Matthew Rapp, Executive Director - The PLAYERS Championship

Matt has worked for the PGA TOUR since the beginning of 2005. Before taking over The PLAYERS Championship in May of 2010, he worked in the TOUR’s corporate marketing department where he focused on title sponsor sales and was responsible for over $500 million in sponsorship agreements with companies that include: Crowne Plaza, The Greenbrier, Children’s Miracle Network, RSM McGladrey, Transitions Optical, Northern Trust, Norwegian Cruise Lines, the Royal Bank of Canada, Boeing and Regions.

Since taking over as Executive Director of The PLAYERS Championship, Matt has focused on significantly enhancing the fan experience, increasing the event’s charitable impact and reinvigorating its vital connection with the local community.

Prior to joining the PGA TOUR, Matt held several senior executive positions in public relations and communications with the ATP World Tour, governing body of men’s professional tennis and Burson-Marsteller, a leading global public relations firm. His first job was working on Capitol Hill with the former assistant majority leader of the US Senate, Wendall Ford.

A native of Louisville, KY, Matt has lived and worked in many cities throughout the United States and around the world including Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington, DC, London and Brussels, Belgium but is proud to call Jacksonville his home since 2001.

Matt graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1991 where he rowed crew and studied international relations.

He is married to Kimberly Woods Rapp, a Bishop Kenny and UF graduate and together they have 7 children.

Curtis Hazel, CIC

Curtis was born in Jacksonville, Fla., and graduated from The Bolles School in 1992. He attended the University of Florida, a study-abroad program in London, and graduated from the University of North Florida. He and his wife, Jenny, live in St. Augustine, and have two children – McKenna (8), and Jackson (6).

Curtis is involved in a number of community service and volunteer activities. He currently serves on the board for the following organizations; University of North Florida Athletic Department, the Jacksonville School for Autism, River Garden Foundation, and The River Garden Holding Company Board. He was a founding board member and continues to serve for Children’s Safe Passage, created in 2010. Curtis also serves as a Mentor for Take Stock in Children (TSIC), and is a member of their Leadership Council.

Professionally, Curtis is the founder and president of Hazel Partners LLC, an independent property and casualty insurance firm, specializing in commercial insurance brokerage and risk management consulting.

Curtis has volunteered with THE PLAYERS for 16 years. His volunteer assignments have taken him from Standard Bearers to General Parking, and have included Special Events, Shuttle, Island Club, Corporate Hospitality, Practice Area, VIP Parking and Benefactors. Curtis has served as Vice Chairman for Player Services, Spectator Services, Facilities and Volunteer Services. In 2011, he was First-Vice Chairman. Curtis is now Tournament Chairman, with leadership responsibilities over the 2,000-plus volunteers who work tirelessly to stage the event.

Upcoming Events

• Meeting on February 15 cancelled - Will need to make up
• Ham Cooke has details on the Centennial Gala scheduled for February 11

We are having a membership drive meeting on Feb. 29th at the Blue Fish Restaurant in Avondale at 5:30. All members are encouraged to attend a bring a prospective member with them.

RLI training on February 4. Great for new members. Please contact President Marshall or Patti if you are interested in attending.

Speaker

Career Day at Bishop Snyder was a huge success!

Thanks to all of the West Jax Rotarians who were able to make it. We had nearly 50 active Interact members directing us to the library, leading the meeting, and escorting us to the classrooms for our presentations.

It was a bittersweet day as we learned that GiGi Carroll has resigned from Bishop Snyder and will be accepting a position at JEA.

Birthdays

Barry Allred - Feb 1

Mark O’Steen - Feb 1

Next Meeting - Feb 08

Speaker - Greg Steele, Youth Crisis Center

Greeters: Malcolm Fortson and Palmer Bell

Invocation: Rob Frazier

Pledge: Randy Thornton

Four-Way Test: Scott Houser

Scribe: Leslie Jackson

Quick Links

You can now report make-ups online.

Submit “Family of Rotary” information online.

Remember to email your pictures to photos@westjaxrotary.org

You can “Like” us on Facebook by clicking here.

Follow us on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/westjaxrotary

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The meeting length is not much different than a normal meeting, it’s just a little earlier in the day. The Interact pinning ceremony is optional, the official start of the meeting will be 11 AM.

Here is the schedule for Career Day:

10:30 Interact Pinning Ceremony
11:00 Rotary meeting with lunch
11:33 First Career Day Presentation
12:08 Second Career Day Presentation
12:43 All presentations completed and we are done

We will also have a special presentation at this meeting that you don’t want to miss.

Please see President Marshall’s email for talking points to assist in your presentations.

We have the finest Interact club in the world, and these kids put a lot of effort into this event.

RSVP to Patti if you will be able to make it.

Notes

Thanks to everyone who came out for the blessing of the new mobile health clinic.

President Marshall presented Jim Riggins with a Rotary Theme pin for his outstanding work with the dictionary project.

Upcoming Events

We’re having a Centennial Celebration with the Downtown club on Feb 13.

• Meeting on February 15 cancelled - Will need to make up
• Ham Cooke has details on the Centennial Gala scheduled for February 11

We are having a membership drive meeting on Feb. 29th at the Blue Fish Restaurant in Avondale at 5:30. All members are encouraged to attend a bring a prospective member with them.

RLI training on February 4. Great for new members. Please contact President Marshall or Patti if you are interested in attending.

Pop-Ups

Mike Corrigan reminded the club that there are many open classifications.
Tommy Platt reminded everyone that our charity grant applications are now available.
Frank Young reminded everyone that next Wednesday, Jan. 25th, is Career Day at Bishop Snyder High School.

Speaker

Club member Bud Para introduced our speakers, Christa Figgins and Cathy Para from Jacksonville Area Legal Aid (JALA).

Christa is the Development Director for JALA. Ms. Figgins graduated from Florida State University with a B.A. in History in 1994 and from the Florida State University College of Law in 1998. Ms. Figgins joined the staff of JALA’s Clay County office in 1998, and later practiced in JALA’s main office as the program attorney for the Child Victim Rapid Response Unit and as a member of the Family Law Unit.

JALA provides free civil legal services to the poor and under-served. They serve the four county area with a staff of 80 employees that includes 42 attorneys. The served over 12,000 clients in 2011.

They currently receive approximately 110-150 applications for assistance per week.

The biggest area that they receive request for is those with Family law issues.

The have 46 funding sources that are primarily made up of competitive grants that must be re-applied for each year.

A study performed by Florida Taxwatch in February of 2010 on the total economic impact of civil legal assistance on the Florida economy produced the following results:

• Created over 3,300 jobs in the state
• Produced $250 million of output to the state economy
• Provided $297 million of disposable income
• Generated $4.78 of economic impact for every $1 spent on legal aid.

Cathy Para joined the JALA staff in 2009 to serve as the Pro Bono Development Coordinator. In the past, she served JALA as the pro-bono attorney representing clients seeking emancipation and is a recipient of the Florida Bar President’s Pro Bono Award. Ms. Para graduated with honors from Florida Coastal School of Law in 2000.

She said they have approximately 450 attorneys volunteering their time at one particular point in time. It sounds like a lot but they need 1,000.

The three main reasons attorneys are hesitant or nervous to do pro bono work are:

1. Time constraints
2. Professional liability concerns
3. Fear they will do more harm than good.

Cathy pointed out that all pro bono attorneys through JALA are covered under JALA’s professional liability insurance.

JALA offers ongoing training for attorneys specific to the case needs of JALA. It’s a great training ground for new attorneys.

Our very own Marty Sacks has done pro bono work since 1958. He has received numerous awards through the state and from the Florida Bar Foundation.
Marty said a few words about the importance of pro bono work. He highlighted the Ask a Lawyer Program and the Military deployment program as two very interesting programs he has been involved in.

The message was that JALA’s outcomes benefit all of us. It’s the right thing to do and our society believes in it. Defending justice is in our constitution and our pledge of allegiance.

Christa and Kathy shared the following JALA info: jala-info and jala-info2

Quote of the Week

“The only man who never makes a mistake is the man who never does anything.”
Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919), 26th president of the United States

Visiting Rotarians

Scott McEvoy from Stone Mountain, GA
David Dunlap from Ponte Vedra
Robert Harris from South Jax
Josh Zmroczek accompanied the speaker, Christa Figgins

Rotary Guests

Wally Barrs brought Tim O’Keefe
John Runion brought Lewis Mustryn (not sure about the spelling-couldn’t read the writing)
Robert Harris (South Jax Rotary) brought his law partner, Alan Rosner

Birthdays

Alberta Hipps - Jan 19
Wright Hollingsworth - Jan 20
Jimmy Overton - Jan 20
Ham Cooke - Jan 25

Next Meeting - Feb 01

Speaker - Matt Rapp/Curtis Hazel - TPC

Greeters: Dan Dodd and Michael Corrigan, Jr.

Invocation: Joe Myers

Pledge: Mike Harrell

Four-Way Test: Drew Story

Scribe: John Hulsey

Quick Links

You can now report make-ups online.

Submit “Family of Rotary” information online.

Remember to email your pictures to photos@westjaxrotary.org

You can “Like” us on Facebook by clicking here.

Follow us on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/westjaxrotary

Note: There is a print link embedded within this post, please visit this post to print it.

The Rotary Club of West Jacksonville contributed over $30,000 towards this fantastic project.

Ms. Figgins graduated from Florida State University with a B.A. in History in 1994 and from the Florida State University College of Law in 1998. Ms. Figgins joined the staff of JALA’s Clay County office in 1998, and later practiced in JALA’s main office as the program attorney for the Child Victim Rapid Response Unit and as a member of the Family Law Unit.

Ms. Figgins left JALA in 2000 and served as a Judicial Staff Attorney for the Fourth Judicial Circuit of Florida from 2000 to 2004. During that time Ms. Figgins was appointed on several occasions by the Chief Judge to serve as a Special Master presiding over belated appeal cases. In early 2005, Ms. Figgins returned to JALA as the Development Director.

Ms. Figgins is a member of the Florida Bar Association and the Jacksonville Bar Association, and is also a certified Family Law Mediator. Ms. Figgins is directly responsible for Fundraising and Development at JALA, and is located in JALA’s main office in downtown Jacksonville.

Notes

We had a great time at the JU basketball game. The West Jax Rotary accounted for 28% of the total attendance.

As a reminder, our January 25th meeting is Career Day at Bishop Snyder - there is no meeting at the Quality Inn.

There will be a blessing of the new Mobile Health Clinic at St. Vincents on January 18 at 10 am.

On February 13 there is a Centennial Celebration luncheon with Rotary International President Kalyan Banerfee. There is no meeting at the Quality Inn on February 15th.

President Marshall read the slate of proposed 2012/2013 Officers and Directors

President - John McCorvey

Past President - Marshall Butler

President Elect - Nina Sasser

Treasurer - Dan Dodd

Secretary - Preston Keyes

Sgt at Arms - Paul Mohrman

Club Administration - Ike Sherlock

Membership - Josh Harrison

Public Relations - Andy Hariton

Foundation - Kathy Cold

Club Service - Eric Sherman

There was a motion, a second, and unanimous vote.

President Marshall introduced a new member, Jackie Culver. Jackie grew up in Louisiana, and graduated from UCF. She always has a smile on her face, except for maybe at the end of the 2008 Breast Cancer Marathon. She started a extremely successful running club at Stockton Elementary, which is being replicated at schools around the county. She was named the Stockton Elementary Volunteer of the Year in 2010. Jackie owns her own personal training business, is Executive Director of the Shannon Miller Foundation, and very involved in fitness causes for children and women. She’s married and has 2 sons: Andrew and Worth.

As a reminder of our regularly scheduled cancelled meetings:

December 28  – Meeting Cancelled – No need to make-up

January 4 – Meeting Cancelled – No need to make-up

January 25 – Career Day at Bishop Snyder – Need to make-up if you don’t attend

February 15 – Meeting cancelled so we can attend Centennial Celebration (February 13) – Need to make-up if you don’t attend

February 29 – Once in a Generation Social – Need to make-up if you don’t attend

April 18 – Meeting cancelled so we can attend District Conference lunch (April 20) – Need to make-up if you don’t attend

May 30 – Meeting Cancelled – No need to make-up

Of course, make-ups are easy by participating in one of the many service projects organized by our club, attending a board meeting (there’s one tomorrow), or even online.

Pop-Ups

• Scott Shuler from the East Arlington club introduced Carl Ford and his grandson, Dylan.   14 years ago the vaccine for polio included the live bacteria in the vaccine.  The odds of getting the disease were 1 in a 1 million.  Dylan was that one.  He is a quadriplegic and a big time wheelchair rugby player.
• Mike Corrigan announced there are plenty of classifications open for membership in our club.
• We’re planning a Once in a Generation social on Feb 29th
• Dictionary project

Family of Rotary

Phil Voss is recovering well from knee surgery.

Charlie Wilson is struggling with medical issues - please keep him in your thoughts and prayers.

Speaker

James Chandler, JEA COO

James is a fellow Rotarian and a 38 year veteran of the utility industry.  He has worked for 7 different utility companies.

JEA has over 500,000 customers on the electric side with annual revenue of $2.1 billion. Projected growth for electrical and water service which is based on housing starts is 1% per year over the next 5 years,  This equates to only 1200 housing starts per year.

The two biggest factors that affect our rates are 1. Regulation  2. Fuel costs.
The third biggest factor is how much money is transferred back to the City of Jax.  Last year it was $237 million dollars.
Our utilities are actually cheaper than they were back in 1983: Average electric bill is 1250 kw/hr which equates to $167.00
JEA ranks in the middle in price for the state of Florida.

They are using many sources of fuel to provide electricity.
Wind from Nebraska – 10 mg watts /day
Solar Panels on Beaver Street – 100 acres. – 12 mg watts/day
Natural Gas plant – produces 750 mg watts/day
The rest is from the coal fired plants.
In 2016 they will get 206 mg watts/ day from the nuclear power plant in Georgia.
In 2021 they will have an option to buy from Duke Power another 400 mg watts/day.

Quote of the Week

“I make my practices real hard ……..
because if a player is a quitter…..
I want him to quit in practice, not in a game.”

Bear Bryant / Alabama

Visiting Rotarians

Buck Autrey, Ed Witt, Sr from Downtown
Marcus Drewa from South Jax
Scott Schuler from East Arlington (Scott brought Dillon Ford)

Rotary Guests

Eric Sherman brought his son, Kyle Sherman
Jim Overton brought his daughter, Sarah Overton
Rob Overly brought Chris Santos (RC of Belo Horizonte Pampulha (Brazil)

Birthdays

Joe Eberly - Jan 12
Damon Loop - Jan 12
Ken Baker - Jan 13
Brandon Hilliard - Jan 15

Next Meeting - Jan 25

Career Day at Bishop Snyder - No meeting at the Quality Inn

Speaker - Gigi Carroll

Greeters: Charlie Wilson and Drew Story

Invocation: Jim Schumacher

Pledge: Mark O’Steen

Four-Way Test: Stanley Cantor

Scribe: John Hulsey

Quick Links

You can now report make-ups online.

Submit “Family of Rotary” information online.

Remember to email your pictures to photos@westjaxrotary.org

You can “Like” us on Facebook by clicking here.

Follow us on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/westjaxrotary

Note: There is a print link embedded within this post, please visit this post to print it.

James Chansler serves as the Chief Operating Officer of JEA. Mr. Chansler has 32 years of experience at electric, water and sewer utilities, 10 of those years have been spent at JEA and the City of Jacksonville. Mr. Chansler began his career as a WWTP laboratory technician and has at various times held the positions of WWTP operator, WWTP maintenance lead, WWTP chief operator, water and wastewater superintendent, water and wastewater chief engineer, utilities director, and assistant city manager. He joined JEA in June 1997 after serving as Director of the City’s Public Utilities Department since 1995. He is a registered professional engineer in the states of Florida and Kentucky. Mr. Chansler holds a bachelor’s degree in earth sciences from Berea College, a master’s degree in urban and regional planning from Western Kentucky University, and a doctoral degree in public administration from Nova Southeastern University.

Notes

Happy New Year.

Thanks to Patti and Phil Risley for organizing our outstanding Christmas party at the Yacht Club.

We received a letter for Dream Come True thanking us for our surprise gift at the Christmas Party.

The Marines thanked us for our giant SUV load of toys for the Toys for Tots campaign.

Thanks to Will Croft for organizing our successful bell ringing.

There was a terrific tribute to Jerry Spinks at the Avondale Luminaria.  We’ve posted pictures here:  http://westjaxrotary.org/dev/index.php/2011/12/jerry-spinks-luminaria-memorial/

President Marshall read the slate of proposed 2012/2013 Officers and Directors, which we’ll vote on in January:

President - John McCorvey

Past President - Marshall Butler

President Elect - Nina Sasser

Treasurer - Dan Dodd

Secretary - Preston Keyes

Sgt at Arms - Paul Mohrman

Club Administration - Ike Sherlock

Membership - Josh Harrison

Public Relations - Andy Hariton

Foundation - Kathy Cold

Club Service - Eric Sherman

Robert Jones III has resigned from the club.

Pop-Ups

We need families to help host Martin, our Austrian exchange student. Please contact Hugh Blanton at 904-358-7483 or hblanton@kostoandrotella.com

Kathy Cold and John Barley made a special presentation to John’s daughter Kristie Hilberth as a Paul Harris Fellow.

Bill Howie and Ed Pratt Daniels introduced our teacher of the quarter, Kelli L. Padgett. Kelli graduated from UNF in 1996 and has been teaching at Lee High school since 1997. Lee is one of only 3 model engineering schools in the country.

Family of Rotary

Frank Houser is recovering well from double-bypass surgery at St. Katherines.

Doug Myers was awarded a legal professionalism award.

Speaker

How I Got Where I’m At

John Hulsey

• John is from Jacksonville’s Westside and is Mark’s brother. Mark was in college when John was 6.
• He attended Episcopal High School and played Div III soccer for University of the South.
• He became the black sheep of his Gator family after transferring to FSU.
• Began his banking career in the management training program of Florida National Bank, acquired by FIrst Union.  He managed 8 offices during his 10 years there.
• He joined Jacksonville bank at its inception in 1999, now the largest commercial bank in Jacksonville.
• Mark received his MBA from Jacksonville University in 1993
• He attends St. Marks Church and is involved with several charities.
• Mark’s biggest influence is his family.

Brandon Hilliard

• Brandon grew up on the Jacksonville Westside, attending the Murray Hill Anderson School of the Arts as a Dance major
• Brandon graduated from Jacksonville University in 2010, 12 years after high school
• After high school he attended ballet school in Seattle, beginning his career in dance
• Brandon performed with several dance companies, including:
  • Touring Europe and Asia for 18 months
  • Pittsburgh Ballet
  • Eve Anderson in AZ
  • Carolina Ballet
  • Hungarian National Ballet
  • Sarasota as a principal dancer
• After his dance career, Brandon worked as a dealer in Vegas
• He later attended Fordham University in NY for two years, followed by moving back to Jacksonville and finishing his studies at Jacksonville University.
• Brandon got into life insurance because his grandfather died in 1965 from mesothelioma. The annuity from the insurance proceeds provided for his Grandmother, the mortgage and caring for his grandparents three children ever since.

Visiting Rotarians

John Noseworthy from Wilmington, DE
David Boree from Downtown
Larry Turknett from Riverside
Shawn Asmuth from Auburn, AL

Rotary Guests

John Barley brought his wife, Mimi and daughters, Agnes Barley and Christy Hilpert
Rob Overly brought Gret Watts
Jeremy Seldomridge brought his sons, Lincoln & brandyn
Nina Sasser brought Judith Erickson

Birthdays

Bill Scheu Jan 3

Next Meeting - Jan 18

Speaker - Christa Figgins, JALA

Greeters: Shep Colledge and John Bickerstaff

Invocation: Paul Broome

Pledge: Rob Overly

Four-Way Test: Frank Houser

Scribe: John Hulsey

Quick Links

You can now report make-ups online.

Submit “Family of Rotary” information online.

Remember to email your pictures to photos@westjaxrotary.org

You can “Like” us on Facebook by clicking here.

Follow us on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/westjaxrotary

Jerry was a driving force behind this annual event since its inception in 1984. A luminary display in the shape of a bowtie with the initials JS was created in Boone Park to remember Jerry.

Thanks to all of the West Jax Rotarians who contributed to make this memorial possible. A special thank you to Michael Corrigan, Jr. who helped set up the display on Sunday afternoon.

Jeremy Seldomridge
John Hulsey
Brandon Hilliard

Notes

Everyone enjoyed the good food, drink and fellowship at our Christmas Party at the Yacht Club.  Thanks to everyone for their extraordinary generosity, ensuring Dale Crisp stayed fully clothed.

We donated $1,000 to Jimmy Kelly and Dreams Come True, and raised $600 for a memorial to Jerry Spinks at the Luminaria on 12/18.

President Marshall announced the 2012/2013 proposed board:

President - John McCorvey

Past President - Marshall Butler

President Elect - Nina Sasser

Treasurer - Dan Dodd

Secretary - Preston Keyes

Sgt at Arms - Paul Mohrman

Club Administration - Ike Sherlock

Membership - Josh Harrison

Public Relations - Andy Hariton

Foundation - Kathy Cold

Club Service - Eric Sherman

Birthdays

Stewart Green - Dec 18
Tim Viverette - Dec 19
Scott Imray - Dec 20

Next Meeting - Jan 11

Reminder - there are no meetings on Dec 28 or Jan 4

Speaker - James Chansler, JEA COO

Greeters: Rob Overly and Rupert Bliss

Invocation: David Cooksey

Pledge: Dave Collier

Four-Way Test: Stew Green

Scribe: John Hulsey

Quick Links

You can now report make-ups online.

Submit “Family of Rotary” information online.

Remember to email your pictures to photos@westjaxrotary.org

You can “Like” us on Facebook by clicking here.

Follow us on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/westjaxrotary

For only $15, you will enjoy Club Seats for the basketball game, complimentary parking in the trolley lot and a pregame dinner by Bono’s. Plus, for every ticket sold, $3 comes back to our club.

Dinner will be served at 6:15 and the game tipoff is at 7:15.