RING THEM BELLS

Members of Orangeburg Rotary Morning at Wal-Mart, December 1, 2007, ringing the bell for Salvation Army.

Howard Hill and yours truly.

Bill Barret and Brenda Austin were ready to put on that red apron, but Howard was too busy catching up with the two thirds of all Wal Mart shoppers who were his former students to notice.

Wendell Davis, in a shy mood. The Chief overcame his natural reticence to allow a picture to be taken.

Loretta Davis, GSE Team In the News

Saturday morning, while some of us were ringing the bell for Salvation Army in front of Wal-Mart, readers of the Times and Democrat were learning about Detective Loretta Davis and the GSE team to South Africa. Let me quote from Richard Walker's article on the Dec 1 front page:

DPS officer experiences more than law enforcement in South Africa

December 01, 2007 One Orangeburg resident and public servant found the people of this foreign land to be little different from those people here."It was the most rewarding experience of my life," said Orangeburg Department of Public Safety Lt. Loretta Davis. "So much happened, but the people of South Africa were so wonderful."The 41-year-old Davis was part of this year's Rotary Club Group Study Exchange, a program aimed at fostering learning between different communities throughout the world.The annual exchange is sponsored through donations collected by Rotary District 7770, which encompasses roughly half of the Palmetto State, said District 7770 Assistant Governor Mary Scarborough of the Rotary Club of Orangeburg Morning.

The visiting Orangeburg officer said she saw towns as wealthy as any here in the States, particularly around the gold and diamond mining towns.But there are also entire neighborhoods consisting entirely of fragile structures that hardly qualified as shacks. Some had only three walls, some didn't have that. For others, running water is simply a luxury of the rich."It was a life-changing experience for me," Davis said. "I always thought I was a person who was humble. Seeing how people live in South Africa, and to see how we live in the U.S.? And to see poverty at that level? It made me
realize how blessed I am."

But here's the line Wendell Davis and Bill Carter may be MOST interested in:

"It's changed my life," she said of the time spent there. "I may even become a Rotarian."

"May?"

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Also in the news, as usual for a sunday, is Howard Hill. No Rotarian in Orangeburg, and no student, friend, or colleague of Dr. Hill, will doubt his commitment to education, so his comments on the No Child Left Behind act are well worth our consideration. Let me quote from his conclusion.

A mandate is needed for involving parents in their children's education. The reworking of NCLB legislation must have variables to ensure that PreK-12 educational outcomes will eventually rival the industrialized nations. But the U.S. Congress nor the nation's president possesses the authority to insist that parents be intimately involved in the education of children. This is a major shortcoming that, short of a fiat, might pose a dilemma for NCLB.

The heavy lifting of U.S. education policy is carried out by children. This is an incongruent picture regarding a cultural revolution that is needed to revitalize U.S. public school education. Parents cheerlead for their children; however, their roles must be more concerted for advantageous choices and decisions on their behalf to emerge. This is certainly not requesting too much of them.

Rotary International and Gates Foundation commit $200 million to eradicate polio

Had you heard?

EVANSTON, Ill., U.S.A. (Nov. 26, 2007) -- Rotary International today announced a partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation that will inject a much-needed US$200 million into the global campaign to eradicate polio, a crippling and sometimes fatal disease that still paralyzes children in parts of Africa, Asia and the Middle East and threatens children everywhere.

The Rotary Foundation has received a $100-million Gates Foundation grant, which Rotary will raise funds to match, dollar-for-dollar, over three years. The Evanston-based volunteer service organization will spend the initial $100 million within one year in direct support of immunization activities carried out by the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), a partnership spearheaded by the World Health Organization (WHO), Rotary International, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and UNICEF.

"The extraordinary dedication of Rotary members has played a critical role in bringing polio to the brink of eradication," says Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. "Eradicating polio will be one of the most significant public health accomplishments in history, and we are committed to helping reach that goal."

The polio eradication grant is one of the largest challenge grants ever given by the Gates Foundation and the largest grant received by Rotary in its 102-year history. Polio eradication has been Rotary’s top priority since 1985. Since then, Rotary has contributed $633 million to the eradication effort.

Read more here.

For video and photos go to: www.thenewsmarket.com/rotaryinternational
For more information visit http://www.polioeradication.org/

Rotary Shares

Let me pass along this message from Bill Carter, OrangeburgMorning Rotary President:
We who have been blessed so greatly have the opportunity to share with those who have been less fortunate. Taylor is coordinating with the Red Cross to identify needy families with whom we can share. This year's theme is "Rotary Shares". We would like to know how many of you would like to help adopt a family by buying one gift, or even adopt an entire family by buying a gift for each child in the family. Family size range for one to five children. You can even choose you size of family. Please let Bill or Taylor know if you would like to participate and at what level. Taylor will make sure the gifts get to the right families.

The Orangeburg Clubs Prepare for their Largest Annual Fundraiser

Is this the car of your dreams?

Or is this more your style?

Maybe this?

Orangeburg rotarians in both the Orangeburg Morning and the "lunch club" (Orangeburg Rotary) have tickets to the Feb 1, 2008 annual Rotary Rally at the Garden Room in the Orangeburg Mall. Purchase one, and you may win one of these vehicle, or choose from a dozen different vehicles. Second and third prize winners will also be chosen: you may win a weekend at Edistor Beach, or 2 tickets to the Heritage Golf Classic.

These prizes are our way of asking for support for our many local community programs, as well as for the opportunities we provide for students and other members of the community to grow into leaders.

Music will be profided by Riptide. The event itself is well worth the price of the admission. Tickets are $100 (a $20 spouse/guest ticket is available).

New Meeting Location

Until further notice, we will be meeting at the Saint Andrews United Methodist Church fellowship hall located at 1980 Columbia Rd. That's at the intersection of Columbia Rd and Chestnut St. A special thanks goes out to Mike Dennis who got the approval for us to meet there from his Pastor, Mike Smith. Please plan to enter the building through the Church office door on the Columbia Rd side of the building.

Edisto United Way Day of Caring, Sept. 21

Rotarians like me who missed the email from Ann Hurst Tuesday evening telling us that we would be meeting in the Carolina Room of the Cinema found a white board on our meeting space telling us where to go. Nonetheless, when we found it, the coffee was hot, the food was delicious, the fellowship inviting, and the speaker informative. Debra Smith of Edisto United Way was there to talk about their Day of Caring 2007, Friday September 21st, kicking off the fundraising campaign for Calhoun and Orangeburg Counties. The United Way of the Midlands serves a region in which, according to statistics Debra shared with us, over 22,000 households live below the poverty level. They support charitable organizations that are no stranger to committed Rotarians: American Red Cross, Habitat for Humanity, Project Life: Positeen, Boys and Girls Club, among many other worthy causes. On the 21st, they are bringing Craig Melvin of WIS-TV to the Campus of South Carolina State University as a featured speaker for their day of caring (our own Howard Hill is also on the panel).

Interested in attending? Click here for more information.

Club Notes: We passed around sign up sheets for RIDDE and the Dictionary project. These are great projects to support our elementary schools, and they need your support. Please let Vernetta (dictionaries) or Wendell (RIDDE) know if you are interested, but missed your chance to sign up. . . As of 9/18, the GSE team was at their mid-tour break, at the Gallop Inn in Colesburg, South Africa, "home of the infamous Horse and Mill pub/restaurant." Check out their progress at http://www.gse7770safrica.blogspot.com/. Also, if you have not already done so, check out Bill Carter's photos of the GSE team at http://picasaweb.google.com/billcarter393. . .Congratulations to our newest Paul Harris Society Member, Beverly Gilmore.