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Club Announcements:
At the July 6 meeting of the Rotary Club of North Jackson, club Vice President/President-Elect Uriel Pineda read the following to the club members:
"Last Thursday evening, just before 9:00 PM, President Suman Das called Don Roberts and told him he was resigning as President and as a member of the Club. His call to Don was followed by a call to me and then a majority of the Officers and Directors. Suman also sent a letter of resignation citing personal and family reasons for his decision. Neelam Goel delivered Suman's letter to Don late on Friday afternoon.
His resignation was a shock to all of us as we heard it. I'm sure all of you a shocked now to hear it now. Suman has been working hard on his plans for the new Rotary year and the planned 50th Anniversary Luncheon scheduled in just 14 days.
At this moment, there are more questions than answers. Immediately following the adjournment of today's meeting the Officers and Directors will meet to begin addressing those questions."
Club Executive Secretary/Treasurer Don Roberts said the following in a July 7 email to the club members:
"Following the meeting, the Officers and Directors met to address the vacancy created by the resignation (of President Das) as called for in the Club's ByLaws. The Officers and Directors in attendance voted unanimously and selected Uriel Pineda as President for the remainder of the 2021-22 Rotary Year.
The Officers and Directors also discussed the upcoming Club 50th Anniversary Celebration scheduled for July 20th at the Country Club of Jackson. The decision was made to continue with plans to hold the event. It is necessary to make some adjustments to the plans for that day.
Additional details regarding the event will be communicated to all Club members as soon as those details are available..."
The Rotary Club of North Jackson is meeting in person at the RickHouse. Live Zoom meetings were discontinued effective July 6, 2021. Meetings will be recorded and the link address posted on the website and in the bulletin.
Mark your calendars also for our upcoming event:
Rotary Club of North Jackson 50th Anniversary Gala at the Country Club of Jackson on July 20. The Gala will start at 11:45.
More details are to come on this event.
Proposed New Member Announcement
Robert T. Van Uden, III has been proposed for membership in the Rotary Club of North Jackson by Jack Allin and is sponsored for membership by Past President Charles Lindsay.
Robert is an Attorney in the firm Stubblefield, Yelverton & Van Uden, PLLC where he is a Member and Manager. He has lived and worked in Jackson for the past 21 years.
Robert received his undergraduate degree in History and English from Louisiana State University in 1996, his Juris Doctorate degree from the University of Mississippi in 2000, his CLU and ChFC designations from the American College in 2006, his LL.M. in Taxation with Distinction from the University of Alabama in 2010, and is a graduate of the Southern Trust School.
He holds membership in a number of trade or professional organizations.
He, his wife, Kimberly, and their daughter, Emily, live in the Belhaven neighborhood. He has served on the Board of Directors of the Greater Belhaven Neighborhood Foundation for 10 years.
He will be loaned the classification, Attorney after his membership is approved by the Board.
This is the 1st publication of this proposed new member.
Birthdays and Anniversaries.
Birthdays
Seymour Pooley July 16
Cynthia Till July 17
Steven O'Neill July 19
Wedding Anniversaries:
Eric & Lori Bragg July 14
Membership Anniversaries
Dave Orlansky 13 years, July 15
Rita Sun 2 years, July 16
ul 01 1979
Prayer. Father of all mercies, on this summer day, we gather here to not only break bread together, and to enjoy social interaction, but to be reinforced in our commitment to serve. Help us to use both our affluence and our influence in corporate structures, in private enterprises, and in social interchange, to advance the principles and causes we espouse as Rotarians.
Accept our thanks for our manifold blessings, for food, for friendship, and for commonality of effort. Grant to each of us the personal peace derived from faith and courage drawn from commitment to truth. Amen.
The Rotary Club of North Jackson recognized four new Paul Harris Fellows at its July 6 meeting. The new fellows are shown in the following photo with Past President Lee Carney who presented the recognition awards. Shown from the left are Carney, Neelam Goel, Nelson Atehourtua, Pat Vivier, and Lori Greer.
Paul Harris Fellows are people who have donated to the Rotary Foundation or for whom donations have been made of $1,000. Multiple Paul Harris Fellows are those individuals who have donated or for whom multiple $1,000 donations have been made. The Paul Harris Recognition was created by the Rotary Foundation in 1957. There are now more than one million Paul Harris Fellows worldwide.
Club Executive Secretary/Treasurer Don Roberts, MC for the recognition ceremony noted that North Jackson Rotarians donated an average of $200 each in the 2020-2021 Rotary year and that Club members have donated in excess of $600,000 to the Foundation in the club's 50-year history.
We congratulate the new fellows. The recognition ceremony and the complete meeting may be viewed at the following link: https://vimeo.com/572273112
At its June 29 meeting, the Rotary Club of North Jackson celebrated the 50th anniversary of its charter on June 29, 1971, and installed its 2021-2022 Officers and Directors. Those installed were:
President - Suman Das
Vice President/President-Elect - Uriel Pineda
Secretary - Larry Anderson
Treasurer - Matt Monsour
Past President - Lee Carney
The directors and their portfolios are:
Marisa Davidson - Foundation
Lori Greer - Membership
Bill Osborne - Service
Jenny Price - Public Relations
Don Roberts - Administration
Christopher Brantley- Sergeant at Arms
Outgoing president Lee Carney presented a Summary of the club’s accomplishments. Key points she noted were as follow:
People:
We added 1 new member - Caroline Kemp
We continued to sponsor & network with the Rotaract Club of Millsaps College
Action
Our club’s per capita giving to Rotary Foundation’s Annual Fund exceeded $138.
Club member Virginia Carlton received the Women in Rotary Champion of Change Award from our District No. 6820.
Club member Charlie Johnson became a Rotary Foundation Major Donor
Our club gave $3,070 to Polio Plus, the initiative to eradicate polio from the world.
The average member giving to all Foundation programs was $200.33 an 11.1% increase over the previous year.
Club members volunteered their time for approximately 450 hours
The club participated in 14 service projects:
Billy Brumfield Shelter for homeless men
Chess projects at Spann and Walton Elementary schools
Aha Island, a project for reading to the Pre-K students at Walton school in cooperation with Mississippi Public Broadcasting.
JPD Precinct 4 Officer of the Quarter recognition
Star Students and Teachers recognition
Legacy Bench Project @ Parham Bridges’ Park
Mississippi Blood Services blood drive
World Polio Day Events
Adopt-a-Park @ Parham Bridges’ Park
Partnering with the Rotaract Club of Millsaps on projects
Christmas gifts for the Walton Elementary Pre-K Class
Mississippi Humanities Council Dictionary Donation
Mississippi Food Network Food Packing
Provided snacks for Spann Elementary’s Summer Camp
Awards
Several Members Awarded District 6820 International Service Awards for the India Toilet Installation Project
Suman Das was recognized by District 6820 for Outstanding Service
Greg Campbell was honored by District 6820 for serving as a District Assistant Governor
The club was celebrating its 50th birthday on that day.
We thank Lee for successfully leading our club through a year made difficult by COVID-19 and for the many accomplishments in her year as president. The following photo is of new President Das pinning the Past President Pin on Lee.
Suman also presented Lee with a plaque commemorating her year as president as shown in the following photo.
Here is Lee passing the gavel to Suman:
Following his installation, incoming president Das made brief remarks to the club. Key points he made are that club members are friends and they should greet each other and guests to club meetings with hearty handshakes. He discussed the fact that we need to work on increasing club membership and attendance at our meetings. He then introduced the directors for the upcoming Rotary year. We look forward to an exciting year with President Das. President Suman's wife, Roslyn, brought a brownie cake for the changing of the guard and the 50th Anniversary celebration. We thank her for this thoughtful act. The cake was excellent!
Burl Cain, Commissioner of the Mississippi Department of Corrections, spoke to the Rotary Club of North Jackson during its June 22, 2021, meeting. Commissioner Cain talked about the improvements to the state's prisons since his appointment in May of 2020 and the future plans. Those improvements and plans include the introduction of seminaries and chapels in the prisons. Prisoners who complete their studies in the seminaries will receive a BA from Mississippi State University. Cain discussed how the introduction of seminaries and chapels into Louisiana penitentiaries reduced violence, in particular, at Angola where Cain was warden for 11 years. Shown from left, Lee Carney, Club President; Cain; Wyatt Emmerich, Club Past President, and David McNair, Mississippi Prison Chapel Foundation.
Cain’s talk and the complete meeting can be seen at the following link:
North Jackson Rotarian Steve Orlansky presents the JPD Precinct 4 Officer of the Quarter recognition to JPD Officer Antoinette Clemons during the Rotary Club of North Jackson’s June 15, 2021, meeting. The Rotary Club recognizes a JPD Precinct 4 Officer each quarter to show our support for JPD’s protection of our community and Precinct 4 because it covers most of North Jackson. Officer Clemons was patrolling the Olive Garden area on I-55 and noticed some men gathered behind the restaurant. Upon further investigation, she realized that they were there to steal a motorcycle that someone was selling by test-driving it. One man was arrested on a felony charge of attempted vehicle theft and two other men were arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit vehicle theft. Thanks to the quick thinking of Officer Clemons, a suspect was arrested and an attempted theft was stopped.
Shown below from left, front row: Sergeant S. Burse, Officer Clemons, Orlansky, Deputy Chief Tiny Harris, and Commander Barry Hale. Standing from left; Sargent William Wade and Assistant Chief Joseph Wade.
The Rotary Club of North Jackson is working with Spann and Walton Elementary Schools in the Jackson Public School District to introduce some of their students to the game of Chess. The project is being conducted online with FirstMoveChess.org which was developed by America's Chess Foundation. The objective is to Teach Critical & Creative Thinking Skills to students through the Game of Chess. Quoting from the first move website "First Move is targeted to the academic standards of second and third graders, although it can be used across multiple grade levels."
The lessons are taught by The Chess Lady® online with built-in activities and assessment. It was designed so teachers don’t need to know how to play chess to be successful. Students are engaged and actively participate in activities, without realizing how much they are learning. First Move kits were delivered to Spann and Walton on June 7 so that the students can be introduced to the program during their summer camp sessions. The following photos are from the events.
The first photo is at Walton School with North Jackson Rotarian Don Roberts, Ursula (School Resource Teacher), North Jackson President-Elect Dr. Suman Das, and District 6820 District Governor-Elect Mark Anderson. The second photo shows the Chess Lady during a virtual session on First Move. The third photo is from Spann School showing Messrs Anderson and Das with Spann School Principal Dr. Delane Lesh.
President-Elect Das and District Governor Elect Anderson at Spann School.
The Honorable Ashby Foote, Ward 1 City Council Representative to the Jackson City Council spoke to the Rotary Club of North Jackson at the club’s June 15 meeting. Ward 1 is in northeast Jackson.
In introducing Foote, club past president Wyatt Emmerich, noted that Councilman Foote is the leader of the Republican caucus of the council. It is worth noting that Foote previously said that he is the only Republican on the City Council.
Foote discussed the problems that the Council is addressing and that it has recently addressed. Those include infrastructure, utility billing, drainage, policing, and crime. In discussing drainage, he noted that it is unfortunate that significant development has been permitted in the Belhaven, Eubanks, Hanging Moss, and Purple Creek drainage basins without adequate retention ponds being required by the Department of Environmental Quality or the U.S. EPA.
We thank Foote for his presentation and for his years of service to the city of Jackson. Foote’s presentation and the complete club meeting may be seen at the following link. https://vimeo.com/564160143.
The following photo was taken after Foote’s talk.
From the left, club member Luther Munford, Foote, and Club President Lee Carney.
