Feb 23 2011

02/23/11

Our speaker was Paul Jeter, Executive Director, Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, SC Chapter, along with Amy Harmon, School and Youth Director. 

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society was founded in 1949.   It is a $3,000,000 organization with Chapters in all states and Canada.  The Society supports research and works to improve quality of life for patients.   It also helps with expenses during treatment.   The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society helps update medical professionals and patients to make sure all have up to date information.

Bill Kopelman also spoke to the group.   He gave a brief review of his last 2 years battling Acute Myeloid Leukemia.

Paul Harris Fellow was presented to Bill Kopelman.

Feb 9 2011

Lake Murray-Irmo Meeting Minutes for February 9, 2011

President Judy Johnson called the meeting to order and the invocation and Pledge of Allegiance followed. 

Darren Bouknight welcomed all visitors and Lyman Whitehead gave a robust Health and Happiness followed by Happy Dollars.

Bill Danielson reported that the Carraba’s fundraiser had netted between $2,300 and $2,400.  This was a great fundraiser and a really good time for all who were able to attend.  It was also great to have support from a local business.

Dr. Cary Hite introduced our speaker, Whit Merrifield.  Whit was a member of the National Championship Baseball Team at the University of South Carolina.  Whit is now a member of the Kansas City Royals organization.

Whit talked about what it was like to play throughout the Regionals, Super Regionals, and the College World Series.  He gave great insight about the year and his teammates.  What was probably the most interesting story was when Whit talked about getting the game winning hit against UCLA in the national championship game.

After members’ questions were asked and answered, President Judy adjourned the meeting. 

Feb 16 2011

Listed below are the minutes from the meeting held on February 16, 2011:

 

*Meeting opened with prayer by Lyman

*Annette's guest was JD

*Former Rotarian members returning were Nevida (sp?) Rowe and Brian Buck

*Board meeting this Thursday at Panera Bread at 7:30

*Need more sponsors for Pins for Polio

*District meeting in Charleston March 18-20

*Rotary birthday February 23 - contribute online under RI website and they will match your             money for points

*Meals on Wheels needs volunteers

*Shucking at Shoals oyster roast

*Jenny presented Jacqueline with Paul Harris fellows from Foundation Angel

*Speaker was Brian Buck, Irmo Chief of Police

 

Let me know if you have any questions.

 

Malissa Hulon

Jan 26 2011

The guest speaker Lake Murray-Irmo Rotary Club meeting for the January 26, 2011 was Karen Brosius, Executive Director of Columbia Museum of Art. Karen became the Executive Director in 2004. The mission of the museum is to inspire and enrich lives through art. It is the South Carolina international art museum with more than 6,000 works of art. The average attendance is 11,000 visitors each month. The Who Shot Rock & Roll photographic history event covering 1955 to present will be held February 25 through May 22 featuring 175 photographic images in the collection. The Nature and the Grand American Vision exhibit of masterpieces of the Hudson River School painters will be displayed November 17 through April 1, 2012.






The Lake Murray-Irmo Rotary Club was pleased to recognize the January Student of the Month from Harbison West Elementary, Carsyn Cantey. Carsyn is a 5th grade student in the gifted program. She serves as a safety patrol and is well respected among her peers. She likes to dance and is a great example of our future leaders. The club was delighted to present Carsyn with an award for "service above self" the motto for Rotarians and a gift certificate from Sonic the Irmo/Ballentine location which is delighted to reward students making great choices in our community. Her mother, Susan Cantey, and Dr. Barbara Brockhard, Principal at Harbison West Elementary, were also in attendance at the meeting.

Jan 19 2011

Minutes

Lake Murray – Irmo Rotary Club

January 19, 2011

Meeting opened by President Judy Johnson

Health and Happiness – Lyman Whitehead

-         Jeff Baldwin: Surgery went well and glad to be back

-         Lyman and JoAnne celebrating 39^th anniversary

Announcements:

-         Board meeting January 20, 7:30am at Panera Bread

-         Carrabba’s fundraiser to be held February 3^rd

-         Tour de Lake update

o      Still need help with sponsors. Break even right now.

o      Publicity starting up

-         Meals on Wheels sign up

Speaker: - Ashley Smith, Athletic Director for ICRC

-         Showed new ICRC video highlighting facilities and programs

-         Many new changes in store for ICRC

o      New marketing tag line “All out, All game, All season”.

o      New Mission Statement for sports leagues.

o      New Athletic Focus Groups being set up starting with baseball. The goal is to improve the sports programs within the ICRC.

Meeting ended promptly at 8:30am

Submitted by Bentley Murrell

2010 Census Data - 2010 Census

2010 Census Data - 2010 Census

Dec 15 2010

December 15, 2010

Lyman lead our club in the in the invocation and health and happiness.  President Judy Johnson gave a very special gift to Cliff of the Seven Oaks Recreation Center for all that he does for our club. 

John Adair introduced his son and daughter in law (Kirk and Laura Adair).  Kirk is in the insurance industry with the SC Insuarnce Pool and Laura is the media specialiest at Irmo Elementary.  They lead us in singing some of our holiday favorites and a few of their own too.

It was a wonderful meeting to celebrate the Christmas season.

Sincerely

Ray D Hunt

Rotary Club of Lake Murray - Irmo

Welcome to our Blog Site. This site is updated frequently. Send items of interest to chitemd@gmail.com. Feel free to post comments. Updates here will include important upcoming dates, venue information, District 7770 happenings, meeting reports, and plenty of pictures from our Rotary activities. Enjoy. CH

Upcoming events

December 8, 2010

Rotary Report Dec 8 2010

Meeting opened by President Judy

Invocation by Barry Johns

Pledge of Allegiance

Announcements and visitors

Happy Dollar – Lyman Whitehead

Classification Talk – Patty Cavanaugh

Introduction of Speaker – Jeff Baldwin

Title of Talk – U S Navy Today

Speaker Captain James L. McGinley, USN

The speaker discussed the “New Navy” with emphasis on training.  There is training of recruits here at Ft. Jackson.  We viewed a film about the training experience.  Most trainees are then sent to active duty in Afghanistan and Iraq.  He discussed emphasis on support role and counter IED work and coordination of efforts with the Army.

Meeting was adjourned by President Judy.

Carey Hite reporter

Nov 17 2009

Lake Murray Irmo Rotary Meeting Minutes November 17, 2010

President Judy opened the meeting with John Adair leading us in Prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance. Lyman Whitehead humored us with a little health, happiness and Happy Dollars. Darren Bouknight introduced our guests and Jacque Kleynenberg reminded us the Babcock Center is raising funds by selling a special Christmas ornament.

Our annual Christmas Party is being held at MurrayWood Swim and Racquet Club on December 3^rd. No meeting will be held the week of ThanksGiving.

Scott Moseley of Irmo Insurance Agency gave his classification speech.

Jeanette Coulter introduced our speaker, Kathleen Shaw of Sistercare. Her hope is to get the word out as to who they are and what they do as most people are not familiar with their organization. They operate three shelters in the metro area, two in Lexington and one in Richland County, providing a safe haven for women and their children who are victims of domestic violence. The shelters have the appearance of a routine home in an older neighborhood. These shelters are always full with an average stay of 27 days. Sistercare served 661 individuals last year (399 women 262 children) however they had to turn away 260. Sistercare is very involved with children. Most of their clients are mothers with school age children. The children are placed in school and provided counseling. Domestic violence is a cycle, stopping the cycle begins with children. The counseling is provided to the family while in the shelter and after they leave. Some families continue counseling for many years. Unfortunately many victims go back to the situation which brought them to Sistercare. It can take leaving the situation as many as seven times before the individual is successful in separating themselves from the violence and abuse. Success is heightened when the victim’s children become involved. Sistercare provides legal aide and will go the court with the victim. They also operate a 24-7 crisis line, a rural outreach program, speakers’ bureau and volunteer program. It is estimated 33% of all female ER admissions are due to domestic violence.

Their funding is received from the Federal and State Government, United Way, Foundations and benevolent contributions. Their funding is down due to the economy however as the economy and funding go down their need goes up.

Questions were fielded and President Judy adjourned the meeting

Link to photos from 2009

http://picasaweb.google.com/chitemd/IrmoRotary09?feat=directlink

Many pictures from Tour de Lake

http://picasaweb.google.com/chitemd/RotaryTourDeLake2010?feat=directlink

This link will take you to all our pictures

Many pictures from 2008

http://picasaweb.google.com/chitemd/LAKEMURRAYIRMOROTARYCLUB?feat=directlink

click on this link

November 10, 2010

Lake Murray-Irmo meeting of 11/10

The meeting was convened by President Judy Johnson and Jeff Baldwin led us in a very poignant prayer that focused on Veteran’s Day.  Sergeant-at-Arms Darren Bouknight introduced three visitors to the meeting:  Ellen Moore, Terry Klosterman and Dorothy Goodwin.  We had a significant number of announcements, reminders and updates, which were as follows: 

-         Reminded to turn-in the money from sale of Belk’s fund raising tickets. 

-         Reminded about our renewed involvement in Meals-on-Wheels, where we have responsibility for delivery twice a week.  

-         Reminder to sign-up for the Christmas party to be held at Rawl’s Creek on Friday evening, December 3. 

-         Visitor Terry Klosterman reminded us of the flyers on each table for the annual fund raiser of the Spring Valley Club. 

-         Ginny Barr provided a Foundation moment, describing the Permanent Fund, an endowment to provide long-term stability to the Foundation.  The Permanent Fund was started in 1930, currently holds $579.4 million and there are four means by which a Rotarian can make a contribution.  Several of our Club’s members have made contributions to the Permanent Fund. 

-         Eddie Robinson provided a very nice review of the major articles in the October edition of the Rotarian Magazine. 

-         Jeff Baldwin provided an update on the Tour de Lake Bicycle Rally and Brooks Williams updated us on the Tour’s fund raising efforts, encouraging us to offer any potential suggestions, with a goal of securing commitments by year end. 

Bill Brooks provided the weekly classification talk.  He revealed that he is a 1956 graduate of the Citadel, has a PhD in Chemistry from the University of Florida, worked as a research chemist in the private sector for 30 years and spent the final 15 years of his career as head of the Department of Agriculture’s research efforts in SC. 

Lyman Whitehead introduced our speaker Barbara Wilm, VP of Community Relations for the Lexington County Health Services District. Barbara has responsibility for representing the Medical Center in community outreach efforts.  She began her career with the Medical Center in 1986, running the operating room in the Irmo satellite facility.

Lexington Medical Center opened on 1/7/71.  Its original location was to be in Batesburg-Leesville; however, the Hulons donated the property off I26 with the agreement that the couple could live in the hospital until their deaths.  Upon opening the Medical Center occupied 75,000 square feet.  This has grown to 1 million, with an additional 1 million in remote facilities around the county.  They operate the largest nursing home for Alzheimer’s in SC, the Carroll Campbell Place and in 1986 opened the first ambulatory care center in the State, in Irmo.  Lexington Medical currently employs 5,039 and last year they had 19K patients, delivered 3K babies, had 95 patient visits to the emergency room (second busiest in the State) and had 145K patients in their urgent care centers.  The Medical Center off I26 is land-locked; therefore they have purchased 44 acres on Long Pond Road to accommodate future growth.  The cardiac center will begin operations in the coming year after reaching agreement with Providence Hospital and Palmetto Health.

Nov 3 2010

Pictured: Dutch Fork, Justin Suber, Elliott Fralick, Coach Tom Knotts, President Dr.
Judy Johnson, Irmo: Coach Bob Hanna, ,Nolan Dorton, Shaquille Counts, 
 
The Lake Murray Irmo Rotary Club were honored to have football coaches Tom Knotts of
Dutch Fork High and Bob Hanna of Irmo High speak to our club this morning about this
weeks game where the Silver Foxes play the Yellow Jackets in the final game of the
season.  The Coaches spoke of the respect they have for each other and their
players. They are looking forward to a tough game and both know their players are
going to give it all they have. Each Coach brought with them two representatives
from their team, the young men spoke to us about their college plans as well as
their desire to win on Friday night. It should be a great game. Go support your
team!  Friday night, November 5th, 7:30 at Dutch Fork Stadium.
 
The rotary club or Lake Murray-Irmo is a service organization that happens to meet
on Wednesday mornings!  Sure, breakfast is important, but that isn't what we're
about .  We do good things for great people as we try to make the central Midlands
of South Carolina a better place while also fulfilling our commitment to the goals
of our great Rotary district and Rotary International.  Consider us a dedicated cog
in the great Rotary wheel!  Please visit when you can...we'd love to see your
smiling face at 7:30 AM on a Wednesday. For more information on our Rotary club
contact Michael Cromer 803.781.3000
 

Lake-Murray Irmo Weekly Meeting Minutes
11/3/2010
The meeting was called to order at 7:45 by President Judy Johnson.  The invocation was delivered by Blount Shepard.  Guests were introduced by Darren Bouknight.  
The Belk Charity Sale is taking place this Saturday November 6th from 6AM-10AM.  Tickets are $5.
Tuesday November 9th is the annual Chuck Larsen Silent Auction.  It will be held at the Radisson.  Tickets are $25/person or $40/couple.
November is Foundation month for Rotary.
Health and Happiness and Happy Dollars were given by Lyman Whitehead.
Larry Stohs introduced Tom Knotts, Dutch Fork High School football coach and Bob Hanna, Irmo High School football coach.  Both were asked to say a few words regarding the matchup at Dutch Fork High School this Friday night November 5th. 
Rod Funderburk introduced our speaker, Karly Miller, who was sponsored by the Lexington Rotary Club and was awarded a Rotary International Ambassadorial Academic Year Scholarship for the 2010-2011 school year.  She will be studying in Lima, Peru.  Karly is originally from Chicago, IL, but relocated to Cincinnati, OH at the age of 1.  She graduated from the University of South Carolina with a degree in Marine Science.  She spoke to us about the scholarship process and what she hopes to learn while studying abroad.  
Meeting was adjourned at 8:27.

October 27, 2010

The guest speaker Lake Murray-Irmo Rotary Club meeting for the October 27, 2010 was Lisa Lee Smith, the Midlands Representative for ShelterBox.  Since its inception in 2000, ShelterBox has firmly established itself at the forefront of international disaster relief, providing emergency shelter for the people who need it most on every continent.  ShelterBox instantly responds to earthquake, volcano, flood, hurricane, cyclone, tsunami or conflict by delivering boxes of aid.  Highly trained ShelterBox Response Teams distribute boxes on the ground, working closely with local organizations, international aid agencies and Rotary clubs worldwide.  Each box supplies an extended family with a tent and lifesaving equipment to use while they are displaced or homeless.  The contents are tailored depending on the nature and location of the disaster, with great care taken sourcing every item to ensure it is robust enough to be of lasting value.

Lisa Lee Smith is a Rotarian in the Rotary Club of Chapin Sunrise and formerly in the Rotary Club of Lexington.  She is an attorney in private practice in Lexington with the firm of Davis, Frawley, Anderson, McCauley, Ayer, Fisher & Smith, LLC and also serves as a Certified Mediator and Arbitrator.  Lisa is also very involved with the Lexington County Bar Association, the South Carolina Bar Association and Girl Scouts in the Irmo-Chapin area.  She is a graduate of Irmo High School, Clemson University and the University of South Carolina, School of Law.  Lisa is married to Pauley Smith, a teacher in School District 5, and they have three children.

The rotary club or Lake Murray-Irmo is a service organization that happens to meet on Wednesday mornings!  Sure, breakfast is important, but that isn't what we're about .  We do good things for great people as we try to make the central Midlands of South Carolina a better place while also fulfilling our commitment to the goals of our great Rotary district and Rotary International.  Consider us a dedicated cog in the great Rotary wheel!  Please visit when you can...we'd love to see your smiling face at 7:30 AM on a Wednesday. For more information on our Rotarty club contact Michael Cromer 803.781.3000

Student of the month

The Lake Murray-Irmo Rotary Club was so pleased to recognise September Student of the Month from Leaphart Elementary, Mikayla Bouknight. Mikayla was chosen for "her service to her peers and great attitude" said Dr. Rebecca McKenzie-Appling, Principal al Leaphart. The club was delighted to present Mikayla with an award for "service above self" the motto for Rotarians and a gift certificate from Sonic the Irmo/Ballentine location who are delighted to reward students making great choices in our community. The Lake Murray-Irmo Rotary is a service organization that meets on Wednesday mornings! Sure, breakfast is important, but that isn't what we're about (even though the food is really quite good). We do good things for great people as we try to make the central Midlands of South Carolina a better place while also fulfilling our commitment to the goals of our great Rotary district and Rotary International. Consider us a dedicated cog in the great Rotary wheel! Please visit when you can...we'd love to see your smiling face at 7:30 AM on a Wednesday. Seven Oaks Park at the intersection of St Andrews and Piney Grove Roads. Call Michael Cromer for more details-803-932-9181

Sep 22 2010

LAKE MURRY – IRMO ROTARY CLUB

September 22, 2010

The invocation for September 22 was provided by Lyn Richards.  Lyman Whitehead gave us Health and Happiness and led the club in Happy Dollar contributions.  Jacqueline Kleynenberg announced that beginning September 29 the club will recognize a student from a local school each month.  Maria Hargrave announced that the club will participate in a vocational visit to Trevett’s Direct on October 6.  Tim Williams gave a classification talk.

The newest member of the Lake Murray-Irmo Rotary club, Mark Boone, was inducted on September 22, 2010.  Mr. Boone is affiliated with Community Roundtable, which is an organization whose purpose is to encourage and enable the entire community to promote positive youth development.  We welcome Mark Boone to our club.

Our guest speaker for the morning was Charles D. Beaman, Jr.  He is responsible for the system’s overall operations.  Mr. Beaman served as president of Palmetto Health from the date of inception, February 8, 1998, until his appointment as the system's CEO and president on January 2, 2007.  Prior to the creation of Palmetto Health in 1998, Beaman was president and CEO of Baptist Healthcare System of South Carolina, Inc. where he had worked with the hospital system for 25 years.

Mr. Beaman joined Baptist Healthcare System as a unit manager in 1973.  Over the next 15 years, he served in various management positions with increasing responsibilities including director of Unit Management, vice president and executive assistant to the president, executive vice president and CEO of Baptist Medical Center and system's chief operating officer.  In 1987, he was named president and chief executive officer of Baptist Healthcare System of South Carolina, Inc., formerly South Carolina Baptist Hospitals, Inc.

Mr. Beaman talked briefly on the overall Palmetto Health system, but concentrated most of his remarks on the proposed new 76 bed hospital next to the current Parkridge Surgery Center near Irmo.  This will be a full-service 24/7 hospital that will include an emergency department.  The selection process to choose an architectural firm is currently underway.  Relocation of the road is expected to take place in early 2011.  Construction of the building is expected to begin n late 2011 with anticipated opening of the hospital in late 2013.

Sep 15 2010

Minutes for Lake Murray-Irmo Rotary Meeting - Wednesday September 15, 2010

This meeting of the Lake Murray/Irmo Rotary year began with the invocation by Dr. Ros Browning and Pledge of Allegiance.

Next the visitors and guests were recognized and announcements that the Board meeting scheduled for September 16^th has been postponed. Lyman Whitehead announced the news that Jeanette Coulter’s sister has passed away and other “Heath and Happiness” news. 

The meeting was presided over by Bill Danielson since several club members, including President Judy Johnson, were away in Charleston attending a Rotary training meeting. Bill introduced Kelly Payne who gave the introduction for our speaker Coach Tom Knotts with Dutch Fork High School.

Coach Knotts is in his first year as Head football coach and Athletic Director at Dutch Fork High School.  He comes to us from Independence High School in Charlotte, North Carolina where he has enjoyed a splendid career coaching and has a record of 296 wins and 60 losses and also a 109 game winning streak to be proud of while at Independence.  Coach Knotts has a wife, Keisha Knotts and a 2 year old son, Jackson. 

Prior to his coaching career, Knotts was an active and successful High school student and athlete and attended Duke University with a scholarship playing Quarterback for the Blue Devils. His experience in high school playing practically every sport, including football, basketball, tennis and baseball gives him a great base of experience with his new responsibilities as the Athletic Director at Dutch Fork in addition to being the head football coach. As A.D. he has been asked to reshape the athletic department and build it into a program that is as successful as renowned as the academic programs enjoyed at Dutch Fork.

Coach Knotts spoke to the group on how this talk gave him an opportunity to reflect back on his life and career to find what he wanted to tell us this morning. He feels that it’s the player he has had the pleasure and pain to coach over his career that is what gives him his sense of accomplishment.

After a very successful career in high school coaching, in 2004 he was afforded the opportunity to coach at the college level as the quarterback coach with his alma mater- Duke. His experience at Duke helped him realize that it is the relationship and bonds he built with the high school students as their coach that brings him the most pleasure. He was able to resign from Duke and return to Independence High as their head football coach again.

Coach Knotts shared some stories of past players that stand out for him. One player is Chris Leake that played quarterback for Independence from 1999 to 2002 and started the 109 winning game streak for Independence HS. After high school and some trials within the weight room and learning to play as a member of the united team, Leake went on to play for Florida and win a national title for them. Leake now plays professional football in the Canadian Football League.

Another player that stood out for Coach Knotts was Jeff Romanelli who came to the team as a young, inexperienced player and developed into a strong player as a middle linebacker. Through the years at school Romanelli’s life changed and he got into some trouble with the law and was arrested for selling drugs. This came as a shock to the coaching staff and forced coach Knotts to ban the player from the team.

Also standing out in his memory is Dewitt Dixon. Dixon’s mother came to coach Knotts asking him to take a look at her son and see what could be made out of the young player. Dixon was raised in a less than perfect environment with a single parent. By becoming involved with the football program, Dixon found his ability to become a model student and athlete, ultimately winning a scholarship to Elizabeth City State College and earning his degree.

There are several other stories of football and his players the coach could have shared, but time ran out on us and we had to end the meeting. Coach did field one question as to his opinion of the media’s treatment of high school football. The coach’s answer was that the media is playing a “not-so good” role in the recruitment of high school players. The recruitment has become more of a business for agents and less about the development of the sport and its players and the media is helping to promote this environment.

We all thank coach Knotts for coming to speak with us and wish him a great year for the football team at Dutch Fork and a successful job building an even better Athletic Department at Dutch Fork.

Darren Bouknight,

Reporter

Sep 8 2010

The Rotary Club of Lake Murray-Irmo
Meeting Minutes
September 8, 2010

President Judy called the meeting to order at 7:45 a.m. The invocation was provided by Nathan Ballentine. Our guest list this week included Pete Sercer of the St. Andrews Rotary Club. Lyman Whitehead provided us with a healthy dose of Health & Happiness.

Announcements:
• President Judy will be attending the Foundation Seminar next Wednesday morning, leaving Past President Bill Danielson in charge.
• The next Board meeting is scheduled for 9/16/10, 7:30 a.m., at Panera Bread. All Club members are invited.
• The induction of new member Mark Boone is scheduled for 9/22/10.
• Secretary Jay will be sending out the proof of the 2010-11 Rotary Year Book for members to review by email. Please let Jay know if there are final edits still to be made.
• Members were reminded of the DJJ Demolition Celebration being held on at 10:00 a.m. on 9/10/10. Everyone is invited.

Our Classification talk this week was provided by Sergeant-at-Arms Darren Bouknight.

President-Elect Jeanette Coulter introduced out guest speaker, Alan Shoemaker. Alan is a member of the St Andrews Rotary club and a frequent visitor our club. Alan provided a fascinating slide show and commentary about his 3½ week trip through Imperial China and into Tibet. He shared everything about the country from history, to food, to shopping, to culture. Alan described his travel experience to Imperial China as full of pageantry and color, and he highly recommended the trip to others. Alan concluded his presentation by answering questions from members.

President Judy adjourned the meeting at 8:30 a.m.

August 25 2010

Your perfect attendance Rotarians

The Lake Murray-Irmo Rotary Club presented a $2,000 check to the Irmo Chapin Recreation Commission for its Meals on Wheels program. Volunteers for the Recreation Commission deliver meals to home bound older adults five days per week. The Seven Oaks Park delivers about 150 meals per week. Rotarians from the Lake Murray-Irmo Rotary Club participate as volunteers in this delivery program. The monetary donation was enhanced through a District Simplified Grant from District 7770.

Cruise night photos

Cruise Night-August 3rd.

The Irmo-Lake Murray Rotary hosted a unique social event for our District #7770 Governor, Rick Moore. The Rotary club joined with the Greater Irmo Chamber of Commerce for a cruise on board the yacht, the Spirit of Lake Murray. The Rotary Club was treated to a wonderful natural event, watching the Purple Martins nesting on Bomb Island which is a rest stop on their yearly migration route. Bomb Island is situated in Lake Murray which is the tourism crown jewel of the greater Irmo and Columbia areas. The cruise combined several unique features, a chance to introduce non-Rotarians to a local club, a trip to a World War II landmark and an inspiring glimpse into the natural world. All of the Rotarians enjoyed a very relaxing social event and a glimpse into a seldom seen part of the natural world.

Cruise night on Lake Murray

August 18 2010

August 18, 2010 Lake Murray – Irmo Rotary Club Minutes


The August 18th Lake Murray – Irmo Rotary Club meeting was started with an invocation by John Adair and the customary Pledge of Allegiance. Health and Happiness was lead by Lyman Whitehead including many Happy Dollars, Group Announcements and Dr. Robinson’s discussion of the Rotary Magazine.

President Judy Johnson introduced Mr. Dan Hennigman who is a Honorary Lexington County Sheriff and is very involved with the Lexington County Shrriff’s Department as well as several other important community organizations to include the Lexington Rotary Club, Honor Flight and the National Safety Council. Mr. Hennigan then introduced the day’s main speaker Lexington County’s Sherriff James Metts.

Sheriff Metts was the nation’s youngest elected sheriff at age 25 in 1972 and has been in office ever since. Sheriff Metts holds a degree in Criminal Justice and a Doctorate Degree in Education. He stated that his main focus for his office is Quality of Life and Customer service for the members of the Lexington County community. Sheriff Metts is an active Rotarian with the Lexington club. He stated that Quality of Life is a big draw for people coming to Lexington County; it has the number One schools, number One recreational opportunities, superior communities and the people of the county are incredible. However, it is not like that everywhere. Within a few miles of his area of jurisdiction are communities that are unsafe, filled with drugs and quickly deteriorating. Sherriff Metts promised that “that will not happen with me in charge of law enforcement if Lexington County! Law enforcement has been vested with the responsibility to maintain the high quality of living that citizens of the county enjoy and he and his department will work to maintain this quality of living in all of Lexington County’s communities.”

He will accomplish this maintenance through superior Customer Service for the citizens of Lexington. He encourages the citizens to become involved with the Sheriff’s Department to help maintain our quality of life and let undesirable characters know that they are not welcomed in our county. One way this involvement can be done is through the Reserve Deputy Program in Lexington County. This program used unpaid volunteers to work with the sheriff’s department alongside the staff. So far in 2010 the Reserve Deputy Program has handles over 6,000 cases and saved the county taxpayers countless dollars.

Sheriff Metts went on to introduce his Quality of Life Team members present. First was the Captain and new Region Commander for the North Region which includes Irmo, Chapin, Cayce and West Columbia - Captain Lee Marshall. Captain Marshall has been an involved member of our community since attending Irmo Elementary, Middle and High Schools. He reminded our own Jack Terrell how at age 13 Captain Marshall worked the time clock at the Seven Oaks Recreation Center with Mr. Terrell as his boss. Captain Marshall has been newly assigned to his current position in command of over 50 employees after serving for several years throughout the Sheriff’s Department in many positions. Captain Marshall added that he sees the desire for maintaining the Quality of Life throughout his department and it cannot be accomplished without community involvement. He sees his main focus and responsibility as a problem solver in our community and if we need to reach him with a problem his phone number is (803) 407-8437.