February 11, 2003

THERE WILL BE NO MEETING NEXT MONDAY, FEBRUARY 17,
AS WE CELEBRATE PRESIDENTS’ DAY.

NEXT MEETING, FEBRUARY 24… our speaker will be James Meredith.

LAST MEETING, FEBRUARY 10... our own Dr. Roger Parrott, President of Belhaven College, told us ten things we might otherwise not know about this important Christian college. First, he reviewed the college Mission Statement and emphasized that everything at Belhaven is faith based, including its unique World View Curriculum. Roger’s top ten list included facts about enrollment (doubled in the past eight years, to 2100), faculty (also doubled – and 90% of them with terminal degrees), degrees in the arts (Belhaven is the only Christian college to cover all four), new buildings, new majors, new locations (Orlando, as well as Memphis), vastly improved finances, and even the ups and downs of forming a football team from scratch. Roger also told us that the Lausanne Forum for World Evangelization, which he chairs, will be held in Thailand in 2004. Thanks to Danny Williams for arranging and introducing this program.

YOUR BOARD OF DIRECTORS…has approved the following new member proposals. If no objections are received within seven days, they will be introduced to the club as new members:
• Jim Hupp, Dean of the School of Dentistry at UMC. Jim was proposed by Heber Simmons.
• Chris Hoyt, Assistant Vice President, MMC Materials. Chris was proposed by John Laws III.

LET ME CALL YOU SWEETHEART… The Banquet is Thursday, February 20, at the Country Club of Jackson. If you’ve already paid for your tickets, wonderful. If you haven’t yet, better get moving – the deadline is 5:00 p.m. on February 17. Call or fax either Bobbie Campbell (919-2076; fax 919-2592) or the Rotary office (352-8500; fax 352-8586).

ABOUT SCHOLARSHIPS… Applications for the 2003 Rotary Mentor Scholarships have been delivered to area high schools with an application deadline of March 28. Members of the Mentor Scholarship Committee should mark their calendars for applicant interviews on April 28, May 5, and May 12 from noon until 2:00 pm. Selection of scholarship recipients is scheduled for May 19. If you know of students who may qualify for a scholarship, please ask them to contact their school counselor for an application.

PRESIDENT’S CORNER… As you are aware, our Scholarship Raffle will close out at 5:00 p.m. on February 19. It would be great if we could award the largest number ever in scholarships this year, and it can be done. If 300 of our 350+ members bought two tickets each, that would be $60,000. To date, we only have about two-thirds of that amount. DON’T YOU AGREE THAT WE CAN DO BETTER THAN THIS? Jennifer Hall will be happy to take your order over the phone or by fax. Call 939-8820 or fax 939-7988. – Howard