HOW I GOT WHERE I'M AT
Gene Clark * Wes Sturges * Trent Merchant * Nancy Roberson
By Jim Kelley
         
How I Got Where I'm At continues to be a popular Rotary program and today's speakers made a strong case for that continued popularity. First to take center stage was Gene Clark, Dean and Professor of Law at the Charlotte School of Law. Gene has five degrees with one of them being a PhD from the University of Tasmania in Australia. Gene grew up in Kansas which he said was a great state to be from. He is the oldest of seven children although that was a small family compared to his mother's family where she was number 10 of 17 children. One person who really impacted his life was a teacher at Garden City Community College who taught speech. From that class he developed an interest in debate which led to a career in law. He spent 30 years of his career in Australia, moving to Charlotte in early 2006. He and his wife Pat have been married for 37 years and have two daughters who are indeed Tasmanian devils. He has made many mistakes in his life. One of those involved changing oil in his car when he accidentally drained the brake fluid not the oil thereby almost ruining his car. Shortly after that incident he decided to pursue academics not mechanics.
 
Our second presentation of the day was by Wes Sturges, the president of the Bank of Commerce. Wes has made a number of job changes during his career and said the secret is to lose the job you had before. He has been a resident of Charlotte since 1954. He graduated from the University of Virginia with no job and a draft lottery number of seven. So he became a member of the Army Reserve band for seven years and traveled around the country playing music. After his time in the Reserves, he became a loan adjuster at then First Union where he was given a tow bar and a car and told to go out and adjust loans. His last three jobs have been bank jobs - seventeen years with UCB leaving as the City Executive after participating in a downsizing. He then started at First Commerce Bank where he worked for seven years until the bank was sold and he lost his job. For the last year and a half he has been busy starting the Bank of Commerce where he is still employed a year and half later and hoping for the best.
 
Our third speaker, Trent Merchant, is with an executive search firm but his primary focus over the last weekend has been celebrating the victory of his alma mater, Appalachian State over Michigan this weekend. Trent played quarterback for the Mountaineers some years ago. At 37 years of age, he is almost too young to discuss How He Got Where He's At because he is still arriving and hasn't gotten there yet but he gave us his thoughts anyway. Trent was a teacher and an actor before getting into the executive search business, which is not a career that students dream of in high school. In his work he has become acutely aware of the need for leadership in organizations and how common incompetence is. He shared two thoughts he learned from his dad and two experiences. His dad taught him that life is all about the choices we make, so make good ones. Everyone screws up now and then and there is nothing wrong with that. As a professional actor he was used to having things thrown at him and being judged instantly, both of which have served him well on the county school board. He also learned in his move to Charlotte that our city operates as a meritocracy and rewards talent and ability in its community involvement.
 
Our final speaker, Nancy Roberson, is the executive director of the Mecklenburg County Bar Association. She is a native of the area and lives in Iron Station. When she was four years old she told her mom she wanted to build a house by the creek on the family land and all these years later she and her husband have done that. Also when she was four she learned a valuable lesson from her dad. She took some of his house paint and painted the swing set. When she was asked by her father if she had painted the swing set she said no with paint dripping from her clothes. She learned not to lie, particularly when you are wearing evidence of the lie. Nancy has been in Charlotte for a long time. She remembers going to school at South Meck with riot squads. Nancy is definitely a worker. In high school, she had four jobs in one year - a paper route, a school bus driver, a tutor, and a clerk at a dress store. She and her husband went from childless to the parents of three children in two months - two adopted and one natural. Quite an adjustment. Nancy has spent most of her working career in fundraising with a number of years working for Thompson's Children Home. Spending so much time with children has prepared her to work with 4,000 attorneys at the Mecklenburg County Bar.
    
Head Table: Gene Clark, Wes Sturges, David Zimmerman, BG Metzler, Trent Merchant, Tony Marciano, Nancy Roberson
Invocation: Don Haack;
Visitors & Guests: Chris Thomas; Health & Happiness: Phil Van Hoy; Song: David Erdman; Piano: Thomas Moore

• Sympathy is expressed to the family of John and Lee Tabor. John's father, Parker Tabor, passed away on September 1st. Funeral services will be held in Greenville, SC on Wednesday. Donations may be made to the Greenville Humane Society, 328 Furman Hall Rd, Greenville, SC 29609.
        
• The Scottish Bank (John Stedman) has been bought by Columbia-based SCBT Financial Corp; Char-Meck Utilities Director, Doug Bean reports on reengineering the center city to accommodate anticipated residential growth; Donald and Janet Haack were recently featured at Milwaukee's Harry W. Schwartz Bookshop where they signed and discussed their books; September 14 is Community Blood Donor Day to honor Community Blood Center of the Carolinas (Martin Grable) and blood donors in the community; Phil Kline invites everyone to the Mint Museum of Craft + Design on N. Tryon Street this Friday, Sept. 7 from 11:30 to 1pm, for Taste of Art Fridays. The event is FREE. Bring your lunch and drop by on the roof to see an artist demonstrate their craft. This week you'll see Amy Sanders create works in clay; Premier, Inc. (Henry Bostic) received Honorable Mention in the Charlotte Ethics in Business Award conducted by the Charlotte Chapter.
          
• FLU SHOTS will be given at the hotel on October 16th. Mark your calendar!
     
VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES AND UPDATES TO REMEMBER
 
• PERU: Final meeting for those wishing to travel to Peru in February: David Anderson's home, 4:00 on Sunday, September 9.
    
• SCHOOL TOOLS: lined notebook paper, glue sticks, and pencils will be collected through Tuesday.
 
• PERU CONTAINER PROJECT: Items needed are on the website here. Collections will be made in the hotel's parking deck on September 4th and 11th. Office furniture and construction tools are especially needed. Heavy objects can be picked up from your site. For further information, or to arrange for pickup, contact Will Barnhardt or Ed Wadsworth.
 
• HOST DINNER SIGN-UP: 24 Rotarians have offered to host dinner in their home. Club members are asked to review the schedule (on the website) and sign up to bring a vegetable/starch, salad, or dessert.  September Schedule: 22nd: Dot and Tony Marciano (homemade lasagna); 29th: Monica and Gilberto Bergman (Spanish dish).