May 13 2009

It was a rather unusual wednesday. Instead of the usual Rotary club
meeting, the members attended pancake beakfast arranged by Emilie Keene.
This started about 6:30 AM and continued till 9:30 AM. Several Rotary
members and business people from the community came to the drive through
and purchased breakfasts and contributed to the fundraising efforts.
Some members assisted in preparing the breakfast boxes to carry. Others
served breakfast to Rotary members who elected to sit down and had a
dialogue while eating delicious breakfast. There was a radio station
announcer that invited several members to speak on different issues.
Many Rotary members discussed local issues in an informal relaxed way
which was quite refreshing.

May 6 2009

The Rotary Club of Lake Murray-Irmo

Minutes of Meeting
May 6, 2009



The invocation was given by Scott Mosely.

John Hanson introduced guest.

Lyman Whitehead asked if there were any birthdays or anniversaries.

Patty Cavanaugh made reference to the flyer “Pause for the Cause” that was distributed on each table.

John Adair stated that there will be two cart presentations today at the Chamber of Commerce, one for $100,000.00 and one for $150,000.00. John thanked all members for contributions to the cart fund. John also stated that Barbara Wilm was voted to be awarded the Vocational Distinguished Service Award for Community Service at last weeks meeting.

Emily King reminded all members that next weeks pancake breakfast is to be held between 6:30 am – 9:30 am. Emily stated that Rotarians would not be charged for their own breakfast, but encouraged Rotarians to pick up and sell tickets for this event.

Reid Danielson, Bill Danielson’s son, gave his classification speech. Reid stated he is a 2003 graduate of Dutch Fork High School. Reid also stated he attended Clemson University, against his father’s wishes, and pursued an architectural degree but during the process changed to finance and graduated in 2007. Reid stated he went to work for Meridian Bank after graduation. Reid stated that he is the “best fruit of his father’s loins” which is a direct quote from Bill Danielson. Reid also stated that he does not have much history which was disputed by Bill Danielson stating he could provide plenty of history on his son if Reid could not remember it. Reid stated that probably should not be done in this venue.

Si Amick also gave his classification speech. Si stated he joined The Lake Murray-Irmo Rotary Club in 1989 after being asked by Jim Jeffers to visit the club. Si stated he is the oldest of six children, grew up in Columbia, went to Christ School in Asheville, and graduated in 1980 from USC. Si stated he married his childhood sweetheart, Betsy, in 1980. Si stated in 1991 he established Data Com Systems, built a house on Lake Murray, and he and Betsy had their first child. Si stated they have two children, Allison and Paul.

John Adair introduced the guest speaker, Bob Crutchfield. John stated Bob is a member of The Columbia Rotary Club, serves on numerous boards, and is President of Crutchfield Associates, Inc.

Bob thanked John for the introduction and stated that it is rare for him to speak before a group of which he knows probably 35% of the people. Bob stated in 1986 he started Crutchfield Associates, which is an out-placement company. Bob asked the members what they would do if at 3:30 pm this Friday afternoon they were told that they no longer had a job. Bob stated that there are two to three things in life that he categorizes as “bumps in the road” and are as follows: loss of job, divorce, and loss of a loved one. Bob stated these are the things that make you stop and think about what is really important in your life and establish your true priorities.

Bob stated he spent 20 years working for the Sears Corporation of which part of that time he was a store manager in Brunswick, Georgia. Bob stated there was a time when a new store was being opened and he sent all of his assistant managers to that store and ran his current store by himself for an extended period of time. Bob stated during this time he worked six days a week from 6:00 am until 10:00 pm and decided this was not what he really wanted to do for the rest of his life. At some point he relayed this message to his boss and eventually he was “in transition”. Bob stated this is when you no longer have a job and are searching for what you would like to do. Bob stated at that time he went to work for Lucas Associates, a recruiting firm in Atlanta, Georgia, and moved his wife and children to the basement of his mother’s home in Atlanta. Bob stated this is when you realize whether your wife really loves you or not. Bob stated in 1986 he started a recruiting business in Columbia. In 1990 this business transitioned into an out-placement company which is now called Crutchfield Associates, Inc.

Again, Bob asked Rotarians what happens when you lose a job. Bob stated that when you lose a job you often start looking in the newspaper. Bob stated that 90% of all jobs are not located in the newspaper. He stated that approximately 70% of the jobs come through recruiters and approximately 5% are on the internet. Bob stated that 90% of the people find their jobs through people that they know.

Bob stated when you are “in transition” he suggests that you create a letter that you send to every acquaintance you know letting them know that you are “in transition”. Bob stated in this letter you simply let your friends know that you are in transition and ask them to help you if they have any information on any available jobs. Bob stated you will find out who your true friends are and some of them will give you a call and at that time may request a resume. Bob stated the second letter that you need to write is to companies that you think may have some possibilities and you should send the letter only to the CEO along with a resume. Bob stated that the out placement company can help you with this process and they will also send letters to people that they know.

Bob stated that age used to be a factor, however, it is not the factor that it once was. Bob concluded his talk stating “nothing is as bad as you think” and “nothing is as good as you think.” Bob stated that out placement can help people find out the things that they would like to do and then try to find a place for them to do it. After Bob concluded his talk, one question that was asked was “why do bosses lay employees off on Friday”. Bob stated there is never a good time to lay anyone off, however, people do go home after work every Friday and over the weekend are able to be with their friends and family which may help them to transition into what should be done on Monday. Bob stated if a boss lays an employee off on Monday, the only place they can go is to their attorney. Joel Collins raised an eyebrow at this and after that President Eddie adjourned the meeting.

April 29 2009

Lake Murray-Irmo Rotary Meeting Minutes for April 29^th, 2009

President Eddie Robinson brought the meeting to order. John Hanson recognized visitors. President Robinson introduced his wife Cynthia, and mother Mozell Robinson. Lyman Whitehead provided the club with health and happiness. His joke about a lie detecting robot was an amusing start to the day. President Robinson then gave an update on Bill Kopelman saying that Bill was responding favorably to his treatment and asked that the club keep Bill in our thoughts and prayers. The meeting was then turned over to Emily Keene and Maria Hargrave for an update on the pancake breakfast. The breakfast will be held May 13^th at the Seven Oaks Park location. Tickets will be available for sale soon, as will signs to be posted inside business locations to advertise the event. The fundraising committee challenged the club members to try and sell at least five tickets a piece for the event which will help support our club and our community. John Adair addressed the club regarding the vocational distinguished service award. The nominees were: Doug Trevette of Trevette Mailing Service, Dr. Robert Callis of Lexington Family Practice, Dr. Jon Pitner of Pitner Orthodontics and Barbara Wilm of Lexington Medical Center. The club then voted via ballots at each table. The winner will be announced during next weeks meeting. Blount Shepard gave the club a review of the previous weekend’s highway cleanup. Ten to fifteen bags of trash were removed from the Farming Creek Rd.. Blount also recognized the bravery of several first time shad roe and oyster gravy eaters. Zeke Riddle even claimed to like the stuff. President Robinson called Patty Cavanaugh to assist him in the induction of the club’s newest Paul Harris Fellow. Mozell Robinson, President Robinson’s mother, was recognized for her years of service to the community educated children as a public school teacher. After the induction, President Robinson allowed time for Happy Dollars.

John Adair introduced the speaker, Lou Nolan. Lou is a member of the Five Points Club in Columbia. She has served as her club’s president and is currently the Assistant Governor-elect for Area 2 of District 7770. She is a multiple Paul Harris Fellow and Sustaining Member. Lou is also on the Board of the Coins for Alzheimer’s Research Trust, or better known as the CART Fund. Lou spoke about the origin of the CART Fund, its mission and the current state of the Fund. She began with a story to illustrate the effects of Alzheimer’s. She spoke of a pair of sisters, one whom had been diagnosed at a relatively young age with the disease. The woman had trouble remembering dates and times, then the names of relatives, and eventually found it difficult to recognize her own husband. Lou explained that for adults between sixty and seventy years old, most will experience some degree of normal memory loss. Those that seem to have a more extreme case should seek medical help and undergo a memory test. Alzheimer’s can affect a person at any age but is seen more frequently in older individuals. In 1995, researchers discovered one of the most aggressive genes related to Alzheimer’s disease. In that same year, Robert Ackerman led the Sumter, SC Rotary Club in organizing and starting the CART Fund. The idea was that Rotarians empty their pocket change as a donation to the Fund to support research. The program has grown from the Sumter club and has been adopted by each Rotary district in North and South Carolina and Georgia. The money collected is used to support Alzheimer’s research through a single grant awarded each year to various approved medical research programs. The grants are awarded through an association with the American Federation for Aging Research who reviews grant proposals and recommends the best ones to the CART Fund. Lou added that 99% of the money donated goes directly to research. To date, the grants total $2.3 million to various research centers. As for the results of the grants Lou offered this example. The University of Texas – Medical Branch received a grant from CART to study testing of blood and spinal fluid for markers of Alzheimer’s. The tests were originally unsuccessful but the researchers did discover a new protein linked to the disease. The discovery aided in the development of a new brain scan technique that allows researchers and doctors to recognize the early development of Alzheimer’s “tangles” in the brain.

Meeting adjouned.

By Reid Danielson

President Eddie with his mother and new Paul Harris Fellow, Mozelle Robinson. Also Patty Cavenaugh.

April 22 2009

Lake Murray/Irmo Rotary Meeting
April 22, 2009

The meeting was called to order at 7:45 AM by President Elect Ginny Barr. The invocation was given by Skey Caskey. Darren Bouknight introduced the guests including Ron Altoff from the ST. Andrews club and Roy Caney from Ascensions. Lyman Whitehead brought laughter from the group with his health and happiness message for the day. Lynn Campbell did an excellent job of reviewing the Rotary magazine with the members and reminded folks that April was Magazine Month. Members were encouraged to make the Rotarian a “must read”.

John Adair reminded members that next week we will be selecting the recipient for the “Distinguished Service Award for the Community” and nominations are still be accepted. Beetle Bailey announced that the Federation for the Blind was having a barbecue fundraiser and he had tickets available to the event.

President Elect Barr informed the members that Ben Herritage had resigned his position on the Board for next year as Vice President due to family reasons but would continue as a member. The Board of Directors, in compliance with the Constitution and Bylaws, selected Jeanette Coulter to be the Vice President.

George Staples and a friend of his, Dr. Stuart Hamilton and their spouses toured South Africa last October and utilized the Friendship Exchange program where they were hosted in Rotarian homes. Dr. Hamilton gave an excellent presentation on their tour and shared some fabulous photographs. The Spring Valley Club and our Rotary Club have joined forces and have pledged $2,000 toward a matching grant to assist the people of South Africa.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:30 AM.

Respectfully submitted


Judy Johnson, reporter

April 15, 2009

Lake Murray-Irmo Rotary Meeting Minutes for Wednesday, April 15, 2009 President Eddie Robinson brought the meeting to order. Our invocation was given byJohn Adair. Visitors were Fred Splittgerber and Cheryl Cotton from the St. AndrewsClub. Larry Stohs introduced his guest, Meredith Allen, President of the IrmoChamber. Rod Funderburk introduced our speakers, Emily Stanek and Courtney Gibson. Rod introduced his guests, his wife, Rowena and grandson, Joshua. John Hanson announced two local events, the Richland County Electronics Recycling tobe held at Columbiana Mall on Saturday, April 18, from 9:00 to 1:00 and a free shredevent at Irmo Town Hall on Saturday. President Robinson gave a reminder about the CART fund buckets for Alzheimers research. Blount Shepard reminded us about the highway cleanup this coming Saturday. We areto meet at his office in Ballentine at 8:00 for breakfast and fellowship before thecleanup. President Robinson asked us to remember Jim Wellman as he is undergoing knee surgerytoday. Ginny Barr reminded us of leadership training in Charleston tomorrow. John Adair asked that we submit to him the name of a non-Rotarian for adistinguished service award. This person is to be a full time employee in theircareer for at least seven years. Emilie Keene and her committee are finalizing plans for the last fund raiser of theyear and is asking for suggestions for a topic or speaker. Lyman Whitehead provided health and happiness. President Robinson conducted a ceremony to induct Jerry Isbell into membership ofour club, with Larry Stohs and Ginny Barr participating in the ceremony. We arepleased to have Jerry and look forward to his association and contribution to ourclub. Happy dollars were given from John Adair, who proclaimed his piano tuning hasreached 36,000; Joel Collins gave a happy dollar for his grandson, Deane, in honorof his 10th birthday; Commander Jay Seward's happy dollar was for 3 new ROTC cadets;Kelly Payne's was for her supportive Interact kids and their participation inAdopt-a-Highway; Beetle Bailey's was for his attendance of the Heritage GolfTournament and Larry Stohs for Eddie Robinson's Distinguished Service Award atClemson. Beetle Bailey announced an annual barbecue for next Thursday for $7.00. Rod Funderburk introduced Emily Stanek, who was one of the winners of the RotaryScholarship from our club last year. Emily was born in Boston and moved to Memphis.She will be traveling to Monterey, Mexico, 2 ½ hours from Laredo, Texas, in August. She will be spending an academic year at the Tecnologico de Monterrey. She is aSociology major and minor in Spanish, having graduated from USC in May 2008. Shehas studied in Costa Rica, where she lived with a host family. She is currentlyworking as an immigration advocate. She will be working towards her Masters inpublic policy and public administration. Monterey, Mexico has a population of 4million and is a multi-cultural city and a business and industrial area. Emily toldus she is alert to safety issues while traveling in Mexico. She thanked us for oursponsorship of her. Courtney Gibson was also a scholarship candidate last year. Courtney is originallyfrom Saranac Lake, New York and moved to Irmo when she was 12 or 13. She went toour Dutch Fork schools and is a graduate of the USC Honors College, with a major inPolitical Science and a minor in Spanish. She will be leaving in early July, 2009and will be studying in Quito, Ecuador. She will spend 3 months at the Academia deEspanol-Quito, studying Spanish. Courtney currently works on Latino issues oncampus, as well as AIDS and domestic violence. She graduated from George WashingtonUniversity with a Masters in International Affairs, with a focus on human rights. She was attracted to the Rotary Scholarship because of the service aspect. Shethanked Rotary for this opportunity. President Robinson thanked Emily and Courtney and also thanked Rod Funderburk forhis work on the Rotary Scholarships. President Robinson gave a reminder about the Board meeting on Friday morning at 7:30at Panera Bread and adjourned the meeting. Patty Cavanaugh Reporter

April 1 2009

The meeting was called to order by President Eddie and the invocation was offered by Patty Cavanaugh. John Hanson then introduced our guests, which included Bentley Murrell and Marci Medway from the Five Points Club, Scott and Jay Downs, and then two guests invited by Joel Collins including last week's speaker Roi Canty from Ascension Hospice & The Lodge at Ascension, and Christian Stegmeier, an attorney who works with Joel in his law practice.

Blount Shepard was then called on to announce the next Adopt -a-Highway Clean-up Saturday and promised a breakfast that would be "to die for". I think I'm goin'!!!

President Eddie then announced "Happy Dollars time" and numerous members reported they were happy for various family members doing various achievements but the high-light was when President Eddie announced that he was contributing a happy "five dollars" because he had forgotten to call on Lynn Richards to give us Health and Happiness in the earlier time slot. So Eddie then called on Lynn and she said a card was available to sign, going to Bill Kopleman, and then gave us several tips on how to pull an April Fools prank on our fellow workers back at the office. I am sure we all immediately went back to the office and made our fellow workers feel really foolish.

President Eddie then turned the meeting over to Ginny Barr to introduce our speaker who was David A. Thomas, Special Agent in Charge of the Columbia Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in South Carolina. He said many people don"t even realize there is an FBI Group here in Columbia but they have 300 employees here, and they work closely with the Sheriff's Departments of both Richland and Lexington Counties, SCLED, and also local police departments. Mr. Thomas has over twenty years experience in the FBI, and although he has been Special Agent in Charge in several cities including St. Louis, he feels his tenure here in Columbia has been the best experience in his career.

Mr. Thomas has a wealth of experience in Ciber Crime Investigation and has assisted in the Ciber arena in fifty different countries. He spoke of Russia breaking into computors in the USA and referred to that practice as a "War Offense." He used a term of "Reverse Engineering" as a process and talked of intelligence devices, finding how they worked, and then how they would find a way to "jam" them.

Mr. Thomas talked of the FBI needing a gemologist to deal with jewel thieves so they sent him to different schools around the world to become a gemologist. They trained agents for covert entry and he said at one point he had to give mouth-to-mouth to a dog, because to enter a residence under suspicion, first they had to defuse a watch dog and when they were ready to leave the property they had to revive the dog so it would be like they had never been there. This practice gives new meaning to the term "Dog Breath".

Mr. Thomas talked of using the FBI intelligence initiative, on one hand, in Afghanistan, where maybe 10% of their 30,000 employees worldwide are used internationally to, on the other hand, making a contribution locally for gang related activities.

He also talked of keeping your computors at home safe by using anti-virus methods and keeping them updated. He said they have arrested some SPAM offenders that were making $500,000 - 750,000 per month from the hits to their somehow believable garbage offered because some people fall prey to these wonderful offers. His suggestion was to turn you computor off when not is use. Also when you use your credit card on line you might want to use "credit stops" to limit your exposure. I guess this makes some of us feel like we are walking around naked. How do you feel?

Meeting adjourned.

Larry Stohs

March 25

By: Clark Kent
Special Reporter for the Daily Planet

Our guest speaker was Roi Canty from Ascension Hospice & The Lodge at Ascension. Ms Canty, the Hospital Liaison for Ascension, described this Irmo business as being only one of two in-patient Hospice facilities in the Columbia market and the types of care and service offered by her company. Ascension moved last year to their new facilities on Woodrow Street. Ms Canty explained the various levels of Senior care that her company provides from the entry levels of Assisted Living at their facility known as The Lodge at Ascension to end-of-life services in their adjoining 14 bed Hospice facility. In addition to the Irmo facilities, Ascension offers in-home Hospice care throughout parts of South Carolina with offices located in Florence and Rock Hill.

The Lodge at Ascension provides 24 hour skilled care as well as having a medical doctor on staff. She stated that a majority of their patients are “private pay” and the average cost runs about $2400 per month depending on the level of services provided to the individual. Ms Canty indicated that the demographics of the “typical” assisted living resident was an 80 year old widowed female who may end up being a resident for a number of years. However, this is much different with their Hospice in-patient care unit where the stay is much shorter…10 days to two weeks. Ms Canty invited individual Rotary members to visit the Ascension facility for a private tour.

In other matters to come before the Club, President Eddie gave an update on the District Conference that was held in Columbia last week. He described the various events held over the two day period and thanked the members who attended. The Lake Murray-Irmo Rotary Club was the recipient of three awards; The Governors Citation, the Presidents Citation, and the silver Literacy Award were proudly accepted by President Eddie. Our Club was also recognized for sponsoring two of the three current Ambassadorial Scholarship students studying abroad at this time. President-elect Ginny Barr discussed the picture display board that chronological the Club’s recent past events. She thanked Debra Bailey for her work in putting the display together which was one of the better displays that was exhibited. Next year’s district Conference will be held in Myrtle Beach.

We also had two “classification” presentations. Michael Cromer, one of our newest Club members is the Commercial Banking Manager at First Community Bank on Lake Murray Boulevard. Originally from Chapin, Michael holds a degree in Finance from Clemson University, is married with two children (ages six and nine). Rod Funderburk, a Charter Member of the Lake Murray Rotary Club in 1989 spoke about his long professional career at the former Allied Chemical plant on St. Andrews Road, which according to Rod, has undergone 19 different name changes over the years. Rod held numerous mulit-plant managerial positions with the company and its successors over the years before retiring. Rod is now an energy management consultant with Resource Supply Management Rod is a former President of the Lake Murray Rotary Club and has done about everything at the club and district level over the years. Needless to say that this column would be too long to even attempt to list the numerous contributions to Rotary that has been unselfishly been made by Rod as he has exemplified the true meaning of “Service above Self”.

March 11 2009

March 11, 2009
Reporter: Scott Moseley

Joel Price gave our invocation and John Hanson introduced our visitors. Douglas Brown is a student at USC and is interested in a Rotary scholarship. Spencer McClay is Mike’s younger son and a former Rotary exchange student to Finland.

Lynn Richards provided our Health and Happiness. Lyman’s wife JoAnne is in the hospital and we need to keep her in our prayers. We were given a health update on Bill Kopleman and asked to keep him and his family in our thoughts and prayers.

President Eddie reminded us to donate to the C.A.R.T. Fund. Lynn Campbell made President Eddie live up to a bet. Eddie wore a Wake Forest hat the entire meeting because Wake beat Clemson in basketball last week.





President-Elect Ginny Barr represented our club at the President Elect Training Seminar in Myrtle Beach this past weekend. She gave us some information on the upcoming Rotary year and the new slogan “The Future of Rotary is in Your Hands”.

President Eddie wanted to notify the club that there will be NO MEETING next week, Wednesday the 18th due to the district conference.

John Adair and Joel Price each entertained us with their classification talks-Pizza, Piano, Price and Post Office.

Past President Chris Joye introduced our speaker Jonathan Mauger of the Boy’s Farm in Newberry. Jonathan gave a great talk about the Boy’s Farm and its 50 year history of helping ‘Build Boy’s rather than Mend Men’. He thanked the club for the $400 donation made to the Boy’s Farm.

Rotary Bowling Tournament

Thanks to all of the Rotarians, their family members and friends who supported our Bowling Tournament this past Saturday. We had 22 lanes filled with lots of folks having a great time. It was so great to see folks, of all ages, having fun together and at the same time, donating to our Rotary Club. Thanks to the generosity of many of you, we netted a profit of $2200. Special thanks to Eddie Robinson, his wife Cynthia and Jeanette Coulter who helped a great deal Saturday with the tournament. I couldn't have done it without you!

Spirit Winners

Mar 4th 2009

Reporter: Lynn Campbell
3/4/09

The meeting was opened by President Eddie with the invocation given by Bob Berry. Guests were introduced and welcomed to Lake Murray-Irmo Rotary.

Lyman Whitehead's health and happiness caused our president some concern- a story about turpentine and a cat's rear end!! Enough said.

Judy Johnson reported the bowling fundraiser netted over $2200. Thanks Judy for a job well done. Chris Spearman was inducted as our newest member and welcomed by the club.

John Adair introduced those teachers being honored during Teacher
Recognition- they were:

Gordon Farley Dutch Fork Elementary School
Laura Adair Irmo Elementary School
Tracy Frick Harbison West Elementary
Erica Millwood Leaphart Elementary School
Sandy Rickenbaker Dutch Fork High School
Johnny Cooley Irmo Middle School
Hope Lights H.E. Corley Elementary School
Matt Gams Chapin Elementary School
Paulette Moses Ballentine Elementary




John then introduced our speaker Dr. Sandy Breazeale, LPC who told of her dad dropping out of high school and her mother being the first of her family to graduate.

She said expectations of her were the same until she encountered those teachers that changed her outlook on who she was and what she could accomplish in life.

During high school, she was selected to girls state and then to head girls nation. She stated that most of those selected were from the best families who valued education. Her teachers had turned her from the ordinary into the extraordinary.

The meeting ended with Happy dollars- the most unusual was Joel Collins reporting his son Drew was selected in a bachelor auction for $7,000 -That's better than the Dad!

Pic from Dec 3 2008

The meeting was opened by President Eddie Robinson. Skey Caskey gave the invocation by leading the Club in the Lord’s Prayer. Lyman Whitehead offered health and happiness. Most notably, Lynn Richards told us that it was her birthday. President Eddie informed the club that Lynn Campbell’s wife was undergoing surgery and asked that we keep them in our prayers. Ginny Barr gave us instructions about the meeting on 12/10 at DJJ. They have a new Visitors Center , which changes where we will meet and the procedures involved in entering the facility. Emilie Keene reminded us of the Christmas Party on 12/15 and said she would email directions to the site. President Eddie announced that Kevin Adams received a promotion and would be moving his Rotary membership to Lexington. Best of luck to Kevin. President Eddie and Ginny Barr inducted a new member, Irmo Police Chief Bryan Buck. Victories in the previous Saturday’s football games brought in many happy dollars from fans of Georgia Tech, NC State and Clemson.
Carey Hite introduced our speaker, John Singerling. John is the Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Palmetto Health Richland. He has been with Palmetto Health since 1996 and became executive vice president and chief operating officer for Palmetto Health Richland on January 1, 2006. He previously was vice president of operations for Palmetto Health Richland. Prior to that, he worked as corporate director of planning and system development and assistant to the president and CEO for Palmetto Health. Singerling earned a bachelor's degree from Michigan State University and a master's degree in Health Administration from the University of South Carolina. John recognized Judy Smith, Corporate Communications at Palmetto Health, who accompanied him to the meeting. He noted that a number of the Club’s members work at or are affiliated with Palmetto Health.
John told us that Palmetto Health is South Carolina's largest and most comprehensive not-for-profit health resource. Palmetto Health is composed of three outstanding hospitals—Palmetto Health Richland, and Palmetto Health Baptist in Columbia and Easley. The 1,247-bed system is a JCAHO accredited institution with more than 9,000 employees and 1,200 physicians.
Each year, the three hospitals treat more than a half million patients, welcome more than 7,200 babies into the world, treat more than 82,000 pediatric patients and 3,000 cancer patients, accommodate more than 142,000 emergency department visits, perform nearly 50,000 mammograms, and make nearly 38,000 home care visits. They provide all services except they are not a burn center and do not perform transplants.
Two years ago, Chuck Beaman was promoted to President and CEO of Palmetto Health. Under his leadership a new 3 year plan was developed to improve service. Top performing employees in the system drafted Standards of Behavior and each employee must sign this document or be terminated. A Leadership Institute was also launched and approximately 1,000 employees have attended over the past two years. Since enactment of these measures, Palmetto Health has seen a marked increase in its quality ranking, significant improvement in employee morale and increased results for patients. They recently received an award as one of the best places to work from Modern Healthcare Magazine. The Children’s Hospital has finally opened after 20 years and the State granted them authority to build a 76-bed hospital in Irmo, Parkridge Hospital; however, Lexington and Newberry are challenging that decision. The challenge will be addressed early in 2009. John offered many statistics to substantiate the improvement at Palmetto Health over the past couple of years and to show the significant growth in their business.
Blount Sheperd announced that the Club would have its final road-clean-up of the year on 12/13. Meet at Blount’s business in Ballentine at 8 AM for coffee, donuts and a surprise. In conclusion, Jim Wellman asked that everyone complete the survey that was email to the Club regarding future projects.

Feb 18 2009

Meeting was called to order by President Eddie Robinson. Invocation was delivered by Jeff Baldwin that was followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.
John Hanson introduced Cynthia Robinson, Chris Spearman, and Lori Alexander as guests.
Health and Happiness was given by Lyman Whitehead.
Reminder by President Eddie of the Board Meeting being held Friday February 20, 2009 at 7:30 at Panera Bread.
An update on Bill Kopelman was given to the club.
Judy Johnson reminded the club of the bowling tournament to be held Saturday February 28, 2009 from 2-5 at Anchor Lanes. Sponsors and volunteers are needed.
Happy Dollars were given by Eddie Robinson, Ginny Barr, Dr. Carey Hite, Barry Johns, Dr. Balbir Minhas, Beetle Bailey, Lyn Richards, and Larry Stohs.
President Eddie introduced Christina Melton, Principal of Nursery Road Elementary School “Champions”. Presently there are approximately 540 students enrolled at Nursery Road Elementary and they range from 4 year old kindergarteners to fifth graders. Fifty-five percent are Caucasian and 45% are African American with a few students classified as “other”. Thirty-eight percent of these students qualify for free or reduced lunch.
Nursery Road Elementary offers a variety of programs to motivate students. Some of these include: PreGame, GOLD (Goal Oriented Leadership Development), and pinning ceremonies. They also face many challenges. Their PACT scores decreased 13% in language arts, math, science, and social studies; they have missed their AYP Federal requirements two years in a row; and District 5 reports a 2.8% dropout rate for high school students.
Lake Murray-Irmo Rotary Club has chosen to partner with Nursery Road Elementary School to offer additional funds and donate time to assist with programs and/or students. President Eddie will discuss their specific needs at a later meeting.
Meeting adjourned by President Eddie.

Feb 11 2009

Ginny Barr, Chris Joye, Dr. Kathleen Hayes

Lake Murray – Irmo Rotary Club Meeting February 11, 2009

Submitted by Harold Crawford

President Robinson called the meeting to order. Si Amick opened the meeting with a prayer that was followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.

John Hanson introduced all visitors, and Lyman Whitehead entertained us with Health and Happiness.

President Robinson asked each of us to remember Bill Kopelman who is beginning his treatments. We will all keep Bill in our prayers.

Judy Johnson spoke of the upcoming bowling event on Saturday, February 28, at 2:00 PM at Anchor Lanes in Irmo. Rotarians can sponsor teams or play individually.

President Robinson reminded everyone of the District Conference Friday Luncheon. The club will be picking up the expense for the lunch.

Classification Talks were delivered by both Chris King and Ray Hunt.

Former President Chris Joye introduced our speaker, Dr. Kathleen Hayes, State Director of the SC Department of Social Services. Dr. Hayes has dedicated her professional career to improving the wellbeing of the state’s most vulnerable citizens, especially at risk children – in child protective services, foster care, adoption, and to those in the custody of the juvenile justice system.

As director of DSS, Dr. Hayes oversees an agency of 4400 employees which serves more than 800,000 citizens in South Carolina, with an annual budget of $1.2 billion. The DSS programs she supervises includes: child welfare services, including adoption, foster care, child protective services, family preservation and case management; adult protective services, protecting and maintaining the safety of vulnerable adults from abuse and financial exploitation; child support enforcement, including the establishing of child support orders, collection from non-custodial parents, paternity establishment and parent locate services; child care regulatory and licensing services; and temporary assistance to needy families in the form of SNAP benefits, and monetary assistance.

President Robinson adjourned the meeting and wished all Rotarians a good week.

Feb 4 2009

Publish Post

Jan 28 2009

January 28, 2009
Reporter Si Amick

President Robinson called upon Scott Mosley to open the meeting with a word of prayer followed by the pledge of allegiance. John Hanson asked that all remember to contribute to the cart fund each week and then introduced the visitors. Lynn did a wonderful job with health and happiness and now we all know we still have a major problem in Washington.

Remember the district conference is May,19 2009. Please see Jeanette Coulter about registration.

We had two classification speeches by Mr. Jeff Baldwin and Chief Brian Buck. Both did a wonderful job and it is always interesting to learn about the personal lives of our members.

President Robinson presided over the induction of our two newest members Zeke Riddle and Michael Cromer. Zeke is with Prudential Palmetto Realtors and Michael is with First Community Bank. A warm Rotary welcome to you both.

Lynn Richards introduced her husband, Dr. John E. Richards as our speaker.

Dr. Richards is the Interim Chair at USC’s Psychology Department where his primary studies are the brain activities of infants. He has been instrumental in obtaining major grants for the USC’s Psychology Department for this important work. He performed test on Ginny and Eddie, which they both passed with flying colors. We must remember these are the same test that one year old children routinely pass.

Dr. Richards is currently the principal investigator on two research grants. A grant from the National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, focuses on the development of sustained attention in infants ranging in ages from two to six months. Dr. Richards also received a grant from the National Science Foundation, Major Research Instrumentation Award, to develop a high-density EEG/ERP laboratory for the study of developmental cognitive neuroscience.

Dr. Richards has three related research themes:
• The first theme is the development of sustained attention in young infants. This attention phase may be distinguished from other types of attention (e.g., stimulus orienting, automatic interrupt, attention termination). Sustained attention shows developmental changes from 2 to 6 months of age and is closely related to changes in the brain centers controlling attention.

• The second theme is the development of extended fixations to television programs in the first two years. Young infants do not distinguish between abstract patterns and story-like television programs, but at the end of two years young children do.
•
• Third, Dr. Richards is now using EEG and ERP in the study of saccade planning, its development in the first few months of infancy, and its relation to cortical areas controlling eye movements. He also is using structural MRI of infants along with ERP to study the cortical sources of the behavior associated with planned eye movements.

Jan 21 2009

Dori Enderle and President Eddie

Former President Beetle with birthday hat and Family


Reporter Notes: Kevin Meetze / 1/21/09

Announcements:

1. Judy Johnson announced Bowling Tournament Sat Feb 28
2. Jim Wellman asked members to turn in community service forms
3. Update your email with Eddie if you are not getting meeting notices
4. District Conference will be March 19-22 here in Columbia (no meeting that week)

Guest Speaker / Ms. Dori Enderle

• Rod Funderburk introduced our speaker as our clubs ambassadorial scholarship recipient
• Ms. Enderlee is a native Texan and is in her fifth year at USC
• She enjoys dancing, teaching dance, and is a member of the USC dance team
• She volunteers with other USC students to help children in the Waverly Community
• She plans on attending graduate school and would like to work for the State Department in the Foreign Service.
• She spent 2 ½ months in China and Taiwan.
• Along with the people and history she especially loved the food.
• She explained that Taiwan is a democratic country but it is considered by China as a Province. In her view the citizens were satisfied with the political situation and understood that economically they had to maintain good ties with China.
• She lived and studied in Taipei which has many modern western influences.
• Regarding language, the people speak many different dialects which were very confusing. Also the business people adopt a western name related to their business. Some examples were her Rotary contact, Mr. Lawyer, and some others like Mr. Electronics.
• She concluded her presentation by teaching our club how to say “hello” (Ni Hao), “America” (Mei Guo), “Rotary” (Fu Lun), and “Thank You” (Xie Xie)

Natascha Mattich and John Adair

Jan 14 2009

The Rotary Club of Lake Murray-Irmo held its meeting Wednesday, Jan. 14, at the SCE&G Lake Murray Training Center. Following the invocation, pledge of allegiance, recognition of Beetle Bailey’s birthday, and introduction of guests, Jim Landreth spoke to the Club about Environmental Upgrades at some of the SCE&G Power Plants.
Landreth spoke about changes occurring as a result of the Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR). Two of the goals are to reduce sulfur dioxide emissions by 60% and mercury by 40% starting January 1, 2010. SCE&G is installing state of the art technology to move towards achieving those goals. The Cope Station in Orangeburg has spent $64 million to implement measures to reduce nitrogen emissions (NOx) into the atmosphere by 90% from that plant. Landreth said that nuclear plants are a good source of clean energy for the long term and should be the most inexpensive as well.
SCE&G received the 2006 Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement Award for its work in building the new Lake Murray dam. That project was one of the three South Carolina projects which were finalists in the competition (the other two were the Arthur G. Ravenel Jr. bridge in Charleston and the Liberty Bridge in Greenville).
President Eddie announced that the next board meeting would be Jan. 16 at Panera Bread restaurant on Bower Parkway at 7:30 a.m. There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned.

Jan 7 2009

January 7, 2009

Reporter-- Jim Wellman


President Eddie Robinson called the meeting to order. John Adair gave the invocation, after which followed the Pledge of Allegiance.

John Hanson introduced our visiting Rotarians.

Lyman Whitehead entertained us with his usual message of humor and good cheer.

Marsha Medway of the Five Points Rotary Club announced effective this week that their club has changed their meeting place to the Columbia Convention Center. Their meeting time of 1:00 PM each Friday would remain the same.

Ginny Barr asked each member who attended our recent meeting at DJJ to complete a survey outlining their experience there. Our feedback would be used as a training tool to help those students who are looking at the hospitality industry as a potential career.

John Adair and Bob Moseley reminded us that as part of our vocational meeting program that our next meeting would be held at the SCE&G training facility at the Lake Murray dam. We will meet at our usual time to enjoy breakfast and a tour of the dam area.

Jack Terrell requested that our members help the Irmo Chapin Recreation Commission in their long range planning process by completing a survey, either on-line or a hard copy. This survey will be used to access the wants and needs of this community as it relates to its recreational needs.

President Eddie Robinson presented the following nomination report from the Board:
Larry Stohs – secretary and Jeanette Coulter – treasurer for the next Rotary year. He asked if there were any additional nominations from the floor. Hearing none, the candidates were elected by acclamation. Congratulations to each of the fine Rotarians.

A Happy Dollar session was held with many Rotarians showing that we all have much to be thankful for.

Our own Dr. Rosalie Browning, her husband Jim Browning and Dr. Karen Greenfield presented a program that shared with us their experiences on a recent mission to Huaraz Peru. During that trip they helped provide medical and other services to people in four villages in that area. Their slide show indicated an area of much natural beauty but much poverty as well. Their efforts were inspiring to us all.

President Eddie Robinson adjourned the meeting and wished us all a good week.

Adopt a Highway December 2008

Nov 19 2008

Rotary Minutes 11-19-08

President Eddie made an important announcement at the beginning of the November 19 meeting of the Lake Murray-Irmo Rotary Club. This information was a reminder that there will be no meeting next week, November 26, in celebration of the Thanksgiving holiday.

Emilie Keene informed Rotarians of the Christmas party that will be held Monday evening, December 15, at Chestnut Hill Plantation. Plans are to start at 6-6:30 p.m.

A special donation was made from our club to the Meals on Wheels program at the Senior Services Divsion of the Irmo-Chapin Recreation Commission.

The program was given by Chief Daniel Johnson, Chief Deputy at the Richland County Sheriff's Department. Chief Johnson discussed the benefits of his experience as a GSE member on a team to Sweden in 2004. He summed up his experience as "Challenging Your Limits While Expanding Your Boundaries." He has found traveling internationally and experiencing new cultures to be most beneficial not only to him personally but also to the law enforcement profession. Sheriff Lott has been most influential in allowing law enforcement officers to participate in various international cultural exchange trips. Chief Johnson pointed out our need for global experience in the global world of the 21st century. It is important for employees to care globally, and learning about other cultures helps to facilitate that attitude. The Richland County Sheriff's Department has implemented several new policies learned from law enforcement agencies of other countries. Chief Johnson encouraged Rotarians to participate as GSE team leaders and to recommend non-Rotarian employees to serve as team members.

Nov 12 2008

rotary nov 12

The meeting was called to order by president Eddie Robinson. The invocation was presented by John Adair. Health and happiness was well received from Lyman Whitehead.

Joel Collins congratulated Eddie Robinson on behalf of the club for receiving the prestigious “Distinguished Service Award” from the Clemson Alumni Club.

We were reminded of our Christmas Party at Chestnut Hills Monday, Dec 15, 6:30 PM.

We were also reminded of Rotary’s requirement to attend at least 50 % of the meetings; we can make up, even on the internet.

Two prospective new members are Charlene Amick, RN, Clinical documentation specialist, and Brian Buck, Irmo Chief of Police.

Laura Adair was our guest speaker. Laura is a media specialist at Irmo elementary school. She is also “Teacher of the Year”. Laura presented slides and an interesting presentation of some of the responsibilities of a media specialist, such as : maintaining the library, researching sources, internet oversight, circulation desk, assist teachers, help with biographies, computer lab, and other responsibilities. Although Laura says the internet is gaining in importance, she fells books will always be with us.

Meeting was adjourned at 8:30 AM.

Reporter: Mike McClay

November 5 2008

ROTARY MINUTES 11/05/08

The meeting was called to order by President Eddie Robinson. Health and Happiness was presented by Lyman Whitehead. Judy Johnson reminded the membership of the Irmo Chamber Auction on November 13.

Classification Talks were delivered by Bill Kopelman at Carolina First and Brooks Williams at Ballentine Group.

The Interact Group at DJJ raised funds and their current Preisdent presented a check for $300 to Special Olympics. The Interact Group challenged the Rotary Membership to meet that donation and the Membership donated $328.

Our speaker was Elliott Epps, Director of City Year.

In 1994 Elliott attended a Servathon and embraced the idea of 1 year of service to the community. City Year encourages young people (18 – 25 years) to give 1 year of service and leadership to country. Columbia’s City Year program is one of 18 in the United States. It gives young people a chance to make a change for the good of the world.

For more information their website is www.cityyear.org

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