October Newsletter - Week 4
Recap
This week we had speaker Don Honeycutt with his program, ‘Oak Ridge, Then and Now’. He gave a presentation of the history of Oak Ridge since its inception as The Secret City. Along with him, he brought Ed Wescott, his 95 year-old father-in-law that lived through all of these historical events and experienced them first-hand. Ed was the 29th person hired for the Manhattan Project in 1942. Although he was born in Chattanooga, he moved to Nashville where he began his career as a professional photographer. His photographs were the first to chronicle the POW camp located in Crossville, TN. There were 4-5 POW camps located in Tennessee during the war that he was responsible for photographing. Naturally, this is how he ended up settling in Oak Ridge to work on the Manhattan Project.Over the years, Don and Ed have interviewed many people that Ed originally worked with in Tennessee for their first-hand accounts of many historical facts and details. They had a great presentation that also featured many photos of the way Oak Ridge looked then, along with side-by-side comparisons of what it looks like now.
One of the things that made the Manhattan Project such an overall success was the secrecy of the program. There were 7 gates located outside the perimeter of the city that kept people out, without a work permit or pass. When they opened the city gates to the public they had a large parade and celebration. The Vice President gave speeches on Blankenship Field and many famous movie stars at that time attended as well. Credit was also given to General Groves and Colonel Nichols as the main men in charge of overseeing the Manhattan Project in Oak Ridge.
He showed photos of many important city structures at that time including the main railroad junction located on what is now Warehouse Road, the local general stores where supplies and food were rationed and sold, and the first elementary school built, Elm Grove School, which was located where Elm Grove Park is now. He also displayed pictures of a steam plant located where, what is now Sexton Automotive. There, they brought coal in from the coal mines on Windrock by railroad and used it to power the entire town. Lastly, he showed different examples of government housing structures and explained the differences between them. As we all know, these homes were identified alphabetically from A to G houses. Many of these homes were constructed using asbestos and were originally intended to be temporary housing. However, most of these homes still exist and are inhabited currently today.
MembershipVisitors:
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Looking AheadThe date for the Children’s Christmas Party has been set for December 12th. An extra $75 should be included in your dues to go toward this. Please remember to save your receipts to be reimbursed for your expenses once you buy for your child. Once again, PLEASE remember to add an additional $75 to regular Q4 dues.Our 2nd Annual Community Breakfast has been scheduled for the morning of Tuesday, November 21st at 8:00 am (Please note the time has changed) in the big meeting room of the Community Center. We will host renowned speaker Hallerin Hilton Hill again. This is open to the public and free to attend. Thank you to all the businesses and individuals that have signed up to be meal sponsors for the event! If you would still like to sponsor the event and have not signed up yet, it is $125 to help pay for breakfast. This will be the last week to accept new sponsors as we have to all time to prepare promotional materials. Your name and/or business will be featured on banners as a sponsor. A letter is attached that you may post and share to help promote the event. The Daddy Daughter Dance 2018 date has been officially set for February 10, 2018. Mark your calendars now! |
Items of InterestWe are still in dire need of a host home for the Rotary Exchange Student for 6 weeks beginning in mid-November. If you are able to help in any way, please see Tom. As of right now, he has no where to live next after his current exchange home stay is up in the next few weeks.The City Council met on October 30th for the polio proclamation and declared October 24th as National Polio Eradication Day. Thank you to ET, Bill and Larry for making this happen! 
This Sunday, November 5th, will be the first-ever 4-H/ FFA Agricultural Hall of Fame. Bear and Joe are co-sponsoring the event and selling tickets for $20 each or a table for $150. It is at 1:00 pm at the Junior Achievement Building in Clinton. They would love for you to come! If you have questions, please contact Bear. The Rotary Board met with our District Governor, Deborah Alexander-Davis last Friday. She sounded very optimistic that our club should continue to achieving the various award’s we won last year! The club donated $100 to the Lisa Bohmer Foundation in her name. This foundation was chosen at her request and assists children affected by HIV and AIDS. 
The Boys and Girls Club of Anderson County will be having their annual banquet on November 30, 2017. They will be honoring Senator Randy McNally, among others. Please let Bill know if you would like to attend. Everyone had a great time at our Rotary Social at the Museum of Appalachia last Friday! Thank you to everyone that attended and thank you Bill for organizing this! 
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Project InformationIt’s time for Salvation Army Bell Ringing! John passed around signup sheets to volunteer for Tuesday, November 28, Thursday, November 30 and Friday, December 30. If you can volunteer an hour of your time to ring the bell, please see John.It is once again time for the Community Action Coat Drive! We are accepting new and gently used coat donations in all sizes to help furnish coats for those that don’t have the money to buy one otherwise. You may either drop your donations off at Fox Toyota or bring them to Rotary with you on Tuesdays. The Community Center has generously donated about 100-150 coats already that were left over from unclaimed lost and found items. In the past, our club has collected about 5,000 coats each year for this. We hope this year will be no different! Please see ET with any questions. |
Upcoming SpeakersNovember 7Josh Skeens & Karen Koplan - Paul Davis Restoration November 14Beth Farrow & Katie Banks – Helen Ross McNabb November 21Thanksgiving Community Breakfast with Hallerin Hilton Hill (8am) November 28Jerry Schlandt – Daddy Daughter Dance |
Rotary Club OfficersBill Gallaher Vicki Violette
Ronnie Fox
Jerry Schlandt
Mike Shrader
Gary Coleman
Tom Connolly
ET Stamey
Bear Stephenson
Leighann Green
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Clinton Rotary Club
Meeting Address: 101 S. Hicks Street Clinton, Tennessee 37716
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 524 Clinton, Tennessee 37717