10/31: Josh Dix, Charleston Trident Association of Realtors

October 31, 2023

Josh Dix of Charleston Trident Association of Realtors gave us an update on the Lowcountry real estate scene. To combat suburban sprawl, and all the problems that it brings, Josh talked about the need for more urban density and multi-family dwellings – the Missing Middle – while still maintaining the character of downtown Charleston.

To access a recording of this meeting, go here

Passcode: ZK67@h2+

IN OTHER MEETING NEWS

James Dusenberry gave the Invocation and led us in the pledge.
DJ Hampton welcomed all visiting Rotarians & guests.
Health and Happiness was presented by President Cleave.
Ed Sutton introduced our guest speaker, Josh Dix, who is the Government Affairs Director at the Charleston Trident Association of Realtors

MORE IN THIS WEEK’S KEYWAY
November 7, 2023 | Issue 5107 President: Cleave Ham

UPCOMING EVENTS

- - 11/7 – Charleston Police Department
  - 11/9 – Operation Gratitude (Volunteers assemble care packages going to veterans & first responders)
  - 11/14 – Veteran’s Day/USMC B’day – John Warren (11am Board Meeting)
  - 11/21 – NO MEETING (Thanksgiving)
  - 11/28 – Robert Boyles, DNR
  - 12/5 – TBD
  - 12/8 – Salvation Army Bellringing
  - 12/12 – Holiday Luncheon @ Hall’s
  - 12/19 – NO MEETING (Holidays)
  - 12/26 – NO MEETING (Holidays)

NEWS BRIEFS

Reminder … Guest RSVP Protocol

If you are planning to bring a guest to Rotary, please let Carroll know by no later than Monday at 5pm. There is some preparation that needs to be done for all guests prior to the meeting.

Special Dietary Requests

If you have a special dietary request or need, be sure to let Carroll know in advance of a meeting. She will work with the staff at Hall’s to ensure that you are prepared a special plate that meets your restrictions. Please do not enter the kitchen area to make a last minute special request.

No Meeting on November 21 – Happy Thanksgiving

We will not meet on Tuesday, November 21. We hope everyone enjoys this special time with family and friends.

November Service Project – Operation Gratitude

It’s already November and we’re kicking it off with a great project to show our Gratitude to our Service Members and First Responders through Operation Gratitude! We’ll be assembling 5,000 Care Packages for Veterans and First Responders that will be personally-addressed when they receive them! Thursday, November 9 is Assembly Day. Shift is 9am – 12pm and Shift 2 is 12:30pm – 3pm at the North Charleston Convention Center, Exhibit Hall A. The sign-up link is below and an alternate option of “set up day” on November 8 from 12pm – 3pm if you cannot make it on the 9th.

There have been several inquiries about kids, co-workers and family participating. This is not a Rotary only event and 5,000 is a lot of packages, so I am sure they can use all the help they can get and volunteers age 13 and up are welcome!!

https://www.operationgratitude.com/event/charleston-assembly-day/

Rotary Educator of the Month Program

We have to wait a month for the recognition of your Student of the Month for October, but we were able this week to follow through with our monthly support of education in Charleston with the October Educator of the Month from Mitchell Elementary. And this week was special as we have a repeat honoree! Marguerite Farrell was chosen because she was so helpful with second grade testing recently, running back and forth between classrooms and making sure teachers and students had everything they needed during this stressful time. She always has a smile on her face as she supports both teachers and scholars throughout the school. It figures that someone who excelled enough to be recognized last year in April would continue that winning way into this academic year.

RCCF Grant Recipients

On behalf of our club and the RCCF Committee, Past President Alissa recognized two of the seven Fall RCCF Grant recipients this past Tuesday.

Jonathan Wright, Executive Director, accepted the check on behalf of Bridges of Hope. Our donated funds will assist with funding the pilot of a new partnership & new program called Unbridled Hope. Bridges of Hope & Charleston Area Therapeutic Riding will collaborate to offer 4, 2-hour sessions for grieving children & caregivers to utilize equine-therapy as grief support to help families learn, connect, heal & grow after the death of someone significant in their life. Brooke Manheimer was the Rotarian sponsor for this grant.

Spectrum Sailing was represented by their Executive Director, Scott Herman. Our funds will support sailing camps designed to benefit autistic children by teaching them how to sail. The camps are provided to the participants free of cost, so funding will go directly to program expenses, providing for all aspects of the camp, including sailboat rentals, sailing/safety supplies, onsite instruction space & supplies, sailing curriculum and instruction. Past President Lisa Van Bergen sponsored this grant.

We congratulate both grant recipients and appreciate all their organizations do to assist those in need in our community. We were able to grant 7 different organizations this grant cycle and will be recognizing the other 5 recipients on Tuesday, 11/14.

Board Nominations

Past President Paul Stoney and the Board nominating committee will begin reaching out to those club members who are eligible for election to the 2024-2025 Board. Board Director positions are two year terms. If you are contacted by the committee, please consider volunteering our time and talents to serve our club as a Board Member.

CONTRIBUTE TO ROTARY’S FIGHT TO END POLIO WORLDWIDE; note World Polio Day is Oct. 24

- Your contribution is tripled!
  - For the funds we raise via Rotary for polio efforts, including vaccination, eradication and surveillance, up to $50 million are matched 2 to 1 by the Gates Foundation, so this becomes $150 million, which is the RI Polio Plus budget each year (don’t want to leave matching funds “on the table”)
- Ways to contribute:
  - Run with Bernie – contact our Club’s Team Captain Alex Bourlandat Alex@AuctionByPearce.com to participate or sponsor
  - Direct contribution to Polio Plus
    - Polio Plus Society
      - Agree to give recurring $100/yr to Polio Plus
      - Contact Alex Bourland, Sandy Morckel, or me if you are interested in donating to this
    - Online donation to Polio Plus at https://www.endpolio.org/donate or via “My Rotary” (https://my.rotary.org/en/donate )
      - Either way, please make certain that you identify that you are a Rotarian in this Club (automatically ID’s this if you sign into your “My Rotary” account; if donating as a guest, make certain to enter the club info where indicated)
  - Also, please let Alex Bourland know if you contribute online or otherwise, since we are tracking donations leading up to World Polio Day on Oct. 24.

Rotary Leadership Institute (RLI)

RLI is a series of three class sessions, Parts I, II, and III, for Rotarians to learn more about Rotary and develop leadership skills. These classes are offered in-person or virtually with Zoom.

Here is a quote from RLI on its mission: “The purpose of the Rotary Leadership Institute (RLI) is to strengthen your club and strengthen your life. Rotary provides an opportunity for all of us to provide service to our community and throughout the world (Service Above Self). With that service comes a learning experience in the areas of leadership, team building, planning, marketing, communication and organization. RLI provides an opportunity to enrich that learning through sharing experiences and ideas with other Rotarians throughout the region.”

Upcoming Part 1 virtual sessions occur over 2 days and you must attend both days to receive credit:

October 24 & 25 (5:30-8:30 pm each day)
November 6 & 8 (5:00-8:05 pm each day)

Signup in DACdb > District Files > Calendar > look for RLI, Virtual dates

More information on the program and session dates can be found at: https://midatlanticrli.org/ 0r contact Jerry Kozel, jtkozel@gmail.com

Get Involved on a Committee!

At our Rotary Club Assembly meeting on Tuesday, July 11, our Club committee chairs gave excellent presentations about their committees and their plans for this Rotary year. Their enthusiasm and leadership for their committees was apparent to all! We are grateful to them, as well as to all of their subcommittee chairs and committee members who help accomplish their committees’ goals on behalf of our Rotary Club.

Other members can also sign up to explore and potentially help with Club committees as well, as follows:

Click on this link to a “Google form”, and follow the prompts to input your name, contact info (email and cell phone), and check-off committees of interest. Committee Chairs are indicated for each committee.
When completed, click “submit”.

This information will be shared with the Club’s committee chairs

To watch the recording of Tuesday, July 11 meeting and the committee chair presentations, please use this link (the Club Assembly portion of the meeting begins at about the 12:20 mark): https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/UsVssdFBsyCBl1wG8EQYdKuOHj7WSsKSppoqQmN3WGMpDQP55eABw3NOjagrXExB.NgmO3b0fbeq50lBAPasscode: 2pb8KYP#

If you attended the Club Assembly on Zoom, or watch the meeting recording, please let Carroll know and she will give you “attendance credit”.

We look forward to your participation and engagement!

Outbound Youth Exchange Students Needed for 2024-2025

The District needs your help in finding potential Outbound Rotary Youth Exchange Students for the 2024-2025 exchange year. They ask that you share information with local school guidance and foreign languages teachers, church youth groups, friends, neighbors, etc.

The District will start accepting preliminary applications now from the students via the Rotary Sponsor Club only. In order to make it much easier on the Clubs in terms of finding host families, the following rules are in effect immediately.

The rules going forward for Outbounds and Clubs:

Outbound Preliminary application must be submitted by the Sponsor Club.
Outbound must secure three Host Families for the Inbound student and have at least 2 before the District Interviews in January.
Parents of Outbound must Host an Inbound (unless this would create a hardship, we will decide as a committee)
Sponsor Club of Outbound must accept an Inbound student.

July-Dec 2022 Dues Are Past Due – Credit Card/Bank Transfers Accepted On-Line

July-December 2023 dues invoices have been distributed and are now more than 60 days past due. Past due notices were sent out before Labor Day and payment is due promptly. As a reminder, we are able to accept credit card and bank transfer payments on-line. Members just simply have to click on the “pay now” button on their invoice and make payment. We hope this feature makes those of you paying by credit card or bank transfer easier. We also continue to also accept payments by check.

Support The CART Fund

It is easy for club members to make individual contributions and support The CART Fund electronically. The CART Fund has new portal www.mycartfund.org, which you can easily access. As a Rotarian and a DACdb user, you automatically have an account already set-up in your name. Your user name and password are the same as it is for the DACdb.

Our Club is on Social Media

Members are encouraged to follow all of our social media channels and share posts with their followers too! We also need members to send us picture of anything they do that relates to Rotary – service projects, meetings, events, etc. We would love to keep our accounts full of smiling Rotarians! Photos can be send to Mike Sottak, mikesottak@gmail.com, or Rob Byko, rob@bykorealty.com

MEMBER NEWS

President Cleave inducted 3 new members into our club this past Tuesday – Evan Carl, Marcus Stevenson and Karen Parson. Jerry Kozel sponsored and introduced Evan Carl, who will hold the classification of Construction. Marcus and Karen will hold the classification of Mental Wellness. This husband/wife team joins as a “Family” membership and were introduced and sponsored by Past President Digit Matheny. We welcome these new members into our Rotary family!

CONGRATULATIONS to our fellow Rotarian McCain Kerr! McCain was one of the award recipients at a reception and ceremony by the Charleston Business Magazine on Oct. 24, honoring the “Best & Brightest 35 and Under”. As stated in the Business Magazine: “Each year, we celebrate men and women who are making a difference in our state…. We salute these young leaders, and we look forward to seeing how they will continue to shape our state in the coming years.” McCain was joined by his family, and President Cleave also attended to support McCain and represent our Rotary Club.

MEMBER SPOTLIGHT

Rotarian: Jerry Kozel

JOINED: March 13, 2023
SPONSOR: Jan Luth
CLASSIFICATION: Mediator
PROFESSION: Retired
Community Service Organizations, Current Activities or Activities/Volunteer Work in the Past: Member of Cary-Kildare Rotary Club 2012-2014, Southern Pines Rotary Club 2015-2023, Member Board of Directors of Western Wake Farmers Market
Something Unique About Yourself: Our grandson, Eddie, was born in April and that was a big incentive in our decision to move to Charleston.

Birthdays

Nov. 7 – Tammy Coghill
Nov. 8 – Past President Digit Matheny

WELLNESS TIP

Dine with your family

Fall is a perfect time to slow down. It’s also a great time to regroup as a family and reconnect over dinner. Families who dine together tend to eat more nutritious meals. It also strengthens family relationships and can even help fast eaters slow down and appreciate food more.

OTHER AREA ROTARY CLUBS

Mondays

https://www.cainhoyrotary.com/

Summerville – Oakbrook: 7:30 a.m., Monday, Westcott County Club, 5000 Wescott Club Drive, North Charleston

North Charleston: 12:30 p.m., Monday, Hilton Garden Inn, 5265 International Blvd, North Charleston, SC

Summerville Evening: 5:30 p.m., Monday, Montreux Bar and Grill, 127 W. Richardson Ave., Summerville

Tuesdays

Charleston: 12:30 p.m., Tuesday, Hall’s Signature Events, 5 Faber, Charleston

Goose Creek: 12:45 m. Tuesday, Gilligan’s, 219 St. James Ave., Goose Creek

Cainhoy: 6PM, on the first and third Tuesday of the month, King’s Cross Church, of Clement Ferry Road

Wednesdays

Daniel Island: 7:30 a.m. Wednesday, Daniel Island Club, 600 Island Park Dr., Daniel Island

Mount Pleasant: 12:30 p.m., Wednesday, Hibben Methodist Church, 690 Coleman Blvd., Mount Pleasant

Summerville: 1pm-2pm on 1^st & 3^rd Wednesday. Hilton Garden Inn-Homewood Suite/Lowcountry Conference Center, 406 Sigma Drive

Thursdays

North Charleston Breakfast: 7:30 a.m. Thursday, Marriott Hotel, 4770 Goer Drive, North Charleston.

Moncks Corner: 12:30 p.m., Thursday, Gilligan’s Restaurant, Moncks Corner

St. Andrews (West Ashley): 12:30 p.m., Thursday, Bessinger’s BBQ, 1602 Savannah Highway, Charleston.

Fridays

Charleston Breakfast: 7:30AM Hall’s Signature Events, 5 Faber, Charleston

SOCIAL MEDIA

Our Rotary club actively uses social media — and we encourage you to interact with us through social media.

We’re on Facebook. Take a look at our page and be sure to “like us”.

We’re on Twitter. You can follow us @chasrotaryclub.

We’re on Instagram. You can follow us @ChasRotaryClub.

ABOUT THE KEYWAY

The Keyway has been published weekly as a newsletter for the Rotary Club of Charleston for more than 90 years.

President: Cleave Ham

Executive secretary: Carroll Schweers, carrollschweers@gmail.com

Mailing address: Rotary Club of Charleston, P.O. Box 21029, Charleston, SC 29413-1029