Rear Admiral Craig Quigley (r), Mal Branch and Pam Tubbs
The Program: Rotarian of the Day Bob Powell introduced speaker Craig Quigley, a retired rear admiral and executive director of the Hampton Roads Military and Federal Facilities Alliance. Rear Admiral Quigley titled his presentation “How to Think About the Next 5-10 Years of the Federal Presence in Hampton Roads.” He pointed out that the Coast Guard may bring in one to three cutters during that time, and talked about an ion collider at Jefferson Lab that would rival the CERN ion collider in Switzerland.
Rear Admiral Quigley talked about the fact that the potential lack of a federal budget would result in a continuing resolution that would have the budget on autopilot, but that sequestration could also reduce the budget by 10 percent. “Expect little from Congress this year,” he concluded, but he did cite unmanned systems and renewable energy as growth areas in Hampton Roads.
He fielded questions about the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, high-speed data links, and consolidation across the military before Pam concluded the meeting by saying that a copy of David Weisner’s Flotsam will be dedicated to the school of the week, Campostella Elementary, in Rear Admiral Quigley’s honor.
The Meeting: Standing in for President Gary Boswick, Pam Tubbs first asked that we remember the victims of Hurricane Harvey, and then had Bob Powell give the visitation report. Bob mentioned Walt Grandy, Bill Jonak, and Roger Flagg, before pointing out that we had condolence cards to sign for Harold Jesse Protsman and for the family of Jeff Wells on the death of his father.
We celebrated September birthdays, although one was missed: Dabney Baker’s, which is Sept. 1.
Paul Harris Fellows: Three Paul Harris Fellows were recognized: Dr. Bill Lehew, Mark Shaw (+3), and Bob Latimer (+8).
Visitors: Three members had guests as Dyteya Lewis brought Shawn Buckon, Lois Kercher brought Jason Drane, and Ned Alderman brought Rev. Rachel Gilmore.
Growlfest: Bryce Burton reported on our second annual Growlfest, which is Saturday, Sept. 16, at the Virgina Zoo. He said that it is a family event, and asked for volunteers, especially for the second shift. He pointed out as an added bonus that second-shift volunteers will get to visit the animals during the first shift, while first-shift volunteers won’t have the opportunity as the animals will not be out during the second shift.
District Conference: Pam reported on the D7600 Conference, asking folks to volunteer, and saying that we can sign up until Wednesday at Rotary7600.org.
Alternate Events: Sharon Laderberg reported on numerous alternate events. See listing at left.
Rachel Bellis reported on a Sept. 30 community service date for pruning in Huntersville. She said hours are 9-11:30 or 12 and referred everyone to Joey Rothgery for more information. Information on all is available at the website.
Happy Bucks: Bob Heely jumped the gun on Happy Bucks and Fines by saying that he had just returned from his son’s change of command in Hawaii, and reported that his son, Bobby, is now serving at the Pentagon. Also contributing Happy Bucks were:
- Lois Kercher, who appeared in Ghent Living;
- Lisa Chandler, for her 37th wedding anniversary;
- Sally Hartman for appearing in Inside Business;
- Sharon Laderberg for football wins by Alabama, Virginia Tech, and South Carolina;
- Rachel Bellis for 50 displaced animals that are coming to Hampton Roads after surviving Hurricane Harvey.