Club History - 12-13: Frank Haislip

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Below is the year of President Frank Haislip, 2012-2013.  If you would like to go in chronological order, start at the bottom and scroll your way up.

July tenth was an eventful meeting.  Kevin Yeargin for the first time conducted a meeting as President; District Governor Chuck Arnason made his official visit to our club and talked to us about Rotary International, District 7600, and our club; and Shawn Avery was inducted into the club by DG Chuck--all this in front of a room almost overflowing with members.

On June 30th we had our installation of officers gathering in the home and lush garden of Kevin and Nhu Yeargin.

On June 19th the Honorable Molly Ward, Mayor of Hampton, spoke to the club about the Mayor's Book Club, which the Peninsula Rotary Club participates in with both financial help and with volunteers.  She then opened the floor to general questions about the City of Hampton.

The District Governor, our own Cap Nielson, installs our newest member, Charlie Rhodes, with co-sponsors Debra Flores and Elizabeth McCoury attending.

On Friday evening, May 31st, the Peninsula Rotary Club presented a big check for $12,000 to the Star Achievers Academy YMCA at Cooper Elementary School.  The funds will be used for support of a summer engineering camp and other programs.

On April 24th we had our "Career Day" with students from our Interact Club at Peninsula Catholic High School.  With the meeting room full, the Rotarians, led by Greg Richardson, gave rapid-fire answers to the students' questions about careers.

We have noticed that some of our best programs come from our own members.  April 17th was a good example--Abe Firestone, in a talk entitled "How Jimmy Stewart Changed My Life," told about his combat career in World War Two as an Army Air Corps navigator/bombardier flying 24 missions over Europe.

Shown reading to the pre-K students at Cooper Elementary School are Peninsula Rotarians John Frantz (above) and Linda McKee (below).

With both a grant and reading volunteers, the Peninsula Rotary Club participated with Cooper Elementary School and Star Achievers Academy YMCA for the Mayor's Book Club, a program to help children improve their reading skills.  Shown above are John Frantz, Rob Dick, and Linda McKee, with some of the Cooper children.

Our club cosponsors a Rotaract Club at Christopher Newport University.  On March 13th Katie Schumacher, President of the CNU Rotaract Club, gave us an update on the club and what they have been doing.

Six people--Peninsula Rotarians Ray Spencer, Danny Carroll, and Jim Pierce, Jim's daughter Cello,

Peninsula Catholic High School Interact Club Vice President Lynn Dinh, and Interact Club faculty advisor Linda Ellis, went to Costa Rica in early March to visit our long-time friends in the Rotary Club of Escazu, Costa Rica.  In the above photograph Danny Carroll and Linda Ellis are shown with Philippe D'Eaubonne and Ray Waldon of the Escazu Club, discussing a new water treatment station with the principal of the Jorge Jimenez School.  Below is the Monday evening meeting of the Escazu Club where, after fellowship and dinner, details and strategies for our next joint project, water treatment stations for about fifteen schools, was discussed.

... and the Costa Rica delegation did not avoid having fun while they were there (see below).

The Peninsula Catholic High School Interact Club, sponsored by the Peninsula Rotary Club, was encouraged to participate in the trip to Costa Rica because they have raised an amazing amount of money for our international projects.

Saturday night, February 16th, was Charter Night for the Virginia Peninsula Rotary Club.  In spite of the rain and snow, we came out to the James River Country Club and its historic golfing museum for a party.  A fine time was had by all.

On February 7th the Peninsula Club participated in the All-Peninsula Joint Rotary Meeting, a coming-together of the ten Rotary clubs on the Peninsula.  The highlight of the evening was a talk by Anne Mathews, a Rotary International Director, and a speaker nonpareil.

On January 24, the Virginia Peninsula Rotary Club continued its long-standing support of the Star Achiever Academy YMCA program by contributing over $5,000 in support of the Mayors Book Club.  Peninsula Club members will also participate in the program by reading to kindergarten and first-grade students at Cooper Elementary School.  Shown here are Peninsula Club Rotarians Elizabeth McCoury, Kevin Yeargin, and Rob Dick.  With them are Hank Lewis, Star Achiever Board Chair; Debbie Russell, City of Hampton Administrator of Youth, Education and Family Services; Chaundria Smith, Cooper School Assistant Principal; and--the center of attention--Florencio Mallari, kindergarten student.

As we do every year, the Peninsula Rotary Club spent a day ringing the bell at two Salvation Army kettle locations--one in Newport News and one in Hampton.  Shown on the left at Patrick Henry Mall is the entire Spencer family--Hilary, Noelle, Scott, and Ned.  On the right at the Hampton Walmart are Danny Carroll, Tom Hunnicutt, Roger Wolfe, and Kevin Yeargin, assisted by Tom's West Highland White Terriers, Madison and MacDuff.

On November 14th we heard from Noel Bajat--Cajun, trustee of The Rotary Foundation, and past Vice President of Rotary International.  He gave us an inside look at the Foundation's workings.

The 2012 District 7600 Assembly, with our own Cap Neilson presiding, was held in Wintergreen.

On November 7th, the officers of our Interact Club came to give us an update on what their Peninsula Catholic High School club was doing.  Above is President Blakely Coughenour addressing us.

It was a dark and stormy night.  Even with Hurricane Sandy threatening, people dressed in their finery showed up at the 20th annual An Achievable Dream Tennis Ball.  The Tennis Ball is co-sponsored by the Virginia Peninsula Rotary Club, and it is the highlight of the club's year.  For more photographs, see the Photo Albums page of this website.

On the morning of October 9th, Star Achievers Academy YMCA held a benefit breakfast in Hampton.  The Peninsula Rotary Club participated in the inception of this educational organization, and has been a major supporter since.  Although this breakfast was not a Rotary function, about 15 percent of the club's membership was present.

September 19th was a double-barreled look at An Achievable Dream.  In the morning, several Rotarians toured the Achievable Dream Academy.  For more on this tour, see the Photo Albums page.  At our noon meeting, Lee Vreeland, Director of Education at An Achievable Dream, spoke to the club about the organization and what its mission is.

Our club meeting on September 12th was a busy one.  With two Past District Governors visiting, we swore in the new officers of our Interact Club at Peninsula Catholic High School and welcomed the GSE team visiting from southern Brazil.  For more on the Brazilians, visit our Photo Albums page.

At the club meeting September 12th, Diane Hagemann swears in Blakely Coughenour, the incoming President of the Interact Club at Peninsula Catholic High School, as President Frank Haislip looks on.

In early September a Rotary Group Study Exchange (GSE) team from southern Brazil visited the area.  Planning and support for the visit was a joint effort of the Peninsula Club, the Newport News Club, the Warwick Club, the Yorktown Club, and the Oyster Point Club.  On the 10th, the first full day of their visit, the team spent the morning seeing Jamestown in the company of Diane Hagamann of the Peninsula Club (in the picture) and Roma Frye of the Newport News Club.  That afternoon they toured Peninsula Catholic High School guided by the school's Interact Club (sponsored by the Peninsula Club).

Every District Governor for Rotary District 7600 visits every club in the district during his year as Governor.  This photo shows District Governor Cap Neilson making his official visit to his own club, the Virginia Peninsula Rotary Club.  Not surprisingly, he was received warmly.  Also not surprisingly, he proceded to give a talk that was both inspiring and interesting.

At the August 1st meeting, District Governor Cap Neilson inducted two new members into the club--Joel Bundy of Sentara Careplex, and Lorrie Carter of 1st Advantage Credit Union.  Cap and the new members are shown here along with President Frank and sponsors Debra Flores and Paul Szabo.

On July 26th, students in the Star Achievers program at Cooper Elementary Magnet School launched one of their summer engineering camp projects in the Hampton YMCA swimming pool.  Working in teams of three, the students built remotely-controlled robots that could dive and maneuver through an obstacle course laid out in the pool.  Star Achievers Academy has been supported by the Peninsula Rotary Club since the Academy's inception in 2002.  It is a partnership among the Peninsula Rotary Club, the Peninsula Metropolitan YMCA, and Hampton Public Schools.

On the evening of June 22, Frank Haislip was sworn in as our new president by Cap Neilson, who the very next day was destined to become the District Governor.

The venue for our Installation of Officers celebration was the Hampton History Museum.