Gus Stuhlreyer (l) talking with Dr. Jeff Tanner
The Program
Rotarian of the Day, Steve Schultz introduced Dr. Jeff Tanner, Dean of the Strome College of Business and a fellow Rotarian. Dr. Tanner raises thoroughbreds and races horses and he provided insight into the Derby, Preakness and Belmont stakes.
The race horse Omaha Beach was the favorite to win this year’s Kentucky Derby, but was scratched three days before the Derby. The last six Derbys were won by the favorites.
Derby contender Maximum Security veered right as the group of horses approached the final stretch. Race horses are trained to always run straight. It remains unclear why the horse veered right, but it created a dangerous situation for nearby horses and riders. Also puzzling: owners of the affected horse, War of Will, did not file an objection (although the riders of Long Range Toddy and Country House did). In Dr. Tanner's opinion, the stewards charged with officiating the race should have called the foul immediately and not waited for an objection.
The first Derby was held in 1875, Aristides was supposed to be the "rabbit" to set the pace for the race, but the horse was so far ahead of the field that it won the Derby. The first Triple Crown winner was Sir John Barton in 1919. Secretariat won the Triple Crown in 1973 by the largest margin, 21 lengths.
Fun facts: Derby is all about the hats, both men and women. The first winner of the Preakness was the horse, Preakness. The term "get the lead out” originated with jockeys, who had to weigh in at 118 lbs before each horse race; during the race, they would lighten themselves by tossing away lead weights from their clothing. The Belmont is the oldest race; its date keeps getting moved back on the calendar to allow horses more rest. Originally, the Belmont track was 1.25 miles; it later was lengthened to 1.5 miles. This caused one horse and its jockey to lose a race: they slowed down at the old 1.25 mile-point and lost ground to the other horses that kept up their pace towards the 1.5 mile-point finish line.
Dr. Tanner's talk was both informative and entertaining – one of the best, even to those not interested in horse racing!
Pres Pam thanked our speaker and presented a book that will be donated to Larrymore Elementary School in his name.
The Meeting
We proved to our visitors that we are still a signing club by singing "Viva la Rotary" and "America" with gusto. Joe New delivered the Visitation Report: Bob Latimer has decided to cease chemotherapy and now has in-home hospice care. Bob seems to be feeling better, but is very tired. Please send him a card, but be sure to call and check with Erle Marie before visiting.
Dalton Dunbar led Introduction of Guests.
Those who thought Stephan Lipskis was visiting us again were wrong: Barbara Lipkis introduced Stephan's twin brother, Daniel, who recently received his MBA (majoring in Economics and Spanish), and is headed to Pittsburgh. Barbara then took advantage of the opportunity to offer up happy bucks for her oldest son, the father of her new baby grandson.
Jeff Wells introduced Chris Tillett, a prospective member who knows many in our club and is currently working for a developer.
The weather was perfect this week for our annual D7600 Rotary Night at Harbor Park, a polio fundraiser, Those who stayed until the ninth inning witnessed a win by the home team--our Norfolk Tides beat the Charlotte Knights, 8 to 2!
Last week’s "Pop-Up" Social hosted by Lisa Chandler at Charlie's in Riverview was a good time to share laughs with fellow Rotarians.
Suds and Buds is next week at the Botanical Gardens…a few more volunteers are still needed. Please buy your tickets on line…it's quick and easy. We are ***14 bottles of wine short*** for the wine pull: please rememer to bring in a bottle or $20+ at our next meeting.
As a reminder, there are Rotary Club of Norfolk business cards available to share with prospective Rotarians.,,the cards are invitations to attend a Rotary meeting and get a free lunch… We have lots of these cards, so please use them.
Our Satellite club is now holding monthly socials at Elation Brewing…regular Club members are always welome. Check the club calendar for dates.
Bill Moore talked about the Rotary District Grant we are pursuing for the William A Hunton YMCA, which earned one of this year's Norfolk Rotary Charities grants. When Pres Pam, Lorna Cochrane and Carlisle Wroton visited the Y to present the NRC check, they learned what Bill already knew: the Hunton Y is located in "the projects," serving our city's poorest community. It is one of the nation's oldest Ys, but it is not affiliated with, nor is it funded by, the national YMCA organization. It also receives no financial support from the city. Yet, the Hunton Y houses a very busy day care operation where 160 young children are cared for and fed every day. Bill has initiated a District grant application and enlisted the help of four other Hampton Roads clubs. Their hope is for a $25,000 grant to help fund the $27K+ budget to refurbish the Y's kitchen (with a new stove, refrigerator and freezer) so that the Y can better serve this needy community.
Our very own golf team (Carlisle Wroton, Mark Shaw, Bob Powell, and Bill Moore) won the District 7600 Trophy. This shouldn’t be a surprise to us!
Happy Bucks
- John Searing competed in a Team USA Triathalon in Spain…and finished.
- Al Carmichael was happy over his 4th grandchild – his first granddaughter
- John Cameron’s son is a PHD candidate finishing up at Yale.
- Angela Kearns presented an old Northside Rotary photo album for all to look at and the first picture she saw was a young Wayne Shanks.
- Chick Robison celebrated 45 years of marriage and paid up for a ringing cell phone.
President-Elect Lorna asked everyone to sign up for committees that will be formed in July. We need to indicate our preferences on the form distributed at the meeting, or online, as soon as possible.
Dean Rogis had the winning raffle ticket and claimed the daily pot, but the big pot will ride on.