Thank You District 7750

In another two hours, my tour as District Governor will end. I have made my thank you's in the June Newsletter. So in my last blog, I would like to look at the District goals for 2009/2010. Yeah, I know. Probably a real snorer. But the blog has been for me and the goals are worth a last look.

Membership
Membership Co-Chairs Baker and Golden announced that we were up a net 21 members. That does not include 20 new members in the Lake Wylie Club. If it holds, we were close to our goal of a net one new member per club.

Foundation
As of tonight, we had total contributions of $351,000. That was down from a total of $373,000 last year. I know there are additional contributions, including $10,000 of DDF money. Last year represented a 15% increase, and I believe we will be close to last year's number. The biggest increase was for polio, where club contributions went from $42,000 to $84,000. If anyone would like to see the whole report, please let me know.

My biggest disappointment was that there were three clubs who as of today had no contributions. A $5 contribution was made in their behalf. We had eight other clubs that at least to date, had less than $20 per member giving to the Annual Programs Fund. Some of these clubs do significant local service (see total funds raised below), but Rotary is defined by the Foundation and its enormous impact on world peace and understanding. Without significant participation in the work of the Foundation, these clubs would be better off as local service organizations. I hope that when the final numbers come in, many of these clubs will have stepped up.

Group Study Exchange
We had a fabulous exchange with Australia, and we sent a team to British Columbia, even though District 5040 opted not to send a team here. All of our team members said that it was an experience of a lifetime.

Literacy
Most clubs now have a literacy chairman, and Sara Mansbach started a new initiative called Ready for Reading, oriented to early childhood. There were Dictionary projects all over the District. I am very pleased with the literacy efforts.

International Projects
I had the opportunity to see District projects in Honduras and Haiti before the earthquake. The Haitian projects were even more important after the earthquake. I have said that if every Rotarian in the District could observe an international project, we would never have to worry about contributions to the Foundation again.

District Awards
Twenty six clubs won Presidential Citations. My goal was 30, and at least one club would have earned a Citation, but did not apply. There were individual club accomplishments that were incredible. Greenville Evening and Emerald City raised the bar for everyone.

Training
This is an unending challenge for District and Club Leadership. We had training sessions at District Assembly, RLI, Membership, Foundation Seminar, Literacy Chairs, Mid Year Assembly, PETS, Governor Elect, Governor Nominee, International Assembly, Secretary and Treasury efforts online and major training efforts from district officers and Assistant Governors. At every level of Rotary, especially Club Presidents and District Governor, about the time you know what you are doing, you are (happily) put out to pasture.

District Conference and Awards Luncheon
I would like to have had more signups and fewer commuters, but for those that came, it was as good as it gets.

Communications
Like training, communications are a sort of an unending battle. The Blog, some newsletter revisions, an expanded website, quarterly conference calls with AG's, metro club organizations in Greenville and Aiken, all made inroads. We got a PR Grant from RI and had billboards promoting Rotary around the District. PR is now one of three primary strategic objectives of Rotary, along with Strengthening Clubs and Increasing Service.

There are new tools, e.g. social networks, that I was too old to use. Perhaps future DG's will do a better job.

Youth Exchange, Rotaract, Interact, Early,Act, First Knight
What can I say. The programs operated beautifully, largely independent of the District Governor.

Vocational Service
We wanted Rotarians to signup for SC Pathways to Success. Rick Murphy and I pretty much failed, but part of that was a system problem. We will try again next year.

Administration
Pam Weaver was a tremendous addition and will provide badly needed institutional knowledge to future District Governors. She donated more time than she billed. Another thank you to Pam.

At the Montreal International Conference, it was said there were two kinds of Past District Governors. Those that talk too much and those that are in the cemetery. If you printed out my blog, it would run 50 pages. Obviously, I have been well trained to be a Past District Governor.

One of my goals was to track the hours and dollars that Clubs raised. We rolled out the numbers in a slide show at District Conference. District 7750 raised over $1.3 million for charity and contributed some 35,000 hours. We are reworking the slide show and spread sheet to get accurate numbers. My first effort as PDG will be to put this information on the website. Congratulations and thanks to all of the clubs.

It has been an honor to be your District Governor. My goal was to make every district event memorable. We succeeded beyond my expectations. To all those (and there were many) that planned, lead, spoke or participated in any of those events, I offer my profound thanks. And with all of the CART bucket contributions, I hope it is memorable for a long time.

In Becky Faulkner, Gary Goforth and Kim Gramling, you have outstanding future leadership. I hope you will support them as well as you have supported me.

Rich Waugh

District congratulations to Rich Waugh, who recieved the Rotary Foundation's Distringuised Service Award. There are only 200 of these awards given annually. The award was in honor of Rich's efforts as District Foundation Chair and Regional Chair for four other Districts. District 7750 had an increase of 15% last year, the highest increase in contributions in Zones 33 and 34. Zone 33 was also the only zone in the world that had 100% of its clubs contribute to the Foundation.

Congratulations, Rich, on a well deserved honor.

Polio

Dr. Bruce Aylward, WHO's head of polio, provided an update at the International Conference in Montreal He said that there is not good news, but "great news." No new cases of polio in the two worst provincss in India for the last six months. A 99% reduction in polio in Nigeria. The bad news was an outbreak of polio in Tajikistan, but htat is very controllable. Dr. Aylward said that
polio will be eradicated within the lifespan of those at the conference." I believe that eradciation will occur within the next few years. When it is eradicated, there will be one huge international celebration.

Montreal

I wish that every Rotarian in the District might one day have the opportunity to attend a Rotary International Convention. It is hard to believe the common bond that you feel with, in the case of Montreal, 18,500 Rotarians form 135 countries. There are five plenary's with world class speakers, an House of Friendship showing Rotary projects from around the world, Host Organizing Committee events to show off oneof the great cities on earth.

Greg Morentson (Three Cups of Tea) talked about building schools for educating women in Pakistan and Afghanistan. The Taliban have bombed or burned 2000 schools, but today there are 9 million children in schools, compard to 800,000 in 2000. 2.3 million are girls. Mortenson and the Central Asia Insitute have now built 178 schools, which are a "candle of hope" for this war torn region.

Bruce Aylward (International polio coordinator for the World Health Organization. He started his talk with "I don't have good news...I have great news." Polio has become WHO's #1 priority. There is a new vaccine and new resources from Rotary, the Gates Foundation and others. Here are the incredible results. Nigeria: 99% reduction. India (provinces of Bahar and Uddar Predesh): NO NEW CASES IN SIX MONTHS. For the first time, I heard officials of the World Health Organization say that polio will be eradicated in the near future. The overall number of cases are about the same because of an unfortunate, but very solvable outbreak in the European country of Tyrgystan, north of Afghanistan. It is the reason that we need to END POLIO NOW. The important thing is that WHO is winning in the difficult areas of the world.

There were other speakers at the conference that are having a worldwide impact: Dolly Partin (imagination Library), Bob Marusca, (Executive Director of the Boy Scouts of America), Jo Luck (President, Heifer International), Rocky Evangelista, President of the Taloy Foundation,, a polio survivor in a wheel chair who is now Lt. Governor of Ontario and an international advocate for people with disabilities, Queen Noor of Jordan(an American who married King Hussein), a Peace Scholar from Cypress forging connections between Greek Cypress and Turkish Cypress.

World class entertainment included Celtic Thunder, Cirque du Soleil and British Opera Singer Russell Watson.

Highlihgts of the speeches are avilable at a video gallery on the following link: http://www.rotary.org/en/MediaAndNews/News/Pages/conv10june_videogallery.aspxk:

The complete proceedings will be available in six weeks. There are presentations that would be well worth running at club meetings.

Beyond the official events, there is a kaleidoscope of experiences.

Please plan to attend one of the future conferences: 2011: New Orleans; 2012: Bangkok, Thailand; 2013: Lisbon, Portugal; 2014: Sydney, Australia; 2015: Seoul, korea; 2017: Atlanta, GA;

Closing Out May

The merry month of May closed out with some memorable events.

Thursday, May 20th. Keowee Sailing Club. The Seneca Rotary held a steak dinner on the lake in honor of the Australian GSE team. The picture speaks for itself. I wrote DG Brendan Porter in Australis not to worry about Brad and Raymond wearing skirts. They only did that 25% of the time they were here.



Monday, May 24th. The Zen. Our Inbound Youth Exchange student (Aijan Bapaeva - Abby) asked Michelle Moore, Charlie Slate and Paula Byrd to help her raise money for the Rotaract Club of Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. There has been a recent coupe and many people are in the hospital. The state will pay for the hospital, but food must be provided by the families. In many cases, there are no families. Abby had proposed going door to door, but her sponsors decided that was not a great idea. So they held a fundraising dinner at the Zen. Abby spoke and showed video of Kyrgyzstan, which is stunningly beautiful. They raised $1100, which was to be matched by the club in Bishkek. The President is an American and was able to thank the group by a speaker on a cellphone. Thanks to Abby and all those who contributed for a nice event.

Tuesday, May 25th. Rotary night at the Greenville Drive. The DG fulfilled a lifetime dream of throwing out the first pitch. His 65 year old arm was not as good as it once was (and never as good as he remembered.) The ball did go over the plate but shorthopped the catcher. Ah well. Call it a Sinker. Or maybe Stinker. Anyway, it was a great game that the Drive won 1-0 by scoring a run with two outs in the bottom of the ninth.

Saturday, May 29th. GSP Airport. The Australian team gathered for one last photo and then left the Upstate for either Florida, California or home. Leader Rob Antoniazzi called Lyn Kenney this afternoon to say he was home after a 31 hour journey. He reiterated that the team had the experience of a lifetime and to thank all of those involved. Thank you, Rob and team, for enriching our lives as well.

The Canadian team arrived later early Saturday evening. We will have the highlights from both teams in our May newsletter.

GSE - Queensland

I have not used the blog of late, but as I close out what has been for me a fantastic year, there are some things that I would like to publish. For example, I received the following postcard from Brendan Porter, District Governor of District 9550 regarding our GSE Team to Northern Australia.

Brendan wrote "Just a quick notes to let you know that the GSE Team that you sent to D9550 were exceleent ambassadors for yourself, Sarah and all Rotarians in D7750. Patrick was an amazing leader and all members of the team showed great enthusiasm for their vocations. I hope all will be invited to join Rotary."

Thank you, Brendan. We will invite them.

Proclamations

I want to thank Governor Sanford and 12 Mayors around the State for issuing Proclamations making February 23 Polio Eradication Day. I also want to thank 7750 DG Alan Walters, PDG Carol Burdette and others for securing these commitments.

End Polio Now

As part of Rotary's International publicity this week for ending polio, iconic buildings from around the world have been lit. Here is the Wrigley Building in Chicago. Others were in Italy, South Africa, Spain, Taiwan and Brazil. You can see them all at www.rotary.org.

Wall Street Journal, February 23

WSJ ran an aricle about Zanmi Agrikol, or Partners in Agriculture. This progrm was started by Charles and Gillaine Warne in 2004, to provide food to Partners in Health Clincis. Since the Earthquake, they have put an additional 4000 acres into production.

The article is titled "Agriculture Program Yields Hope in Haiti." You can see the article online at www.wsj.org, then search for haiti+agriculture. Or try this link:http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703494404575081744058479892.html?KEYWORDS=haiti+agriculture#

District 7690 (Asheville)

The following e-mail was from Carol King, DG in 7690 (Asheville, NC). By comparison, we packaged 13,000 meals at our District Conference in Clemson.

"Please know that over the next two months our District will be packaging 1,000,000 meals that will be sent to Haiti. This project is being coordinated with Stop Hunger Now, an NGO out of Raleigh. Part of this food is earmarked to be distributed through the Delmos Rotary Club and Stop Hunger Now. Perhaps you are aware of their efforts.

"I hope this information is helpful. We continue to do all we can to be help our friends in Haiti."

Gillaine Warne, January 18

Precious friends all over the world,

We know you are with us and have been since the beginning of the horrendous events of the past few days, which seem like an eternity. I haven't been able think straight or had the time to send messages, but as things seem a little bit more stable and the huge influx of wounded is slowing, I know you want to hear what's happening and where we are.

Our group left Port au Prince only about 30 minutes before the earthquake, and didn't know what had happened until we arrived in Mirabalais. Wondered why there were so many people in the streets and all the commotion, only to learn of the event and even then we were unaware of the enormity of what had happened.

Of course most everyone up here in Cange has family in Port au Prince and so a general exodus to go and search was the first thing that happened, leaving a skeleton staff here for the first few days. Fortunately there was a visiting team of a surgeon and drs., who jumped into the fray and with Dr.Koji and Sarah Marsh. We started to prepare for the inevitable wave of injured who would arrive.

The church was cleared and we started gathering mattresses, sheets, and setting up a pharmacy, with Jackie raiding the Artisan Center for all that could be used and laughing that all the stock she couldn't move was being used for a wonderful cause.

“Mash” has now become my most favorite program—I know exactly how it all works!
The cases coming in are tragic, mostly all with crushed bones in every part of the body, but the stories coming with them are even worse—always buildings falling on top of people, students from schools which completely collapsed, markets gone, houses gone, families gone. Now we are getting those who spent days under the rubble and only just being brought here, some who have already been treated by someone but sent on.

We have many cases where children have been brought in and just left, and what we are to do with these little ones remains to be seen. Children's bones being so fragile have been shattered, but seeing two little girls lying face to face, trying to help each other drink, sharing the one sheet to keep warm, and giving one another the courage to face the future with the loss of a limb—well what can I say?

Amputations have to be done more and more as patients coming in with infected wounds to limbs that cannot be saved and others with limbs so crushed that they cannot be repaired.

One young seminarian who was in class when the building collapsed, spent two days under the rubble with one live and two dead friends lying on him, and will now probably lose his leg because all the muscles, etc., were so compressed they cannot revive.

Our beautiful Episcopal Cathedral is nothing more than a pile of rubble, all the murals and frescoes gone. The school and auditorium—same thing. We have the wife of the Archbishop and the head of the school here. Fr. Val in Croix des Bouquets is OK but with severe damage to the church and school.

The stories go on and on—no time for all of them here.

In fact all the universities are gone and most of the schools. I am sure you have all seen the Official Buildings list, so I won't go there. Every house and family without exception has been affected. Fr. Lafontant, Marie Flore, JeJe—all have serious damage.

Our church in Cange is proving to be the perfect place (in fact, Dr. Sheridan said "what a wonderful use for a church"), and now there are several school rooms in use for those who have been treated and are able to walk. Everyone has a role to play. I have become the chief pharmacienne and anything else, and Jackie is wonderfully bathing the patients in the morning and emptying bedpans; food is being prepared for the patients, and students have become runners and assistants taking people up and down to the operating theatre.

Logistics are going to be the greatest problem. The largest food market in Port au Prince is on the ground and of course gas and diesel are at a premium, if they can be found. The problem of feeding all those coming to help when there is very little food left in Port au Prince is real.

For the moment our water is in fine shape and we will speak to Marcelin today to see if there is anything we need to think about. I actually told him last night that he needs to prepare for 1,000,000 people—you can imagine how he laughed. This in fact is a real possibility— people are coming from everywhere because they have nowhere else to go, and once they get here they have no desire to leave. People are in the streets walking, but not knowing where to go, and most are heading up the mountain.
Everyone is asking what they can do. I really don't know at this time apart from praying and sending emergency funds.

OK, everyone is calling now, so I will send on this first chapter, hoping to be able to send another, which is never sure as all system are very precarious. I guess you must realize that I am OK and while the first three day were exhausting, I have had four hours sleep and am a new person!

I don't think I could have been in any other place.

Please know that we feel all your prayers, we have had a miraculous escape here in Cange, I keep thinking of the songs we sing on Wednesday night like "Have you seen Jesus?"

YES.

We are expecting Charles and Breck at some time today which will be wonderful.
Much love and hugs to you all.

Gillaine

Gillaine Warne, January 22

Precious friends,

We thank you for all your prayers and messages of encouragement, they give us much strength. I know you are all waiting for more news and I’m sorry it has been so long, but I’m sure you also know that time has galloped away and I’m not even sure what day it is!!

Firstly, to back up a little, as you are aware Charles, Breck and the son of friends in New York, Jake Turlinsky, arrived on Saturday, coming through the Dominican Republic with many a story to tell of that passage – but leave it to a Warne to add a bit of spice to the trip!. Once through the frontier and certainly not wanting to spend the night in a very difficult area, it was decided to ride on to Beladaire where ZL has another hospital – yes! – on the back of motorbike taxis. Bags and boxes of supplies loaded on to the handlebars, they took off, much to the amusement of the surrounding spectators, and rode the 3ks. to the hospital. Those on the side of the road saw 3 crazy ‘blancs’, and the ride has now become the stuff of legends.!
You may think I am being a little frivolous, but the few laughs available are therapeutic.

The last few days have been very difficult, with cases coming in that have been waiting in other hospitals for a week to be seen, or have been sent on here for difficult surgery. The same syndromes go on – crushing, fractures, several paraplegics, some with complete paralysis. The great news is that wonderful teams of surgeons – general, plastic surgeons and orthopedic, anesthetists, (with one from SC) have arrived and are working nearly around the clock. Plasters are being put on, operations and of course the inevitable amputations, which have been many but many have been saved. Breck and Jake are a formidable stretcher team and have all the young volunteers running almost as fast as they, Breck using his first responder skills to the max. Charles has been wearing many hats, filling in wherever necessary.
Many of the very complicated operations have been moved to Hinche, including some of my first little friends, and it was so hard to see them go. Breck has been making the difficult trip with them, and is in awe of their courage and strength in the face of incredible pain. Today several patients were moved back to PauP for kidney dialysis, but with little hope of survival. We have lost two patients, one who was paralyzed and none of her systems could work, and the other a paraplegic. The sound of wailing women is very difficult for the staff and all the other patients lying in the church.

Sunday was one more unforgettable day but in a different way. Having the church occupied by patients, church service was set up in the External Clinic Auditorium, with the Alter on the platform, and seeing it all set up as in any other Episcopal Church was of great comfort. As you can imagine the space was packed with people overflowing out on to the road, but everyone dressed and clean, children polished to a shine and voices lifted in glorious harmony.

Even some of the choirs were able to squeeze in, and thanks to a few words to the music staff, the speaker sound was reduced so as not to shatter eardrums! Words from both Fr. Lafontant and Fr. St Louis were hard, very hard, with the descriptions of the losses in all areas -- but with the final words of hope and prayer, and Communion being served to everyone. I’m afraid to say that this was my moment to break down a bit, and I guess my neighbors didn’t quite know how to deal with a normally very smiley Guilene with tears streaming down her face. But tears were soon mopped up and the plea to be given "'Strength and Courages' to do the work He has given us to do” resounding in all of our hearts, has given just that.
Both Priests visited the Church, hospital and surroundings taking words of comfort and communion to patients, the small Acolyte choir singing a couple of special hymns.

Difficult situations of sanitation and trash are being dealt with, as even now the risk of infection and disease is real. Tanks of drinking water are being filtered through our system, a connection to the septic tank outside the church has been accomplished and even the showers and latrines at the school are being used. Jackie is on an endless march against trash being left around the complex and has made huge bags to be put in many areas. Even with all this, people still chuck stuff beside the bags and don’t seem to see what they are doing. Jackie’s patients are smelling just wonderful, she having tapped in to her precious stock of French soap and creams to be used when bathing patients in the morning. Her “Pollyanna” attitude has helped us all remain focused and positive.
Shock is still high, and the second shake yesterday morning threw everyone into a panic yet once again, with people not wanting to work inside some of the buildings for a while and others refusing still last night to sleep indoors. Beautiful Cange, has held strong with no evidence of damage.

After dealing with all the casualties of the moment, my mind has continually been moving on to that saying that I have been using in other areas of our work here “and now what”, and I am convinced that we here in the Plateau Central will have a huge part to play in the rehabilitation of Haiti. I am working on a very large and optimistic plan for the agricultural side of this, and know that as much as this is a rural country it is from this source that help and strength will come. As you can imagine, my little brain is buzzing with ideas and am off to a meeting about that as soon as I close this off.

Charles and the others are waiting impatiently at the door, so will send you these words and hope to continue again later tonight.
Next message will be a tough one because ---

YESTERDAY I WENT TO PORT AU PRINCE.!
We all send our love, and are hanging in there. Nap Kembe
Gillaine

Haiti

Haiti is in our Sister Zone and the Zone leadership has been closely tracking activities. Gillainel Warne, wife of our District International Service Chair, was in Port au Prince with a group of agronomists from Virgina Tech and left just 30 minutes before the earthquake hit on January 10. She and Charles run Zanmi Agricol, an organization that produced food for 12,000 malnourished children last year.

Charles flew down a week later, reaching Cange by flying to Santa Domingo and apparently taking a motorccycle loaded down with luggage and medidcal supplies through the backroads of the Dominican Republican. While Gillaine worked the hospitals set up throughout Cange, Charles ramped up cultivated land from roughly 100acres to 500 acres to help meet the food crisis.

Gillaine's e-mails are at the same time humorous and heart wrenching. We will transfer the two of them this afternoon. Stay tuned.

Congratulations 7750

For Rotary Year 2009/2009. contributions to Rotary Foundation's Annual Programs Fund from District 7750 increased 15.4%. AT Zone Insitute, this was recognized as the the highest percent increase for any District in Zones 33 and 34. This District also contributed $836 per club to Polio. The two zones were the only zones in the world that every club in every District contributed something to the Foundation.

Congratulations to DG Carol Burdette, Foundation Chair Rich Waugh, the Foundation Committee Chairs and all Rotarians who contributed.

Zone Institute

In the Rotary Bureaucracy, all Districts belong to a Zone. There are 34 zones in the world and the boundaries are adjusted to keep each of them with about the same number of Rotarians. We belong to Zone 33, which includes Delaware, DC, Virginia, West Virginia, North and South Carolina. Combined with District 34 (Georgia to the Caribbean), we jointly elect a Director to the Rotary Board. There are 17 Directors and they serve two year terms.

Zones 33 and 34 will meet annually at what is called the Zone Institute. It is held at a location is chosen by the Director. Our Director and RI’s Vice President is Eric Adamson is from Virginia, and this year’s Institute was at The Homestead in Hot Springs, VA. With Christmas decorations and six inches of snow on Friday night, the place was gorgeous. Attendees include past, current and incoming Governors for the District and Zone officers. There were also four Rotary Directors and the incoming RI President Ray Klinginsmith.

I provide this background because attending the Zone Institute is one of the privileges of being a DG and I would like to relay some of what I learned.

John T. Capps

Today, John T. Capps spoke at the Rotary Club of Greenwood. Capps is a Rotary Institution. He is the beefy and bald founder of the bald headed men of America, now boasting 35,000 members. (I am not a member.)

John is also a Rotary institution. He has attended 35 international conventions. He has participated in 10 national immunization days. He us a Past District Governor from Morehead, NC. A speaker at countless District Conferences, Foundation Banquets, PETS and other Rotary events, John Capps is considered a Rotarian's Rotarian.

The last time John was in Greenwood, he had a massive heart attack after his speech. The American Legion Hall where Greenwood meets is less than 2 miles from Self Regional. That probably saved his life.

During his speech, John thanked and presented Paul Harris Fellowships to his caridologists, Dr. Paul Kim and Dr. Thomas Pritchard. He also made a donation to the Wheel Chair Foundation in honor of St. Claire Donhaughy. Ms. Donhaughy was a writer for the Greenwood newspaper and got interested in Capps' story. He credits her articles with giving him the will to survive. She did it from a wheel chair.

Capps thanked Bill (recently deceased) and Ruby Clark, who housed John's wife Jane during the ordeal. And to all the Rotarians who provided support.

It was a great meeting.

Cange

The story of Cange can best be described as an oasis in the middle of one of the poorest areas on earth. The story began when the Haitian Government built a large dam in teh central plateau and displaced a large number of peasant farmers. The peasants became squatters and moved to the hillsides above the lake. In this environment Father LaEnfante started an episcopal church.

In the late 70's the Bishop of Haiti hooked up with the Bishop of the Upstate Episcopal Diocese. The Diocese established a clinic to provide medical services to the squatters. They called the area surrounding the Clinic Cange. For many years, physicians from Greenville flew medical missions to Cange.

Paul Farmer came to Cange, first as an Anthropology student and then as a medical student. He would collect his books at the first of the semester, fly to Haiti, then return for exams.

Farmer and Ophelia Dahl formed Partners in Health (PIH) to rasie money for the clinics. The story has been well documented in the book "Mountains Beyond Mountains." Today, there are 14 PIH Clinics in the rural areas of Haiti. The largest and Best equipped is in the walled compound of Cange. The Clinics surround Father LaEnfante's Episcopal church.

Al Steele and I shared a 12 x 12 room that basically consisted of two beds with mosquito netting and two places to stack clothes. There was a common bathroom and shower (no hot water) for four rooms. When you consider that families of six were living outside the walls in houses this size, the accomodations seemed pretty nice.

Church service on Sunday was a production. 130 performers in three choirs, a ten piece band which included keyboard, drums, trumpet, trombone, bass guitar, lead guitar and a clarinet. The service including communion took 2.5 hours. Father LaEnfante (a young 84) presided. There was a 60 person children's choir, all dressed in white and red choir robes and lined up by size from 5 yr olds to 18 6 ft 8in teenagers. It was quite a show.

We toured schools, hospitals and the various parts of the Warne's Partners in Agriculture. At one hospital, we picked up a four hour old baby that looked to weigh 3 pounds or less. We carried her and her teenage Aunt to the main hospital in Cange where they have incubators. This gave the drivers even more of an excuse to speed on the gravel roads.

Gravel road is too nice of a term. The roads are bulldozed routes where drivers have to navigate coffin sized potholes, children carrying water jugs, trucks carrying 10 or more people to work, goats and dogs, all on rocks ranging from gravel to boulders. They drivers seem to compete to see who can negotiate these hazards the fastest.

Haiti is beautifully green this time of year, as it is the end of the rainy season. The lake is spectacular and American developers would hang million dollar homes off of its steep hillsides. However, by the end of the dry season, the hillsides turn brown. A limestone dust cloud hangs over the roads, which people have to breathe. The dust will turn vegetation on either side of the road white until the cleansing rains return next spring.

The UN, however, is gradually paving these roads, and building drainage ditches and walkways on either side. Where the roads have been completed, living conditions improve and economic development can proceed.

I would like to talk about the schools and Partners in Agriculture in a later post.

Haiti, November, 2009

I am writing this blog from a hotel room in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. It is a hotel room probably nicer than the Hampton Inns where I usually stay. Surrounding the hotel is some of the most unbelievable poverty on earth. 70% of Haitians are unemployed. Speakers have said that 50% of the population is under 15. One of five children will die of waterborne disease. Only 40% are literate.

The occasion is a Zone Meeting in Haiti to talk about projects. District participants are Al Steele, Tom and Becky Faulkner, Charles Warne, Rita Yarbrough, Tom Tiller and GWF. Gallaine Warne and Sara Mansbach are in Cange. My hotel room has two double beds. Hot water. Light switches. Internet.

The hillside outside of my hotel room has no electricity, or if it is there, most people can't afford to use it. A police escort will take us to an elderly home and school tomoorrow.

For many years, Haiti has been the poorest country in the western hemisphere. However, the work of the Upstate Episcopal Diocese, Dr. Paul Farmer, Charles Warne, Tom Faulkner, and others has had an impact. Former President Bill Clinton just agreed to be the UN liaiso to Haiti. He agreed to do so if Paul Farmer would be his right hand man. Farmer recently turned down the job of head of the US Agency for International Development, but agreed to be Clinton's aid.

The story of Farmer and others in Cange is one of the great stories on earth. More to come.

Polio Events

I had the privilege of attending two fund raising events for polio this weekend. On Friday night, October 16, the Rotary Club of Clemson had their first annual oyster roast. It was the best oysters I have ever eaten. If you are considering an oyster roast, call Clemson and see who they hired. The event raised more than their $2000 annual commitment.

On Saturday, October 17, I attended the Octoberfest Road Race in Walhalla. All five Oconee County Rotary Clubs sponsored the race. Ben Smith from Seneca was the event coordinator and Larry Secrest was the race coordinator. There was a 5K race, a three lap race for children under 12 and a run across the field for the little ones with the Chick Filet cow. The cow finished last. Proceeds from the event went to polio plus.

Sadly, a light rain and cool temperatures reduced the number by half from previous years, but those that were there said it was a great event. Congratulations to AG Kim Gramling and all five Oconee County Rotary Clubs and thanks for your contributions to polio plus.

Terry Garrison

Secretaries are often the unsung heroes of Rotary Clubs. From a District Governor standpoint, there work is essential. Terry Garrison has been a member of the Rotary Club of Easley for 32 years, he has had perfect attendance for 22 years, and has been secretary for 19 years. Easley hyas 100% of the members with pictures and e-mail addresses. He has been throughat least four iterations of the software and totally understands how to use it.

Thanks, Terry, and thanks to Steve Sokol and all of the Secretaries who realize what a powerful tool the database can be.

Clover HS Interact Club

I just received an application package for the Interact Club of Clover HS, sponsored by the Clover Rotary Club. They have 150 paid members, have elected officers and have performed two community service projects sof far this year. Congratulations to the new club and to President David George and the Rotary Club of Clover.

Steve Mitchell

I visited Pleasantburg on Thursday to hear Yupapone and to say "Hello" to Steve Mitchell. Steve has been a member of the Rotary Club of Pleasantburg for 48 years. For 40 of those years, he was in charge of incoming Ambassadorial Scholars for the District. Thirty eight of the incoming scholars were women; only two were men. Steve said he was outvoted twice.

The photo shows Steve and Yapapone.

Yupapone Vorapongsukantl

I had the pleasure of driving our Ambassadorial Scholar, Yupapone Vorapongsukantl, from Columiba to Greenville. She is studying international relations at USC and she wants to become a diplomat. She was staying with Myles and Ann Golden and when we got there, the flag of Thailand was hanging out front. Yupapone spoke to the Pleasantburg, Greenville Breakfast and North Greenville clubs this week.

I asked her what she did for fun. She said that she did not have any time for fun, because it was very hard right now. I can't imagine how difficult it would be to come to a new country, speak a new language, learn to adjust to new food and new customs, find new living accommodations, keep up with what is considered the #1 School of International Business in the country and do it all on a very thin budget and no car. People that can successfully deal with those conditions will likely be incredibly successful in whatever they do.

My thanks to Rita Yarbrough, Myles Golden, Dee Kivett and I'm sure many others who have helped Yupapone get settled.

Andrea Pulliam

Andrea Pulliam is the kind of volunteer that every non-profit would love. She spends forty hours a month working at the Generations Group Home in Simpsonville.

Generations Group Home (GGH) is a School and Residence for sexually abused boys ages 10 to 19. Currently GGH has 46 residents. The boys are referred by the Department of Mental Health, DSS and the Department of Juvenile Justice. The average age is 14 -15. The boys spend an average of 12 to 18 months at the home. They go to school on site. They play sports and have group and individual therapies. The therapy restores the childhood that the kids missed because of fear and shame. Abused children have behavioral problems that can last a lifetime. With the GGH, 98% of the kids have returned to a normal healthy life after they leave.

GGH has major involvement from the Rotary Clubs of Golden Strip Sunrise and Greenville Breakfast. Mauldin also has some involvement and perhaps other clubs.

Andrea helped the kids grow a vegetable garden and learn about organic gardening. She supervises art therapy, teaches art history and helps boys make Christmas decorations from gourds. She raises money, performs maintenance, runs errands and is a supportive friend for the kids. This is in addition to her regular job as manager of a specialty chemcial company in Mauldin.

"It is the most rewarding thing I have ever done. It is taking something bad and making it really good. It is incredibly satisfying to see the transformations."

Thank you, Andrea. There is a obviously a dimension of Service Above Self that also satisfies self.

You can learn more about the Dimensions Group Home at www.generationsgroup.com

National Parks and National Battlefields

Ken Burns' newest series "The National Parks - Our Best Idea" was shown on PBS this week. In November, 2003 and without much fanfare, SC's own Congaree National Monument became Congaree National Park. This 22,200 acre park protects the largest contiguous area of old-growth bottomland hardwoods remaining in the United States. It borders the Congaree River in southeastern Richland County. SC ETV has an excellent documentary on the park called "Roots in the River. "

More relevant to the Upstate are the Revolutionary War sites, many of which are run by the National Park Service as National Battlefields. During my official visits, I have visited four of the 37 sites. Between my lunch meeting in Gaffney and my evening meeting at Blacksburg, I walked the one mile trail around the Cowpens Battlefield and watched the new park movie.

On a cold January morning in 1781, Daniel Morgan with less than 600 men defeated a British regular unit led by the hated "Bloody Ban" Tarleton that was twice the size of his own unit. The trail completely circles the battlefield. Signs describe every action in the battle. It took less than one hour for a major American victory that signaled the beginning of the end of the British. It is easy to see the ghosts. The Park Service is working on restoring the area vegetation to what it was in 1781.

In the bookstore at Cowpens is a small book with an epic poem titled "Daybreak at Cowpens." It was written by Greenville industrialist and philanthropist Arthur McGill. On January 17, 1981, on the 200th Anniversary of the Battle of Cowpens, Rotarian Don Koonce took McGill's poem, several thousand re-enactors, multiple photographers, three days and created a multi-image presentation of the battle. It was called "Daybreak at Cowpens - the Turning Point in the Revolution." He shot it at daybreak on one of the coldest days of the year. You can see the horses and soldiers breath, just as it was 200 years earlier.

I was honored to be one of 1200 people at a Regency Hyatt dinner when the show was presented. The British and American Ambassadors were present. It was a fabulous evening, with smoke and guns and flags, until the nine projector light and sound show overloaded the Hyatt electrical system and shutdown power in the Hotel. It was certainly memorable.

"Daybreak at Cowpens" is the story of a grandfather telling his grandson about the battle. The show won thie history category in a national competition at the International Association of Multi Image conference, beating out presentations from big agencies in Los Angeles, Atlanta, Chicago and New York. The big agencies were further shocked when this small SC agency kicked their pitoutie and won "Best in Show." The muti-projector presentation ran at the park visitors center for nearly 25 years. Because of the difficulty of running nine projectors, it was eventually replaced with a single picture DVD, of course losing something from the original three screen preesentation. It was recently replaced with a new movie.

There are 37 listed listed Revolutionary War sites in SC. Some like Ninety Six and Cowpens have trails and elaborate visitor centers. Others like Musgrove Mill have a visitor center, but are still waiting for funding on the trail. As Walter Edgar in his definitive history of SC says, "The war (in SC) may have begun and ended in Charleston, but it was won in the backcountry of SC."

Mauldin Cultural Center

The Mauldin Rotary Club now meets at the Mauldin Cultural Center in a room that they refurbished. The Cultural Center was the former Mauldin Elementary School, and town Fathers raised the money to refurbish the school and build an adjacent Sports Center. There is work remaining, but it is a great start.

The "Rotary Room" is a community rooms that was formerly the school library. It has built in projection and sound equipment and is a great meeting room. The Club raised almost $50,000 to renovate the room. They now have a 15 year lease at $1 per year to use the room for Club meetings and other Rotary activities.

I can understand the Club's fund raising culture. Yesterday, Tim Brett put $5 in the bucket and challenged another Rotarian to sing Happy Birthday. This person paid $5 and challenged someone else. This went on until someone finally accepted the challenge and was prepared to sing. Then a new person paid $5 for that person not to sing. Finally, someone threw in $5 and asked for everyone to sing, which they did.

The exercise probably netted at least $60 for club service.

Travel in Honduras

As you can tell from the previous blogs, it was a great trip. Al Steele has more water projects in Honduras than he has clubs to participate. We are short on matching money. Participating in a trip like this will give you new perspective on what Rotary, the Rotary Foundation and people like Al Steele, Nicholas and Fred Stottlemeyer are doing for world peace and understanding.

Incidentally, this is the picture of Jimmy, the owner and driver of the small bus that transported us around. The bus holds probably 20 people in air conditioned comfort. Jimmy served as our interpreter at most of the events, and is shown here at Neuva Esperanza interpreting for the villagers at the dedication of the Heidi projects. He also owns a 40 room bed and breakfast in San Pedro Sula, which is where I stayed on the first night. His business since the "Constitutional Substitution" has suffered badly, so he was happy to have our group.

To Jimmy and his wife Sandra, Fred Stottlemeyer, Diana Calix, Nicholas Wobbrock, Hector Guillen (PDG in San Pedro Sula), Rotary Club Presidents (San Pedro Sula, Copan and Marcala,) Fernando, Dan Smith, Sally Long, Sandra Guerra, the six other Rotarians (Debbie, Ron, Joe, Jeff, Don and Roger) and of course, Al Steele, thanks for a truly life enlarging trip.

Nuevo Generacions and Quence de Mayo

The Villages of New Generations and 15th of May have 80 homes. Their water system was dedicated on September 19. The event was held at the school house. It was funded by Chester and Fort Mill Rotary Clubs, and with a matching grant from the Rotary Foundation.

The water came from a spring. Over 15 kilometers of trenches had to be dug to get the water to a tank and then to the houses. The water is stored in a tank, where chlorine tablets are used for disinfection. As part of the $25,000 grant, each house received a spigot, a 750 gallon tank for collecting gray water, and a latrine.

The tank is shown with Nicholas , a Stanford Engineer and Peace Corps Volunteer who worked on the system. Debbie Parsons from Chester is shown next to the spigots at the school.

As part of the celebration, there were fireworks, performances by school children, speeches and a lunch that included beef. The water system will not only reduce disease, but will free up a huge amount of time spent procuring water.

Nuevo Esperanza

Nuevo Esperanza means "New Hope." The village is located high in the mountains. To get there, we climbed into the back of pickups and held on for dear life until we got about halfway up the mountains. I had a camera around my neck and snapped one of the great shots in my life while hanging onto the truck.

About 1/2 mile short of the village, we parked the trucks and walked the rest of the way. All of us made it, although those over 50 were exhausted and short of breath.

The villagers were gathered, thrilled that Rotary was providing funds for a water supply. The Mayor spoke and our bus driver interpreted. One woman said "Thank God for Rotary. It will illuminate us to the right way."

I will never forget, however, Rotarian Joe Johnson. Joe's daughter Heidi was killed in a car crash in February. She was an Assistant Governor and a great Rotarian. The York and Clover Clubs decided to dedicate a water project in her honor. New Esperanza was the recipient. When Joe told Heidi's story, there was not a dry eye in the place.

I hope to be there for the dedication of that water supply.

After the presentations, the villagers served each of the Rotarians an ear of corn. I ate only half, but was assured that the other half would be eaten by someone.

New Esperanza had wireless connections. As remote as we were, I had two bars on my Blackberry Storm. One villager had a cellphone. Another had a Brett Favre Green Bay Packer jersey. Tom Friedman (The World is Flat) believes that connectivity is the key to future success. The Heidi Johnson project will provide water to 25 homes, and maybe the marvelous connectivity will let them compete in a modern world.

Fort Mill Scholarships

Tim and Gloria Wheeler are two of Al Steele's contacts in Honduras. They work for an organization called Heifer, a non-denominational, international organization whose mission is to work with communities to end hunger and poverty and to care for the earth. The Wheelers have been in Honduras for the last 30 years.

Honduras public education ends in third grade. Education after that must be paid for. The Wheelers approached Al and asked for scholarships for promising students. The cost averages $750 per year per student.

Jeff Harr is Chair of Fort Mill's Scholarship Committee. He recently was a Charity Bartender at Beef O'Barley's in Fort Mill that raised $2100 for Scholarships. On the 7-hour trip from Copan to Marcala, we had breakfast with Roni. He is studying business and his scholarship will literally change his life.

At lunch, we met six more students. Two teenage girls who are under scholarship, and four more students who want to be. The girls are studying sewing and baking, skills that will earn them a living. The picture shows Jeff Harr is the middle, Roger Metz on the left and Al Steele on the right. Jeff is committed to funding all of these students. He would also like to build a public library that would provide books and jobs in rural areas. Knowing the Fort Mill Club, I suspect that he will do it.

Rotary Club Meetings

The Rotary Club of Copan changed their meeting from Wednesday night to Thursday night because the 7750 District Governor was holed up in Miami. They celebrated Al Steele and all that he had done for water projects around Copan. They gave the District Governor (me) a key to the City and an incredible ceramic banner. I gave them the pitiful banner from the Rotary Club of Greenville. I was being honored for projects that the other people in the room had done. It was a great meeting, but I felt unworthy of the recognition. The picture shows the Vice-Mayor presenting the key.

On Friday night, we went to the Rotary Club of Marcala. The President is Dr. Sheryl Gayttan, the town's only Pediatrician. She has been President five of the last nine years. We met in a restaurant/bar with one long table for the Rotarians. There were other people present.

At one end of the room was the Chicago Cubs/St. Louis Cardinals game on a flat screen TV. Behind the bar was an ESPN boxing match in high definition on a flat screen TV. (Honduras has the most amazing wireless network that I have seen. There was a wireless signal in the remotest areas we visited. I cannot say that about South Carolina.) In the center of the room was a large screen BeeGees concert.

The President of the club convened the meeting 15 minutes late and made a short speech. We exchanged banners and then ordered dinner. The picture shows Dr. Gayttan presenting a banner to Fort Mill's Don Hyatt. Dinner came almost an hour later.

Marcala is not a wealthy town and had plenty of local projects to propose to Al Steele. Yet, they ignored local projects and selected instead rural areas outside the City that had no water at all. It is a great tribute to Presidentl Gayttan and her club.

Service Above Self still exists in the poorest areas of the planet.

Ball Field

The picture shows an ancient Mayan Ballfield. It consisted of a field about 10 yards wide, with two sloping stone ramps on either side. There are six heads of ancient kings at the top of the ramp. Teams consisted of 5 to 9 players on each side. The object was to throw a rubber ball and hit a king. If it missed, the ball rolled down the ramp and onto the field.

The game had special significance. The star athlete was taken to the stone that looks like a Big Mac and sacrificed. The Mayans believed that he would then go to the underworld and fight the demons. It was a great honor to be sacrificed. Note the troughs to allow the blood to flow down the rock.

Yo, CJ Spiller. Do we have a deal for you.

Fernando

I have always admired people who live their lives with great focus, mostly because mine has been the complete opposite. Fernando (I don't know his last name) is one such person. A native Honduran, he went to Duke and then graduate school at Tulane in Archeology. For the last 30 years, he has been digging tunnels through Temple 16 in the Copan Ruins, a Mayan City that dates back 3000 years. The research is paid for by Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania.

Al Steele arranged for us to walk through the tunnels with Fernando, a tour not open to the public. There were seven buildings on the site, the last of which was plastered over and buried in the 1600's. He has carefully removed the rock and the plaster to find these ancient treasures.

Fernando told us that he hated the tunneling, but it had to be done to accomplish what he accomplished. Next month, he will retire and spend his remaining years writing up his findings. Perhaps historians will appreciate his writing, but laymen only have to see the attached pictures.

Rotary Club of San Pedro Sula

I left for Honduras at 7:30 am on Wednesday, September 16. At 8:40 AM, the plane had traveled about 500 feet. When we finally got to Atlanta, I had missed the flight to San Pedro Sula. This forced Al Steele into his "here's what we are going to do" mode.

After a 7-hour layover in Miami, I finally got to San Pedro Sula at 7:45 PM that night, and was immediately taken to the Rotary Club of San Pedro Sula. Their 70 members are the business leaders of the City. Honduras is not the safest place for Americans or Hondurans. The economy and especially the tourism business have tanked since the ousting of former President Manuel Zelaya at gunpoint on June 28. The US still considers him the President. The Hondurans at the Club called it a "Constitutional Substitution" of a corrupt President, who was trying to change the Constitution in spite of a Supreme Court order. They support new President Roberto Micheletti and are not happy with the US position.

The Chief of Police spoke at the club for over an hour that night about what to do to protect yourself. He had power point slides and I could at least understand the pictures. An example. Don't stop for stoplights after 9 pm if there are no cars in either direction. Stopped cars invite attackers. I was later told that almost every member of the club had their own driver and their own security staff. They believe the violence and the economy will get worse before the elections in November.

My driver going back to the Bed and Breakfast said that every minute while driving, she is constantly looking at what is going on around her. The B&B was in a gated community, with a locked gate in front of the house.

I slept well, cursing Delta Airlines instead of the darkness, and thankful that I can listen to books on an IPOD while driving instead of worrying about somebody attacking my car.

Fred Stottlemeyer

We met Fred Stottlemeyer at his home in Marcala before going to the Marcala Rotary Club. Fred is the former manager of the South Putnam Public Service District in Charleston, WV. He was a founding member of the WV Rural Water Association. He also founded the International Rural Water Association and served as its President.

Fred retired in 2004 and decided to start a second career using his expertise to help people in rural parts of Honduras and El Salvador get potable water. He is the principal design engineer on many of these systems. He has brought many people together by developing a circuit rider program (an engineer or five technicians that periodically visit a number of plants to provide help where needed.) He has also set up a chlorine bank and worked on small system loans.

As most of you know, I spent my professional career designing water and waste treatment systems, including one in Honduras. I was thrilled to see Fred's pictures of his water plants. He asked me if I would like to visit.

At 7:00 AM on Saturday morning, he picked me up. In the car were Dan Smith, a graduate environmental engineer from Cornell who was in Honduras on a Fulbright Scholarship, and Sarah Long, an intern from Cornell.

The processes in the Marcala plant are almost identical to drinking water plants in developed areas, with just a few notable exceptions. There is no electricity. All processes are gravity flow from the water source above the plant to users below. All chemical mixing must be done by the turbulence of the water. The are no pumps, except for a small pump used for washdown water and driven by a 2-cycle engine typically used on a chain saw. There are no computers or instrumentation. Light at night is provided by a 12 V battery, which also runs the radio. The chemicals must be continuously adjusted to remove mud (turbidity) and maintain a chlorine residual. The operators never know what is happening to the water source. If it is raining upstream of the water intake, the mud in the water may be too high to treat and the plant must be shut down. For these reasons, the plant must be manned continuously. (See Oscar and Edwin)

Fred Stottlemeyer is a water genius. It is not surprising that Al Steele hauled him into his circle of water partners. I suspect the satisfactions of Fred's second career far exceed the first. I also have a feeling that Fred and I will meet again.

Oscar and Edwin

Oscar and Edwin are the treatment plant operators at the Marcala Treatment Plant. The plant processes about 500 gallons per minute of potable water, enough to serve 7500 Americans or 30,000 Hondurans.


The plant must be manned continuously, so Oscar and Edwin work it out. One works from 6:30 AM to 4:30 PM, or 10 hours. The other works from 4:30 PM to 6:00 AM. They switch during the next week.


Edwin's home is a 45 minute walk down the mountain. When we met him, he was carrying a ten week old puppy that I would have taken back to Greenville. Oscar's home is 20 minutes up the mountain.

The City drops off chemicals at a point roughly 250 yards down the mountain. The chemicals are in canisters or bags that weigh more than 100 pounds each. Oscar and Edwin have to carry them up the mountain on their back. When I asked Fred if we could supply a dolly, he said no, he was going to buy them a horse. He just had not figured out how to pay for the feed.

They have a mattress on which they can rest, a radio and a TV. There are several underfed yard dogs for company

Like their American counterparts, Oscar and Edwin take pride in their work. The chemicals are manually fed, and must be continuously adjusted to accommodate changes in the levels of mud in the incoming water. The water must have residual chlorine to prevent water borne disease.

Unlike his American counterparts, I asked Oscar what he would change at the plant. He could not think of anything. His American counterparts would bend my ear for at least an hour.

Oscar and Edwin earn 46 cents per hour, but working 70 to 100 hours per week earns them a decent living.


I asked Oscar what he liked most about his job. He said that he liked learning new things. He wished there were more training opportunities.

Oscar displayed levels of professionalism far beyond his formal education. It shows that character is at least as important as degrees.

Honduras

On Sunday night, I returned from a five day trip to Honduras. Also touring were trip organizer Al Steele (Fort Mill), Debbie Parsons (Chester), Joe Johnson (York), Don Hyatt (Clover), Jeff Harr (For Mill), Roger Metz (Fort Mill) and Ron Faircloth (Fort Mill). The economy has tanked in Honduras since the "Constituntional Substitution" a few months ago. During the five days, we attended three Rotary Club meetings, toured a World Heritage Site at Copan, dedicated one water system, started a new water project in honor of Heidi Johnson and encountered a four inch rainstorm. The storm was so powerful that a lightning bolt blasted out Ron Faircloth's bathroom window. We rode to a mountain village standing up in the back of pickup truck, grasping a roll cage on roads that were to steep and too muddy to be called roads. We were held up for almost four hours on Honduras' main highway while traffic inched around a turned over tank truck, but fortunately, our bus stopped in front of a shop selling Honduran beer. We had meals with three of the four students that have received sholarships from the Fort Mill Club. We had a lot of laughs and more than a few tears. We met many wonderful people who have become Rotary partners on these projects.

Rather than one long narrative, I am going to tell stories about people or events. I wish that every Rotarian in the District would go on such a trip and see first hand what an incredible impact that Rotary has on the lives of individual people. One such trip for 2975 Rotarians and we would never again have to worry about contributions to the Rotary Foundation.

Dictionary Projects

Many clubs distribute dictionaries to third graders. I was never much impressed with this project until I saw one of the dictionaries and talked to clubs that distribute them. First, the dictionary is oriented to elementary school children. Second, it is (sadly too often) the first book the child has ever owned.

Chester carries the Dictionary Project a step further. Instead of a regular meeting, teams of Rotarians will take the books directly to about 360 children in Chester County's five public schools and three private schools. After distributing the books, the Rotarians will demonstrate how to use the book. They will have children look up key words from the four way test and then lead a discussion on what the word means. What is "truth?" What is "fair?" Etc.

Other clubs may do this, but I never asked how the books are distributed. I think it is a great idea.

Calf Chain

Every Club needs an archivist. Few have more passion or fun with club history than Chester's Dr. Doug Marion. The event described below occurred in 1930, but was documented sometime in the 60's. Dr. Marion found a picture of the event at the County History Museum. Here is the story.

"When Chester was known as the 'Wonderful Guernsey Center of Dixie,' Rotary began a 'calf chain.' Thoroughbred calves were given to a select group of boys to grow out, develop, and exhibit in cattle shows. Each young man was to give the first female born to the animal to the Club, which in turn, gave it to another boy, thus, perpetuating the project. J.G. Grant's calf grew into a very fine cow and won many prizes. She was cased up on one occasion, and brought to the Chester Hotel dining room to show off to the Rotarians. While members of the Rotary Club ate chicken and dressing, she munched on fragrant, new-mown hay. Money from the sale of this cow enabled Grant to go to college. Later, a 'pig chain' was started by Rotary, but there were so many links in it that it was later abandoned."

If you look closely, you will see the cow under the Rotary Wheel in the back of the room. I assume the boy on the far left is J. G. Grant. The cow looks like a Holstein and not a Guernsey, but what do I know. Not one Rotarian is smiling, even though they have just brought a cow into the dining room of Chester's finest hotel. It is too bad for history's sake that they did not move the cow out front for the picture.

Oldest Rotarian?

Spartanburg's Cindy Brown is an Executive Director of Eden Terrace, a retirement home. She brought one of her residents, Francis Claus, to a club meeting. Ms. Claus is probably not your ordinary 104 year old. For her birthday, she took a motorcycle ride. She gambled money at a casino. She even talked of a parachute jump.

The Club loved her and made her an honorary member. She has the framed Rotary certificate in her room and proudly wears her badge and pin. The Club contends that she is the oldest Rotarian.

I will certainly not dispute that claim.

Rogue Table

Spartanburg meets at the Piedmont Club. The gentlemen sitting at the back table on the left hand side of the meeting room have made more than one meeting memorable. Their location means they can do things that only the speaker can see. Examples. During new member talks, they have held up numbers from one to ten rating the presentations. Few new members have rated more than five. During past President Don Woodward's farewell speech where he thanked everyone and talked about all the great things the club had done, the back table wore Groucho Marx glasses, noses and assorted masks rented from a local costume school.

I visited the rogue table before I spoke and told them that I was prepared for whatever. Nothing happened.

After the meeting, I received an e-mail from ringleader Dexter Cleveland. "Thank you for your visit today to Spartanburg. Your presentation was great. The time seemed to disappear. Come back soon and often. You can even sit at the back table. (RSVP required)."

Thank you, Dexter. Your note meant a lot. I will come back and I would love to sit at the back table. I have some ideas for Becky Faulkner's visit next year.

Eddie Brown

Some people are so good at what they do in Rotary that the job is theirs as long as they want. Eddie Brown is Rock Hill's designated Happy Bucks moderator. He does the job very well.

August 27th was Eddie's first meeting since an extended health related absence. Quickly returning to form, he noted that several members had sent him flowers. "If I make it, send chocolates, light beer. If I don't make it, send the damn flowers."

Fort Mill Fundraiser at Beef O'Brady's

By almost any standard, Fort Mill is a great club. They have become famous for their water projects in Honduras, but they also support a wide range of service locally. In the Fort Mill Club, the 80/20 rule often means that 80% of the 100 member club participates.

Wednesday night's fundraiser was at Beef O'Brady's, a franchise owned by club member Michael Hunt. Waitress Susan Fuller and Waiter Jeff Harr wore T Shirts that said "we work for tips." The money raised will provide scholarships for children in the rural areas of Honduras. The total cost for four kids in Honduras is $63 per month, or $2520 per school year.

The place was packed with Rotarians. Some came to eat dinner. Some came to have a beverage and harrass the waiter, who was at various times smacked on the bottom and told to hike up his shorts. Many came by just to drop off money. Exhausted at the end of the three hour event, Jeff and Susan said they had new respect for anyone who waits tables. The club raised $2100, which combined with the $480 left over from last year, was more than enough to fund all four students.'

Melanie Sills said it best during Happy Bucks. "I am just happy to be a member of this club and to be surrounded by such great people."

Tony Gilreath and Larry Higgins

In October, 2008, Forbes Magazine had an article that listed Lancaster, SC as the most vulnerable Town in America for towns between 10,000 and 50,000 people. The listing was based on relative rankings of unemployment, median income, mortgage debt, education and poverty. The two Rotary Clubs in Lancaster are trying to make a difference. There are some great stories, but here are some prime examples of Service Above Self.

Tony Gilreath is President of the Lancaster Breakfast Club. He is also Chief Financial Officer for Founders Federal Credit Union. Fellow Rotarian Larry Higgins is Founders' Senior Vice-President and Legal Counsel. Tony has children ages 16, 12 and 9. Larry has children ages 12 and 7. They live next door to each other. They attend the same church.

With considerable coaxing, I extracted the following Board and/or volunteer commitments: Tony: Lancaster Community Foundation, Friday Night Football, Hope of Lancaster, Lancaster Chamber of Commerce, Lancaster Arts Council, PTA, Finance Chair for his church, USC Lancaster Board of Visitors, Lancaster HS Tennis Coach, Artisans Speak, Rotary volunteer.

Larry: Hope of Lancaster, LHS Booster Club, United Way, Hope on the Hill, Friday Night Football, AR Rucker PTA, North Elemtary PTA, Basketball Coach, Sunday School Teacher, Palmetto Citziens Against Sexual Assault, Regional Education Center Advisory Board, USC Lancaster Education Foundation, Taste of Lancaster, Rotary volunteer.

Both get their children involved in their service activities.

Tony says, "In some ways, we live each other's lives." Maybe so, but they are two people working hard to make a difference in their community.

District Governor

I visited Winnsboro today. Bill Bittinger (81 years old) has heard many District Governors speak. He attended the Board meeting, but told me afterward that he would have to miss my talk. "I had a choice between listening to you or a digital prostate exam. I chose the prostate exam."

I choose to think this is not a negative on me, but a reflection on the speeches of the Past District Governors. Or maybe just good judgment on Bill's part. Whatever, I loved the comment and got Bill's permission to use it in the blog.

Brain Fart

The CEO of Springs Memorial Hospital was a member of the Rotary Club of Indian Land. The club collects Happy Bucks in a fish net. On one memorable day, the CEO threw coins into the fish net. When the coins crashed to the floor, there was a stunned silence and then spasms of laughter.

She has now moved on to another hospital system and hopefully another Rotary Club, but it is certain that the Indian Land club never let her forget it.

Will all those who have never had a brain fart please identify themselves.

The Good Doctor

The Union County Historical Museum occupies a great location on Main Street in downtown Union. Adjacent to the Museum's main entrance is a storefront museum annex containing the examination room of "The Good Doctor" of Union, Paul M. Swtzer.

Dr. Switzer grew up in Union and attended Clemson College. After three years, he was accepted into the Medical University of SC. He graduated in June, 1941, and after a short Internship in Washington, DC, applied for a Commission as a medical officer in the United States Army.

The next part of his story is movie material. He was assigned to the 48th Armored Field Artillery Battalion under General George Patton, a unit that would participate in three invasions. Shipped to North Africa where he was in charge of a medical unit, he was part of Patton's victory over The Desert Fox at Kassarine Pass. After the invasion of Italy, he participated in the celebrated "race" between Patton and Field Marshall "Monty" Montgomery to take Palermo. On June 6, 1944, he was part of the Normandy Invasion. His landing craft was twice hit by shells and the soldiers had to swim to the beach. Dr. Switzer saw an injured soldier, swam back to get him and dragged him to the beach. He was awarded a Silver Star for valor and subsequently a Purple Heart for injuries incurred in Europe. He provided medical services to the unit all the way to the Battle of the Bulge.

After the war, Dr. Switzer finished his internship in Charleston and returned to Union. He practiced medicine for the next 60 years, finally retiring at age 90.

Dr. Switzer joined the Rotary Club of Union in November, 1949. Fellow Union Rotarian, Dr. Woody Sanford wrote an extended essay as part of nominating Dr. Switzer for MUSC's Distinguished Alumni Award. That essay contains a detailed description of his war record, his long medical practice and his Service Above Self. You can find it on the Great Stories tab (under construction) of the District 7750 website.

When they were setting up the donated equipment at the museum, the Curator of the Museum, Ms. Ola Jean Kelly told Dr. Switzer that he had delivered her first son. "Oh," he said, "he must have been born on a Wednesday." She was shocked. "How did you know that?"

"Well, my partner delivered all the babies, but he went fishing on Wednesdays."

In his essay, Dr. Sanford says that local newspaper writer Willard "Wishie" Hines coined the term "The Good Doctor." Wishie Hines frequently wrote something about "The Good Doctor," knowing that having his name in the newspaper would cost Dr. Switzer a dollar at the next club meeting.

Woody Sanford says that "Dr. Switzer is a good doctor in every sense of the word - highly intelligent, very well trained, an unimaginable memory, a kind and thoughtful nature, great sense of humor and a thirst for knowledge."

I felt honored to have Dr. Switzer present when I made my official visit on August 18th.

Service Above Self Awards

Since 1991, Rotary International has recognized 150 Rotarians per year as Service Above Self Award winners. Here is the list of winners for 7750.

1996-1997 Sue Poss, Greenville East
1998-1999 Clarence Buurman, Simpsonville
2001-2002 Bill Clark, Greenwood
2002-2003 Gary Goforth, Emerald City
2002-2003 Roland Windham, Aiken
2005-2006 Frank Taylor, Foothills

As part of doing a better job of telling the story of District 7750, I will collect these stories on a separate page on the website. This is a great list, but I think there are many more people that should be recognized.

Carter and Holmes Orchids

Contrary to my request to avoid gifts, the Rotary Club of Newberry gave me two beautiful orchids from Carter and Holmes Orchids in Newberry. I had to visit the company.

Owen Holmes was a WWII veteran who returned to Newberry in 1946. He and his partner Bill Carter wanted to grow orchids, but they first started a florist shop. Corsages were in great demand for Valentines Day, Easter and Mother's Day. They ran the shop for 10 years, and grew the orchids on the side. As soon as the orchids broke even, they sold the florist shop.

They began hybridizing orchids in the 50's. They developed their own laboratory in the 70's. They have since developed over 10,000 registered "crosses."

Today, Carter and Holmes has 100,000 square feet of green houses. They sell orchids and ferns (their other specialty) all over the world. Visiting the orchid factory is a great experience. You are greeted by a parrot who can break an eardrum if you get too close. They have some of the most beautiful plants that I have ever seen. They showed me one plant that had generated over a million dollars in revenues from crossing with other plants. They welcome visitors to the facility.

Owen Holmes is 84 and a member of the Rotary Club of Newberry. His son Mac is a lawyer by training, also a Rotarian and involved in the business.

Owen says that he has no interest in retiring. He believes that God called his business partner Bill Carter home to tend the orchid gardens in heaven. He is a little concerned that Bill may need some help.

Thank you, Owen and Bill and Mac. Your business makes the world a better place.

Membership Idea

At the Newberry Rotary Club, Board member Les Hipp had an idea worth repeating. We were talking about strategies for recruiting young people. He pointed out that there was an active Junior Chamber of Commerce (Jaycee) group in Newberry. Why not consider a partnership? The Rotary Club could get involved in Jaycee projects and Jaycees could get involved in Rotary projects. More important, Rotary could get to know members of the Jaycee group that age out at 35.

It occurs to me that similar partnerships could be set up with the Junior League, where members age out at 40.

In the urban areas, there are also groups of young professionals like Pulse in Greenville and Talent Magnet in Columbia. These are organizations committed to recruiting and retaining young professionals.

Perhaps the Area membership coordinators could compile some lists of these organizations and encourage partnerships on service projects.

Nancy King

The first person (after AG Claire Kuhl and Club President Jessie Tindall) to greet me when I visted Abbeville was Nancy King. With a hug. I like hugs.

Nancy was not on the Board, but sat through the Board meeting. Nancy said she needed to talk to me after the meeting.

She wanted to tell me about Boyce Gladden, Rotary Exchange Student to Taiwan from Abbeville. Boyce spoke to the club last week and is thrilled with her opportunity. Nancy gave me the latest copy of the Abbeville Press and Banner highlighting Boyce's presentation.

She then told me about the School District requesting Rotarians to get involved with K5 students who were significantly behind in reading skills. A dozen Rotarians volunteered to spend one day per week tutoring these disadvantaged students. She teared up telling about giving one of her students the first book he had ever owned.

Perhaps the real story is Nancy King. She worked for 25 years doing title searches for a lawyer in Abbeville. She then ran for and was elected Clerk of Courts for Abbeville County. She held that job for 28 years. I am told that she took great pride in being the designated person in Abbeville County willing to help anyone with anything.

Nancy says that if she goes to the grocery store, it takes an hour to get out. As I left the Dutch Oven Restaurant in Abbeville, everyone in the restaurant knew her. Passerbys on the sidewalk outside knew her. Her two grandchildren know her well.

Nancy King has spent her life helping others. An ordinary person doing extraordinary things. I left with a hug. I like hugs.

Hickory Knob State Park

The McCormick Rotary Club meets at Hickory Knob State Park. I was scheduled for Abbeville the next day, and after checking that Hickory Knob had wireless internet, I stayed overnight at the park.

What an underutilized asset. The room, comparable to any Hampton Inn, overlooked Lake Russell and was $68/night. Eighteen holes of golf after 2 pm on Wednesday was $22. That included the cart. A dinner of fried chicken, mashed potatoes, veggies and a salad bar was $10.16. The lobby had a wonderful rec room with pool tables and a big screen TV. Hickory Knob also had available fishing boats, sail boats, tennis courts, skeet shooting, hiking trails and a 50 meter swiming pool, i.e a full service resort. Rangers were available to help with anything. The internet is free.

The West Coast of SC is not the ocean, but it is an incredible family vacation opportunity at recession prices. It is sad that SC has no money to market such opportunities.

How to Kill a Good Project, II

When it comes to physical labor for a service project, the 80/20 rule too often applies. (20% of the club members do 80% of the work.) Some clubs believe the 80/20 rule is optimistic.

McCormick had a project for years of frying Thanksgiving turkeys. This involves storing, cleaning, moving, thawing and frying 125 turkeys. Each turkey weighs between 15 and 20 pounds frozen. Fifteen deep friers are utilized, which create their own safety concerns.

On one particular year, Abbie Caywood's husband Don "Charlie" Caywood was in charge of the event. He picked up the frozen turkeys and transfered them to a van. He unloaded them at the fry site at Hickory Knob State Park. Turkeys on a pallet will thaw from the outside in. The inside turkeys were not thawed, and the distribution date was quickly approaching. The club (remember 80/20) transfered them to five individual homes for thawing in the bathtub. Of course, they then had to be returned to the fry site.

Charlie Caywood figured that he moved 67,000 pounds of turkeys from someplace to someplace during the year that he was Event Chairman. I think that is 33.5 tons. Ordinary people doing extraordinary things.

Needless to say, McCormick no longer does the turkey fry as a fundraiser. Greenville Breakfast still does fried turkeys. Maybe they have conquered the 80/20 rule.

How to Kill a Good Project

Rotarian Ed Elliott was working for a radio station in Blacksburg, SC. One of the club's fund raisers was a barbecue. Ed set up a remote at the barbecue and the on air publicity was attracting record crowds. Backup barbecue was available, but one of the radio personalities, who was also a club member, got on the remote and told a five county audience, "Well, folks, the first round of the Rotary barbecue is getting low, but don't worry. We're going to go get some puff possum and a few cats, and we will replenish our supply."

"Puff possum" for all of you city folk is swollen road kill. (OK, I had to ask.) Within 20 minutes, the long lines disappeared. Subsequent over the air pleas that he was just kidding did not bring back the crowds.

Someone once said that a bad day is when Mike Wallace shows up in your lobby. Beware the power of the media.