March 12, 2024
Casey Lavin of Beemok Hospitalality joined u for this week’s meeting and gave us an overview of that company growing portfolio of hospitality venues in Charleston. from its anchor property at Charleston Place, which is undergoing an extensive upgrade over the next year, to the waterfront Copper Hotel, opening next year, Beemok offers two premier hotel experiences for visitors to our city as well as amenities for resident to enjoy, too, including a new pier on the Cooper River. The recently opened Sorelle on Broad Street offers a fantastic new fine dining experience, while the renovated Riviera Theatre on King St provides a new entertainment and meeting venue. Still to come, American Gardens, which will provide more green space for all to enjoy downtown
A busy month ahead with the District Conference and the Rotary Leadership Institute both happening in March. See the newsletter for more information.
For a recording of this week’s meeting, click here.
Passcode: nZ2k!4hN
IN OTHER MEETING NEWS
- Julianne Farnsworth gave the Invocation and led us in the pledge.
- Kay Fuller introduced our visiting Rotarians & guests.
- President Cleave presented Health & Happiness.
- Past President David Burt introduced our speaker, Casey Levin of Beemok Hospitality.
MORE IN THIS WEEK’S KEYWAY
March 19, 2024 | Issue 5120 President: Cleave Ham
UPCOMING EVENTS
- 3/19 – Joseph Affspring, CRDA (11am New Member Orientation)
- 3/21 – Rotary Leadership Institute (RLI) sessions in Charleston
- 3/22-24 — District Conference in Charleston
- 3/23 – (Community event) Annual Water Mission Walk for Water (unfortunately, this date conflicts with our District Conference)
- 3/26 – Speaker TBD
- 4/2 – NO MEETING
NEWS BRIEFS
Reminder … Guest RSVP by 5pm on Monday
If you are planning to bring a guest to Rotary, it is important that you 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. Guest fee is $30 paid at the door. First-time prospective members are free.
Calling All New Members – New Member Orientation on 3/19
Our club is hosting a new member orientation on Tuesday, March 19th from 11am to 12pm at Halls Signature events! It’ll be a wonderful opportunity to learn more regarding club structure, committees, and values. The orientation is a requirement on the Blue Badge Checklist. All newly inducted members should plan to attend, if they haven’t already attending a session. This meeting truly gives you all of the tools to optimize your involvement in the club.
Our Rotary Club Featured on LIVE 5 News
Past President Sandy Morckel and President Cleave were interviewed “live” by Channel 5 LIVE 5 NEWS, this past Wednesday, 3/13 on their 3pm newscast. They discussed our Rotary Club, and Rotary in general.
If you weren’t able to take a break and tune in, the recording link is below.
The LIVE 5 NEWS folks reached out to Carroll, who referred the request to our Public Image Chair Mike, who coordinated the interview. Thank you Carroll and Mike!
One80 Place Food Drive – Month of March
The month of March we will be collecting essential pantry items for One80 Place in Charleston. The list of urgently needed items is below. You may bring donations to any meeting during the month of March.
If you prefer, One80 Place has a “shopping list” set up by Amazon that will be shipped directly to the center, and can be noted from the Charleston Rotary club. Follow this link to purchase a donation through Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wishlist/2ZBP09LS02594/ref=nav_wishlist_lists_1
Urgent Needs:
Stock products (chicken and beef)
Pasta and rice (brown or white)
Soups, canned tuna or chicken
Salad dressings
Salt, pepper, sugar
Lunch snacks for Veteran lunches and children (chips, goldfish, cookies, etc.)
Peanut butter and/or Jelly
Cereal, oatmeal, grits
Coffee, ground or whole bean
Doors To Dream Financial Literacy Project at Burke A Success!
Thank you to Dan West for his efforts as our Club’s Vocational Service Chair, and to the multiple volunteers who participated with Dan to make our Club’s Vocational Service project last week at Burke High School a great success!
This Rotary year, our Rotary Club,
with the assistance of a Rotary District Grant, partnered with the non-profit organization “Doors To Dream”, also supported by Junior Achievement, to volunteer for a project to teach financial literacy to students at Burke High School, to empower “youth to have the life skills, confidence and knowledge to achieve their goals”.
District-Wide March Membership Madness Challenge
Who will be the first club to take on the March Membership Madness challenge? March Madness in basketball is all about shooting 3-Pointers from downtown. In Rotary, it’s all about attracting new members. All clubs who shoot 3-Pointers and grow membership by 3 new members from March 1 through April 30 will be recognized and receive a special award at Spring Training Assembly on May 3. A Grand Prize of $400 will be given in honor of the club who brings in the most new members to the Community Service Organization (501-c-3) of their choice.
Knowing our Club members and our excellent Membership Committee Team, on behalf of our Rotary Club President Cleave has replied and accepted the District’s challenge. We encourage all members to bring a potential member to Rotary over the next month and let’s make March Membership Madness a Slam Dunk!
ROTARY LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE (RLI)
All Rotarians are invited to attend the upcoming Rotary Leadership Institute (RLI) being held in Charleston at Trident Technical College on March 21.
RLI is a series of three class sessions, Parts I, II, and III, for Rotarians to learn more about Rotary and develop leadership skills. At other times, these sessions are offered in-person or virtually with Zoom.
RLI 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.”
Signup in DACdb > District Files > Calendar > look for RLI
More information on the program and session dates can be found at: https://midatlanticrli.org/ 0R contact fellow club member, Jerry Kozel, jtkozel@gmail.com
Rotary District Conference – March 22-24 in Charleston
We have a wonderful opportunity this year as the annual Rotary District Conference will be held here in Charleston at the Francis Marion during the weekend of March 22. Conference registration is open to all Rotarians. If you are interested in attending, please sign up quickly as the conference is limited to only 330 registrants. This is a fun and informative event and you have an opportunity to learn more about Rotary in our District, in our Clubs and the wonderful things we are doing in our local communities and around the world. We have great speakers and fun events, and there is still time register. The rate is $350.
Please note that you can now register for “pay as you go” events at the Conference such as Friday Lunch, Friday Dinner, Saturday Dinner. If you cannot attend the entire Conference, these are great options.
Please note that you must pre-register for the Conference as we cannot accommodate any walk ups.
The registration link is in the DACdb District Calendar and below for your convenience. Just click on District on the home page and then District Calendar.
https://www.dacdb.com/Register4/index.cfm?EventID=77675037
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
MEMBER SPOTLIGHT
Rotarian: W. McCain Kerr
JOINED: December 2, 2022
SPONSOR: Cleave Ham & Michael Smith
CLASSIFICATION: Banking
PROFESSION: Assistant Manager, First Citizens Bank
Community Service Organizations, Current Activities or Activities/Volunteer Work in the Past: Charleston Young Professionals Steering Committee: Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce, Society 1858: Gibbes Art Museum (young professionals group)
SOMETHING UNIQUE ABOUT YOURSELF: I am an aspiring grillmaster. President-Elect Sullivan spends a lot of time trying my concoctions. Proud dog owner to Max, love reading, trying new restaurants and touring historic sites.
Birthdays
- 3/19 – Katherine DeMoura
- 3/20 – Karla Combs, Elizabeth Hills
- 3/21 – McCain Kerr, Leslie Fellabom
- 3/22 – Adrian Cain
- 3/23 – Joe Maas
WELLNESS TIP
Make weekly exercise dates
You can easily talk yourself out of a workout, but it’s more difficult to do when you have a standing commitment to work out with a friend. Overall, aim for 150-plus minutes of weekly moderate-intensity aerobic exercise. Exercisers are 45 percent less likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease, the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation reports.
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