Prayer. O God, whose blessings we have received in abundance, under whose watchful eye we live and move, and by whose providence and grace we have so much for which to live and labor, we acknowledge your goodness to us.
We offer thanks now for food which sustains our bodies, for a fellowship which deepens our appreciation for friendship, and for the various opportunities afforded us as Rotarians.
Grant us grace to fulfill the call to service to which we have responded. Amen.
Club Announcements:
Birthdays and Anniversaries:
Birthdays:
Billy Walton July 31
Charles Lindsay August 01
Wyatt Emmerich August 02
Ed Sentell August 04
Eric Bragg August 05
Tom Turner August 05
Henry Larose August 06
Wedding Anniversaries:
Jack & Hailey Allin August 04
Membership Anniversaries:
Mike Farrell 12 years, August 04
Social Media.Want to keep up with the service activities and members of the Rotary Club of North Jackson? Be sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter (@RotaryNorth) and Instagram (rotarynorthjackson)
Rotary Foudation Thought. This week’s Rotary Foundation Thought is the August 2018 President's message from 2018-19 RI President Barry Rassin.
"Dear fellow Rotarians,
A well-known saying goes, "If you want to change the world, go home and love your family." That doesn’t mean people should ignore the needs outside their own homes; instead, they should pay attention to the needs within.
It can be tempting, when our priority is service, to focus only on the things that look like service: the projects, the planning, the work that yields a visible benefit to those who need it. But to do that work effectively, we need to keep our own house in order. In Rotary, that means conducting ourselves in accordance with the principles of Rotary, treating others with respect, and following The Four-Way Test. It means maximizing our impact by planning carefully and stewarding our resources wisely. And it means looking after the long-term health of our organization by ensuring that our membership is strong, engaged, and healthy.
Our membership has hovered around the same 1.2 million mark for 20 years. We aren’t growing, and our membership is getting older. We have too many clubs that don’t have the knowledge or motivation to have an impact: clubs that don’t know what we’re doing on a global level, clubs that don’t know about our programs or our Foundation, that don’t even know how to get involved. And with a membership that is still mostly male, we clearly aren’t doing enough to become the organization of choice for women who are seeking to serve.
We are a membership organization first. If we want to achieve the goals we’ve set for ourselves, we need to put membership first. All of us have a responsibility to take membership seriously, not only by inviting prospective members but also by making sure new members are welcomed into clubs that offer them something of value. If you see someone walk into a meeting and hesitate, be sure that person has a place to sit and is part of the conversation. If you’re enthusiastic about a Rotary program, make sure your club knows about it and knows how to get involved. If you see a need in your community, talk about it at this week’s meeting. If we want to be part of an organization that’s strong, that’s active, that’s having an impact – start at home, and Be the Inspiration in Rotary."
BARRY RASSIN
President, Rotary International
Billy Brumfield House. The Rotary Club of North Jackson is serving supper once a month at The Billy Brumfield House, a Stewpot Community Services ministry. Our club serves on the 1st Tuesday of each month. Interested members need to meet @ Baker Donelson located at the corner of Eastover Drive and the I-55 North Frontage Road @ 5:15 PM and then travel together to Billy Brumfield. Also, if you are interested in sponsoring a month, the est. cost is $180 for the food. Mike Dawkins is project chair and can be reached @ 601-351-2428 or mdawkins@bakerdonelson.com.
Between the Lions. Please remember to sign up for Between the Lions. During the school year, we read weekly to pre-Kindergarteners at William Walton Elementary School on Bailey Ave. It is a wonderful experience! The children are truly information sponges and very willing learners. Contact Jenny Price (662) 213-1294 for more information. Our reading for the 2017-2018 school year is complete, but please sign up for 2018-2019.
Member Care Committeereminder: for anyone who needs assistance getting to a meeting, please call Luther Munford at (601) 985-4418.
Thinking of Proposing a New Member?
First, discuss with Classification Committee (Paul Miller) He will provide a membership application, check classification availability and discuss occupational qualifications.
Rotary Membership Occupational Qualifications Applicant should be one of the following:
A corporate officer
A Professional (Attorney, CPA, Physician. Engineer, Architect, etc) A Proprietor
An Agent of a reputable company
A Manager or Supervisor of a department or section of a business
Rotarians, don't forget to like the club's Facebook page to stay up to date on the latest happenings. Search us out at Rotary Club of North Jackson or click the link:
“Service above self; they profit most who serve best.”
P. O. Box 9528, Jackson, MS 39286-9528 www.northjacksonrotary.org
Posted on
Are you ready for the online challenge?
Members of the NoBorders Rotaract Club meet.
By Patricia Mackenzie, 2017-18 president of the Rotaract Club of NoBorders
As a young professional, I found myself being short on time. I was starting my career, making new friends, and I really didn’t have time to meet in-person multiple times a week. I tried a traditional Rotaract club for just over three years, but always felt guilty when I missed a meeting because I was traveling or working late. I really wanted to be in the Rotary family, but I needed flexibility.
So I decided to look into other options and evaluated what was most important to me in a Rotaract/Rotary club. Outside of service, I discovered that club culture and structure was what was most important to me. After a bit of a search, I stumbled across the Rotaract Club of No Borders, which has members from around the world and meets exclusively online. A new club, it had just chartered a few months before I joined. They had members from three countries and half of the members spoke English; the other half Spanish. That sounded like an interesting challenge to me.
There are three main things that I love most about being in the NoBorders Rotaract club outside of our flexible schedule.
Creating friendships. With my past experience in Rotaract, it felt more like a work-relationship than a friendship. We met regularly, talked about Rotaract stuff, and then went on with our lives. With NoBorders, we’re always communicating through email and social media. We keep up with what’s going on in each other’s lives and share congratulations or offer support. We also encourage members to build relationships with traditional clubs near them, especially for volunteer opportunities. This gives us a great chance for even more friendships.
Building international understanding. With the NoBorders club, I have the ability to work cross-culturally on a daily basis. I email, chat, and regularly video chat with people from around the world which helps me build my communication skills as well as my international understanding. Our club has had members from over six countries and with each of those countries comes a new way of thinking and interacting. In the world today, it’s extremely important to work on building international understanding so that we can all coexist peacefully.
Overcoming challenges. Online clubs are challenging. International online clubs are especially challenging. It’s not for everyone. It requires you to be proactive and it requires you to solve problems that have never been solved. Online clubs need people who love to solve problems and thrive in those settings. It’s really hard to build a team through a computer screen – but it’s possible.
Being in a club that meets online isn’t for everyone, but it is for me. They are great for people that are short on time, and they open opportunities for so much more than that. It may be hard work to build friendships, do projects, and create a club that is inviting to all when your membership is spread across the world. But as Neale Donald Walsch said, “Life begins at the edge of your comfort zone.”
Bob Miller, Public Works Director for the City of Jackson spoke to the Rotary Club of North Jackson at the Club’s July 24, 2018 meeting. Mr. Miller joined the City in the fall of 2017 after completing 9 years in a similar capacity in New Orleans. He said that he joined with four specific goals: solve the problems with the City’s water billing system; improve the city’s streets, address the consent decree problems on the sewer system, and address the drainage problems where citizens are being flooded by creeks that overflow during periods of heavy rains.
Mr. Miller is a native of Louisville, KY. He is a graduate of the University of Louisville and of the University of Indiana. Prior to going to New Orleans, he was CFO of the Louisville water system.
Regarding his four priorities, Mr. Miller said that when he arrived, approx. 23,000 of Jackson’s water, sewage, garbage customers were not receiving bills. He negotiated a new contract with Siemens to rectify the billing issues. Now, 55% of the allotted time into the contract, 56% of the previously “stranded” customers are being billed. He also announced that today the city is announcing that the previously suspected lead problem has been corrected.
The Downtown streets were paved prior to the April 2018 grand opening of the two new museums. Currently, two potholes repair trucks are in operation repairing potholes and he is bidding-out for a third crew to accelerate the work.
Mr. Miller met with EPA Region 4 this spring, opened up to them about the city’s problem meeting the Consent Decree provisions and hopes to renegotiate the decree later in 2018. Per Mr. Miller, many of the sewer problems occur because restaurants dispose of grease into sewers rather than have it properly disposed of. The grease in the sewer clots and plugs up the sewers causing sewage overflow.
We thank Mr. Miller for his talk and for his service to our City. He is shown during his talk and following it with Club President Anna Powers and club member Charles Lindsay who introduced him in the accompanying photos.
Mr. Miller was accompanied in the meeting by Ward 7 Council Representative Virgi Lindsay and her assistant Alice Patterson. We thank them for attending.
Rotary Club of North Jackson Donates $30,000 to local charities
The Rotary Club of North Jackson recently donated $30,000 to 16 local charities. The local charities are: Stewpot Community Services, Gateway Rescue Mission, Magnolia Speech School, Habitat for Humanity, The Salvation Army, Operation Shoestring, Mississippi Blood Services, Mississippi Food Network, Brain Injury Assoc of MS, Alzheimer's Association, CARA Animal Shelter, Harbor House of Jackson, Children's Hospital of MS, The Jackson Zoo, Mustard Seed, and Make-A-Wish Mississippi. Shown (from left) Greg Campbell, President-Elect; Don Roberts, Admin. Secretary/Treasurer; Anna Powers, President; Lee Carney, Secretary; Matt Monsour, Director; Uriel Pineda, Treasurer; and Jeff Adcock, Director.
Penny Chiasson, owner of Genesis Hypnosis, Nurse Anesthesia, and pain management hypnotist spoke to the Rotary Club of North Jackson at its July 17, 2018 meeting. Chiasson informed club members and guest how hypnosis can help with pain management, ways to relieve stress and end bad habits. We thank Ms. Chiasson for her presentation and for her service to patients in Mississippi. She is shown in the accompanying photos during her speech and following it with Club President Anna Powers (left) and Club Director Matt Monsour (right), who introduced her.
Greg Campbell, Vice President & President-Elect, Rotary Club of North Jackson spoke to the Club at its July 10, 2018 meeting about the Rotary International Convention he attended as a representative of the club June 23-27, 2018. In his presentation, he discussed his arrival, the accommodations, and the activities associated with the convention. He also discussed a tour that he took of Niagara Falls including a helicopter tour during which he took many pictures.
Greg discussed the fact that the convention was attended by a princess, three prime ministers and a former first lady of the United States. Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal, Princess Anne, of the United Kingdom, expressed thanks to Rotary for taking a central role in working to eradicate polio. Former first lady of the United States Laura Bush challenged Rotarians to keep early childhood education a priority.
Helen Clark, former prime minister of New Zealand and one of the architects of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, joined 2017-2018 RI President Ian H.S. Riseley for a discussion about gender equality and the crucial link between the environment, poverty, hunger, and peace. In a video message, Haitian Prime Minister Jack Guy Lafontant addressed the convention before the announcement of the creation of HANWASH, a collaboration between Rotary and the Haitian government’s water agency that will tackle that nation’s water and sanitation challenges.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, accepting Rotary’s Polio Eradication Champion Award, thanked Rotary for working with governments worldwide to eradicate polio. Rotarians play a critical role in the fight to end polio, Trudeau said. “Together we will make that happen. Prime Minister Trudeau also pledged USD 75 Million for finalizing the eradication of polio, making Canada’s past and committed spending for polio eradication USD 640 million.
Sixteen former Rotary presidents and their partners appeared on stage, and Rotary’s next president, Barry Rassin, motivated convention goers by speaking on his 2018-19 theme: Be the Inspiration.
And in a gracious gesture to his successor, Rotary’s 2017-2018 President Riseley finished his closing remarks by urging listeners: “It is vital that we be the inspiration.”
In addition to focusing his remarks on the convention, Greg related a mix-up in his convention credentials in which a different Greg Campbell was identified as a chemical engineering educator. Thankfully our Greg was able to get his proper credentials when he arrived at the convention facility.
Greg reported on the 6 focus areas of Rotary: Promotion of Peace, Fighting disease, Providing Clean Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene, Saving Mothers and Children, Supporting Education, and Growing Local Economies. Rotary’s efforts to eradicate polio have been immensely successful with the no. of worldwide cases being reduced from 350,000 annually to 22 in 2017. Those 2017 cases were in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Nigeria.
Vice President Greg is shown during his presentation in the accompanying photograph. We thank him for his presentation and for his service to our Club.
