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Club Announcements:
Prayer. Almighty God, at the apex of the this summer season, we turn from leisure and work to engage in this hour of fellowship, and to reaffirm our identity as responsible citizens committed to service , and to the practice of that which is true, fair, and beneficial in our relationships.
Accept our gratitude for food and sociability enjoyed here today, and for the joy of involvement in this special fellowship. We pray with grateful hearts and spirits, energized to serve. Amen.
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 2nd publication of this proposed new member.
The Rotary Club of North Jackson Celebrated the 50th Anniversary of its Chartering with a Gala on July 20 at the Country Club of Jackson. Featured Speakers were Charter Year President, Swan Yerger, who spoke via video, John Germ, Chairman of the Rotary Foundation and 2016-2017 President of Rotary International, Hon. Phillip Gunn, Speaker of the Mississippi House of Representatives, and Floyd Lancia, 2019-2020 Rotary International Director for Rotary Zones 30-31 who spoke via video.
Below are some photos from the event:
Club President Uriel Pineda presided:
Shelby Greer, daughter of club member Lori Greer presented the national anthem.
Club Member Mississippi Court of Appeals Judge Virginia Carlton introduced Speaker Gunn.
Mark Anderson, 2021-22 Governor of Rotary District 6820 spoke to the Rotary Club of North Jackson at the club’s July 13 meeting. This was his first visit to the club since becoming Governor on July 1. He was accompanied by his wife Shahla.
Governor Mark introduced the new district website Rotary6820.com and discussed the plans for the district in his term.The details of those plans are included on the website. He showed a presentation that included those details.
Following his presentation, Gov. Mark introduced Thomas Dent of the Mississippi Department of Child Protection Services who introduced the principal activity of the meeting, the filling of backpacks for foster children on their first night in Foster Care. Thomas is a former club member and is the son of North Jackson Rotarian Tommy Dent. Club members brought pre-pared backpacks and filled others in the meeting.
The following photo is of Mr. Dent, Club President Uriel Pineda, and Governor Mark.
The following photo is of the club members with Gov. Mark. holding their filled backpacks.
Club Member Neelam Goel is shown below filling her backpack.
Club members Neelam Goel, Rita Sun, Collier Graham, Cooper Morrison, Uriel Pineda, and Lori Greer working on backpacks.
Club members Larry Anderson, Tom Parry, Ben Walton, and Kevin Russell filling their backpacks.
This was a very well-received activity by the club and will be very helpful to the children entering foster care.
Gov. Mark’s presentation and the entire meeting may be seen at the following link: https://vimeo.com/574984995.
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!
