ROTARY DISTRICT 6800 NEWSLETTER
MARCH 2015
Rotary
District 6800
Newsletter
March 2015 Issue
ATTENDEES OF 2015 ROTARY YOUTH LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE, HELD MARCH 19-22 AT THE
WHISPERING WOODS HOTEL AND CONFERENCE CENTER
RYLA was a huge success!
Started by District 6800 in 1982,
RYLA represents a major
commitment by the Rotary clubs in
our district to enhance the
leadership of today's youth so they
may more effectively answer
tomorrow's challenges. Each year
over 120 high school juniors are
selected as delegates to the
conference and are sponsored by
various clubs within the district.
During their four days at the
conference, these young people
have an opportunity to associate
with students from different
locations and backgrounds,
become exposed to a broad range
of business and professional
leaders, and become more fully
aware of the value of our American
free enterprise system.
The conference is the largest
commitment our district makes
every year, both in terms of
monetary resources and club
involvement. We have been able to
add Thursday night and all day
Friday without additional cost to
the individual clubs due to the
support the district officers have
given to the conference through
their generous financial support.
This is the seventh year we have
partnered with the University of
Memphis. They will be preparing
much of the program material,
using their resources to make sure
our youth are exposed to excellent
material to help in the
development of their leadership
skills in the future. This conference
attempts to convey leadership
tools in a fun way that the students
will understand and be able to use
for the rest of their lives.
Service Above Self!
4-Way Test:
Is it the truth?
Is it fair to all concerned?
Will it build goodwill and better friendships?
Will it be beneficial to all concerned?
Marty Petrusek and Stephanie Lawson,
co-chairs of District 6800 RYLA
ROTARY DISTRICT 6800 NEWSLETTER
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Senatobia Rotary Gives
1200 Dictionaries to
area 3rd Graders
The Senatobia Rotary Club is
participating this spring in the
“Dictionary Project,” which the
District 6800 leadership introduced
to the club three years ago. By the
end of April, the club will have
distributed over 1,200 dictionaries to
area 3rd graders since coming on
board with the project. The club has
utilized District Simplified Grants to
help it underwrite the project, which
is very warmly received by the
schools, teachers, and students. The
following schools benefit from the
project: Coldwater Elementary, East
Tate Elementary, Magnolia Heights
Elementary, Senatobia Middle, and
David Harbison of the Rotary Club
presents the check to Library
Director Crystal Osborne roaster.
Strayhorn Elementary. Pictured is
Rotarian Sonja Graham (left) with
students at East Tate Elementary
School. While completing a
dictionary exercise with the students,
club members also share with
students about the service and
values of Rotary.
Recently the Elizabeth Jones Library
received a donation of $10,000 from
the Grenada Rotary Club to
supplement the library budget.
Crystal Osborne had been asked to
present a program to the Grenada
Rotary Club members about
upcoming programs and services the
library provides. During that
presentation, she discussed some
items that were not possible right
now, but that she would like to
pursue in the future. With the
donation, Osborne has begun to
implement three of the topics
discussed: A downloadable
PLEASE SUBMIT PICTURES AND
STORIES TO:
Ashley Herbert, Newsletter Editor
[email protected]
Please submit by the 10th of each
month for that month’s issue.
audiobook subscription that includes
over 1,100 multiaccess eAudio
children and young adult titles. It
also includes 200 downloadable
Popular Adult eAudio titles for the
adults who enjoy listening to books.
Thirty-five audio titles on MP3
players (15 juvenile-young adult and
20 adult books) with new ones will
be added quarterly. With students
using the 12 public computer daily to
practice their iReady software, it has
become apparent that the students
may need Internet accessible
computers that are specific for them,
so the addition of four new children
computers is in the works.
ROTARY DISTRICT 6800 NEWSLETTER
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Northeast Shelby County Rotary Club’s Bartlett a la Carte
ROTARY CLUBS IN ACTION:
Rotary on TV:
Bill Courtney and Bob Bickley speaking on
television about the “Cut Juvenile Crime”
commitment.
Midtown Memphis Club:
Tennessee Shakespeare Company GM,
Stephanie Shine, directs Mercutio, Benvolio,
and Romeo ( Ok, really Anne Christoff, Coble
Caperton, and Al Harvey). Ms. Shine was
showing the club how her company utilizes
Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet to
encourage students to pursue non violent
solutions to problems.
University of Memphis Rotaract:
Lauren and Kaitlin Ganavazos, outdid
themselves yesterday entertaining Isabel
Sanchez, from Peru to lunch at Molly's and
hair do and manicure at Gould's.
This year’s 8th annual Bartlett
a la Carte tasting event will be
held on Sunday, April 19 from
5-7pm at the beautiful
Colonial Country Club in
Cordova.
Bartlett a la Carte is a
partnership between The
Northeast Shelby County
Rotary Club and The Bartlett
Area Chamber of Commerce.
These two not-for-profit
organizations are dedicated
to improving the quality of life
in Shelby County and the
surrounding community. All
proceeds from Bartlett ala
Carte are used for community
development, youth
development, and
educational programs in
Arlington, Lakeland, Bartlett,
Cordova and other areas of
Northeast Shelby County.
The proceeds from the silent
auction at this event directly
benefit Youth Villages, a
Bartlett-based organization
that works Nationwide to
support at-risk youth and
keep families together.
A wonderful evening of food,
beverages, and getting
together with friends is
anticipated, featuring over
twenty food and beverage
vendors at the beautiful
Colonial Country Club located
at 2736 Countrywood
Parkway Cordova, TN 38016
just of Germantown Parkway
near the I-40 Exchange.
Over the last seven years,
Bartlett Ala Carte has had a
wonderfully positive response
from both vendors and guests
alike. The event showcases
delicious food from local
restaurants, bars, bakeries
and food specialty vendors.
Over 300 guests agree that
the $80 per couple guest
charge is well worth the
opportunity to sample food
and beverages from Italian,
Mexican, Danish, and
American vendors. An array
of dishes, from barbeque,
pizza, crabmeat and shrimp
with hot sauce, bison meet
balls in cream sauce, salmon
laced deviled eggs, pasta
primavera, frozen yogurt,
chocolate covered fruit items
as well as beer, wine soft
drinks, iced tea and water are
consumed with delight.
The net result is that many
charitable programs will be
funded through this shared
event between Northeast
Shelby County Rotary Club
and the Bartlett Area
Chamber of Commerce.
ROTARY DISTRICT 6800 NEWSLETTER
News You Can
Use:

The Rotary club of Olive
Branch is having its annual
"Rotary Masters" Golf
Tournament on Monday
April, 13, 2015. It will be held
at the olive Branch Country
Club. $400/team. Proceeds
will go to the club’s
scholarship fund.
 For the past three years in
a row, Germantown residents
have voted The Rotary Club
of Germantown as their most
favorite civic club. The club
has number of active projects
e.g. Scholarships,
Germantown International
Festival, Distribution of
Dictionaries, Building Youth
Educational Fish Pond,
Support eradication of Polio,
Gift of Life, Eradication of
PETS:
PDG Joe Gibbs, left, from Clarksdale, MS
talks with Friday Luncheon Speaker,
Victor Nunnemaker from CA, who
explained how Rotary literally changed
his life.
Tuberculosis in India, Water
projects in Honduras and India.
District 6800 Leaders:
District Governor- Bob Bickley
District Governor Elect-Cary E. Vaughn
District Governor Nomimee- Tom Wilson
PETS:
District 6800 members at the PETS
Conference
PETS:
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District 6800 members at the PETS
Conference
Cleveland Club:
Rotarian Lee Jordan (right) invited Abe
Hudson with the Delta State University
College of Business to speak to the
Cleveland Rotary Club. Abe Hudson is
the program director for Debt Education
for Business Transformation and
Sustainability (DEBTS)
Gift of Life:
Sarah Grace makes a house call of Ailyn, Gift
of Life child.
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From the Desk of the District Governor:
March has been an incredibly busy month for the Clubs and District Leadership Teams. Many
successes to report on behalf of the leadership of District 6800.
This past weekend was our Peace Forum 2015 –the kickoff for our 5 Year 50% Reduction of
Juvenile Crime in the Mid-South / District 6800. We call it the “5 & 50 Program”. We met at
Whispering Woods Conference Center. Rotarians from around the District and elected officials,
law enforcement officers and people who have organizations that are organized to reduce crime
in the Mid-South attended. Our Moderator Judge Joe Gibbs of the Rotary Club of Clarksdale
and Past District Governor, led our Panel of distinguished leaders in the Mid-South: the
Documentary Academy Award winner for “Undefeated”, author of “Against the Grain”, business
leader and Memphis entrepreneur Coach Bill Courtney; Luther Mercer, educator, management
consultant with Global Cross-Cultural Program Implementation; and Judge Celeste Wilson,
Desoto County MS, Youth Court. Each panelist reached out to the audience to explain the
seriousness of our juvenile crime problem that is 74% of all crime in the Shelby County region of
the Mid-South. Celeste Wilson stepped up to explain that this crime issue is in North Mississippi
and to further prove her point she invited people to join her in court proceedings. Luther
Mercer indicated that this is a great start to explaining in detail the problem and it will take a
long time to solve. The Question and Answer session was a demonstration of the many
programs that are now working, but need additional help. This is where Rotary District 6800
comes in. We do not have to re-invent the programs. This was an excellent kick-off to our “5 &
50 Program”. Thanks to Bill Courtney, Rotary District 6800 has had excellent press and news
coverage on the local TV channels, including CBS, Fox News and NBC Channels for six days.
Coach Courtney sent me an e-mail from a train somewhere in Europe on a business trip, and told
us of the importance of Rotary in the leadership to Reducing Juvenile Crime. “My eyes were
really opened to the fact that tons and tons of programs already exists; you are exactly correct
that there is no need to go build more programs. Rather, identify and qualify the best local
programs out there and then go help them grow and do what they do.” Bill also outlined his
thoughts as a business project. In addition to saving lives, Coach Bill looks at Reducing Juvenile
Crime as a huge solution to the business problems caused by this most pressing problem for all
who live in the Mid-South. Bill is dedicated to making the Memphis area (Mid-South) a place
people want to work and live.
Thank you to all our District Leadership and Rotary members that helped and attended while
learning first hand that Rotary District 6800 is on the right track to helping solve an issue that
has been with us too long.
The Rotary Youth Leadership Assembly Awards program Thursday evening March 19 through
Sunday noon March 22, 2015 was a complete success. Clubs that sent students, and that is most
of the Clubs in District 6800, have a built-in program by asking students they sent to RYLA to
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ROTARY DISTRICT 6800 NEWSLETTER
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report to their Club about their reaction and the value received from this weekend. My wife and
I made several visits to the events during the weekend, and I had the privilege of speaking
before the students for 10 minutes on Saturday afternoon March 21, 2015. Earlier before the
Peace Forum, Coach Bill Courtney gave a dynamic talk to the students at RYLA after breakfast.
This is a terrific group of over 120 11th graders. Their parents should be very proud. The Rotary
RYLA Leadership Team was as usual out-of-sight terrific, led by Stephanie Lawson member and
Past President of the Rotary Club of Olive Branch, MS. The dedication to this program and the
professionalism of their leadership is the best.
After our Peace Forum 2015, our District Board met for our quarterly meeting. Tommy White,
our Chairman led us in this most important meeting as the District Board approved items that
will move our “5 & 50” Program ahead:
The Board approved, with the advice of two Legal Counselors, the establishment of a
District non-profit Foundation enabling the leadership of our District 6800 Foundation to accept
grants from grantors that require recipients of certain foundation grants to be 501c3
organizations. District Leadership is now moving ahead with the establishment of our new
foundation and will have announcements as this moves forward.
The Board approved an initial “kick-off” matching grant from a Rotary District 6800 Club
Foundation that will be announced soon by the Club Leadership and District 6800 Leadership.
The Board approved the nominations of future District Governors to be approved by the
Club Membership attending the District Conference / Annual Meeting. Of course, Cary Vaughn
is our District Governor-Elect 2015-16; Tom Wilson is our District Governor Nominee for 2016-17.
Future District Governors designated to be voted on at District Conference / Annual Meeting
May 8 & 9, 2015 are Bethany Huffman 2017-18 and F. Gray Carter 2018-19. If there are any
nominations from the District, please submit them to me as soon as possible and I will forward
them on to Tommy White our Board Chair.
Our Future District Calendar of events include the District Assembly in Oxford, Mississippi on
Saturday April 18, 2015 led by Cary Vaughn, District Governor-Elect. Cary will be sending
information to our District Leadership and Clubs.
Finally our District Conference and Annual Meeting is in the final planning stages. Chris Canoy,
Conference Team Leader, and I are completing plans that we will be sharing with all District
Clubs, Members and District Leadership. District Conference and Annual Meeting is Friday and
Saturday May 8 and 9, 2015 at Whispering Woods Conference Center and Hotel in Olive Branch,
MS. Plan to attend. We will start early on May 8th and end on Saturday May 9th no later than
2:30pm. Your vote will count on District business that includes future District Leadership,
changes to the District By-Laws that you will receive prior to our May meeting, and other items
that may come up that require voting by the membership of Rotary District 6800.
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ROTARY DISTRICT 6800 NEWSLETTER
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Before sending this information to Ashley Herbert, Newsletter Editor: Please remember in your
prayers Joan Ferguson, Past District Governor and member of the Rotary Club of Hernando,
Mississippi. I learned recently that she has been in the hospital and is now home recovering.
Rotary’s Best to all,
Bob Bickley, Rotary District 6800 Governor 2014-15
Membership Competition:
District 6800 winners of the Membership Competition will be announced by Carmen Oguz in
May at the District 6800 Conference & Annual Meeting, which will be held at the Whispering
Woods Conference Center in Olive Branch. Carmen urges all Clubs to make sure they have met
the eligibility requirements to be in contention for the awards.
Each Club must have consistently reported membership numbers via DACdb or directly to Lee
Hughes for the time period of July 2014 through February 2015. Each months' membership
must be accounted for to be eligible to win one of the three prizes:
1st place- $1,000.00
2nd place- $500.00
3rd place- $250.00
IMPORTANT- For Clubs that show a loss in membership retention, please double-check your
reasons for the loss. For this competition's purpose, losses in membership due to death or Club
transfer DO NOT COUNT AGAINST THE CLUB. So, for example, if your Club only had two
losses for the time period I mentioned, and the losses were due to death or transfer, then your
Club technically still has a 100% retention rate.
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