July 9, 2002

NEXT MEETING, JULY 15… We’ll hear Bob Pittman, who was for many years President of the Mississippi Economic Council, and who is now Publisher and Editor of The Times of South Mississippi, in Hattiesburg. Bob will speak on “The Things That Matter Most.”

LAST MEETING, JULY 8… We observed our annual “Changing of the Guard,” as President Howard Catchings took over the reins from (now) Past President Roger Venable. The club gave a standing ovation to President Roger as he thanked the club in general and specific chairpersons for the work they did to help him have an outstanding year. Roger outlined many accomplishments, including increased membership to 343, before awarding the club’s treasured President’s Pin to Howard.

President Howard challenged the club to continue the work done in the past, but with a new enthusiasm. He outlined four specific goals for the year: increasing membership, giving to Polio Plus, being more involved in the Rotary Foundation and Paul Harris Fellowships, and increasing participation in the Sweetheart Banquet and the fundraising activity that accompanies it for our Rotary Mentor Scholarships. Howard was encouraged by the return of the questionnaires he had sent out – more than 1/3 of the club has already responded – and by the quality of the answers he is receiving.

DUES ARE DUE… and you should have received a statement with last week’s Rotagram. You can pay in a variety of ways now, including by credit card if you desire. Be advised that dues will be PAST due on August 10, so get yours in now.

POLIO PLUS?… Didn’t we already eradicate polio? Well, we made a gigantic swipe at it. Since 1986, Rotary International has invested nearly $500 million to eradicate polio, and more than two BILLION children have received vaccine. There have been no outbreaks of polio in the US or in much of the world for several years now. But there are still third-world countries where polio is an everyday heartache, and Rotary International has vowed to completely eradicate the disease by 2005, Rotary’s centennial year. We’ll hear more about this campaign in coming days from Lewis Lipscomb, who is our club’s (and the district’s) chairperson for Polio Plus.

INTERESTING FACTS… as President Howard noted in his inaugural speech, the recent Rotary International Convention in Barcelona, Spain, attracted 19,004 registrants from 3,180 clubs in 146 countries. The only place in Barcelona large enough for plenary sessions was the basketball arena in which our Dream Team played in the 1992 Olympics, and it was packed for every session. Mikhail Gorbachev and Jerry Lewis were just two of many speakers to address the assembly.