Michael A. Hall
U. S. Census Bureau 2010 Census
By: Sheila Cottringer
    
                          
Before our speaker was introduced by Tim Newman, Rotarian Leland Park announced that the Global Warming Conference that was scheduled for the afternoon had been canceled. It was a great "warm up" for Tim's introduction of Assistant Regional Census Manager for the Partnership program in the five states of Kentucky, North and South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. Mr. Hall oversees the Charlotte region which is said to have the second-largest resident population. The region is also experiencing some of the fastest and most diverse growth in the country.
 
During Mr. Hall's 25-year career with the Census Bureau, he worked in a variety of positions within the Kansas City, Dallas, and Philadelphia regions. He served as the branch chief of Partnership and Data Services and as the special assistant to the chief of field division in the Census Bureau headquarters in Washington, D.C.
 
Mr. Hall told us that the national Census Road Tour was launched on Monday on the Today Show with Matt Lauer. The local kickoff was held the same day in uptown Charlotte with an abundance of elected officials and a diverse crowd participating in the event.
 
He explained that the first Census was conducted in 1790 and the 3 million people counted represented an undercount. This year's count will be the twenty-third Census, the shortest in history. It features only ten questions which will take ten minutes.
 
The government distributes approximately $400 million in funds each year for essential community services based on the Census. Distribution of these funds is determined by Census data for these communities.
 
To demonstrate the importance of Census data, Mr. Hall explained that North Carolina gained a congressional seat and Utah lost one in the year 2000. The difference was only 53 people! This also meant more money for North Carolina. Furthermore, that increased funding as a result of the data is good for 10 years. He went on to say that it is rumored that North Carolina could again gain an additional seat as a result of this year's Census.
 
Each person not counted, he said, results in an estimated $12,000 loss in funding for a community. The Census Bureau will employ 24,000 people in North Carolina to assist with the count and an estimated 6,000 of those workers will be hired in Charlotte.
 
We all have a stake in helping the Census Bureau collect this vital information. It costs taxpayers an estimated $80 million to go back to collect Census data from every 1% of the population that doesn't mail the form back in the postage-paid return envelope included in the package which should be received by March 15th. Think of how much tax money could be saved if more people mailed in the forms without having to have the Census Bureau come a callin'.
 
Help Centers will be open to assist callers who have questions. Multi-lingual staff members will be on hand to help our diverse population.
 
Mr. Hall asked all Rotarians to help spread the word encouraging employees, friends and family to mail in their forms. He also talked about the Partnership Program which has a number of benefits. More information can be found at www.2010Census.gov. Businesses will also have an opportunity to utilize the information collected by the Bureau. There are over 250 surveys conducted throughout the year which includes social economic data that can be very helpful to businesses.
 
With a 98.8% response rate in the 2000 Census, Mr. Hall hopes the 2010 Census results are closer to 100%. With our help, that goal can be accomplished and help create a better future for everyone in our community.
  
 
Head Table: Eric Levinson, Robert Freeman, Pender McElroy, Tim Newman, Tracy Grooms, David McMillan;
Invocation: Natalie English;
Visitors & Guests: Bill Bradley; Health & Happiness: Leland Park; Song: Biff Virkler & Wells Van Pelt; Piano: Thomas Moore: Photos by Bert
 

• Catching up since the holidays - Sympathy is extended to the families of three club members who lost loved ones over the holiday period. Ed McMahan's wife, Evangeline passed away on December 16th. David Tobin's father, Dick Tobin, passed away on December 17 and Harold Cogdell lost his father the week after Christmas. Harold Hoak became ill during the December 29th meeting. He was checked out at Mercy Hospital and all is well. Wife, Betsy, says thanks to Mark Erwin, Brian Gibson and John Phillips for standing by his side until help arrived. John Snyder had toe surgery (tennis injury) and is expected to be back at Rotary next week.
   
• The club has two new Rotarians. John Nicolay introduced John zumBrunnen on December 22nd. John is president of zumBrunnen, Inc & Facility Forecast, a business development-construction consulting-facility condition assessment company out of Atlanta. Contact John at jzumbrunnen@zumbrunnen.com. Tony Zeiss had the pleasure of introducing Kevin Pitts, who is editor of the Charlotte Business Journal. Contact Kevin at kpitts@bizjournals.com. Welcome to Charlotte Rotary.
 
• Milestone -Tom Barnhardt celebrated 50 years of membership in the Rotary Club of Charlotte on December 15th!
 
• Four resignations to report: Jessica Brasington, Budd Berro, Bill Griswold and Janet Fortner. Janet retired from Hospice & Palliative Care Charlotte Region the end of December; Budd Berro is busy traveling all over the state while representing the Governor; Jessica Brasington is working on a new job search; Bill Griswold's schedule keeps him on the road. Best to all.
 
• Alan Adler's comment on the ABC board dinner was published in The Observer Forum. The joint collaboration of Charlotte Rescue Mission (Tony Marciano) and United Family Services (Mark Pierman) was highlighted in The Observer. These two Rotarians will present their program to the club on January 12th. Club member and Mayor Anthony Foxx joined the legal department of DesignLine Corp. Photos from the December 22nd holiday meeting are here.
 
• Leadership Charlotte will hold an open house from 6:00 to 7:30 on Thursday, January 7, 2010 at Queens University of Charlotte - Sykes Rotunda. There is no charge but you will need to RSVP at www.leadershipcharlotte.org/home.
 
                   
VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES
     
• Junior Achievement Biz Town: Volunteers are needed to work at JA's Biz Town on Friday, January 29 or Thursday, February 25. Contact Jay Westmoreland, jay.westmoreland@smithbarney.com, for additional information.
  
• Levine Children's Hospital Tour: BG Metzler is coordinating a tour of Levine Children's Hospital on Thursday, January 28, 2010. The tour will take about 45 minutes and you have your choice of attending at 10:00 AM or 2:00 PM. Contact BG at bobnbg@earthlink.net.

How I Got Where I'm At
December 29, 2009
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 Bill Bartee with Jesse Brown's Outfitters. Bill is also a regular on the Carolina Outdoors Show on WBT Radio every Saturday morning from 5 am to 6 am. Bill is a real advocate of outfitting and the outdoors. His experience in the Boy Scouts played a strong role in his interest in all aspects of the outdoors. Bill reported that there are four qualities that helped him get where he is at - hard work, discipline, faith and luck. He learned hard work and discipline growing up on a farm near Clover, SC. Moving to that farm when he was younger was his parent's version of a crime and drug prevention program. He worked every day on the farm before and after school - feeding cows, planting seeds, tagging calves and bailing hay. If he didn't do his chores his father would have him pick up rocks or fix fences as discipline. In the area of faith he was told early in life to let Jesus in his heart. He was taught to make God first in his life, family second and school and community third. Bill also believes in luck. He was lucky to be born into the family and community he was born into. He was fortunate to be in Charlotte which supports his business and was lucky to be born in the United States of America, a country that enables us to be part of so many good things.
 
Our second presentation of the day was by Wells Van Pelt with Wells Fargo. Wells declared that he will not retire as he has two young children. When he dies he will have a tuition bill in his pocket. Wells talked of three key lessons he's learned in his life. His first lesson came from one of Shakespeare' plays, "As You Like It." One of his favorite lines in the play was the phrase "sweet are the uses of adversity." Wells faced financial adversity when he tried to rebuild the family's fortune lost by his father. He chose the brokerage business to do that. From 1972 to 1982 he was poor as the market went nowhere in that decade. When he had few choices he was happier. When he made more money and had more choices he was less happy. He learned that money was not the way to success. Helping others and the simple life were. His second lesson involved the serious illness of his son. His young son's stomach was hurting for two or three weeks. In a whirlwind of difficult events, they went to the doctor one day, the hospital the second day and his son was diagnosed with cancer the third day. After a liver transplant, his son tragically died. Wells learned two things from that significant challenge and tragedy - he no longer has a fear of death and life is serious so enjoy while you live it. His third lesson involved confusion about his 40 year membership in his church. For some reason they considered him a new member and invited him to a new member Sunday school so he went and through that class became more involved in his church and more engaged with his faith. He realized faith gets us engaged in religion, not knowledge alone.
 
Our third presentation was by Bev Grant Turner with International House. Bev's father was a nuclear engineer and hoped that Bev would follow him in that line of work. Bev went into the business world instead but always had an interest in diversity issues and hoped some day to become more involved in that kind of work as a volunteer or otherwise. In the business world she has worked for NCNB, the predecessor to Bank of America, Transamerica for 13 years and she successfully launched a web-based retail and wholesale business. While working in those various businesses, she also received her Executive MBA. Her various job responsibilities in sales, marketing, human resources and operations along with her MBA and her creative and analytical skills prepared her to pursue her passion of diversity as earlier this year she became the Executive Director of International House. As a closing aside, Bev mentioned that one of her life dreams is to visit all Seven Wonders of the World. To date, she has visited four of them.
 
Our last presentation was by Ellison Clary who started his own communications company in 2003. Ellison told us that he got to where he is at through the lessons he learned from good bosses. He learned ten lessons from ten bosses. In the Army he learned to eat anything and eat fast. At the Charlotte News he learned to meet deadlines, be dependable and that every word counts. At his first stint with the Hickory Daily Record, he learned to plan and be accountable. Working for the Columbus Enquirer, he learned to always do his best because someone was always looking. At Carolina Power, he learned to have fun outside the newspaper business. During his second stint at the Hickory Daily Record, he learned loyalty. While at the Tuscaloosa paper, Ellison learned to pay attention to the bottom line. At NCNB, he learned the value of teamwork. At the Observer, he learned the power of connections. Finally as his own boss, he learned that every client is his boss. His final thought- keep listening and learning.
 
 
Head Table: Lila Rash, Bill Bartee, John Snyder, John Nicolay, Elly Clary, Beverly Grant-Turner, Wells Van Pelt;
Invocation: Nancy Roberson;
Visitors & Guests: Charlie Bones; Health & Happiness: Pender McElroy; Song & Piano: Thomas Moore; Photos: Bert Voswinkel
 

ROTARY'S NUMBERS UP IN 2008-09
The Rotarian Magazine, January 2010 Issue
  
In a year of economic havoc that rocked global markets and shook consumer confidence, Rotary's most important asset - its members - grew steadily. As of 30 June, there were 1,234,527 members in 33,790 Rotary clubs, an increase of 3,044 members and 520 clubs from the previous year. More than 5,700 clubs in the 534 Rotary International districts achieved a membership growth rate of 10 percent or better during the 2008-2009 year, a goal set by 2008-09 RI President Dong Kurn Lee.
  
The Rotary Club of Charlotte's membership is down 1 as of January 1, 2010. One applicant has been approved and is awaiting introduction; one application is about to be finished up and forwarded to the board. Membership is everyone's responsibility. If you have a friend or business associate that would be an asset to this club, invite them to join you at a meeting. Membership applications are available at the Rotary office.