December 5, 2023
Jonathan Diorio, a successful tech entrepreneur, investor and mentor, joined us today to tell us about his career in start-ups and tech leaders, including being one of the early employees of Uber. He shared his views on the current state and future of technology globally and here in Charleston, and how it might impact our lives.
Don’t forget – no meetings for a few weeks now, and we’ll enjoy our annual Holiday Luncheon at Halls on Tuesday, December 14. After that we wont meet again until January 9 and we wish everyone the safest and happiest of holiday seasons.
To access a recording of this meeting, go here.
Passcode: J.7B3#71
IN OTHER MEETING NEWS
- Julianne Farnsworth gave the Invocation and led us in the pledge.
- Karen Clark welcomed all visiting Rotarians & guests.
- Health and Happiness was presented by President Cleave.
- President-Elect Robert Sullivan welcomed and introduced our guest speaker, Jonathan Diorio, tech industry veteran, who discussed his experiences in the tech industry, trends in this industry with AI, and other related information.
MORE IN THIS WEEK’S KEYWAY
December 12, 2023 | Issue 5111 President: Cleave Ham
UPCOMING EVENTS
- 12/12 – Holiday Luncheon @ Hall’s
- 12/14 – Ansonborough House Holiday Lunch
- 12/19 – NO MEETING (Holidays)
- 12/26 – NO MEETING (Holidays)
- 01/02 – NO MEETING (Holidays)
- 01/09 – Mayor John Tecklenburg
NEWS BRIEFS
Holiday Luncheon at Hall’s Chophouse This Tuesday
Our Annual Holi
day Luncheon will be held at Hall’s Chophouse (434 King Street) THIS Tuesday, December 12th at 12:00noon (doors open at 11:30am).
Reservations for this luncheon are now CLOSED. If you RSVP’d to bring a Spouse/Guest, $40 CASH or CHECK payment will be due at the door.
Holiday Schedule
We will not meet on Tuesday, December 19, December 26 or January 2. We hope everyone enjoys this special time with family and friends. We look forward to resuming our meetings on Tuesday, January 9th.
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.
Senior Holiday Giving
We are gearing up for our Annual Senior Gift Giving for the residents of the Ansonborough House. We are again very proud to have the opportunity to make sure all 80 residents of the Ansonborough House have a wonderful holiday. This year we will be hosting a luncheon for the seniors on December 14 and giving each resident a holiday card with a Harris Teeter gift card inside. We need 8-10 volunteers to help with the card stuffing immediately following our Holiday Luncheon on 12/12 (1:30-2:30pm), as well as 8-10 volunteers to help host/serve the lunch from 12:30pm – 2:30pm on 12/14. If you would like to help with this project, please reach out to Sandy Morckel at smorckel@gmail.com or Karla Combs sclowcountrylady@gmail.com
Salvation Army Bellringing
Thanks to everyone who helped out with our long-standing holiday tradition! On Friday October 8, the bells were ringing all day long for the Salvation Army, as Rotarians helped fill the red buckets and bring happiness to homes for the holidays.
Rotary Foundation Year End Giving Campaign NOW In Progress!
Matching Points Campaign will last until December 31, 2023. Gifts of $100 to $500 will be matched by the District (7770). If you would like to become an instant Paul Harris Fellow for $500, the district will match your donation. Please reach out to Karl Riner to participate or for more information. You can also donate to Rotary’s efforts to end polio now: https://endpolio.org/donate.
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!
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
Our thoughts and prayers continue to be with Robin Freer and Past President Paul Stoney who are recovering from recent hospital stays. We wish both these members a speedy and full recovery.
Welcome to our newest member, Tom Feeney! Tom was sponsored and introduced by Michael Smith. Tom is no stranger to Rotary as he has been a member of both the Rotary Club of Nashville and, most recently, the Huntsville Rotary Club. He will hold the classification of Banking/Commercial. We are glad to have Tom join our Rotary family!
Congrats to our newest BLUE badgers — Josh Burrill, Jerry Kozel, Whitney Shillerstrom and Khan Tran. These new members have been an active part of our club and have successfully completed all the “Red” badge requirements.
We are pleased to announce that Rob Byko, Karen Clark, Julianne Farnsworth and Mike Sottak have all been elected to the 2024-2025 Board of Directors. On July 1, 2024, they will join President-Elect Robert Sullivan, Alan Burgreen, Karla Combs, Marion Platt and Travis Ronk on the Board. We had a strong slate of candidates and sincerely appreciate all candidates’ willingness and desire to serve our club. Congratulations to all!
Proposed New Member
The following membership candidate has submitted an application and signed letter of agreement to the Historic Rotary Club of Charleston:
Madison Hancock – sponsor: Hugh Lane; classification: Banking/MortgageIn the event you know Madison, please tell a member of the Board how she will serve the ideals of Rotary.
MEMBER SPOTLIGHT
Rotarian: Elizabeth Lynn
JOINED: February 21, 2023
SPONSOR: John Tecklenburg
CLASSIFICATION: College Planning
PROFESSION: Knowledge About College, Johns Island
Community Service Organizations, Current Activities or Activities/Volunteer Work in the Past:Low Country Marine Mammal volunteer, El Sisstemo Musical Minds Board member, Therapeutic Horsemanship volunteer and Board Member.
Birthdays
- No Birthdays
WELLNESS TIP
Take a break.
Don’t forget about your own needs. Take a nap, go for a short walk, read a book or watch a funny movie. Laughing relaxes the whole body, and can relieve physical tension and stress.
Holidays are meant to be a fun, enjoyable time with friends and family. These tips can help ensure you truly enjoy your holidays when stress starts to set in.
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 1st & 3rd 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
Copyright 2018, Rotary Club of Charleston. All rights reserved