Gail Carr becomes the new President of the Rotary Club of Edmond — June 30, 2010, at 11:45 am.
Every year, at the last meeting in June, the Rotary Club of Edmond installs a new board of directors. The Club’s By-laws provide the board has ten elected members: President, Immediate Past President, President-Elect, Secretary, Treasurer, Sergeant-at-Arms, and the Directors for Club Service, Community Service, International Service and Vocational Service.
With two exceptions, the Club elected these officers and directors last December. The exceptions – the President and Past President – were elected one and two years earlier.
The highlight of our special meeting this week is the passing of the President’s gavel. Gail Carr will become our new President.
A graduate of Oklahoma State University, Gail owns Genesis Design, LLC, a full-service graphic design and marketing firm in Edmond. An active member of the Edmond community, she serves on the board of directors of the Fine Arts Institute, participates on the Chamber of Commerce Steering Committee for Leadership Edmond, and is a member of the marketing committee for A Chance to Change Foundation. She is a graduate of Leadership Edmond Class XX.
Gail joined the Rotary Club of Edmond Central (one of the two predecessor clubs that merged a year later and kept the name of the other, the Rotary Club of Edmond) in 2004, and has been an active Rotarian ever since. A third generation Rotarian (her grandfather helped start Rotary in China), she knows what Rotary is all about. Fulfilling the Four-Way Test is a regular part of who she is. Those who know her well see in Gail someone who fully embraces and practices the Rotary Motto of Service Above Self. She brings to her new job a quiet, organized energy that will lead our Club to do great things over the next year.
Gail and her husband, Ron, are active members of Henderson Hills Baptist Church, and have served in leadership capacities in several ministry areas over the past 20 years. They enjoy traveling and are the proud grandparents of identical twin boys, Luke and Blake.
Please give a warm welcome to the new President of the Rotary Club of Edmond, Gail Carr.
Andy
Chief Judge Vicki Miles-LaGrange of the US District Court in Oklahoma City visits the Rotary Club of Edmond — June 23, 2010
Vicki Miles-LaGrange, Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma, is a woman of many firsts. Appointed to the federal bench in 1994, she was the first African-American federal judge in the six states of the Tenth Circuit (Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Utah, and Wyoming). In 1993, she became the first female United States Attorney in Oklahoma, and was among the first in the nation.
She was the first African-American woman elected to the Oklahoma State Senate. She served as Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee and also chaired the Law and Justice Committee of the National Conference of State Legislators.
A product of Oklahoma City public schools, where both her parents were teachers, Judge Miles-LaGrange graduated with honors from Bishop McGuiness High School. She attended Vassar College, graduating cum laude, and received a certificate from the University of Ghana. She earned her law degree from Howard University School of Law, and was an editor of the Howard Law Journal.
During law school, Miles-LaGrange was a Congressional Aide for the late Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Carl Albert. Following graduation, she clerked for U.S. District Judge Woodrow Seals in Houston. Later, as a Criminal Trial Attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice, she prosecuted Nazi war criminals.
As a member of the federal bench, Judge Miles-LaGrange served on the International Judicial Relations Committee, and was appointed by Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist to chair the Committee’s Africa Working Group. Her work has taken her to Rwanda, Russia, Kenya, China and Brazil.
Judge Miles-LaGrange has received numerous awards, including an honorary Doctor of Laws from the Oklahoma City University School of Law. She has been inducted into the Oklahoma Women’s Hall of Fame, the Oklahoma African-American Hall of Fame, the Oklahoma Child Advocate’s Hall of Fame, and the Mid-America Education Hall of Fame. To call her active in the community is an understatement. She tutors third graders in a faith-based program called “Whiz Kids” and is the Midwest Regional Director of Alpha Kappa Alpha, the first and oldest college based sorority founded by African-American women in 1908.
Judge Miles-LaGrange loves to be with her family and friends: her parents, Charles and Mary Miles; daughter Johnna Marie Watts, and her husband Jimmie; granddaughters Cheyenne, Samantha and Maysen; sister Gayle Miles-Scott; niece Brittany Couch, and her husband Sean; and grandnephew Atticus.
Please give a warm Rotary Club of Edmond welcome to our special guest, Chief Judge Vicki Miles-LaGrange.
Andy
Edmond Mayor Patrice Douglas visits the Rotary Club of Edmond — June 9, 2010
Rotarian June 9 revised
Our special guest this week is one of our own, Patrice Douglas. And those of us who know Patrice well are thrilled to host her, for she exemplifies the Rotary motto of Service Above Self. An active member of the Rotary Club of Edmond, Patrice is an exceptionally busy person, who holds several full-time positions.
Everyone in Edmond knows Patrice Douglas as Mayor of our great city. Elected in April, 2009, she has just completed her first year in office. She has championed the creation of the Small Business Task Force, launched a youth volunteerism program, and stood firm for Edmond’s senior citizens. Her reputation has spread throughout the state, as she has been elected to serve on the Oklahoma Municipal League Board of Directors and serves on its Task Force on Government Efficiencies.
Many in Edmond know Patrice as a banker. She leads the Edmond commercial team for the locally-owned First Fidelity Bank. She brought to that position not only several years in banking, but also thirteen years in the practice of law and five years working as Vice President and General Counsel of ACP Sheet Metal.
And then there is the Patrice Douglas of family and faith. Her husband of 21 years, Brent Douglas, is a strategic planning consultant. Patrice and Brent have two sons, Patrick, who is 14 years old, and Phillip, who is 12 years old. Together, they are active members at Life Church.
Patrice received her undergraduate education at Oklahoma Christian University and earned her law degree from the University of Oklahoma. She has been active in her community and state. Two different Oklahoma governors have appointed her to serve on four different statewide boards and task forces. She served two terms for the Edmond Economic Development Authority, and served as its chair until October, 2008.
Please give a warm Rotary Club of Edmond welcome to our Mayor, Patrice Douglas.
Andy
Mike Fogarty, CEO of the Oklahoma Health Care Authority, visits the Rotary Club of Edmond — June 2, 2010
What do you know about the Oklahoma Health Care Authority? Did you know OHCA has an annual budget of approximately $4.3 billion dollars? That it serves over 825,000 Oklahomans? That it administers Oklahoma’s SoonerCare program?
According to its website, the Oklahoma Health Care Authority is the primary agency in Oklahoma charged with controlling costs of state-purchased health care. OHCA balances this fiscal responsibility with two, equally important goals: 1. assuring that state-purchased health care meets acceptable standards of care; and 2. ensuring that Oklahomans who rely on state-purchased health care are served in a progressive and positive system.
Mike Fogarty is OHCA’s Chief Executive Officer. He joined the agency in 1995 as the State Medicaid Director and Chief Operating Officer, and his been in his current position since 1999.
Mike received his undergraduate education from Oklahoma Baptist University, a Master of Religious Education from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, a Master of Social Work from the University of Oklahoma, and a Juris Doctorate from Oklahoma City University School of Law.
He has worked in public service since 1971, when he became a social worker for the Oklahoma Department of Human Services. In 1979, he joined the legislative staff of Senator David Boren, where he was responsible for Senate Finance Committee matters relating to health, social services, and income assistance policy and programs. He returned to Oklahoma as the Deputy Director of the Department of Human Services, and in 1983 became the Medicaid Director. From 1987 to 1994 Mike maintained a private law practice and also owned and operated nursing facilities in Oklahoma.
Nationally, Mike Fogarty is recognized as a leader in making health care work. He has put those skills to work in Oklahoma, leading other states to study and attempt to emulate what Oklahoma has done with its Medicaid program.
Mike Fogarty regularly fulfills the Rotary motto of Service Above Self. The way he lives and works is a model of answering the questions of the Four-Way Test – Is it the TRUTH? Is it FAIR to All Concerned? Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS? Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?
Mike and his wife, Billie, live in Oklahoma City. Please welcome our special guest, Mike Fogarty, to the Rotary Club of Edmond.
Andy
Rotary Club of Edmond helps at Eleventh Annual Endeavor Games — June 12, 2010
Calling all Edmond Rotarians!
As you know, the Rotary Club of Edmond is supporting the Eleventh Annual Endeavor Games. The University of Central Oklahoma will present the event, a nationally recognized competition that allows all athletes with physical disabilities to participate in 11 sports competitions. The Games also provide training clinics for aspiring athletes of all ages and classifications.
Competitions include Powerlifting, Table Tennis, Wheelchair Basketball, Swimming, Sitting Volleyball, Cycling, Wheelchair Track & Field, Indoor/Outdoor Archery, Ambulatory Track & Field, and Shooting. The activities will take place on the UCO campus, at Edmond North High School, Cheyenne Middle School, or the Lake Arcadia Outdoor Adventure Recreation Center.
Our part is to help on Saturday, June 12, from 8:30am to 12:30pm. Jeff Cato, our Club’s Community Service Director, is looking for volunteers in two-hour shifts, 8:30-10:30 and 10:30-12:30. The Rotary Club of Edmond will help with Field Events in the pit at the track. If you are able to participate, please see Jeff or email him at Jeff.cato@corevault.com.
This will be a great opportunity to put Service Above Self here in our wonderful Edmond community.
Andy
President Andy’s e-mail May 26th 2010
Rotarian May 26
What do you know about proton therapy? My guess is that most members of the Rotary Club of Edmond, as is true of me, have heard of proton therapy but don’t know exactly what it is.
Well that will change on Wednesday. Our special guest this week is Dr. Gary Larson, president of the physicians’ group at ProCure Proton Therapy Center in Oklahoma City.
According to the Center’s website, proton therapy “destroys cancer cells by preventing them from dividing and growing, just like standard X-ray radiation. What makes proton therapy different from X-ray radiation is that less healthy tissue is damaged during treatment. This is because protons release more of their cancer destroying energy directly in the tumor and less in surrounding healthy tissue.”
The website goes on to explain “the most significant benefit of proton therapy is that patients experience fewer short- and long-term side effects compared to standard X-ray radiation treatment. There is also a lower occurrence of secondary tumors which can occur many years after receiving radiation treatment.”
Dr. Larson is a native of Bartlesville. He received a degree in Engineering Physics from the University of Tulsa, and earned his M.D. from the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine. After completing his residency in Radiation Oncology at OU’s Health Sciences Center, Dr. Larson spent five years in Houston on the faculty of the Baylor College of Medicine, where he was director of the residency program. He returned to Oklahoma in 1990, and has practiced here ever since.
Since 1985, he has been certified by the American Board of Radiology in Radiation Oncology. Special interests include Proton beam therapy, brachytherapy and stereotactic radio surgery.
Dr. Larson and his wife of 30 years have five children. He enjoys gardening, running and mastering computer skills.
Please welcome Dr. Gary Larson to the Rotary Club of Edmond.
Andy
Edmond Rotary Club’s Final Report from Fortaleza, Brazil
Great friendships. New experiences. Cultural exchanges. Important work.
These are some of the words that come to mind as I prepare this last report from Brazil. They only begin to scratch the surface of what we’ve experienced on our trip to Fortaleza.
Several years ago, when I was our Club’s International Service director, I mentioned at a board meeting I was preparing to visit my Brazilian “family.” Alceu Galvão had spent a year with Barbara and me back in 1984-85 as a foreign exchange student at Enid High School. Now one of the leading civil engineers in Brazil, Alceu lives in Fortaleza with his wife, son and daughter, Marli, André and Natália.
When I indicated my plans to visit, the board asked me to look for an international project the Rotary Club of Edmond could call its own. It took several years to develop. But the partnership with the Rotary Club of Fortaleza-Planalto is the result. And the partnership has now concluded its first project, the purchase of a vehicle for Associação Peter Pan, which will use it to transport juvenile cancer patients and their families to get their vitally important medical treatments.
Words can hardly describe what we have experienced here. Krista and I saw with our own eyes how important this joint project is. We viewed the work in progress. We met many of the children who are now receiving treatment for their cancer. We got to know a young couple who had survived cancer, then been taught important job skills they are now putting to use. We saw the vehicle our two Rotary Clubs purchased and donated, with the help of grants from both of our Rotary Districts. We visited the city and surrounding countryside whose residents will benefit from Rotary’s generosity.
Everyone who sees the vehicle will see the unmistakable signs it was donated by the Rotary Club of Edmond and the Rotary Club of Fortaleza-Planalto. In almost unfathomable ways, we have joined the two cities in a long-lasting partnership.
I am certain our two Rotary Clubs will continue to work together. Despite the cultural differences, it is amazing how much we have in common. Flávio Araújo joined the Fortaleza-Planalto Club two years ago. When the Club learned of his excellent English language skills, he immediately had his first assignment: speed up communications with the Edmond Rotarians so we can make our joint efforts work. Upon arrival, I discovered Flávio and I share the same classification, for he is a young lawyer. Then we found out the incoming president of Fortaleza-Planalto, Walter Torquato, like Krista, is a dentist. With these and so many other similarities, and the many friendships we’ve made, I suspect we will continue to work together to fulfill the mission of Rotary.
The Rotary International motto is “Service above Self.” This joint project is one way the Rotary Clubs of Edmond and Fortaleza-Planalto have followed that motto.
The Rotary Four-Way Test asks the following questions:
Of the things we think, say or do
1. Is it the TRUTH?
2. Is it FAIR to all concerned?
3. Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?
4. Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?
The Rotary Club of Edmond and the Rotary Club of Fortaleza-Planalto can rest assured that our joint project to purchase a vehicle for Associação Peter Pan will be a long-term reminder of the proper answers to those questions.
Krista and I have much to report. We will make a formal presentation to the Rotary Club of Edmond on August 4. I hope you can join us then.
Andy
Final days for Rotary Club of Edmond Visit to Fortaleza, Brazil
Friday evening, at about 10:00 o’clock, Krista and her host family met me and my host family for dinner at the Coco Bambu Restaurant a couple of blocks off the beach in the middle of Fortaleza. Joining us a few minutes later was Fortaleza-Planalto President-Elect Walter Torquato and his wife. As always, the food was delicious. Krista enjoyed pizza. I had crepe de carne de sol, or “meat of the sun” wrapped in a crepe. As we were eating, a couple of ducks waddled by.
Saturday morning, as Krista prepared to depart, I went to the Mercado Central. While there, we saw several fans of the Vitoria soccer team visiting from Bahia, sporting their team’s colors. I’m not sure, but I’ve heard there may be something wrong with those people that compels them to favor such an obviously wretched team.
While Krista began her trip home Saturday afternoon, we went north a few miles outside of the city to Cumbuco Beach, yet another beautiful spot. There I took a trip about a half mile off the coast in a jangada, a small primitive wooden boat that is about 15 feet long and about five feet wide. Area fishermen still use these vessels. They travel 50 or more miles offshore for several days, returning when their jangada can hold no more. Our trip was a bit shorter, lasting a half hour or so.
Sunday morning I met briefly with our Rotary Club of Fortaleza-Planalto hosts, Flávio, and exchanged text messages with Krista confirming her safe arrival in OKC. In the afternoon, I went to the big soccer match with my host family. It was also 13-year-old Natália’s first time to go.
There are two local teams, Fortaleza and Ceará. It may be hard to believe, but those two teams despise each other. Our team is the good one — Ceará.
Ceará moved up to the first division this year, having finished in the top four of the second division last year (Fortaleza, by contrast, moved into the third division, having finished last year in the bottom four of the second division). We joined about 25,000 other fans of the Ceará team. The other team, Vitoria, is from Bahia state. Ceará and Vitoria are the only first division teams from the northeastern part of Brazil. Vitoria was favored to win.
The game was exciting. Lots of jumping, lots of shouting, lots of singing, lots of celebrating. But there was not a lot of offense. Although Ceará was on offense most of the time, the first half ended tied at 0-0.
As the second half progressed, and the sun began to set, many fans lit large sparklers. But, throughout the second half, and into the additional time beyond the allotted 45 minutes, the game remained scoreless.
Then, with about a minute left in the game, Ceará stopped a dangerous one on one play by the other team and moved the ball onto the offensive side of the field. With only a few seconds remaining, a Ceará player named Washington scored the only goal of the game. The good guys won the game, 1-0, and a huge celebration erupted. With the goal and the win, Ceará moved into the top four (out of 20) in the first division.
Our trip to the beautiful Brazilian state of Ceará is coming to a close. We have learned and experienced much. We have a lot to consider, and many stories to tell. More on that in my final email installment.
Andy
Rotary Club of Edmond meets with Rotary Club de Fortaleza – Planalto
Boa ação
Rotary cumpre mais uma de suas ações beneméritas. Andy Lester, presidente do Rotary Club de Edmond, Estado de Oklahoma, nos Estados Unidos, está na terrinha e, em parceria com o Rotary Club de Fortaleza – Planalto, entregará um veículo utilitário à Associação Peter Pan, que foi adquirido com fundos originados de doações de rotarianos daquela cidade americana, da Fundação Rotária e dos rotarianos do Planalto. Solenidade será amanhã, às 12h30, no Ideal Clube, após visita à entidade.
So read yesterday’s newspaper article announcing our visit to the Planalto Club today (http://diariodonordeste.globo.com/materia.asp?codigo=787059). Try this for the English translation:
A Good Deed
Rotary is doing another charitable work. Andy Lester, president of the Rotary Club of Edmond, Oklahoma, United States, is in our land and, in partnership with the Rotary Club of Fortaleza – Plateau, will deliver a utility vehicle to the Association Peter Pan. The vehicle was purchased funds from donations by Rotarians of that city, the Rotary Foundation and Rotarians of the Planalto club. The ceremony will take place Thursday, at 12.30, Ideal Club, after a visit to the entity.
What a special day it has been. This morning we first visited another agency the Planalto Club supports. Called “Viva a Vida” (roughly translated as “Enjoy Life”), the agency is located in a poor neighborhood called Tancredo Neves. Among other things, it creates a safe environment for children, trains young adults in important job skills, has a senior center for older members of the community, and provides a dental clinic.
We then drove to the Association Peter Pan, the beneficiary of our joint project with the Fortaleza Planalto club. What an amazing facility it is, run by amazing people. The head of the agency, Miss Olga, welcomed us with open arms. She told us what makes the agency special is that it has two bywords — share the work and complete transparency. The facilities look more like a home than a hospital. This is no accident — Association Peter Pan has sought to create an atmosphere that is welcoming to its child cancer patients, many of whom we were able to meet. Association Peter Pan is about to complete a new building, which will provide a much larger and more up to date place for the children and families it serves.
At about 11:45, we drove to the “Ideal Clube,” where the Fortaleza Planalto Rotarians hold their meetings. It is in a beautiful location: those seated at the head table look out over the Atlantic Ocean, just across the street. Several other Rotary Clubs also hold their meetings in the aptly named facility.
Several people spoke, including our host club’s president-elect, a past district governor, Miss Olga of the Association Peter Pan, and I. We had a delicious meal. Edmond Rotarians would have felt right at home. Served buffet style, it included salad, rice, a beef dish and a fish dish, dessert and coffee. We saw the beautiful vehicle the clubs jointly purchased and donated. Both Krista and I were favorably surprised at how nice it is. The meeting ended with a brief television interview of both Krista and me. Throughout the day, Flavio, the young Rotarian lawyer with whom we have been working via email for the last couple of years, did a great job as our translator.
Tonight we are meeting several of our fellow Rotarians for a seafood dinner at one of the beaches. It should be a fun evening.
Krista is staying with the family of a Rotarian named Juvenal. Fatima, his wife, may be the Brazilian version of Krista.
President Andy’s e-mail from Brazil
Hello, Edmond Rotarians from Fortaleza, Ceara, Brazil!
It took three flights and about 24 hours, but we finally made it, and close to on-time, with all our baggage. The term ¨we¨ includes my daughter, Susan, and me. Susan just finished her freshman year at OSU, and will be taking classes this summer at UCO. With her small break, she is able to join me on this adventure. Although we are both tired, we´ve already seen a lot.
It was great to be greeted at the airport by our Brazilian ¨son¨ — he was a foreign exchange student 25 years ago, and lived with us for a year in Enid. Al, his wife, Marli, and their daughter, Natalia were all there. Their son, Andre, was still in school when we arrived, but arrived home shortly after our own arrival.
Although much of the day was already gone, we had a chance to walk along the beachfront of Fortaleza, and even ate a pizza dinner, which, in Fortaleza, involves wearing a plastic glove. It actually made sense, but you probably had to be there.
The metropolitan area of Fortaleza has about 3.5 million people. Today was a typical ¨winter¨ day (Fortaleza is south of the equator) — temperatures were in mid-80s. The sun set at around 6:00, something which stays the same year round.
Krista should be underway, and is supposed to arrive Wednesday. We are scheduled to have a nice dinner with several members of the Fortaleza Planalto Club Wednesday evening. And Thursday we will attend the regular meeting of our host club.
One piece of good news — while awaiting departure from Will Rogers World Airport on Monday, I received email confirmation that the Rotary Foundation had authorized payment of all funds to the project account. So the timing of our trip could not have been better.
I´ll do my best to keep you posted on the goings-on here in Fortaleza. For now, suffice it to say that I~m excited to be representing the Rotary Club of Edmond as we conclude our new partnership with our fellow Rotarians here in Brazil.
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This message is intended only for the members of the Rotary Club of Edmond. We are using “Google Groups” to manage this email database in attempts to keep the email addresses private for our Rotarians.
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