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Russell Hampton
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Speakers
Aug 06, 2019
2019 RI Convention
Aug 13, 2019
Vocational Talks
Aug 20, 2019
100 Black Men
Aug 27, 2019
Sep 10, 2019
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Bill Osborne
Executives & Directors
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Director - Membership
 
Immediate Past President
 
Director - Public Relations
 
Executive Secretary
 

Prayer.

O God of all creation, Designer of the natural order in which the phenomenon of growth gives beauty and excitement, we are grateful that in the sphere of human affairs and organized structures, growth is also a desirable and anticipated experience.

Accept our thanks for the food and friendship we enjoy today, and for opportunities to serve awaiting us beyond this meeting. Amen.

Birthdays And Anniversaries.

Birthdays:

  • Henry Larose                     August 06
  • Clinton Smith                 August 07
  • Brad Benton          August 08
  • Nelam Goel               August 08
  • Rob Farr                August 11
  • Dorsey Carson       August 12
Wedding Anniversaries:
  • Mark & Sherye Green       August 08
  • Edley & Brenda Jones  August 10
Membership Anniversaries:
  • Steven O'Neill                4 years, August 11
  • Witt Ruffin               11 years, August 12
Stories
Paul Harris Fellow Recognition
 

North Jackson Rotarians Stephen Stenmark and Bill Osborne we’re recognized as Paul Harris Fellows at the Rotary Club of North Jackson’s July 30, 2019, meeting. Judy Lyons, Club Foundation Director presented the awards.

 

The Paul Harris Fellow award recognizes Rotarians who have contributed, or have contributed in their name, $1,000 to the Rotary Foundation. Rotary created the Paul Harris award in 1957 to recognize people who made significant financial contributions to Rotary. The first Paul Harris awards in 1957 were for 1946 gifts to Rotary. In 2006, the one-millionth Paul Harris Fellow was recognized.

 

Rotarians Osborne (left) and Stenmark (center) are shown holding their Paul Harris Certificates with Rotarian Lyons in the following photo. We congratulate them for achieving this distinction.  

 

Read more...

Art for All-Mississippi

 

Tom Harmon, Executive Director of Art for All- Mississippi spoke to the Rotary Club of North Jackson at the Club’s July 30, 2019, meeting. Mr. Harmon, who is retired from the U.S. Army, discussed the history, mission, and activities of Art for All-Mississippi. The Mission of Art for All - Mississippi is to provide art opportunities for persons with disabilities. The organization was founded by Jean Kennedy Smith as a program of the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC in Starkville, MS as Very Special Arts. Over time the name evolved to VSA Arts and ultimately to its current name Art for All - Mississippi. The mission remains unchanged. The organization has an art studio in the Mississippi Arts Center at the corner of Lamar and Pascagoula in downtown Jackson. This studio provides opportunities for persons with disabilities to develop their art skills. He introduced some of their clients on a first name basis and showed and distributed some of their work. Mr. Harmon also discussed that Art for All is developing a new program with the Flowood YMCA to expand their activities to Rankin County and a Community Art Group in Vicksburg to support persons with disabilities and the elderly. Each of these new programs will provide a studio and a gallery for the clients’ work He emphasized that Art for All fits the mission of the YMCA and that the new Vicksburg center will provide marketing opportunities with river cruise tourists.

 

We thank Mr. Harmon for his work on behalf of the elderly and the disabled in the art field. He (right) is shown in the following photo with Chuck Galey (left) who is an Artist in Residence at the Jackson Art Studio and with Rotarian Larry Anderson who introduced Mr. Harmon and the program.

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Eric Sokolosky Inducted into Rotary Club of North Jackson
 

Eric Sokolsky was inducted into membership in the Rotary Club of North Jackson at the Club’s July 23, 2019, meeting.

Eric is Vice President- Sales for Employee Administrative Services Inc. (EASI)  which provides payroll, time, and attendance services. He has been with his company for 4 years.

Eric is married. He and his wife Lisa have lived in the metro area for the past 39 years, currently residing in Madison. They are parents of one daughter and have 3 grandchildren.

We welcome Eric into our Cub. He (center) is shown in the following photo with his proposer Lori Greer(left) and his sponsor Past President Don Roberts.

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Assistant U. S. Attorney Speaks to Rotary Club of North Jackson
John A. Meynardie, Assistant U. S. Attorney, Criminal Division, Southern District of Mississippi, spoke to the Rotary Club of North Jackson at the Club's July 23, 2019, meeting. The subject of his talk was the Opioid Epidemic in Mississippi. He said that in 2018, the U.S. Center for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) estimated that in the U.S. there is one opioid death every 8 minutes and that opioid overdoses are the leading cause of death from injuries in the US. The primary causes of those deaths are heroin and prescription opioids plus fentanyl. He said that the term opioid arises from the fact that opium poppies are the original source of opioid pain killers that act on the opiate receptors in the human brain. The primary drugs being abused today are heroin, oxycodone, and hydrocodone. Fentanyl is an impurity in the drugs.
 
According to Mr. Meynardie, the common misconception in the public is that prescribed opioids are "safe" because they are from a doctor. HIstorically physicians prescribed 30-day supplies of the drugs following surgery or injuries as pain killers. Recent studies have shown that a person who takes the prescribed pain-killers for 30-days has a 1 in 4 chance of becoming addicted and that if a person is taking these medicines without a doctor's supervision the addiction chances increase immensely. The properties of these drugs are such that the longer you take them and the more you take, the more your chances of becoming addicted increase. As the costs of drugs increases, addicts seek cheaper alternatives; i.e., heroin. Mr. Meynardie cited that 75-80% of heroin users began with pain pills. For high school seniors, the most abused medicines are pain pills such as oxycodone and hydrocodone. the sources of those pills are relatives or friends. He cited an example of a football quarterback who was injured and prescribed pain pills. He followed a familiar track until 4 years later he died of a heroin overdose.
 
Data show that Mississippi has more painkiller prescriptions than most other states with in excess of 100 painkiller prescription per 100 people, but that the number of prescriptions in both our state and the nation has decreased since the epidemic was identified. Another cause of the deaths is counterfeit pills that have become available from the black market. The risks of these pills are: 
  • they come from an unknown source,
  • they may contain an unsafe active ingredient, and
  • they may contain harmful/toxic ingredients such as fentanyl which Mr. Meynardie calls a "Game Changer."
Fentanyl is many times more potent than heroin or prescribed opioids. He cited that 1 milligram of fentanyl is lethal.
 
Another contributing factor to the abuse of illicit opioid pills is the wide availability of pill presses and binding agents in the U.S. The DOJ is currently investigating pill press manufacturers. Many of the black market pills sold as opioids contain no oxycodone but do contain significant amounts of heroin and fentanyl.  In 2015, the overdose deaths were primarily due to heroin and fentanyl. The following slide provided by Mr. Meynardie shows the changes in the causes of US Overdose death causes in the 2000-2015 period. It is interesting to note the increase in the fentanyl and fentanyl analog deaths from essentially zero to over 20,000 deaths annually or about 2 per hour.
 
 
We thank Mr. Meynardie for his very informative presentation and for his service to our country. He (right) is shown in the following photo with Club Past President Mike Dawkins (center) who introduced him and with Daren LaMarca (left) of the Jackson U.S. Attorney's office. 
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Rita Sun Inducted into Rotary Club of North Jackson
Huiming “Rita” Sun was inducted into the Rotary Club of North Jackson at the club's July 16, 2019, meeting by Club President Greg Campbell. She was proposed for membership by Uriel Pineda and sponsored by Past President Don Roberts.

Rita is the owner of Wealth Management LLC and her office is located in the Mississippi Farm Bureau Building on Ridgewood Road in Northeast Jackson. Born and educated in China, she came to Mississippi College in 2008 to study and obtain her Master of Business Administration degree. Rita is a Charted Financial Analyst (CFA®) and a member of The CFA® Society of Mississippi. She is married and lives in Clinton with her husband, Xiao Luo, and their two children, Joshua and Joanna.
 
We welcome Rita to our club.
Lake Okhissa Project
 

North Jackson Rotarian and Architect Jack Allin and businessman and lawyer Wade Creekmore spoke to the Rotary Club of North Jackson about the Lake Okhissa Project of the Scenic Rivers Development Alliance in Franklin County, Mississippi at the Club’s July 16 meeting. The project features a lodge and 1,000 person conference center on the lake which was built on US Forest Service land.  The spring-fed lake features crystal-clear water. The concept includes the possibility of a golf course in addition to water-based sports. 

 

Mr. Creekmore discussed Meadville and Franklin County where he spent much of his career. He focused on the excellent school system and the town’s Chess Club, the Southwest Mississippi Chess Foundation, that has taught chess to a large number of Franklin County residents and successfully competed in tournaments nationwide winning many club and individual awards.

 

Mr. Allin discussed the Lake Okhissa project in detail. The following is an architect’s rendition of the lodge as seen from Lake Okhissa.

 

The next photo is a rendition of the expected view of the lake as seen from the over the lodge’s swimming pool.

 

We thank Messrs. Creekmore and Allin for their presentation and for their work on behalf of the citizens of Franklin County. They are shown following their presentation with Club President Greg Campbell (left).

 

Read more...
 This week’s Rotary Foundation Thought is about District Simplified Grants (DSG).

In Australia, Rotarians received District Simplified Grants both small and large to benefit local communities and communities abroad. One club used DSG funds to provide jackets
displaying the Rotary Wheel to a team of Blind Bowlers which they wore proudly to the National Championships. Other DSGs were used to establish a library for foster children, repair a broken fence around a Scout Hall and provide 30 sets of Junior Encyclopedias to schools in Thailand. Through the creativity and passion of numerous Rotarians, one district improved the lives of countless people both within Australia and abroad. Every Rotarian, Every Year – Hope begins with us.

3 ways to make your club more inclusive

Posted on 

By Katey Halliday, Rotaract Club of Adelaide City and the Rotary Club of Adelaide Light, South Australia, Australia

Rotary recently adopted a diversity, equity, and inclusion policy that sends a strong message that we embrace inclusivity. Rotary has clubs all over the world and reaches a broad range of people with our service projects. So we are already diverse, but a second ingredient, inclusion, is the key to unlocking and maintaining the full benefits of that diversity. How inclusive is your club?

Verna Myers, founder of the Verna Myers Company and vice president of Inclusion Strategy at Netflix, has explained the difference between the two concepts as “Diversity is being invited to the party, inclusion is being asked to dance.”

In the context of Rotary membership, this means it is not enough to invite people from diverse backgrounds to our meetings and events. We need to include them in club planning and decision making and to value their contributions.

Below are some ideas for cultivating inclusion:

Make your club accessible

  • Do you meet in a convenient location for everyone? If not, consider meeting in more than one venue.
  • Can people find information if they are unable to attend?
  • Does the time of your meeting work for the demographic you are trying to attract? You could provide options, such as some morning and some evening meetings. Not every meeting needs to include a meal.
  • Are there any unnecessary costs that block some from attending, such as the cost of a meal? A limited menu can also create unintentional barriers for those with dietary restrictions. Also consider providing the choice of not eating at all.
  • Can you bill for fees on a monthly or quarterly basis instead of annually, for those who would manage better this way? You could set up a small premium to cover the added cost.

Give all members something meaningful to do

This requires club leaders to understand why each member is there and determine what activities would fulfill their passion and purpose for joining. It is sometimes easier to do a task yourself then delegating, but handing tasks over to someone new is a great way to include them.

Provide diversity and inclusion training

Every club can benefit from an honest discussion about these topics. I have received feedback from many members and have heard in consulting with districts that some people hesitate to join because of inappropriate comments or behavior they have experienced. Bring in a speaker or conduct a training session on any of the following topics:

  • Using inclusive language: Learn about the effects our words have on creating a culture of normalized behavior. Gendered language, for instance, is a barrier toward achieving gender equality. To achieve the goal of having women comprise 30 percent of membership and leadership by June 2023, we need to take positive action in this arena.
  • Detecting and avoiding unconscious bias and discrimination. Sometimes people can unintentionally be treated unfairly because of a personal characteristic.
  • Understanding and avoiding sexual harassment. The “me too” movement has raised awareness of sexual harassment. Bring in an expert to raise your club’s awareness of the issue and what they can do to prevent it.
  • Calling out inappropriate behavior as a bystander. David Morrison, retired Lieutenant General of the Australian Army, and current chair of Diversity Council Australia, notes “the standard you walk past is the standard you accept.”
  • Participate in International Women’s Day, Harmony Day, your local Pride celebrations and other days that celebrate diversity.

There are many strategies your club can employ. But for any to work, you must accept that change is vital to Rotary’s continued success. We can admire Rotary International for approving the diversity, equity, and inclusion policy. Now it’s up to members to work it down to the club level.

About the author: Katey Halliday is a past president and charter member of the Adelaide City Rotaract Club and recently joined the Rotary Club of Adelaide Light. She has also served as a team leader, coordinator, and trainer for Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA). She is a project officer and training facilitator in the Diversity and Inclusion Branch of the South Australia Police.

:)