Wheel of Rotary

VOLUME LXVIII 24 MAY 2017 NUMBER 47

PROGRAM this Wednesday, May 24, 2017, will be brought to us by John Harrell and will involve a special extended meeting time beginning at 11 a.m. and ending at 1:30 p.m. and will present Darkness to Light Training for all who attend to help increase the number of local people who are trained to detect and report child abuse. THOSE who need credit for attending our regular meeting can come at the regular time and get credit. There will most likely NOT be room for walk-ins for the training. Registration was required because it was open to the public.

PROGRAM last Wednesday was brought to us by Debbie Jones and featured both Chef Jeffrey Tucker and Junior Chef Zikei Brooks. Chef Tucker heads the fabulous dining services at Vernon Woods. [Anyone who has not eaten there since Chef Tucker took over should go out sometime, especially for Sunday buffet, as it is some of the finest cuisine in West Georgia] He told us about his first meeting young Junior Chef Brooks as a judge for a cooking competition that the young man won in a program called Future Chefs and how it led to his involvement with mentoring the young man. [He, himself, was mentored by Chef Tony Bishop of In Clover and Cart Barn fame]. Chef Tucker thanked Susan Burdick at Vernon Woods for making it possible for him to do so. Chef Tucker told us of the amazing sandwich Zikei made. He was glad to mentor the aspiring chef, teaching him techniques and other things, but added he was "a natural." He then introduced Junior Chef Brooks who told us about his life, so far, born in LaGrange, grew up for a time in West Point, and the competition in 4th grade that introduced him to Chef Tucker and the mentorship that began a couple of years later. He not only thanked Chef Tucker for his help, but also his own mother,Aldes Brooks, who was with us, who has helped push his career aspirations, and he thanked God and told how his faith has been a guide for him, even in younger days when his interests were not those of most young people his age, which sometimes got him singled out for bullying. He then told us about his experiences with the television competition "Chopped Junior." He made it through three rounds of interviews, etc, and then was selected to go to New York City to compete on television. The four contestants were given a set of ingredients and told to prepare an appetizer, an entree, and a dessert. Each round is critiqued and one chef eliminated after each round. Zikei made pea pasta hotdog carbonara with lentil sprinkles for his appetizer and for his entree he made fried squab with sauteed baby tatsoi and arugula (he said he had to fry the squab because of his Southern roots) and for his dessert he did white chocolate ice cream with strawberry fruit puree and he came in second place on the show that aired November 7, 2016. He was only twelve years old at the time. He wants to own his own restaurant someday and his specialities are Italian, Mexican, and Southern Comfort food. We saw a short clip of him being interviewed on Columbus TV by our own Mercer Van Schoor (we know her as Katie) Rotarianne of our own James Van Schoor and Rotarkinder of our own Taylor and Judy Merrill). Great program. After it was over, Governor Raymond Ray presented a Blue Achievement Coin to Zakei for his achievements and to his mother, who also showed us the apron Zekei wore on the Chopped Junior show that they sent him afterwards.

Susan Ferguson announced that the special shirts they ordered for those of our club planning to attend the Rotary International Convention in Atlanta this summer are also available to all members of our club. See Susan to order, they are $31.00 (we did not catch if that was pre- or post-tax)

HAPPY DOLLARS last week came from Bill Stump, who added $20 to celebrate the 19 new members this year, so far, and the one he knows will be inducted before this year ends. Randy Nix added $10 for his and Debbie's anniversary. Willie Mae Callaway contributed to thank Marc Shook and Dan McAlexander and to celebrate the success her students have had and the progress they have made increasing SAT scores thanks to a mentorship-partnership with LaGrange College. She had 47 students increase their scores by over 90 points each and for one of them it made the difference in admission and for another the difference in a scholarship, if we heard correctly. [That's really great news and it is just one more example of the beneficial impact to our community from the service and outreach of our LaGrange College!]. Raylene Carter added $20 to celebrate her and Gary's 19th anniversary AND to thank Jerry Fulks and West Georgia Medical Center who saved Gary's life on their 18th anniversary, a year ago!

District Governor Raymond Ray appeared personally, along with Assistant District Governor Pat Keating and District Governor-elect Court Dowis, last week. The presence of all three gentlemen bespoke the importance of their mission which was to present our President Jake Jones with the coveted Sheffield Leadership Award, given annually to only one president from each of the four club levels (clubs are ranked by size of membership, and we fall into the largest category, which means we compete with clubs two and three times larger than we are). The award was created in 1994 and named to honor three members of the Sheffield family from Americus, Georgia all of whom served as District Governors of Rotary. This award is, in truth, tantamount to "President of the Year" and is hard to achieve. Only twice before has a LaGrange president won...Wayne Livingston in 1997 and Fred Jones in 1999. Congratulations to Jake and our club for this significant and deserved recognition. The Governor also presented Jake with an official rotary hat for the International Convention, and gave an award to our WEst Georgia Community Interact Club (to which our Barbara Henigin dedicates so much of her time). We also received the Runner Up for Best International Service Project.

President Jake Jones then presented the governor with an official Rotary Club of LaGrange lapel pin.

Guests and Visitors last week (with thanks to Barbara Henigin for handing us the list) were, besides our two speakers: Cheryl Gordon, Rotarianne and guest of "Grand Poobah" Ken Gordon; Jim Duttera, brother and guest of Julian Duttera; Susan Burdick, club guest, Aldes Brooks, mother of Zikei Brooks, the speaker, and a club guest; and Visiting Rotarians Pat Keating, Assistant District Governor; District Governor-elect Court Dowis, both of the Rotary Club of Harris County, and District Governor Raymond Ray from Rotary Club of Griffin Daybreak.

JUST for your calendars: President Jake Jones announced that we will NOT have regular meetings on June 14 (because of International Convention in Atlanta) nor on June 21 (because our banquet will be Thursday June 22) nor on July 5 (because of Independence Day).

In line with the above... do be sure to reserve June 22, 2017 (thursday night) for our Annual Banquet. Go ahead and let your Rotari-spouses, or other guests you want to invite, know.

All the Rotary News that Fits, We Print”

Reported by your Bulletin Editor, Clark Johnson