Drew-Ruleville Rotary Club gets it done!

 Drew-Ruleville Rotary Club gets it done!
Drew-Ruleville Rotary Club members work on their playground restoration project for the Ruleville Elementary
School. Pictured are (from left) Billy Marlow, Brad
Cooper, Wayne Walters, Chris Williams, Mike Meyers and
Clint Russell. Photo by Robyn Marlow
By Aimee Robinette Editor, The Cleveland Current Imagine children having to look at swings and slides, but not being able
to play on them. That’s what the past few years haven been like at recess
Believe it or not . . .
a non-Rotarian has the
best attendance record
at one club in District 6800!
for the students at Ruleville Elementary School.
All that is about to change, however, thanks to the Drew-Ruleville Rotary
Club. The playground ban began when the Sunflower County School System went under conservatorship by the state. “Those people who came in
noticed the playground was completely unsafe for those kids,” said Brad
Cooper, the president of Rotary. “They deemed it unsafe and the children
couldn’t play on it. They just had to look at the swings.”
Cooper said the club certainly doesn’t blame the ban, as the swing didn’t
have sleeves around the chains, the old fashioned merry-go-rounds while
(continued on Page 4)
See Page 6
Rotary On The Radio ‐ District 6800 ‐ Celebrates One Year Anniversary on August 15, 2013 “Good morning, you’re listening to Rotary on the Radio, the voice of Dis‐
trict 6800, coming to you every Thursday morning at 8:06 CDT from KWAM 990 radio and KWAM990.com streaming live on the internet with mini‐cam from Memphis, Tennessee.” August 16, 2012 was the first weekly program of Rotary on the Radio and the first weekly District radio program in all of Rotary. The idea for this program came from Susan Bickley, wife of Southaven Rotarian Bob Bickley and now District 6800 Governor Elect and the host of Rotary on the Radio. The idea was taken to a District 6800 F & A quarterly meeting where District Promotions Chairman Dick Wieland and the committee thought it was a good idea and that we should apply for a District Grant. Wieland immediately made ap‐
plication and in mid ‐ July, 2012 we received word that we had a grant for $15,000.00 starting as soon as possible. The first of August, Wieland and Susan and Bob Bickley met with George Bryant, KWAM 990 station General Manager, discussing plans for a weekly Rotary on the Radio program. George told us our timing was perfect for the 8:00 – 9:00 am time frame on Thursday mornings. There was one problem and that was, we had to start on Thursday August 16, 2012, little time to prepare. Dick Wieland said no problem, Bob you have a Radio Program on the 16th of August –we need to get started. Dick Wieland signed a one page contract and we were off. The following Saturday we met with District 6800 Governor Marty Petrusek and started preparations. Rotary on the Radio District 6800 features the clubs, their Programs of Service, Fund Raisers and informing the public about Rotary and of course all important membership. During the first year we featured many club projects, outstanding Fund Raisers, RYLA, GSE, The Dictionary Project, Polio Plus, Gift of Life and the District Conference were features of the programs. We did a remote program from the Zone meeting in Huntsville, Al in September 2012. In addition, Dick Wieland our Man About Rotary recorded an in interview with Rotary International President Sakuji Tanka that was played back several times during the year on Rotary on the Radio. The club fund raisers that were promoted throughout year on Rotary on the Ra‐
dio are too numerous to list here, but many clubs had record fund raising events. Rotary on the Radio Promoted the District 6800 Web Site and we have had a record number of “hits”. Rotary on the Radio works! Ask listeners in Minnesota, Alaska, Canada and up and down the east coast, and our regular listeners in District 6800. Because we stream live on the internet at KWAM 990.com we reach out to the world and now those with smart phones can listen in their cars or other places, while traveling anywhere in the USA or around the world. Rotary on the Radio continues with a grant for the 2013 – 2014 Rotary Year awarded to District 6800. We plan to ex‐
pand our list of on‐air hosts, feature more clubs in District 6800, and reach out to the public for membership and in‐
volvement. Rotary on the Radio 2013‐2014 will “Engage Rotary and Change Lives”. All Club members and friends in District 6800, join us on the radio at KWAM 990 or on the internet at KWAM990.com on your smart phone, lap‐
top, smart pads, or your office computer every Thursday morning from 8:06 am ‐9:00 Central Time, USA. 2
Sites announced for
two major events of
this Rotary Year
Sites for the 2014 PresidentsElect Training Seminar (PETS) and
the District 6800 District Conference have been announced by District Governor Tommy White.
AMORY, MISSISSIPPI’S LEGENDARY OBGYN DOC, RICHARD S.
(PETE) HOLLIS (right) was recognized earlier this month by the
Amory Rotary Club. Rotary President Carter Naugher (left) presents
Dr. Hollis with a Paul Harris Fellow certificate, while Jack Francis
(center), who chaired the special presentation, looks on. Dr. Hollis and
the late Dr. W.H. Stockton founded Physicians and Surgeons Clinic in
1960. Hollis was active in the American Congress of Obstetricians and
Gynecologists, and served as president of the organization.
The multi-district PETS, involving
Districts 6190, 6800, 6820 and
6840 will take place March 7-8,
2014 in the Jackson Convention
Complex, which is located at 105 E.
Pascagoula St. in Mississippi’s capital city.
District Conference is set for Friday
and Saturday, April 11-12, 2014.
The conference, hosted by the Tupelo club with Janice Trawick serving
as chair, will be at the Summit Center, located at 852 N. Gloster St.
Rotarians who know Janice will not
be surprised to learn that she already
has most of the conference agenda
items in place.
Tupelo Rotarians heard recently from Pat Robertson, center, Executive Director of the Public Employees Retirement System of Mississippi. Shown with Robertson are Rotary Club of Tupelo President Jerry
Napier, left, and Randy McCoy, Program Chair. The Tupelo club
meets on Mondays at The Summit Center, 852 N. Gloster St.
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Drew-Ruleville Rotary
Club gets it done!
(continued from front page)
fun, have not been a piece of new playground equipment for some time.
“There were various guidelines the equipment and
playground itself needed to follow,” Cooper said. “It has
been there at least 45 years without maintenance in all
those years.
“Areas have to be bordered off, enclosures are needed, there must be four inches of pea gravel or rubber in
case a child falls, so it would not hurt them as bad,” he
added.
The Rotary Club heard about the community need
from fellow Rotarian Clint Russell’s wife, who happens
to work at the elementary school.
“Her brother, Chris Williams, is also the assistant district governor for Rotary, and he brought it to the club’s
attention,” Cooper said. “We had no idea the children
were without a playground.”
Tiffany Russell wrote a proposal detailing the problem
and what was needed to fix it.
Joe Riccota at Southern Bancorp, and Planters Bank,
both ponied up 100 Boston butts, which the Rotarians
cooked and sold. Along with other private and business
donations, the Drew-Ruleville club came up with
$12,000.
The Rotary Foundation and District 6800 matched the
amount, giving the organization $24,000 total to repair
and restore the playground.
“We are repairing frames and replacing all the seats
and chairs on the swings, we put the monkey bars back
up, painted them, we had to remove the merry-gorounds as they are no longer safe, we are installing a
sliding board and purchasing a $13,000 giant piece of
equipment that will have slides, a swinging bridge and
walkways,” Cooper said.
“We bought timbers and 13 tons of pea gravel to make
it safe and in compliance with today’s standards,” he
said.
The Rotarians have been hard at work tearing down,
cleaning up and repairing what they can as they wait on
some of the bigger playground equipment pieces.
“We are working to get this completed by this fall,”
he said. “We are still waiting on our large piece of
equipment. We are making sure this is the safest playground possible. It is very well constructed and really
beautiful. So, we are hoping to have it up not too long
after school starts.
“All of us have enjoyed this, everyone has gotten be-
Photos show club members at work. hind it,” he added. “We can’t wait to see the children’s
faces when this is finished. They deserve a safe and fun
playground for recess and lunch.”
Cooper said the playground is the best that the club
can give them.
“There are so many positive aspects of a playground,
from motor skills, social skills and exercise. There is no
measure as to how it affects a child’s well being. We
are very tickled to be able to do this.
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Past District Governor Ken Bender dies
Dr. Kenneth Russell (Ken) Bender PhD, who served as District 6800 Governor
during the 2003-2004 Rotary year, died August 4th at the Mississippi State Veterans Home in Oxford. He was 81. A graveside service was held Saturday, August 10th at Oxford Memorial Cemetery.
Born in Ft. Wayne, Indiana, Dr. Bender graduated from Southside High School
in Ft. Wayne and earned graduate and undergraduate degrees at Indiana University. He held degrees in Banking and Finance and Psychology, and a Doctorate in
Education. He was a former Assistant Dean of the School of Education at Ole
Miss.
In addition to his service as District Governor, Ken was a past president of the
Oxford Rotary Club and a multiple Paul Harris Fellow. He was a founding member and elder at Peace Lutheran Church in Oxford. In addition to his parents, he
was preceded in death by his wife, Doris Lucille Bender (pictured with Ken in
photo at left).
WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION Memorial contributions in Ken’s memory may be made to The Rotary Foundation, One Rotary Center, 1560 Sherman Avenue, Evans IL 60201-3698, or the
University of Mississippi Foundation, School of Education, Bender Scholarship
Endowment, The University of Mississippi, P.O. Box 249, University, MS
Week ending Aug. 21, 2013 Past and future Dis‐
trict Governors who attended the Bender services were (from left) Marty Petrusek, Gerald Gafford, Dick Weiland, Bob Bickley, Vijay Surpuriya, Tom Wilson, Cary Vaughn, and Tommy White (current District Gov‐
ernor). New wild polio cases report‐
ed in the past week for 2013: 11 Total number of wild cases in 2012 YTD: 223 Total number of wild cases in 2013 YTD: 192 (includes 121 in non‐endemic countries) MID-SOUTH GIFT OF LIFE Baby Abby Martinez is held by
District 6800 Executive Secretary Lee Hughes in photo at left.
Those in right photo are (from
left) Rotary Club of Memphis
East President David Leake,
Baby Abby, Mary & Antonio
Martinez, and Bill Pickens of
Memphis East club, chair of Gift
of Life-Mid-South. The infant
underwent heart surgery at LeBonheur Children’s Hospital.
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Scott Smith, CEO of Bolivar Medical Center in Cleveland, Mississippi, shows a proposed renovation plan to Rotarian Bill Bizzell (right). Bizzell was a trustee on the county hospi‐
tal board when the decision was made to build a new hospi‐
tal on the eastern side of Cleveland many years ago. Gary Adams, new president of the Holly Springs club, is shown presenting
an appreciation plaque to the outgoing prez, Lucy Carpenter. Many
D6800 Rotarians are familiar with Gary, who has spoken at both PETS and
District Conference about his late father, who was a polio victim.
Non Rotarian has best attendance
record at Aberdeen Rotary Club
The two young ladies seen in the above photo are
Rotary Exchange Students, whose trips to Madrid,
Spain and Memphis respectively were coordinated by
the Germantown club and a Madrid Rotary Club. Pictured (from left) are Rotarian Vijay Surpuriya of the
Germantown club, Mary Lindsey (U.S.) Raquell
Jimenez (Spain) and District 6800 Youth Coordinator,
Smith Murphey (Sumner Rotary Club).
Aberdeen Rotary Club President Dwight McComb is shown
presenting a Certificate of Appreciation to Mrs. Everlena
Gathings, who is the server for the club’s weekly meetings at
Shelaine Restaurant. Mrs. Gathings has a perfect attendance
record for the nine years that the club has been meeting at the
venue. For that matter, she has remained in the room for the
entire meeting during those nine years. Talk about dependability and dedication!
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Rotary International’s
2013-2014 Theme
“Engage Rotary - Change Lives”
ATTENTION, CLUB SECRETARIES
It’s important that you submit your monthly reports to the
district secretary. Only 3 clubs failed to report in July!
JUST DO IT!
SAMUEL (THIRD FROM LEFT) is seen ten days after
successful heart surgery at LeBonheur Children’s Hospital in Memphis. Gift of Life - Mid-South, supported by District 6800, made arrangements for the life saving procedure. Those in photo (from left) are Bill Pickens, Gift of
Life chairman, Samuel’s mother, Samuel, Sarah Grace
Taylor of Gift of Life, Samantha Dean of Huey’s Restaurant, and Susan Scott, past president of MidTown Memphis Rotary Club.
Garrett Bouse (red shirt) received the Cleveland Rotary Club’s
annual college scholarship to Delta State University. Garrett is
an incoming senior, majoring in Physical Education. His parents,
Gary and Rebecca Bouse of Caledonia, are on Garrett’s right.
Presenting the scholarship was Rotarian Eckward McKnight. .
FIRST OFFICIAL VISIT - District Governor Tommy White
(right) chose the Como club for his first official visit.
One of his tasks while there was to present a Paul Harris
Fellow award to the outgoing club president, Randy Perkins (center). Seen at left is the new president, Pete
Nelson.
Rotarian Clay McWilliams (le ) invited Bill Lee (right) to speak to the Cleveland Rotary Club. Bill, Senior VP with Gulf Guaranty, spoke on the Ba le of Franklin (Tenn.), in which his great‐great grandfather fought . Welcoming Bill to the Club were Clay and Rotary President Emily Ha‐
vens. The Ba le of Franklin was fought on November 30, 1864, at Franklin, Tennessee, during the Civil War. It resulted in one of the largest losses of lives for Mississippians serving in the war. The ba le also resulted in the loss of six Confederate generals. Rotary International’s
2013-2014 Theme
“Engage Rotary - Change Lives”
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