Christmas Party 12 18 08

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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)

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

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

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

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

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!