his 4th grandchild. Bill Spain was blessed that there was no flooding on Olive Road where his business is located. Mike Marshall is happy his boys are home from college.

Wendy Simon introduced our Visitors and Guests. Visiting was Randy Hamilton, guest of Ronnie Arnold; Barbara Boivin, wife of John Boivin; Kathleen Keith, guest of visiting Rotarian Lalani Bonarrigo; Ben Marshall, son of Mike Marshall; and Chris Salomon, son of Ferd Salomon III. Visiting Rotarians included Charlie Cook from Pensacola North, Jerry Maygarden from Downtown, Harold Paul from Bozeman, Montana, and Lalani Bonarrigo from Guam.

We gave a cash Christmas gift to Memory and Rachel of the Yacht Club serving staff. They do such a wonderful job taking care of us week after week.

The Woolly Booger was Bill Sheffield who loosed his cannon on the entire club. All the answers to his trivia were the same and it cost you $2.00 regardless of what your answer was. Somehow I ended up paying $5.00. I gotta get a cheaper job.

Betty Wasson had the winning ticket and drew the Ace of Diamonds from a deck with only 50 cards in it to miss a pot worth $331.

The program was Pat Crawford from WUWF and he shared his trip along the route of the Underground Railroad in a fundraiser for the radio station.

We will not meet on Dec 24th or Dec 31st. Our next meeting is Jan 7th and will be a Club Assembly.

Merry Christmas!

Rick

Meetign Notes from Dec 10th

2009-12-14T18:30:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas Sub-Westers,

It was good to see everyone this week. It was especially good to see Jim Lent who has been taking care of his wife Jo for quite a long time. Visiting Rotarian Kenny Morgan got us started with a Groaner. Moses Atwood led us in Prayer, followed by Mike Woods with the Pledge to our glorious Flag, and Bob Stone with the 4-Way Test.

I shared the good time we had at the Sub-West Christmas Party on Tuesday night. Ervin Byrd and crew did an excellent job. Thanks also went out to Ronnie Arnold and all those who participated in the Barnes & Nobel fundraiser last Saturday for Hallmark & Ynestra Elementary schools.

Happy Dollars were started by Bill Cleary who was happy to be here. Jim Lent piped in and was happy to be at Sub-West and also reported his wife Jo was doing much better. Andy Hinton simply commented, “If you don’t know why I’m standing, you don’t belong here.” Paul Parks was happy to have his wife and Honorary Rotarian Ginny here. Laverne Baker was happy to announce her son Daniel was graduating from the University of Florida on Saturday. Don Gregory was happy his house was unharmed when the house next to his burned down.

We celebrated one Rotarian anniversary with Christine Isham (10 years).

Bob Bothfeld introduced our Visitors and Guests. Visiting was Randy Hamilton, guest of Ronnie Arnold; Bob Bailey, guest of Bill Spain; Rocky Parra, lovely wife of Brett Parra; Kristin Fairchild, guest of Jerold Hall; and B. Dwayne Hardin, guest of Ervin Byrd. Visiting Rotarians included Dan Livingston, Richard Peterson, and Kenny Morgan from Pensacola North, and Beverly Patterson from Downtown.

Wendy Simon reminded us next Thursday, December 17th, we are distributing bikes to the Pre-K students at Hallmark & Ynestra Elementary Schools. Please come join us at 11:15am at Hallmark, then come to the Club meeting, and then join us again at Ynestra at 1:30pm. Trish Woodburn shared Kirk Ball was in the hospital following surgery and was doing well.

The Woolly Booger was Jerold Hall and was relentless fining everyone just because they were. Even a nice guy like me got fined $5.00 for no reason. The money goes to the Foundation. The money goes to the Foundation. The money goes to the Foundation. The money goes to the Foundation…

Ronnie Arnold had the winning ticket and drew the Ace of Hearts from a deck with only 51 cards in it to miss a pot worth $306.

The program was Charles Wood from the Pensacola Bay Area Chamber of Commerce. He shared some of the economic development efforts going on in our area.

Next week our program will be Pat Crawford from WUWF.

Merry Christmas!

Rick

Meeting Notes for Dec 3rd

2009-12-06T15:49:00.000-08:00

Dear Sub-Westers,

It was good to see everyone after the Thanksgiving holiday. Jerold Hall got us started with a Groaner about Tiger Woods. Wayne Etheredge led us in Prayer, followed by Bill Ramsey with the Pledge to our Flag, and Al Swann with the 4-Way Test.

Everyone got a copy of the Sub-West Newsletter for December. I mentioned the Christmas Party to be held Tuesday, December 8th. The details are in the newsletter. Be sure to answer Ervin Byrd’s email invitation with your intentions.

Happy Dollars were started by Ed Ellis who celebrated with his mother on her 100th birthday. Andy Hinton was happy about the last 27 seconds of the Alabama game. Don Gregory’s eye surgery went well. Jack Brown has a 14th grandchild. Mac Parker got a 9 point buck. Ferd Salomon III and his wife celebrated the arrival of their first grandchild. Heidi Blair was happy to serve 850 USO meals on Thanksgiving. Jerold Hall celebrated an 11-0 Saints. Wayne Etheredge was happy Auburn won 3 out of 4 quarters against Alabama. Bob Stone’s nephew will be on Pit Masters for 8 weeks on The Learning Channel. Courtney Peterson is running for City Council District 2. And Bill Spain was happy for the encouragement Bill Sheffield is to Sub-West and presented him with a camo Tennessee hat.

We celebrated Rotarian anniversaries with Bob Stone (38 years), Paul Parks (35 years), Carl Gindl (13 years), Bill Marchi (8 years), and Angie Newmann (1 year).

Roland Smith introduced our Visitors and Guests. Visiting was Jack Lowery guest of Mike Marshall. Visiting Rotarians included Dan Livingston from Pensacola North, Bob Bailey from Cantonment, Betty Roberts and Kathy Horton-Borwn from Downtown.

I reminded everyone Sub-West will be conducting a Bookfair at Barnes & Noble on Saturday, Dec 5th. The money we raise will be designated for our work being done at Hallmark/Ynestra Elementary Schools. Our Interact Club at West Florida Tech will be doing the same type of fundraiser for their club on Friday, Dec 11th. We get 10% of sales these days, so if you are going to buy books for Christmas, wait until Dec 5th or 11th. Also, our own Bill Ramsey will be speaking at the Naval Aviation Museum on Saturday at 10:00 am.

The Woolly Booger was Mike Henderson with a best joke contest using Tiger Woods as the subject. There were a few tense moments that challenged our G-rating, but it sure was funny.

Don Gregory had the winning ticket and drew the 9 of Spades from a deck with only 52 cards in it to miss a pot worth $275. After being stiffed by the last 2 pot winners who promised me a cut, I’m not showing where the Ace is any more.

The program was Pam Bell from the Hotel for Dogs & Cats. Pam shared her valiant attempt to preserve the lives of animals that would otherwise be destroyed.

Nest week our program will be Charles Wood from the bay Area Chamber of Commerce.

Be blessed or be a blessing,

Rick

Meeting Notes from Nov 12th

2009-11-16T17:39:00.000-08:00

Dear Sub-Westers,

I was good to be back running the meeting in my regular work clothes. Bill Sheffield got us started with a Groaner. Reed Eubanks led us in Prayer, followed by Bobbye Carroll with the Pledge to our Flag, and Mike Marshall with the 4-Way Test.

I mentioned the good time we had at the Sub-West Wine Tasting at Blazzue’s Tuesday evening. Thanks to Ervin Byrd and the party crew for putting it together. It was an elegant time with wine and cheese, good friends and conversation.

Happy Dollars were started by me over my elation of what I got to wear for Dress the Prez. John Stein is thankful for the Marines. Bob Jacobson was happy Navy won. Bob Spillman let us know he became a Rotarian 33 years ago. Wayne Etheredge announced his and Nelda’s 4th grandchild. Betty Wasson’s grandson is costing her a fortune with 7 “A”s. Ferd Salomon III was happy his son was home from deployment. AG Ted Kirchharr was happy Central Michigan beat someone. Bill Spain, along with others, gave honor to our military veterans. And Ronnie Arnold was happy to find out he was not someone’s dad.

We celebrated Rotarian anniversaries with Harry Huelsbeck (35 years), Bob Spilman (33 years), Patrice Whitten (13 years), and Laverne Baker (13 years).

Roland Smith introduced our Visitors and Guests. Visiting were Alex Gonzales, guest of mine; Paul Bailey, guest of visiting Rotarian Charles Howard; and Brandon Smith, guest of Ronnie Arnold. Visiting Rotarians included Bob Rogers and Jeff Lewis from Downtown; Dan Livingston, Richard Peterson, and Chuck Hoskin from Pensacola North; Beverly Livingston from Gulf Breeze; and Bob Bailey from Cantonment.

I let everyone know Sub-West will be conducting a Bookfair at Barnes & Noble on Saturday, Dec 5th. The money we raise will be designated for our work being done at Hallmark/Ynestra Elementary Schools. Our Interact Club at West Florida Tech will be doing the same type of fundraiser for their club on Friday, Dec 11th. We get 10% of sales these days, so if you are going to buy books for Christmas, wait until Dec 5th or 11th.

The Woolly Booger was Past President Andy Hinton who gave us a lesson on who and what the Wooly Booger is. He also gave Brett Parra a lashing for going to school at LSU and accepting the title of Wooly Booger Emeritus. In Brett’s defense, the title was bestowed upon him by the unwitting president of the club (me).

Romesh Canekeratne had the winning raffle ticket and drew the Ace of Spades from a deck with 37 cards left to win a $602 pot. I want to go on record saying when Romesh came forward to draw the card, he said, “Show me where the Ace is and I’ll split the pot with you 50/50.” I graciously complied by fanning the deck in front of him and told him it was the blue card. He drew the Ace, but I didn’t get paid…

The program was Frances Yeo and Leanne Todd from Junior Acheivement. Frances and Leanne told us the purpose and mission of JA and how it adds to the education of our children in Pensacola.

Next week our program our program will be the 4-Way Test Essay Contest Awards.

Be blessed or be a blessing,

Rick

Sub-West at Report Card Night

2009-11-04T17:26:00.000-08:00

Ynestra Elementary School November 2, 2009

Sub-West Served about 175 Meals to Parents and Children to help Ynestra Elementary Staff With the Opportunity to Meet Parents and Review Student Progress

Parents and Children Enjoy a Meal

Long-Term Youth Exchange Student Rodrigo and Friend Paul

Stylin' on the Serving Line

Past President Dr. Andy Hinton, Vocational Service Chair Wendy Simon, and Past President Mike Marshall Making Sure Every Gets to Eat

Sub-West President Rick Lambert and Immediate Past President Bill Cleary

Staffing the Drink Line

Teachers and Sub-Westers

Bill Sheffield Ready to Hand out Meals

Grill Master and Community Service Chair Ronnie Arnold,
Club Service Chair Mark McBride,
and Past President Dr. Andy Hinton
Workin' the Grill

Meeting Notes for Oct 21st

2009-10-25T10:42:00.000-07:00

Dear Polio Warriors,

Didn’t I look marvelous this week? My grand entrance was accompanied by Mac Parker, and the lovely entourage of Regina Baniakas, Heidi Blair, and my best friend, Suki. The ladies went around the room collecting money for my therapy and raised another $72.00 for Polio. Ronnie Arnold got us started with a Groaner. Wendy Simon led us in Prayer, followed by Jack Brown with the Pledge to our Flag, and Charlie Hass with the 4-Way Test.

I must admit I was a little anxious (okay, pee-my-pants scared) at the thought of what I might have been wearing to the meeting. My only limitation to Mac Parker was that it had to be G-rated and I was relieved that I did not end up wearing fishnets and high heels. For those who missed the meeting, I was dressed as an Argonaut along with Suki, Heidi, Regina, and Mac in matching Greek garb. Go to the Sub-West Blog at http://subwest.blogspot.com/ for some photos. UWF Athletic Director, Dave Scott, was on hand to make sure we had the Argo thing right.

Happy Dollars were rampant and started by PP Bill Cleary who was happy to take our Long-Term Exchange Student Rodrigo on an outing. Jane White was happy about her trip with Trish Woodburn and Bobbye Carroll. Al Swann’s surgery went well. John Boivin was happy to make meetings two weeks in a row. Andy Hinton spent time on the 40-yard line watching his Crimson Tide hand out another beating. Heidi Blair and Bill Spain were happy to see our WWII vets honored with the Honor Flight. Craig Smith said something about Vanderbilt; a place Bill Sheffield was happy he didn’t graduate from. Brett Parra wanted everyone to know LSU plays sports like Girls Softball and Bingo and one day hopes to get a football team.

Robert Waddel introduced our Visitors and Guests. Visiting were my father, Fred Lambert; Sam Marshall, father of Mike Marshall, and the better half of Mac Parker, his lovely wife Far. Visiting Rotarians included Scott Grissett and Jeff Lewis from Downtown; Dan Livingston from Pensacola North; and Greg Threadgill from Seville.

I brought a motion from the Sub-West Board to nominate AG Ted Kirchharr to be the District Governor Nominee. The motion was seconded by Bill Spain. There was no discussion. The vote resulted in a unanimous Yes. Ronnie Arnold reminded us the next Report Card Night with be Monday, November 2nd at Ynestra Elementary School. Ronnie will have the grill at the school at 4:30pm and we will start serving meals at 5:30pm. Please come join me and the grill crew and help support this wonderful school effort. Party Master Ervin Byrd asked everyone to mark their calendars for our next Sub-West Social Event on Tuesday, November 10th. It will be a Wine Tasting at Blazzues from 5:30 – 6:30 pm. The venue will be all ours during the tasting. Blazzues is located downtown at 200 Palafox Place on the corner of Palafox and Intendencia.

The Woolly Booger was President Elect John Stein who droned on and on about something which caused the collection baskets to fill quickly and end our punishment early.

Courtney Peterson had the winning raffle ticket and drew the Five of Spades from a deck with only 39 cards left to miss out on a $556 pot.

The program was yours truly and I shared a video on the work Rotary International does fighting Polio. I also announced that 50 Sub-Westers had contributed $4,212 for Polio Plus! Thank you again for your generosity to this great endeavor. I want to say a sincere thank you to Mac Parker and his committee for grabbing the ball and running with the Dress the Prez for Polio Challenge. You have blessed me.

Next week our program our program will be Jena Melancon from the Gulf Coast Diplomacy Council.

Be blessed or be a blessing,

Rick
Argonaut for Polio

Dress the Prez for Polio

2009-10-25T10:29:00.001-07:00

The Argonaut and his Court. From left to right: Sub-West President Rick Lambert, Suki Lambert, Heidi Blair, Regina Baniakas, Mac Parker, and UWF Atletic Director David Scott.

The amount raised for Polio Plus!

Sub-West's Argonaut for Polio

Meeting Notes from Oct 15th

2009-10-18T14:39:00.000-07:00

Dear Sub-West Brothers & Sisters,

More great times were had a Sub-West this week! Paul Sinor did an encore performance with another Groaner. There may be a new sheriff in town. Don Gregory led us in Prayer, followed by Win Boyles with the Pledge to our Flag, and AG Ted Kirchharr with the 4-Way Test.

I had the great pleasure of presenting Jack Brown with a Paul Harris Fellowship Award assisted by PE John Stein. Jack is a great asset to Sub-West and we are proud he is in our club.

Happy Dollars were started by PP2 Ferd Salomon II because he was happy to be 80. PP Jerold Hall and John Boivin were both happy to make it to a meeting. Bob Spilman was still trumpeting Army. John Stein said Navy was still in the top 36. Andy Hinton’s Crimson Tide chalked another one up in the win column. And Bill Sheffield thinks Tennessee may yet play football this year. He was adamant they wouldn’t lose this week.

PP Bill Cleary introduced our Visitors and Guests. Visiting were Jay Windham, a guest Bill Cleary; Matt Johnson and Mike McAfee, both guests of visiting Rotarian Wayne Beasley of Morehead City, NC. Visiting Rotarians included PDG John Tice and PDG Ron Richards from Downtown; Dan Livingston from Pensacola North; and Lester Giese from North Hunterdon, NJ.

We celebrated one Rotarian anniversary this week with Braden Ball (13 years).

Mac Parker lit the crowd on fire and $1035 was contributed to the Dress the Prez for Polio Challenge bringing the total to $4097 and more than doubling our club’s goal of $2000! Thank you to each who donated to this worthy cause of Rotary International. I’ll wear something special to the next meeting. John Stein brought a proposal to the membership nominating Bobbye Carroll and Bill Cleary to the Sub-West Foundation Board. They were elected by the membership. Ronnie Arnold told us the next Report Card Night will be Monday, November 2nd. The grill team will be on hand at Ynestra Elementary School at 6:00pm. Please come out and support this great school event.

The Woolly Booger was Charter Member Huntley Johnson who simply raised terror in the room with $5.00 hits all around.

Jack Brown had the winning raffle ticket and drew the King of Hearts from a deck with only 40 cards left to miss out on a $531 pot.

The program was Capt Robert Turpin from the Marine Resources Division who gave us some great information on how our waterfront is maintained and how artificial reefs are formed.

Next week our program is a fashion show by me and the Dress the Prez committee. We will also talk about Polio.

Be blessed or be a blessing,

Rick

Meeting Notes from Oct 8th

2009-10-10T09:39:00.000-07:00

Dear Sub-West Brothers & Sisters,

We had a full house this week and the room was filled with laughter! Someone commented to me that this is what Sub-West is supposed to feel like. Paul Sinor got us started with a Groaner about Roy Rogers. Roland Smith led us in Prayer, followed by Bob Stone with the Pledge to our Flag, and Bob Bothfeld with the 4-Way Test.

We are around $3200 for Polio Plus with two weeks to go. I found out it will take a few people to get me into the “outfit” and that my lovely wife is in on the deal. She won’t tell me what it is, but I’m hoping it’s a suit of armor. Mac Parker assures me the media will be present.

Happy Dollars were started by PDG Wayne Etheredge over his jubilation of the Tennessee score being accurate, but that the numbers were reversed. Andy Hinton piped in because Alabama was going to beat the entire NCAA and move on to beat the entire NFL. Ferd II shared news of his new Great Granddaughter with us. Jack Brown was happy Navy beat Air Force. Heidi Blair lost her husband John in Hawaii, but was happy when loud noises coming from a bar led her back to him. Admiral Bill Ramsey shared that Huntley Johnson was going to speak about WWII flying at the naval Aviation Museum. Bill Cleary was happy (along with the rest of us) that Jerold Hall was out of town (I may have the details a little wrong on this one). Brett Parra is happy to report his new building is under budget.

Jim Holifield introduced our Visitors and Guests. Visiting were Derek Stromas, a guest of mine. Visiting Rotarians included Roger Enzor from Downtown; Charles Howard and Richard Peterson from Pensacola North; and Tom Vaughn from Gulf Breeze.

We celebrated one Rotarian anniversary this week with Wendy Simon (2 years).

Patrice Whitten came forward to remind us of the good Rotary does in the world and that our EREY contributions are what make everything happen through Rotary International.

The Woolly Booger was Mark Smith with Wal-Mart trivia. All the answers seemed to be in the billions. A ruling had to be made on whether the Wooly should be fined for shameless advertising of his business and Woolly Booger Guru, and final authority, Andy Hinton said he was exempt. Look out next week Mark…

Jim Holifield had the winning raffle ticket and drew the Ace of Hearts from a deck with only 41 cards left to miss out on a $509 pot.

The program was Deborah Dunlap with a presentation of historic photographs from Pensacola history. What a great history our beautiful city has.

Next week our program is Capt. Robert Turpin from the Escambia Marine Resources Division.

Be blessed or be a blessing,

Rick

Meeting Notes for Oct 1st

2009-10-03T09:45:00.001-07:00

Dear Sub-West Rotarians,

It was good to see everyone this week. John Stein got us started with a Groaner. AG Ted Kirchharr led us in Prayer, followed by Al Swann with the Pledge to our Flag, and Harry Tuttle with the 4-Way Test.

I showed a 30 second video about how Rotary needs each one of us.

Happy Dollars were started by Andy Hinton because Alabama was going to play football again this week. Bill Cleary was happy to be at Rotary. Courtney Peterson got a round of applause because he and his wife are expecting a new baby in April. Paul Sinor’s son-in-law is returning from Iraq today.

Sgt-at-Arms Johnny Fayard introduced our Visitors and Guests. Visiting were Dr. Deck Couch, guest of Harry Tuttle; and Bob Bothfeld, Jr., son of Bob Bothfeld. We had one Visiting Rotarian, Bob Campbell of Five Flags.

We celebrated Rotarian anniversaries’ this week with Al Swann (39 years); and Mike Henderson (26 years).

We received a letter from Kathy Karsten, Program Manager at USO Pensacola thanking us for our donations of goodies and cutlery last week. This is an ongoing need so please feel free to bring items to any club meeting. Al Swann gave us a caution from his personal experience with arterial blockages in the legs. Suggested we have our doctors check the blood flow in our legs during routine exams.

The Woolly Booger was AG Ted Kirchharr with an intriguing look at the history of Sub-West in The Rotarian magazine.

Harry Tuttle had the winning raffle ticket and drew the King of Diamonds from a deck with only 42 cards left to miss out on a $475 pot.

The program was yours truly and I went over what the Sub-West Leadership has been doing since July. We are involved in projects that will ultimately affect the lives of over 10,000 people on 2 continents. Thank you for your contribution to Rotary.

Next week our program was changed from Gulf Coast Aerospace & Defense Coalition to Historic Pensacola in Pictures by Deborah Dunlap (tentatively).

Be blessed or be a blessing,

Rick

Meeting Notes for Sept 24th

2009-09-26T14:22:00.001-07:00

Dear Sub-West Brothers and Sisters,

What a week! Bill Sheffield got us started with a Groaner. PDG Wayne Etheredge led us in Prayer, followed by Mark Smith with the Pledge to our Flag, and Paul Sinor with the 4-Way Test.

I had the sad duty of letting everyone know Bob Bothfeld’s wife Virginia had passed away on Monday. Her memorial service was Friday at Gulf Breeze Presbyterian Church. It was a lovely service and I thank the Sub-Westers who came out to support our brother Bob in his time of grief.

PDG Wayne Etheredge came forward and gave us a brief history of EREY (Every Rotarian Every Year). He encouraged us to each contribute $115 this year to the Rotary Foundation. He said money already given to the Dress the Prez for Polio counts toward the $115. Several members came forward and gave their $115 or more for the year for a total of $801.00. The $2000 goal for Dress the Prez was smashed and is now headed for $4000. We are at $2712.00. Mac Parker of the “Dress Committee” said if we hit $4000, the Prez will wear “whatever” the entire day and his committee will join him dressed accordingly at the meeting on October 22nd. Of course I’m motivated to not be alone…

Happy Dollars were started by Heidi Blair because she is going to Hawaii. Mark Smith met his wife 15 years ago. PDG Bob Spillman was jumping up and down on his table because West Point won. Trish Woodburn had a great time in Greece. And Bill and Anna Spain got to see their son take command of an Army garrison.

Ed Ellis introduced our Visitors and Guests. Visiting were Corrine Swann, the lovely wife of Al Swann; Mark Dahn, guest of Moses Atwood; and Scott McKnight, guest of Ed Holt. Visiting Rotarians included Van Hibberts from Gulf Breeze; and RP Doyle and Terry Terrell from Downtown.

We celebrated Rotarian anniversaries’ this week with Charlie Peppler (15 years); Craig Smith (9 years); and Betty Wasson (9 years).

The Woolly Booger was Brett Parra who played Stump the Chump with famous football quotes.

Charlie Peppler had the winning raffle ticket and drew the Three of Hearts from a deck with only 43 cards left to miss out on a $454 pot.

The program was Rotarians John & Trannie Laquey from ShelterBox. They shared how this all-in-one box of necessary items is used to provide relief to individuals and families in disaster areas.

Next week our program will be a Club Assembly and I will bring everyone up-to-date on what we’ve accomplished so far.

Be blessed or be a blessing,

Rick

Meeting Notes from Sept 17th

2009-09-19T12:58:00.001-07:00

Dear Sub-West Brothers and Sisters,

Another super meeting! (this is becoming routine). Tim Couch got us started with a Groaner and it had to do with something growing in his backyard. PDG Paul Parks led us in Prayer, followed by PP Jerold Hall with the Pledge to our Flag, and Charlie Hass with the 4-Way Test.

It was my pleasure to award Bill Sheffield the Paul Harris Fellowship. Bill is a great Rotarian and asset to Sub-West. Immediate Past President Bill Cleary selected Bill for the award and presented the PHF pin, medallion, and certificate to Bill.

Happy Dollars were started by Bill Ramsey because it was Constitution Day. Andy Hinton was happy his football team was still on track for the National Championship. Brett Parra was happy Bill Sheffield received his award and the work Impact 100 was doing in the community for special needs kids.

PE John Stein introduced our Visitors and Guests the proper way by saying most people’s name wrong. At the end he corrected the lesson to, “How NOT to introduce Visiting Rotarians.” Visiting were Kat Davis, guest of Betty Wasson; Sam Marshall, father of PP Mike Marshall; and Bob Stumpf, guest of Ed Holt. Visiting Rotarians included Amy Rauls from Macon, GA; Joe Boyles from Five Flags; Mike Ferguson from Downtown; John Blair from Crestview; and Stephanie O’Connor from Gulf Breeze.

We celebrated Rotarian anniversaries’ this week with Don Gregory (32 years) and Jack Brown (10 years).

The Woolly Booger was PDG Wayne Etheredge who challenged the group on their knowledge of Rotary. He squeezed a dollar out of everyone with a vowel in their first name.

Visiting Rotarian Amy Rauls had the winning raffle ticket and drew the Two of Clubs from a deck with only 44 cards left to miss out on a $432 pot.

The program was Rotarian John T. Capps III from the Morehead City – Noon Rotary Club in North Carolina. John reminded us that the work of Rotary is accomplished at the club level and how important Rotarians are to the local community and the world.

Next week our speaker will be people from ShelterBox. ShelterBox is an emergency response program that provides necessary items in the wake of disaster.

Another $150 was donated to Polio Plus this week bringing the total to $1911. I’m beginning to think we are going to get to $2000 in the next 5 weeks.

Be blessed or be a blessing,

Rick

Meeting Notes for Sept 10th

2009-09-13T13:13:00.000-07:00

Dear Sub-West Brothers and Sisters,

Another super meeting! Mike Marshall got us started with a Groaner and it was “all right.” PE John Stein led us in Prayer, followed by bob Jacobson with the Pledge to our Flag, and Bill Ramsey with the 4-Way Test.

I let everyone know Hope Allen’s job requirements at the Chamber have prevented her from making club meetings and Board meetings. She felt it was in the best interest of the club for her to resign as Sgt-at-Arms and let someone else fill this voting Board position. The Board accepted Hope’s resignation and asked Dr. Bill Marchi to take the job and he agreed. Thanks Bill!

We inducted our newest member, Paul Sinor. His sponsor, Bill Sheffield, pinned the Rotary Pin on Paul during the induction ceremony. Please make an effort to get to know Paul and extend the hand of Rotary friendship.

Happy Dollars were started by Heidi Blair who was happy Courtney Peterson had stepped up to take the Long-Term Exchange students to an FSU home game. Bill Ramsey put in $10 because he talked to a sailor while he was travelling who had been blessed by the USO Heidi runs. Andy Hinton was elated over Virginia Tech’s loss. Paul Sinor was happy to be the newest Rotarian in the world and Paul Parks celebrated 150 years of perfect attendance. Jerold Hall was happy to be at Rotary and will not be here next week. PDG Wayne Etheredge was happy about Jerold’s announcement.

Charlie Peppler introduced our Visitors and Guests. Visiting Rotarians included Helen & Zoran Sajovic from Lafayette LA; Dick Baker from Five Flags; Club President Jay Overman from Seville; and Club President Fran Crumpton, Eddie Hill , and Dan Livingston from Pensacola North.

We celebrated one Rotarian anniversary this week with Secretary Wes Nicholls (1 year).

If you have Perfect Attendance, see Secretary Wes Nicholls. This information is tracked by the club and we want to make sure our records are up-to-date. Many member photos are missing from the District Database. Admin Chair Jane White has a list of missing photos and will have a camera at club meetings. PP Ferd Salomon II mentioned a Clay Trap Shooting event. See him for details. Eddie Hill from Pensacola North Rotary Club had Rotary Polos for sale. The polos are a Polio Plus Fundraiser.

I also mentioned Five Flags PE Malcolm Ballinger’s son Andy is battling leukemia. A fund raising effort is under way to help with the medical expenses. Raffle tickets are being sold for $10 each with the prize being a 14kt white gold, yellow sapphire and diamond ring. The ring was donated and 100% of the proceeds will go to help Andy. Remember what DG John Kuykendall said; we need make sure we help fellow Rotarians in need. Dick Baker was present to collect donations.

The Woolly Booger was Huntley Johnson who wreaked havoc across the room in his majestic way. You gotta love that guy (for $2.00).

Visiting Rotarian Helen Sajovic had the winning raffle ticket and drew the Seven of Clubs from a deck with only 45 cards left to miss out on a $408 pot.

The program was Jill Pait and BJ Davis from the American Cancer Society. Jill shared the many services provided by the organization and encouraged all of us to get the word out.

Next week our speaker will be John T. Capps III from Morehead City, NC.

John T. will be speaking at the Seville Rotary Club on Tuesday, Sept 15th at 5:30pm. This event is open to all Rotarians, is no cost, and counts as a make-up.

Bob Bothfeld’s wife Virginia is in Covenant Hospice. Bob says she is comfortable. Please keep Bob and Virginia is your prayers.

Although I didn’t mention it in the meeting, another $60 was donated to Polio Plus bringing the total to $1741. I think I’m going to look good.

Be blessed or be a blessing,

Rick

Meeting Notes from Sept 3rd

2009-09-05T13:15:00.001-07:00

Dear Proud Sub-Westers,

What a wild meeting! Bill Sheffield got us started with a Groaner that came straight from the LIV Bible (Loose Interpretation Version). Harry Tuttle led us in Prayer, followed by Don Gregory with the Pledge to our Flag, and Bob Bothfeld with the 4-Way Test.

I passed on that the Dress the Prez for Polio campaign was up to $1581. With a goal of $2000 and 7 weeks to go, it’s not looking good for me (or maybe I should have said, I’ll be looking good for you). Super Rotarian John Capps is coming to Pensacola the week of Sept 13-18th. Thanks to Past President Bill Spain and his lovely wife Anna for donating their home for him to stay in and a car to drive while he’s here. Bill and Anna will be out of town at their son Everett’s change-of-command while John’s here.

Happy Dollars were laden with football rants and raves. We had visitors from the FBI and Bill Sheffield was asking to use one of their guns! If the teams play with the same level of energy as their Sub-West fans exhibit, they need to make the football out of steel.

Past District Governor Paul Parks introduced our Visitors and Guests. Our visitors included James Stewart, Tim Bragg; and Paul Sinor, all guests of Bill Sheffield. Visiting Rotarians included Carl Dickerson from Cantonment; and Richard Peterson and Kenny Morgan from Pensacola North.

We celebrated Rotarian anniversaries this week with Gordy Tyrrell (48 years); Mike Marshall (15 years); Jerold Hall (11 years); and Ronnie Arnold (4 years).

Heidi Blair, Executive Director of the USO, wants to share with Sub-West the USO is conducting a Food Drive to support the fine defenders of our nation who come to the USO. Many troops use the USO this time of year to watch football. Please help by donating non-alcoholic drinks, candy, snacks, packaged finger foods, napkins, plastic ware, etc., so our fine young men and women can enjoy some of the freedom they provide. If you can’t get the food, money also works. The USO’s phone is 850.455.8280.

I also mentioned Five Flags PE Malcolm Ballinger’s son Andy is battling leukemia. A fund raising effort is under way to help with the medical expenses. Raffle tickets are being sold for $10 each with the prize being a 14kt white gold, yellow sapphire and diamond ring. The ring was donated and 100% of the proceeds will go to help Andy. Remember what DG John Kuykendall said; we need make sure we help fellow Rotarians in need.

The Woolly Booger was Tim Couch who tested us on Football Mascot trivia. I’m still wondering how a higher education institution ended up being the Fighting Okra.

Huntley Johnson had the winning raffle ticket and drew the Queen of Spades from a deck with only 46 cards left to miss out on a $383 pot.

Brunie Emmanuel from the EscaRosa Coalition on the Homeless told us how his organization operates and what its goals are. He included the efforts to work with the people that are being displaced so construction can commence on the Maritime Park.

Next week our speaker will be Frances Yeo from Junior Achievement.

Ervin Byrd is the new Social Chair and is looking for people to join his committee. Ervin plans parties for a living and is sure to make this easy for anyone who joins him.

I’m so proud you made me a member of Sub-West.

Be blessed or be a blessing,

Rick

Meeting Notes from August 27th

2009-08-27T17:35:00.000-07:00

Dear Proud Sub-Westers,

Despite the rain, we had another great meeting! Ferd Salomon II got us started with a Groaner that increased our appreciation of attorneys. Mike Marshall led us in Prayer, followed by Mark Smith with the Pledge to our Flag, and Harry Tuttle with the 4-Way Test.

I passed on that PE John Stein, VP Ferd Salomon III and I had gone to the District Foundation training. We learned a lot and hopefully have giving to the Rotary International Foundation figured out.

Happy Dollars were rampant and I didn’t keep track of them this time (bad Rick, no cookie). Is there an app for that?

John Boivin introduced our Visitors and Guests. Our visitors included Honorary Rotarian Jinny Parks, wife of PDG Paul Parks; and Paul Sinor, friend of Bill Sheffield. Visiting Rotarians included Diane Mack and Rock Penfold from Five Flags; Dan Livingston and Chuck Hoskin from Pensacola North; and Melanie Furman and Jenny DeSeasre from Seville.

We celebrated Rotarian anniversaries for the week of August 23rd for Leorah Mims (2 years); and Bobbye Carroll (14 years).

Mac Parker came forward (again) and held up a sign showing the club was half-way to its goal of $2000 for Polio Plus in the Dress the Prez for Polio Challenge. He also presented a check given to him by James Marks for $500. I gave $20 that my wife Suki added to the cause. I’m sensing conspiracy. Other donors today brought the total to $580 making the total contributed now at $1581 leaving the club $419 from the goal. Additional bargaining occurred and Mac committed that if the club hits $4000 that he and the Dress the Prez Outfit Committee will also be dressed that day and I will wear “Whatever” the entire day. We will see…

The Woolly Booger was Ronnie Arnold who tested us on Football Stadium trivia. It raised a lot of money and several liars were exposed regarding their attendance at SEC stadiums.

Visiting Rotarian Rock Penfold had the winning raffle ticket and drew the Queen of Clubs from a deck with only 47 cards left to miss out on a $365 pot.

Dr. Judy Bense, President of the University of West Florida, gave us an update on her efforts to bring more attention to UWF and make it a place students want to come to.

Next week our speaker will be Mr. Brunie Emmanuel from the Coalition for the Homeless.

Thank you again for displaying your pride by wearing your symbols of Rotary. Be warned however, you will be asked to stand up if you do not have a symbol of Rotary on next week. And wearing one of the Rotary stickers does not count (Huntley). As a matter of fact, it will cost you $10 if you think wearing a paper Rotary sticker is a display of your Rotary pride.

You guys are the best!

Be blessed or be a blessing,

Rick

Meeting Notes from August 20th

2009-08-24T18:15:00.000-07:00

Dear Proud Rotarians of Sub-West,

It was another great meeting! Bill Sheffield got us started with a Groaner. John Brick led us in Prayer, followed by Betty Wasson with the Pledge to our Flag, and Charlie Hass with the 4-Way Test.

I passed on that I had spoken to Jack Brown during the week and his business is tough, but they are going to make it. He hopes to be attending meetings again soon. I also thanked Ronnie Arnold and the Sub-West Grill Crew for serving dinner to the FAMU Marching Band Saturday night and Bill & Molly Cleary for hosting the Welcome event for our Long-term Exchange Student, Rodrigo.

Bill Cleary started the Happy Dollars with his jubilation over school starting. Harry Tuttle followed with how blessed he feels to be part of Sub-West. Wayne Etheredge was happy to see Britt Landrum at Sub-West because it was Britt who sponsored him as a Rotarian. And I was happy to have my son Alex at the club just before he heads back to his sophomore year at UF.

Braden Ball introduced our Visitors and Guests. Our visitors included my son Alex Lambert, Paul Sinor, friend of Bill Sheffield, and Christine Viets, from the Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank, guest of Bill Cleary. We had a ton of Visiting Rotarians to include most of the Pensacola North Club with Derek Ferebee, Dan Livingston, Eddie Hill, Jonathan Taylor & Frank Kay. We also had John Griffing from Five Flags; Roger Matthews from Milton; Britt Landrum from Downtown; and Patrick Quinn from New Orleans.

Mac Parker came forward with Heidi Blair and took some measurements of me for Dress the Prez for Polio. They seem to think the club will raise $2000 by October 21st, however they need $20/member to hit the goal. The club can choose what I will wear to conduct the October 22nd meeting if $2000 is raised. I think Mac and Heidi wasted their time, but they did raise another $100. I think this puts the total at $941. We will see…

The Woolly Booger was Angie Neumann who tested us on Wisconsin trivia. It was a lot of good information for those interested in the Cheesehead State.

John Brick had the winning raffle ticket and drew the Two of Hearts from a deck with only 48 cards left to miss out on a $341 pot.

Dee Dee Ritchie gave us an update on the Charter Commission’s efforts to date. There has been a lot of work and listening to testimonies accomplished by this group to date.

Thank you again for displaying your pride by wearing your symbols of Rotary. I am proud to be a Rotarian and I hope you are too.

Next week our speaker will be Dr. Judy Bense, President of the University of West Florida.

Have a great week!

Be blessed or be a blessing,

Rick

Meeting Notes from August 13th

2009-08-14T04:57:00.000-07:00

Dear Rotarians of Sub-West,

Another great meeting! Johnny Fayard got us started with a Groaner (“big” Johnny with a “little” Johnny joke). Reed Eubanks led us in Prayer, followed by Mark McBride with the Pledge to our Flag, and Tom Johnson with the 4-Way Test.

I welcomed Rodrigo Lima, our Long-Term Exchange student, to Sub-West. He arrived Wednesday at the airport and was met by a nice cadre of Sub-Westers. (The rumors are not true – I wasn’t late, he arrived early). Thanks to Heidi Blair, Mike Marshall, and Bill Cleary for the work on getting him here. Thanks also to Charles and Nina Howard from Pensacola North Rotary for being Rodrigo’s first host family.

Ronnie Arnold started the Happy Dollars by sharing he and the Sub-West Grill Crew will be cooking for the FAMU Marching Band Saturday Evening. Bill Cleary was happy he survived his family vacation. Bill Spain was happy new Rotarian Harry Tuttle is looking to attend the Rotary Leadership Institute (RLI). John Boivin was happy he got to go fishing in Canada. And Heidi Blair was happy all four Long-Term Youth Exchange students arrived safely.

Heidi Blair introduced our Visitors and Guests. Our visitors included Paul Bailey, friend of visiting Rotarian Charles Howard; Mike Hill, friend of Bill Cleary; and David Mendez, friend of visiting Rotarian Walk Jones from Cantonment. We had Visiting Rotarians Martin Harwood from Downtown, Beverly Livingston from Gulf Breeze, and Richard Peterson from Pensacola North.

I made the announcement that the Sub-West Board met and wanted to challenge the Club to contribute $20/member to help us meet our goal of $2000 to Polio Plus. If Sub-West can hit the target by October 21st, you can dress me up however you wish (keep it G-rated) and this is how I will conduct the October 22nd meeting. Mac Parker stood up and said he would get the money started with a $20.00. Others joined Mac and $340 was raised at the meeting. We will have a thermometer at the next meeting to measure progress toward the goal, but I doubt you’re going to get there. Nice try Mac.

Bill Cleary reminded everyone of the party at his house this Saturday, from 6-9pm. For this Rotary year, cell phone donations will go to the District to help keep dues from increasing.

The Woolly Booger was Bobbye Carroll who gave us a “quiz” on ancient TV comedy. Even Paul Parks was too young to remember this stuff. At any rate, I remembered Membership Retention is a goal this year and put $20.00 in the pot to end it (my penitence for being late to the airport). We love you Bobbye!

Huntley Johnson had the winning raffle ticket and drew the Nine of Spades from a deck with only 49 cards left to miss out on a $325 pot.

Haley Richards, from Bridges to Circles came and shared this poverty initiative and program of Catholic Charities. Bridges to Circles works in partnership with Unite Escambia’s Poverty Solutions Team to provide education and mentoring to low income families in the area.

I am proud of Sub-Wet for wearing its Team Colors (although I did see Moses Atwood wear the Rotary sticker he got at last week’s meeting – very innovative, but don’t count on it working next week). Only six Rotary Pins were sold. I saw Rotary ties, polos, District Conference pins, and Sub-West Club pins. We are Rotarians and we should be proud of what we represent in our community.

Next week our speaker will be Dee Dee Ritchie from the Pensacola Charter Review Commission.

Have a great week!

Be blessed or be a blessing,

Rick

Meeting Notes from August 6th

2009-08-06T17:33:00.001-07:00

Dear Honorable Rotarians of Sub-West,

If you missed the meeting today, you missed ice cream! I’m not sure how it got there, but I’ll go ahead and take credit for it. I told Memory this could go on happening every week and she said she would let the chef know. Keep your fingers crossed.

What a great meeting! Al Swann got us started with a Groaner (I wonder if Harry came out of the closet?). Courtney Peterson led us in Prayer, followed by Johnny Fayard with the Pledge to our Flag, and Ferd Salomon III with the 4-Way Test.

I started the Happy Dollars by recognizing some of our club members’ years in Rotary. Andy Hinton-45 years; Bill Spain-40 years; Tom Johnson-23 years; Gil Bennett-15 years; Bill Cleary-12 years; Robert Waddell-11 years; & Bill Hooper-1 year. I should have recognized these great Rotarians last month because their anniversaries were in July. I got caught up today for August by recognizing Huntley Johnson’s 52 years in Rotary. Huntley, you got a standing ovation that lasted for over 5 minutes. Too bad you were off somewhere else goofing around and missed it.

Bill Sheffield added to the Happy Dollars (again) being thankful for the opportunity to work with Visiting Rotarian Peit Hudson. Bill Cleary had a dollar to give because his family is going on vacation together. Mark Smith is happy his youngest child turned one year old.

Sandi Starr introduced our Visitors and Guests. Our visitors included Claire Kirchharr, daughter of AG Ted Kirchharr (clap) and Jeff Chavers, co-worker of Tim Couch. We had Visiting Rotarians Charles Howard of Pensacola North, Peit Hudson from Downtown, and Sam Foreman from Gulf Breeze.

I paid a fine for not having Rotary Pins available at the meeting for those who do not have a symbol of Rotary and need one. I was pleased to announce that Johnny the Hun only gave out seven “I am a Rotarian” stickers. If the pins are here next week, the fines begin. Jim Lent gave a Birthday Check. Jim has been out a while because of his wife Jo’s health, but reports she is better and hopes to be back at the club soon.

The Woolly Booger was Buck Hall who went around the room badgering people about this and that and called it an “Orientation for Newer Rotarians.” He even slammed me for something or another. He raised $90.00 for the Foundation with his rants, so maybe he’ll be invited back.

Brett Parra had the winning raffle ticket. I turned the deck over and put the Ace of Spades on top hoping he would draw it again and give the money to Polio Plus. But I think his wife may have had a talk with him and I could see in his eyes a desire to redeem himself. So I shuffled the deck and turned it back over. He drew the Queen of Hearts from a deck with only 50 cards left to miss out on a $302 pot. Sorry Rocky.

Jenny Campbell, Assistant Curator, from the Pensacola Museum of Art came and shared the many and varied programs and exhibits currently available at the museum. Just another one of the great jewels in our city.

I gave a late reminder that on Wednesday, August 12th at 10:00am our Long-Term Youth Exchange student, Rodrigo, will be arriving at the Pensacola Airport. If you are available, please come out and welcome him to Pensacola. It would be nice to have a big crowd to greet him.

Next week our speaker will be Haley Richards from VISTA Bridges to Circles. She will be sharing a Catholic Charities Poverty Initiative. She is not looking for donations, but will share the opportunity to get involved.

I can’t wait to see you next week.

Be blessed or be a blessing,

Rick

Meeting Notes from July 30th

2009-07-30T17:29:00.000-07:00

Dear Proud Rotarians of Sub-West,

It was beautiful outside and I was blessed to be a Rotarian today. I'm not sure everyone knows how hard it is to look out the windows of our meeting room and stay focused from the lectern. Please pardon me if I start to stare off more than usual.

What a great meeting! Mike Marshall got us started with two Groaners with the second being the real thing. Laverne Baker led us in prayer, followed by Roland Smith with the Pledge to our Flag, and Wendy Simon with the 4-Way Test.

Bill Sheffield started the Happy Dollars inspired by the American Flag that flies in front of Joe Pattie's. Bob Bothfeld said his wife is doing well with her medical treatments. Bob Jacobson and Tim Couch are proud of the accomplishments of their sons. Wayne Etheridge was happy the District Governor was visiting our club and that he only had to say his last name wrong once.

Johnny Fayard introduced our Visitors and Guests. Our visitors included Marilyn Tuttle, wife of newly inducted Rotarian Harry Tuttle. We had Visiting Rotarians Malcolm Thomas and Rex McKinney from Downtown and Olevia Yates from the new Seville Club.

I was my great pleasure to induct our first Rotarian this Rotary year. Harry Tuttle became Sub-West's newest member today and DG John Kuykendall presented him with the Rotary pin. Thanks to his sponsor, Bill Spain, for proposing him to our ranks and to his wife Marilyn for attending his ceremony. Please take time to welcome and get to know Harry.

The Woolly Booger was none other than Bill Spain who reminded us how a pretty blond can separate a smart man from his money. He continued on (and on, and on) with some Rotary Trivia and raised $82.00 (yeah Brett, I'm keeping track) for the Foundation.

Bill Sheffield had the winning raffle ticket and drew the 6 of Clubs from a deck with only 51 cards left to miss out on a $285 pot.

District Governor John Kuykendall was our speaker today and shared some of the things our District has committed to do this year. He talked about taking care of our membership, especially during these hard economic times. He also discussed the District projects that need support to include the Long-Term Youth Exchange and Rotary Youth Camp. He encouraged us to attend next year's District Conference that will be held at the HarborWalk Village in Destin. We thanked John and his wife Catherine for coming with a donation in his name to the Foundation, our "imported" travel coffee mugs and the "Pensacola is a Paradise" Pelican figurine from the Pelicans in Paradise collection.

The August issue of the club's newsletter was given out at the meeting. It's also attached to this email. Please say thanks to Bobbye Carroll and Jane White for the new format. It looks great! If you have something for the newsletter, the deadline is August 13th for the September issue.

Next week our speaker will be Jenny Campbell from the Pensacola Museum of Art.

For those who read all the way to the bottom, next week is when the $5.00 fines start for not wearing a symbol of Rotary to the meeting. No more Mr. Nice Guy!

Be blessed or be a blessing,

Rick

Meeting Notes From July 23rd

2009-07-23T17:50:00.000-07:00

Dear Sub-West,

What a great meeting this week. Ronnie Arnold got us started with a Groaner. Mike Marshall led us in prayer, followed by Trish Woodburn with the Pledge to our Flag and Charlie Peppler with the 4-Way Test.

Happy Dollars were rampant. Newly wed and visiting Rotarian Shelby Cummings celebrated it being her first Rotary meeting as a married Rotarian. Andy Hinton was happy about Football and many Sub-Westers were happy about family members being at the club. Bill Spain was just happy.

There were still some "I am a Rotarian" stickers given out. Remember, free passes are only through the month of July. Starting with the first meeting in August, it will cost a $5.00 donation to the Foundation to be excused from displaying your Rotary pride. More pins are being ordered, so let Secretary Wes Nicholls know if you need to purchase another one.

John Stein introduced our Visitors and Guests. Our visitors included Taylor & Travis Carroll (youngest grandsons of Reed Eubanks), Sheri Owens, Jim Summers, Gene Higginbottom, Walker Parra (Brett's son with clean underwear), Nicole Keating (Bobbye Carroll's daughter), John Henderson (Mike's Rugby Champ son), and Harry Tuttle. We had Visiting Rotarians John Melancon (not said like its spelled) and his wife Sheila, Dan Livingston, Tom Vaughn, and Shelby Cummings and her newly-wed husband Erik Pulverenti.

I had the pleasure, along with Foundation Chair Betty Wasson, to present a Certificate of Recognition to Brett Parra for his generous contribution of his Raffle winnings last week to the Polio Plus Campaign. Thanks again, Brett!

Announcements included Sgt-at-Arms Johnny Fayard and Brett Parra asking everyone to respond to their emails asking for volunteers for meeting activities. Brett is the Woolly Booger Emeritus and needs volunteers to help raise funds each week. Johnny needs people to lead the Pledge, Prayer, 4-Way Test and to introduce Visitors and Guests. Mike Woods shared information about a Leadership Event to be held at First Presbyterian Church August 3-6. Ask him for details. Bill Cleary let us know he is the "Activity Coordinator" for our long-term youth exchange student and wants people to attend his airport arrival and welcome party. More details to follow.

The Woolly Booger was Roger Nicholson who asked some space trivia questions and read some of his church's recent bulletin entries (Okay, maybe it wasn't his church). However, he had the "white flags" flying in no time as we laughed. He did pry $2.00 from each of us for the Foundation.

The program was Kris Butler, CEO of the Mental Health Association of West Florida. Kris shared some of the programs and issues her organization is involved with in our community.

Next week, District Governor John Kuykendall will be conducting his Club Visit and share his goals for District 6940. Please make every effort to attend.

Be blessed or be a blessing,

Rick

Meeting Notes From July 16th

2009-07-18T04:49:00.000-07:00

Dear Sub-West,

Let me start by saying thank you to the many of you who have given encouraging words and advice to me as I begin this year's presidency. I am blessed!

What a great meeting this week. Bill Sheffield got us started with a Groaner that I thought was going to cost us our "G" rating. Thank goodness the husband could speak English. Wayne Etheredge led us in prayer, followed by Jane White with the Pledge to our Flag and Bobbye Carroll with the 4-Way Test.

I started the Happy Dollars because of my jubilation that all Sub-Westers had on a symbol of Rotary. Only 26 stickers were given out which means many of you came to the club wearing your pride. Remember, free passes are only through the month of July. Starting with the first meeting in August, it will cost a $5.00 donation to the Foundation to be excused from displaying your Rotary pride. Other Happy Dollars included Ferd II & AG Ted having family at the meeting. Ronnie Arnold was happy about Bill Sheffield's something or other that was worth a dollar. A couple of folks were happy for long marriages.

Mike Marshall wanted to introduce our Visitors and Guests, but was off gallivanting so I picked up his slack. Our visitors included Jenny Campbell, Harry Tuttle, Claire Kirchharr and Jenny Salomon. We had Visiting Rotarians Nancy Halford, Andy Remke, and Jeff Lewis.

AG Ted Kirchharr (clap) came forward and presented the RI Presidential Citation to Bill Cleary for 2008-09. Congratulations Bill on a fine year!

The Wolly Booger was Courtney Peterson who fined a few Sub-Westers who were recently in the media and told some jokes(?). I had just told the Wolly Booger Emeritus, Brett Parra, his job was on the line and then he did something spectacular... Brett won the raffle and pulled the Ace of Spades! But that's not the spectacular part. He then donated the entire pot of $541.00 to the Foundation! Everybody take back the bad things you've said about Brett (at least for a while). Thank you, Brett, for your generosity.

The program was Dr. Coy Irvin from the Fiesta of Five Flags Association who brought us up-to-date on the Celebrate Pensacola 450th Anniversary.

The first issue of the club's newsletter was given out at the meeting. It also attached to this email. Please remember to give any inputs you have to Bobbye Carroll or Braden Ball for the club newsletter. The submission deadline for the August issue is July 24th.

One last bit of good news. Trice Whitten and Laverne Baker (two Fundraising Powerhouses) have agreed to Chair and Vice-Chair the Club's Fundraising Committee. If you want to be involved in one of the most significant parts of the club's activities this year, please contact me, Trice, or Laverne. This committee will have a big impact in what we do to END POLIO NOW.

Rick

July Newsletter

2009-07-16T07:55:00.000-07:00

July,2009

A Note from President Rick:

Dear Sub-West,
I am honored and humbled to take the helm of the
club, and I thank you for having confidence in
me. I also want to thank Bill Cleary for handing
over the club in excellent shape. He and his
board did a great job. My big agenda item for
this year is to get Rotarians engaged (or reengaged).
This year’s theme from RI is, “The
Future of Rotary is in Your Hands.” Rotary’s
mission gets done at the club level by active
Rotarians. Sub-West has made great
accomplishments in its history, and I want that
to continue this year with even more club members
being involved. We should be proud to wear the
Rotary Wheel, and I will be encouraging Sub-
Westers to display their pride. Thank you for
sending Suki and me to the International
Convention. We were amazed and awed by what we
experienced. You allowed us to see the big
picture of what Rotary is on a global basis, and
we have been changed. Rotary has become an even
bigger part of our lives, and we look forward to
serving this year.

In Rotary,

Rick Lambert

The Future of Rotary is in Your Hands

Officers

Rick Lambert club president
rick.lambert@edwardjones.com
429-8403
John Stein president-elect/membership
stein_jo@bellsouth.net
944-1225
Ferd Salomon III vice president/programs
FerdSalomon@mchsi.com
433-0577
Bill Cleary immediate past president
bcleary@landrumcompanies.com
477-7022
Wes Nicholis club secretary
wesley_nicholis@hotmail.com
457-1468
Regina Baniakas club treasurer
regina@flacpas.com
433-5645
Mike Henderson training officer
warringtonvets@juno.com
453-3151
Betty Wasson foundation chair
bwasson@pjc.edu
484-1203
Jane White club admin chair
janewhite@cox.net
439-1200
Mark McBride club service chair
MDMcBrid@southernbell.com
429-2710
Ronnie Arnold community service chair
rarnold2@escambia.k12.fl.us
439-2227
Trisha Woodburn international service chair
twfl@bellsouth.net
438-4416
Wendy Simon vocational service chair
wendy.simon@wachovia.com
469-4325
Hope Allen sergeant-at-arms
hallen@pensacolachamber.com
438-4081
Johnny Fayard sergeant-at-arms
jfayard@bbandt.com
429-2056
Bobbye Carroll newsletter editor
bobbyecarroll@cox.net
434-2266

The Rotary Club of Pensacola Suburban West Thursday, 12:15

Pensacola Yacht Club

INTRODUCING NEW RI PRESIDENT, JOHN KENNY

Grangemouth, Scotland
President, Rotary International, 2009-10
Trustee, The Rotary Foundation, 2000-04
Director, Rotary International, 1995-97
President, Rotary International in Great Britain and
Ireland, 1992-93
Vice President, Rotary International in Great Britain
and Ireland, 1991-92

Good news:
Al Swann’s new daughter-in-law, Beverly Zimmern, is
the new mayor of Gulf Breeze.

Rick & Suki Lambert have become Level II Bequest
Society members. Ask Betty Wasson how you can, too.

Keep in Your Thoughts:
Bob and Virginia Bothfeld who are both battling
cancer.

From the editor:
It is our hope to use this newsletter to inform,
educate, and amuse. We will use a portion to notify
others of our fellow Rotarians who are ill, have
family members deployed, or need our thoughts and
prayers for whatever purpose. We will also share
birthdays, anniversaries, job changes, or any other
news you wish to pass on, space permitting.
It will only work with your help. Please notify me of
anything you would like to see included, and please
update your data page on the district website. We
don’t have everybody’s birth date nor anybody’s wedding
anniversary, so understand if we miss you.
Bobbye

HONORARIES FOR 2008-2009
Rotarian of the Year Jay Overman
New Rotarian of the Year Johnny Fayard
Paul Condon Spirit of Rotary Ronnie Arnold
Milt Grimwood Spirit Trisha Woodburn
of International Service
Honorary Rotarian Suki Lambert
Congratulations on these well deserved honors
and to Bill Cleary and his staff for an outstanding
year.

Programs:
July 9 Club Assembly
July 16 Dr. Coy Irvin, Pensacola’s 450th
July 23 Ms. Kris Butler, Mental Health Association
July 30 District Governor John Kirkendall
Members’ birthdays:
July 9 Ken Pfeiffer
July 13 Mike Henderson
July 14 Harry Huelsbeck
Brett Parra
July 18 Jim Lent
July 25 Roland Smith

Meeting Notes 6 18 09 - Escambia County Sherriff's Office

2009-06-21T11:20:00.000-07:00

Good Day - SubWest!

We had an interesting meeting this week, starting off with Al Swann doing 2 Groaners for the price of 1. Roland Smith then lead us in the prayer. Jim Holifield lead the Pledge and Andy Hinton lead us in the 4 Way test.

We had a few real good Happy Dollars today, most notable was Ronnie Arnold telling us that Hallmark Elementary had achieved an A rating this year! Wow, that is a dramatic improvement, and I think the club's help all year had something to do with it!

We had two Paul Harris Fellow awards to give out today. Bob Spilman had made a contribution to honor his bride, Priscilla Spilman. Gil Bennett has faithfully contributed to the Rotary Foundation and was rewarded with a Paul Harris Fellow for his donations as well. You gentlemen have really supported the Polio Plus efforts by giving to the Rotary Foundation! We all are grateful for what you do! Thanks!

Ronnie Arnold introduced our visitors and guests. We had 2 visiting Rotarians - Paul Young from Downtown and Corrina Coffee from 5 Flags. We also had 3 delightful guests, Al Swan brought his bride Corrina, and Tim Couch brought his son, Matt, while Huntley Johnson had his beautiful granddaughter Cameron as his guest.

Mike Henderson was our Woolly today. He solicited animal tales, and made a $5 contribution for each table that came up with a good story. If your table couldn't come up with one, you were all fined. Great fun!.

Wes Nicholls won the raffle, which is getting interesting with 41 cards left and $480 in the pot. He didn't pick the ace of spades, so the pot continues to grow!

John Stein then introduced our guest speaker - Ms. Siena Maddison, from the Escambia County Sherriff's office. The sheriff was actually at the meeting, but had to leave early for an urgent matter. Ms. Maddison is the PR person for the Sherriff, and she did a nice job pinch hitting for him.

Special thanks to Jim Holifield for his EREY birthday check contribution to the Rotary Foundation!

Remember the Change of Command, Tuesday night, 6/30/09 at New World Landing.

Yours in Rotary Service,
BILL

Meeting Notes 6 11 09 - Judge Ross Goodman

2009-06-21T11:19:00.000-07:00

Good Day - SubWest!

We had an fun and enlightening interesting meeting on 6/11/09. Iron Mike Woods started us off with a true Groaner! Ed Ellis then lead us in the prayer. Huntley Johnson lead the Pledge and Charlie Haas lead us in the 4 Way test.

During our round of Happy Dollars today, Bobbye Carroll celebrated having her very cute niece and nephew with her! Their names are Ellery and Omley (I think there is a legacy family name or two there!).

Mac Parker introduced our visitors and guests. We had 5 visiting Rotarians - Paul Young, John Shaffer and Charles Carlan from Downtown, and Frank Jackson from TN and Frank Osborne from Alabama. We also enjoyed the company of 6 guests, Bobby's niece and nephew, Ted K's daughter, Claire, Justin beck's guest, Taylor Stone, and Laverne Baker's guests Paula Shell and Lindsay Turner - both from Big Brother's and Big Sisters.

Mike Marshall made a pitch for help with our Rotary Youth Exchange Student, a young man from Brazil. Bill Sheffield stepped in as the Wooly today, and turned it into a tribute to John Wayne. Thanks Bill!

Big Ferd won the raffle, but did not find the ace of spades among the 42 cards left. Too bad, as the pot is up to $461 now.

Laverne Baker introduced our guest speaker - Judge Ross Goodman spoke about his personal experiences as a volunteer with "The Bigs." It was very interesting and motivating.

Remember the Change of Command, Tuesday night, 6/30/09 at New World Landing.

Yours in Rotary Service,
BILL

Meeting Notes 5 29 09 - Fiesta of Five Flags

2009-06-21T11:18:00.000-07:00

Fiesta Days are here! Mac Parker got the meeting rolling with a good Groaner, Paul Parks lead us in the prayer, Jerold Hall lead the Pledge and Wes Nicholls lead us in the 4 Way test.

After a round of Happy Dollars (notably welcoming Past president Sip Dennis back form his hiatus), Brett Parra introduced our visitors and guests. We had 3 visiting Rotarians - Nancy Fetterman from Downtown, Charlie Cook from Pensacola North, and Stephanie O'Connor from Gulf Breeze. We also had 3 guests, Reed Eubanks brought his grandson, Taylor, Don Gregory brought Rick Lehman (son of the late Don Lehman), and Jerold Hall brought Kristen Fairchild from Chain Reaction.

Skip Dennis was our Woolly today, soliciting many dollars for the Rotary Foundation!

Young Taylor Eubanks won the raffle, but was disappointed since he didn't pick the ace of spades, so the pot continues to grow!

John Stein then introduced our guest speaker - Ms. Laura Hill, Executive Director of the Five Flags Association, who put on our signature Fiesta events in Pensacola. She spoke about all the upcoming festivities including the arrival of the Spanish tall ship, El Cano in a few days (can't wait)!

Yours in Rotary Service,
BILL

Meeting Notes 5 21 09 - Jazz Piano

2009-06-21T11:16:00.000-07:00

Howdy - SubWest!

Today's meting was a musical wonderland! Many thanks to Al Swann for "arranging" our program today! Rick Lambert told us a true Groaner, Reed Eubanks lead us in the prayer, Jane White lead the Pledge and Huntley Johnson lead us in the 4 Way test.

We celebrated the great turnout at the Independence Weekend for Wounded Warriors in our Happy Dollars today. Thanks again to all of you who showed up!

Roland Smith introduced our visitors and guests. We had 2 visiting Rotarians - John Blair, from Crestview and former SubWester - Ken Tuttle, now from TN. We enjoyed the company of 4 guests, Al Swann's bride - Corrine, Don Gregory's son, Chris, and Bill Sheffield's guests Cynthia and Daniel Bulla.

John Stein made an announcement about the upcoming Golf Tourney, then Bob Jacobsen won the raffle, and a chance at the $396 pot, but did not pull the ace of spades out of the 45 cards left. Sorry, Bob!

Al Swann introduced our guest speaker - Jazz Pianist - Dr. David Schelander. David has played with many famous bands and delighted us with several piano renditions of famous songs, and a little education about a now famous composer who is featured at the New Orleans Jazz Festival this year. Very cool!

Yours in Rotary Service,
BILL

5 16 09 Wounded Warrior Weekend BBQ

2009-05-19T18:58:00.000-07:00

Awesome Event! Pictures say a thousand words. Thanks to Bill Spain for sending these to me! Semper Fi! BC.

We were sure cookin! Thanks to Ronnie Arnold, Jay Overman and Charlie Peppler for organizing our participation. The burgers and BBQ got rave reviews. Thanks also to Buck Hall and Mark McBride for manning the grill and all the great Sub West members who came out. Heck, it was as much a club BBQ as it was a service project! What fun, well done y'all! BC.

Meeting Notes 4 30 09 - Teachers of the Year

2009-04-30T18:02:00.000-07:00

April 30 2009

We skipped our normal Groaner today and asked Don Gregory to lead us in a brief remembrance of our brother Rotarian, Don Lehman. Don Gregory did a great job helping us remember Don Lehman with as short history of his careers in the Navy and with Lakeview Center. We also learned a little bit about Don's other community service activities with his church and other organizations. Thank-you Don Gregory for the fine tribute to your close friend.
Prayer - Paul Parks
Pledge - Mark Smith
4 Way Test - Bill Sheffield

Happy Dollars - lots of Happy Dollars as folks remembered Don Lehman.

Special Guest - Andrew Marinelli - stopped in to visit us during his 4,000 mile bike ride to raise money for the World Hunger Program. Check out onemanonebikeonefight.com for more information on this Rotary sponsored effort!

Visitors and Guests - Brett Parra
Visiting Rotarians:
Richard Peterson - North
Betty Roberts, RP Doyle, Rex McKinney, Jeff Lewis - Downtown

Guests:
Alex Lambert (PE Rick Lambert)

Announcements:
1 - Ethics in Business Award, Monday May 4th, noon at New World Landing (no SubWest meeting on Thursday May 7th)
2 - Wounded Warrior Project - Saturday, May 16th
3 - ARC Gateway - Jay Overman needs a couple of volunteers to help with the grill tomorrow at 930 to 4 pm.

Woolly - Johnny Fayard

Raffle - Paul Parks won chance at $356, 47 cards left

Program - Wendy Simon, assisted by Tim Couch had Teacher of the Year awards for 30 wonderful teachers!

Meeting Notes 4 23 09 - Etta Projects - Pennye West

2009-04-23T17:29:00.000-07:00

Wow, 2 new Rotarians (Ervin Byrd and Mark McBride) inducted, our own Ted Kirchharr introduced as our new AG, Bob Bothfeld gets his Paul Harris Fellow Plus 5 Award, SubWest earns a Presidential Citation, Ronnie shows slides from the Paint Project and we have a fantastic speaker (Pennye Nixon-West) tell us about Rotary projects in Bolivia!

Pennye is a mom who's daughter Etta, was on a RYE trip, going to school and living in Bolivia. Etta was tragically killed in a bus crash in Bolivia in 2002. How did Etta's mom deal with her grief? In an unimaginably positive way - she set up Etta Projects - an organization to honor her daughter's memory by making a difference in the very community where Etta had lived the last days of her life. What a powerful testimony to the spirit of service above self. Love they neighbor as thyself....

Thanks to Johnny (the Professor) Fayard for getting these pics so fast! More commentary below. Please pray for Don Lehman and his family.

Meeting Details: April 23, 2009

Groaner - Johnny Fayard

Prayer - Mac Parker
Pledge - Gil Bennett
4 Way Test - Ed Ellis

New Members Inducted: Ervin Byrd (UWF - Chartwells), Mark McBride (Gulf Power)

Visitors and Guests - Wes Nicholls
Visiting Rotarians:
Matt Riggolt

Ed Boywid

Rex McKinney

Guests:
Jill Stein (John Stein)

Jeremy Clark (Tim Couch)

Kathy Denkler (Laverne Baker)

Announcements:
1 - Ethics in Business Awards - Monday, May 4th at noon in New World Landing (No regular SubWest meeting on the 7th).

2 - Independence Race - serve lunch to Wounded Warriors on Saturday, May 16th

Woolly - Jay Overman

Raffle - Guest Speaker, Pennye West won chance at $333, 48 cards left

Program - Etta Projects, Pennye West from Port Orchard, Washington

See you nest week...BC.

Ronnie Arnold's Paint Your Heart Out Project 4 18 09

2009-04-21T17:33:00.001-07:00

Ronnie did a fine job organizing this event. I worked alongside Bill Sheffield for a couple of hours and can't remember having a better time. Johnny Fayard earned himself a new nickname "The Professor," while Ted Kirchharr supervised the work on the back of the residence, along with Courtney Peterson, Don Gregory, and Bob Jacobsen. Wes Nicholls was everywhere like a Spiderman, while Lara Snow handled the low work and Claire Kircharr kept Fayard in line as they worked on the trim and lattice. Check out these great photos that Ferd III took in between his own painting efforts!

Ronnie even arranged for us to be seen on WEAR TV3 - great publicity for Rotary, especially SubWest. Way to go, Ronnie!

BC.

Meeting Notes 4 16 09 - Pensacola Children's Chorus

2009-04-21T17:17:00.000-07:00

April 16 2009 was an event-filled meeting! We inducted David Williamson as our newest Rotarian, were educated about the Pensacola Children's Chorus by Allen and Susan Pote, then serenaded by three of thier very talented young artists. Wow! Thanks to Johnny (professor) Fayard for the excellent photos!

Groaner - Roger Nicholson (Gentile Jokes - you had to be there...)
Prayer - Mike Marshall
Pledge - Courtney Peterson
4 Way Test - Tim Couch

Happy Dollars - Bobbye Carroll had the best Happy Dollar, with her toast to the Navy Seals!

Visitors and Guests - Greg Threadgill
Visiting Rotarians:
Dan Livingston - North
Richard Peterson - North
Tom Frizzell - North
Malcolm Thomas - Downtown
Diane Mack - 5 Flags
Guests:
Connie Frizzell (Tom Frizzell)

New Member:
David Williamson

Announcements:
1 - Ronnie Arnold - Paint project April 18th
2 - Wounded Warrior Project, Saturday, May 16th at Mainside NAS Pensacola
3 - Ethics in Business Award - May 4th - New World Landing

B-day checks - Bobbye Carroll and Christine Isham - Lead the Way to eradicate Polio!

Wooly - Bill Sheffield

Raffle - Malcolm Thomas won chance at $316, 49 cards left, but failed to find the Ace of Spades.

Program - Susan and Allen Pote, Pensacola Children's Chorus, 3 great singers!

Meeting Notes 4 9 09 - Carolyn Scott - Azalea Trace

2009-04-21T16:56:00.000-07:00

Folks, another great SubWest meeting! I lost my photos so here is a "cliff-notes" version of the meeting.

Groaner - Don Gregory (about a poodle on a train in WWII)
Prayer - Roger Nicholson
Pledge - Bill Marchi
4 Way Test - Wendy Simon

Visitors and Guests - Jay Overman
Visiting Rotarians:
John Shaffer and Pat Groner
Guests:
Ann Schop (Arnold Babcock)
Corrine Swann (Al Swann)
Richard Jette
Blake Bromlette (Bill Sheffield)
Johanna Freeman (John Shaffer)

Announcements:
1 - Ronnie Arnold - Paint project April 18th
2 - BC - New Rotary Club, Tuesday at 5:30 pm at Lili Marlene's (Seville Quarter)
3 - Wayne Etheridge - Polio Plus Golf Ball sell-a-thon results = $1,850 (74 golf balls sold!) = 16,818 doses of polio vaccine!

B-day checks - Wendy Simon and John Stein - Thanks!!

Wooly - Robert Waddell (great job on very short notice!)

Raffle - Bobbye Carroll won chance at $288, 50 cards left

Program - Carolyn Scott, Lifecare Consultant at Azalea Trace spoke to us about planning ahead for the Golden Years and beyond.

Meeting Notes 4 2 09 - Core Values Winners

2009-04-07T18:35:00.000-07:00

. Wendy Simon did a great job organizing the 2009 Core Values Awards, and Johnny Fayard sent me these excellent photos of our winners, so please enjoy!

April 2 2009

Groaner - Johnny Fayard
Prayer - Paul Parks
Pledge - Rick Lambert
4 Way Test - Reed Eubanks

Visiting Rotarians:
Bill Donald and John Griffing from Downtown Visitors and Guests - Bill Sheffield

Announcements:
1 - Ronnie Arnold - Paint project April 18th
2 - Rick Lambert - District Assembly
3 - Wayne Etheridge - Polio Plus Golf Ball sell-a-thon

B-day checks - Bill Marchi and Leorah Mims - Thank-You!!!

Wooly - Heidi Blair

Raffle - no one won - $272, 51 cards

Program - Wendy Simon 8 core values winners (6 present):
West Florida HS - Austin Anderson
Escambia - April Greer
Northview - Clint Davis
PHS - Steven McCrory
Pine Forest - Jessica Courtney and Kelly McMurray
Washington - Chenequa McVoy
Tate - Ashley Phillips

Keep Don Lehman and Raisa's family in your thoughts and prayers.

BC.

Hallmark Elementary - SubWest T Shirts - Parade!

2009-04-07T18:29:00.000-07:00

Here are some great photos that the peripatetic Johnny Fayard took of the Hallmark FCAT pep rally, parade, and the way-cool Tshirts that SubWest sponsored for them. Kudos to Laura Snow for getting the shirts (can't wait till school gets out and we see you back at the regular meetings, Laura!).

Meeting Notes 3 26 09 - Travelin' Trisha Woodburn International Rotarian

2009-04-01T20:48:00.000-07:00

Today we got to see more photos of Trisha's trips to Peru and Costa Rica. She showed us the poor folks in Peru who have been greatly helped by your generosity and Trisha's hard work to establish the hunger kitchen there. She showed us lots of photos of the well-off Costa Rican Rotarians working side by side with her, Leon, Courtney's dad, and other local Rotarians to distribute the backpacks, school supplies and shoes that we provided for them. I think this was about the best program we've had all year. Please thank Trisha for all she does!

Bill Sheffield told us a groaner, Charlie Hass lead the prayer, Tim Couch lead the Pledge, and Jerold Hall lead the 4 Way Test. Jerold also lead the happy dollars today as he thanked all of the folks who volunterred to make the Scholarship Boat Show a success. The final numbers are not in yet, but I think we raised over $5,000 this year! This will essentially pay for the Scholarship Commitments of the club. Way to go!

Mike Marshall introduced guests; Ben Turpin (Hope Allen), Jim Lightshoe or is it Gene Langston (Mike Woods), and Suki Lambert (Rick). He also introduced four visiting Rotarians; AG Leon Hirsh, Charles Carlan, RP Doyle, and Bobby Fair.

Trish handed out some nice thank-you notes from the Lupus Foundation, Rick Lambert reminded us about the District Conference, and Mike Henderson told us about the Ethics in Business Awards.

Bobby Carroll graciously filled in as the Wooley and did a "fine" job - fining everyone who didn''t help out with the Boat Show! Good Work, Bobbye!

The raffle was restocked at $250 and Bill Sheffield won the drawing, but failed to pick the ace of spades - and he kindly rolled the $10 consolation prize into the pot.

I want to close by asking everyone to pray for Don Lehman for strength in his battle, and for Raisa's family in the loss of her brother. I also want to thank Bob Bothfield for making another $1,000 contribution to the Rotary Foundation - I think this will be his 5th Paul Harris fellow! Thanks for the great example you set, Bob - we are proud of you and grateful for your leadership.

See you soon! BC.

More Boat Show Pics from Roger Nicholson

2009-03-25T18:32:00.000-07:00

Roger shot these great photos on Saturday. Check out your favorite SubWest characters! Thanks, Roger (you are a talented photographer!). BC.

Meeting Notes 3 19 09 - Dr. Melissa Neal - Haas Center for Business Reasearch in Ft. Walton Beach

2009-03-22T19:28:00.000-07:00

Big Ferd lead us off with the Groaner, Mike Marshall lead the Prayer, Kirk Ball lead the Pledge and Wendy Simon lead the 4 Way Test. Bobbye Carroll had the best Happy Dollar as she described the soundtrack of her life, listening to AAron Copeland's Rodeo while driving her convertible Mustang with the top down on a beautiful Spring day!

Bill Sheffield introduced our 3 visiting Rotarians; Larry Graefen from St. Joe Michigan, Dan Livingston from P'cola North, and Dick Honish from Perdido Key. He also introduced our 4 guests; Dick Hahner (Mike Woods), Melissa Chapman and Kelly Comerford (Jerold Hall), and David Williamson (Mark Smith).

Jerold Hall gave us a good run-down on all the details of the boat show, then Al Swann came up to do a good old-fashioned "grumpy" Wooley, liberally fining folks for their abundant notariety!

Then we did the raffle. John Brick had the winning ticket and there were only 11 cards left for the $781 pot. I casually shuffled the deck as I walked towards John's table. John casually reached right into the middle of the fanned-out deck and pulled the Ace of Spades! Way to go John, it couldn't go to a nicer guy! Perhaps this event signalled some overall good Karma for the boat show this weekend.

Scan down and you will see pictures of the boat show - the weather was perfect, the turnout was good, Jerold Hall arranged excellent publicity in both the Pensacola News Journal and a live TV spot for me on WEAR TV 3 on Friday morning! Way to go Jerold!

Early reports show that the Captain's Party and Boat Show were a financial success. As soon as we have the final figures from John Stein, I'll let you know.

We still have more fun events to help our community:

April 18 - Ronnie Arnold will lead a Paint a House project

May 16th - we will serve lunch to wounded warriors and their caregivers. Mark your calendars for these events.

Meeting Notes 3 12 09 - AG Leon Hirsh, Belize Project Fair

2009-03-22T19:20:00.000-07:00

I'm way behind due to Boat Show mania, so here is a brief update:

We had our part-time SubWest member and full time AG Leon Hirsh show us a bunch of colorful slides about the Belize Rotary project fair. It was very compelling and easy to see why our Rotary district 6940 can help with international projects so close to home.

Ronnie Arnold introduced Senna Maddison, guest of Bill Sheffield, as well as out 3 visiting Rotarians, Dan Livingston from Pensacola North, Bobby Kahn from Downtown and AG Leon. Bobby Kahn also won the drawing, but not the pot (see next weeks notes!).

John Stein told us a groaner, Bill Spain lead a very thorough prayer, Tim "Billboard" Couch lead us in the Pledge and Mike Marshall lead the 4 Way Test.

The irrepressible Huntley was our Woolly, and a fine job he did raising money for the Rotary Foundation.

Thanks!

Boat Show Pictures - Cordova Mall 3-22-09

2009-03-22T19:10:00.000-07:00

Here are some great action shots of this years' show. Captain "Buck" Hall did a fantastic job organizing this event. A big thank you to him, Jay Overman, Alecia Overman, Kevin Ryan, Ronnie Arnold, Craig Smith, Bobbye Caroll and all the rest who helped make the Captain's Party and Boat Show such a rousing success. It was great to have our Interact club, lead by Ms. Ponder, come out to cook and serve hot dogs.

I'll add more pics and names to thank soon!

Thanks also to our corporate sponsors, Vince Whibbs Caddy-GMC (our very own Jack Brown) and PenAir Federal Credit Union. Please thank them with your business!

Boat Show Billboard - Thanks, Tim!!

2009-03-12T21:43:00.000-07:00

Check this out, Tim (Grandpa) Couch has done it again! Our billboard is visible as you head north on I-110 north of Cervantes. Nice Work!

Gulf Power - After the Storm Meeting notes 3 5 09

2009-03-06T16:55:00.000-08:00

Hello to all our new members (Mark, Charlie, Jim we missed you his week)! Harry and Fritz I hope you get my email with your new email addresses.

We kicked off today's meeting with Ted Kirchharr giving us information about the Ethics in Business Award. Please turn in your nominations to Mike Henderson, who is our Ethics Chair this year. Mike will work with you on submitting the final application.

Bill Sheffield told a true groaner, Mike Marshall lead the Rotary Prayer, Johnny Fayard lead the Pledge and Ted K lead the 4 Way Test. Justin Beck introduced guests; his dad and Steve Wilmer (guest of Johnny Fayard), and visiting Rotarians, Charlie Cook and Jeff Lewis.

The committee chairs are very busy and we heard from Ronnie Arnold with a Paint Your Heart Out project he has lined up for April, Kevin Ryan about the Boat Show, Johnny Fayard showed off the FCAT T-shirts for Hallmark Elementary, Heidi Blair told us about the dinner event, and Trisha Woodburn had thank you cards for those who have supported the Lupus Foundation.

Mac Parker was our Wooley today and fined a few people for being late, but let a few off the hook if their story was good enough. Huntley (we missed you too) would have really enjoyed it. Nice Job, Mac! Brett Parra won the raffle but failed to pick the Ace of Spades, so he didn't win the $702 pot and generously rolled in his $10 consolation prize. There are only 12 cards left in the deck now, so I expect the pot to really balloon in the next few weeks.

Connie Happney and Brad Butler from Gulf Power had a really interesting program on what they do to prepare for a hurricane, and how the work in the recovery and rebuilding phase. Good program!

Here's a snapshot of upcoming events and projects for the club:

March - Boat Show at Cordova Mall - March 20-22 (Jerold Hall)

April - Paint Your Heart Out - tentative date Sat. April 18th (Ronnie Arnold), Ethics Award due April 3 (Mike Henderson).

May - Independence Weekend (Wounded Warrior) Bike Race - May 15-17 serve a meal to 250 to 300 wounded veterans and their caregivers. Still working on the details for this one. Will use BBQ grill if possible.

Board Members - remember 3/11/09 at Rick Lambert's office at noon. Bring your own lunch.

See you soon!

Yours in Rotary Service,
Bill C.

Boat Show Info!!

2009-03-01T19:56:00.000-08:00

From your Boat Show Captain, Jerold "Buck" Hall:

We are in need of auction items for the Captain's Party & Silent Auction. It will be held 3/19 at 600 South Martini & Wine Bar, which is located at New World Inn/New World Landing. 600 has graciously agreed to host us and even gave us a room at the Inn to bundle with our Roy Jones tix for a raffle package. Thank them if you go by.

The show is 3/21 and Pen Air and Vince Whibbs are again sponsoring the show...thank them and patronize them as well. If you know of a boating/outdoor related business that might like to display at the show, come one--come all. Have them call me.

Here's the official Press Release:

Immediate Release

Contact: Jerold Hall
Telephone: 850-261-7639
Email: buckhall@cox.net
http://www.subwestrotary.com/

NEW AND USED BOAT SHOW to Fund Local Scholarships
Suburban West Rotary Club 8TH Annual New and Used Boat Show

Pensacola, FL – March 3, 2009

The Suburban West Rotary Club will host its 8th annual Scholarship Boat Show at Cordova Mall, March 21st and 22nd from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. each day. All proceeds will benefit Take Stock in Children Scholarships, PJC Student Scholarships and other Subwest Scholarship Programs. This is the only boat show along the Gulf Coast that allows both new and used boats to be showcased in a professional boat show environment.

For just $50 you can bring your boat to be shown to thousands of visitors at Cordova Mall. Admission is free to the public and we’ll have food, drinks, kayak demonstrations and more. Complete details available at http://www.subwestrotary.com/. Subwest Rotary’s 8th Annual Scholarship Boat Show, brought to you by Pen Air Federal Credit Union

For further information, please call Jerold Hall at 850-261-7639

Meeting Notes 2 26 09 - Harold Fourkis - Vetersn Upward Bound at PJC

2009-03-01T19:31:00.000-08:00

Big Ferd lead us off with a pretty funny groaner, Bill Sheffield lead us in the Rotary Prayer, Kevin Ryan lead the Pledge and Greg Threadgill lead the Four Way Test.

I gave a happy dollar since we were inducting another new member, and Ted K gave on because he enjoyed sitting next to Bill Sheffield and was impressed that he knew the Rotary Prayer! There were a few others but I can't remember the stories right now!

John Stein the joined me at the podium to pin the Rotary Pin on our newest Rotarian, Dr. Jim Yenzer. Jim was a prior member of another club but has not been active in Rotary for several years. We are honored that he chose SubWest to re-activate his Rotary fellowship. I think that is really a great tribute to all of you who make each meeting so much fun!

Mac Parker did a nice job of introducing our one guest - David Williamson, and our 3 visiting Rotarians; Dan Livingston (North), Dr. Ed Siegel (Del Mar, CA), Councilwoman Diane Mack (5 Flags). Glad you all joined us, please come back!

Jerold Hall gave us an update on the boat show which is just weeks away - March 20-22 at Cordova Mall - look for a separate post on this one. Mike Marshall gave a great and very funny plug for the Club Fellowship Committee's upcoming "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" event.

Ronnie Arnold was our Woolly Booger today and he fleeced us good by telling a joke, those who laughed paid a dollar, those who didn't paid $2 and those from the University of TN were charged $3.

We are down to only 14 cards left, and the pot is up to $673 now. Tom Johnson won the drawing, but did not pull the Ace of Spades, and donated his $10 consolation prize back to the pot. Look for a pot over $700 this week!

Harold Fourkis is a retired Navy officer who heads up the Veterans Upward bound program at PJC. It is the only such program in all of Florida, and we should be proud that we have it here, as it's purpose is to help veterans transition from military life to college life so they can take advantage of education benefits and have the best future possible. A great program.

Special thanks to Gil Bennett for his EREY Birthday check. Thanks to everyone who has given. Please make sure to get your contribution in, so we can satisfy our obligation to the Rotary Foundation.

Reminder: The Rotary Ethics in Business Award will be given May 4, 2009 at New World Landing. Nominations are due by April 3. This year will feature a small business leader category (as well as a large business leader). Please contact me if you need more information.

See you next Thursday!

Mardi Gras Meeting - notes 2 19 09

2009-02-25T17:15:00.000-08:00

We stared off today's Mardi Gras themed meeting with Justin Beck leading the first half of the Groaner. Interestingly, Roger Nicholson piped up with the punch line (something about a deposit on a BMW), so he gets partial credit for the Groaner as well. Nice job, guys!

Paul Parks then lead us in the prayer. Reed Eubanks lead the Pledge and George Harley lead us in the 4 Way test.

A very significant set of Happy Dollars came from Bob Spilman - who was celebrating his 90th Birthday. He gave the club a Happy Dollar for that and $100 to the Rotary Foundation for his "Every Rotarian Every Year" contribution. Lead the way Bob, Happy Birthday!

Next we had a short announcement from a student at UWF (Sarah Dennis) who let us know about a new intern program offered through the accounting fraternity, Beta Alpha Psi. Go to www.uwf.edu/bap/intern for more information.

Heidi Blair introduced our 2 visiting Rotarians; Dan Livingston from Pensacola North and Beverly Livingston from Gulf Breeze. She also introduced our 3 guests; Bud Garrett (guest of Wayne Etheridge - cool story, high school buddies reunited), Corrine (Al Swan's new blushing bride), and David Williamson (guest of Mark Smith).

Skip Dennis (no relation to Sarah) was our Woolly today. He fleeced us all with some questions about the history of Mardi Gras, and we learned a little bit about Ferd's great-grandfather who was the first ever "Rex" king of Mardi Gras in new Orleans. Yes I asked, and yes, he had a beard. No, I can't remember the dude's name.

Justin Beck won the raffle, which is getting interesting with only 15 cards left and $643 in the pot. He didn't pick the ace of spades, however and generously donated his $10 consolation prize back to the pot.

Huntley told us some sobering news about his recent trip to Aruba, and Al Swan lifted us up with a second Groaner. Thanks to both of you!

Since the King and Queen of Spain required the services of our regularly scheduled program, Sandi Starr was our guest speaker today - wearing some bling-tastic Mardi Gras beads, and filling us in on the event history in Pensacola. Following the earlier trend with the Groaner, Roger Nicholson stepped up and added some historic details to Sandi's story.

Most significant, we inducted 2 new members today! Win Boyles, sponsored by Bill Spain and Charlie Stokes, sponsored by Bill Cleary, both became the newest Rotarians in the world. Please make these 2 new members very welcome and get to know them. They are good folks and anxious to participate in club projects. Please come this week as we have at least one more new member to induct and we will hear a little bit more about this year's Boat Show!

2-12-09 Meeting Notes - Leigh Broxton - Hands on NWFL

2009-02-12T13:05:00.001-08:00

Greetings All! We had a great meeting today, as we inducted Mark Smith (lower photo) as the newest Rotarian in the world! Mark is the manager of the WalMart on Mobile Highway and we are glad to have him with us!

Leigh Broxton (top photo, posing with our Ronnie Arnold) was our guest speaker. She told us all about the volunteer opportunities she coordinates, most notably the wheelchair ramp construction projects. May be a possibility for us in the future.

Tom Johnson lead us off with a Groaner, then Wayne Etheridge lead the prayer, Jay Overman said the Pledge, and Johnny Fayard lead the 4 Way Test. We had lots of notable happy dollars today, but Al Swann announcing his recent marriage definitely topped the list! Charlie Haas had several concurrent anniversaries to celebrate and Brett Parra had an apology happy dollar relating to his bragging about LSU's recruiting class. First time I remember on of those!

Greg Threadgill introduced our 4 visiting Rotarians; Vince Currie, Leon Hirsh, Rex. McKinney and Leigh Broxton. And our 3 guests; Win Boyles, guest of Bill Spain, Terry Gribble, guest of Jay Overman and my guest Dave Williamson. We hope to see all of you back soon!

Bill Sheffield had a special President's Day Woolly , "liberally" fining everyone - for the good of the foundation! Bobby Carroll won the drawing for a chance at the $616 pot. With only 16 cards remaining, the odds are getting pretty good, but alas, she didn't draw the Ace of Spades, and rolled the $10 consolation prize back into the pot.

Ted Kirchharr gave us a reminder about the Ethics in Business award (May 9th at New World Landing). If you have someone in mind to nominate, please let me know and I'll give you the scoop. Remember, this year we will be able to nominate a small business and large business candidate. Ted also contributed his EREY birthday check, Thanks TED!

Trisha just returned from her Costa Rica trip, and gave us a quick update - can't wait to see the photos of the 300 school kids she gave the SubWest Rotary backpacks to!

Heidi told us about the Fellowship Committee's "Guess who's coming to dinner event." If you are interested in hosting a guest in your home from Milan, Italy let me know - there is a rotary Group Study Exchange coming to Pensacola, from April 4 to May 1, 2009.

See you Thursday! BC.

Meeting Notes 2 5 09 - Bill Cadwallader - RI Programs for Healthy Families

2009-02-08T17:44:00.000-08:00

Today's program featured Dr. Bill Cadwallader, a veterinarian by trade, who has dedicated himself to RI's programs helping 3rd world mothers and families. He talked about all the ways that RI is helping to reduce infant mortality, from giving moms folic acid, to helping ensure clean water supplies, to educating men and women about better health practices. It was a sobering discussion, highlighting some topics that are quite frightening when you stop to consider the millions of people who are affected by these problems. It is nice to be part of an organization which is making a difference in the world. Bill was joined by his wife, Jean and they are both pictured with RI President DK Lee and his wife, Young, on this month's edition of Fragile Earth. My camera phone picture of Bill isn't very good, hopefully Johnny Fayard has a better one I can use!

Of course, we managed to have a good bit of SubWest fun, with Bill Sheffield leading off with a groaner about a lady who thought Saturday was Sunday (you had to be there). Huntley lead us with a memorable prayer (made me want to toast to old Ireland), Jay Overman lead us in the Pledge and Bob Stone lead the 4 Way Test.

Today's happy dollars focused on the football National Signing Day, and Andy Hinton bragged that Alabama did best, Bret Parra countered that LSU was on top, Ronnie Arnold stood up for his beloved Gators, and Bill Sheffield was heard remarking about UT. Brett then introduced our visitors and guests.

Bobbye Carroll was our Wolley today and she did a fine job. She started off talking about a computer games she uses to stay mentally sharp. The game includes a piano player and one of the melodies seems to annoy her. Consequently, she made the Wolley into a signing contest over which table could come up with the best song to clear her mind of the other one. Some of you had really good songs, some were kind of lame (if you heard my doo-wop song you know what I mean). Bill Sheffield was the winner with his rendition of 99 bottles of beer on the wall, so his table only paid a dollar each. The rest of us were fined $2. Nice job, Bobbye!

Jay Overman had the winning ticket today, but did not pull th Ace of Spades. He graciously rolled the $10 consolation prize into the pot, which was at $596 with only 17 cards remaining!

Jack Brown and I gave our Birthday Checks to support the RI Foundation. During the Happy Dollars, Jack reported that Vince Whibbs Cadillac/GMC was the top seller in their zone! Way to go, Jack!

Next Week we will be inducting 2 new members. Please be sure to attend, it should be a great meeting. Please invite those folks you think are interested in joining. We are entering a vibrant time for our club, the boat show is our most visible example of the SubWest Spirit and it would be great to have some new folks see what we are all about!

See you Thursday! BC.

Meeting Notes 1 29 09 - Dr. Sue Hill and Julius Daniel - PJC

2009-02-02T19:00:00.000-08:00

Our own Patrice Whitten (right) introduced todays program on "Who is a PJC Student?"

The program today featured PJC's Assistant Provost, Sue Hill (below left) and a student who is attending PJC because of the scholarships you help provide! I think it was especially timely since we are getting ready for the Boat Show. In fact, you may remember that last year, Immediate Past President Buck Hall re-branded our "Used Boat Show" into the "Rotary Scholarship Boat Show." Julius (below right) was here to thank you all for your generosity and support. He is 52 years old, and is training to be a nurse. He said he could not have done this without your help.

The PJC scholarships are just one of the types you have helped made happen. I just got a thank-you letter from The Foundation for Excellence in Education, letting us know how the grade school student we have helped with the Take Stock in Children scholarships are doing. In 2006 we sponsored a young man named Kahill, who was just promoted to the 8th grade and is succeeding in middle school now. The 2007 recipient is a young lady named LeeAnn, and she is also succeeding in middle school. We made this years contribution early so it could be matched through other foundations, and we will be sponsoring a young man named Michael. Guess who his mentor is? None other than Ferd Salomon! Sally Lee, Program Coordinator closed her letter by thanking you for helping to change lives. Please give yourselves a pat on the back!

Jerold "Buck" Hall is in charge of the Boat Show this year, and has arranged to have it at Cordova Mall, between Village Inn and Red Lobster. I know it will be awesome - please be ready to lend him a hand making this one of the best shows ever!

Here's the short version of meeting details:

Groaner - Skip Dennis

Prayer - Don Gregory

Pledge - Jerold Hall

4 Way Test - Mike Woods

Visitors and Guests - introduced by John Boivin - 3 guests; Dr. Jim Yenzer (my guest), Ryan Hatler (guest of Jay Bradshaw), Ervin Byrd (guest of Regina Baniakas). Hope you enjoyed yourselves - please come back!

Don Gregory gave us an update on a fellow Rotarian that needs your prayers and support.

Bill Sheffield - was our Woolly today but got Ronnie Arnold to come up and tell us tall tales about chaperoning school field trips - good stuff Ronnie!
Jay Overman won the drawing, but with only 18 cards left was not lucky enough to win the $573 in the pot! Tell your friends at other clubs to come for a make-up - the pot is getting serious now!

Card Night - Thursday Night - The Club Fellowship Committee did another excellent job. Molly and I went for Card night and thoroughly enjoyed the food, fun and fellowship! We were busy making cards with all of Alecia's cool machines and tools, and the river-boat gamblers were busy in the adjacent room. It was down to 4 players when we left; Buck (sly one ) Hall, Johnny (I'll call your bluff) Fayard, Craig (go Vandy) Smith, and another intrepid player whose name escapes me right now (was it John Blair?). The game sorted itself out pretty quickly, and Buck Hall rode home victorious. Thanks to Heidi and her team -especially The Overmans and the Fayards for making this event so much fun! Hopefully we can get some photos of the event...

See you Thursday at lunch time - we may be inducting 2 new members!

BC.

Meeting Notes 1 22 08 - Cdr. Mark Gough - Living in Saudi Arabia

2009-01-25T19:21:00.000-08:00

Today's program was one of the most interesting and thought provoking we have seen. Cdr. Mark Gough is a Navy Officer, who was assigned to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to head up a training detachment. He told us a little bit about the role of the Navy in helping to train the Royal Saudi Naval Forces. He told us a lot more about Saudi culture, and how there is a huge number of young Saudis growing up right now, with less respect for western culture and more enthusiasm for fundamental Saudi culture. Many of their parents we in the generation which was allowed to study in the US. The parent generation views us in a more favorable light.

Due to a restriction in visas and exchange student programs, more and more Saudis have sought higher education in Europe, Beirut, Jordan or other countries. I hope you were there Thursday for Mark's talk. If you missed it, you really missed a good one - just ask the 20 or so folks that had questions for Mark as he finished up! The good news is that organizations like Rotary have sponsored international exchange groups, and at least we are contributing to a more peaceful dialogue.

Since I've gone on with my editorial about the program, let me just give you the rest of the meeting notes in condensed format.

Groaner - Roger Nicholson - a bunch of good one-liners!
Prayer - Kevin Ryan - nicely done!
Pledge - Don Gregory - great to have you back, Don! Our hearts are with you.
4 Way Test - Bobbye Carroll - Thanks, Bobbye!

Happy Dollars - Lots of them today, the most Notable was Jerold Hall with 3 Happy Dollars for the SubWest Scholarship Boat Show which will be held at CORDOVA MALL this year!! More details soon.

Birthday Dollars - Huntley Johnson and Tim Couch both came through with there EREY contributions to help stamp out polio. Way to go guys!

Visitors and Guests were introduced by Courtney Peterson. Charlie Haas had Jennifer Chism as his guest, and Al Swan had his Fiance as his guest! We had 4 visiting Rotarians; Judge Terry Terell, Vince Currie, Dan Livingston, and Leon Hirsh.

Woolly - Skip Dennis fleeced us again with a question about the recent historic inauguration of President Obama. Skip says someone else will be the Woolly next time, wonder who???

Raffle - Only 19 cards remaining, and $553 in the pot! Betty Wasson won the drawing, but did not pull the lucky card. Thanks for rolling your $10 consolation prize into the pot for next time!

Contributions - The club had a chance to get double credit (take pressure off for next year), by making its $5,000 Take Stock in Children contribution early. Our own Laverne Baker is instrumental in this effort, and she and Dick made an additional contribution to make this happen! Many Thanks for your leadership and generosity, Laverne and Dick Baker!

Membership - The board had a stand-up meeting after the regular meeting, and approved Mark Smith and Charlie Stokes. We hope to welcome them into the club next week!

Reminders - RSVP by Monday, January 26th with Alecia Overman if you want to go to card night. Sounds like a very good time, I hope to see you there!

Meeting Notes 1/14/09 - Dr. Jill Stein - NROTC

2009-01-21T17:43:00.000-08:00

Today's meeting was a wonderful reunion of some members who have been away for holidays or other, more sobering reasons. We were glad to see all of you again! The meeting got started with Bill Sheffield helping to define the meaning of the word Groaner (I can't remember the joke - but it has something to do with a piano concert and it sure did bring the groans). Greg Threadgill then added dignity to the meeting with a beautiful opening prayer, Jay Overman lead us in the Pledge to our Flag, and Rick Lambert lead us in the 4 Way Test.

Greg then gave a few happy dollars to commemorate the sale of his company, his alleged "retirement" and the birth of his baby girl, Emma Greer! There were lots of other good Happy Dollar stories, but I don't think any of them matched Greg's trifecta. Johnny "sure I'll help out the Sgts. at Arms" Fayard then came up to introduce our visitors and guests. We had three visiting Rotarians, Richard Peterson from Pensacola North, and RP Doyle and Jeff Lewis from the Downtown club. We had four fine guests today, Pastor Joe McNulty - guest of John and Jill Stein, and 3 others who are my guests; Mark Smith, David Williamson, and Charlie Stokes - who are all managers of local Wal-Mart stores. They know Tracy Dickerson and are interested in getting involved in the same manner that Tracy did. You may remember that Tracy was New Rotarian of the year for SubWest last year, so we welcome their participation!

Skip Dennis was our Woolley Booger today, and wasted no time fleecing the group for the benefit of the Rotary Foundation. I think he busted us for our New Year's Resolutions. Thanks, Skip...

The raffle is getting pretty significant these days, with the pot approaching $600. Wendy Simon had the correct red ticket (again!), but did not pull the Ace of Spades. She generously rolled her $10 consolation prize back into the pot. Thanks, Wendy.

This week's program was Dr. Jill Stein, who is in charge of all the Navy ROTC programs on college campus' in the US. Jill had some very interesting information about the changing political acceptance of ROTC programs in general, and reflections about the unique nature of the future officers of our Navy. Jill is a Rotary Paul Harris Fellow, and she let us know that she represents Rotary to others when she travels on NROTC business. Made me stop and reflect - do I wear my Rotary pin and tell others about Rotary?

Next week's program is a highlight of our Military Month special. We will hear first hand accounts of combat on the ground in Iraq. I appreciate John Stein's hard work at setting up interesting and diverse programs for us this year. We have neglected our military brothers and sisters in recent years, and with two wars going on right now, this is a very timely topic. John has gone the extra mile to book some Rotary specific programs and SubWest specific programs in the near future. Here is a partial list of what we have to look forward to:

05 Feb - Bill Cadwallader -- Infant Mortality and Maternal Health - This is a medical doctor who is going around the country, giving these lectures on behalf of RI. He is addressing the very topic that RI President DK Lee is focused on this year. I am really looking forward to hearing what he has to say.
19 Feb - Mardis Gras Party
28 Feb - Harold Furkois - Veterans Upward Bound
05 Mar - Gulf Power a "After the Storm"
02 Apr - Core Values Awards
07 May - no meeting - CROP Ethics in Business Awards
28 May - Laura Hill - Festival of Five Flags
25 Jun - Change of Command
See you at SubWest!

Meeting Notes 1 8 09 - Hospital Ship Mercy

2009-01-08T16:42:00.000-08:00

Hi All!

Welcome back from our 3 week hiatus since the Christmas Party. John Boivin got us going today with a Groaner about a Marine and some of his friends on an airplane, then Moses Atwood brought dignity to the meeting with a beautiful prayer for the New Year, our New President-Elect, and all Rotarians. Bill Sheffield then lead us in the Pledge to our Flag, and Jay Overman lead the 4-Way Test. Thanks, guys!

I started off the Happy Dollars with a celebration of the New Year, but Laura Snow topped me with 5 happy dollars at her relief that we won't have poker games at the dog track. There were several other happy dollars, including a set of 5 from Huntley, who made us all laugh as only he can do!

As Laverne Baker came up to introduce our visitors and guest, I thanked everyone for their cards and emails and for attending Bill Henderson's funeral. It was a great SubWest turnout (Ted, Jerold, Ferd, Tom J., Bob Stone, Fritz, Bill Spain, Mike and Sam Marshall, and probably some others I've forgotten - just email me and I'll add you in). The Air Force Color Guard did a beautiful job as did the preacher. I'll do a separate blog entry on Bill with some of the photos we used in the Celebration of Life brochure we passed out at the service.

Laverne introduced our 2 visiting Rotarians; Tom Vaughn form Gulf Breeze and Jerry Black for Spruce Pine, NC and Courtney Peterson's guest; Scott Harding.

Charlie Peppler then gave us an update on Guiliana and the International Project that Trisha and he are leading the way on. They need about 100 pounds of school supplies to add to the backpacks she is soon taking to Costa Rica. Contact Trisha directly to get you contribution to her. She's also like toothpaste and brushes and I think some of our SubWest dentists have been asked to contribute.

We got the official word today that the District Simplified Grant for this project has been approved, for $2,100! As a result of the grant application process, we will also receive $1,380 in SubWest District Designated Funds (DDF) PLUS 3 other clubs are giving us some of their DDF money! The other clubs are; Panama City Beach with $1,000 (wow, thanks!), Pace Rotary $620 (thanks Ed Carson if you see him!), and Tri-Cities Rotary with $200 (much appreciated!). We really owe Christine Isham a lot of thanks from both a club and district perspective. She made the whole thing happen for the district, and a a result, many people will receive much more help through Rotary projects than anticipated this year. Good Job, Christine!

Skip Dennis then did the Wolley and basically found a way to collect from all of us. Good job - Skip! Fast and efficient!

Bob Stone won the drawing and with only 21 cards remaining, had a chance at the $510 in the pot, but pulled the 10 of clubs and generously contributed his $10 consolation prize back to the foundation.

John Stein then introduced our guest speaker, Lt. David Deikus (sp?) who told us about his experiences offering medical missions of Mercy aboard the hospital ship. He had photos of the countries he visited and some of the folks they helped along the way. A wonderful mission and nice first-hand description of what life is like on one of these deployments.

John, thanks for another great program! I can't wait to see you all again next week...BC.

Christmas Party 12 18 08

2008-12-21T19:56:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone!

What a great party. I wish I had taken a photo from the stage, you all looked so great! What an awesome time of fellowship and fun. Thanks so much to Heidi Blair and the Fellowship Committee for their hard work in putting the event together. I especially enjoyed Santa and his helpers doing the ornament exchange. Molly and I are very grateful for the beautiful Pensacola Pelican ornament from our mystery exchange person and the custom ornament(French Tri-Color) from Guiliana.

Here is a photo of our very own PDG Wayne Etheridge reading "T' was the night before Christmas" to all of us. Wayne was assisted by Nelda, but I was to slow to get a photo of both of them.

Please email me any pics you have of the party and I'll add them here.

See you in January!

Bill C.

Meeting Notes 12 11 08 - Pensacola Little Theatre

2008-12-12T18:47:00.000-08:00

The Holiday Spirit is truly building within the club, and it was great to be with all of you this week! One of the special things about our club is the ability to share our joys and sorrows. As I started the meeting, I noted we had both joyful news with the T'gills new baby girl, Emma Greer. Congratulations to Greg and Celeste! We also had some sad news today as we learned of the recent passing of Don Gregory's son. Don, we are all thinking and praying for you and your family.

We had "Bid Ferd" come up and give us a groaner, a funny story about an armed senior citizen and her dangerous senior moment. Nicely done, Ferd. Reed Eubanks lead us in the Rotary Prayer, Patrice Whitten lead the Pledge to the Flag, and Ed Ellis lead us in the Four Way Test. We only had a few happy dollars, notably from Andy (Dick Cheney) Hinton, who - despite the Crimson Tide's loss to the Gators, still had a happy dollar. Charlie Hass had some interesting happy dollars about his son (Andy) new movie production and recent travels.

We then voted on our slate of officers for Rotary year 2009 - 2010, which will begin in July of 2009. Congratulations to all of your new officers:

President: Rick Lambert
President Elect: John Stein
Vice President: Ferd Salomon III
Secretary: Raisa Overstreet
Treasurer: Regina Baniakas
Sergeants at Arms : Johnny Fayard and Hope Allen
Jack Brown introduced our visitors and guests, we had 2 visiting Rotarians - Dan Livingston and John Clark, both from the Downtown Club. Bill Hooper brought a guest, David Hughes. Thanks for your visits!
Lots of Announcements today - the most timely is the Christmas Party at New World Landing next Thursday night (6 to 1030 pm). looking forward to seeing Santa there and the ornament exchange! We had two major community support goals achieved and a generous tip today;

1) Boys and Girls Club – Heidi Blair on board, working with Hattie Grace – talked to our Board about doing a special Christmas gift for the kids (vs Essay Contest). Trisha Woodburn came up with the great idea so we will be giving all 80 kids a $10 McDonald’s Gift Card! Jay Overman and Ronnie Arnold will be making that happen this week. Thanks to all of you for providing a meaningful Christmas treat for these kids!!

2) Lakeview Foster Families - You donated a total of $864 to help needy families at Christmas! Pat yourselves on the back, and thanks to Ronnie Arnold for collecting the funds for Lakeview!

3) We gave Rachel and Memory - our faithful wait staff at the PYC a nice $200 tip, and hearty round of applause for their hospitality!

We can only be good for so long, so Huntley came up to the mike and acted as our Woolley. Huntley was ruthless in his fining, but somehow we didn't collect al the fines that were levied! We'll have to get you next time...

The pot for the drawing is now up to $483, with 22 cards left. Bob Bothfeld won the raffle, but didn't pull the Ace of Spades, so he rolled the $10 consolation prize back into the pot. Thanks, Bob!

John Stein then introduced our guest speakers today, from Pensacola Little Theatre. Jerry Ahillen told us all about their programs for the year, then Yasmine Cobbett sang the country song "D-I-V-O-R-C-E" live and in person!

See y'all at the Christmas Party next week!

Meeting Notes 12 4 08 - Four Way Test Essay Contest

2008-12-06T19:59:00.000-08:00

We owe a sincere debt of gratitude to "Big Ferd" for founding the Four Way Test Essay Contest. Our meeting this week was highlighted by four high school students reading us their winning essays. If you were there, you know I am not exaggerating when I say they were inspirational. It was truly an honor to preside over this meeting, with all of the students, parents, teachers and administrators joining a great group of SubWest Rotarians to honor our "is it, is it, will it, will it" test. Magnificent job well done by Wendy Simon and her group of volunteers who organized our event this year!

Ronnie Arnold got us going with a true groaner about a preacher who looked like Conway Twitty and moved to Brewton, Al. Pretty funny! Wayne Etheridge lead our prayer, Dr, Michael Roberts (principal of Washington High School) lead the Pledge, and Ed Ellis lead the 4 Way Test.

The happy dollars were really flowing, started off by the 3 that Heidi Blair asked me to list in her absence, we even had some "War Eagle" folks celebrating the departure of their football coach, while the Gators and Roll Tiders were equally jubilant.

Justin Beck introduced our 2 guests - Tania Canfield (his guest) and Lynne Dennis (Skip's guest) and our 7 visiting Rotarians; Janette Chadleigh (and he husband Tom) form Duncan, BC Caanada, Sauanne Kahn, Leon Hirsh, and Joseph Stanberry form 5 Flags, Tony Datillo form LaGrange, GA, Dan Livingston from Pensacola North and Roger Enzor from Downtown.

Skip Dennis did the Woolly today with a musical quiz to finish the words of popular Christmas songs - some of you have pretty good voices! Tom Johnson won the raffle for a chance at the $465 dollar pot, but didn't find the Ace of Spades on the 23 cards remaining and then generously donated his $10 consolation prize back to the Foundation. Thanks, Tom!

Wendy Simon then came up to introduce all 4 of the finalists in the essay contest. We got over 43 essays this year, and the winners were fantastic. We'll get all their names and photos posted soon, but my aging memory is good enough to let you know that the grand prize winner was Ms. Shelby Carson, daughter of Ed Carson (coincidentally president of the Pace Rotary Club this year). Shelby attends Washington High School, and her essay sounded more like something a college student would write! Well Done - we are proud of all the winners!

Speaking of proud, I am very pleased to let you know that SubWest donated almost $2,500 to the Manna Food Pantry this year. That is the combined total of your individual gifts plus the $1,000 match from the SubWest Foundation. Talk about the power of Rotary - wow!

We will vote on our slate of officers for 2009- 2010 at next weeks meeting, so please attend1 Remember the Christmas Party is 2 weeks from now, Thursday night 12/18/08 at 6 pm at New World Landing - sounds like a great time - I think Santa has agreed to visit us and help with the Ornament Exchange! Until then, I'll see you next week at the Yacht Club for our regular meeting. Can't wait!!

Meeting Notes 11 20 08 - Nancy Fetterman - Maritime Museum

2008-11-23T17:11:00.000-08:00

Big thanks to PE Rick Lambert for running the meeting or me today. Many of you know that my mother in law passed away on 11/19/08 and I have been helping my wife and father in law with the arrangements. I did make it in time to circulate a sympathy card for many of you to sign and I gave it to Bill Henderson that night. He was very touched by your comments and smiled as he read the names off the card. Thanks so much for doing this for him.

Rick gave me his notes, so I'll do my best to update things here. Please fill in if I left anything out. Ronnie Arnold lead things off with a groaner (wonder if it was about SEC football?), then Wayne Etheridge said the prayer, Jay Overman lead the Pledge, Johnny Fayard took time form his photo work and wind feather duties to lead the 4 Way Test.

Looks like y'all had some happy dollars, but I don't have the details. We did get some nice thank you notes - one from Sharee Cagle and her staff at Hallmark elementary thanking us for providing the lunch from Sonny's for their recent teacher planning day. The second note was from Laura Ponder, the leader of our Interact club at West Florida High School of Advanced Technology. Laura thanks the club for providing sponsorship funds for a pizza party to kick-off their year. I'm sure they will be getting some T-Shirts with our funds, and I hope to see them join us at the boat show of some other club events.

I see that Jay Bradshaw made an announcement about the Manna Food Pantry effort (as I type this on Sunday night I had just seen Jay and his folks parking the big Mayflower moving truck at Cordova mall for his part in this effort - good job Jay!). Thanks to Don Gregory for telling the club about Inez Henderson passing away. Don has been such a good friend over the years - he helped me get my family into a B-17 at Pensacola Airport so Bill Henderson could show his granddaughters the plane he flew in WWII.

Heidi Blair made an announcement about the club Christmas Party which will be held at New World Landing on December 18, 2008 at 6pm for social time and 630 pm for dinner. The cost is complimentary for Sub West Rotarians, and $25 for each guest. A cash bar will be available and the club requests Cocktail Attire.

Not sure who won the drawing, but the pot must be safe and over $350 by now!

I arrived in time to hear most of Nancy Fetterman's excellent presentation about the proposed museum (named after Admiral Fetterman) to be constructed at the Maritime Park here in Pensacola. The slide show captured the innovative nautical design and Nancy filled us in on some of the key interior elements, like a giant aquarium that will not only show marine life but a display of how underwater archeology actually happens. Another key element will be a full size, cut-in-half lengthwise, Spanish Gallion! She is working with Spain to get them to help us make it as accurate as possible. I can't wait to see it!

It was great to be with all of you - even if my visit this week was short. Remember, no meeting next Thursday due to Thanksgiving! Have a great time with your families, reach out to a lonely or needy person, and we'll see you the week after next! BC.

Meeting Notes 11-13-08 RYE Student Giuliana

2008-11-23T16:50:00.000-08:00

Another great Rotary meeting! Bill Sheffield lead us of with groaner (pretty funny), Paul Parks lead the prayer, Bill Bassett lead the pledge and Al Swann lead the 4 Way Test. I gave a happy dollar for having known Carl Leahy (former club member who passed away very unexpectedly), and the crowd responded with bunches of happy dollars to celebrate happier occasions.

Mac Parker introduced our five visiting Rotarians and four guests. The downtown club was well represented by Nancy Fetterman and Jeff Lewis, while Five Flags brought us Bobby Fair and Suzanne Kahn and the Gulf Breeze club was represented by Stephanie O'Connor. Big Ferd had a guest, Gerry Goldstein while T'gill brought Charles Bare as his guest and Moses Atwood brought Freddie Augustin as his guest. Our program chair and Vice President, John Stein had his lovely wife Jill as his guest.

John Stein then got up and talked about how the club foundation was going to do its own matching gift program for Manna Food Pantry, and many club members gave checks to the club foundation, which will be matched (up to $1,000) and then presented formally to the charity for it's special needs at Thanksgiving. I am very proud of how the club and its foundation have responded to this appeal. Give yourselves a pat on the back!

Skip Dennis had the reins of the Woolly today, and did a special tribute to veterans of all our conflicts and then shook us down for working on Veteran's Day. Thanks, Skip - I hope we raised a good amount of money to fight Polio!

Heidi Blair then came up to introduce our Rotary Youth Exchange student, Giuliana. She is from France and has been staying with T'gill and his family since arriving late this summer. She told us about making the big adjustment to American life and high school. She is from a very small town, and it sounds like Pensacola is very different from what she is used to. She must be fitting in as she had just attended an FSU home football game and learned the tomahawk chop and Seminole war chant!

Nobody won the big drawing prize, so it rolled over again - things are getting interesting!

Hope everyone enjoyed the meeting, it was fun. Photos coming soon! BC.

Meeting Notes 10 30 08 - Pensacola Symphony

2008-11-03T19:15:00.000-08:00

Another great SubWest Week! We had report card night on 10 29 08, and had a good time making fun of ourselves at today's meeting. Laura Snow lead off the meeting with a couple of Groaners (she actually got them from Wes Nicholls and Huntley Johnson), then Bill Spain lead us in the prayer, Ed Ellis lead the pledge and Charlie Peppler lead the 4 Way Test.

We had a few Happy Dollars - a couple from me as I was glad to see Christine and Jane back with us! Wes Nicholls had a Happy Dollar for his daughter's one year birthday!

Rick Lambert introduced our visitors and guests. We had 3 visiting Rotarians; Lewis Culver from Cantonment, Harold Paul from Montana, and Roger Enzor from Downtown. Al Swann introduced his guest, Corrine and Laverene Baker introduced her guest Kathy Spear.

Huntley had us in stitches as he critiqued our grilling efforts at Hallmark, and I think he raised a good bit of money for the Rotary Foundation. You have the gift, Huntley.

The Raffle was almost $400 and not won this week, so get your tickets (lots of them, it is getting interesting!)

Our guest speakers were Peter Rubardt and Christina from the Symphony. Christina is the business manager, and she gave the formal part, then Peter filled us in on the artistic side of the Symphony and told us about the upcoming events. The blue jeans and Beethoven one sounds like a SubWest event!

No meeting on 11/6 as the club will meet at the CROP military appreciation luncheon on Monday, 11/3/08. Sorry I couldn't make it - jury duty called!

Don't miss the 11/13 meeting as our guest speaker will be our French exchange student, Guiliana!

Until then,

Bill C.

Hallmark Elementary School Report Card Night

2008-11-03T19:02:00.000-08:00

Here are some photos of the event!

Thanks to Laura Snow for setting it up. The inside crew was Laura, Huntley, Bill, Wendy and Abbie Hall. Our runners were Johnny Fayard and Bill Hooper, and the grill masters were Harry, Jay and Alicia, Ronnie, Romesh, and Buck. Let me know if I left anyone out. Special thanks to Harry for getting all the food donated!

Meeting Notes 10-23-08 ARC Gateway

2008-10-27T20:06:00.000-07:00

Good Day - SubWest!
We had a lively and interesting meeting this week, starting off with Huntley doing a Groaner (really a series of pithy sayings that elicited some groans, some laughs and some other responses). Thanks, Huntley! Rick Lambert then lead us in the prayer. Tim Couch lead the Pledge and Paul Parks lead us in the 4 Way test.

Our Happy Dollars today were a little on the light side, maybe because word leaked out about the surprise Woolley. Laura Snow had some Happy Dollars for the crew that helped her provide lunch for the teachers at Hallmark Elementary that Monday. The club sponsored the lunch for the teacher work day, and Laura had a good sized group of SubWesters to help serve. The crew included Romesh, Bill Marchi, Andy Hinton and others (please email me and I'll add your names). Thanks to all of you for representing SubWest so well! Bob Bothfeld finally returned from his summer vacation in Vermont, and we awarded him his Paul Harris fellow award + 4. Wow, that means Bob has really supported the Polio Plus giving to the Rotary Foundation! Bob - we all are grateful for what you do! Thanks!

This is a busy couple of weeks in Rotary here's the info you need:

Please plan to attend the Report Card night at Hallmark, Wednesday Oct. 29th at 5 pm. (Yes, that's this week). Ronnie Arnold will have the new SubWest BBQ grill set-up, Harry Huelsbeck has gotten all the food donated, and we will be grilling burgers and dogs for the parents, students, and teachers at Hallmark! Remember to wear your SubWest shirt.

The other big announcement this week is the club Halloween Party this Thursday night (10/30/08) at Liberty Lanes. Sounds like a great time, please attend if you can. Remember - this will count as a meeting if you can't come at lunch time! We will have a regular meeting on 10/30/08.

Next week's regular meeting (11/6/08) is cancelled, actually replaced by the CROP (Combined Rotary of Pensacola) special lunch meeting on Monday 11/3/08, at New World Landing. Try to get there by 1130am so you can get your food before the program starts. We'll be charged for all our members, so be sure to show up! This should be an especially interesting meeting as Lt.Col. Everett Spain (Bill's son) will be the guest speaker. He just returned from Iraq, where he served as General Petreaus' aide, so he should have some great insights into that theatre of the global war on terrorism.

Wendy Simon introduced our visitors and guests. Megan Pratt was Braden Ball's guest. We had 6 visiting Rotarians - 3 from Pensacola North - Dan Livingston, Kenny Morgan, and Richard Peterson. Nancy Fetterman represented the Downtown club and Dr. Ed Siegel came all the way from California.

Kenny Morgan (former SubWester and all around good-guy) was our Woolly today. He came prepared with this months copy to the Rotarian Magazine, and had a wonderful time fining all of us. I should say, all of us who were not part of the Greatest Generation. Thanks, Kenny - it was fun and I know you raised a lot of money for the Foundation.

Nancy Fetterman won the raffle, which is getting interesting with only 28 cards left and $379 in the pot. She didn't pick the ace of spades, however and generously donated her $10 consolation prize back to the club.

John Stein then introduced our guest speaker - Ms. Angie Neumann, from ARC Gateway. Angie is a member of the Cordova Sunrise club and gave us a great talk on the parts of ARC Gateway we may not often hear about, especially services for adults that need ongoing care in a group setting. Thanks, Angie!

As we finished early, we concluded the meeting with Dr. Ed Seigel playing the National Anthem in the Key of G as we all sang along. You all should be very proud of yourselves, because it sounded very good!

See you at Hallmark on Wednesday night, Liberty Lanes on Thursday night and at New World Landing Monday for lunch. (Actually, I have jury duty Monday, so I'll be thinking about you!)

Yours in Rotary Service,
Bill C.

Meeting Notes 10 16 08 - Ballet Pensacola

2008-10-19T16:42:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone,

Thanks for VP John Stein, we really had another interesting and cultural program. Mack Parker lead us off with a Groaner about "Joe the Plumber" and enlisted the aid of Roland Smith to help out in this interactive Groaner. Nice job, Mack and Roland!

Mike Henderson then lead us in Prayer, Rick Lambert said the Pledge, and Reed Eubanks lead us in the 4 Way Test. We had tons of Happy Dollars today and it was great to hear the many reasons folks are celebrating. I think we were all touched to hear the Happy Dollar from Don Gregory, who has re-joined us after a long time with his son has had a very serious illness. Don, we are so glad to have you back and to hear that your son is doing better! I' d also like to thank Big Ferd and Bob Jacobson for making their Every Rotarian, Every Year contributions of $100 to the Rotary Foundation. Thanks for being leaders in giving!

Bill Sheffield introduced our 4 visiting Rotarians; John Blair from Crestview, and Martin Harwood, RP Doyle, and Betty Roberts all from the Downtown Club. Our only guest was Malcom Thomas - guest of Ronnie Arnold and Martin Harwood.

Heidi Blair and Laura Snow reminded us of upcoming events and service opportunities. Laura asked for volunteers to come by Hallmark Elementary to help serve the teachers lunch this coming Monday (a teacher work day). The previous blogs have detailed the schedule pretty well. Remember we'll have our Military Appreciation Luncheon on 11/3/08 at New World Landing. Bill Spain's son, Everett is going to be the guest speaker - and it should be great since he was General Petreaus' aide-de-camp in Iraq!

Special K was supposed to be our Wolly today, but didn't show up (many fines for you next week, young man!). So yours truly tried to fill in with a little University of Science, Music and Culture questioning. I know a little bit about ballet and we had a little fun with some questions I made up at the spur of the moment. At least I know when to sit down, eh?

The program was Ballet Pensacola, and we had the added fun of 2 of the actual dancers demonstrating their lifts and jumps right in front of our eyes! Very impressive! I hope ace photog, Johnny Fayard got some snaps!

Remember to check the schedule, I hope to see you at Hallmark Elementary School report card night on 10/29 and the Club Halloween Party on 10/30 at Liberty Lanes.

Until then, have fun and invite a friend to Rotary! Bill C.

Meeting Notes 10 9 08 - Pensacola Opera

2008-10-09T19:58:00.000-07:00

Today was an especially great meeting, and I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did! Big Ferd lead us off with a groaner about matrimonial bliss, then Jim Holifield lead us in the Rotary Prayer, Johnny (I'll put up the banner, organize the agenda and take photos) Fayard lead the Pledge and Jay Overman lead us in the 4 Way Test.

Tons of Happy Dollars then came forth, celebrating Vandy's success and bemoaning Auburn's coaches. I wish I could remember all the great Happy Dollar stories that got told, but I do remember Ted K's daughter turned 21, Paul Young had a happy dollar or several, I threw one in for celebrating Mo Hayes retirement, and Greg T'gill had one to let us know that gas will soon be less than $3 per gallon. Huntley had some wry comments for us as usual....

T'gill introduced our 2 guests - Kristin Hual, and attorney who came as the guest of Charlie Peppler and Dan Lozier, another local attorney who was Ferd III's guest. We had 6 visiting Rotarians - PDG John Tice (Downtown), plus John Clark and Paul Young (also from Downtown), Leon Hirsh and Jim Reeves rounded out our compliment of local visitors. OK - here's the best part - when I was attending PETS in Nashville, TN this spring, I made friends with a young man named Kim Kim. Please indulge me this brief and compelling story:

He is originally from Korea, and shared with me that becoming a Rotarian was a lifelong goal of his. When he came to the USA, no one invited him to Rotary so he had to work at getting invited. Mind you, he is a health care professional (nutrition director of a medical center in TN). Fast forward a few years, and now he is the President of the Rotary Club of Hendersonville, TN - a very big club. I think this is not only a great American success story, but a great motivation for us to ask folks if they are interested in learning more about Rotary. I hadn't seen Kim for months, and was thrilled to see him again! He is only in town for a few days - doing Shelter Box training up on the Blackwater River (who knew?). He promised to take pictures and email them to me so I can put them on the blog.

Here's the announcements that you need to keep on your calendar:

10/15/08 - Honor Flight (including Jane's mom) returns to Pensacola Airport 7 to 8 pm. Parking will be free, please come and welcome back these heroes if you can.

10/29/08 - SubWest BBQ Grill at Hallmark Elementary School for Report card night

10/30/08 - SubWest Halloween Party at Liberty Lanes

11/3/08 - Military Appreciation Day luncheon (LtCol Everett Spain guest Speaker, no regular meeting that week).

Trisha Woodburn gave us an update on the Peru Food Kitchen project which we are finishing up this year, and told us about the eyeglass and school backpack projects we are planning for Costa Rica. Thanks, Trisha!!

Tim Couch was our Wolley and entertained us with wild tales about Rotary fundraisers, then fined everyone $1. Courtney Peterson had the winning ticket in the raffle, but didn't win the $336 pot. He generously rolled the $10 consolation prize back into the pot.

VP John Stein then introduced Erin Sammis, marketing director of the Pensacola Opera. The program was excellent as she and Kyle and Tim told us all about the many school programs the Opera performs for schools in Escambia, Santa Rosa and even one in Alabama.

Invite a friend to join the fun - think about Kim Kim's story... Bill C.

Information Meetings for Outbound Rotary Youth Exchange

2008-10-02T11:53:00.000-07:00

This is the plain version of the flyer we are trying to get distributed to students and parents that may be interested in Rotary Youth Exchange. We will be holding informational meetings in Pensacola on October 14 & 16. Please send this to your contacts.

Rotary Youth Exchange Florida

invites you and your parents to attend

An Informational Meeting about Opportunities Abroad
For High School Sophomores, Juniors, & Seniors

Evening sessions will be held during October,
in communities throughout the region.

Please visit our website, at www.ryeflorida.org, to:
o Learn more about the program
o Download application forms
o Register to attend an informational meeting in October

All students planning to apply for exchanges in 2009-10 must attend one of the scheduled meetings. Parents are strongly encouraged to attend as well. Dates and locations are available on the website. On-line registration for the meeting is required. Applications do not have to be completed prior to the meeting. Questions may be directed to info@ryeflorida.org.

Social Committee Happenings

2008-10-02T07:16:00.000-07:00

Social Committee Happenings

Make sure to mark your calendars for the following events! A huge thanks to Mike and Skip for the Shrimp Boil event!!!

October 30 - Rotary Halloween Bowling at Liberty Lanes at 6:00 p.m. Come dressed in costume. Cost is $9 per person which includes three games of bowling and shoes.

November 13 - Game & Poker Night at Home Builders Association Building. Poker and other games (Life, Monopoly or others) will be played This will be for the adults.

December 18 - Christmas Party at New World Landing at 6:00 p.m... The event will be semi-formal “holiday” attire. Cost will be $25 for Rotarian guest and no charge for members. There will be a no-host bar. Dinner will be served at the tables. There will be no regular meeting at noon. Each guest is asked to bring a Christmas tree ornament for the gift exchange.

February 1 - Super Bowl Party details to follow

February 19 - Mardi Gras Party at our regular meeting

March Madness Final Four Party details to follow.

April 16 - Celebrate No More Taxes Potluck details to follow.

May/June Golf at Tiger Point. Cost will likely be $50 per player. Dinner after will be open to all. Details to followJune 25 - Change of Command details to follow

Skeet Shoot – whenever Ferd II chooses.

Meeting Notes 9 25 08 - John Appleyard - The Spanish History of Pensacola

2008-09-30T20:24:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone!

We had an other interesting, fun and informative meeting last week. Ed Ellis got things rolling with a true story about a Marine who nearly drowned because he would not let go of his rifle after he fell overboard. His reason was that the Gunny would kill him! Mike M. said the prayer, Jay Overman led us in the Pledge, and Roger Nicholson lead the 4 Way Test.

The Happy Dollars were filled with folks celebrating their favorite football team's success, and a serious happy dollar from Bobbye Carroll celebrating the recovery of her former assistant - Christy. Jane White had a happy dollar for her mom doing better and Charlie Haas had a couple of happy dollars for the success of his son Andy, as an animator for a major motion picture!

Jerold Hall introduced our visitors and guests, including his guest Jake Hesse (a fellow Landrum employee and member of Pensacola Young Professionals). We had 6 visiting Rotarians, 3 from Downtown; Past District Governor John Tice, Vince Curry, and Britt Landrum. We had 2 visiting Rotarians from 5 Flags - Whit Brown and Suzanne Kahn and the North Club was represented by Dan Livingstone.

We had Sandi Starr come up to receive her Sponsor pin from PE and Membership Chair Rick Lambert. Sandi thanks for sponsoring our newest member, Wes Nicholls! We also received a nice note from Sharee Cagle, the principal at Hallmark Elementary School, thanking us for donating $500 to their Success Store. The money is being used to supply prizes to reward the children for their hard work in school. Mike Marshall told us about the Shrimp Boil and Water fun day this (past) weekend. Wish I could have been there, but I was helping the in-laws move to Carpenter's Creek.

Bill Spain acted as the Woolly and gave us his unique spin on the world events - reflecting some interesting history about how Andrew Jackson had handled a financial crisis. Sandi Starr was on a roll and had the winning ticket to draw a card for the $290 raffle prize, however she didn't draw the Ace of Spades, and donated the $10 consolation prize to the Rotary Foundation. Thanks, Sandi!

Our program was the incomparable John Appleyard, who in 20 minutes or less walked us through the major battles between the early Spanish and French settlements in Pensacola. I was captivated by the fact that many of the battles were over in a matter of hours. When the French finally won, they handed the city back over to the Spanish since they determined the area was too hard to defend!

Next week's program will fast-forward the historical and military theme by giving us insight into the world of POWs. Thanks to John Stein for arranging so many diverse and interesting programs. See you all next Thursday! Bill C.

SubWest Grill

2008-09-24T11:46:00.000-07:00

Jerold and I spent Saturday at my chop shop customizing the new SubWest BBQ grill. Some of the new additions are temp gauges, cutting boards, reflectors for safety and we painted the fenders. I am most proud of the brass Rotary International emblem that "IVAN" let us keep from our old club. It is attached to the back of the grill. I am having a stencil made for the side that reads "SUBWEST ROTARY" in flame letters. I'll bring it to the club when its finished and then it will live at Ronnies house most of the time.

Meeting Notes 9 18 08 - John Stein - Constitution Week

2008-09-22T19:05:00.000-07:00

Hi Folks!

Sorry I missed being with you this week, but I had to attend a business meeting in Phoenix. I understand that PE Rick Lambert did a fine job filing in for me, and it sounds like VP - John Stein did his typical fine job as the program chair. Nothing like leading from the front of the column!

I have it on good authority that the Groaner was given by Al Swann, while Ted Kirchharr led us in the Pledge to the Flag, then the 4-Way Test was lead by Bill Marchi. We only had one Visiting Rotarian (RP Doyle) - who was introduce by Bill Sheffield. The role of the Wooly was ably filled by, (who else?) John Stein - who quizzed everyone on US Constitution trivia.

Announcements:
* Sub-West Grill is finished and was on display in parking lot thanks to Jay and Ronnie. Jerold Hall told me today that he and Jay used up a bunch of drill bit this weekend, while they added the necessary cooking tables, etc. Jay, now you have to come over to my workshop - I've got a "drill doctor" we can use to sharpen them up!

* Mike Marshall announced the Shrimp Boil & Water Fun Day at Big Lagoon. Children 12 and under are now free. Mike encouraged those who are going to attend sign-up right away.

* Honor Flight will be arriving October 15th at 7:00pm. All Rotarians are encouraged to meet the vets at the airport for their return.

* Wes Nicholls wore Trish's sandwich board to sell raffle tickets--new Rotarian getting involved (initiated?).

John Stein was program speaker and talked about the events preceding our Constitution (counted as 3 US History credits at PJC).

Thanks again to Rick Lambert for running the meeting and providing me with the notes! See y'all soon! Bill C.

Meeting Notes 9 11 08 - Adm. Gary Jones

2008-09-12T17:57:00.000-07:00

Let me open today's post with a picture of the late Jerry Howard and our current AG Leon Hirsh, doing the famous Carnac the Magnificent act. Jerry was a Green Beret in service to our country, and he was a great patriot who exemplified the Rotary ideal of Service above Self.

Today we remember the infamous attacks on our country that happened seven years ago. We had a very special guest speaker, Adm. Gary Jones, a Naval Aviator who is now in charge of CNET and was the highest ranking American in South Korea when the attacks happened. He gave us some special insights into his world at the time, and praised the South Koreans for their support of America. How timely to have these comments on this day, especially while we enjoy the leadership of the new president of Rotary International, D.K. Lee of South Korea.

Our meeting started with a groaner from Ronnie Arnold, the punch line was something about Betty Crocker. Robert Waddell lead us in prayer, Jay Overman lead us in the Pledge to our flag, and Mike Henderson lead the 4 Way Test.

We then had the pleasure of inducting our 3rd new member of the year, Wes Nicholls. Wes was sponsored by the enthusiastic Sandi Starr, who proudly pinned on his new Rotary lapel pin. Please take some time to get to know Wes over the coming weeks.

After some good happy dollars, Jim Holifield came up to introduce our visitors and guests. We had only one visiting Rotarian, Stephanie O'Connor from Gulf Breeze, and 3 guests; Jill Stein (John's wife), Diane Mack (candidate for local office and guest of Christine Isham) and Anne Broos (guest of Roger Nicholson).

Special thanks to Gordy Tyrell for his contribution of $100 to the Rotary Foundation. I just got a letter from RI reminding me about the importance of the Every Rotarian Every Year (EREY) program where all of us give $100 a year to the Rotary Foundation. At SubWest, we call it the Birthday Brigade, and we appreciate leaders in giving like Gordy!

Please remember to pray for Jane White and her mom's heart surgery, as well as our brothers and sisters in Texas.

I hope to see all of you at the Shrimp Boil on Saturday, September 27th, 1 to 5 PM at Big Lagoon State Park. cost is $10 for adult or $8 for children under 12 (for the Shrimp Boil) - park entrance fee is being paid for by the club. Bring boats to pull skiers and tubers, Ferd III will be giving Kayak Lessons! All at Water Side Pavilion #46.

Club Services Comittee Scheduled Events (So far)

2008-09-11T07:05:00.000-07:00

Community Service - Ronnie Arnold

October 30th - Hallmark Elementary report card night cookout and treat bag
Weekend in May - Paint Your Heart Out service project
Collection of used computers and cell phones all year

Vocational Service - Wendy Simon

December 4th - 4-way Essay Contest
April 2nd - Core Values
April 23rd - Teacher of the Year

Youth Services - Laura Snow

Hallmark Teacher Lunches start in October
Hallmark Success Store start in October
Blue Angle Bus Tour June 9th

International Service - Trisha Woodburn

Costa Rica is our focus this year
Eyeglass collection all year
Backpacks for a school (TBA)
Hallmark Penpals

I will update as new info is gathered. Thanks!

Meeting Notes 9 4 08 - Dr. J.D. Smith on NJROTC

2008-09-05T20:45:00.000-07:00

Hi All!

If you missed this meeting, you missed a good time! We started off with a groaner from Bill Sheffield. It began on a political note and ended that way, with some strange football comments in the middle. Then Rick Lambert said a nice prayer, Navy veteran Bob Jacobson lead us in the Pledge, and Kirk Ball lead the 4 Way Test.

The happy dollars came pouring forth with many folks celebrating the safety of friends and family who evacuated New Orleans and Baton Rouge and stayed with family here in Pensacola. There was another round of Happy Dollars for the victorious football teams of the SEC and ACC, with much bragging about what might happen this coming weekend. I'm glad Andy Hinton was here to defend Alabama this time around, the Tide seems to be a bit underrepresented lately!

Sandi Starr did a marvelous job introducing our visitors and guests, and was extremely surprised to see two of her ministers from church in attendance. I think they are checking up on you (or is it all of us they need to check up on?) Sharon Gallant was Bill Sheffield's guest (and new business partner). Kathy Karsten was Heidi Blair's guest (and fellow USO leader). Harold Cohen joined us as Jack Brown's guest (and knew many SubWesters), while T-Gill introduced his guest Dan Filardi, Rick Lambert introduced his wife and guest Suki Lambert, and John Stein introduced his wife and guest Jill Stein. We had 5 visiting Rotarians; Dan Livingston and Kenny Morgan from Pensacola North, Randy Jackson and Jeff Lewis from Downtown, and KC Etheridge from 5 Flags.

Charlie Peppler made an announcement about our renewed Eyeglass Project (part of our international service effort lead by Trisha Woodburn) and Bill Marchi told us about the electronics donations he is collecting for the Lupus Foundation. Bill came in a little winded from schlepping an apparent huge donation brought in by new member Bill Hooper. Thanks, guys!

Skip Dennis was our Wolly today and fined Big Ferd for losing his cell phone, an entire table for not knowing one of the new members, another table for not knowing about our upcoming Shrimp Boil (send me the info guys - I'll' put it in the blog!) at Big Lagoon the end of this month.

Kirk Ball had the winning ticket in the Raffle, but did not draw the Ace of Spades, and contributed his $10 consolation prize back to the pot, so it will start about $225 dollars next week! Buy those tickets and help the Rotary Foundation!

John Stein then introduced Dr. J.D. Smith to speak to us about Navy Junior ROTC. It was an extremely interesting program, full of facts and figures from a macro sense, and further illustrated with stories about the purpose of the NJROTC lessons. John Stein is doing a magnificent job of getting us interesting programs! Film at eleven....

We wrapped up the meeting by presenting JD with an imported coffee travel mug, and then awarding Ed Holt with a "Sponsor" pin contributed by Membership Chairman and PE Rick Lambert.

Board members - remember our meeting this Wednesday at noon at the Bait Shop room in the Fish House. Main topics will be project status reports on avenues of service and voting to approve a new prospective member. See you there! Until next time, pray that Ike takes a route away from here. Far away. Bill C.

Meeting Notes 8 28 08 - Our visit from DG Ron Richards

2008-08-28T17:06:00.000-07:00

Dear SubWest Rotarians,

I think we had a very special meeting today. We skipped the groaner, and Moses Atwood lead us in a very thoughtful prayer, followed by Tom Johnson leading us in the pledge, and Tim Couch lead us in the 4 Way Test. We had the head table set up today so I introduced our AG Ed Boywid, our DG Ron Richards and his wife Innes Richards. I then introduced our special guest Bob Schuster, Charlie's son, who was my guest and a visiting Rotarian from Five Flags.

We took a few minutes to celebrate the life and special contributions to Rotary made by Charlie Schuster. Bill Spain, Wayne Etheridge and Paul Parks all shared special memories of Charlie. Then Bob Schuster told us some great stories about his dad, and how important Rotary - especially SubWest Rotary - was in his life. Those were great stories! Bob finished up with a humorous tale about how our "founding fathers of SubWest" had to come up with a special classification to let Vince Whibbs into the club in 1957! We all had a great laugh and that provided the perfect segue to a session of Happy Dollars, highly peppered with bragging from our most ardent college football fans. Andy for Bama, Bill for the big T, Craig for Vandy, Ronnie for the Gators, and on it went!

Heidi Blair presented the club with a flag from a club in Peru. A Rotary youth Exchange student gave it to her last weekend, as she was so grateful to be sponsored in America! Bill Sheffield then introduced several visiting Rotarians and guests. Trisa made an announcement about the eyeglass project and we heard about the SubWest Water Fun day planned for Saturday, 9/29/08. More details later.

As truly fitting for this special day, Huntley Johnson - our lone remaining Charter Member - took over the microphone and raised a lot of money as the Wooley. He was ruthless in his fining and as usual, we all laughed at his vicious comic wit. Nice Job, Huntley!

The raffle was won by none other than Paul Parks, who waited a suspiciously long time to announce he had the winning ticket. I wonder if there is a story there? Anyway, he did not pick the Ace of Spades and donated his $10 consolation prize back to the pot, so it will be over $200 next week!

Our DG Ron Richards, making his 7th club visit this week (amazing) kept the crowd's attention while he talked about the purpose of Rotary, our club's place in the overall realm of service, and illustrated how we can use our talent and energy to help children survive and grow and Make Dreams Real. Thanks for all you do, Ron - we appreciate your leadership and the dedication that you and Innes show (not to mention your stamina)!

Photos coming soon. Until then, keep Rotary in your Heart and bring a friend next Thursday - see you then (pray that Gustav stays away).

Yours in Rotary,

Bill

Sad News - Charlie Schuster

2008-08-26T21:15:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends,

By now you have all received the sad news of Charlie Schuster's passing away. I have spoken to several veteran members this week about a fitting tribute for Charlie, and we will indeed remember him at our meeting this week. In case you missed the obituary in the Pensacola News Journal, here is an excerpt from it that highlights Charlie's contributions to Rotary:

"Charlie was very committed to the purpose and mission of Rotary International. He was a Charter member of the Suburban West Rotary Club and a past president of the Gulf Breeze Rotary Club. In 1985, he became District Governor for Rotary District 6940, which includes all Rotary clubs from Pensacola to Lake City, Florida. He served on the Rotary International Council on Legislation and attended numerous Rotary International Conventions throughout the world. He was a multiple Paul Harris Fellow with over 51 years of service to Rotary."

If you'd like to see it online, here is a link to the site at pnj.com:

http://www.legacy.com/pensacolanewsjournal/Obituaries.asp?Page=SearchResults

The PNJ website also has a very nice guestbook with moving comments and tributes from those who knew Charlie well. God Bless you. BC.

Meeting Notes 8 21 08

2008-08-22T21:21:00.000-07:00

What a great week for Rotary! Since my last message to you, we had a very nice club social outing last Thursday night, and a wonderful meeting yesterday. Many thanks to Heidi Blair for setting up the Wine Tasting at Aloha Wines, and to all of you who showed up and supported the club at the event. It was nice to meet some your spouses in a different setting than our normal club meeting. I had to leave early to go to a school event, but I noticed many more folks arriving as I left. I'm sure you all had a great time.

John Boivin opened the meeting with a pretty funny Groaner about our old friend "Boudreaux" - and different ways to represent numbers and sums - well done, John! Justin Beck then lead us in the Rotary Prayer, followed by WWII veteran and retired Army Colonel Bob Spilman leading the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag, and Carl Gindl leading us in the 4-Way Test.

We had lots of happy dollars - most notably was Bobbye Carroll and her comments about returning from a trip and having workmen in her back yard! Other notable Happy Dollars sprung forth from Paul Parks with his 34 years of perfect attendance and Ronnie Arnold for a smooth start to the school year. I really enjoy hearing from everyone during the Happy Dollar portion of the meeting! Your contributions all go the the Rotary Foundation to help wipe out Polio, so thanks for the double effect of sharing the good news. We also had some "long distance" good news - Don Gregory let us know that his son's transplant went well - please keep them in your prayers. Bob Bothfeld wrote to let us know he is enjoying his time in chilly Vermont (I'm jealous - see you back here in October - bring some cool weather with you, please!). Thanks to Bob B. and Mike M. for your $100 "birthday brigade" checks to the Rotary Foundation (Every Rotarian - Every Year).

Bill Sheffield then came up to introduce visitors and guests. He did a great job introducing guests Carol Monroe (John Stein's boss), Wes Nichols (guest of Sandy Starr), Reuben Buekoureff (guest of Ed Holt), Julia Hoeschler (Ronnie Arnold's guest), and a very brave man named Bobby - son in law of our own Huntley Johnson. We also had two visiting Rotarians (our speaker Frank Miller - Five Flags) and John Clark - from the Downtown club.

Huntley Johnson got his long awaited turn at the microphone as our Woolley and had us all in stitches as he went from table to table picking on us for our numerous (or imagined) shortcomings. Only Huntley can create so much laughter and generate such proceeds for the Rotary Foundation. If you missed this meeting you missed a real good chance to laugh and have a good time with your friends - don't miss next week!

Today's drawing was won by Tim Couch, who pulled a 2 of clubs, so he didn't win the $158 pot and and graciously donated his $10 consolation prize back to the foundation! As soon as the Ace of Spades is pulled from this deck (only 30 or so cards left), we will restart the game with some new rules. The club will seed the pot with $250 to start, and will not give any payout unless the Ace of Spades is drawn. That should help the pot grow faster and hopefully, we will raise more money that way...

John Stein then introduced our guest speaker, Frank Miller, Director of Pensacola Regional Airport, who gave us a presentation about the $75 million airport improvement plans. Most notable is the planned automated baggage screening area, and the "hammer head" terminal expansion. Another great program - thanks, John!

Don't miss our meeting next week, when the program will be our District Governor, Ron Richards. Until then, stay dry and keep an eye out for Fay - let's hope she is a kind visitor.

See you next week!