Service Above Self (This Page Represents Inside Front Cover-Blank)

ROTARY CLUB OF ORLANDO COMPLETING A CENTURY OF SERVICE 1995 - 2020

Service Above Self (This page represents inside front cover-blank)

ROTARY CLUB OF ORLANDO

COMPLETING ROTARY CLUB OF ORLANDO A CENTURY OF SERVICE COMPLETING A1995 CENTURY - 2020 OF SERVICE

The continuing story of the Rotary Club of Orlando and the men and women who served their club, their vocation, their community and the world from 1995 to 2020 thus completing a century of service.

The creation of this book was managed by Rotary Club members: Bert McCree, Dr. Byron Thames and Jim Stowers

Copyright © 2020 The Rotary Club of Orlando All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner without written permission. Printed by Aloma Printing, Inc. Winter Park, Florida

Dedicated to the past and present members of the Rotary Club of Orlando who have contributed greatly over the last One Hundred Years in making their community the finest place in the world to live.

A NOTE TO READERS

It is important to note that most of this book was near completion when the world was struck with what became known as the Covid-19 virus, or Coronavirus Pandemic. It literally infected people around the world and as of this writing on May 19, 2020, more than 4,800,000 cases had been reported with more than 316,500 deaths. In reading some sections you may find reference to this event; additional information may be found in the Addendum on page 91.

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INTRODUCTION The first Century of Service to our community and to the world, May 1920 to May 2020, is now complete and what a remarkable Century it has been! It is truly inspiring to think of the hundreds and hundreds of leaders and members who’ve come and gone but, in the meantime, have given of themselves in countless ways along the way. Rotarians – men and women from all walks of life – who truly believe in their core that “He Profits Most Who Serves Best” and that this is not just a nice saying but is a way of life. The Rotary Club of Orlando is proud of the impact we have had on our community over the last 100 years, the lives we’ve helped, the legacy we’ve left and, yes, the fun we’ve had. It is exciting to look back at all that has been accomplished in this past century but it is even more exciting that we can now look forward to the next 100 years, the second 100 years, and imagine the even greater accomplishments that lie ahead for this wonderful club. Yours in Rotary, Jim Stowers

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Without the tremendous effort over the past several years by Bert McCree, RCO club Historian, our book would not have been possible. He spent many hours poring through files in our club office digging and retrieving the data that was then used by the Book Committee to create “Completing a Century of Service”. In 2018, (then) President Pat Phillips and (then) President-Elect Bill Peeper recruited and organized the Book Committee under the leadership of Dr. Byron Thames. The committee was composed of George Huffman, Thomas Tart, Mary Ann Dean, Jon Stine, Byron Thames, Jim Stowers, Heidi Isenhart, Joe Stine, Bob Blackford and Tom Reich. In addition, Bert McCree (Historian) and Doug Doudney (initial Editor) completed the committee. Over a period of many months, important decisions were made by the committee as to the direction, tone and construction of the book as well as the actual writing of the history. In addition, Special Thanks must be given to Bob DeGrilla for his assistance with the club members who have served in the military, to Ron Tyo who has faithfully maintained those members with perfect attendance, to Richard Ungaro whose diligence in maintaining the club member database has been of invaluable help, to David Abrams who gave invaluable technical help and finally to Jason Frazier for his amazing photographic assistance. The baton for the next (and final) phase was handed off to Jim Stowers who became “Ring Master” leading to the completion and printing of the book.

iv iv WHEREAS, The Rotary Club of Orlando, the oldest and largest civic service club in The City Beautiful, was founded on May 12, 1920; and

WHEREAS, in the ten decades since then, the club and its Rotarians have been committed to serving our community, our nation and the world; and

WHEREAS, the foundation of the club’s activity is its five Avenues of Service – club, vocational, community, international, and youth service; and

WHEREAS, since its inception, the club has helped young residents thrive through its support of Orange County Public Schools literary activities, food pantry contributions, and holiday gift programs; and

WHEREAS, the club and its foundation annually distribute financial grants to local organizations serving the health, humanitarian and educational needs of the community, including Rotary International’s partnership with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to eradicate polio worldwide; and

WHEREAS, while demonstrating its belief in the Rotary International motto of “Service Above Self,” the club and its foundation have provided innumerable other service projects that have benefited our community; and

WHEREAS, the City of Orlando and our residents are grateful for The Rotary Club of Orlando’s 100 years of service and thank the club and its Rotarians for their compassionate role in building a stronger community;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BUDDY DYER, Mayor of the City of Orlando, hereby do proclaim May 12, 2020, as

“The Rotary Club of Orlando 100th Anniversary Day”

in the City of Orlando.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I hereunto have set my hand and caused the Seal of the City of Orlando to be affixed this 12th day of May 2020.

v Charter Members

Rotary Club of Orlando

May 12, 1920

Bottom Row (L to R):

C.G. Brown, W.L. Tilden, H.S. Wilson, J.P. Holbrook, J. Dean Adcock, Eugene G. Duckworth, Nixon Butt, Wm. M. Glenn

Top Row (L to R):

C. DeWitt Miller, S. Walter Howe, Carey Hand, Mayor Vernon W. Estes, F.G. Rush, John S. McEwan, Sam Y. Way, Moses O Overstreet, Don A. Cheney, S. Kendrick Guernsey

CONTENTS Title Page ...... i Copyright Page...... ii Dedication Page ...... iii Introduction & Acknowledgements ...... iv Proclamation from Mayor Buddy Dyer ...... v Table of Contents ...... vii Chapter 1 Twenty-Five Year History’s ...... 1 Chapter 2 Essay Stories ...... 49

Christmas Parade – 2018 …………………………49 Literacy ………………….……………………. 59 African School Project …………………………....51 H.E.A.R.T.……………………………………...59 The Great Orlando Rotary Airshow ……………...52 Ivey Lane Elementary School ………………….60 The Central Florida Blood Bank …………………54 Poker Tournaments …………………………….62 Bob Neel Endowed Scholarship ………………….54 RCO Foundation ……………………………….63 District Grants …………………………………....55 Swan Boat Race ………………………………. 64 Earth Day …………………………………………56 Salvation Army Kettle …………………………65 Gift of Life Central Florida ………………………56 Orlando Street Painting ………………………. 66 Grants …………………………………………….58 Youth Exchange ……………………………….67

Chapter 3 Members of Note ...... 69

Wilhelm “Bill” Peterson ………………………….69 Oliver “Ollie” Phipps …………………………. 73 Ken Chapman …………………………………….70 William “Bill” Peeper ………………………….74 David Henry ……………………………………...71 John P. Taggart, M.D. ………………………….75 Don Moody ………………………………………72 Byron Thames, M.D. ………………………….75 Richard Harris ……………………………………72 Emerson R. Thompson, Jr. ……………………. 76 José A Fajardo …………………………………....73 Richard “Rich” Ungaro ………………………...77

Appendix ...... 79 Presidents ...... 79 Perfect Attendance ...... 80 Paul Harris Fellows ...... 81 Members in Military Service ...... 82 Index ...... 87 Addendum ...... 91

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"SERVICE ABOVE SELF" ______

OBJECT OF ROTARY

The object of Rotary is to encourage and foster the ideal of service as a basis of worthy enterprise and, in particular, to encourage and foster:

1. The development of acquaintance as an opportunity for service,

2. High ethical standards in business and professions; the recognition of worthiness of all useful occupations; and the dignifying by each Rotarian of his occupation as opportunity to serve society,

3. The application of the ideal of service by every Rotarian to his personal, business and community life,

4. The advancement of international understanding, good will, and peace through a world fellowship of business and professional persons united in the ideal of service.

______

"He Profits Most Who Serves Best"

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Chapter 1 The Annual Stories

ROTARY YEAR:1995-96

OFFICERS BOARD OF DIRECTORS President: Britt Lovett Larry Fegebank Carl Bauchle Past President: Dorsa McGuire Bert McCree Tom Cook President Elect: George Huffman Charlie Shuffield Art Miller Secretary: Sheri Brown Linda Palmer Paul Knepper Treasurer: Ken Scott Jay Hebert Sergeant at Arms: Bob MacLeish Executive Secretary: Barbara Hollis

BRITT LOVETT grew up in Adel, GA, graduated from Cook High School and from Valdosta State College (now University) in 1972. He was a Charter Officer of the Kappa Alpha Fraternity Chapter at V.S.C. In June 1972, he began a 44-year management career with New York Life Insurance Company. Britt married college sweetheart, Frances Murrah, in that year. They have two children: William Britt Lovett, III, and Ann Lovett Elsas and five grandchildren. He is Past President of Central Florida Financial Professionals and a Past President (twice) of Delaney Park Little League. Britt retired in August 2016 and continues as an active Member of First United Methodist Church of Orlando. For several years he was in charge of the Rotary Club of Orlando’s annual golf outing at Dubsdread Golf Club and has served on numerous club committees and participates in club service and fund-raising projects. He is a two-time Paul Harris Fellow and a Sustaining member of the Rotary Foundation. In preparation for the new Rotary year, the club sent President Britt and spouse Frances to Nice, France, for the Rotary International Convention.

Activities: The annual Street Chalk Painting Festival was an overwhelming success raising some $15,000 for the club’s charitable programs and extensively covered by the Orlando Sentinel and local TV stations. The Downtown Development Board awarded the club the annual Golden Brick Award of Excellence for enhancing downtown Orlando with the successful street painting festival. Fellowship opportunities included the club’s annual golf tournament at Dubsdread Golf Course with forty participants. An enjoyable reception was held at President Britt and France’s home for new members to meet each other and the club’s officers and directors.

Many members of the club spent a day helping the elderly by making necessary improvements to their homes under the H.E.A.R.T. program (Helping Elderly Attain Repairs Today.) We gave a club in the Republic of the Philippines funding for the purchase of a water buffalo to aid needy farmers; the fun-filled fund raiser used a naming contest for the buffalo and the winner was “Buckie Buffalo” in honor of Past President and Past District Governor Walter G “Buckie” Allen. Also, many Paul Harris Fellowships were given to honor service of recipient members, community leaders, and family members. Memorable Programs: Program Chair Doug Doudney presented several outstanding programs. One was Rotarian Stanley Marshall, Past President of Florida State University and currently of the James Madison Institute, who spoke of the Institute’s conservative viewpoints on education. Dr. Rita Bornstein, President of Rollins College, spoke on accomplishments of the college, being ranked among the top colleges in the South with an outstanding graduate program in business. Melanie Tammen, adjunct professor at the Cato Institute, spoke on the faults of the proposed Florida Health Security Plan for the State of Florida. Ralph Martinez, Orlando attorney and Cuban refugee, spoke on the need for continuing tough policies towards the Cuban regime of Fidel Castro to bring that country to make democratic reforms. The most spectacular meeting was from a local trainer of animals for movies as he brought several live animals including a caged lion. Adding to the occasion, outside of the meeting PETA was demonstrating against the animal trainer drawing media attention. Another outstanding program was a panel of members with Arnold Howell, Paul Knepper, Buckie Allen and Dorsa McGuire who spoke on their personal use of the Rotary Four-Way Test in their professions. Charlie Hood introduced another of our programs - his wife Glenda Hood, Mayor of Orlando, who updated us on the upcoming private redevelopment of the Orlando Naval Training Center and other city issues. Charlie urged us to vote for re-electing incumbent, Glenda Hood, saying because in his household, “If Mama ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy.” Notable Information About Members: Rufus Brooks, school principal, local civil rights community leader and a long-time member of the club, participated in the Million Man March in Washington D.C. during this year. Paul Knepper, publisher of the club’s weekly eight-page newsletter, continued to give humorous takes on current news by presenting us with one-minute “Eye Witless News” accounts. The Florida Bar Association named Leon Handley “Trial Lawyer of the Year.”

ROTARY YEAR: 1996-97

OFFICERS BOARD OF DIRECTORS President: George Huffman Carl Bauchle Roger Woodbury Past President: W. Britt Lovett Thomas Cook Mary Ann Dean President Elect: Larry Fegebank Paul Knepper Robert C. Ford Secretary: Sheri Brown Arthur R. Miller Judd Peterson Treasurer: Kenneth Scott Lee Bennett Sergeant at Arms: Jim Stowers Executive Secretary: Barbara Hollis

GEORGE HUFFMAN, classification Engineering/Highways, retired after 28 years as Chief Planner in Florida for the national firm HNTB Corporation - Architects, Engineers and Planners. While there, he focused on urban planning and location and expansion planning, environment approvals, and public involvement programs for new expressways, airports, bridges, and sports stadiums throughout Florida. Prior to that, he served on the staff and as Director of The Orange, Seminole, Osceola Planning Commission which was charged with long range urban planning for the three counties in preparation for the anticipated impact projected with the opening of Walt Disney World. George had also retired from the U.S. Air Force Reserve as a Lt. Colonel having served his last assignment as the Mobilization Augmentee to the Director of Public Information for the Eastern Space and Missile Center at Patrick AFB during the early launches of the Space Shuttle. In 2004-2005, The Centennial Year of Rotary International, he served as the Rotary District Governor for District 6980 comprised of the 40 clubs in Central Florida. He subsequently served in District and Zone positions. In 2017, he served on the Host Operations Committee for the Rotary International Convention held in Atlanta. The club sent George and spouse Isabella to the RI Convention in Calgary, Canada to start his year as club president.

The Third Annual Street Chalk Painting Festival was held at the Orlando City Hall and attended by hundreds with over one hundred artist participants. The Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra performed at the event, the first nighttime public entertainment at the facility. Ten thousand dollars in proceeds were raised for Mayor Glenda Hood’s Inner-City Youth Games. The Orlando Sentinel gave extensive coverage. We hosted a theater night commemorating the 50th anniversary of the death of Paul Harris, founder of Rotary. It was attended by 270 including three other clubs’ Rotarians and guests and $600 in proceeds were given to the Rotary International Foundation. $19,000 was given by members to The Annual Fund of The Rotary Foundation of Rotary International at $93.00 per/capita. 41 Paul Harris Fellows were awarded. Funds were set aside for a Matching Grant teaming our club with a club in India for a health care clinic.

The club sent President-elect Larry Fegebank and spouse Mary to the Rotary International Convention in Glasgow, Scotland. We started and ended the year with 204 members.

The President of Rotary International awarded the club The Presidential Citation for meeting all his objectives for a club to have a successful year.

Memorable Programs: Congressman John Mica updated the club on federal funding for highways and transit projects in rapidly growing Central Florida. Jacob Stuart, President of the Orlando Area Chamber of Commerce, spoke on the importance of raising the educational level of children in Florida as the state ranks 48th of the 50 states. Martha Haney, Orange County Comptroller, related the County’s program of sound investment to avoid financial debt problems faced by many local governments across the nation. Paul Nesbitt, FAA Air Traffic control Specialist, informed us of the growing traffic at Orlando international Airport and the fact that the airport also serves as an emergency landing field for the NASA Space Shuttle. Danial Webster, Minority Leader of the Florida House of Representatives, spoke to the improvements in welfare reform and the need for less regulation and taxes of businesses to attract businesses from other states. One of the most memorable programs was delivered by Arnold Howell who told us humorous stories about Lady Godiva and Woodrow Wilson’s Aunt Sally, but then related inspiring information about our club and some of our past members. Several programs were introduced by Bert McCree who sang introductions while dressed in various costumes relevant to the speaker and his subject. Bert was nicknamed ‘The Fourth Tenor” referencing the famous international trio of José Carreras, Plácido Domingo, and Luciano Pavarotti.

Members of Note: We learned that during WWII, Clyde West was rescued after 31 missions by a US submarine in Tokyo Bay when his B-29 bomber was ditched. Henry Swanson, told us about the time a helicopter crashed in his yard while he was mowing and the time when he was at the Ben White Raceway when Colonel McCoy’s B-47 bomber exploded overhead and parts almost hit Henry’s car.

The Orlando Charitable Fund gave grants totaling $7,000 to the community which included the Orlando Rescue Mission, Habitat for Humanity, the Orlando-UCF Shakespeare Festival, Junior Achievement, Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, Michelee Puppets, Senior Resource Alliance for dental care for low income elderly, and three scholarships for high school students for their outstanding community service. Projects included H.E.A.R.T. - the repairing homes for the elderly and landscaping at Gateway School. A Rotaract Club was started at Jones High School. Members shared the 4-Way test at the school.

ROTARY YEAR: 1997-98

OFFICERS BOARD OF DIRECTORS President: Larry Fegebank Roger Woodbury Charlie Hood Past President: George Huffman Mary Ann Dean Pam Ison President Elect: Carl Bauchle Bob Ford Dennis Jackson Secretary: Diane Sandquist Judd Peterson Walt Nason Treasurer: Ken Scott Lee Bennett Sergeant at Arms: Jim Stowers Executive Secretary: Barbara Hollis

LARRY FEGEBANK whose classification was Commercial Insurance, was a manager of the commercial department of the Eidson Insurance Agency. He is a native of Iowa and a graduate of the University of Iowa. His spouse, Mary, also a graduate of the University of Iowa had a career as a schoolteacher. Before becoming president, he served as a club director, and on several club committees including the Vocational Service, Community Service, House, Foundation, and Fellowship Committees. Active in the community, Larry completed the Leadership Orlando course of the Orlando Chamber of Commerce and served on the Chamber’s legislative committee. He aided in the education of young people in the public schools participating in the Additions Volunteer program. Larry’s year as president started with the club sending him and Mary to the Rotary International Convention in Glasgow, Scotland. This was much to Larry’s delight since Scotland is the birthplace of golf.

Activities included a Swan Boat Race attended by thousands that was organized to raise funds for the Rotary Orlando Foundation and the Orange County Public School Foundation. Many schools and students participated in the races and food and tee shirts were sold. The event netted $6,000. The Street Painting Festival continued and successfully raised funds for local charitable causes. Other successful service projects included continuing support of the Salvation Army by manning a kettle for a week during the Holiday Season and continuing the H.EA.R.T. project to help the elderly.

Of special note was Bob Neel’s contribution of $125,000 to the Rotary Club of Orlando Foundation to annually fund three $2,000 scholarships for deserving students graduating from Valencia and Seminole Community Colleges to help them continue their education at a four-year college.

Club membership remained over 200 at year end.

Memorable Programs: One of the outstanding programs presented by program chair Charlie Hood was Bob Lamb, President of Disney World’s Animal Kingdom who related the highlights of this new park to be opened later in the year. Joe Kittinger, world record holder in high altitude ballooning and parachuting, spoke on his illustrious career as a fighter pilot and test pilot. Mayor Glenda Hood updated us on the state of the city. Buckie Allen, Past President and past Rotary District Governor, and author of several books, entertained us with retirement and fishing stories.

Dr. Wynn Pendleton, a retired aerospace engineer and a Rotarian, spoke of the Hubble Space Telescope and showed breathtaking photos of space it had taken. Fellow member Stanley Hand presented a Veterans Day salute to the veterans of the club who served, highlighting each member’s military service.

Members who served honorably in the Navy during World War II included Harry Bull, Don Hawley, and Henry Swanson. Army vets included Jesse Holbrook, Arnold Howell, Jack McEwan, Bob MacLeish, Buckie Allen, Tom Brownlee, Rufus Brooks, and current members George Mills and Leon Handley. Air Corps aviators who flew missions during the war were Stanley Hand, Gene Minietta, Charley Wincey, Bob Neel, Clyde West, and Walter Pharr. Others saluted included Air Force pilot Pat Phillips, and Jim Stowers, US Navy.

Just before the end of the Rotary year, President-elect Carl Bauchle was unexpectedly promoted and transferred to California by his company. Director Bob Ford, a past president of another Rotary club, was selected to assume the presidency for the coming year.

Seven thousand dollars were given from the Orlando Rotary Foundation to the following organizations: Salvation Army after school program, Community Center of South Orange County for emergency assistance for the poor, House of Hope for housing and school for teens with troubled families, Compassion Children’s Foundation for financial and emotional support for families with children facing life threatening medical conditions, Association to Preserve Eatonville Community, Florida School for the Deaf and Blind, Lisa Merlin House for women for substance abuse recovery, Camp Thunderbird, Orlando Union Rescue Mission, and The Senior Resource Alliance for dental service to the elderly poor.

ROTARY YEAR: 1998-99

OFFICERS BOARD OF DIRECTORS President: Robert C. Ford Charlie Hood Jim Harris Past President: Larry Fegebank Pam Ison Lee Bennett President Elect: Mary Ann Dean Dennis Jackson Doug Doudney Secretary: Diane Sandquist Walt Nason Steve Dieter Treasurer: Ken Scott Evelyn Wilson Sergeant at Arms: Jim Stowers Executive Secretary: Barbara Hollis

ROBERT C. FORD - At the time of his presidency, Bob was in charge of the UCF Hospitality Program. He had joined RCO upon moving to Orlando in 1993. He previously served as President of the Rotary Club of Vestavia Hills, AL where he had been inducted by then Vice President and, later, President of Rotary International, Glenn E. Estess, Sr.

Prior to the start of his year, Bob sent a survey to all members to identify potential programs, projects, interests, and leaders, which became his planning tool for the year’s activities and leadership. Bob also worked with the UCF development office to help PDG Bob Neel set up a scholarship in Neel’s name. Bob Neel was recognized by the club with the “Rotarian of the Year” award. The “Outstanding Business Professional” award was given to Ralph Veerman. This year also was the first and only year of the “All Star Gridiron Classic” which was a football bowl game established in co-sponsorship with Florida Rotary Clubs whose members would sell the tickets as a fundraiser.

President Ford reflected the most noteworthy event of the year was hosting RI President Lacey. The best event was a year’s worth of opportunities to lead so many wonderful Rotarians who labored hard to make the year a success. Bob’s goal as president was to engage all members in something of interest to each and we almost achieved it. The funniest event was the yearlong banter with Lee Bennett over finding a suitable international project to support. His discovery of a “buy a bull” project was the ultimate result of much searching and the subject of many amusing comments. President Bob’s most interesting event was traveling with fellow Past President Mary Ann Dean, President Steve Dieter, and their respective spouses to Buenos Aries for the RI International Convention in 2000. “It was truly an unforgettable journey with terrific Rotarians.”

Activities: The theme for the year was “Follow your Rotary Dream.” Activities included the establishment of the Orlo Vista Elementary School Reading Program under Bert McCree; allocation of $15,000 of the proceeds of the Street Painting Festival from last year’s event to the Mayor’s Youth Activities Program, and most special, was the initiation by PDGs Buckie Allen and Gene Minietta of a district wide dinner for the President of RI, James Lacey, hosted by our club. Lynn Knepper led a successful Theater Night social evening; Bob Neel held luncheons to encourage membership growth; and Britt Lovett organized an annual club golf outing.

In addition, we had two H.E.A.R.T. projects led by Steve Dieter and Dave Williford and continued

a tradition of ringing the bell at the Salvation Army kettle.

The club initiated our first website thanks to Barbara Battersley – this became a vital form of communication for our members and for the public to view our club.

The year ended with the traditional Board dinner, but this time it was produced by students in the Hospitality Management Department at the University of Central Florida. It was an extraordinary meal at which books were donated to the Orlo Vista School in lieu of traditional year-end thank you gifts to officers and directors. For its many successes, the Club was awarded the “Presidential Citation”.

President Bob initiated a new social event for new members and spouses to meet the board and officers. It was held at his home and greatly enjoyed by all.

Ed Baranowski, Lee Jones, David Williford, Lisa DeFrancesco and many others did a magnificent job of organizing and producing the Annual Street Painting Festival. Robert Bowden led the club in a successful Rotating Rotarians meeting day. Grant Clark and Jim Harris took charge of the annual ringing of the Salvation Army bell at Kmart, once again raising significant funding for a great cause. Peter Partlow put together a wonderful video shown at a district event that featured our club’s community service projects. Harry Voorhis, Leon Handley, Arnold Howell and Paul Knepper took on a new initiative of “roasting” long time members as a way to familiarize newer members with the backgrounds and accomplishments of senior members at the weekly meetings. Roger Woodbury continued his excellent unsung club service by keeping the audio systems working and Jim Stowers was terrific in keeping the meetings organized. As usual, Barbara kept the records organized and helped the Club operate smoothly.

ROTARY YEAR: 1999-2000

OFFICERS BOARD OF DIRECTORS President: Mary Ann Dean Jim Harris John Brewerton Past President: Robert C. Ford Lee Bennett Lisa DeFrancesco President Elect: Stephan J. Dieter Doug Doudney Ed Furey Secretary: Diane L. Sandquist Evelyn Wilson Larry Kirkwood Treasurer: Michael Schafer Lynn Knepper Sergeant at Arms: Jim Stowers Executive Secretary: Barbara Hollis

MARY ANN DEAN was born in Nashville, TN and grew up in Alabama and Kentucky. She is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Agnes Scott College majoring in Spanish and the daughter of a Rotarian. Mary Ann’s work career began as a flight attendant for Pan Am, prior to marrying Architect, Donovan Dean. They have two sons. She spent 30 years in Theater Administration, first as General Manager of the Central Florida Civic Theater, and then Executive Director of the Orlando Shakespeare Theatre (now Orlando Shakes). She oversaw a major expansion of both facilities during her tenure. She was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Florida Theatre Conference upon her retirement in 2006.

Mary Ann was one of a group of 9 women invited by the Rotary Club of Orlando in 1988 to be inducted as its first female members. She was later appointed by Host Convention Chair, Gene Minietta, as Entertainment Chair for the 1992 RI Convention held in Orlando.

Highlights of Mary Ann’s Rotary year include surviving the Y2K scare, a successful Street Painting Festival chaired by John Brewerton and that included entertainment stages, and for the first time included a $2 entry fee. Significant money for the Club’s charities was raised that year. Highlights also included a trip to the RI convention in Buenos Aires along with Past Presidents Ed Baranowski and Bob Ford, President Elect Steve Dieter, and their spouses. A side trip with the group to Iguazu Falls on the border of Brazil and Argentina was a great way to begin the Convention week.

In 2007, she was a member of the committee to amend the Bylaws of the Rotary Club of Orlando Foundation that created a Foundation Board of Directors separate from the club’s Board of Directors. (See history of the Rotary Club of Orlando Foundation) She served as an elected member of the Foundation Board for 4 years, including one year as President. She is a J.P. Holbrook award holder, a Paul Harris Fellow and has maintained perfect attendance throughout most of her Rotary membership.

Under the direction of John Brewerton, the sixth Orlando Chalk Painting Festival took place at the Orlando City Hall. The event was greatly expanded to include specialty restaurants as a “Taste of Orlando.” National and local recording artists performed a variety of music. Local radio station MIX105 covered the event live from the site. There was great participation by our members and the public. The event netted over $50,000, the most successful event in recorded club history.

George Huffman led a Group Study Exchange team to District 4750 in the State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The club and Rotaract continued to support each other. The H.E.A.R.T. program and the Salvation Army bell ringing project continued as our service projects.

Memorable Programs included John Koenig, business columnist for The Orlando Sentinel who spoke on the local economy and the problems of increasing traffic and the slowing economy. William Boyd, Treasurer of Rotary International and a member of the Rotary Club of Pakuranga, New Zealand, spoke on the progress of Rotary’s Polio Plus program and reminded us of the fact that New Zealand now possesses the America’s Cup ending America’s long domination of this international sailing sport. Barbara Rushing, Orange County School Board member, opened our eyes to the fact that there are now 150,000 students in the county school system and over 100 languages and dialects are spoken.

Members of Note: We learned that the causeway over Lake Estelle on Mills Avenue linking Winter Park and Orlando was dedicated in person by President Harry S. Truman in memory of former club member U.S. Senator Charles Q. Andrews. Also, former member Wally Roy was one of the inventors of orange juice concentrate that eventually led to the creation of Minute Maid Orange Juice.

ROTARY YEAR: 2000-01

OFFICERS BOARD OF DIRECTORS President: Steve Dieter John Brewerton Bert McCree Past President: Mary Ann Dean Lisa DeFrancesco Art Miller President Elect: Doug Doudney Ed Furey Sandy Seay Secretary: Pam Ison Larry Kirkwood Kathy Ward Treasurer: Michael Shafer Lynn Knepper Sergeant at Arms: Jim Stowers Executive Secretary: Barbara Hollis

STEVE DIETER was inducted as President of the Rotary Club of Orlando on June 29, 2000 after returning from the Rotary International Convention in Buenos Aires, Argentina where he was accompanied by his wife, Betty and 3 Past Presidents, Bob Ford, Mary Ann Dean, Ed Baranowski and their spouses. Steve was impressed by the international camaraderie and inspirational speakers. He returned to Orlando determined that our club would become more involved in international activities and his dream became a reality with the first matching grant involving our club. He quickly appointed Kathy Ward who began working on two Matching Grants with The Rotary Foundation. The Matching Grant in Kerala, India was for $4,680 to provide furniture and equipment for the Kerala School for the Blind. The second grant was developed with the help of George Huffman, a GSE Team Leader to Brazil. As GSE Team Leader he paved the way for a matching grant of $8,560 to provide furniture and equipment to a center for AIDS victims in Araruama, Brazil. Steve continued to volunteer to help with our local humanitarian projects; H.E.A.R.T. (Helping Elderly Attain Repairs Today). A Civil Engineer by trade he used that knowledge to design and build numerous ramps for handicapped individuals at their residences. Steve is married to Betty, an elementary school music teacher and is immensely proud of his family. He frequently used Happy Dollars to update the club on the progress of their only daughter, Beth, a premier softball pitcher at the University of Florida where she set many pitching records and was named an All American.

H.E.A.R.T., guided by Chairman, Peter Partlow and 17 Rotarians made repairs in a home that included replacing windows, doors, overhead lights and painting in Oct 2000. Bert McCree chaired a Reading and Writing program at Orlo Vista Elementary School. Some of the RCO participants were Lee Jones, George Huffman, Richard Crabtree, Bert McCree and Marie McCree, Bert's spouse.

In February, our club sponsored 5 high school students to attend Rotary Youth Leadership Awards, (RYLA). RYLA is a program to teach high school students’ leadership and team building during a multi-day event. Students attending were Melba Melton, Jones HS; Debra Heiselman, Boone HS; and Sarah Taussig, Nick Friedell, Andrew Atkins from Lake Highland Prep.

Doug Doudney was Steve’s Program Chairman for the entire year and had many programs on local, national and international topics. Some of the topics were unusual; Dr. Ken Henson on the

Dead Sea Scrolls, Darrell Shea on Spinal Column Injuries, Beth Dieter (Steve’s daughter) on University of Florida Softball and local and national updates with Orlando Mayor Glenda Hood and US Congressman Bill McCollum.

Our premier fund-raising event for the year was Rotary Fest. The name changed from Rotary Orlando International Street Painting Festival due to copyright problems, but that did not dampen the public acceptance of the festival. Chairman Bob Ewald, supported by a host of committees and Rotary volunteers, produced the event at the Orange County History Center. This sidewalk chalk festival was a 3-day event, March 2-4, and included food and entertainment. It provided an opportunity for artists to draw with chalk on a sidewalk square. The competition recognized 9 different awards from the student to the professional. We netted over $30,000 that was returned to different worthy groups in the community; $1,000 to Salvation Army - Shining Star Summer Day Camp, $500 to The Gift For Teaching, $1,000 to Michelee Puppets, $1,000 to New Hope, $1,000 to Jeppesen Vision Quest, Inc., $1,000 to Boy Scouts of America, Central Florida Council, $660 to Orlando Union Rescue Mission, $3,500 to OCPS Transportation Program, $8,000 to The Boggy Creek Gang, $8,000 to The Rotary Foundation, $5,000 to Mayor Hood’s Inner City Youth Games.

Members inducted into our club during Steve’s year included; Howard Kaplan, Financial Planning, Advisor, Woody Johnson, Real Estate, Residential Development, Bob DeGrilla, Real Estate - Commercial Development, Jonathas Moreira, Religion, Presbyterian who has conducted many humanitarian trips to the Amazon River Basin, Bob Wesley, Public Defender Orange County and Alan Rowe, Finance, Banking.

ROTARY YEAR: 2001-02

OFFICERS BOARD OF DIRECTORS President: Doug Doudney Lee Bennett Bert McCree Past President: Steve Dieter Blaise Benoist Art Miller President Elect: Sandy Seay John Garceau Charles Shuffield Secretary: Pam Ison Ron Knipe Kathy Ward Treasurer: Michael Shafer Darrell Shea Sergeant at Arms: Jim Stowers Executive Secretary: Barbara Hollis

DOUGLAS S. DOUDNEY was inducted President of the RCO 2001-02 on June 28, 2001. He was born in Sanford, Florida in 1956 and is a 7th generation Floridian. He graduated from the University of Florida with a degree in Agricultural Business Management. In 1985 he married Julie and moved to Orlando. They have 2 grown children. During Doug’s year, several unique events made their mark on the ever- unfolding story of our great club. Doudney shared, “We were two months into our year when the tragedy of September 11, 2001 rocked each of us and changed our way of thinking as individuals and Americans. Within our club the renewed level of camaraderie and patriotism could be felt weekly. It was a special blessing to me to stand in the front of the room as we sang our patriotic song at the opening of the meeting. To hear the chorus of some 150 of Orlando’s leaders raised to a patriotic pitch as we stood together in support of each other and our national leaders was a weekly joy I will never forget.” The second unique event occurred when Jon Stine on returning from Kenya, proposed the Africa School Project, a program to build school classrooms in remote villages in Africa. The Board approved the concept and spread “ownership” to the club members by designating the first Thursday’s collection of Happy Dollars for the schools. During the Rotary year 2001-2002, the Rotary Club of Orlando members raised $ 5,500 with support from the Phillips Foundation and Harry P. Leu Foundation. With the help of the Tortilis Camp managers, Hans and Diana Strydom, a two-room school building with an office was planned and constructed in southern Kenya at Olntiyanti. The school opened in February 2002 with an enrollment of 43 students. As we approach our 100-year anniversary over 20 classrooms have been built in Kenya. Jon Stine has continued to head this program each year since and as a result, in March 2015, he earned the Service Above Self Award, the highest, most coveted award a member of Rotary can earn from Rotary International. Of the millions of Rotarians, only 150 of these are awarded each year. Our 3rd matching grant with The Rotary Foundation, MG20851, was submitted in March 2002, to help provide a boat and materials for sailing instruction and vocational training for “Bequia Youths and the Sea” in Bequia, St. Vincent and The Grenadines. The host Club was the Rotary Club of Bequia, St. Vincent, D-7030.

The Rotary Club of Orlando was a CASH Contributor of $1,000. District 6980, in support of three district clubs, committed DDF in the amount of $5,000. Total amount of the grant, including the match from The Rotary Foundation (TRF) was $26,500.

Doug’s year saw our sidewalk chalk-art festival, Rotary Fest 2002, totally rained out for the first time. The show was held at the Orange County History Center on February 22, 23 and 24. Artists drew when the rain slowed down, the bands played under their tents and a group of committed Rotarians made the best of a bad situation and got soaking wet. The weather did break on the last day around noon permitting ten chalk artists to be recognized with artist awards.

Members inducted into Rotary this year included: Kenny Youmans, Insurance-General; Jason Frazier, Photography, General; Lee Chotas, Law-Tax; Ollie Phipps, Private Investigator and Paul Gidus, Building Contractor-Custom Residential.

Barbara Hollis, our Executive Secretary retired with the changing of the guard after 18 years of faithful service. She was lovingly given a lifetime membership of the Rotary Club of Orlando as a token of our appreciation. Fortunately, a search committee of Board members found Sara Meyer, who jumped in and did a remarkable job of filling Barbara’s shoes.

The RCO Foundation contributed to the following activities/organizations: Friends Forever $2,500, Great Oaks Village $314, Miracle League $800, Rotary Leadership Youth Awards $650 and scholarships to graduating high school seniors $3,000.

ROTARY YEAR: 2002-03

OFFICERS BOARD OF DIRECTORS President: Raleigh F. “Sandy” Seay Lee Bennett Thomas Scott Past President: Doug Doudney Blaise Benoist Charles Shuffield President Elect: Darrell Shea John Garceau Pam Smith Secretary: Ellan “DeDe” Lovelace Ron Knipe Bob Ewald Treasurer: Michael Shafer Evelyn Wilson Sergeant at Arms: Jim Stowers Executive Secretary: Barbara Hollis and Sara Meyer

“SANDY” SEAY attended Virginia Tech where he earned a Bachelor’s degree and then went on to earn a Master’s degree from Rollins College as well as a Ph.D. in Humanities from Warnborough College. This training continued with him during his year as President with frequent references to Socrates, Plato and other scholars and great thinkers. Sandy has researched and written about his Irish heritage in several publications. He could always be heard supporting his undergraduate alma mater, the Virginia Tech Hokies, and served as President of the Central Florida Hokies Club. Sandy, although born in Charleston, South Carolina, considers himself a Virginia native where he can trace his ancestors back to 1683. He moved to Orlando in 1981, and formed Seay Management Consultants, Inc. He holds the classification of Human Resources Consultant. Sandy has been active within the Orlando community by volunteering and serving with Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Florida Chamber of Commerce, Central Florida YMCA and Rollins College. Sandy is a U. S. Army veteran and served as an armor officer with the 3rd Infantry Division in Europe. He is married to Linda and they have two grown daughters.

Projects and Programs include Friends Forever, a conflict resolution program brought 14 youth from Ireland, Catholic and Protestant, to Central Florida to live together and bond for two weeks, Oct 20 - Nov3. Our club provided $5,200, another $4,175 coming from individuals. Rotary Club of Kissimmee contributed $1,000 to this project. Total cost was $13,375 which included a $3,000 grant from The Rotary Foundation. The group was housed at Pine Hills Boys Club, but the facilities proved to be inadequate, and so they were relocated to a motel. Tom Olsen and Dick Crabtree were co-chairs. The young adults were treated to government, educational and entertainment venues as well as being with Rotarians during this time. Fellowship activities were very evident during the year with a golf tournament chaired by Blaise Benoist at Dubsdread on Friday, November 8th where 22 Rotarians participated with an afternoon shotgun start. A successful wine/cheese tasting event was held in College Park at Cavanaugh’s on April 24. Over 25 Rotarians and spouses attended the tasting event chaired by Loren Ford. Youth activities for the year included RYLA where we sponsored two high school representatives to Rotary Youth Leadership Awards that year: Trineshia Kirby, Jones HS and William Martinez, Boone HS. Also, Service Above Self Scholarships of $1,000 each were awarded to Donesha Dickson, Jones HS and Erin Love, Boone High School.

year: Trineshia Kirby, Jones HS and William Martinez, Boone HS. Also, Service Above Self Scholarships of $1,000 each were awarded to Donesha Dickson, Jones HS and Erin Love, Boone HS.

During the Rotary year 2002-03, the RCO raised $ 7,500 with the help of the Chesley G. Magruder Foundation and Harry P. Leu Foundation to construct a classroom and office in Ilkujuka, Kenya for our Africa School Project. Ilkujuka is in the Loita Hills in rural western Kenya. A local NGO in Loita Hills was used to design and construct the school in Ilkujuka. Even before the school was completed in March 2003, over 40 children had been enrolled. Wilson Lolpapit, our Loita Maisai contact, commented that the opening of the school “Makes my heart jump for joy.”

The Program Committee, chaired by John Garceau, provided several UCF programs including topics on Athletics, Technology Incubation, Business Entrepreneurship, Nanotechnology, Terrorism & Global Perspective, Research and College of Business. Two memorable programs were: a lively debate between Orlando Mayor candidates Peter Barr and Buddy Dyer and a presentation by Joe Stine on “Trekking in Nepal”.

The 9th Annual Rotary Fest 2003 was held on March 15, 2003 at Orlando City Hall, after being postponed from March 1 for bad weather. The event was chaired by Ed Baranowski and Lee Jones. Favorable weather, talented artists and RCO volunteers made this one-day event a success with a profit of $14,479. Fourteen awards went to professionals and students on a sunny day well attended by many city residents.

Members of note inducted into our club during Sandy’s year included: Stewart Marshall, Law, Trust & Estate, Medical Equipment and Arnold Howell, Accountant, CPA who was noted for his wit and speaking abilities.

RCO Foundation: Contributions from the Rotary Club of Orlando Foundation, Inc. included $1,000 to buy tickets for 40 underprivileged children to the Rotary Gridiron Classic at Citrus Bowl, $5,000 for Friends Forever and $4,500 for the Miracle League.

Of Special Interest: during Sandy’s term, the RCO office was moved from the Blood Bank building on Gore Avenue during the summer of 2003 to an office and storage room at McCree Construction at 2100 Alden Road. Rotarian Richard McCree, Jr. arranged for the facility as well as having McCree personnel to move the furniture and records. Rotarians Jim Stowers, George Huffman and Sara Meyer, Executive Secretary organized the office. Board meetings were conveniently held in the adjacent training room.

ROTARY YEAR: 2003-04

OFFICERS BOARD OF DIRECTORS President: Darrell Shea Thomas Scott Calvin Gardner Past President: Raleigh Seay Pam Smith Richard McCree, Jr President Elect: Charles Shuffield Bob Ewald Peter Partlow Secretary: Ellan “DeDe” Lovelace John Brewerton Patrick Phillips Treasurer: Michael Shafer Evelyn Wilson Sergeant at Arms: Jim Stowers Executive Secretary: Sara Meyer

DARRELL JAMES SHEA was born in Corning, New York and graduated from Colgate College. He received a Master of Science from University of Rochester before his medical degree. Upon joining the USAF as a captain, he served as base surgeon in Portland, Oregon. He received a fellowship in Oxford, England and continued on to the University of Miami with an intervening stop at University of Pittsburgh. Darrell’s specialty was Spinal Cord Injury and Rehabilitation. He came to Orlando in 1972 and opened a private practice. Darrell’s knowledge and experience propelled him to President of American Spinal Injury Association, member of the Florida Board of Health, President of Orange County Medical Association and the 1st Chief Medical Officer for the State of Florida. He loved to travel with his wife, Ann, as they toured Europe via bicycle. Darrell loved Rotary, especially the Thursday meetings. He was an active volunteer for Rotary Fest where he made himself the chief garbage collector and was always getting volunteers to help “the garbage man”. He was extremely proud of Colgate and boasted about its football team when they won. Darrell was a congenial, friendly person and was frequently teased about his use of and pronunciation of “y’all”, but he loved it.

Projects and Activities included a 4th matching grant, MG51673, to provide books and desks to Mukuru School in Nairobi, Kenya. The host Club was Rotary Club of Milamani, Nairobi, Kenya, D-9212. RCO was the International Partner with the assistance of the Winter Park club. Total amount of the grant including match from The Rotary Foundation (TRF) was $8,750. The Rotary Club of Orlando continued its school building program, Africa School Project, by raising $ 7,500 to build two more schools with the support of the Chesley G. Magruder Foundation and Harry P. Leu Foundation. These schools, Mausa and Iltumarro, were completed in September 2004. the classrooms were 20’ x 25’, wooden construction, metal roof, concrete floor and are built for 25 students. Every time the new classrooms were opened, the number of students enrolled was generally about 50 students. Our club participated with other clubs in our District in the collection and shipment of 142 reconfigured and restored computers that were delivered during the District Conference in Nassau, Bahamas. We had teamed with the Club of East Nassau in providing the computers to the Bahamian Children’s Computer Center at St. Anselm Roman Catholic Church. This was the highlight of the visit in Nassau. H.E.A.R.T. (Helping Elderly Attain Repairs Today) chaired by Dave Williford, was held Saturday Oct 25 at two homes in Apopka. The Rotary crew completed 11 double hung windows, several cabinets and fans. The work crew included 13 Rotarians plus family members and all 13 Irish visitors here in Orlando with Friends Forever. The homeowners and Seniors First were pleased and impressed. Friends Forever, the Irish peace

reconciliation program, returned in late October for its second visit. Tom Olsen and Dick Crabtree were co-chairs for this program of 10 teens and 3 advisors from Belfast, Ireland and were assisted by 15 Rotarians. They were housed in a residence in Pine Castle. Our club provided $8000 to successfully run their stay. They enjoyed visiting different governmental agencies, entertainment venues and most of all being with the Rotarians. A billiards event, chaired by Bob Moody, was held at the Sorosis Club on February 6, with an outstanding display of trick shots and skillful play. 200 tickets were sold with proceeds going to Polio Plus. Plenty of fun, food by George, and fellowship enjoyed by many Rotarians, their family members and guests.

Programs under the leadership of Larry Kirkwood had many interesting topics including; Arnold Howell with a humorous “The Agony and Ecstasy of Retirement”, General Jay Garner, Ret., with an informative “What’s Up in Iraq”, 13 teens from Ireland with Friends Forever talking about religious conflicts in their country, a historical approach to lacrosse by Lehn Abrams and a moving talk by Col. Henry Wake “9/11 at the Pentagon”.

Members of Note inducted into our club during Darrell’s year included: Heidi Isenhart Law, Elder; President 2008/09 Dann Pottinger, Real Estate Agency; President 2009/10 Richard Harris, Education, Administration; Club Treasurer 2018/19, President Elect 2019/20 Roger Jacobson, Television, Film & Communication; President 2012/13 Tony Boni, Office Machines; Club Secretary 2007/12 Oswald Saavedra - Medicine, Family. He visited and helped professionally at clinics in Honduras on many occasions, headed up lake cleanup at multiple lakes in Orlando and was recognized as a “Points of Light” award recipient.

ROTARY YEAR: 2004-05

OFFICERS BOARD OF DIRECTORS President: Charles Shuffield Lee Bennett John Brewerton Past President: Darrell Shea Denny Kurir Calvin Gardner President Elect: John Garceau Bob MacLeish Richard McCree, Jr Secretary: Ellan Lovelace Tom Olsen Peter Partlow Treasurer: Blaise Benoist Patrick Phillips Sergeant at Arms: Jim Stowers Executive Secretary: Sara Meyer

W. CHARLES “CHARLIE” SHUFFIELD was born in Malvern, Arkansas. He spent his formative years in Little Rock, AK and Louisiana, developing his love of sports, especially basketball. The values and discipline he embraced as a young boy were reflected throughout his later life. He was awarded basketball and baseball scholarships at Western Kentucky University, where he was a founding member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon Fraternity. He graduated cum laude in 3 years with a B.S. degree in economics and accounting and received his J.D. degree from the University of Memphis Law School. He furthered his education at the University of Miami Law School earning an LLM degree in Taxation. He began his career in estate planning and corporate law at the firm of Akerman, Senterfitt in Orlando and later was a founding partner of Zimmerman, Shuffield, Kiser and Sutcliffe. In 2003, he was a founding partner of Shuffield Lowman. He was a founding member and president of the Orlando Fellowship of Christian Athletes and served on many community boards. He remained active in the First Baptist Church of Orlando, where he served as a deacon. Charlie was a polite and kind gentleman whose law practice was his ministry and his passion was helping others. The theme for Rotary International that year was “DO GOOD IN THE WORLD”. Charlie embodied this motto in his observation that while Rotarians may have different communities, the one cord that binds us together is our desire to give back to our country and our world. He was married to Karen for 45 years and they had two daughters. He passed away after a lengthy illness in 2015.

Our 5th matching grant was submitted in September to provide 130 desks, 45 tables and chairs for Maisai community schools in Loita Division of Narok district near Nairobi, Kenya. Host Club was Rotary Club of Milamani, Nairobi, Kenya. RCO was a contributor of $2,000. D6980, in support of RCO, committed $2,000. Total amount of the grant including match from The Rotary Foundation (TRF) was $9,445. Thirteen Loita schools received 170 desks, 13 tables and 13 chairs. This grant originated when Jon Stine visited Kenya and RCO created the Africa School Project to assist in the education of youth in 2001. Our club also contributed $10,000 to the Africa School Project for the construction of the first classroom constructed of stone at the village of Osinantei. Construction was started in May 2005 and was completed in July 2006. The first classes began in August 2006 with an enrollment of 74 children.

Funding for classroom came from Phillips Foundation, Harry P. Leu Foundation and support from the members of the RCO.

The Great Orlando Rotary Air Show idea was created by Pat Phillips in August 2002 after discussion with The Greater Orlando Aviation Authority (GOAA). The idea was approved by the Rotary Board and the first of many committee meetings, chaired by John Garceau and Pat Phillips, was held on February 4, 2003 with 17 Rotarians and two GOAA representatives attending. Patrick Phillips went before the GOAA Board and asked for its approval and sponsorship to have the airshow at Orlando International Airport (OIA), which was approved. It was to be part of the dedication ceremony for the new runway located on the east side of the airport. The date of the airshow was set for November 6 and 7. The committee put the air show together with a lot of hard work, but TSA stepped in and canceled the event because security was inadequate to protect the main airport terminal area from terrorists. The government roadblock did not hamper Co-Chairs Pat Phillips and John Garceau. They promptly relocated the airshow to Orlando Executive Airport. The air show drew world class aviators and aerobatics with several National Champions performing. The two-day event proved to be an entertaining outing for the 8,000 residents who enjoyed the loops, barrel rolls and fly-bys. Pat Phillips said, “The airshow was a great success for the public as well as the spirit of the Rotary members. Almost everyone in the club volunteered or participated one way or another in assuring the success of the airshow. It has been noted as the only time in club history that we had close to full participation of everyone in the club. After all was said and done, the cost for the airshow was a little more than $50,000 leaving a net profit of about $2000. At least we didn’t lose money like many sister clubs have done when putting on an airshow.”

Members inducted into our club during Charlie’s year included Gary Cain, Associations, Boys Club and Curley Bowman, Law Enforcement, City

During Charlie’s presidency, Rotary International’s centennial year coincided with RCO’s 85th birthday on May 12, 2005. We celebrated our 85th birthday with a party at the Winter Park Civic Center. With Henry Swanson and Jim Stowers as Co-Chairs, over 160 Rotarians and their spouses gathered for fellowship and celebration. PDG Buckie Allen and DG George Huffman shared stories of the club and its history. George Paul and the Classic Creations staff provided their usual delicious fare.

Our club continued its long line of District Governors, starting with Charter Member S. Kendrick Guernsey, PDG 1923-24 with the election of our Past President George Huffman to be District Governor for the Rotary year 2004-05. George became the 8th District Governor from our club.

Contributions from the Rotary Club of Orlando and Rotary Club of Orlando Foundation, Inc. included $1,400 to Orlando Police Department Mounted Patrol for saddles, $1,500 to Oswald Saavedra for Earth Day symposium at Rollins College, $8,000 to Friends Forever, an Irish conflict resolution program and $115 to Great Oaks Village for their Book Bags program for the kids school packs.

ROTARY YEAR: 2005-06

OFFICERS BOARD OF DIRECTORS President: John Garceau Lee Bennett Dennis Michaels Past President: Charles Shuffield Bob MacLeish Heidi Isenhart President Elect: Jim Stowers Denny Kurir George Paul Secretary: Jane Olson Tom Olsen Bob Wesley Treasurer: Blaise Benoist Lisa DeFrancesco Sergeant at Arms: Bob DeGrilla Executive Secretary: Sara Meyer

JOHN GARCEAU began his term as RCO president on July 1, 2005. He was first a Rotarian in1984 when he joined the R.C. of Goldenrod where he earned his first Paul Harris Fellowship for Outstanding Service as Program Director. He also served as President of that club and marched in the 100th Rotary Convention in Chicago as a Flag Bearer for Denmark. John was invited to join R.C. Orlando where he served on the Board of Directors and as Program Chairman before being elected President. He is proud to be the first UCF alumnus to be President of the club.

Activities and Projects: Earth Day, Blood Bank Drive, Salvation Army Bell Ringing, Rotary Fest (Chalk Art Event), Polio Plus Project, Book Bags for Kids, and African School Project. The biggest project during his term was the second Great Orlando Rotary Air Show held Nov. 5-6, 2005 at the Orlando Executive Airport and featured World War II re-enactments, World Class Air Performers, Vintage and Modern Military Aircraft as well as live entertainment. One of the most helpful projects was H.E.A.R.T. (Help Elderly Achieve Repairs Today.) This project connected Rotarians and senior residents needing ramps, windows, doors, roof repairs, etc. and was done by club members in one day.

Memorable Programs: Among the top programs or speakers of this year were Martha Haynie (Orange County Comptroller, Bill Peeper (President of the Orlando/Orange County Convention and Visitor Bureau), Robert Bowden (HP Leu Gardens Director), Sara Van Arsdel (Orange County History Museum Director), John Bersia (Pulitzer winning journalist), Dr. Byron Thames, (AARP- Medicare expert) and Jose Fajardo, (PBS affiliate WMFE Program Director).

Special Events and Projects: In July 2005, the club provided $7500 to add another classroom, our second African Ilkujuka School to finish a classroom at a new location which was completed in September 2006 with over 30 students. The new location at Oltarakuai was moved from its “Old Mud and Sticks two room school” to a nearby location which started over two years ago and was delayed by insufficient funds. These funds were provided by the Harry P. Leu Foundation and support from RCO. Donations throughout District 6980 were collected to aid South Florida which was hit hard by Hurricane Wilma where over 1500 homes were destroyed in LaBelle and Clewiston and many people were without electricity, phone and water.

New Members inducted into the club included George Stuart, (Merchant-Office Equipment), David Joyce (Banking-Residential Mortgages), Dr. John Taggert (ENT Physician), Norberto Katz (Attorney), Andrew Laney (Banking), James Kelly (Religion-Baptist) and Walter Nason (Management-Administration).

RCO Foundation: In January, The RCOF donated $5000 to Earth Day. In April, $2500 was donated to sponsor a celebrity golf event to be held in May with benefits to go to the Boy Scouts’ Rotary Lodge at Camp LaNoChe in the Ocala National Forrest. Also, a committee was formed to reorganize the RCOF.

ROTARY YEAR: 2006-07

OFFICERS BOARD OF DIRECTORS President: Jim Stowers Bob Wesley Howard Kaplan Past President: John Garceau Heidi Isenhart Dann Pottinger President Elect: Larry Kirkwood Lisa DeFrancesco Linda Rolf Secretary: DeDe Lovelace Dennis Michaels Bill Wilson Treasurer: Blaise Benoist George Paul Sergeant at Arms: Bob DeGrilla Executive Secretary: Sara Meyer

JAMES “Jim” STOWERS was born in 1934 in Denver, Colorado and was raised in Natchez, Mississippi, his dad’s hometown. In 1949, his dad was transferred to Kansas City, MO where Jim attended Southwest High School. Following Graduation, he joined the US Navy and served 2 years on active duty during the Korean War. He then attended the University of Florida graduating with a BA-Business degree in Industrial Management in 1960. Moving to Orlando, he worked as Director of Materials for an electronics manufacturing firm, Repco, Inc. In 1987, he and his wife purchased a Sign & Engraving business on North Mills Avenue that they operated until his retirement in 2000. He has been an active volunteer in many community organizations (JC’s, Chamber of Commerce, Civic Music of Central Florida, History Center, Rotary Club of Orlando) as well as First Presbyterian Church Orlando where he has served as Deacon and Elder and has sung in the Chancel Choir since 1962. Rotary positions held over the years: President, Secretary, Sergeant at Arms, Paul Harris Chairman and Asst. District Governor. Programs & Projects - One of the significant speaker programs of the year was Dr. Ruth Baskerville, Principal of Ivey Lane Elementary school. Her inspiring presentation led to the partnership of RCO as an ongoing community resource for the school that continues to this day. Examples of our club’s involvement at Ivey Lane include the Christmas Angel Tree, various literacy projects, landscaping projects, field trips, food pantry and many more. Significant leadership by Orlando Club Rotarians was given to the new project - Gift of Life of Central Florida. Dr. Darrell Shea, Charlie Shuffield and Jim Stowers assisted Marty Kramer in getting heart surgery for children from other countries through Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children. The project called “Friends Forever”, was continued in the club by member Dick Crabtree. This program brought 10 teenagers from troubled areas (Palestine/Israel, Ireland/Northern Ireland, Protestant/Catholic and others) for a 2-week intense immersion together to develop understanding, leadership and common ground leading to peace and understanding in the world. Over the years, our club has amassed a significant number of Exchange Banners from clubs around the world. Member Henry Swanson spent countless hours organizing these banners and during the year he would monthly give a report on our banner collection as well as displaying a sampling during meetings.

Other Projects; New and Continuing – • Earth Day – (Leader: Oswald Saavedra) • Solar Oven – (Leader: Jon Stine) • African and Bahama Schools – (Leaders: Jon Stine & Dennis Michaels) • Blood Drive – (Leader: Mike Pratt) • Orlando Rotarian (color) Newsletter – (Leaders: Paul & Lynn Knepper) • Salvation Army Kettle Bell Ringing – (Leaders: Sam Henry & Tom Brownlee) • RCO Digital Projector – (Leader: Roger Woodbury) • RCO Foundation Reorganization – (Leader: Bill Wilson) • “StreetFest” Chalk Art Festival – (Leader: Howard Kaplan) • “Texas Hold-em” – (Leader: Bob Moody) • Business Professional of Year Award – (Leader: Roger Jacobson) • H.E.A.R.T. (Helping Elderly Achieve Repair Today) – (Leader: Rene Persaud)

ROTARY YEAR: 2007-08

OFFICERS BOARD OF DIRECTORS President: Larry Kirkwood Howard Kaplan Dann Pottinger Past President: Jim Stowers Linda Rolf William Wilson President Elect: Heidi Isenhart Lee Bennett Bob MacLeish Secretary: Tony Boni Alan Rowe Sara Van Arsdel Treasurer: Blaise Benoist Carter Bowman Sergeant at Arms: Bob DeGrilla Executive Secretary: Sara Meyer

LARRY KIRKWOOD served in the U.S. Marine Corps (1961-1965) and then went to Florida Southern College in Lakeland (1965-1969) and served as Student Body President. He then attended the University Fla. Law School (1969-1971). He began his practice of law in Winter Park and served in the Fla. House of Representatives representing Orange County from 1976-1980. He became a Circuit Court Judge for the Ninth Judicial Circuit, 1981-1999. He joined the Orlando Rotary Club on September 1, 1996. His service included Co-Chair of Project Literacy, Chair of Vocational Services, and two terms on the Board of Directors Activities and Projects included Solar Ovens for two schools in Nairobi, Kenya as well as commitment and service for the Annual “Be Wise, Immunize” back to school event for the Orange County Health Dept. Successful events were held for The Texas Hold-em Tournament and Street Fest Side-Walk Chalk Art Festival. Other activities included Ivey Lane School Support, Salvation Army Bell Ringing, Blood Bank Drive, Earth Day, and Valentine Day Brunch. A significant event was the Gift of Life Project (see write-up). On November 29th, a Rotary Club sign with the club name and meeting time and date was erected at the Sorosis Club. The forty-four Rotary Clubs that comprise District 6980 covering Seminole, Orange, Osceola, Lake, and part of Sumter County had their first float in the 27th Annual Orlando Citrus Parade in downtown Orlando, Dec. 2007. The parade was televised nationally appearing in over 100 major markets with viewership of over 2 million people. Memorable Programs included Jose Fajardo (WMFE-Sneak Preview of Ken Burns “The War”, Lee Corso College Sports Analyst-“College Sports”, Professor John Bersia “The War Against Terrorism”, Col. Lawrence Wilkerson RET-Colin Powell’s Chief of Staff-“An Open Letter to the New President”, Mayor Bill Frederick-“ The Orlando I Know and Its Future”, Dr. David Swanson Christian Religion-“Christianity Today”, Ralph Martinez Esq.-“Cuba, Past, Present, and Future”, Dr. Oswald Saavedra-“Why I Became a Rotarian”. Special events and Projects: The first Bylaws of the Rotary Club of Orlando Foundation, Inc., prepared by Lee Bennett Esq., were adopted by the club on January 8, 2008 and signed by President Larry Kirkwood. Previously, all members of the RCO Board were members of the RCOF Board. Under the new Bylaws seven members, elected by the club, make up the RCOF Board of Directors.

There are four Directors-At-Large and three officers of RCO (President, Immediate Past President, and President-Elect). The duties of the Board are to administer the Foundation, adopt investment policy to guide the investment committee and adopt a budget. There will be two permanent standing committees: The Investment Committee and The Awards Committee, each to be made of three members with three-year rotating terms. The Investment Committee will recommend investment policy and report quarterly to the RCOF Board on the balance and performance of the investments. The Awards Committee will make recommendations to the RCOF Board of worthy individuals, societies, organizations, and institutions for scholarship aid to local students, healthcare aid, relief from hunger and poverty and humanitarian aid. The Awards Committee will recommend and maintain a Statement of Giving and Policy to govern eligibility for assistance. The first meeting of the new RCOF was held March 11, 2008. The newly elected Offices and Directors of RCOF acted at this meeting to donate $7,500 to Earth Day, and also donate $500 to a science simulation project at Lake Eola Charter School. Three students were awarded scholarships based on “Service Above Self” from the Bob Neel RCO UCF Scholarship Fund and invited to a RCO meeting for recognition.

ROTARY YEAR: 2008-09

OFFICERS BOARD OF DIRECTORS President: Heidi Isenhart Bob MacLeish Alan Rowe Past President: Larry Kirkwood Lee Bennett Carter Bowman President Elect: Dann Pottinger Sara Van Arsdel Roger Jacobson Secretary: Tony Boni Bill Leedy Bob Moody Treasurer: Blaise Benoist Jan Zimmerman Sergeant at Arms: Bob DeGrilla Executive Secretary: Sara Meyer

HEIDI ISENHART is an attorney specializing in Elder Law, Estate Planning, Probate, and Trust Administration, etc. with the law firm Shuffield, Lowman & Wilson, PA. She earned her BS degree at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign in 1993 and her JD degree from the Regent University of Law, Virginia Beach, VA. She has won numerous awards in Rotary. She served as Program Chair for two full years and is a graduate in the Rotary Leadership Institute having successfully completed all three levels. She also served as Invocation Committee Chair and on the Board of Directors of the Rotary Club of Orlando. Activities and projects: Rotary Fest, Kenya Solar Ovens, Earth Day, Great Oaks Village Backpack Program, Fun Committee, H.E.A.R.T. Project, Salvation Army Bell Ringing, and many others. The most interesting project for the year was the invitation for members of The Orlando Rotary Club to join the Orlando Union Rescue Mission in a program called “One Homeless Night.” This took place beneath the I-4 overpass in downtown Orlando between Washington St. and Central Blvd. Participants experienced homelessness firsthand overnight in a safe, law enforcement supervised environment. Residents of the Mission shared touching testimonies of the life on the streets with the participants and the inspirational movie of Chris Gardner’s Journey from “Homelessness to Wealth in the Pursuit of Happiness.” The event was limited to 500 participants and many members of The RCO attended. Memorable programs: Among the most interesting speakers during her term were Dr. Deborah German (UCF School of Medicine), Margot Knight (State of the Arts in Central Fl.), Jan Garavaglia, M.D. (The Medical Examiner’s Office), Carol Wick (Domestic Violence Awareness), Lou Frey (Thoughts on the Presidential Elections), Byron Thames, M.D. (Divided We Fail: Health and Financial Security), Jon Stine (African School Project), Nancy Albury (Abaco Deep Holes: National Geographic Discoveries), Richard Crotty (Mayor of Orange County) and Buddy Dyer, (Mayor of Orlando).

ROTARY YEAR: 2009-10

OFFICERS BOARD OF DIRECTORS President: Dann Pottinger Jan Elston Roger Jacobson Past President: Heidi Isenhart Bill Leedy Bob Moody President Elect: Curley Bowman Jason Frazier Norberto Katz Secretary: Tony Boni Rene Persaud Ollie Phipps Treasurer: Blaise Benoist Rod Rodman Sergeant at Arms: Bob DeGrilla Executive Secretary: Sara Meyer

DANN POTTINGER was born in the Bay Islands of Honduras in 1947 and came to Orlando in 1949 after being adopted by his aunt Alice and her husband Lewis Talbott Pottinger. He grew up on Seville Place in College Park and went from Cathedral School to Concord Park Elementary, then Orlando Junior College, and Rollins College. He served in the U.S. Army at Fort Benning and Fort Lee with 2 1/2 years in Germany. After his military service he began a banking career working for former RCO president Joseph Guernsey at Orlando Federal Savings and Loan. After a time, he became the founding President of Capital First State Bank, and then Commercial State Bank in Orlando (both with RCO member Judd Peterson). Tired of the banking business, he bought Village Realty in Winter Park and enjoyed many years in the real estate business. Dan and his wife Mary B. Carter (of Winter Park) raised their three daughters in Winter Park. Dan joined RCO in 2004, served two terms as Program Chairman and served on the Board of Directors of RCO and started a Rotary Club in Roatan, Honduras during his year as President. Activities and Projects: Rotary Fest 2010 with the theme “Art In Motion” with chalk artists with diverse backgrounds and talents donating their time, energy and talent with proceeds going to, among others Ivey Lane Elementary, Shelter Box Disaster Relief, First Annual Holiday Party on Dec. 10, 2009 catered by George Paul at the Sorosis House and Solar Ovens for Haiti. Some of the projects and other activities included the RCO Golf Tournament, Nov. 20 at Dubsdread Country Club; a food Drive Collection for Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida; Rotary Club of Orlando Poker Tournament, Nov. 14 with profits to the club Foundation of over $2,000. Other events were Rotary Family and Friends Night with the Orlando Magic - an event that was hosted and sponsored by RCO but open to all Rotarians of D6980, their families and friends, and funding for a Mexicana Home Building for a poor family by an RCO member on a Missionary trip as well as in 2010 a partnership with Seniors First in a H.E.A.R.T. project (Helping Elderly Achieve Repairs Today). This project connected Rotarians and seniors needing ramps, windows, painting, roof repairs, etc. and was done by RCO volunteers in one day. Also, African Schools Funds and funding for Solar Ovens in Kenya, Zimbabwe and Philippines. Other projects included RCO Poker Tournament (this raised slightly more than $2,000 for RCO Foundation), Blood Drive, Second Harvest Food Bank Drive as well as funding for Central Florida Council Boy Scouts of America.

90th Birthday Celebration: This gala event occurred on May 20, 2010 and featured a luncheon much like the first formal charter event held on May 12, 1920 and the menu featured cream of tomato soup, olives, celery, pickles, fresh spring chicken, new potatoes in cream, new string beans, tomato salad, ice cream, cake, coffee, and tea. The cost of the meal in 1920 was $1.00! The cost of the 2010 meal was $13 and the menu was identical to that of 90 year ago. The menu and lunch were prepared by RCO member Chef George Paul. The 1920 event lasted over 3 hours with Rotary representatives from Rotary International, Jacksonville, Gainesville, Ocala, Palatka, West Palm Beach, St. Augustine, Tampa, Lakeland, St. Petersburg, Pensacola, and Key West in attendance. The new Orlando Club was the 13th Rotary Club in Florida. In 1920 the population of Orlando was around 6,000 folks. Orange County was 20,000 and the State of Florida about 980,000. The Orlando event in 2010 lasted 1:15 hours.

ROTARY YEAR: 2010-2011

OFFICERS BOARD OF DIRECTORS President: Curley Bowman Jason Frazier Kirk Thompson Past President: Dann Pottinger Rene Persaud Norberto Katz President Elect: Linda Rolf Rod Rodman Greg Pace Secretary: Tony Boni Pam Ison Ollie Phipps Treasurer: Blaise Benoist Betsy Jacobs Sergeant at Arms: Bob DeGrilla Executive Secretary: Sara Meyer

CURLY BOWMAN’S father was in the Air Force, so he grew up wherever his father was assigned. His father finally retired in Winter Park in 1963 and Curly graduated from Edgewater High School in 1968. He served nearly 9 years in the Army Infantry and was separated with the rank of Staff Sergeant. Returning to Orlando he received a Master of Science degree from Rollins College in 1985. Following 28 years of service in the Orlando Police Department, he retired in 2006 as a lieutenant.

Activities and Programs: The club organized the donation of twenty used computers from Shuffield, Lowman & Wilson Law firm to the Salvation Army’s Computer Lab for the Men’s Shelter. A Blood Drive was held on January 13, 2010, with ten donors. The first Lakeside Social was held at 310 Lakeside on East Pine Street. At Christmas time members again manned the Salvation Army’s Red Kettle collection drive. New By-Laws were approved. The popular Rotating Rotarians program was held on May 26, 2011, at members’ places of business: Swalstead Jewelers, Orange County Regional History Center, Salvation Army, Trustco Bank, Krise Wealth Management Group of Raymond James & Associates, Paul Gidus Construction, E Science, Olsen Law Group, Florida Blood Centers, and Orange County Health Department. Twenty-two new members were added this year. Of the new members Mike Young, Christopher Hunter, Sadia Marsch and Craig Polejes continue as members in 2020.

Interesting and informative programs covered a wide variety of subjects such as “How Do You Feed 3,100 Children? Solar Ovens of Course” (Jon Stine), “Global Challenges in 2010" (John Bersia), “Combating Terrorism Recruitment on the Internet” (Ted Reynolds), “Child Safety on the Internet. What Adults Need to Know” (John Pare), “The Devils Highway: A True Story of Illegal Immigration, Desperation and Greed” (Luis Alberto Urrea), “Overview of Downtown Orlando and Creative Village” (Craig Ustler), “Florida Highwaymen Art” (Isaac “Ike” Knight), “Dr. Phillips Center for Performing Arts” (Richard Russell), “History of Public Health & Public Health Issues” ( Dr. Kevin Sherin), “Honduras Medical Clinic” (Dr. Oswald Saavedra) and “State of Our Schools” (Bill Sublette).

Projects: Probably the most important club project was the Club Operations Review & Evaluation Committee (CORE) under the leadership of President Elect Linda Rolf and Treasurer Edgar McGonigal who reviewed the club’s financial problems and provided solutions to place the club on a firm financial footing and update our management systems: 1. All outstanding tax returns were prepared and filed, 2. New chart of accounts was created to properly assign all income and expenses, 3. Separate accounting was instituted for local foundation, 4. Payroll will be handled by Paychex, 5. Dual signatures on checks by President, President-Elect or Treasurer for both operating account and foundation, 6. All payables will be entered upon receipt into QuickBooks and checks printed, 7. Replace fixed telephone line with cell phone, 8. Detail responsibilities of the Executive Secretary and elected Secretary, and 9. Lunch fee increase from $13.00 to $15.00 effective January 1, 2011.

Poker Tournament was held at the Sorosis Club on January 21, 2011, with 51 players and raised $5,719. Rotary Fest #17 was cancelled when the City of Orlando gave the date to another event. On April 7, 2011, the Black Stallion Literacy Program provided a field trip for first grade students at Ivey Lane Elementary School to Arabian Nights in Kissimmee. Rotarians accompanied the students as chaperones and the club paid for the bus transportation.

“Rotary Family and Friends Night with the Orlando Magic” was held on March 25, 2011, when the Orlando Magic basketball team defeated the New Jersey Nets. This fun event raised $1,475 for the Rotary Club of Orlando Foundation. The club hosted children from the House of Hope at the game. The event provided great public relations for Rotary and the Rotary Club of Orlando.

On April 23, 2011, the Orlando Rotary Club helped sponsor “Climate Change Legal Issues” presented by the EarthWeb Foundation at Rollins College.

The club granted $6,100 of its District Designated Funds (DDF) to the Jamaica Gift of Life Project. It also gave $6,100 to the Philippines Family Solar Oven/School Water Purification Project, becoming an international partner in each program. The Ivey Lane Elementary School was given $1,524 for its literacy projects.

Rotary Club of Orlando Foundation: The separation of the RCO Inc. and the RCOF was completed on March 8, 2011. The new officers and directors for the foundation were installed on July 1, 2011. The Investment Committee and Awards Committee were not affected by these changes.

A contribution of $4,000 to Earth Web Foundation helped fund its seminar. $4,400 was wired to Kenya for the ongoing African school project. The RCOF contributions are as follows: $5,140 to the Children's Home in Haiti, through the World Wide Village, Inc., $860 to Ivey Lane Elementary for books, $6,000 to the Boy Scouts of Am. and $400 to Oak Hill Elementary School to help a student go to Washington, D.C.

ROTARY YEAR: 2011-12

OFFICERS BOARD OF DIRECTORS President: Linda Rolf Elaine Blair Betsy Jacobs Past President: Curley Bowman Greg Pace Kirk Thompson President Elect: Roger Jacobson Lee Bennett David Joyce Secretary: Tony Boni Danielle Krise Bill Peeper Treasurer: Edgar McGonigal Rich Ungaro Sergeant at Arms: Bob DeGrilla Executive Secretary: Sara Meyer

LINDA ROLF is a true Orlando native and vividly remembers her first visit to the Sorosis Club. The year will remain a secret. The event was an invitation to the Cherokee Junior High School girls’ glee club to perform for the Sorosis members. The performance was a spirited rendition of “Tea for Two.” After high school she earned her BS with honors from Rollins College.

Her professional journey includes founding Quest Technology Group in 1991 where she is privileged to continue providing technology, marketing, and business strategy solutions to clients for over 28 years. She and her son established Quest Mobility Solutions in 2001 to serve the home medical equipment needs in the community.

In addition to serving as President of the Rotary Club of Orlando in 2011-2012, she has been involved in the local community for many years, currently serving as an advisor on a Florida Small Business Development Center advisory board.

For most presidents, the year begins on July 1. Instead of July 1, 2011, her year effectively began nine months earlier on September 16, 2010, when she volunteered to chair the Club Operations Review & Evaluation Committee (CORE) which reviewed the club’s financial problems and provided solutions to place the club on a firm financial footing. The club was operating in the red with delinquent payables but by the time she became president, the club was back in the black.

Activities and Projects: Coffee sales were started as a fund raiser. Bill Peeper was our first Green Mountain coffee barista. Jason Gurley led an iPad raffle in December and raised $1,260. At Christmas time members again manned the Salvation Army’s Red Kettle at the Publix at Southside Market. On May 13, 2012 the Wheelchair Ramp Project, at 9815 Peddlers Way, Orlando, was managed by Steve Dieter and required three days to complete. In the spring the club sponsored three students from Boone High School to RYLA. Nineteen outstanding new members were added to the club membership. The red badge checklist was updated, and sponsors were encouraged to share in turning red badges into blue. For the first time sponsors awarded the blue badges at club meetings. Reinstituted Rotarian of the Month award. Of the new members Dr. Bob Serros, Diane McWhirter and William Stewart are still members in the club.

Both merchant credit card accounts were cancelled, and we adopted Pay Pal to handle credit card functions. The Dues Collection Policy and Timeline were changed to encourage collection of dues in a timely fashion in order to pay dues to Rotary International. The Earth Day Project at Loch Haven Park was cancelled because of parking issues. A Texas Hold Em’ Poker Tournament was held on August 26, 2011, at the Sorosis House raising $9,020.86 to be divided one third to the Rotary Club of Orlando Foundation, one third to Gift of Life, and one third to the Center for Memory Disorders. On October 16th, the club sponsored the 2011 Meet Against Hunger “CANstruction” competition at Fashion Square Mall. Jones High School Art Club took first place winning $700 with finalists Apopka High School Art Club and Timber Creek High School winning $150 each. This project benefitted the Second Harvest Food Bank. The Frontline Outreach library project provided $3,800 in new books through District Designated Funds while members sorted, cataloged and re-shelved all their books. The club approved $450 each for three students to go to RYLA, and we participated in a matching grant in the amount of $1,850 to provide a $62,000 blood gas analyzer to the Bustamante Hospital for Children in Kingston, Jamaica.

Memorable Programs: Although all our programs are usually quite good, here are some that were especially memorable: Marc Middleton, Growing Bolder; Dr. Sandy Shugart, Valencia College; Glenda Hood, Former Mayor of City of Orlando; Don Price, Greenwood Cemetery Sexton; David Russell, SAK Comedy Theater; Buddy Dyer, Mayor of City of Orlando; and George O’Leary, Head Football Coach at UCF. Rotary Club of Orlando Foundation: This was the first year the club’s foundation had a separate board to manage its affairs. The officers were as follows: President- Larry Kirkwood, VP/Secretary- Chris Stowers & Tom Schneider, Treasurer- Edgar McGonigal and At-Large Members- RCO Officers & Board members. The foundation board devoted its first year to building a solid framework for the coming years. They adopted an Investment Policy Statement that supports both financial growth and giving back to the community. Investment goals were established and a plan for monitoring these goals was implemented. An Events Management Procedure was adopted to detail submitting requests for approving fund-raising projects and the administrative procedures necessary to control the activity.

The Ivey Lane Elementary School Horse Tales Literacy Project received $1,175 and its first Lego Project received $183. Oak Hill Elementary School received $400.

ROTARY YEAR: 2012-13

OFFICERS BOARD OF DIRECTORS President: Roger Jacobson David Joyce Donald Lykkebak Past President: Linda Rolf Danielle Krise Richard McCree Jr. President Elect: Bob Ford Bill Peeper Steve Dieter Secretary: Jim Stowers Heather Higbee Lee Bennett Treasurer: Edgar McGonigal Richard Ungaro Sergeant at Arms: Bob DeGrilla Executive Secretary: Kelly Crumbaker

ROGER JACOBSON, the first Jewish President in the club’s history, is a Chicago native who grew up in Tampa, Florida. He was a multi-sport athlete and was the Hillsborough County 100-yard dash champion in 1978. In 1988, Roger moved from Gainesville, Florida, to Orlando where he lives with his wife Lisa and twin daughters, Madison and Hannah. Roger is an entertainment and television producer. He has toured the world producing memorable television shows and entertainment programs. He has had the pleasure of interviewing several hundred world leaders, and sports and entertainment celebrities. Entertainment Awards: •Florida Motion Picture and Television Association Crystal Reel Award for Best Documentary – “Building of Universal Studios Backlots”. •International Television Video Association’s Golden Palm Award for Best Corporate Communication- “YUM Brands-KFC, a Company that Cares”. • International Television Video Association’s Golden Palm Award for Best Public Service Announcement- “Inner City Games of Orlando”. •Silver ADDY for Best Broadcast Commercial Campaign-Benedict Advertising “Lifeline.”

At the end of his Presidential Year, Jacobson received a Presidential Citation from Rotary International and a President of Year Award from Rotary District 6980.

Activities: “85 for 85” Paul Harris Campaign- The program honored one of our most respected members, Leon Handley, on his 85th Birthday with a Club challenge to gain 85 PHF’s this Rotary year. We achieved a World Record 102 new Paul Harris Fellows. This year the Club more than tripled its yearly giving to The Rotary Foundation’s Annual Fund, culminating in nearly $30,000. RCO increased its Sustaining Members number by one third.

The Club renewed its commitment to The Gift of Life and participated in another lifesaving pediatric heart surgery, this time for Marilyn, a young Mayan girl. The club continued its participation in the Salvation Army’s Bell Ringing program during the Christmas season. The Ivey Lane School Angel Tree Gifts were presented on December 21. The club supplied toiletries, socks and shoes to the area’s TB Shelter during the winter months The club continued its tradition of “Rotating Rotarians,” a program whereby on one specific week during the year, some members host a meeting at their places of business. We supported RYLA and doubled our scholarship recipients. Jim Stowers and Pam Ison were acknowledged as “Rotarians of the Year.” The RCO participated in the following grants: Contributed District Designated Funds (DDF)

of $1,000 to the Babonneau Water Project in St. Lucia to replace a 30,000-gallon water tank with a new 100,000-gallon tank and replace the distribution system for over 3,000 island residents.

Contributed DDF of $2,500 plus $1,000 cash to provide dental equipment and supplies to the Cleft Lip and Palate Clinic at Hospital Minsa II in Tarapoto, Peru. These items will provide dental and cleft palate care to over 150 children.

Gave a grant of $705 for a literacy project for 49 students in the 4th grade at Ivey Lane Elementary School in west Orlando. Included was one book for each student as well as a field trip. Also gave a grant of $771 for a literacy project for 52 students in the 1st grade at Ivey Lane Elementary School. Included were two books for each student as well as a field trip. RCO provided chaperones and transportation costs for the 5th grade at Ivey Lane Elementary to the Arabian Nights Kissimmee location for a Horse Tales Literacy event. The club was honored by both the Florida Department of Education and OCPS for our efforts at Ivey Lane Elementary. RCO purchased 70 $50 Book Awards for Frontline Outreach to recognize individuals 5-14 years old who had met achievement levels in “Read and Succeed” literacy program.

An $8,000 grant for the Africa School Project was sent to construct a 13th classroom in the Oldonyio community in the Loita Hills, Kenya.

Memorable Programs: -Jon Dywear’s Mysteries of Lightning program was an incredibly fascinating, educational and very scary program all at the same time! -The Memorial Day program was a video produced by the president showing our living WWII veterans telling the stories of their military service. -Dean Frumkin from the World Affairs Center at UCF on the infiltration of hate groups around the world and modern-day slavery. -The Three Wise Guys featuring three local Interfaith leaders who spoke to the importance of dialogue and communities coming together for the common good. -Rear Admiral Tafalo spoke on inner workings of the Navy and inside stories on the current situations (at that time) around the world. -Junior Achievement demonstrated the importance of teaching youth about our capitalist system with a fun interactive program that involved the whole club. -Col Joe Kittinger, to say "they don’t make them like this anymore" is a true understatement! His accomplishments and sacrifices for our country make him a national treasure!

Projects: The club participated in two Ramp projects with RC West Orange and the Center for Assisted Living’s Ramp Projects building ramps for disabled seniors. Two H.E.A.R.T. programs allowed club members to assist senior citizens in home repair and replacement of windows and fans. Hosted our 5th successful Poker Tournament with proceeds of $7,764 benefitting both the Rotary Foundation and the Rotary Club of Orlando Foundation. Seventy-five players enjoyed the evening.

Rotary Club of Orlando Foundation: The award for significant contributors to the RCOF was named for J.P. Holbrook, the first president of the RCO. Holbrook Awards are given to the RCO members who contribute $500 or more to the RCOF. The Annual Holbrook Awards were presented for the first time on December 20, 2012. The foundation raised nearly $5,000; investments increased by $25,000 and $18,000 in grants were awarded.

ROTARY YEAR: 2013-14

OFFICERS BOARD OF DIRECTORS President: Robert Ford Heather Higbee Jason Gurley Past President: Roger Jacobson Steve Dieter Andrew Laney President Elect: Danielle Krise Don Lykkebak Carl Stallard Secretary: Rich Ungaro Richard McCree, Jr. Jody Walker Treasurer: Ross Oppenheimer Tim Blevins Sergeant at Arms: Bob DeGrilla Executive Secretary: Kelly Crumbaker

ROBERT “BOB” C. FORD, PhD, (Arizona State University) is professor emeritus of management at the University of Central Florida where his focus has been on managing service organizations. Prior to joining UCF, he was professor of management at the University of North Florida and Management Department Chair at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Bob came to UCF in 1993 as department chair of hospitality management and later became the College of Business Administration’s Associate Dean for Graduate Studies and External Programs. In 2003, he left administrative roles to join the faculty in the Department of Management. Bob has authored or coauthored nearly 100 publications in research journals such as the Academy of Management Journal and Journal of Applied Psychology and Academy of Management Executive, California Management Review, Business Horizons, and Organizational Dynamics. He has written several books including Principles of Management: A Decision-Making Approach, Organization Theory: An Integrative Approach, The Fun Minute Manager, Achieving Service Excellence: Strategies for Healthcare, Managing Quality Service in Hospitality, and HR at Your Service. He is a founding member and past Chair of the Accreditation Commission for Programs in Hospitality Administration and was a member of the Destination Marketing Accreditation Commission. In his service to the community, Bob has been President of the Rotary Club of Orlando twice, a member of the Central Florida YMCA’s Board of Directors and a trustee for the Leu Gardens. Among other appointed service roles, he is a member of the Florida Board of Realtor’s Education Committee and was on the Florida Department of Business & Professional Regulation Advisory Board. Most recently he was awarded the “Richard M. Hodgetts Distinguished Career Award,” by the Management History Division of the Academy of Management. He was awarded emeritus status by UCF in 2012 to honor his contributions to the university and to his profession. Projects and Activities: There were numerous projects and events where our club members participated: Gift of Life (chaired by Danielle Krise); Ivey Lane Horse Tails book program (led by Jon Stine); RYLA - Rotary Youth Leadership Awards; Greg Pace chaired the Youth Services Committee with Heather Higbee heading up Rotaract, Liz Star in charge of Interact and RYLA and Tori Eurton working on Youth Exchange); Salvation Army Bell Ringing (led by Dann Pottinger); The Ivey Lane Angel Tree Christmas Project (led by Kimberly Mann); H.E.A.R.T. Project; Frontline Outreach (organized by Jon Stine and Arto Woodley); Tuberculosis Project: (led by Kevin Sherin); Earth Day: (conference led by Dr. Oswald Saavedra); Dragon Boat Race at Dr. Phillips (led by Corey Brewer); Blood Drive (through Mike Pratt); CANstruction Project (a construction sculpture of cans to raise money to combat hunger.)The event has spanned across 140

cities with over one million pounds of canned food donated since 1992; Business Person of the year, Rick Walsh; Jones, Boone Interact Carwash; Poker Tournament; Ramp Project (led by Steve Dieter); Fellowship Picnic in Downtown Orlando on March 2, 2014 (led by Mark Adams). Jon Stine continued his work in utilizing District grants and donations from club members to build schools for children in Africa, a signature project for our club initiated and led by Jon Stine. The club held its annual Rotating Rotarians event in place of a weekly meeting where Rotarians of the club hosted tours and presentations at their places of business. There were great fellowship opportunities throughout the year such as the weekly Dubsdread Happy Hour, a Wine Tasting event at Total Wine in Orlando and Theatre Night. There was a golf tournament and a Rotary Fellowship Picnic. Jim Stowers led the Family of Rotary program to assist in keeping in contact with current members, especially those who were ill or absent from the club for various reasons. During this Rotary Year, the 100th Year Anniversary Planning Committee was formed to vet ideas for our club’s upcoming celebration in 2020.The club also sponsored several members to attend the Rotary Leadership Institute (RLI) to become more acquainted with how the District works, to learn about what other clubs in Florida are doing and to gain leadership experience.

Memorable Programs: The Rotary Club of Orlando is known for its accomplished speakers and fascinating presentations. Here were just a few: Jay Garner “Emerging Dangers in the Middle East”; Orestes Lorenzo “A Cuban Pilot’s Flight to Freedom”; UCF Knights Coach, George O’Leary Reviewing the Greatest Season; Doug Doudney and his new book, “Try and Try Again”; Randy Berridge, President of FL High Tech Council; John Morgan “Medical Marijuana”; “Music & The Brain:” Ayako Yonetami, DMA and Kimi Sugaya, PHD; Phil Brown, Executive Director of Orlando International Airport; John Bersia, Pulitzer Prize Winner; Kathleen Canning, Orange County Convention Center; Davis Gaines, special guest for National Anthem; Buddy Dyer, Mayor of Orlando; Deborah C. German, M.D., Vice President for Medical Affairs Dean, UCF College of Medicine; and Tim Williams, Gator Wrestler.

RCO Foundation: Walt Nason and Bob Serros were two new Holbrook Award recipients, giving our club a total of twelve Holbrook Award recipients. The following grants were given by the Foundation: Ivey Lane Horse Tails Project: 1st grade, $790.00; Ivey Lane Horse Tails Project: 4th grade, $720.00; RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership Award): $1,500.00; NAWIC Block Kids Event (Ivey Lane PTA): $200.00; Ivey Lane Horse Tails: $205.00; Rotary Camp Florida: $1,000.00; Holbrook Award; Scholarships; Grants for Quest children to attend Camp Thunderbird; Grant to Grace Medical Home; Ramp Project.

ROTARY YEAR: 2014-15

OFFICERS BOARD OF DIRECTORS President: Danielle Krise Tim Blevins Pat Phillips Past President: Bob Ford Calvin Gardner Carl Stallard President Elect: Richard McCree, Jr David Joyce Jody Walker Secretary: Richard Ungaro Jason Frazier Andrew Laney Treasurer: Ross Oppenheimer Greg Pace Sergeant at Arms: Bob DeGrilla Executive Secretary: Kelly Crumbaker and Jamie (Gardner) now-Sooter

DANIELLE KRISE has been providing investment advice and financial planning to individuals and small businesses for over 15 years. A native Floridian, she earned her Bachelor's degree in International Relations and Business Administration from Rollins College in Winter Park, FL. She began her career providing fixed income and mutual fund advice to clients nationwide with Waterhouse Securities which later became TD Ameritrade. However, she now enjoys a more comprehensive approach which allows her to get to know more in depth her clients and their financial situation. Danielle has been affiliated with Raymond James & Associates, Inc. in Orlando, Florida since 2007. She completed coursework at UCF for the Financial Planning Certificate Program and achieved the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ certification in 2008. She also attends exclusive courses offered by Raymond James, including "Financial Planning for Small Businesses," the "Advanced Retirement Institute" seminar and attended the invitation only, "Advanced Estate Planning" series in 2011. Danielle participated in Orange County Public School's Leadership Orange in 2012 and the Jerome J. Bornstein Leadership Program in 2014. Danielle has been featured on Central Florida News 13 giving professional commentary on market volatility and personal finance. She has been a featured speaker at various civic meetings helping to educate people about how to best prepare for their financial future. Currently, she serves as Treasurer for the Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando and as a Trustee for the TOP Foundation.

Activities and Projects: The club held its annual Rotating Rotarians event in place of a weekly meeting where Rotarians of the club hosted tours and presentations at their places of business. Rotating Rotarian participants were: Gardner Consulting Services Appraisal business; Grace Medical Home, Non-Profit Healthcare, Susan Gardner; JHT, Inc.; Technical Training and Simulation, Kord Kutchins; UCF Research, Kimi Sugaya; ELEVIN18 Architecture, Mark Adams; ESciences, Environmental Engineering, Peter Partlow; Orlando Union Rescue Mission, Don Moody. There were great fe llowship opportunities throughout the year such as the weekly 310 Lakeside Happy Hour, Golf Tournament and Theatre Night to see “The Rat Pack Lounge”. The Rotary Club of Orlando also sponsored several members to attend the Rotary Leadership Institute to become more acquainted with how the District works, to learn about what other clubs in Florida are doing and to gain leadership experience.

The RCO led the way to assist our local community and the world through regular blood drives; Youth Services projects (RYLA, Youth Exchange, Interact, Rotaract Club at Barry Law School, scholarships); Scholastic Book Fair at Ivey Lane Elementary; Rotary Club of Orlando Honorary Membership Nomination; Swan Boat Race (premier of RCO signature event) held Saturday, March 14th . The club raised enough funds to have a Swan Boat to accommodate disabled individuals – the first of its kind); EarthWeb Foundation: Led by Dr. Oswald Saavedra; Harry P. Leu Foundation; Wycliffe Foundation; Frontline Outreach; Ivey Lane Elementary Literacy Project; Salvation Army Bell Ringing; Literary Project at Eccleston Elementary in Orlando; Angel Tree; World Polio Day (October 24, 2014, City Hall, Orlando FL). Jon Stine continued his work in utilizing District grants and donations from club members to build schools for children in Africa, a signature project for our club initiated and led by Jon Stine. Memorable Programs: The Rotary Club of Orlando is known for its accomplished speakers and fascinating presentations. Here were a few: Rob Raylman, President of Gift of Life International; John Bersia “Human Trafficking-Modern Day Slavery”; Tyler Petresky “Limbitless Solutions”; Bob Ford “Henry Plant, The King of Florida”; Bob DeGrilla “Cold War Vet Recognition”; Leon Handley “My Life in Court”; Larry Zweig from Metropolitan Bureau of Investigation “Rebuttal to John Morgan’s Program on Medical Marijuana Amendment”; Theresa Ronnebaum, Office of Attorney General “Latest Identity Theft”; Alex Martins of Orlando Magic; Peggy Wallace Kennedy “American Civil Rights Movement”; John Casey “Space & Science Research Center”; Ralph Martinez “Update on Cuba and Latin America”; Gary Huang 2014 – 2015 Rotary International President Diversity Symposium; Michael Willard “Russia, Ukraine and the future of Western Europe”; Lucien Charland “Sustainable Farming Methods”; Steve Hogan “FL Citrus Sports”. RCOF: The club Foundation supported many projects including providing memorial scholarships, scholarships for local high school students to attend college and participation in the Swan Boat Race. The ROCF formed a strategic planning committee for our club’s local foundation and the following members served on the committee: Heidi Isenhart, Larry Kirkwood, Mary Ann Dean Ross Oppenheimer and Rene Persaud.

ROTARY YEAR: 2015-16

OFFICERS BOARD OF DIRECTORS President: Richard T. McCree, Jr. Pat Phillips Mike Pratt Past President: Danielle Krise Greg Pace Liz Starr (Paul Gidus) President Elect: Jody Walker Jason Frazier Joe Knous (Betty Stuart) Secretary: Richard Ungaro Calvin Gardner Kimi Sugaya Treasurer: Ross Oppenheimer Mark Adams Sergeant at Arms: Bob DeGrilla Executive Secretary: Jamie Sooter

RICHARD McCREE, JR. became President July 1, 2015. He grew up in Windermere, Florida and graduated from Georgia Technical Institute in Atlanta. While working as a mechanical engineer under Rotarian Paul Halyard of RCO (1993 to 1996) he obtained his Professional Engineer license at Peninsula Engineering. Richard also attended night classes at Rollins College and earned his MBA. He went on to join McCree General Contractors & Architects, Inc. in 1996, becoming the fourth-generation member of his family to work at the company. In 2005, Richard became the Chief Executive Officer. He joined Rotary in 1997 following the footsteps of his Grandfather, W. A. McCree, Jr. (RCO President 1955-1956) and his Great Uncle, Bert McCree. His father, Richard McCree, Sr. was a past President of the Windermere Rotary Club. Activities and Projects Under Richard’s leadership and the fine work of member Jon Stine the club continued efforts to raise funds for schools primarily in Kenya, Africa. We also held the Orlando Swan Boat Race on Lake Eola, a successful fundraising event. This particular year, Rotary International was the recipient of funds raised by the Club’s fundraising project in honor of Leon Handley. “85 for 85” (85 Paul Harris Fellowships to celebrate Leon’s 85th birthday). Because of its success (we achieved over 100 new and multiple PHFs) the club had the privilege of using some of this money three years later for multiple projects with a special focus on youth services. Other activities included Ivey Lane Elementary School reading/mentoring, Salvation Army Bell Ringing, Blood Bank Drive, Paul Harris Fellowship Awards and many more. The club grew by adding 20 new members. Our local foundation was active in their annual giving, distributing $10,000 in grants, and awarding 6 scholarship to local students for college. Memorable Programs included “Music and the Brain” by Kimi Sugaya, “World War II Yamamoto Raid” by Lt. Col. Doug Canning, and “Contemporary Solutions to Homelessness and Addictions” by Spencer Pfleiderer, Dean of Gator Wrestling presented by Tim Williams

ROTARY YEAR: 2016-17

OFFICERS BOARD OF DIRECTORS President: Joseph “Jody” Walker Mark Adams Art Dasher Past President: Richard McCree, Jr. Paul Gidus Pam Ison President Elect: Don Lykkebak Joe Knous Peter Partlow Secretary: Richard Ungaro Mike Pratt Bill Peeper Treasurer: Ross Oppenheimer Kimi Sugaya Sergeant at Arms: Jim Stowers Executive Secretary: Jamie Sooter

JODY WALKER grew up in Miami (where his father was President of his Rotary Club) and moved to Orlando in 1976. His past service includes President of the Orlando Jaycees, Regional Director Florida Jaycees, President of Independent Insurance Agents of Central Florida, Director- Central Florida Fair, Chairman of the Board -Downtown Orlando YMCA, and President - Parish Council St. James Cathedral. He owned and operated Walker Insurance and Financial Services (an all lines independent agency) for almost 30 years before merging with Acentria Insurance in 2017. He also worked part time for over ten years as a Karate instructor at the Downtown YMCA.

Activities and Projects: The club focused on Ivey Lane Elementary School, filling their food pantry so the kids would have food on the weekends; sponsoring Book Fairs; and providing gifts for fifty children from their Angel Tree at Christmas. We provided college scholarships of $1,000 each for 3 local high school seniors. We worked on the Horsetail Literacy Program. We also increased grant funding to $14,000. Six scholarships of $250 each were awarded to High Schoolers to attend RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership Award) Camp. An overseas exchange student was granted $1500. We built another school in Kenya and a DDF grant of $1000 was given to our outstanding Global Grant for the clinic in Chameleon, Honduras. Thanks to the members who participated in the Blood drive, and for donations to the Pulse Victims & Operation Hope Golf Tournament. Proceeds from the 2016 Swan Boat Race were given to 2nd Harvest Food Bank. We coordinated a project with the City called "Light up Orlando". In anticipation of the end of polio for World Polio Day, the City tu rned downtown landmarks red with lighting.

Memorable Programs: We held 49 meetings and were fortunate to have exciting, expert speakers with topics in the fields of health concerning Zika (Dr. Kevin Sherin, OC Health Dept), Autism (Dr. Teresa Daly), Alzheimer Research· (Dr. Kimi Sugaya), and I Dignity (Anne Taylor). We got updates on local issues like the 1-4 Ultimate (Loreen Bobo, DOT), Creative Village (Craig Ustler, Thaddeus Seymore, Jr. UCF), Orange Co. Convention Center (Kathie Canning), Orlando Aviation Authority (Phil Brown CEO), local Simulation Training and Technology (Lt. General Thomas Baptiste), and the growing Space Industry (Frank DiBello), and City of Orlando updates with Mayor Buddy Dyer.

The Rotary Club of Orlando Foundation The following Grants were made by the club Foundation: Scholarships – $3,000; Children’s Home Society - $1,000; Grace Medical Home - $2,000; Shepherd’s Hope - $2,000; Youth Services - $1,500 and AA Salary - $3,600. Total Foundation Awards that were awarded for the year - $13,100.

ROTARY YEAR: 2017-18

OFFICERS BOARD OF DIRECTORS President: Donald Lykkebak Art Dasher Sandra Deisler Past President: Jody Walker Pam Ison Ed Fore President Elect: Pat Phillips Peter Partlow Vince Ibarra Secretary: Richard Ungaro Bill Peeper George Mills Treasurer: Ross Oppenheimer Nelson Coll Sergeant at Arms: Jim Stowers Executive Secretary: Jamie Sooter

DON LYKKEBAK is a 1968 graduate of the University of Illinois in Champaign/Urbana, IL. He is also a 1970 graduate of the University of Florida College of Law and has been a member of The Florida Bar ever since. Don served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1970-1973 and held the rank of Captain. Following his military service, Don became an Assistant State Attorney in Orange County, Florida 1973-1977. In 1977, he established his private law practice and the following year he joined the Orlando Rotary Club. He has served on the Board of Directors for a number of terms and became President of the Club from July 2017-July 2018. Don is board-certified as a specialist in criminal defense by both The Florida Bar and The National Board of Trial Advocacy. He has been AV-Preeminent as rated by Martindale Hubbell for over 30 years. He has been repeatedly recognized as criminal defense lawyer of the year by Orlando Magazine as well as the cover story in Florida Super Lawyers. Don also served as President of the Tiger Bay Club of Orlando from 1994-1995. Activities and Projects: The single most important accomplishment of this Rotary year is the fact that 2017-2018 marks a reversal of more than 10 years of membership decline. For years, the club had maintained membership with a cap of 250. Then, for 10 consecutive years, membership attrition caused diminished numbers. The loss each year was greater in some than others, but each was negative and seemed to follow a national trend. following a low point of 101 members, the 2017-2018 Rotary year saw an increase in membership by plus nine (9) back to 110. This trend carried into the following year as well with another positive gain and hopefully can be recognized as turning the corner. Our membership committee was headed by President-elect Pat Phillips. A second progressive development attributed to 2017-2018 is the formulation and adoption of a new membership category: Corporate Membership. Territo Electric became the first corporate member and Gregory Territo is the primary representative of that corporate member. Memorable Programs: News anchor series highlighting Todd Ulrich, Channel 9, Amy Biondello, Channel 6 and Jim Payne, Channel 2; Jacob Stuart; UCF Athletic Director Danny White; Honorary Rotarian John Bersia (Pulitzer Prize winner now deceased); David Duda; Hon. Geraldine Thompson; Attorney J. Cheney Mason featuring wrongfully convicted and imprisoned inmates and Wilton Dedge (who was present). He was exonerated after 14 years’ incarceration. Also, a fascinating program was given by our own Club Secretary and Program Chairman, Rich Ungaro, highlighting his extremely successful and very interesting business career.

ROTARY YEAR: 2018-19

OFFICERS BOARD OF DIRECTORS President: Pat Phillips Nelson Coll David Joyce Past President: Don Lykkebak Ed Fore Joe Knous President Elect: Bill Peeper Vince Ibarra Sadia Marsch Secretary: Richard Ungaro George Mills Ron Tyo Treasurer: Richard Harris Sandra Woodall Sergeant at Arms: Jim Stowers Administrative Assistant: Jamie Sooter

PAT PHILLIPS grew up in Winter Park, FL. He was in the first graduating class from Audubon Park Elementary School and Glenridge Junior High. After graduating from Winter Park High School, he attended and graduated from The University of Florida. He then entered the U.S. Air Force where he became a Pilot. He flew transport aircraft in all areas of Southeast Asia including Viet Nam. Upon return and for the next 3 years, he flew jet transport aircraft, (C-141), into virtually every nation in the free world. He was discharged as a Captain and then enrolled in law school while serving in the active Air Force reserves from which he retired as a Lt. Colonel. He has been engaged in the general practice of law in the downtown Orlando area since 1976. He has a Florida Bar board certification in Aviation Law. He joined the Orlando Rotary Club on March 1, 1997. His service included Co-Chair and director of the Great Orlando Airshow held in 2003 and 2004, Club Membership Chair 2017-18 and on the club Board of Directors in 2003-2006 and 2016-2018. Activities and Projects: Pat, along with his Chair, Bill Peeper instituted the Food Truck Round- Up at MetroWest as a fundraiser through the sale of beverages. Pat, with the help of Co-chair Bill Peeper, successfully authored, designed and instituted the Club Corporate Membership program which proved to be a great benefit to the club. He also organized and started the History Committee. The goal was to compile a Volume 2 book to cover our club history from 1995-2020 in time for RCO’s 100th Anniversary. It will provide a narrative history of our club members and activities for the past 25 years. Mary Ann Dean organized a theater night for RCO which was well attended by Rotarians and guests. Everyone enjoyed the Play “I love a Piano” at the Winter Park Playhouse. As a community service, the Downtown Orlando Rotary Christmas Parade was instituted and successfully executed under the leadership of John Perrone and Bill Peeper. It was for the benefit of Toys for Tots. This was a major community project in which almost all members participated. The parade and its accompanying festivities were a success in making a difference in the lives of children and families during the holiday season. Its wide-reaching impact made Orlando aware that The Rotary Club of Orlando is an important part of the downtown community. Club members Tony Boni, Megan Aldridge, Jim Saul, Andy Searle, Howard Kaplan, Roger Jacobson, Joe Knous, and Sasha Venovski as well as many others, organized, promoted and put on the Poker Tournament and Casino Night. It turned out to be a premier event for fun, entertainment and fundraising. Another premier event was The Great Orlando Rotary Swan Boat

Race chaired by Lisa Henry. The race was held on the north west shore of Lake Eola. This event was another Great Rotary success as a fundraiser and outreach to the downtown Orlando community. The beneficiary of the event was A Gift for Teaching. The Orlando Fire Department just nudged out the Orlando Police Department for first place for which they were given a large trophy with their name on it. Jon Stine led the way in our service to the community through his leadership in exemplifying “service above self”. Hardly a day went by that you could not find him, along with many club members, helping students and teachers learn through our Literacy program. Other school services included chaperoning field trips, organizing book fairs, handing out donated books or reading to the students of Rock Lake, Ivey Lane, Washington Shores and Eccleston Elementary Schools. Memorable Programs: Some of the more memorable speakers under Speaker Chairman Judd Peterson included: Col. Robert Cabana, who was a U. S. Marine Corps pilot, four-time astronaut, Shuttle Commander on the first assembly mission of the International Space Station and director of the Kennedy Space Center. He updated the club on the future of space travel, including missions to the Moon and Mars. He was recipient of the Rotary National Award for Space Achievement. Orlando’s own Col. Joe Kittinger told his story about being the first man in space. He self-describes himself as a “red neck fighter pilot from Orlando” and he enthralled the club with stories and pictures of reaching heights of over 100,000 feet in gas filled balloons to test space suits and egress systems for use by future astronauts. Especially exciting were his pictures along with the story of jumping from a balloon at a record height of 102,800 feet to test a parachute stabilization system needed for safe high-altitude escapes by pilots and astronauts. The systems he tested are still in use today. His record for this highest parachute jump stood until just recently. He holds more balloon records than anyone in the world. Astronaut Winston Elliott Scott spoke about his challenges in getting an education as a minority. Upon graduation from FSU he entered the U. S. Navy to train and graduate from Navy Pilot Training as a Navy Pilot flying from aircraft carriers. From there he went on to become an astronaut. As a space shuttle mission specialist, he made 4 space walks testing various new space suit designs. The intrigue of his unusual stories describing the beauty of space and details of his testing space suits held everyone spellbound. It is not every day you can hear live and firsthand from someone who has walked, or rather floated in space, testing space suits. Bob Snow, listed as one of the 10 most important people in Orlando’s history, told the story of his dream, building and operation of Church Street Station in Downtown Orlando and how it became the fourth largest tourist attraction in Florida. When he sold it in 1990 it was the largest privately owned food and beverage operation in the country. To promote his establishment, he started Rosie O’Grady’s Flying Circus where he was the chief skywriter and balloon pilot. With the world class balloonist, Col. Joe Kittinger, he flew gas and hot air balloons across America, Europe, Australia, Africa, and Russia. Together, as the USA team, they won numerous national and world competitions while setting many world records in the process. Pat Williams, one of America’s top motivational speakers and a member of the basketball Hall-of- Fame and co-founder of the NBA’s Orlando Magic told the story of the beginning of the Orlando Magic professional basketball team. He is the author of over 100 books. He explained the essential qualities of being a successful leader while providing many stories of notable and successful people.

ROTARY YEAR: 2019-20

OFFICERS BOARD OF DIRECTORS President: Bill Peeper Christine DeSantana David Joyce Past President: Pat Phillips Lisa Henry Joe Knous President Elect: Richard Harris Greg Territo Sadia Marsch Secretary: Richard Ungaro Emerson Thompson Ron Tyo Treasurer: Richard Harris Chris Whitney Sergeant at Arms: Jim Stowers Admin Asst: Jamie Sooter & Tammy Wacker

WILLIAM “BILL” PEEPER

ONE HUNDRED YEARS of service! That was the theme and focus of the 2019-2020 year. The official charter date of the club’s founding is May 12, 1920, and to celebrate our first 100 years club members truly embraced the idea of Service Above Self.

That was the lead of this article before the nation and Orlando was hit by the global pandemic, COVID-19, also known as the Coronavirus. The highly contagious, and sometimes deadly virus changed not only our plans but literally the plans of the whole world as one nation after another issued their own nation-wide “shelter at home” orders.

What follows is a summary of activities that were taking place before the pandemic, a summary of planned events that had to be canceled as well as a summary of activities meant to keep the club together and communicating since the shelter at home orders did not allow us to have any meetings after our March 12 meeting. How we continued to “meet” will be discussed later in this review.

Planning began with a strong team in March of 2019, for our second annual Downtown Orlando Christmas parade slated for December. After much planning and the cultivation of many sponsors we were disappointed when one of our title sponsors had to drop their sponsorship creating a financial situation that became too tenuous for the club and we regretfully had to cancel the parade in October of 2019. Discouraged by the difficulty in finding sponsors no further efforts were made to plan future parades.

In August 2019, a committee chaired by Sadia Marsch and Past District Governor, George Huffman started planning our 100th anniversary gala to be held at the prestigious County Club of Orlando on May 16, 2020. This event was rescheduled, because of the Coronavirus, for September 12, at the Country Club of Orlando.

July 2019 also saw the beginning of an effort to produce a history of the last 25 years of the club to supplement the book created to memorialize the first 75 years of the club which was published in 1995. The effort for the remaining 25 year book was headed by Dr. Byron Thames and then by club Sergeant-at-Arms, Jim Stowers. The book you are now reading is the result of their dedication and the work of more than 20 members who helped compile the information contained within. It

was planned to be published and presented to the membership at the September 12, 100th anniversary gala.

Ongoing efforts to implement our club’s literacy programs with Title 1 schools in the city continued under the leadership of Jon Stine. who produce d six Wild Horse Tails field trips to the Orange County Sheriff’s equestrian farm for five schools along with four book fairs. At the fairs students were allotted seven dollars to purchase recreational reading books. Funds were donated by the club and other contributors. It is estimated that under Jon’s leadership this year that our club’s literacy programs touched the lives of over 1,000 elementary school children. Thanks to Jon’s efforts the club was recognized on March 6, as an Outstanding Partner in Education by Orange County Public Schools.

A lot of work and planning was taking place in the first half of the 2019-2020 year but the club really started implementing programs in November, when we held a food drive to provide supplies for the Ivy Lane’s Elementary Food Pantry to provide food for needy students over weekends and holidays. The generosity of the club shone brightly when club members donated $900, which would allow the school to purchase almost 4400 pounds of food through The Second Harvest Food Bank, ensuring students and families food over the Thanksgiving school break.

Right after Thanksgiving the club participated in its annual “bell ringing” for The Salvation Army. We have been the only club in the area that volunteers to “ring the bell” for a full five-day period. This year we collected a record $3500. But that was not enough, when club member and The Salvation Army Area Commander, Captain, Ken Chapman, was about to announce the amount collected and thank the club, other members provided him with an additional $1500, for a total of $5000 to serve the less fortunate in our community. Once more, the generosity of the club shone brightly.

Still not finished with generosity, 51 members volunteered to buy a Christmas gift for students identified by Ivy Lane faculty as the most in need. Under the leadership of Joe Knous and wife Tera, who interviewed all the students to learn what their greatest gift hope was. Three wishes were listed on a Christmas tree tag and members purchased one or more of the specific gift items which were distributed on December 10, to 51 very happy students.

As the second half of the 2019-2020 Rotary year began our club’s efforts to make a difference continued to shine.

On February 22, the first of two Poker Tournaments for 2020, led by Bob Phipps, Tony Boni and Mike Young was held on November 19. A total of $16,200, was raised as 175 players participated in the event designed to help us significantly boost our treasury, allowing us to support new service projects.

Greg Territo began planning our Great Rotary Swan Boat Race, slated for May 7. Our goal was to benefit A Gift For Teaching (AGFT) by collecting gently used books suitable for school kids of all ages and as much money as possible to help them purchase supplies that are then donated to teachers who need them in the classroom and often had to buy themselves. This event also fell victim to the Coronavirus since our event date fell during the county-wide directive cancelling all

public gatherings. The committee began working to hold the event in the fall, hoping that the pandemic crisis will be past.

As we come to May 2020, once again and the big celebration! Sadia Marsch and Past District governor, George Huffman lead a team that has been working since August 2019, to put together a celebration of 100 years of service to be held on May 16, at the Country Club of Orlando. Our guest speaker was to be John Smarge, a member of The Rotary Club of Naples (Fl,), Aide to the 2018-2019 Rotary International President and Barry Rassin, 2010-2012 RI Director. More than 140 members and guests planned to attend the event where a proclamation from Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer declaring Tuesday, May 12, Rotary Club of Orlando Day in the city was to be presented. Once again, our plans had to be altered due to the Coronavirus. The event was postponed until September 12, 2020.

In an effort to address the fact that the club would not have an actual meeting for an indeterminate time, leadership began working on ways to keep members engaged through “virtual meetings”. Weekly meetings, Board meetingsd an committee meetings were held online using a computer application called Zoom, which provided both video and audio capabilities and allowed for as many as 150 people to “gather online” for meetings. This procedure was used successfully for the remainder of the 2019-2020 year.

Finally, as we came to the last month of the Rotary year, club member, Sam Danner, Principal of Ivy Lane Elementary School mentioned that he was very concerned about some of his students, as well as those in other Title 1 schools. As a result of the Coronavirus Pandemic unemployment was going to cause significant food challenges during July and August for many students who relied on subsidized meal programs during the school year. To help address this very real concern the club undertook a goal to raise $25,000, that would be contributed to the Second Harvest Food Bank accounts of Ivy Lane, Rock Lake, Washington Shores and Eccleston schools so the schools could purchase and distribute food to those families deemed to be in need. The club and foundation jointly agreed to contribute $8,000, and a GoFundMe campaign was begun to raise the additional funds.

The Rotary Club of Orlando Foundation led by Foundation president, Scott Young spent several months reviewing the programs the Foundation funded, looking for a way to be more impactful with the funds available. Ultimately it was decided that Foundation funds would be used for two two-year full tuition scholarships to Valencia State College each year. In addition, working with a group called 100 Black Men, an organization of Black Men who tutor, mentor and provide scholarships for Black male teens, the Foundation provides one two-year scholarship to Valencia State College to the student selected by 100 Black Men.

Chapter 2 Essays

2018 RCO Christmas Parade by Pat Phillips While Pat Phillips was president, he started talking about the fact that there had not been a successful downtown Orlando Christmas Parade for at least the past ten years. The club members then began discussing how to organize and orchestrate a large parade on short notice. Club member John Perrone, manager of the City of Orlando Parks, enthusiastically jumped in and outlined to the board how it could be done. The Rotary board voted unanimously to sponsor the event along with the help of the Rotary Foundation whose board also agreed unanimously to take the lead in sponsoring the parade. Under the leadership of Chairman John Perrone, members began volunteering to serve on the parade committee. The committee consisted of John, Pat Phillips, Bill Peeper, Richard Harris, David Henry, Lisa Henry, Jamie Sooter, Greg Territo, Chris Whitney and Ken Chapman. John immediately signed up to volunteer with the 2018 Veteran’s Day Parade, which was scheduled a month before the Christmas Parade. Emily Bonvini works in the City Communications Department and is the Chair for the Veterans Parade. She has experience in coordinating a very successful parade. Emily was eager to share her checklists and other organizational information that was helpful with our short schedule. John then enlisted the help of other City Staff whose job is to see that large events in downtown Orlando are safe and successful. Some joined the committee to help in processing the permits and organization of the parade. The City of Orlando staff actively participating on the parade committee included: Co-Chairman Chris Wallace (who later became a Rotarian), who coordinated with the many city agencies in support of parade organization, permitting and logistics; Sharon Grimes, from Orlando Police Department, (OPD), assisted in obtaining parade permits; Lt. Woodhall and Sgt. Wayne Costo, OPD, coordinated the police parade participation with their motorcycles; Rosie Grace, from Orlando Fire Department (OFD), helped coordinate parade permits and fire trucks; Saleem Hafza from City Transportation coordinated permits and barricades; Donald Graham, Ridzi Palomo and Simon Sylva coordinated parking for parade participants. The parade committee solicited many sponsors who were essential to assure the success of the project. A few of the major sponsors were the Downtown Development Board, Families, Parks and Recreation, and Orlando Health. The major benefactor was the Marine Corps Toys for Tots. After a period of six months of focused work and planning, the parade promptly started at 4:00 PM Saturday, December 8, 2018 at the corner of Orange Avenue and Robinson Street. Orlando Rotarians Chris Whitney and Amanda Gunter led the parade carrying a large Rotary banner. The

elected officials came next led by Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer and then Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings with the city and county commissioners following. Behind them came a large Rotary Club of Orlando float displaying its 100th year anniversary celebration medallion logo. Then came Orlando Rotary President Pat Phillips followed by Rotary District Governor Ron Jensen. Next came the Orlando Police Honor Guard followed by horses, many police motorcycles and fire trucks with sirens screaming and bells clanging. The parade continued on its route traveling south down Orange Avenue, then turned left onto E. Central Boulevard, then north on N. Rosalind Avenue to finish on E. Robinson Street. There were over sixty units in the parade which included numerous high school bands and sponsored floats. The US Marine Corps’ Toys for Tots, with a nine ton military truck, stopped in front of the announcer’s stand where our announcer, Greg Territo, asked the large crowd gathered on the west side of Lake Eola Park to bring their Christmas gifts forward for loading on to the truck. The Marines, dressed in full uniform, loaded the truck as the parade was stopped. Hundreds of gifts were donated including many bicycles, wagons, sports equipment and a variety of toys which almost filled the large truck bed. After loading the truck, the parade moved forward providing more entertainment for the crowds lining the streets. The parade ended with Santa Claus riding in the back of a 1929 Model A Ford fire truck. The parade was a great success for the club. It brought an awareness of the club to the downtown Orlando community in a way that had not been done before. It boosted the spirit of the club members as at least 90% of our club members directly participated in this project. The public benefitted by us providing a downtown event for family entertainment, education and fun. We were showcased in front of at least 8,000 people. The Toys for Tots benefitted by the hundreds of gifts donated for children. Many people who attended the event, went out of their way to tell us how much they loved hearing people wishing each other Merry Christmas and how nice it was to have the parade back in downtown Orlando. The cost of the parade was around $45,000 with close to a break even return. Despite the organizational success of the parade, it was decided not to pursue it for the next year. This decision was based upon the anticipated increased expenses and difficulty in procuring sponsors. As is usual for Central Florida, there were many competing events taking place at the same time as the parade. The future remains open for anyone wanting an opportunity to produce our next parade.

African School Project – by Jon Stine

The Rotary Club of Orlando’s international service project, African School Project, began in the spring of 2001 when Rotarian Jon Stine and his wife, Ann, visited a small village near Amboseli National Park in southern Kenya. They met Patrick Papatiti, a Maasai warrior, who had been teaching the children of Olntiyani under an acacia tree. From their discussions, the need for a classroom was born. In February 2002, a building with 2 classrooms was dedicated with 43 students. After dedicating the 2 classrooms, Stine met with Wilson Lolpapit, another Maasai, to plan another classroom in Ilkujuka, located in the Loita Hills where Wilson’s two daughters did not have a school. Over the next 6 years, our club constructed 7 classrooms in 5 new locations, Mausa, Iltumarro, Osinantei, Oltarakuai and Oldonyio with 2nd and 3rd classrooms being built in Ilkujuka.

The construction was a 20’ x 25’ room with wood walls, windows, corrugated metal roof and concrete floors. During this period, the wall construction changed from wood to stone for more permanence. Although the size was built for 25 students, over 35 students were normally enrolled when the classroom was finished. As the world economy hit the bottom in 2008, the club pulled back from construction of classrooms due to lack of funds, but for the next 2 years we offered scholarships, both high school and college, to 4 students.

In September 2010, with the return of better economic conditions, we built our 2nd classroom in Oltarakuai, this being our 11th classroom. Our building efforts continued by building one classroom a year from 2012 through 2015 in Kone, Oldonyio #2, Ilkimpa and Osinantei #2. In 2016, the Stine Foundation, gifted $9,000 for the construction of a classroom in Ilkujuka, our 4th in that community. That year we were able to also build a second classroom in Kone. The reception of additional classrooms in the communities was an indication that the locals were excited and receptive to our efforts. Osinantei #3 was constructed in 2017. With the addition of Ilkujuka #5 to that community, a primary school was then formed. Wilson proposed that we add to Loita Girl’s Secondary School and after building 17 classrooms for primary education since 2002, we felt that we should help support all of the students that had been through our primary schools with a secondary classroom.

Over the last 18 years, we have had the support from many foundations and individuals in addition to our monthly RCO Happy Dollars collections. Those foundations include Harry P. Leu Foundation, Phillips Foundation, Chesley G. Magruder Foundation and EarthWeb Foundation with additional support from Wycliffe Bible Translators, Barry Law School Rotaract, Boone HS Interact and Jones HS Interact. As we were collecting funds during 2018/19 for our 20th classroom at Loita Girl’s Secondary School, RCO member Bert McCree made a gift of $9,000 on his 90th birthday for our 21st classroom at Entashata. In our 100th anniversary year we are collecting funds to construct our 22nd classroom at Osinantei, our 4th at that community. Looking back to July 1, 2001, the beginning of the Africa School Project, not including the current year, the Project’s impact on children of Africa has been significant. The Rotary Club of Orlando’s African School Project has been responsible for building 21 classrooms for $152,450 and providing scholarships totaling $6,000.

The Great Orlando Rotary Airshow – by Pat Phillips and John Garceau

While Darrell Shea was president in 2004, the club members started discussing the possibility of a Rotary Airshow. Club member Pat Phillips, who had experience both as an airshow performer and chairman of the second largest airshow in the country (Sun 'n Fun in Lakeland, FL) volunteered to organize the airshow. The Rotary board voted unanimously to sponsor the event and members began volunteering to serve on the airshow committee chaired by John Garceau and Pat Phillips. The committee consisted of Darrell Shea, Ollie Phipps, Blaise Benoist, DeDe Lovelace, Curley Bowman, Mary Ann Dean, Denny Kurir, Jack Byrd, Jane Olson, Keith Carsten, Oswald Saavedra, Harry Voorhis, Stewart Marshall, Patrick Monachino and George Paul.

Pat went before the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority (GOAA) Board and asked that they sponsor and approve the airshow at Orlando International Airport. The plan was to use the airshow as part of the dedication ceremony for the new runway to be opened on the far east side of the airport. Pat, John and committee members met numerous times with the GQAA airport leadership to work out the many details required for organizing an airshow of this magnitude at a major international airport.

They made numerous visits to the proposed site. The plans were thoroughly reviewed with many governmental airport agencies including GOAA, FAA and TSA. After finalization of the airshow plans which included traffic control, parking and crowd control, fire, rescue and security, TSA decided that security was inadequate to protect the main airport terminal area from terrorists. Our airshow plans were disappointingly cancelled at that point.

The GOAA managers were as disappointed as the club members at this devastating news. Not to be defeated, GOAA and the club members decided upon an alternative location, Orlando Executive Airport.

The Rotary airshow committee, GOAA managers and particularly Kevin McNamara, the manager of Orlando Executive Airport, with the support of Bob and Kim Showalter of Showalter Flying Service, developed a plan for the airshow. This required renewed cooperation with the FAA, air traffic control, all operators on Orlando Executive Airport, and automobile traffic control with the City of Orlando. One of the biggest hurdles to be overcome was the GOAA Risk Management personnel and their insurance demands but a mutual agreement was worked out to everyone's satisfaction.

The format for the first airshow was agreed upon and scheduled for November 6-7, 2004. A poster was designed and airshow performers, air bosses, announcers, food and souvenir vendors were confirmed. Bert McCree wrote several songs and he and Richard Owens led the club in singing the songs at our weekly Rotary meetings leading up to the show. We had world class airshow performers demonstrating their exciting maneuvers. They provided smoke, noise and low-level aerobatics at its best. Some of the performers included Patty Wagstaff, first woman to win the National Aerobatic Championship (and did so 3 times in a row!), Steve Coan, 5 time National glider champion, Eric Beard, prominent airshow performer, the Red Eagle Team performing precision aerobatics, Gene McNeely who had won multiple showmanship awards, Gary Ward performing high energy aerobatics, Bud Walker, world's oldest active airshow performer, Elgin Wells, precision aerobatic performer and Team Sanford, a local aerobatic team. Additionally, there

were fly-bys of vintage and modern military aircraft. We had educational displays and live entertainment. Helicopter and airplane rides were available for those who wanted a scenic view from the air. There was food, fun and musical entertainment throughout the weekend.

The performers were given red carpet treatment as they were given rooms at the Grand Bohemian Hotel and the performer party was held across the street at the Citrus Club. A good time was had by all.

The 2004 show was right after three hurricanes devastated the area. An unintended attraction was the storage of about thirty airplanes that had been wrecked or damaged by the hurricanes. This became a major part of the ground display.

The airshow was a great success for the public as well as the spirit of the Rotary members. Almost everyone in the club volunteered or participated one way or another in assuring the success of the airshow. It has been noted as the only time in club history that we had close to full participation of everyone in the club for a club project. The cost for the airshow was a little more than $50,000 leaving a net profit of about $2000.

The second (and last) airshow in 2005 required the same effort and resources as the first one; large expenditure of time, planning and organization. Several members expressed concern that the project had too many moving parts to keep track of. Regardless of this, the moving parts were well managed as shown through the success of the second year's airshow. Charlie Shuffield was president during the second show and John Garceau went on to succeed him as the next Rotary president.

The members again showed great enthusiasm. This show included a World War II reenactment team. The reenactment consisted of about 75 reenactors in WW II uniforms complete with military equipment, jeeps, trucks and firearms. They camped out at the airshow site just as troops would have in World War II.

The cost of the second airshow was again $50,000 with a return of only a few thousand dollars. Despite the organizational success of both airshows, it was decided not to continue this project because of the intensity of the work involved with minimal return. This was not due to a lack of effort or enthusiasm but to an inadequate budget for publicity. There were also too many competing events, such as a UCF football game, taking place in the Central Florida area at the same time.

The Central Florida Blood Bank – by Dr. Byron Thames

Members of the Rotary Club of Orlando have played a prominent role in CFBB from its inception in 1942 when RCO participated in raising funds across 13 counties of the Fifth Congressional District to acquire their first building. In 1973 the RCO presented the CFBB's Board of Directors with a $12,000 travel trailer to serve as their first "self-contained" mobile collecting unit.

Many members have been directly involved in assisting the Blood Bank over the years. W.A. and Bert McCree were involved in the design, renovations, and building of all CFBB facilities for many years. Members of RCO have served as directors on the board. RCO member Ed Carr served CFBB in many roles for over 42 years including Executive Director, President, and CEO. His replacement, Anne Chinoda was also a member of the club. RCO member Mike Pratt served from 1990 to 2014 in many roles including Executive Vice Chairman of technical services; COO and retired as Chief Integration Officer. RCO began having member blood drives from 1970 thru the present time, having one twice a year for the last 25 year. These events were called "The Gift of Life".

Bob Neel Rotary Club of Orlando Endowed Scholarship by Jim Stowers

Long time Past President Rotarian Robert ‘Bob’ Neel and former CEO and President of Woodlawn Memorial Park and Funeral Home was passionate about Community Service as well as Education. A very generous man, he established a college scholarship at the University of Central Florida in August 2000. It is called the Bob Neel Rotary Club Endowed Scholarship and is administered and invested by the UCF Foundation. Originally, the scholarship was established to provide needs-based awards to full time UCF students from either Valencia or Seminole Community Colleges and were for 1 year. The scholarship could be awarded again for an additional year upon reapplication. In 2014, Bob amended the endowment to be part of the Johnson Scholarship Foundation Direct Connect program. With this change, in addition to students at Valencia and Seminole State, students from Eastern Florida State College and Lake-Sumter State College became eligible to receive the award when they transfer to UCF through the Johnson Scholarship Direct Connect program. Bob’s scholarship is one of thirteen supporting these students. The endowment is fully intact and is ‘in perpetuity’ meaning it will continue forever. To date, the endowment earnings have assisted by providing over $56,000 in scholarships. This is a fine example of Bob’s and many other RCO members generosity over the years.

District Grants by Jon Stine

In 2005, the clubs in our district, D6980, approved a revenue sharing plan to permit clubs to control 40% of the funds they contributed to The Rotary Foundation Annual Fund. These funds that were returned to the District as District Designated Funds (DDF) provided the ability to use them to support local humanitarian and educational programs through District Simplified Grants (later identified as District Grants in 2013.) The club used this method to sponsor two separate DSG’s in 2007 during President Jim Stowers administration; (1) a peace and conflict resolution program with 10 teenagers, Catholic and Protestant, from Ireland for two weeks and (2) providing funding for thirty 5th Graders at Ivey Lane Elementary School to take a field trip to Tallahassee to see our state government in action. It was September 2010 when Past President Jon Stine used a DSG at Ivey Lane to implement a literacy program in conjunction with Wild Horse Tales, a 501(c)3 organization, for 50 1st Graders. This grant was to start a succession of 18 district grants to assist 6 different Title 1 elementary schools: Eccleston, Grand Avenue Learning Center, Ivey Lane, OCPS A.C.E. Community School, Rock Lake and Washington Shores to improve their literacy skills. The main source of funds until 2014 came from Rotarians or their companies and our Rotary Club of Orlando Foundation. Beginning in September 2015, we received major funding from Sun Trust and The Dr. P. Phillips Foundation which permitted us to expand our program beyond DDF/District Grants. Our literacy program teamed with Wild Horse Tales to provide books and field trips to 1,218 students. In continuing to pursue our literacy efforts, we assisted Frontline Outreach by reviewing and grading their library books; providing 4,000 new library books; creating a new and more efficient Library Numbering Identification System as well as providing 70 gift certificates at Barnes & Noble for outstanding students to purchase their own books. Our efforts to use District Grants, formerly District Simplified Grants, has enabled us to also fund the following projects: 3 college level Interact Scholarships for a graduating senior; scholarships for Rotary Youth Leadership Award; 17 students from local high schools for a 2-1/2 day course in leadership; support for a Youth Exchange Student from Italy to attend Boone High School for a school year and support for the Food Pantry at Ivey Lane Elementary to provide food to students and their families in time of need. While District Grants were developed primarily for local projects, we used them in 2011 when Rene Persaud went to Haiti to help improve living conditions for 70 children living in an orphanage by improving the drainage system. Additionally, Oswald Saavedra headed a group of Rotarians and professionals on a trip to a clinic in Chameleon, Honduras. They took needed medical equipment and supplies to upgrade the clinic and provide medical assistance to the locals. Since 2005, there have been 33 District Grants serving over 6,100 people with a cost of $68,673.

Earth Day by Dr. Byron Thames

Environmental problems have been around for eons. In Orlando roads had to be improved due to growth and this resulted in eliminating trees and diverting water from roads to lakes resulting in their pollution. All lakes in Orlando were swimmable during the 1930's. The Rotary Club of Orlando started cleaning some lakes by hand in boats during the 1960's. The city and state started building holding ponds to handle the storage of water flow from roads and building construction during the 1970's. Around 1996 global climate change concerns became a national issue and in Orlando an annual Earth Day Exposition started in 1997. The title was "Adapting to Global Climate Change" and was presented by groups including City of Orlando, RCO, WMFE, Eco, Action Orange County Medical Society, and the Florida Medical Association Environmental Committee.

About this time Dr. Oswald T Saavedra, an Internal Medicine MD, active in Earth Day, joined RCO and became Chairman of the RCO Environmental Committee. The RCO then conducted four lake cleanups in 2007 (Lakes Lawson, Virginia, Minnehaha and Wekiva), joined in the Earth Day Expo April 2007 and the Earth Day Fundraising Dinner and Auction on April 20, 2007 at the Orlando City Hall. WMFE, thru RCO member Jose Fajardo, provided announcements and speaker interviews with Earth Day Expo speakers. RCO continues to be involved in multiple environmental issues annually.

Gift of Life Central Florida by Marty Kramer and Denny Kurir

Marty wrote "In April 2005; I was watching ABC World News Tonight and saw a story about a young boy from Iraq that was operated on in New York by a group called Gift of Life. What amazed me was that a group of Rotary Clubs and Districts worldwide, had built a network with the sole mission of saving children from developing nations born with congenital heart defects. I was so moved by the story that I said to my wife, Michelle, "We can do this."

I phoned District Governor Micki Kaye and told her about the news story and that I wanted to get this going in our district. At the time, I was a member of the RC Winter Springs. A short while later, I presented the story of Gift of Life International to the district Presidents at their quarterly meeting and asked who would join me. Dr. Darrell Shea, Past President of the RC Orlando spoke up and stated that he wanted to be involved. And so it began. The following year, DG Denny Kurir requested that Jim Stowers of the RC Orlando be added to the committee. The initial team consisted of Marty Kramer, Michelle Kramer, Darryl Shea. and Jim Stowers. Thus, was born Gift of Life Central Florida (GOLCF).

Over the next year, the group (now formally the Board of Directors GOLCF) met with the Doctors and Administrators from the Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children, to ask if they could accept from us one patient per year who was in need of open heart surgery at no charge and in return we would donate $5,000 to the hospital's foundation. The hospital agreed and in 2007, we had our first child,

Renola Gillette, aged 7 from Belize. Shortly before returning to Belize following her surgery, Renola and her mother were the guests of the RC Orlando.”

Denny added “What we do as a committee is to stay in touch with the hospitals and find out when they wish to have another child. Then we either go through the GOL International network and submit all possible names to them with histories and then they select who they wish to help, or in the case of Nemours, they find the children and make us aware. The GOLCF Board arranges transportation to and from their respective countries, finds a place for them to stay and be fed, accompanies them to all doctors’ visits and surgeries both before and after and treat them to as many local attractions as we can. Typically, they are in our area for a week prior to the operation and for 4 weeks after. As most of these people have little in the way of resources, we also try to provide them with clothes and gifts.”

The following are former members of the Committee/Board: Marty Kramer (Past President RC Winter Springs/Orlando), Jim Stowers (Past President RC Orlando), Darrell Shea (Past President RC Orlando), PDG Earle Johnson (RC South Lake County), Danielle Krise (Past President RC Orlando), George Stuart (Past President RC Orlando Evening and RC College Park), Robin O'Donnell (RC Dr Phillips) Rich Ungaro (RC Orlando), Tom Sacha (RC Winter Park) and Debra Lowe (RC Orlando and RC Lake Nona Noon).

The current committee members are PDG Denny Kurir, President, PDG George Huffman, Sadia Marsch, Dr. John Taggart, Tom Reich, Greg Territo, Alan Shafer, Capt. Ken Chapman, Robert Washick, PDG Art Brown, Gem Micheo, and Sonya Labosco.

GOLCF has helped facilitate heart surgeries on:

Renola Gillett, Belize, age 7 years (Mother - Muriel) 2006 Freylin Meran, Dom. Republic, age 2 ½ years (Mother – Isabel) 2008 Grace Agwaru, Uganda, age 7 months, (Mother Sharifah) 2010 Marilyn Ical, Belize, age 6 years (Father - Pedro) 2012 Sofia Novelo, Belize, age 4 ½ years (Mother - Angelia) 2017 Adrianna Naj, Belize, age 4 years (Mother - Elizabeth) 2018 Firhan Lanares, Belize, age 9 years (Mother - Randisha) 2018

Together the 81 different worldwide outposts of Gift of Life International have saved the lives of nearly 38,000 children, one heart at a time.

Grants by Jon Stine

Matching Grants: The Rotary Foundation started awarding Matching Grants in 1966. Our club received our first Matching Grant in December 2000 as a result of President Steve Dieter’s attendance at the June 2000 Rotary International Convention in Buenos Aries. Steve saw what other clubs were doing to help the world community with humanitarian projects and decided to get our club involved in matching grants.

He returned to Orlando and appointed Kathy Ward to head the grants eﬀort. She responded with a matching grant in Kerala, India for equipment in a school for the blind. Shortly thereafter, Past President George Huﬀman returned from a Group Study Exchange in Brazil with another grant opportunity which turned into a matching grant at an AIDS clinic. Since our initial grant in December 2000, Past President Jon Stine has guided our club in participating in 12 additional Matching Grants in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Kenya, Brazil, Zimbabwe, Peru, St. Lucia, Bahamas, Jamaica and the Philippines. We have provided school furniture, scientific equipment, solar ovens, cleft pallet surgery, clean water, medical equipment, vocational training and physical therapy equipment. The largest grant, in St. Lucia, provided clean water to 3,000 residents, included a water system with pumps, water lines and a 100,000-gallon water tank that was valued at $305,299. The grant in Jamaica for a blood gas analyzer for Gift of Life patients involved 13 District 6980 clubs.

Our club was the International Partner Club in 14 of 16 grants which required oversight from the beginning to the Final Report.

Global Grants: In 2013, The Rotary Foundation changed the procedures for grants by creating Global Grants. This required the sponsoring clubs to have greater responsibility and required more reports and paperwork. Sustainability became a primary goal of the new process. We have given financial support to 4 global grants sponsored by other District 6980 clubs. This included cleft palate surgeries in Mexico, medical equipment for Gift of Life surgeries in El Salvador and building high school classrooms in Ethiopia. Our attempt to create a global grant in Honduras was a communication struggle with the club in Honduras and the third party in Honduras that would not cooperate with us and provide the information required by The Rotary Foundation. After 3 years, the eﬀort was closed and the committed funds were returned to each club for support of other grants. Our funds were recommitted to the cleft palate surgeries in Mexico and building high school classrooms in Ethiopia. Since 2000, our club has committed $80,348 to Matching and Global Grants. These grants total over $1,100,000 and have served over 14,000 persons.

H.E.A.R.T. by Dr. Byron Thames

H.E.A.R.T. stands for "Helping Elderly Achieve Repairs Today". During Brett Lovett’s term as ROC President, these projects began in November 1995 and continued off and on until 2010 when changes in federal government stopped paying for the materials for the projects. These projects were financed by Seniors First. Inc., a Federal HUD Program. They provided the funds, materials, and selected the Seniors who needed repairs to their homes and were unable to do them and/or lacked funds. Rotarians managed the projects and volunteered their labor on Saturday mornings until the jobs were completed. Typical projects were building ramps for wheelchairs, replacing windows, minor roof repairs, painting walls, replacing rotting wood, etc. Eleven projects were done over these fifteen years and at least 20 Rotarians, and sometimes even their spouses and children participated. All of them were happy to see the smiles and tears of the needy Seniors.

Literacy by Jon Stine Our literacy program was started in September 2010 by Past President Jon Stine using DDF and District Grants at Ivey Lane Elementary School. The program targeted Title 1 Schools, schools that have minority population of 95%, usually 100% breakfast and lunch meal assisted program and are located in challenged socio-economic neighborhoods. The literacy program provides 2 hard cover books by Walter Farley using a pony, Little Back, as the central figure as well as an on campus visit by the Orange County Sheriff’s Mounted Patrol and a field trip to the Mounted Patrol’s stable. Over the next four years, DDF/District Grants, Rotarian personal donations and Rotarian friendly foundations were the primary method of funding our program. This funding permitted us to start sponsoring Scholastic Book Fairs at Ivey Lane in October in 2014 and March 2015 for 350 students. In September 2016 we received increased funding from Phillips Foundation, Sun Trust and Stine Foundation which permitted us to continue our Book Fairs at Ivey Lane and increase the Wild Horse Tales program at additional schools. Books Fairs were conducted at Ivey Lane in October 2016 and March 2016 for 355 students. Beginning in September 2017 through 2019, the funding has come from outside foundations exclusively, Stine Foundation and Chesley G. Magruder Foundation, which has permitted us to hold 2 Book Fairs at Ivey Lane and Rock Lake each school year and continue the Wild Horse Tales program at 5 schools. The Book Fairs give students a $7 stipend to buy their own books and the classroom teachers received $10 to $20 for their classroom books. Our Wild Horse Tales literacy program has provided over 3,000 books to 1st and 4th Graders. Our Book Fairs at Ivey Lane and Rock Lake have provided 2 books to over 3,400 students, PK - 5, and books to 200 classroom teachers. The literacy program funding started with District Grant funding, $17,824 and outside funding, $56,961, beginning in 2014 through 2020.

Ivey Lane Elementary School – RCO Adopted School – by Jon Stine

Ivey Lane Elementary School is a Title I school in west Orlando which services students in challenging socio-economic communities. The school population is 95% minority. Ivey Lane provides meals to the students at no cost for breakfast, lunch and dinner based on the needs of the student population. Over the years, The Rotary Club of Orlando has slowly adopted Ivey Lane as “our school.” This partnership began over twenty years ago, and the Presidents of our club have supported a variety of activities at the school.

During the late 1990’s and early 2000’s several Rotarians individually worked with Ivey Lane Elementary School. Rufus Brooks (1928-2016) established a gardening program at the school, as well as creating a Photography Club with gifts from Orlando Rotarians. Rufus was himself a retired educator from the OCPS system after 30 plus years as principal at Eccleston, Hungerford and Phyllis Wheatley elementary schools. His knowledge of and experience with the children enabled him to effectively communicate with the students. In 2004, Bert McCree created Discovering Words for 1st Graders, a program to improve their vocabulary and reading skills and he continued this program for 2 years. Bert extended his assistance by giving short informational talks to three 1st Grade classes for another year. These individual efforts provided the seeds for what was yet to come.

It was during President Jim Stowers’ term that our club recognized the true depth of the needs of Ivey Lane. A monetary donation was presented to the school from club funds to sponsor a field trip for thirty 5th Graders. The trip sent students to Tallahassee to observe our government at work, while learning the history of the State of Florida. Our financial commitment to ensure a successful field trip was $1,578. Under Heidi Isenhart’s leadership as President, we became a big part of Ivey Lane’s annual field day. One of the activities demonstrated cooking with a large solar oven. Cookies were baked for all the students as well as a program about the benefits of cooking with solar energy. Ivey Lane was given a small family solar oven (with a dedication engraved from our club) to use for further educational purposes.

Our literacy involvement with Ivey Lane, spearheaded by Past President Jon Stine was restarted and expanded the school year beginning in September 2010. Volunteers from the club, in conjunction with Black Stallion Literacy Foundation, a 501(c)3 organization, gave 50 1st Graders the first of two books by Walter Farley, Little Black, A Pony. This was followed by the Orange County Sheriff’s Mounted Patrol giving a short program on safety and literacy ending with touching a horse. Several months later the students received the 2nd book, Little Black Goes to the Circus. This culminated in students attending a field trip to the Orange County Sheriff’s barn to learn more about horses and their care with club members acting as chaperones. In the following school years 2011-2019, 504 1st Graders were treated to the same 2 books, safety/literacy school program and field trip. In 2011, 50 4th Graders were treated to a similar program, except they received Walter Farley’s renowned chapter-book Black Stallion prior to a field trip chaperoned by club members. The field trip was a performance recreating a part of the book. In school years

2012-2016, 237 4th Graders were afforded their same program as in 2011. The club covered the cost of books, $10, and the bus transportation for both programs. Total cost of both programs was $12,469. In September 2017, the club expanded its literacy program to include additional Title I elementary schools in west Orlando and eliminated the 4th Grade Wild Horse Tales (formerly Black Stallion Literacy Foundation). Continuing with a theme steeped in increasing student literacy, September 2014 witnessed the dawn of a new endeavor. The club increased their literacy footprint by providing 2 book fairs, fall and spring, by teaming with Scholastic Books. Each student was given a $5 stipend initially, which was raised to $7 in 2016. Every classroom teacher was given $10 - $20 to buy books for their classroom. These stipends were for each book fair. During this 6-year period, 2,158 students received books for their own personal libraries. The cost to provide these books to the students and teachers was $25,409. The book fairs were manned by Rotarians volunteering for 30-minute time slots to help the students in PK-5 in selecting their books. This has become a very special time for Rotarians and students alike.

Club members have participated in Angel Tree at Ivey Lane since 2014. Angel Tree is an event to provide gifts to students that have been determined to have very limited to no gifts at Christmas time. Members select a child and purchase gifts within a dollar limit to be given to the children at the school just prior to their winter vacation. We have produced Angel Tree from 2014-2019 except in 2018. During this period, we have presented gifts to 243 needy students in Grades PK-5 to make sure that they are not forgotten at Christmas time. In lieu of Angel Tree in 2018, the club supported the School Store by donating items valued at $500 and cash of $380. The School Store serves all of the students. The students receive Knight Bucks for excellent work or outstanding performances and are able to redeem a gift by using Knight Bucks.

While the literacy project takes priority at Ivey Lane, a supply of food to those students and their families comes in a close second. We have answered that need by supplying food items and funding to purchase those critical food items. Starting in 2016, Past President Stine initiated multiple food drives that have provided in-kind items valued at $2,999 and $4,802 in cash. Included in the $4,802 is $861 which was raised to be used to purchase food from 2nd Harvest Food Bank at a significant discount. Additionally, in 2017 our Swan Boat Race raised $2,000 which was used to sponsor a “Love Pantry” for that school year from the Christian Service Center. Love Pantry is a system to provide basic food items from a storage cabinet that is replenished on a weekly basis. These food resources have been able to keep needy families supplied with food during the school year and over the holidays.

Rotarians worldwide are known for looking to the future of our world. The partnership with Ivey Lane Elementary is an important step to ensuring that every child is valued. It is important to know that with the phrase “it takes a village to raise a child,” that our club has risen to that aim. When you ask our Rotarian, “How are the children?”, do not be surprised to have them tell you a story about one or two students from Ivey Lane Elementary that have touched their heart.

Poker Tournaments by Ollie Phipps From the ‘Poker Stars of Rotary’ to the ‘Corona Cigar Company Casino and Poker Night,’ featuring the ‘RockPit Brewing Team Poker Challenge.’ In 2009, at the inspiration of Past President Roger Jacobson, a committee was formed to explore the possibility of holding a Texas Hold’em tournament as a fund raiser for the RCO Foundation. After much preparatory work, the event was held that year at the Sorosis House, the venue for the club’s weekly meetings. There was a field of 75 players, a commendable total for a first-ever event. A “challenge cup” trophy was commissioned for the highest ranking Rotarian player (from whatever club). Ollie Phipps took home third place overall and was the first name inscribed on the cup. Two more tournaments were held in 2010. At the event held in 2011, Orlando’s own Steve Dieter was the highest placing Rotarian. In 2012, Rotary District 6980 solicited our club to hold a Casino Night at the District Conference. Our club’s committee saddled up and put on a very successful event. When Roger was installed as president, the District Governor awarded RCO the proceeds from the Casino Night. At the request of President Pat Phillips, in 2019, the committee was reformed with Mike Young, Bob Phipps and Tony Boni at the helm. A fantastic tournament was held at Sorosis House with 101 players. Corona Cigar Company, who had been involved since our second tournament and RockPit Brewing, were brought on as sponsors of the ‘Team Poker Challenge,’ and a unique idea of Bob Phipps was inaugurated. Ollie Phipps had good cards that night and was lucky enough to repeat as highest ranking Rotarian. In 2020, the event was becoming more turn-key and more club members, particularly President Bill Peeper and Treasurer Dick Harris, were becoming involved. As a result of hard work by the principals especially, and the committee, the event was the largest and most successful ever, drawing over 175 players. The tournament was a true Casino Night, featuring roulette, blackjack, an outside al fresco VIP section, hosted by Corona Cigar Company (an idea Mike borrowed, and Bob put together, from another Rotary’s event), providing cigars and bourbon sampling while the players competed. The reason for putting on the events, of course, aside from a great time and camaraderie among Rotarians and attendees, was to raise funds for the club’s foundation. This was accomplished with nearly $50,000 in profits through 2019. The following year’s tournament exceeded expectations by netting $16,000! Plans are already in the works for the next occasion in the Fall of 2020.

RCO Foundation by Heidi Isenhart

The Rotary Club of Orlando (RCO) Foundation was established in 1981 as a 501(c)(3) tax exempt organization to provide scholarships to local students, relief from hunger and poverty, healthcare assistance and humanitarian aid anywhere in the world.

Our original club’s Foundation was first proposed by Joel Wells, Jr. who was the RCO president in 1966-1967 and the Foundation was brought to fruition by our club’s president, Reverend Dr. Howard Chadwick, in 1981. It was the acts of these men that paved the way for the club’s Foundation to provide the service, outreach and funding which has benefitted so many people.

The first president of the Rotary Club of Orlando was J.P. Holbrook, a citrus developer and developer of Edgewater Heights, a residential area around Lake Adair. Based upon J.P. Holbrook’s legacy, a $500.00 level of giving which could be done over a 5-year period at $100.00 per year was established in 2011 to encourage Rotary Club of Orlando members who are automatic members of the RCO Foundation to build the Foundation corpus to accomplish its mission.

Over the years, an investment policy and formal procedures were adopted to better distinguish the Rotary Club of Orlando Foundation as a 501(c)(3) organization and to further delineate the roles between it and the Rotary Club of Orlando, while complementing our club members’ strategic goals to provide assistance to our Central Florida community and beyond. The Rotary Club of Orlando Foundation Articles of Incorporation were later amended to better reflect the roles of the organization, its Board of Directors and its members.

In 2008, Larry Kirkwood was the first Rotary Club of Orlando Foundation President to implement these changes. Lee Bennett was instrumental in drafting the corporate documents. The Rotary Club of Orlando Foundation Board of Directors, with the guidance of an Investment Committee and an Awards Committee administered the foundation. Some of the additional past presidents of the RCO Foundation following the changes were, Linda Rolf, Thomas Schneider, Heidi Isenhart, Mary Ann Dean, Calvin Gardner and Richard Harris.

Just a portion of Rotary Club of Orlando Foundation grants have been for - but not limited to: World Hope Mission, Solar Oven & Water Purification, Medical Equipment for Bustamante, Children’s Hospital, Kingston, Jamaica, Ivey Lane Lego Project and the Horsetail Project, the EarthWeb Foundation, a Children’s Home in Haiti, Boy Scouts of America, Rotary Youth Leadership Awards, Junior Achievement, African Schools Project, Frontline Outreach Book Project and Gift of Life, to name a few. Our Rotary Club of Orlando Foundation has provided scholarship aid humanitarian relief, relief for hunger and poverty, providing healthcare aid and benefitting students and schools.

Most Rotary clubs do not have their own foundations, making our club’s foundation unique. We can accomplish the goals of Rotary through our Foundation in our own backyard and throughout the world. The RCO Foundation remains strong in its mission to serve.

Rotary Swan Boat Race by Greg Territo The Rotary Club of Orlando hosted the inaugural Great Rotary Swan Boat Race on Lake Eola in downtown Orlando. Beginning at 8 AM, March 14, 2015. Sixteen sponsored teams of five persons each raced the iconic Swan Boat paddleboats to determine the Orlando City champion. Roughly $10,000 was raised from the event, and through the Rotary Club of Orlando Foundation, was used to purchase of a fully accessible and ADA compliant Swan Boat for use by guests of Lake Eola Park. Additional funds went to the Rotary Foundation for grants to programs serving area youth organizations, schools and other community service groups. On Saturday February 19, 2016, the club hosted its Second Annual Great Rotary Swan Boat Race which pitted teams of racers against each other in a lighthearted and fun series of three-boat heats on Lake Eola through an elimination process to determine one champion. This year, participants under 18 years of age were permitted to race and a minimum of four participants per boat was required. Continuing the tradition on May 16, 2019, the club once again hosted the race on Lake Eola but started on a Thursday afternoon at 5 PM to accommodate downtown workers. It was rebranded as “A Race for Books” and featured local organizations pedaling their way around the lake in support of promoting education. The club partnered with A Gift for Teaching, sharing proceeds between the Rotary Club of Orlando Foundation and A Gift for Teaching and collecting book donations.

The Swan Boat Race was scheduled for May 7th. but had to be cancelled because of the Coronavirus Pandemic. (See Addendum, page 91, for further information.) Twenty teams were expected to take part. A special feature of the race was to be a competition between last year’s winners, the Orlando Fire Department and runners up, the Orlando Police Department. The club’s plan was to again partner with A Gift for Teaching to collect books and funds to provide school supplies for classrooms in Central Florida.

Salvation Army Kettle and Rotary by Capt. Ken Chapman The Salvation Army Red Kettle campaign has become part of the “fabric” of Christmas and is part of Christmas tradition. The “kettle’s” career as a fund-raiser began on the wharf of San Francisco in 1891. Captain Joseph McFee resolved to provide a free Christmas dinner to the poor of San Francisco, particularly the widows and orphans of those who had been lost at sea. But how would the Captain pay for the food? He remembered from his days as a sailor in Liverpool, England, a large black cauldron displayed on the Stage Landing Wharf called “Simpson’s Pot.” Passersby would toss charitable donations into the pot to help the poor. Captain McFee received permission from the City authorities to place a crab pot and tripod at the Oakland Ferry Landing at the foot of San Francisco’s Market Place. The kettle – and Captain McFee’s request to “keep the pot boiling” drew a lot of attention. Not only did he receive enough money for a Christmas Dinner for the poor of the city, he collected enough to do several feedings that year. The next year, it spread to Boston, then New York, and throughout the United States, then the world! Ironically, The Salvation Army in Orlando is celebrating one hundred years of service in the community, as is our downtown Rotary Club. The Army opened warfare in Orlando on the corner of East Pine Street on January 8, 1920. From the very first season of ringing bells in Orlando, our Rotary Club has rung bells for The Salvation Army. One hundred years of ringing bells will be completed in December 2020! The funds raised through the Red Kettle Campaign are used throughout the next year to provide shelter, food, clothing, education, and emotional & spiritual care to hundreds of the most- needy people in Orlando. Indeed, 300 beds of shelter are provided each night, over 1000 meals are served EACH day of the year. Three hundred and nineteen seniors & disabled live in our William and Catherine Booth Towers for a nominal amount. The Salvation Army provides housing, financial assistance, programs, some transportation, and emotional and spiritual care to them on a daily basis. Over 150 at-risk youth come to the Community Center several times a week for a hot meal, sports and music programs, and character-building/life skills. When a disaster hits, The Salvation Army is always one of the first on the scene, providing restorative assistance on-site. The Social Services Department assists people with rental and utility help, our Pathway of Hope program, and a Veterans’ Program. Through it all, the Rotary Club of Orlando has partnered with The Salvation Army and has, through the Red Kettle Campaign and other projects contributed over $800,000 of support for the Army programs. Now THAT is “Service Above Self!” So, when you hear the ringing of the little bell, think of Christmas, Rotary, and The Salvation Army!

Orlando Street Painting Events by George Huffman

The Club’s most successful fund-raising program in the past 25 years was the annual street painting festival held in downtown Orlando. From 1995 to 2011, these events netted over $132,000 given to local charities. Street painting is art done in chalk on pavement. The festival was held each year in February or March. Major sponsors from the business community would help underwrite the event and artists and square sponsors would be recruited. Public pavement in downtown was divided into squares and sold to businesses and individuals for competing artists to use as their “canvasses.” The event was born in a collaboration between the Club’s first female President, Dorsa McGuire, and the first female Mayor of the City of Orlando, Glenda Hood.

This event was done in partnership with the City of Orlando and the first venue was on the City Hall Plaza where it was held for the next several years before moving to Lake Eola Park and later to the plaza at the Orange County Historical building. The initial proceeds were donated to the city’s youth programs. Paid producers were hired to do the major event planning for the first years starting with Jeanie Linder who brought the idea to the City’s attention from what had been done in California.

During the first several years, the two-day weekend festival received prominent promotional attention from the news media and especially The Orlando Sentinel which featured the event on the colorful full front pages of The Calendar section that featured entertainment in the Orlando area. Over 100 squares would be sold and well over 100 artists of all ages would participate. Awards for various categories were presented. The public came by the hundreds.

Over the years, the festival underwent some innovations from time to time. One year the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra concert performed outdoors at the City Hall venue on the evening of the first day. Famed jazz artist Maynard Ferguson was featured one Saturday night. Live music was provided a number of times throughout the day while the artists worked and the public observed.

An art auction was held at one event and at other times, beer was served in a secure area.

The festival was named “Rotary Orlando International Street Painting Festival” for the first six years and then “Rotary Fest.”

As many as 90 members of the club would volunteer for one of these well-organized events supporting the needs of the artists, accommodating the public, selling refreshments, and cleaning up after each day. In addition, many club members were involved in selling spaces, recruiting artists, and promoting the event with distribution of posters and flyers. Declining interest and problems with unpredictable weather finally led to the end of this most successful fund raising and public involvement event.

Youth Exchange by Terri and Peter Partlow

The Rotary Club of Orlando Youth Services Committee helps support Rotary International exchange students typically 15 – 17 years old. They are given an opportunity to live and connect with different cultures and serve as ambassadors of their home club. They work towards Rotary’s goal of promoting peace and understanding throughout the world. Students learn invaluable leadership skills and independence in preparation for a successful future. Students chosen locally for an outbound experience are supported through specific training for their exchange experience, fundraising, and encouragement prior to their year abroad. Communication throughout their exchange as well as follow up training is given to further support their endeavors. Students live with carefully chosen local host families and have the opportunity to attend school, play sports, and make connections with others. During their stay, the RCO Youth Services Committee ensures their safety and wellbeing while helping to facilitate the many opportunities these youth have to learn about our culture. The members of RCO also play an important role by welcoming the students into meetings and engaging them in exchange of cultural information.

Students return home with memorable experiences, strong bonds with host families and friends, and a better understanding of a different culture. These lifetime connections serve as the groundwork for a new generation of Rotarians seeking peace through their commitment as a global citizen.

Quotes from some of the participants’ experiences:

Sierra (Outbound) ...... “My year abroad in Denmark was definitely the most impactful experience in my life so far. Experiencing another culture, learning another language, and meeting other exchange students from across the globe allowed me to grow more than I thought was possible in 11 months. I would not trade this experience for the world, and I’d give anyth ing to be able to live through it again.”

William (Inbound) ...... “Before going on exchange, I didn't know how much you become connected to your new families. My host families are not just my host families, they are my family. And coming home, you realize how much you miss everyone you met.”

Savannah (Outbound) .... “Summer exchange with Rotary exposed me to a new culture and allowed me the opportunity to make lifelong friends with people I would have otherwise never met.”

Paula (Inbound) ...... “The best thing was that I gained new families and long-lasting relationships and friendships. When I got back home, I was just filled with gratitude. I also realizes how blessed I was to have this opportunity. I found that I changed a lot and have different opinions than I did before I left.”

Recent RCO Youth Exchange participants:

Inbound From Facundo Perez Iguazu, Argentina 2015-2016 Montalvo Louie Perdone Paris, France Summer 2016 Nina Sipp Gresy Sur Ax, France Summer 2017 Janis Schumacher Germany 2017-2018 William Theisen Copenhagen, Denmark 2017-2018 Paula Neitze Flensburg, Germany 2018-2019 Francesca Lanza Sicily, Italy 2019-2020

Outbound To Carly Eurton Italy 2015-2016 Calvin Gardner France Summer 2016 Bridgette Hartig France Summer 2016 Savannah Partlow France Summer 2017 Sierra Tagman Denmark 2017-2018 Angie Santiago Thailand 2019-2020

Chapter 3 A sampling of a Few Members of Note who joined the Rotary Club of Orlando over the last 25 years.

Wilhelm (Bill) Herbert Peterson Bill was born in Gary, Indiana on June 27, 1923 to parents who were immigrants from Sweden. They moved their family to Orlando in 1923 and lived in and ran the Orlando Hotel (later the location of Rosie O’Grady’s) until approximately 1926. The family then moved to Sebring, Florida where Bill was raised with his sister Astrid and brother Harding. Bill attended Sebring High School through 10th grade and then was accepted as a freshman at the University of Florida. His brother, Harding, attended school through 8th grade and then applied for and was accepted as a freshman at the University of Florida as well. Harding Peterson went on to achieve PhD’s in Chemistry and Physics. With only six months before graduation, Bill Peterson left the University of Florida to enlist in the United States Army Air Corps. In January 1945, just prior to leaving for 10 months on Iwo Jima, he married Augusta Pharr of Lakeland, Florida. He served as a P-51 Fighter Pilot in the 458th Squadron of the 506th P-51 Fighter Group stationed on Iwo Jima. From Iwo Jima the P-51 Mustang Fighter Pilots would fly 600 miles on 26 attack missions against targets located on the mainland of the Empire of Japan. After the war, Bill returned to the University of Florida with his wife and graduated with a deg ree in Political Science. He then pursued a career in the Life & Health Insurance field becoming one of the top ten insurance agents in the nation for Prudential. After an extremely successful 20-year career in Life & Health Insurance, Bill made a career change. He passed the CPA Exam and went on to have a 40-year career as a CPA finally retiring at the age of 84. Bill & Augusta Peterson were married for 65 years until her death on April 1, 2010. They were world travelers from the beginning of their marriage until the end. They have three children, J. Judd Peterson, W. Scott Peterson, and Cindy P. James, four grandchildren and eight great grandchildren.

Bill will be 97 on June 27, 2020 and is still very active in church, bridge clubs, dining out, concerts and family events. He’s still always ready to go and do almost anything.

Captain Ken Chapman A fourth generation Salvationist (a.k.a. Salvation Army), Ken was born and raised in Savannah, GA. He received a Bachelor of Music Education Degree at Armstrong/Atlantic University and his Master of Music Education and a Masters in Conducting from Georgia State University.

Before Officership, Ken taught High School Band for ten years where he won over 300 hundred competition awards and was named Teacher of the Year twice during his tenure. He was CEO and Creative Director for Creative Events International for twenty years during which time, he won twenty-two industry awards as a Producer. His many notable achievements include: Music Producer for the 1996 Atlanta Olympics; Executive Producer for the Atlanta and Barcelona Paralympics Ceremonies; the Easter Egg Roll for the Bush Administration at the White House in 2006; Santa’s Traveling Workshop, a touring show that brought toys and hope to over 300,000 people affected by hurricane Katrina; and in 2005, serving as the Executive Producer and Operations Director for American Frontiers, a 60-day trek across public lands in America, in partnership with the Federal Government and National Geographic Society. The National Geographic Society produced a documentary of this historic event where every step of the trek was on public lands, utilizing many forms of transportation. The Federal Land Management Agencies considered it one of their most historic events in this century.

Captain Chapman realized God’s call on his life and offered his life for Salvation Army Officership. He is married to Jessie Starks Chapman (also a Salvation Army Officer), has three children - Danielle, Alexis, and Micah – and lives in Orlando, FL. Captain Chapman was recently transferred from Tulsa, OK, previously serving in Jackson, Mississippi. Under his leadership, the Jackson Command tripled its budget, increased from 42 to 114 employees, built a $10 million dollar facility, and has worked diligently to break the cycles of entitlement and building people to empowerment and productivity. He is currently implementing a revolutionary Social Service program called Pathway of Hope. He has been honored by the Jackson City Council and received the Community Hero award for his work with Yazoo City tornado disaster relief, the “Making Things Brighter Award” from Entergy, and recognized for excellence in service by the Air National Guard.

David Henry David Henry is a civilian employee of the Department of Defense (DoD) where he administers a portfolio of a hundred-fifty supply and service contracts. He deployed to Kabul, Afghanistan and served with NATO in 2017-2018 and again in 2019. He was recognized with the Joint Civilian Service Achievement Award and the Joint Civilian Service Commendation Award. Prior to joining the Department of Defense, David was a Contracting Officer with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), a Real Estate Analyst for Orange County, a YMCA Executive (retired), and served 26 years with the US Army (1st Ranger Battalion) and Air Force, where he flew F-105G and F-4D/E fighter aircraft as a Combat Systems Officer. He was commissioned through Officer Training School and retired in 1999 as the Operations Group Commander for the Combat Readiness Training Center in Savannah, GA. David’s parents were Milton C Henry, a Navy veteran of WWII with 63 combat missions in Patrol Bombers, a Textile Engineer, and business executive and Doctor Martha (Nicholson) Henry, PhD, a College Professor. Lisa Anne Johnson Henry is David’s wife of twelve years, a civil engineer, appointed official of the City of Orlando, and a member of our club. David was born in Morganton, NC and grew up in Atlanta, GA. He is a former Eagle Scout and member of the Order of the Arrow. He was presented with two Meritorious Service Awards and the Exceptional Service Award by the Civil Air Patrol for his 28 years of volunteer work. He was honored as the YMCA of the USA National Volunteer of the Year and recognized by the Savannah Guardian Newspaper with the Celebrate Savannah Award for his service to the community. David is a former Chairman of the YMCA Board of Managers, past member of the YMCA of Coastal Georgia Executive Committee, March of Dimes Board of Directors, United Way Allocations Committee, and a founding member of the Pooler, GA Rotary Club. He has been a member of the Rotary Club of Orlando since 2017. David is a graduate of Georgia State University-BS, Air Command and Staff College, and Purdue Global University-Master of Public Administration. He has two grown children, Jacqueline (Henry) Jones of Atlanta and Melinda (Henry) Ashachick of Phoenix. He enjoys ham radio, running, backpacking, alpine climbing, and international travel with his wife Lisa.

Don Moody Don was born in Green Cove Springs, FL where his father worked for the Navy Base as a dispatcher. Later, he bought a small farm and worked for Clay County as well. At the age of 12 Don’s parents moved to Jacksonville, FL. After graduating from Andrew Jackson High School in 1957, he attended Tennessee Temple University, Bible School division, graduating in May 1962. He was married in 1961 to his wife Patricia (52 years!) Don began his career in 1963 at Union Mission in Charleston, WV as on-the-job training in Rescue Mission work for one year. Don’s first Mission was the City Rescue Mission as Executive Director in Jacksonville, FL. (1964 to 1972). In 1972, he was called to Huntington City Mission as Executive Director in Huntington, WV (1972 to 1978). Don was then called back to Florida to The Orlando Union Rescue Mission in 1978. He retired in 2010 after 32 years of service following a serious illness that took about year and half to recover. The Mission then brought him on as a consultant. In 1996, Judd Peterson sponsored Don for Rotary club membership where he represents the Mission. (George Huffman was president.) Don served on the Association of Gospel Rescue Missions as a Board Member for 4 years and served as President and Treasurer of the regional association. Following Patricia’s death in 2013, Don remarried in 2015 to his current wife Loretta. Don also worked for First Baptist Church Orlando for six years as Minister on Call. (2013 to 2019) and is now an Elder at Liberty Baptist Church in Clermont, FL. He has two daughters, 6 grandchildren and 3 great grandchildren who live near him in the Clermont area.

Richard Harris “Dick” Harris, a native of South Dakota, joined Rotary Club of Orlando (RCO) in 2004. Richard is a businessman, skilled in operations research and an educator. After earning a PhD in Mathematics from the University of Iowa, he worked for the US Navy doing high level operations research and systems analysis. Leaving his navy employment after 10 years, he took a position as Chief Financial Officer for an Orlando food processor and distribution company for another 20 years. During that time, he served the community as member of Seminole County Planning and Zoning Commission for over 10 years and was chairman several years. He also served 15 years on the citizens’ advisory committee of Metroplan Orlando, an organization charged with transportation planning for Central Florida. Late in his career, Richard returned to academia for ten years taking a position leading the academic operations of Belhaven University’s Adult Studies programs. His responsibilities included curriculum and faculty for nine campuses and teaching sites in five states. As a Rotarian, Richard has served as board member for Rotary Club of Orlando Foundation including a year as RCOF president, two years as Treasurer for both RCO and RCOF, and President-Elect 2019-2020. He is a graduate of Rotary Leadership Institute and has taken additional RLI graduate work. Richard is a J. P. Holbrooke Award holder and a Paul Harris Fellow.

José A Fajardo

José became a member of the Rotary Club of Orlando while serving as the President and CEO of the broadcasting stations of WMFE-TV and WMFE-FM radio public broadcasting stations serving Central Florida. While in this position for 16 years, he led the additions of digital television and HD radio increasing audiences for both. He spearheaded the sale of WMFE-TV to the University of Central Florida. He also subsequently served as the Executive Director of the Orlando Regional Chamber of Commerce.

José additionally served two terms as a director on the National Public Radio (NPR) Board of Directors and on the board of the Association of Public Television Stations. He was chairman of the Board of the Association of the Florida Public Broadcasting and on the boards of Tiger Bay Club of Central Florida, Valencia College Foundation, Goodwill Industries of Central Florida, Central Florida Community Arts, and the Orlando Ballet.

José now serves as president and general manager of Hawaii's Public Radio. He was selected to serve in that capacity following a national search.

As a native of Puerto Rico and an MBA graduate of the Crummer Graduate School of Business at Rollins College, José was the recipient of awards for his achievements by Mora Orlando Magazine and the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

Oliver W. “Ollie” Phipps

“Ollie” is an Orlando native and fifth-generation Floridian. Born to Harry & Nancy Phipps in 1960, he is one of five children. Upon graduation from the University of Central Florida, he was commissioned into the Air Force. He became an OSI Special Agent and served for four years with detachments in Austin, Texas, Manila, Philippines, and Cocoa Beach, Florida. The highlight was experiencing the bloodless coup d’état which overthrew the dictator Marcos.

Following active duty, Ollie became a staff investigator both in Orlando and Manila. He relocated to Manila for the first time as an expatriate. He later returned to Orlando and then moved to the Marshall Islands for three years. He bought into an investigative agency in Manila and ran that office for five years. It was there he met his wife Marjorie and they relocated to Orlando. Two bright and wonderful children followed. In 2001, he joined the RC Orlando and participated in many projects. After running an investigative agency in Orlando for years, he bought out the owner. Going on four decades in the industry, Ollie has worked in litigation support for family, commercial, and liability cases. He has also completed numerous background and asset research projects, discharged accident investigations, directed due diligence and intellectual property examinations and carried out undercover work in a variety of matters.

Ollie has enjoyed scheduling “Happy Dollars” collectors in our club for several years. He was proud to have sponsored his brother Bob into the club. Together, and with other members, they have spearheaded the poker fundraiser and participated in other club activities.

William C. Peeper A native of Cleveland Ohio, Peeper attended Ohio University where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in Journalism degree and then served four years in the United States Air Force.

He began his career in Dayton Ohio, in 1970, at the Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce as the first director of the Convention Department. From 1973 until 1979, he served as the Director of Sales at the New Orleans Tourist and Convention Commission. In November of 1979, Peeper assumed the position of President of the Hartford Convention and Visitors Bureau where he served until moving to Orlando in May 1981.

In May 1981, Peeper joined the fledging staff of the Orange County Convention Center with two roles, director of marketing for the Convention Center and director of the Convention Bureau. There he helped form the not-for-profit Orlando/Orange County Convention and Visitors Bureau, Inc. now known as Visit Orlando, and became its first CEO in 1984. He retired in January 2007.

He was in the community serving on the boards of; the University of Central Florida's Rosen School of Hospitality Management, United Arts of Central Florida and the Executive Committee of Florida Citrus Sports, and the Orlando Museum of Art. At the same time, he worked collaboratively with the Orlando Regional Chamber of Commerce, the Greater Orlando Economic Development Commission and the 1-4 High Tech Corridor to advocate for a diverse economic base for the Central Florida region.

He resigned in January 2007, after 26 years of service and focused on completing a book he coauthored entitled, Managing Destination Marketing Organizations, The Tasks, Roles and Responsibilities of The Convention and Visitor Bureau Executive, published in January 2008.

Among many other honors Peeper was inducted into Destinations International’s Hall of Fame, the Florida Tourism Hall of Fame by Visit Florida in 2002, honored with the William C. Peeper Eminent Scholar Chair in Destination Marketing by the Rosen School of Hospitality Management, and the Chairman's Award for Outstanding Service from the International Association of Convention and Visitor Bureau's Foundation. He is one of two inaugural inductees into the University of Central Florida's Rosen School of Hospitality Management's Hall of Fame.

John P. Taggart, M.D. John was born and raised in Ohio. By 1971 he had completed his medical training and residency in Otolaryngology (ear, nose, throat and head and neck surgery) at The Ohio State University. He was drafted into the Navy and spent two years practicing his specialty at the Orlando Navy Training Center. He started his medical practice and worked at Orlando Health and Florida Hospital until retiring 41 years later in 2011. During that time, he served in several capacities at the hospitals and was president of the Orange County Medical Society in 1982. John comes from a family that has been associated with hydroplane boat racing for several decades. His father Joe was a famous boat racer and drove the fastest boats in the world in the 1950s. John raced his boats through the seventies, eighties and nineties, winning championships and setting world records. He still owns his most famous boat, the Buckeye Kid, and races it in vintage events. He also restores and owns boats from the 1930s. His favorite event is the annual Mount Dora Boat Festival.

Thomas “Byron” Thames MD Byron was born in Elba, Alabama, grew up in Miami, attended the University of Florida and has a BS Degree. He graduated from Duke Medical school in 1955. He interned in internal medicine before completing a rotating internship at Walter Reed Army Hospital as an Air Force Medical Officer and then served two years as a Flight Surgeon in S.A.C. He came to Orlando in 1958 and practiced family and occupational medicine in the Orlando Clinic led by Duncan McEwan, a long time Rotarian. Byron joined the Rotary Club of Orlando in 1960. In 2020 he will complete 60 years of perfect attendance. He served as President in 1967-68 and on many club committees and Boards of Directors. Byron’s medical activities included President of The Orange County Medical Society, Florida Medical Society, Florida Academy of Family Physicians, Florida Industrial Medical Association. He served on the Board of the American Academy of Family Physicians. He also served as Chief of Staff for the Orlando Regional Medical Center and served as a Fla. Delegate to the AMA for 15 years. He served on the national Board of Directors AARP from 2002 to 2010 where he voted for the Affordable Care Act and represented the AARP in a presentation on the Act to the AMA, American Pulmonary Physicians, American Academy of FP ,etc. all of whom voted to support the Bill. He testified on multiple Bills before Congress on medical issues and for the AARP and overseas at other events on medical issues. He served for 19 years as Medical Director for Walt Disney World from its opening in 1971. He left to continue his private practice and served as Medical Director for Martin Marietta, Siemens Westinghouse, Darden Restaurants and many other businesses. Byron has been the recipient of many awards including the Duke Distinguished Alumnus Award, AARP Andrus Award (jointly with wife Judy), Older Advocate Award from the Southern Gerontological Society (also jointly), Florida Family Physician of the Year, and the Art of Medicine Award FAFP. Byron is also recognized by Rotary International as a multiple Paul Harris Fellow.

Emerson R. Thompson, Jr.

Emerson, a retired Senior Judge, is a native Floridian. He is also a fourth generation Floridian. His maternal great grandparents settled in New Berlin, Florida, he believes after they moved from Georgia. He was born in Jacksonville and educated in the public schools of Duval County. He is a proud graduate of New Stanton High School, the first high school for African Americans in Jacksonville and the state of Florida. After graduating from high school, he attended Bethune-Cookman College, now Bethune-Cookman University. After one year, he transferred to the University of Florida. He graduated on June 13, 1970, with a B.A. in Political Science and a certificate in African Studies. In February 2020, the College of Arts and Sciences recognized Emerson as one of the first two students to graduate and receive a Certificate in African Studies and for his role in helping create the department.

During his senior year at UF, he applied and was accepted at several law schools and decided to attend Florida State University College of Law. Immediately after graduation, he flew to Miami to participate in a summer law school scholarship prep program held at the University of Miami. There he met Geraldine Fortenberry. After a whirlwind courtship, they were married in Miami on December 19, 1970. During law school, Geraldine worked as secretary for Rep. Gwen Cherry from Miami, Florida. Rep. Cherry was the first African American woman to serve in the Florida House of Representatives. She encouraged Geraldine to get involved in politics. Geraldine later worked as secretary for the Deans of Agriculture and Pharmacy at Florida A & M University until she entered FSU as a grad student. She graduated from FSU in June 1973 with a master’s degree in communication. She taught in Orange County public schools until she became an administrator at Valencia Community College. After retirement, she heeded the advice of Rep. Cherry and ran for public office. She was elected as a state representative and later a state senator. Emerson sponsored her as the first African American woman to become a member of the Rotary Club of Orlando.

Emerson moved to Orlando and began working for State Attorney Robert Eagan trying criminal cases until he was appointed to the County Court in 1976. During his tenure as an Assistant State Attorney, he served in Apopka, Ocoee, Orlando, and Winter Park. In 1980, he was appointed to the circuit bench.

Before he joined the Rotary Club of Orlando, in 1979 Emerson had been selected as one of four young men to travel to England as part of a Rotary Group Exchange program. After he was appointed to the circuit bench, he had to decline the invitation to travel to England because judicial duties prevented him from being absent from the bench. But the information he learned about the Rotary Club of Orlando informed his realization that the men of the club were community servants.

He was sponsored to become a member by Royce B. Walden in 1980. As a member of the Rotary Club of Orlando, Emerson served two terms on the board of directors and became a Paul Harris Fellow. For years he was presenter at the annual RYLA held in Altamonte Springs. He remained a member until 1994, after he was appointed to the Fifth District Court of Appeals headquartered in Daytona Beach. He was the first African American county court judge, the first African American circuit judge in Orange County and the first African American judge on the Fifth DCA. Further, he served as the chief judge of the Ninth Judicial Circuit and the Fifth DCA. Always active in the community, he has served on the boards of the United Way, Boy Scouts of America, the Orange County Children’s Commission, and the YMCA. For over ten years he served as a Trustee at Mt. Pleasant Missionary Baptist Church. Professionally, he served as President of the Florida Bar Foundation. He was Chair of the Supreme Court’s Statistics and Workload Committee and he served on the Florida Supreme Court Racial and Ethnic Bias Commission. He has served as an adjunct professor at the National Judicial College and at Valencia Community College.

In December 2020, he and Geraldine will have been married 50 years. They have three children and four granddaughters, one of whom he swore in as a member of the Florida Bar Association.

Richard “Rich” Ungaro

Rich has an extensive 40-year career as a Senior Executive with a special focus on turnarounds, differentiating brands and exponential growth which leads to sustainable competitive advantage. Rich began his career with Burger King Corporation, as a Project Engineer in the Research & Development Department. He later became their first Vice President of Architecture and Construction and ended his 10-year service as Company/Franchise Operations Manager. He also spent 9-years with Wendy’s International in a variety of leadership roles, including Senior Vice President of Operations in the US and Chairman for Wendy’s of Canada. During those 9- years, Wendy’s grew from 900 restaurants to over 4,000 while opening as many as 500 new stores per year. From 1990 to 1997, Rich served a variety of executive positions with Blockbuster Entertainment Group while the company grew from 900 retail stores to 6,500 never opening less than 700 new stores per year. His last assignment was Executive Vice President for all 6,500 domestic retail stores. Rich also served as Zone Vice President for Starbucks Coffee Company when the company only had 9 retail stores open within the East Coast markets and 250-retail stores nationally. Within 24- months, the East Coast team opened 150-new retail stores at a rate of one new market each month. In 1999, he led a turnaround for Sara Lee Corp of Barnie’s Coffee & Tea Company as President, CEO. He purchased Barnie’s Coffee & Tea Company in 2001 from Sara Lee Corp until 2003 and began his consulting business to help companies requiring a turnaround and subsequent growth plan. His company works across all industries including retail, restaurant, healthcare, medical and engineering. Rich joined The Rotary Club of Orlando in 2009, being sponsored by PDG Denny Kurir. He has served as Club Secretary since 2013 and has been elected to serve as President in 2021-22.

Appendix Presidents of Rotary Club of Orlando since 1995

Brett Lovett 1995-1996 George Huffman 1996-1997 Larry Fegebank 1997-1998 Robert ‘Bob’ Ford 1998-1999 Mary Ann Dean 1999-2000 Steve Dieter 2000-2001 Doug Doudney 2001-2002 Raleigh ‘Sandy’ Seay 2002-2003 Darrell Shea 2003-2004 Charles ‘Charlie’ Shuffield 2004-2005 John Garceau 2005-2006 James ‘Jim’ Stowers 2006-2007 Larry Kirkwood 2007-2008 Heidi Isenhart 2008-2009 Dann Pottinger 2009-2010 Carter ‘Curley’ Bowman 2010-2011 Linda Rolf 2011-2012 Roger Jacobson 2012-2013 Robert ‘Bob’ Ford 2013-2014 Daniel Krise 2014-2015 Richard McCree 2015-2016 Joseph ‘Jody’ Walker 2016-2017 Donald ‘Don’ Lykkebak 2017-2018 Patrick ‘Pat’ Phillips 2018-2019 William ‘Bill’ Peeper 2019-2020

Perfect Attendance Minimum 5 years

Mary Ann Dean 30 Pat Phillips 6 Lisa DeFrancesco 27 Tom Reich 9 Calvin Gardner 8 Jamie Sooter 5 John Garceau 36 Jon Stine 5 George Huffman 34 Jim Stowers 32 David Joyce 15 John Taggart 15 Howard Kaplan 34 Tom Tart 33 Denny Kurir 32 Byron Thames 60 Britt Lovett 38 Rich Ungaro 7 Don Lykkebak 41 Harry Voorhis 5 Bert McCowen 6 Jody Walker 25 Greg Pace 25

These Rotarians will achieve the above years during the calendar year 2020.

SPECIAL MENTION- Four active members below achieved perfect attendance in the consecutive years listed: Joe Stine-55 years (1961-2016) Ben Zimmerman-33 years (1975-2008) Larry Kirkwood-16 years (1996-2012) Bob DeGriIla-14 years (2001-2015)

SPECIAL NOTE- Dr. John McKay-(deceased) had 62 years of perfect attendance, 1950-2012 Pen Gaines-(deceased) had 55 years of perfect attendance, 1963-2018

Paul Harris Fellowship members

Benoist, Blaise G. PHF Phillips, R. Patrick PHF+3 Benz, John D. PHF Polejes, Craig PHF Blackford, Robert N. PHF+2 Reich, Thomas R. PHF Boni, Anthony PHF Serros, Bob PHF+1 Dasher, IV, Arthur Lee PHF Sherin, Kevin Mark PHF+5 Dean, Mary Ann PHF+2 Simmons, Catherine Rose PHF+3 DeFrancesco, Lisa PHF+1 Sooter, Jamie Gardner PHF Doudney, Doug PHF+1 Stallard, Carl PHF+1 Frazier, Jason Caruso PHF+1 Stewart, Jr., William L. PHF Garceau, John C. PHF+1 Stine, Jon C. PHF+6 Gardner, Calvin Edward PHF+2 Stine, Joseph PHF+2 Gardner, Susan PHF Stowers, Jr., James C. PHF+3 Gidus, Paul Timothy PHF Sugaya, Kiminobu PHF Handley, Leon H PHF+3 Swindle, Michael B. PHF Harris, Richard J. PHF Taggart, John PHF+7 Henry, David Milton PHF Tart, Thomas B. PHF+1 Huffman, Jr., George Russell PHF+8 Thames, Byron PHF+1 Hunter, Christopher PHF+1 Thompson, Jr., Emerson R. PHF Isenhart, Heidi W. PHF+3 Tyo, Ron PHF+1 Johnson, Scott J. PHF+1 Ungaro, Richard PHF+2 Joyce, David PHF+1 Kaplan, Howard PHF Uniken Venema, Theodora PHF+8 Kirkwood, Lawrence Robert PHF+1 Van der Made, Gerardus PHF Knous, Edward (Joe) PHF Voorhis, Harry PHF Kurir, Denny A. PHF+7 Walker, Joseph B. PHF Lovett, W. Britt PHF+1 Whitney, Chris E PHF Lykkebak, Donald A. PHF+1 Wilson, William B PHF+1 Marsch, Sadia Jennifer PHF Youmans, Kenny D. PHF Marshall, III, Stewart Andrew PHF+5 Young, Mike PHF McCowen, Jr., Albert I. PHF+1 Zimmerman, Bernard J. PHF+1 McCree, Arthur Gilbert PHF+6 McCree, Jr., Richard PHF+2 HONORARY MEMBERS McWhirter, Diane B. PHF+1 Bowling, Ruth PHF+1 Miller, Arthur R. PHF+1 Bull, Harry PHF+2 Mills, Jr., George E. PHF+1 DeGrilla, Bob PHF Moody, Donald PHF+1 Dyer, Buddy PHF Nason, Walter Richard PHF+8 Howell, Arnold PHF+3 Pace, Gregory PHF+1 Moreira, Jonathas PHF Partlow, Peter K. PHF Pierce, Roger PHF+4 Paul, George PHF+2 Webster, Dan PHF+1 Peeper, Bill PHF+2 Peterson, J. Judd PHF+1 Phillips, Roger V. PHF+1

RCO Members Who Have Served in the Military

Approximately every 3 months, Bob DeGrilla would recognize different groups of Veterans who were club members. Sometimes it would be by Branch of Service (everyone that served in the Navy, for example) and other times it would be by war which would be by dates and always included those who did not actually see combat but were active during the time period. By doing these recognition programs as well as National Holidays (Veterans Day, Armed Forces Day and Memorial Day), we always had an accurate roster of our member veterans. Aker. Ralph J, ------Army Allen, Linton------Army, Finance Dept. - Major Allen, Walter “Buckie” ------Army, Paratrooper, 87 Airborne Division A Second div., 1st Lt. Antink, Joseph------??? Pacific Theater, WWII Arnold, Jeffery C. ------Army Auger, James ------Air Force, Airman, Mobile Comm Squadron, Europe

Baker, William H ------Air Force, Lt Col- Bronze Star, Vietnam Beardall, William H."Bill"--- Air Force, Adv. training in B-25's - Night Fighter Bennett, Lee ------Navy, Helicopter Pilot Benoist, Louis E. ------French Army Corp of Engineers Benz, Lee------??? Bergman, Edward, Jr. ------Army Blackford, Robert------Army, Private 1St Class 1954-56 personnel spec. - Ft. Jackson, SC Bledsoe, Thomas W. ------??? Capt. - Vietnam War Blevens, Timothy------Navy, Submarines, Machinist mate 1967-1975 under the ice mission, Vietnam Bowman, Carter------Army - 9 years, Staff Sergeant Boyd, Raymond ------Army, Colonel, 1966-79 - Vietnam Branham, John T. (Jack) ---- ??? WWI Brooks, Rufus ------??? Medical Corp. Korean War Brownlee, Tom ------Army & Navy & Air Force (served in all 3 branches) Bull, Harry ------Navy, Aviation Machinist's Mate, WWII

Call, Floyd M. ------Army Reserve 1941, Colonel, WWII Carr, Ed ------Army, Medical Corps Casper, William ------Navy, 4JS - on submarines in Pacific Coll, Nelson ------Marine Corp - Vietnam Crotty, Dr. Garrett "Garry"-- ??? Vietnam Cunningham, Dave ------Army, Captain - Chaplain - Vietnam War

Daniel, Dr. William ------Navy, Lt. Col., Korean War DeGrilla, Robert------Army & Marine Corps, Vietnam Delgado, Dr. Robert ------Navy Denton, Talmadge J. ------??? Lt. Col. - Korea

Eady, Charles ------Army, Major Edwards, Judge Claude ------Army, Infantry Platoon Sgt. and Administrative NCO - European ---Theater – WWII Eldridge, Hixon ------Air Force

Fisher, Mark ------Army - Korea Ford, Robert ------Army Medical Corps Reserve, Captain, Vietnam Frankforth, Dr. Vincent ------??? Doctor, Medical Corps Frazier, Dr. Truett H. ------??? Medical Officer - WWII Fuller, A. George ------Air Force

Gaines, Pendleton J. ------Air Force Garceau, John ------Navy, Seaman 2nd Class, Vietnam Gary, Wilber ------Air Force, Korean War Gary II, Wilber------Army, 2nd Lt. Airborne Ranger, Libya, Haiti, Panama, Berlin --- (helped take down wall), Gulf War Geltz, Theodore (Spike) ----- Army - West Point Graduate - retired from the Air Force as Col., ------flew bombers in WWII and Korea Gies, Kurt R. ------Navy, Commander, Civil Engineer Corp Griffith, R. B. ------Navy, Lieutenant Guernsey, Joe ------Air Force - 1940 - Fighter pilot, Pacific Gurney, Thomas, Jr. ------Army Infantry

Haile, William E. ------Army Air Corps, Lieutenant Hammock, Ed------Army, attached to the English army- European theatre Hand, Stanley ------Air Force - Col. 1940 - B-17 pilot, 27 raids on Germany, ---Wing Cdr. Handley, Leon ------Merchant Marine, Cadet Colonel ROTC - Purser and Medical ------Technician; Army, Private; Air Force Captain Harding, Dr. Paul ------Navy, WWII Harper, Wayne ------Air Corps, P-47 Group in Europe, WWII Harris, James L. ------Army, WWII Harris, Lucien ------Navy, Pilot in Pacific Harris, Richard (Dick) ------Army, Air Corps, killed in Burma, only Gold Star member of RCO Harrison, Ron ------F1orida National Guard, Adjutant General Hartsaw, Ken E., Jr. ------Army Hatton, Dr. T. T. ------Army, Lt. Col. - Artillery - WWII Hawley, Don ------Navy - Lt. Commander - WWII Hebert, Jay ------Air Force - 1St Lieutenant - 1946-49 Heslep, Jeff------Air Force Hill, Victor M. ------Coast Guard, Lt. Junior Grade Holcomb, Dr. Rodney ------Navy, Reserve. Holbrook, Jesse ------Army, Major, Infantry in WWII Holly Dr. James ------Army - 1950-52 Hook, Cecil ------Army Howell, Arnold ------Army, Military Police, England and France, WWII

Huffman, George ------Air Force, Lt. Col. Vietnam Hughes, Robert ------Army, Korea Hughes, Russell ------Army - European Theater – WWII POW

Ingram, Dr. Hollis ------Army, Air Medical Corps, Captain

Jacobovitz, Donald B. ------Army, West Point Grad, Corps of Engineers James, William ------Army 82nd Airborne Division as an SSGE-6 Johnson, H. E. (Gene) ------Army, Capt. - WWII Johnson, Joe ------Navy, Lieutenant Jones, Harold R. ------Navy Jorgensen, Bill ------Merchant Marine, Engineer - WWII

Kaiser, John Patrick ------Navy - 6 years a ctive, Reserve Captain Kaplan, Howard------Army Reserve, National Guard, Helicopter Medic Unit, Vietnam Keith, James B. Jr. ------??? Capt. - Korea Kelly, James C. ------Army, Infantry Kerns, Harry D. ------Navy Kienth, Ken ------Air Force, Colonel Kirkwood, Lawrence------Marine Corps, Corporal, Vietnam Kirven, Reggie E. ------Air Force Knepper, Paul ------Marine Corps - Korean War Knipe, Patrick ------Army - Field Artillery Officer Kolin, Dr. Irvine S. ----- Navy, Commander of the Hospital at NTC, Orlando Kramer, Martin ------Air Force, 1968-1973 Kurir, Dennis ------Army Specialist 5 and Platoon Sgt. in Vietnam

Lawrence, Dick------Army, repair of light tanks Lykkebak, Don------Marines, Capt., Judge Advocate 1970-73, Vietnam

Mackie, Dr. John------Navy - WWII MacLeish, Robert L.------Air Force in the Philippines Marshall, Charles V. ------Air Force - Korean War McClung, Cloyd ------Air Corps - Major, Air Transport Command in the China-Burma -- ---Theater and Korea McConnell, James ------Army Major - WWII overseas McCoy, Michael ------Air force - Col. - 1940-55 Jet Bomber Pilot, Base C ommander, ------Orlando (Oct. 9, 1957 Henry Swanson was on his way to the Rotary club to be inducted when ---he saw McCoy's B-47 plane after it crashed near Ben White race track.) McCree, A. G. (Bert) ------Air Force - 1st. Lt. - Air Installations Office - 1953-54 McCree, W. A. (Bill) ----- Army - Lt. Col. - 1940-45 Ordinance, Australia McCurdy, Dr. Willard------Army Internal Medicine, Korean War. McEwan, Bruce ------Army, Sergeant McEwan, John S. (Jack) ---- Army Infantry Captain 1965-67 McEwan, J. S., MD ------??? Medical Corps, WWI

McEwan, 0. B. (Bo) --- Army, Lt. Col. - served with Patton, received Legion of Merit, ------Bronze Star, European Theater Ribbon with five campaign stars McEwan, Robert------Army, 1st Lieutenant - WWII McKee, William A, ------Army, Colonel McKey, Dr. John ------Navy, Lieutenant J. G. Meherg, Robert W. ------Army - Capt. Korean War Melbourne, Joseph A. ------Army Milligan, William H. ------Air Force Milligan, James M. ------Army Air Corp, commission Mills, George ------Army, Paratrooper - 87 Air Born, Vietnam Mills, Lord ------Army Reserve, Colonel – WWII Minietta, Eugene ------Air Force, Colonel, 1940 - Bomber Jet Pilot, Base Cdr., Orlando Murray, Dr. Lou ------Navy, South Pacific - WWII

Neel, Robert ------Army Air Corp, Captain, Pilot

Park, Arthur ------Army Calvary Reserve, Major Peeper, Bill ------Air Force Peterson, Clarence ------ROTC at UF, Army Field Artillery Captain, landed in Europe on -- ---D-Day - Battle of the Bulge Peterson, William “Bill” ---- Army Air Corps Pilot - WWII Pharr, Walter ------Army Air Corps, Pilot, Lt. Col., Pacific, - WWII Phelps, Julian ------Navy Phillips, Patrick------Air Force Pilot, Lt. Col., C-7A Caribou, C141 Transport, -Vietnam Phillips, Roger E.------Navy - commanded two ships in Vietnam War Phipps, Oliver ------Air Force, OSI special Agent 1982-1986 Pope, Alfred, V., Jr. ------Coast Guard Pottinger, Dann ------Army, E-5/Sgt, Headquarters Supplies, 2.5yrs in Germany Pratt, Mike ------Navy, 23 years; Vietnam

Regal, Ken ------Wisconsin National Guard - Korean War Robertson, Robert ------Navy, Lieutenant Robinson, Alex ------Army Air Corps, Captain Rodgers, Terrance (Terry) --- Air Force Rodman, Harry (Rod)------Air Force, Vietnam Roy, Dr. Wallace ------??? Capt. - Nutrition Officer - WWII Roy, W. V. (Bill) ------Army, South Pacific- WWII

Saavedra, Oswald T. ------Navy Scott, Dr. Thomas Irving ----- Army at West Point Seay Jr., Raleigh (Sandy)----- Army Shea, Darrel. Dr. ------Air Force, Surgeon Captain 1982-1984 Shugart, Robert B. ------??? Machine gun battalion, WWI Smith, Christopher Smith---- Navy as a hospital corpsman Stallard, Carl------Navy Cadet

Stanton, Curtis S ------Cadet Colonel of ROTC - resigned commission as 2nd Lieutenant - ---because he was needed for installations of steam turbines in ships and at military facilities Steward, Dr. William Dean -- Army - Far East - Bronze Star Stine, Joe ------Air Force, Captain Stine, Jon ------Air Force, First Lt. - Germany Stokes, James ------Navy Stowers, James (Jim) ------Navy, Korean War Strickler, Ronald ------Navy, Jet Fighter Pilot - 1952-56 Stump, Charles ------Capt. US Army Air Corps - WWII Swanson, Henry ------Navy Medical Corps, Senior 2nd Class, Hawaii, WWII

Taggart, John P. ------Navy, Vietnam Thames, T. Byron ------Air Force - Flight Surgeon Thomas, Henry ------Army - entered as a private, went to OTS, WWII Turner, N. James ------Army

Ungaro, Richard ------Navy, Vietnam

Vinson, Ray C. ------Army Medical Technician - Vietnam War Voorhees, Donald D. ------Navy Voorhis, Harry------Army, Paratrooper,82nd Airborne Division - Korean War

Wacker, Ken ------Lieutenant, US Navy - WWII Waller, Elwood (Red) ------US Army Air Corps - Fighter Pilot - WWII West, Clyde ------US Army Air Corps - Capt. - flew the "Hump" -- China to Japan Wincey, Charles ------Army Air Corps, Distinguished Flying Cross and Air Medal - flew ---30 missions over Germany as Chief Pilot, B-24 Pilot - WWII Whittle, Reed ------??? Ordnance Department Wooten, Carl ------??? 1942 enlistment

Young, George------USN Youmans, Kenneth D. ------Army

Zeliner, Dr. Robert ------Navy, Medical Officer, WWII Zimmerman, Bernard ------Army Zimmerman, Eugene M. ---- Navy

Index

Abrams, David, iv DeGrilla, Bob, iv, 12, 21, 23, 25, 27, 28, 30, 32, Adams, Mark, 37, 38, 40, 41 34, 36, 38, 39, 40, 81, 82 Aldridge, Megan, 45 Deisler, Sandra, 43 Allen, Buckie, 2, 5, 6, 7, 20 Demings, Jerry, 50 Baranowski, Ed, 8, 9, 11, 16 DeSantana, Christine, 46 Baskerville, Ruth, 23 Dieter, Steve, 7, 8, 9, 11, 13, 32, 34, 36, 37, 58, Battersley, Barbara, 8 62, 79 Bauchle, Carl, 1, 3, 5, 6 Doudney, Doug, iv, 2, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 37, 79, 81 Bennett, Lee, 3, 5, 7, 9, 13, 15, 19, 21, 25, 27, Dyer, Buddy, v, 16, 27, 33, 37, 42, 48, 50 32, 34, 63 Elston, Jan, 28 Benoist, Blaise, 13, 15, 19, 21, 23, 25, 27, 28, Estess, Sr., Glen E., 7 30, 52, 81 Eurton, Tori, 37 Benz, John, 81 Ewald, Bob, 12, 15, 17 Bersia, John, 21, 25, 30, 37, 39, 44 Fajardo, Jose, 21, 25, 56, 73 Blackford, Bob, iv, 81 Fegebank, Larry, 1, 3, 5, 7, 79 Blair, Elaine, 32 Ford, Bob, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 11, 34, 36, 38, 39 Blevins, Tim, 36, 38 Ford, Loren, 15 Boni, Tony, 18, 25, 27, 28, 30, 32, 45, 48, 62, 81 Fore, Ed, 43, 44 Bowden, Robert, 8, 21 Frazier, Jason, 14, 28, 30, 38, 40, 81 Bowman, Curley, 20, 25, 27, 28, 30, 32, 52 Furey, Ed, 9, 11 Brewer, Corey, 37 Garceau, John, 13, 15, 16, 19, 20, 21, 23, 52, 53, Brewerton, John, 9, 11, 17, 19 79, 80, 81 Brooks, Rufus, 2, 6, 60 Gardner, Calvin, 17, 19, 38, 40, 63, 68, 80 Brown, Art, 57 Gardner, Jamie (Sooter), 38 Brown, Sheri, 1, 3 Gardner, Susan, 38, 81 Brownlee, Tom, 6, 24 Gidus, Paul, 14, 30, 40, 41, 81 Buddy Dyer, Mayor, vii Glenda Hood, Mayor, 3 Bull, Harry, 6, 81 Guernsey, S. Kendrick, 20 Byrd, Jack, 52 Gurley, Jason, 32, 36 Cain, Gary, 20 Hand, Stanley, 6 Carr, Ed, 54 Handley, Leon, 2, 6, 8, 34, 39, 40, 81 Carsten, Keith, 52 Harris, Jim, 7, 8, 9 Chadwick, Howard, 63 Harris, Richard, 18, 44, 46, 49, 62, 63, 72, 81 Chapman, Ken, 47, 49, 57, 65, 70 Hawley, Don, 6 Chinoda, Anne, 54 Hebert, Jay, 1 Chotas, Lee, 14 Henry, David, 49, 71, 81 Clark, Grant, 8 Henry, Lisa, 45, 46, 49 Coll, Nelson, 43, 44 Higbee, Heather, 34, 36 Cook, Tom, 1, 3, 7 Holbrook, J.P., 35, 63 Crabtree, Dick, 11, 15, 18, 23 Holbrook, Jesse, 6 Crumbaker, Kelly, 34, 36, 38 Hollis, Barbara, 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 14, 17 Dasher, Art, 41, 43, 81 Hood, Charlie, 2, 5, 7 Dean, Mary Ann, iv, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 39, 44, 52, 63, Hood, Glenda, Mayor, 2, 5, 12 79, 80, 81 Howell, Arnold, 2, 4, 6, 8, 16, 18, 81 DeFrancesco, Lisa, 8, 9, 11, 21, 23, 80, 81

Huffman, George, iv, 1, 3, 5, 9, 11, 16, 20, 47, McCree, Marie, 11 48, 57, 58, 66, 72, 79, 80, 81 McCree, Sr, Richard, 40 Hunter, Christopher, 30, 81 McEwan, Jack, 6 Ibarra, Vince, 43, 44 McGonigal, Ed, 31, 32, 33, 34 Isenhart, Heidi, iv, 18, 21, 23, 25, 27, 28, 39, 60, McGuire, Dorsa, 1, 2 63, 79, 81 McWhirter, Diane, 33, 81 Ison, Pam, 5, 7, 11, 13, 30, 35, 41, 43 Meyer, Sara, 14, 15, 16, 19, 21, 23, 25, 27, 28, Jackson, Dennis, 5, 7 30, 32 Jacobs, Betsy, 30, 32 Michaels, Dennis, 21, 23, 24 Jacobson, Roger, 18, 24, 27, 28, 32, 34, 36, 45, Micheo, Gem, 57 62, 79 Miller, Art, 3, 11, 13, 81 Jensen, Ron, 50 Miller, Tom, 1 Johnson, Earle, 57 Mills, George, 6, 43, 44, 81 Johnson, Scott, 81 Minietta, Gene, 6, 7, 9 Johnson, Woody, 12 Monachino, Patrick, 52 Jones, Lee, 8, 11, 16 Moody, Bob, 18, 24, 27, 28 Joyce, David, 22, 32, 34, 38, 44, 46, 80, 81 Moody, Don, 39, 72, 81 Kaplan, Howard, 12, 23, 24, 25, 45, 80, 81 Moreira, Jonathas, 12, 81 Katz, Norberto, 22, 28, 30 Nason, Walt, 5, 7, 22, 37, 81 Kelly, James, 22 Neel, Bob, 5, 6, 7, 26, 54 Kirkwood, Larry, 9, 11, 18, 23, 25, 27, 33, 39, O'Donnell, Robin, 57 63, 79, 80, 81 Olsen, Tom, 15, 18, 19, 21 Kittinger, Joe, 5, 35, 45, 46 Olson, Jane, 21, 52 Knepper, Lynn, 7, 9, 11, 24 Oppenheimer, Ross, 36, 38, 39, 40, 41, 43 Knepper, Paul, 1, 2, 3, 8 Owens, Richard, 52 Knipe, Ron, 13, 15 Pace, Greg, 30, 32, 36, 38, 40, 80, 81 Knous, Joe, 40, 41, 44, 45, 46, 47, 81 Palmer, Linda, 1 Kramer, Marty, 23, 56, 57 Partlow, Peter, 8, 11, 17, 19, 38, 41, 43, 67, 81 Kramer, Michelle, 56 Paul, George, 20, 21, 23, 28, 29, 52, 81 Krise, Danielle, 32, 34, 36, 38, 40, 57 Peeper, Bill, iv, 21, 32, 34, 41, 43, 44, 45, 46, 49, Kurir, Denny, 19, 21, 52, 56, 57, 77, 80, 81 62, 74, 81 Labosco, Sonya, 57 Persaud, Rene, 24, 28, 30, 39, 55 Laney, Andrew, 22, 36, 38 Peterson, Bill, 69 Leedy, Bill, 27, 28 Peterson, Judd, 3, 5, 28, 45, 69, 72, 81 Lovelace, DeDe, 15, 17, 19, 23, 52 Pharr, Walter, 6 Lovett, Britt, 1, 3, 7, 59, 79, 80, 81 Phillips, Pat, iv, 6, 17, 19, 20, 38, 40, 43, 44, 46, Lowe, Debra, 57 49, 50, 52, 62, 80, 81, 85 Lykkebak, Don, 34, 36, 41, 43, 44, 80, 81 Phillips, Roger, 81 MacLeish, Bob, 1, 6, 19, 21, 25, 27 Phipps, Bob, 45, 48, 62 Mann, Kimberly, 37 Phipps, Ollie, 14, 28, 30, 52, 62, 73 Marsch, Sadia 30, 44, 46, 47, 48, 57, 81 Polejes, Craig, 30, 81 Marshall, Stewart, 16, 52, 81 Pottinger, Dann, 18, 23, 25, 27, 28, 30, 37, 79 McCowen, Bert, 81 Pratt, Mike, 24, 37, 40, 41, 54 McCree, Bert, 1, iv, 1, 4, 7, 11, 13, 40, 51, 52, Reich, Tom, iv, 57, 80, 81 54, 60, 81 Rodman, Rod, 28, 30 McCree, Jr., Richard, 16, 17, 19, 34, 36, 38, 40, Rolf, Linda, 23, 25, 30, 31, 32, 34, 63, 79 41, 81 Rowe, Alan, 12, 25, 27 McCree, Jr., W. A., 40 Roy, Wally, 10

Saavedra, Oswald, 18, 20, 24, 25, 31, 37, 39, 52, Taggart, John, 22, 57, 75, 80, 81 55, 56 Tart, Thomas, iv, 81 Sacha, Tom, 57 Territo, Greg, 44, 46, 48, 49, 50, 57, 64 Sandquist, Diane, 5, 7, 9 Thames, Byron, 1, iv, 21, 27, 47, 54, 56, 59, 75, Saul, Jim, 45 80, 81 Schafer, Michael, 9 Thompson, Emerson, 46, 76, 81 Schneider, Tom, 33, 63 Thompson, Geraldine, 44 Scott, Ken, 1, 3, 5, 7 Thompson, Kirk, 30, 32 Scott, Tom, 15, 17 Tyo, Ron, iv, 44, 46, 81 Searle, Andy, 45 Ungaro, Rich, iv 32, 34, 36, 38, 40, 41, 43, 44, Seay, Sandy, 11, 13, 15, 17 46, 57, 77, 80, 81 Serros, Bob, 33, 37, 81 Uniken Venema, Theodora, 81 Shafer, Alan, 57 Van der Made, Gerardus, 81 Shafer, Michael, 11, 13, 15, 17 Van Arsdel, Sara, 21, 25, 27 Shea, Darrell, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19, 23, 52, 56, 57, Venovski, Sasha, 45 79 Voorhis, Harry, 8, 52, 80, 81 Sherin, Kevin, 31, 37, 42, 81 Walker, Jody, 36, 38, 40, 41, 43, 80, 81 Shuffield, Charlie, 1, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21, 23, 53 Ward, Kathy, 11, 13, 58 Simmons, Catherine, 81 Washick, Robert, 57 Smith, Pam, 15, 17 Wells, Jr., Joel, 63 Sooter, Jamie, 40, 41, 43, 44, 46, 49, 80, 81 Wesley, Bob, 12, 21, 23 Stallard, Carl, 36, 38, 81 West, Clyde, 4, 6 Star, Liz, 36 Whitney, Chris, 46, 49, 81 Stewart, William, 33, 81 Williford, Dave, 8, 17 Stine, Joe, iv, 16, 80, 81 Wilson, Bill, 23, 24, 25, 81 Stine, Jon, iv, 13, 19, 24, 27, 30, 36, 37, 39, 40, Wilson, Evelyn, 7, 9, 15, 17 45, 47, 51, 55, 58, 59, 60, 80, 81 Wincey, Charley, 6 Stowers, Chris, 33 Woodall, Sandra, 44 Stowers, Jim, iv, 1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 13, 15, 16, Woodbury, Roger, 3, 5, 8, 24 17, 19, 20, 21, 23, 25, 34, 35, 37, 41, 43, 44, Woodley, Arto, 37 46, 47, 54, 55, 56, 57, 60, 80, 81 Youmans, Kenny, 14, 81 Stuart, George, 22, 57 Young, Mike, 30, 48, 62, 81 Sugaya, Kimi, 37, 38, 40, 41, 42, 48, 81 Young, Scott, 48 Swanson, Henry, 4, 6, 20, 23, 84 Zimmerman, Ben, 81 Swindle, Michael, 81 Zimmerman, Jan, 27

Addendum

THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC AND ITS IMPACT ON THE CLUB By Bill Peeper, President 2019-20

The Coronavirus was first identified in Wuhan, China in December of 2019, and according to the New York Times article May 15, 2020, the Virus was publicly confirmed as being in the U. S. at the end of February, 2020 when it was believed that there were a few hundred cases in Seattle, Washington but the disease was probably carried from China by a traveler to the US in mid- January.

By April 1, 2020, Governor Ron DeSantis issued a “Stay-at-home order” for the entire state meaning that all non-essential businesses must close. Citizens were order ed to stay at home except for food, medical and other essential services. For the safety of our members, our Face-to-Face meetings on Thursdays were halted beginning March 12th an d on April 9th we began holding meetings online with quite a bit of success using a Virtual application called Zoom.

Our May 2020 Swan Boat Race at Lake Eola, chaired by Greg Territo, had to be cancelled. The purpose of this event is to raise funds and gather school supplies for A Gift For Teaching, an organization dedicated to providing school supplies for teachers so they would not have to purchase out of their own pockets needed items not provided by the Orange County Public Schools.

We postponed our 100th Anniversary Gala, chaired by Sadia Marsch, that was to be held May 16th at the Country Club of Orlando. It was rescheduled for September 16th at the Country Club. On May 12th, we held a “Zoom Celebration” online. Over 115 attendees saw Mayor Buddy Dyer present a proclamation from the City of Orlando designating May 12, 2020, The Rotary Club of Orlando Day in the City of Orlando.

The impact the Pandemic allowed the club to assist in providing food for students at four “Title 1” elementary schools. These are schools serving students and families generally in need of financia l assistance with children receiving at least two meals a day, at no charge, at the school. During the months of July and August there was no school, thus no meals were to be provided by the schools. The club undertook the challenge of raising $25,000 to provide funds for the schools to purchase food from the Second Harvest Food Bank and then distribute to needy families who were challenged even more by the closing of the economy and often loss of otherwise low-paying jobs. The club used the free online fundraising application called GoFundMe as a vehicle to collect funds from club members and the community at large.

As of this writing on May 19, 2020, we are anxiously awaiting direction from the Governor to be allowed to resume our regular in-person club meetings.

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