Last Tuesday was a beautiful day outside, and pretty bright and sunny inside, when President Sigur rang the bell right on time! Jim Clary led us in song and started us off with # 63, “Row, Row, Row Your Boat”. A few people had trouble with the words but we made it through. We concluded with the first verse of #6, “America, The Beautiful”. No problem with the words there at all! The invocation was thoughtfully delivered by David Brandt.
School of the week: James Monroe Elementary.
Jim Baker delivered the Visitation Report. He advised that Ann Baldwin tripped while coming out of Chrysler Hall recently and suffered a back injury. She is still in a moderate amount of pain but hopes to be back with us next week so hopefully no serious damage. We’re thinking of you Ann! Otherwise, all appears quiet.
Barbara Lipskis handled the Introduction of Guests. We had one guest, Toni Carcace-Bershears with the Great Bridge Rotary Club. Toni took time to mention the Club’s upcoming 9th annual Rotary Rumble which is being held on Saturday, May 11th and is a major fund raiser for the Club.
The Club was then introduced to our two newest Rotarians. Dyteya Lewis, introduced by President Sigur, is the Director of Human Services for Park Place School, a private Christian school in Norfolk that serves at-risk elementary age children. Dyteya graduated Magna Cum Laude from Piedmont College with BA degrees in both Psychology and Political Science. She holds a Masters in Public Administration from Regent University. She served as the Senator of the Robinson School of Government and President of Christians United for Israel at Regent University. She serves on the Board of the Focus Center in Norfolk and is a very active member of First Baptist Church in Downtown Norfolk where she serves as Ministerial Lay Leader for Christian Education.
Our second new member, Michelle Nettles, was introduced by Dona Overstreet. Michelle, a proud Hokie, received her Bachelor of Science degree from Virginia Tech and a Masters in Education from Virginia Commonwealth University. She taught physics, biology and chemistry in the Richmond area for 16 years before changing direction to pursue her BA in Interior Design. She gained experience in hotel, restaurant and residential design before creating the successful MUN & Associates Interiors, a full service interior design firm located in Atlanta. She has served both as President and Board member of the Atlanta Designers’ Network. She also served on the advisory Board for the interior design program at Gwinnett Tech. Her husband, Bill, is a construction executive working for Harbor Group Management in Norfolk.
Welcome Dyteya and Michelle to the Rotary Club of Norfolk!
And then there were some fines!
- Jennifer Palestrant paid to ask for financial support for the independent artists that were impacted by the explosion and fire at the Selden Arcade . She explained that many do not have insurance to cover the damages and losses and advised of a fundraiser being held on Sunday, May 5th from 2 to 5 PM with proceeds to go to the d’Art Center.
- John Lynn anted up in celebration of the announcement that his 42 year old son is getting married! He may be late by some people’s measures but takes his time on making the more important decisions. Usually results in fewer regrets!! Congratulations John!
- Bill Burnette paid for some good news. His wife, Betsy, just underwent some medical testing and the results were all good! We all share in Bill’s great news!
- Joanne Batson paid for some nice publicity in a recent “Inside Business “article. Thanks Joanne for your good work with The Foodbank!
- Harry McCoy pulled his wallet out to honor all the good work that Cynthia Carter-West does with the Virginia Arts Festival. Harry had some out-of-town friends come to Norfolk just to attend the Virginia International Tattoo and heard about it through Cynthia’s great marketing efforts.
- James Finian O’Brien paid in honor of his 44th wedding anniversary. His lovely wife is now referred to as Saint Diane! Congratulations to Jim (and Diane)!!
- Lynne Berg anted up in celebration of her 6th year serving as the Executive Director of Primeplus (Norfolk Senior Center. Very important work and congratulations to Lynne!
- And finally, Sharon Laderberg paid up to promote the Susan G. Komen’s “Pink-o de Mayo” fundraiser scheduled for 6 to 9 PM on Friday, May 1st at the Weston, Town Center. Another great cause!
The Vice President in Charge of Programs is Bryce Burton. The Rotarian of the Day was Irv Wells, who introduced our guest speakers, Virginia Marine Police officers Donald Bond and Bryant Stephens. Officer Bond has been with the agency since 2011 and has become a field training officer for the Department’s Southern area. He has received the Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) award as the agency’s top producer of DUI/BUI (boating under the influence) enforcement for the past two years and is on track to receive it again this year. He is a graduate of the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Glynco, GA and has been deputized as a Special Agent for the National Marine Fisheries and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Officer Bond stated that a big part of their job was enforcing the State’s regulations covering commercial fishing. He mentioned that a significant number of the oysters that are consumed around the world come from the James River and commercial fishing is a big part of our local economy. They work hard to enforce regulations that prohibit fishing in polluted waters in order to help insure that all fish products caught in our area are “fit to eat”.
He described the job of the Virginia Marine Police Officer as, “part StateTrooper, Game Warden and Coast Guard member.” He and his fellow officers work hard to enforce both the State’s fishing and boating regulations. He mentioned that he likes working at night because “that is when things generally happen.”
He told the story of recently apprehending a poacher who had illegally caught over 3 tons of fish which, by the way, resulted in his lost of fishing privileges for four years and some pretty hefty fines. He also explained that a big part of their job is enforcing safety on the water.
Many times, they are faster to respond to water borne accidents than the Coast Guard simply because they have less initial regulations to address and preparations to make before getting underway. They do work closely with both Norfolk Marine Police and the Coast Guard with respect to checking for boat safety and poaching. He described a big part of his job as “fun” and cautioned any would be law breakers in the audience that, “it is hard to outrun Motorola.” Very enlightening presentation!!
The Raffle: The local pot ($14) was pocketed by Carlisle Wroton. The Big pot remained elusive and is still up for grabs.
Next Week’s Speaker: Rodger Schoonover (related to our own Eleanor), who works with the General Dynamics Company, will talk to us about “The Middle East and America’s Role.”
Have a great week everybody!
