Our speaker on Wednesday morning, August 19th was Dr. Les Hall, Dean of the USC School of Medicine. Dr. Hall earned his medical degree from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, and completed an internal medicine residency at National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. He recently joined USC from the University of Missouri School of Medicine, where he previously served as interim dean.
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.
Our speaker on Wednesday morning, August 5th was District Governor Rod Funderburk. Other than the incredibly busy schedule of being District 7770 Governor, Rod has served as Vice President at Resource Supply Management for the past 9+ years and prior to that he served as Global Energy Manager for Honeywell International.
Mr. Funderburk earned his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the prestigious University of South Carolina. Of course, he has been a long-term Rotarian as well.
Rotary District 7770 Governor Rod Funderburk presents Capital Rotary president David Boucher (left) with a t-shirt inscribed with the international 2016 theme, “Be a gift to the world.” In a speech to the local group, Funderburk urged continued support of Rotarian efforts to cure polio worldwide and to fund Alzheimer’s disease research.
He also lauded the Capital club for having a positive impact on the Columbia, SC community through its various charitable projects, and he said sharing the gift of membership in Rotary is important because “we are the premier service organization in the world.”
Columbia Capital Rotary member Ione Cockrell was among the donors who gave 67 units of blood at the club’s annual summer blood drive in Columbia. The Red Cross estimates these donations will help to save up to 201 lives as the club achieved 110 percent of its goal.
Capital Rotary 2014-2015 president Mark Bokesch thanks club member Jimmy Gibbs (right) for two years of service as an assistant governor for Rotary District 7770. In this capacity, Gibbs worked not only with his home club, but also with five others in the area including Columbia, Columbia East, Five Points, Vista Nights and the Main Street club. This earned him Capital Rotary’s Leadership Award for the past year. Gibbs is a past president of the Capital Club and was named its Rotarian of the Year in 2000.
Capital Rotary’s Bryan Goodyear (right) receives the 2015 Rotarian of the Year award from president Mark Bokesch in honor of outstanding service as membership chairman. Under Goodyear’s guidance, the club admitted nine new members for 2014-15, one of its best years on record.
Columbia’s Capital Rotary Club has sworn-in new officers and board members for 20015-16. They are (from right) Mark Bokesch, past president and Rotary Foundation chair; David Boucher, 2015-16 club president; Dr. Tommy Gibbons, president-elect; Craig Lemrow, treasurer; Ross Oakley, sergeant at arms; Blake DuBose, secretary; Ione Cockrell, board member; Neda Beal, board member; and Bryan Goodyear, membership chairman. The club, one of 14 Rotary clubs in the Columbia area, currently has 54 members.
Jay von Kolnitz (left), a member of Columbia’s Capital Rotary Club for over 25 years, is congratulated by president Mark Bokesch for 18 years of service as sergeant at arms, a job that entails making preparations for weekly club breakfast meetings. Von Kolnitz, a retired executive for an asphalt manufacturer, also has hosted the club’s annual Christmas celebration for a number of years.
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.
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