Blake Dubose (left in photo), immediate past president of Capital Rotary, receives a plaque from current president Philip Flynn in recognition of service to the Columbia-area club. During DuBose’s 2017-18 tenure, Capital Rotary received a “Public Image Award” and a leadership citation from Rotary District 7770, among other honors. Professionally, DuBose is president of DuBose Web Group, a website design and development firm founded in 2007. He is a graduate of Newbery College.
Isaac Burt, a member of the sales team at Columbia’s Godwin Motors, has joined Capital Rotary. Burt (center in photo with club president Philip Flynn at right and sponsor Matthew Pollard) is a native of Portsmouth, NH. He was a high school swimming, football and track and field athlete and a college swimmer and wrestler. Burt majored in political science with a religion minor at Greensboro College in Greensboro, NC, where he also served as junior class president, student body president the following year and as a resident advisor for two years. He was a Founders Scholarship recipient at the college.
The City of Columbia’s Office of Business Opportunities director has joined Capital Rotary. Melissa L. Lindler (shown at center in photo with sponsor Gloria Saeed and club president Philip Flynn) took her city post after more than 20 years of experience in government and non-profit work. Most recently she was district planning and outreach director for Congressmen Jim Clyburn. Previously she was a staff member at the SC Department of Education and at South Carolina State University. She received her BA in political science and a master’s degree in public administration from the University of South Carolina, and earned graduate certification in public management from Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis. Lindler’s volunteer activities include board service for the International African American Museum, the Southeastern Institute for Women in Politics, the Columbia Chapter of the Society, Inc., Jack and Jill of America Foundation, Inc. and the Total Care for the Homeless Coalition.
New Capital Rotary member Catherine Mabry (center in photo) is welcomed to the club’s ranks by president Philip Flynn and sponsor Chris Myers. Mabry, who handles community outreach for Shives Funeral Home, received a Bachelor of Arts in communications from the University of Alabama. She previously worked in retail positions and in physician services at Baptist Medical Center and Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, NC. A member of and current elder for Eastminster Presbyterian Church, she is married to commercial realtor Hank Mabry, a former Rotarian, and the couple has two adult children.
In July, District Governor David Tirard visited the Capital Rotary club to lead way into an exciting new Rotary year. During his comments, DG Tirard relayed Rotary International’s 2018-19 motto, “Be the Inspiration”, but emphasized that you don’t have to be a leader to be an inspiration and that everyone can leave their footprints in the sands of time to make a lasting change.
Tirard is originally from Plymouth, England where he had a 34 year banking career. He moved to the United States in 2002. Past District Governor Sandee Brooks invited Tirard to a Rotary meeting in 2003 and he has been a Rotarian since. He now lives in Hilton Head, SC where he enjoys chasing a little white ball around golf courses and has accomplished a single handicap.
Capital Rotary Club members recall the spirit of “Service Above Self” exemplified by former treasurer and 2017 Rotarian of the Year Craig Lemrow (shown in photo), who passed away Friday, July 6, 2018 at the age of 71. A memorial observance was held July 14 at Saxe Gotha Presbyterian Church in Lexington. Lemrow, a former member and past president of Lexington Rotary, joined the Capital club in 2014. A U.S. Naval Academy graduate, he was a former military aviator and a retired Naval Reserve officer. Most recently he worked as a senior business systems analyst in information technology for the Aflac Group in Columbia. Lemrow had been recognized numerous times for multiple contributions to The Rotary Foundation, an international charitable fund that supports programs for world understanding and peace.
Capital Rotary held a club social event June 6 at the new Hunter-Gatherer brew pub located in Columbia’s historic Curtiss-Wright Hangar at Jim Hamilton-L.B. Owens Airport. The steel and glass hangar was built in 1929 by the Curtiss-Wright Co., one of 30 or so located across the country. It was dedicated as Columbia Municipal Airport in 1930. In its brew pub configuration, the 13,000-square-foot hangar houses a 527-gallon brew house, a bottling and kegging line, a 1,200-square-foot tap room and a 1,000-square-foot event space, plus a pizza kitchen. An outdoor rooftop Observation Deck seats 40-plus, with views of the airport and, through windows, down into the brewery. Rotarians and guests enjoying an evening of fellowship included: (Photo 1 from left) Bill Beers, Daniel Winders and John Guignard; (Photo 2 from left) Philip Flynn, Ann Elliott and Jay von Kolnitz; (Photo 3 from left) Darren Foy, Sue Phelps, Tommy Phelps and Matthew Pollard; (Photo 4 from left) Chris Ray and Tommy Gibbons. Artwork depicting the hanger in its heyday is shown in Photo 5, while Photo 6 is an outside view of the building today. A highway marker detailing the hangar’s history (Photo 7) is located on the adjacent road.
Dr. Daniel Moses (left in photo) was inducted into Capital Rotary Club by his sponsor, club president Blake DuBose, in late April. Moses, a native of Hartsville, SC, received graduate and undergraduate degrees from Kennedy Western University and Coker College. He has extensive experience in human resources management/consulting and has been recognized as an author, poet, lecturer and vocalist. Locally he performed with the SC Philharmonic Chorus, Columbia Choral Society and Town Theatre’s Show Stoppers. He was named a Kentucky Colonel by the Governor of Kentucky and has been active in a number of academic, community, business and political organizations.
Capital Rotary president Blake DuBose congratulates Andy Markl (left), the club’s most recent addition to the ranks of Paul Harris Fellows, signifying a $1,000 contribution to the Rotary Foundation. Paul Harris Fellows receive a special pin, a certificate and a medal to honor their donation. Foundation gifts help fund international programs promoting world understanding and peace. Markl is a Lexington native who operates The Graphics Source, a firm specializing in print, marketing and advertising materials. He joined Capital Rotary in April 2017.
Sponsor Allyson Way Hank and president Blake DuBose (right) introduce Alex Serkes as Capital Rotary Club’s newest member. Serkes practices commercial real estate and corporate law in Nexsen Pruet’s Columbia office and graduated cum laude from the University of South Carolina Law School. At USC he was research editor for the ABA Real Property, Trust and Estate Law Journal, and was an executive board member of the Constitutional Scholar’s Pipeline, a program to mentor middle schoolers interested in attending college and law school. Serkes has a communications degree from East Carolina University, where he was a member of the Student Government Association, the Inter-Fraternity Council and a sportswriter for the campus newspaper. The Salisbury, MD native is a member of the American and Carolina Bar associations and has previous community service with the Metro Charlotte YMCA.
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