DAVID J ZIMMERMAN
President 2007 - 2008
91st President of the Rotary Club of Charlotte
By Marilynn Bowler
     
From Herb Harriss' Red Blinking Nose and Natalie English's cartwheels to Catherine Browning giving Phil Van Hoy the evil eye and Fred Lowrance's cups…Somewhere in there the gavel got passed.
 
From outgoing president Luther Moore's recap of this past year and his fond message of "Thanks!" to incoming president David Zimmerman's enthusiastic … "No Charlotte Rotary president has ever died in office and I do not plan to change that this year." … the passing of the gavel signaled the end of one great year and the beginning of another. David spoke of the privilege he feels as he assumes his role as our president, and applauded Luther for his service, his deep caring for our club, and his mentoring in preparing David for this important job. With the wit and wisdom typical of our outstanding young president, David laid out several objectives which he plans to oversee during his term in office. Offering no apologies for borrowing Martin Waters' theme from his presidency in 1985 - "Goals Unset Are Goals Unmet" - David listed some of the goals the new board has set for this year.
 
Programs will focus on business speakers, people who make a difference in our community and region, and topics that are of interest to us all. Dangling a few carrots before us to whet our appetites, David noted programs already on the schedule include the developer of Epicenter, Krispy Kreme Chairman Jim Morgan, the "dean of great presentations" Ty Boyd, and National PBS President Paula Kerger. International Projects will take center stage this year, ranging from the library project in Katmandu to the water project in Arequipa, to a number of worthy new programs created to make life better for those in need around the world. We are, indeed, our brothers' keepers. A fellowship committee has been formed because, in David's droll delivery, "Believe it or not, many of you have told me that you actually like each other." This new committee is charged with coming up with enjoyable activities that appeal to our varied members. Bowling, anyone??? Mah Jong??? Book Club??? It'll be fun to see what this ingenious group proposes.
 
The membership committee has been charged to increase total membership in our club by eight members, a goal not easily achieved considering the number of members who are lost via job transfers, et cetera. The achievement of this goal will need to be an effort on the part of all of us but one way to boost our overall membership is to keep new members interested and active, according to our new prez. "This is a big club, and I'm afraid that all too often we get a new, enthusiastic member who we then manage to make 'unenthusiastic' by giving him/her nothing to do," said David. Hence, he has created a new committee called The New Member Committee. In David-speak, "Basically, if you have joined the club since January 1, congratulations, you are on this committee and so is anyone else who joins between now and the end of the year." The gist of this committee is to get new members involved and allow them to get to know each other.
 
And, lastly, President David plans to resurrect the all-County meeting wherein once a year all Rotary clubs in the county would meet together. Feasibly, this could be spearheaded by our club but depends, quite frankly, on our ability to find a speaker that is truly outstanding. Stay tuned …Closing his remarks with a quick reference to an article addressing the secret to their success as written by the marketing director of Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus, David cited the fact that each year they create something new and unexpected while still providing the familiar that everyone expects and wants. One could only sit at a table at our Rotary Club today and feel a sense of excitement and growth. And under David Zimmerman, there's so much on the horizon.

Head Table: Leland Park, Chuck Lew, Luther Moore, David Zimmerman, Tom Robertson,
Tom Bartholomy, David Anderson
Invocation: Catherine Browning
Visitors & Guests: Tigger Alexander; Health & Happiness: Bryan Adams; Piano: Thomas Moore

• Alan Adler introduced two new members to the club: Todd Tambling is owner and president of Charlotte ActionCOACH Firm, a business coaching company for small to medium sized business owners. Contact Todd at coachtodd@vmdirect.com; Les Ward is regional sales manager for Pepsi Bottling Group. Les stays quite busy managing territory sales in NC and SC. Contact Les at les.ward@pepsi.com. Welcome to Rotary!
     
• Charlotte Symphony president, Richard Early, has announced he will be stepping down effective September 1; Phil Van Hoy commented on the lawless waters of our lakes, saying it is futile to expect boat speedometers to stay in good working condition. Anyone interested in floating down Lake Wylie with Phil, the pontoon and the sons' female friends in bikinis can give him a call; school board member Trent Merchant explained some of the myths surrounding the CMS bond proposal in this week's Observer; Thanks to both Bill Loftin, Jr. and Sr. for having the 2007-2008 Roster available at the first meeting of the year. Copies can be picked up at the check in desk for the next couple weeks; Club members were treated to a performance by members of the Seussical cast, who are part of the CPCC Summer Theatre line up; Sandy Osborne will chair the District 7680 Rotary Foundation dinner that will be held November 8th.
      
• Doug Booth, Charlie Briley, and Frank Timberlake were recognized as official members of the "Golden 50" club. They are truly in good company and were joined by other 50-year members: Ira Griffin, Tebee Hawkins, Charlie Ibach, Mac Jackson, Powell Majors, George Page, Ralston Pound, Louis Ratcliffe, and Martin Waters.
 
• Congratulations to Henry Bostic, Jay Deyton, and Jim Kiser as they enter the 25 year membership mark in Charlotte Rotary.

Club Awards of Excellence
Rotary Club of Charlotte 2006-2007

Community Service
Powell Majors Endowed Scholarship - $9,500 raised
- Charlotte Rotary partnered with CPCC to honor Rotarian Powell Majors by establishing a scholarship to enable students to attend CPCC.

Youth Merit Awards - $12,000
- provided $500 scholarship to high school senior from each of the public and private high schools in Charlotte.

1921 Rotary Scholarship Program - $8,000 budgeted plus additional $20,000 donations
- scholarships will be provided to enable CPCC students to transfer and receive a four-year degree.

CPCC Literacy Project - $2,000
- provided funding to assist in the cost of GED testing at CPCC.

Hospice & Palliative Care - $435
- funding to sponsor Light Up A Life tree program at Hospice.

Habitat for Humanity - $15,000
- volunteers and financial support to build Habitat house with other Charlotte Rotary clubs.

Salvation Army Bell Ringing
- volunteers rang the bell at the Square for the Salvation Army.

CARTS - $1,000
- supported District 7680's campaign to raise funds for Alzheimer's Research

Crisis Assistance Ministry Clothing Drive
- month long collection of warm clothing for Crisis Assistance Ministry.

Little Sugar Creek Greenway - $4,500
- Charlotte Rotary to purchase a clock that will be presented to the County and installed on the Little Sugar Creek Greenway.

WWII Oral History Project - $7,500
- final pledge to produce WWII documentary through partnership with WTVI (Centennial Project).

Vocational Service and Youth Service
Children's Theatre of Charlotte - $1,500
- drama for healthy living program which educates teens on the pitfalls of drug & alcohol abuse.

World View Workshop - $750
- Myers Park Interact club will assist in conference details for the World View Partners' Workshop presented by CMS in August.

World Deaf Swimming Championships - $500
- sponsored student to compete in the World Deaf Swimming Championships that will be held in Taipei, Taiwan in August.

RYLA Camp - $350
- funded Myers Park Interact student to attend Rotary Youth Leadership Awards camp at Gardner Webb

Global Essay Contest - $800
- covered expenses for hotel and chartered bus for student and teacher traveling to Washington, DC to compete in Global Essay Contest.

Andrew Howell Scholarship - $250
- provided scholarship for a young musician to attend the Tanglewood Music Camp.

District Governor's monthly newsletter
- arranged for an Interact student at Myers Park to coordinate, type, and distribute the District Governor's monthly
newsletter.

Classroom Central - $3,000
- financial support enabled Classroom Central to purchase reading material and supplies. Also provide 5 to 9 volunteers to work with teachers on a monthly basis.

Junior Achievement Exchange City - $3,000
- financial support assisted low-income schools to participate in Exchange City program. Also provide 5 to 9 volunteers to work at Exchange City on a monthly basis.

Rotary Scholarship Golf Classic - $5,000
- golf tournament raised money to provide scholarships to children of fire, sheriff, police, and medic employees. Also provided 30 club members to staff and coordinate event, and challenged club members grouped by Classifications, who raised an additional $5000.

Charlotte Reads Literacy Project - $1, 900 raised
- collected children's books and raised money to purchase books (traditional classics and multicultural books) for children aged 6 months to 5 years.
 
International Service and The Rotary Foundation
Arequipa Fireman Training Exchange - $2,500
- provided funding (and partnered with Charlotte Sister Cities and Charlotte Fire Department) to send 4 Charlotte firemen to train volunteer fire fighters in Arequipa, Peru.

Ambassadorial Scholar Orientation - $90
- picked up expenses for Ambassadorial Scholar Deborah Hirsh to attend Ambassadorial Scholar orientation.

International Youth Exchange Program - $3,500
- hosted exchange student from Korea
- sponsored inbound and outbound summer (4-6 week) exchanges

Group Study Exchange
- hosted 5-member GSE team from London.

Trip to Arequipa, Peru
- 10 Rotarians and family members traveled with DG Joe Morris and others to Arequipa, Peru. Trip will result in our club funding an extensive water project.

Peru Water Project $4,500
- initial funding needed for Matching Grant that will be used to improve water conditions in Arequipa, Peru.

Inbound Ambassadorial Scholar Host Counselor
- David Dunn, UNCC, served as a host counselor for inbound Scholar Kazami Yamazaki, who is working with the TEACCH program at UNCC.

Matching Grant for Kathmandu, Nepal - $5,115
- provide library materials, books, computers, computer programs and reference books for the St. Xavier's School Godavari.