Rotary Club of Oak Ridge
History Rotary Year 2016-2017
Board of Directors
President Jenifer Campbell
President-Elect Jeff Cheek
Vice-President Tom Beehan
Secretary Anne Dunthorn
Treasurer Jeff Phillips
Past-President Jack Bailey
Immediate Past-Pres David Bradshaw
Director – Foundation Adolf King
Director–Vocational Service Jennifer Enderson
Director-Community Service Nancy Harrison/Tracy Boatner
Director – New Generations Carroll Welch/Mary Jane White
Director Governor Staff
Governor Fred Heitman
Assistant Governor Dave Mason
Membership: July 1, 2016 – 110 Members (3 Honorary) through June 30, 2017 – 102 (2 Honorary)
New Members: (+4)
Rory Naeve , JR Hertwig, Tony South, Don Paradez
Members Lost: (-13)
Attendance: Average Attendance for Rotary Year 2016-2017 was 79.32%. Eleven (11) Club members achieved perfect attendance.
Special Recognitions
- Rotarian of the Year Adolf King
- Vocational Scholarships ($1,000 each) Trent Heston, Rilee Walls and Ethan Kridelbaugh
- Bill Sergeant Vocational Service Award Mel Sturm, Nominated by Larry Beeman. Throughout Mel’s long business career as an entrepreneur and renowned retailer, he devoted time and resources to his community. His most noteworthy service has been the creation of an endowment fund 40 years ago in partnership with the Rotary Club of Oak Ridge that has presented over $150,000 in scholarships to over 100 Oak Ridge High School seniors who demonstrated knowledge and an understanding of the American free enterprise system. The club donated $1,000 in Mel’s name to the Brad Sturm Memorial Scholarship Fund.
- Vocation-at-Work Jeffery Hayden, sponsored by the Emory Valley Center
- Brad Sturm Memorial Scholarship The following winners were announced on April 20th by Barry Stephenson: Carinne Cheney, Noah Hylton, and Madison Loggins. The book the students read this year was “From Silk to Silicon: The Story of Globalization through 10 Extraordinary Lives” by Jeffrey Garden. To date, $150,000 in scholarships have been awarded.
- 4-Way Speech Contest Amadou Mbaye
Club Honors Received
- Rotary Serving Humanity Patch
- Rotary Foundation Centennial Patch
- Hunters for the Hungry Patch
- Miller Follin District Attendance Award
- Lacy-Bomar Award of Excellence, Third Place for Newsletters
- Lacy-Bomar Award of Excellence, Third Place for Street Painting Festival Fundraiser
- Polio Eradicator Club
- Star Club
- Globe Club
- Youth Event Sponsor Award
International Service
- The 2015-2016 International Rotary Conference for the incoming leadership was held in Seoul, South Korea in April 2016. Club members in attendance at the conference included District Governor, Fred Heitman and Jenifer Campbell.
- The 2016-2017 International Rotary Conference was held in Atlanta, Georgia on June 10-14, 2017. Some 16 RCOR members attended the conference which included Bill Gates, John Cena, Andrew Young, Jack Nicklaus, and Ashton Kutcher as speakers.
- RCOR was awarded a Global Grant in the amount of $96,773.75 for our Ghana Medical Education and Technology Mission Project. GG1530003 was headed by Dr. Elaine Bunick and supported by club member Dr. Adolf King, his wife Carol and daughter Renee. The scope of the grant included malaria prevention training, installation of bathroom facilities along with upgrades and repairs to the existing medical facility to bring it up to standards needed for a maternity ward and other medical uses. While in Ghana in July 2017, the medical team that accompanied Dr. Bunick treated over 1,600 patients in 9 days.
- RCOR hosted 30 students and counselors from the Ulster Project at our club meeting on July 21, 2017
- Two RCOR members, Anne Dunthorn and Elaine Bunick, participated in a Heart-2-Heart project trip in Mexico November 2-9, 2017
- The RCOR hosted Youth Exchange Student Amadou Mbaye from France. He attended Oak Ridge High School during the school year. Host families included Club member Tom and Brenda Thornburg and Jan Melcher and her husband Chuck.
District Activities
- Three RCOR members held District Positions: Fred Heitman served as District Governor, Jenifer Campbell served as District Treasurer, and Carol Welch held the position of District Inbound Youth Exchange Chair.
- Received a $5,000 District Grant to support a Community Garden in the Scarboro Community to help provide fresh produce for local foodbanks. PDG Jack Bailey led this effort.
- RCOR Rotarian David Carr was recognized at the District Conference Yana Crowley of ORHS
- RCOR sponsored 5 members from the Oak Ridge High School and Robertsville Middle School Interact Clubs as participants the RYLA program and many Interactors attended the Interact Conference in Pigeon Forge in September 2016. Five OR Interactors won awards at the Conference.
- Our club sponsored T’Yana Crowley of ORHS in the James L Bomar Interact Scholarship competition.
- RCOR sponsored Oak Ridge High School Student Amadou Mbaye in the District 6780 4-Way Speech Contest. He presented his speech to the club on March 9, 2017, and competed in the District 4-Way Speech competition on April 1, 2017..
- RCOR had 25 attendees at the District Conference in Chattanooga April 21-22, 2017.
- Jennifer Enderson served as the District Conference Registration Chair and Jenifer Campbell served as the District Conference.
- RCOR provided 5 items for the Silent Auction to raise money for Polio at the District Conference: UT Football Autographed by Coach Butch Jones, Rotary Corn Hole Set, Panoramic Photograph of Denali, and a Bed Spread .
- Bunick had a booth in the House of Friendship to display the work of our Ghana medical mission Global Grant and sold packs of note cards with pictures from Ghana.
- RCOR Sponsored a hole in the amount of $350 at the District Golf Tournament at Lookout Mountain Golf Course.
- Rotarian David Carr was recognized by Roy Helton, Rotary Club of Pigeon Forge, winner of the 1st “John Germ Rotarian Serving Humanity Award” for David’s support in managing the Oak Ridge Rotary Community Fund as the mechanism to take in and supply funds to the Boyd’s Bear Center. Over $250,000 was collected for this effort in the ORRCF.
Major Donors – 9
Paul Harris Fellows – 100%
Rotary Foundation Sustaining Members –
- Exceeded our goals with a record contribution of $32,000 to the Rotary Foundation and $8,500 to Polio Plus.
Highlights of Service Projects and Programs
- District Governor Fred Heitman made his official Club visit on August 2, 2016, when he met with the 3 Oak Ridge Rotary Club Boards.
- The first Annual RCOR Golf Tournament was held a Centennial Golf Course on Friday, September 23, 2016. This fundraiser was chaired by Rotarian Don Tillar and raised close to $3,000 which was used as the club share of our District Grant for the Scarboro Community Garden.
- The 17th Annual Street Painting Festival raised over $11,000 for scholarships at Roane State Community College.
- Seven Club members represented RCOR at the Membership/Foundation/New Generation Seminar
- On November 16, 2016 at the fundraiser kickoff at Pollard Auditorium, the three Oak Ridge Rotary Clubs donated $10,000 to the Oak Ridge Peace Pavilion which will serve as a new housing for the Peace Bell.
- RCOR had 7 attendees at the District 6780 Million Dollar Dinner on November 19, 2016 at Cherokee Country Club. The Dinner was a special event to celebrate and raise funds for the 100th anniversary of The Rotary Foundation. A $10,000 donation was required to attend and the dinner raised a total of $3,675,000 for The Rotary Foundation.
- The Annual Meeting for the election of officers and a club assembly was held on December 15, 2017
- The RCOR hosted a 4-Way Speech Test Contest which was won by the only contestant, Amadou Mbaye.
- In recognition of World Rotary Day, the ORRC partnered with the Breakfast and Sunset Rotary Clubs of Oak Ridge to develop an insert related to Rotary members and activities that was included in the Oak Ridge Observer Newspaper.
- The 3 Oak Ridge Rotary Clubs held a joint fundraiser at the Oak Ridge Marina called the “Flatwater Festival.” It brought in some $7,000 and netted around $1,000 in profit. $200 of that was donated to the Emory Valley Center in memory of Rotarian Dr. Gene Caldwell who passed away this year.
- The Oak Ridge Founders Scholarship will now be managed by RCOR. A total of $150,000 was in the fund and Rotarian Scott Smith spearheaded the effort to bring the fund under our control.
- RCOR partnered with the Rotary Club of Clinton to sponsor a new Rotaract Club at Roane State Community College. RCOR Rotarian Adolf King will serve as the school liaison.
- Met the District Governor’s Goal for a Service Project each month with the following:
- July – Hunters for the Hungry Program
- August – Soles for Souls
- September – Golf Tournament to Raise funds for OR Community Garden
- October – Street Painting Festival to benefit Roane State Foundation
- November – Dental Services
- December – Sevier County Firestorm- Victim Support Project
- January – Food Bank Support
- February – Sevier County Firestorm- Victim Support Project
- March – Solar Light Project in South Africa
- April – Secret City Commemorative Walk Clean Up
- May – Distribute Soap and Shampoo to charity
- June –Flatwater Festival