April 5, 2005

NEXT MEETING, APRIL 11… Leland Speed from MDA will be our speaker.

LAST MEETING, APRIL 4… John Elkington from Performa in Memphis gave us a rundown on the Farish Street Entertainment District. This long-awaited development is ready to get into full swing. There’ll be more than 100,000 square feet of restaurants, entertainment, and retail space, and programs designed to get people to want to come downtown. Special events on tap are a Mississippi Homecoming (did you know that 10 members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame are from Mississippi – more than any other state?), a National Blues Festival, and an Arts Festival. John’s group is committed to security, good parking, and working toward refurbishing the surrounding area, which really needs it. There’ll also be 68 new apartments on Hamilton, the first NEW apartments downtown in more than twenty years. John reminded us that diversity is a strength, and he’s looking forward to helping develop musical tourism here the way he did Beale Street in Memphis. Thanks to Susan Lunardini for introducing this program.

WELCOME TO NEW MEMBER… number 30 of this Rotary year. Introduced to the club on April 4 was…
•Johnny Donaldson, Vice President, Private Client Group, BankPlus. Johnny was introduced by his proposer, Lee Bush.

ROTARFEST COMING UP… on Monday, April 25. We’ll meet at the Ag Museum for an after-work get-together with drinks, barbecue and/or shrimp. No speaker. No spouses. No guests. Just Rotarians, and just for fellowship. The club pays the tab. What more could you want?

PRESIDENT’S CORNER… During the weekend I was thinking about what a tremendous Rotary year we have had up to this point, and the fact that our new officers and directors will be taking charge in about 3 months. Many projects have been successfully completed, and I look forward to finishing strong. As I mentioned today, we have more great programs on the schedule. You don’t want to miss a single program and be sure to invite a new member prospect. Our club is as solid as our membership. Let’s not lose sight of the fact that someone asked each of us to become a member. Speaking of new members, be sure to welcome Johnny Donaldson, our newest. On another topic, if you are interested in learning more about Rotary and getting to know fellow Rotarians from around our district, sign up for the District Conference, scheduled for April 22-24 at Lake Tiak-O-Khata. Bill Dawson needs to know ASAP. Yours in Rotary, Danny