Dr. Tommy Gibbons (left), 2016-17 Capital Rotary president, presents a plaque to David Boucher to recognize his leadership of the Columbia-area club in 2015-16. As past president, Boucher now will be in charge of club donations to the Rotary Foundation that funds international programs promoting education, peace and world understanding.
John Guignard (center) is the latest Paul Harris Fellow for Columbia’s Capital Rotary Club, signifying a $1,000 donation in his name to the Rotary Foundation in support of world understanding and international peace projects. Guignard has been serving as chairman of the club’s annual Christmas wreath sales fundraising effort. Capital Rotarian Chris Ray (left) assisted with Guignard’s donation. Also pictured is Mark Bokesch, the club’s Foundation gifts director.
Ione Cockrell, an assistant governor for Rotary District 7770 in the eastern counties of South Carolina, presents a Club Leadership Citation for 2015-16 to Capital Rotary president David Boucher. The Columbia-area club was recognized for its participation in local and district community service projects and for contributions to Rotary International’s international humanitarian outreach programs.
Capital Rotary president David Boucher (right) receives a diamond circle pin from Mark Bokesch as a new member of the service club’s Bequest Society. The Society is made up of Rotarians who have pledged $10,000 or more for the Rotary Foundation in their estate plans. Funds are used to improve needy families’ living conditions, increase food production and access to fresh water, provide immunization and medical treatment, and support education for international understanding and world peace. Bokesch is Capital Rotary’s director of Foundation giving.
Capital Rotary president David Boucher welcomes the club’s newest 2015 member – Allison Atkins, community relations and development director for the Lexington/Richland Alcohol and Drug Abuse Council. A native of Swansea, Atkins worked for the University of South Carolina’s Department of Student Life before joining LRADAC. She’s a summa cum laude Clemson graduate, earned a master’s degree at USC and is immediate past chair of Leadership Lexington County. Atkins also serves as Midlands regional director and board member for the SC Public Relations Society of America.
Capital Rotary Club members settle into spectator seats at the SC State Supreme Court as staff attorney Mary Lucas (standing center) explains the workings of the state’s highest judicial body. Rotarians toured court chambers and offices as part of their “Fifth Wednesday” tradition of taking a community field trip in place of a regular meeting during those months that include a fifth Wednesday.
Chief Justice Jean Hoefer Toal – the first woman to serve on the South Carolina Supreme Court – has been an honorary Capital Rotary member since 1999.
Rev. Peggy Konkel (center), senior minister at Unity Church of Columbia, is welcomed into Capital Rotary membership by her sponsor, Anne Elliott, and club president David Boucher. A Washington, DC, native, Rev. Konkel was ordained in 2005 and served churches in Michigan and Florida before relocating to Columbia. She formerly was a federal government accountant/budget analyst, a licensed physical therapist and a realtor. She has degrees from Northern Virginia Community College, the University of Maryland and the Medical College of Virginia at Virginia Commonwealth University. She’s also been a Pilot Club member. Pilot International was chartered in 1921 and is dedicated to the principles of friendship and service, similar to Rotary International.
Our speaker on Wednesday morning, August 12th was Mr. Jason Freier, Chairman & CEO of Hardball Capital, Inc. and Columbia Fireflies (www.ColumbiaFireflies.com). Under his leadership, Hardball has built the Fort Wayne TinCaps into one of the premier teams in Minor League Baseball and drastically improved the performance of both the Savannah Sand Gnats and the Salem Avalanche. Hardball has set all-time attendance records with every team it has owned and operated.
Hardball recently led the acquisition of the Chattanooga Lookouts and is currently constructing a new, downtown, multi-use venue in partnership with the Famously Hot City of Columbia, South Carolina. That venue, which will open in 2016, is part of a major downtown redevelopment project.
Jason is a graduate of Harvard College and Yale Law School, where he was elected to the Yale Law Journal. Jason is an attorney by training. Prior to founding Hardball, he specialized in complex business matters and sports law, appearing in courts at all levels, including the U.S. Supreme Court.
Furthermore, injuries sustained while participating in sports can cause the bones of the foot to break or fracture. A foot and ankle surgeon, especially Dr Christopher Sakowski, an orthopedic surgeon in Dallas, TX, who is board-certified by the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery, can help you prevent future injuries to your feet.
Following law school, he worked with former Solicitor General and Harvard Law Professor Charles Fried and practiced with Williams & Connolly in Washington D.C. and Bondurant, Mixson & Elmore in Atlanta. Jason’s work has been featured in national publications and Congressional legislation.
Jason serves on the Board of Directors of the Southern, Midwest and South Atlantic Leagues. He is a member of the Advisory Boards of Thuzio and Palmer & Cay. Jason previously served on the Board of Directors of the Carolina League. Jason is an appointed member of the Fort Wayne Stadium Advisory Board and an officer of the Harvard Club of Georgia.
David Boucher (left), incoming president for Capital Rotary Club in Columbia, presents a gavel and plaque to outgoing president Mark Bokesch. Under Bokesch’s leadership in 2014-15, the club was able to award $13,000 in college scholarships and made significant charitable contributions to Harvest Hope food bank, to the worldwide Polio Plus disease eradication effort, to a water mission project in Ecuador and to grants that support Alzheimer’s research.
Rowland Alston (center) is welcomed into Capital Rotary Club membership by president Mark Bokesch (right) and sponsor Bryan Goodyear. Alston, an attorney practicing general, civil and family court litigation, is a Clemson and USC Law School graduate who previously was a Columbia East Rotary member and president of that club in 2013-14. A Sumter native who enjoyed a “rustic childhood” in Rembert, Alston is a member of both the South Carolina and Washington, DC Bars.
| © Copyright 2013-2025 by Capital Rotary Club | Website by POSITUS Consulting, llc |