June 15 2011

NOTES FROM THE JUNE 15, 2011 MEETING OF THE ROTARY

                                                CLUB OF LAKE MURRY –IRMO

            The meeting was called to order by President Judy Johnson and the invocation was delivered by Dr. Ros Browning. Following the announcements, Lyman Whitehead presented a hilarious story during Health and Happiness. (One of his all time best, I must say.)

            The speaker for the day, Sergeant Major James “Mack” McDowell, was introduced by John Adair. A highly-decorated serviceman, SGM McDowell presented an informative narrative entitled “Service through Peacekeeping”. The New York native took us through his peacekeeping experiences in Nepal, the Gaza-Strip, New Orleans, Iraq and Afghanistan.

            Of particular interest were McDowell’s efforts to aid Afghan farmers in their quest to obtain and grow saffron (a spice) as a cash crop instead of poppy. For his efforts SGM McDowell was named a CNN Hero for 2007.

            Following SGM McDowell’s presentation, the meeting was adjourned

June 8 2011

Here are the notes that I have from the meeting this morning:

The meeting was called to order by President Dr. Judy Johnson followed by the invocation and Pledge of Allegiance.  President Johnson made announcements about upcoming Rotary events, and announced that the Small Gifts and Grants committee awarded $300.00 to Deputy Mark Ryan of the Richland County Sheriff’s Department.  John Adair announced that next week’s speaker is an Army veteran of the Iraq/Afghanistan conflict.

Ginny Barr presented Paul Harris Fellows to Jason Baldwin, Barbara Crawford, Herb Harrison and Kristen Danielson.

Mickey Epting gave his classification speech.

Lyman Whitehead introduced the guest speakers for the meeting, Representatives Chip Huggins and Nathan Ballentine.  They spoke about current legislation including the Amazon.com deal, government restructuring and re-districting.  Both of the speakers took many questions from the club membership.

Respectfully submitted,

Brian Buck