October 29 2008

October 29, 2008 – Minutes for the Lake Murray Rotary Club Meeting. Submitted by Lyn Richards.

The meeting was opened with our invocation given by Chris Joye. John Hanson introduced our visitors, and this being the Wednesday before the election, we were graced with the presence of Political candidates Joe Wilson and Chip Huggins, along with other visitors. Lyman delivered health and happiness. Jay Stewart has transferred his membership to our club, and was congratulated and welcomed by President Eddy. Kelly Payne was congratulated on being selected as Walmart’s Teacher of the Year. Patty Cavanaugh made a special presentation to Joel Collins as a Rotary Foundation Benefactor.

Happy Dollars were led by Judy Johnson, who gave out “treats”, including an ornament in support of the Babcock Center. Contributions were lively.

Our speaker, Converse A. Chellis, III, the South Carolina State Treasurer, was introduced by Lyman Whitehead. Mr. Chellis spoke to us about the State Treasurer’s Office on two fronts: some of the interesting accomplishments of the office, and what is going on in Columbia. For Mr. Chellis, safeguarding the assets of South Carolina is paramount.

After weathering two budget cuts of more than 3%, Mr. Chellis’s office has created a task force of 17 people who unanimously created and adopted a plan to fund the “unfunded mandate” of COLAs (cost of living increases) of $9.8 billion, while saving SC taxpayers over $3 billion. The office has returned over $11 million in unclaimed property to SC residents, up from a previous average per year of $6 million. They have attracted more SC residents to the Future Scholars Program. What used to have a 53% participation from non-residents has turned into a 55% participation by residents. He has been actively managing the “Bid South Carolina” program, where banks are encouraged to bid for money that the banks in turn use to loan to consumers. His audit background as a CPA has made it important to him to perform due diligence on the state’s investments. He keeps an eye on preservation of principal as well as maximizing earnings; and he closely monitors reserve accounts for security and adequacy.

In Columbia, he was glad to note that the Budget and Control board did not opt for across-the-board spending cuts, but had targeted spending cuts.

In closing, he stressed the importance of integrity in the State Treasurer’s Office. He cited all the influences in his life that have stressed this attribute: family, church, scouting, team sports, his Citadel education, his CPA profession, and his community service with Rotary.

October 22 2008

President Eddie opened the meeting with the invocation by Jim Gadsden with thePledge of Allegiance following. John Hansen introduced guests, noting the strongpresence of our Interact Club members. Chief Buck of the Irmo Police Deaprtment wasalso introduced. Lyman Whitehead got multiple responses to birthdays andanniversaries, but no divorces noted. He also provided an update on the smartblonde on the golf course. Lynn Campbell updated everyone on the October issue of the Rotarian Magazine withoutsubjecting us to a quiz – that is on the agenda for next month. George Staples gave President Eddie two flags from his recent trip to South Africawhich focused on potential sites for a Rotary sponsored orphanage, an internationalproject involving our Club. Dena Englekens and John Freeman from our Interact Club at Dutch Fork High Schoolgave classification talks with John and our speaker exchanging comments on John'supcoming graduation. Our speaker was Dr. Herb Berg, Interim Superintendent for Lexington-Richland SchoolDistrict V. Herb noted the effort involved over 25+ years to build up the qualityand reputation of our schools, which he vividly demonstrated by comparing homeprices in adjacent communities with school systems not as highly rated as ours. Heprovided background and facts supporting the need for the bond referendum on theballot next month to ensure the quality of our school system does not begin tofalter. The bond will support improvements in some of our older schools, while newbuildings will reduce the student population in others to the number of studentsthat the schools were designed to accommodate. The District V website also providesmore information on the school system and bond issues as well as the views of theSchool Board candidates in the upcoming election.-- Jeffrey W. Baldwin, FACHELighthouse Healthcare Associates, LLC

Oct 15 2008

Rotary Minutes – October 15, 2008

The meeting was called to order by Eddie Robinson and the invocation was given by Lyn Richards.

Ginny Barr presented Perfect Attendance Awards for 07-08 year.

Receiving awards were:

Beetle Bailey

Lynn Campbell

Patty Cavanaugh

Jeannette Coulter

Rod Funderburk

Larry Stohs

Lyman Whitehead

Eddie Robinson inducted two new members to our Club, Bill Kopelman and Brooks Williams.

It was announced that Gov. Sanford would be speaking at the Chapin Sunrise Club on Thursday, 10/16/08, at 7:30 am. All were invited to attend.

New Club Bylaws were distributed for review and discussion. After a few questions, the Bylaws were approved by the club membership. Many thanks to Jeff Allen for his hard work in drafting our new rules.

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned.