January 21, 2015 Editor Neal Graham Photographer: Bill Pickens Bulletin 2014-2015 Our 25th Year Rotary Club of Memphis East Michael J. Walker, President www.rotaryclubofmemphiseast.org Like us on Facebook/EastMemRotary Follow us on Twitter/eastmemrotary Rotary on the Radio - KWAM 990/kwam990.com

January 28, 2015 James Downing, MD Upcoming Programs St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital January 28th James R. Downing, M.D., is the CEO and Dr. James Downing President of St. Jude Children’s Research St. Jude Children’s Hospital. He is internationally recognized for Research Hospital his seminal contributions to understanding the genetic missteps driving childhood cancer. February 4th Downing was instrumental in launching Cory Napier the St. Jude– Washington University Pediatric Waddell & Associates Cancer Genome Project, the world’s largest project devoted to understanding childhood cancer. At the project’s start in 2010, February 11th researchers planned to sequence the complete normal and cancer Fireside Chats genomes of about 600 children with some of the least understood and most aggressive pediatric cancers. Project researchers exceeded the February 18th goal by sequencing 700 normal and cancer genomes. In doing so, they Kerry Hayes produced key discoveries in childhood leukemias, brain tumors, central nervous system tumors and eye tumors. The project is now in a second Chamber of Commerce phase to dig deeper into the genomic landscape of childhood cancers. In addition, St. Jude has undertaken a major effort to translate genomics February 25th into clinical decision-making. Steve Bares Downing has traveled the globe presenting his research and has Memphis Bio Works received numerous honors including the Association for Molecular Pathology Award for Excellence in Molecular Diagnostics, the March 11th American Association for Cancer Research Team Science Award and Jack Sammons the American Association for the Advancement of Science fellowship. Memphis Airport Authority In 2013, he was nominated by TIME magazine for its list of the 100 Most Influential People in the World. TIME also listed the Pediatric March 18th Cancer Genome Project among the top 100 new scientific discoveries. Alex Tolbert Most recently, Downing was elected to the Institute of Medicine, a Bernard Health prestigious branch of the National Academy of Sciences. Joining St. Jude in 1986 as an assistant member in Pathology, March 25th Downing rose through the ranks to serve as chair of the department Rita Sparks from 1997 to 2009. In 2004, he was appointed as the institution’s TN Sports Hall of Fame executive vice president and scientific director and in 2011 as its deputy director. April 1st Downing has been published in prestigious journals including New Mike Scott England Journal of Medicine, Nature, Science and Cell and holds Total Accountability membership in numerous academic and professional societies. He earned both his undergraduate and medical degrees at the University of Michigan and is a Detroit native. Downing has been supported throughout his career by his lovely wife, Mariea. They are the proud parents of three children and three grandchildren. Downing also is an avid cyclist. Speaker Gift Sponsor Gift of Life Visiting Rotary before his heart surgery on January 22nd Life isn’t about was Adewale Abegunde and his father, Olunaun getting and having, Abegunde, a prince in his it’s about giving home country of Nigera. Julia and being. SanRoman and Michael Walker extend a personal –Kevin Kruse welcome to the Abegundes. January 21, 2015 Craig Unger, Memphis Redbirds

Today’s speaker wants to “take us out to the ballgame” and “buy us some peanuts and crackerjacks.” Craig Unger, who previously worked with the St. Louis Cardinals radio network, is now in charge of financial and business operations for the Memphis Redbirds. Unless you were sleeping most of 2014, you are probably aware that the St. Louis Cardinals organization purchased the Memphis Redbirds AAA minor league franchise rights back from the Memphis Redbirds Foundation, a nonprofit organization, that was in default on the tax exempt bonds it issued to build the ball park. Craig explained that the City of Memphis purchased the Redbirds ballpark as part of the deal. The City of Memphis has invested $4 million in renovations to the Redbirds Stadium and the St. Louis Cardinals organization has contributed $2.5 million so for in connection with the renovations. The renovations are being made to upgrade the baseball stadium that is now more than ten years old. Seating capacity in the ball park is being reduced from 13,000 to 10,000 to create a more intimate fan experience. This includes a complete renovation of the club seating behind home plate which will now include a large centrally located bar that will enable fans to enjoy their favorite beverage at the bar and still have a good sight line to the action on the baseball field. Another new feature of the renovations will be the table tops located just below the club seating behind home plate. This program allows fans or business owners to lease a table and four chairs at a fixed price for the entire baseball season and the price will include food and beverages that will be available from the bar area located in the club seating. Craig reminded East Memphis Rotarians that Memphis has a 100 year positive history with minor league baseball. He said this positive history, plus the fact that the I-55 Corridor has always been Cardinals country because of the Cardinals’ strong KMOX AM radio signal that has been bringing Cardinals baseball to the Mid-South for over 100 years. Most of us grew up listening to Cardinals baseball brought to us by great radio broadcasters like Dizzy Dean (for those of you over the age of 100), Harry Caray, Jack Buck and Mike Shannon. According to Craig, the Cardinals major competition for the Mid-South fans are the Atlanta Braves. Another unique change to the Redbirds Stadium that will come out of the renovation is the creation of a man made bluff behind the right field wall which will enable fans to enjoy “bluff seating” similar to the seating that was previously available in behind left field. The left field bluff seating is being eliminated because there will be a large wall constructed in left field to center field that will contain a large advertising video board. Smaller advertising ribbon boards will also be constructed behind first base and third base. All of this is good news for Memphis. One frightening piece of information that Craig provided to us was the fact that Nashville’s new baseball stadium made a pitch to try and lure the Cardinals to relocate the Redbirds to Nashville. Fortunately, the long-standing success of minor league baseball and the Cardinals Ownership Group’s strong appreciation for the history and traditions of baseball led the Cardinals to conclude that Memphis continues to be the Cardinals best AAA baseball partner. Hopefully, Memphis and Shelby County can continue to improve the quality of its public educational system, create more higher paying jobs for its residents, get the local governments’ financial houses in order and the Memphis Grizzlies can win the NBA championship. Even R.B. would smile if this happens and he doesn’t get excited about many things.

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