Rotations June 3, 2014
It was a beautiful sunny day on Tuesday, June 3rd, which had everybody in good humor. President Susan banged the gavel right on time and the meeting was off and running!
School of the week: Campostella Elementary School.
Bob Heely led us in song starting with #15, “Daisy Bell (Bicycle Built For Two)”, followed by #18, “The 4-Way Test” and concluded with #45, “Let There Be Peace On Earth”. We sounded pretty good! The invocation was delivered by Julie Keesling.
The Visitation Report was delivered by Bill Gough. He was not able to contact Morgan Trimyer’s family so no report there but he was able to talk with Ken Weeks who “sounded great”. He also spoke with Tom Richard’s wife who reported that Tom is back in rehab but apparently not doing too well. Marty Raiss is back with us today!
Steve Jones introduced our Guests and Visiting Rotarians. Visiting with us were Buddy Early, with the Princess Anne Club, and Jonathan DeLoatche, with the Chesapeake Club. John Padgett had Bryan Stephens as his guest and Bob Ash had Bob Tolson as his guest.
Chuck Spence introduced Bill McInnis, our “Rotarian of the Week.” Bill served as a U.S. Army Military Police Officer until his retirement in 1992, having served as Chief Law Enforcement Officer at many U.S. posts as well as a number of overseas installations. He was born in Indiana, raised in Niles, Michigan and currently lives in the Kempsville area of Virginia Beach. Bill holds a BS from Michigan State University and a MA from Sam Houston State University. He has been a member of Rotary for 24 years. He and wife, Carol, have three children and five grandchildren. Bill, according to Chuck, is a long time amateur sports official, and has been refereeing basketball and baseball at the high school and college level for over 44 years. He attended the Brinkman Professional Umpire School and did a 6 week stint of umpiring the Norfolk Tides during a Triple A umpire work stoppage. Bill retired from umpiring last year and is now working on his golf game.
Happy June Birthdays to the following Rotarians: Joanne Batson, June 30; Al Carmichael, June 9; Nancy Chandler, June 11; Bill Clendenin, June 15; Lorna Cochrane, June 18; Bill Gough, June 13; Cy Grandy, June 12; Harry Gustin, June 18; Lois Kercher, June 3; Sharon Laderberg, June 28; Matt Lagan, June 19; Win Lewis, June 25; George Nottingham, June 3; and Eleanor Schoonover, June 7. Happy Birthday to all!
Announcements: 1) Saturday, June 7th, “Clean The Bay” in Ocean View. 2) Friday, June 13th, preview night for our Antique and Flea Market and Vintage Car Show at ODU’s Foreman Field. 3) Saturday, June 14th, Our Antique and Flea Market and Vintage Car Show at Foreman Field.
Both Dean Thomasson and Ray Norton (GUIDO) made a serious service announcement on behalf of The Rotary Foundation! If you haven’t already done so - - please make a contribution so that we can have 100% member participation during our Centennial year.
Next Tuesday will be Brett Meredith’s last day with us. We wish him well in his new assignment with the Salvation Army!
Congratulations and Fines: Harry McCoy and President Susan paid for an article and picture that appeared in the Compass in Sunday’s Virginian Pilot celebrating our Club’s 100 years of service. Roger Flagg paid in honor of celebrating 60 years of marriage to his bride, Nancy! And he was quickly followed by Shep Miller who paid up in honor of 30 years of wedding bliss with bride Gigi, his youngest daughter graduating from college and his 35th college reunion at Hampden-Sydney. Cy Grandy pulled out his wallet to celebrate his 50th High School reunion and Dean Rogis anted up for a new car. Bob “Scoops” Powell paid in honor of his daughter becoming the newest member of the Cape Henry Rotary Club. Joe New joined the march to celebrate happy marriages and paid in celebration of 44 happy years with his bride, Barbara. Ann Baldwin paid to mark the fact that all 6 of her grandchildren have jobs! Chip Vogan also rose to pay for celebrating a wedding anniversary with wife, Barbara,- - but he didn't have any money?? And finally, a Rotations Correction: Last week, our Editor in Chief, “Scoops” Powell, incorrectly reported that our newest member, Judge Jerome (Jerry) Friedman, graduated from Maury High School in 1962. WRONG! The Judge graduation from GRANBY - - NOT MAURY and actually paid a fine in order to correct the record! Another warm welcome (and an apology) to our newest member, Judge Friedman! A few fines got past this reporter and I apologize if I left someone out - - but I was writing as fast as I could. Again - - my apologies!
Vice President in Charge of Programs is Sally Hartman and the Rotarian of the Day was Greg Sutton, who introduced our speaker, Terry Bond, Antique Automobile Club of America. The title of his presentation was, “1914's Marvelous Model T.” Originally from Michigan and living near the “Motor city,” Terry has been a life-long car enthusiast, growing up in the “muscle car” era of the 60's. Having settled in this area in the 1980s, Terry and wife, Susan, have added a large barn in the back of their Chesapeake home which has enabled them to indulge in their passion for automotive history. Their collection includes a 1912 Triumph Motorcycle,1914 and 1915 Ford Model “T” s, a 1935 Morris, a 1948 MGTC, a 1966 Ford Mustang, a 1967 Pontiac GTO (Henry Shriver would approve) and a host of other antique cars and motorcycles. Terry pointed out the Ford Motor Company, “is what put America on wheels.” While there were a number of early motorize vehicles developed here in the U.S. and Europe, Henry Ford was responsible for both mass producing vehicles on an assembly line (by 1914 a new Ford left the assembly line every 3 minutes) and for organizing the first real “dealership” chain in the U.S. to both sale and service vehicles. These “inventions” made all the difference and secured a long lasting place for The Ford Motor Company both in the U.S. business world and in automotive history. Ford’s 1908 Model “T” really fulfilled his dream of “building a car for the masses.” They were rugged, had a planetary transmission (the first automatic transmission of sorts), were reasonably affordable and rather dependable. They sold! Debunking many myths about the early Ford Model “T”s, Terry informed us that, contrary to popular opinion, the early cars came in several colors including red, gray and dark blue - - not just black! In fact, black was not available in some of the earliest models (1911). And not all Model “T”s were the same! Some had no top, no lights and no windshields (all at extra cost) - - so some things have not changed in the automotive world. It is true that, in order to climb a hill, it was often necessary to go up the incline backwards (due to no fuel pump and the gravity feed problem) and cranking a Model “T” could actually result in a broken arm - - if you weren't careful and knew what you were doing. Terry advised that there were over 15 million Model “T”s built and there are many still in existence. I guess we can second guess that slang about FORD standing for “Fix Or Repair Daily.” Really interesting presentation for car enthusiasts and non-enthusiasts alike!
Raffle: This reporter has no idea who won the raffle. I was sitting beside Teddy Baker who was complaining about not having the winning ticket and I missed it all - - except the big pot does remain intact!
Next week’s Program: Dr. G. William Whitehurst, ODU Professor and former U.S. Congressman, will speak to us on why the Middle East is such an unpredictable powder keg. Sounds interesting!!
Hope everyone has a great week!