Tag: downtown sertoma club

  • Jacob Landis | Jacob’s Ride | Aug 8th

    Jacob Landis | Jacob’s Ride | Aug 8th

    Jacob Landis is a one man show that started in April of 2013 on a mission to raise money for people without insurance to get cochlear implants. He has ridden nearly 20,000 miles spreading awareness and raising money. Jacob has met with thousands of supporters and donors at over 120 events. Through his efforts and the generosity of their supporters, Jacob’s Ride has provided financial assistance for over one dozen cochlear implant recipients in the last five years. Over 12,000 children in America are born with hearing loss each year and cochlear implants are the most successful medical intervention for deaf or severely hard of hearing. However, insurance often does not cover the cost.  Jacob also meets with teenagers and young adults who are deaf or hard of hearing and insists to them not to let that “hearing problem thing” get in the way of identifying goals and pursuing your dreams.

    John Kerr shared with us Celebrate Sound Walk will be on September 9th (this is a Sunday) at 4 p.m.  They have moved the event to Tyson Park trying to make people happy that didn’t want to drive to Maryville.  That means that everyone that complained must show up.  He took down names.

    Jerry Winston announced we had members that participated in the Helen Ross McNabb – Shooting event.

    Next week is the monthly board meeting. Time is 6 pm, on Tuesday at Chesapeak’s.  All are welcome.

    Next Week:  Rebecca Koszalinski, our speaker, is being brought to us by Lee Freeman.

    #knoxsertomaclub #knoxvilleTN #CivicClubKnoxville

  • Jimmy Matlock | June 25th

    Jimmy Matlock | June 25th

    Last week we heard from Jimmy Matlock and I think most of us left with a favorable impression of him. One of the great things about our country you get to vote by yourself. He did say he is living on the farm he was raised on which is 87 acres, married to the same woman and attends the same church.  He either stands by his convictions or he’s in a rut. I like him and have been buying tires from him for years.

    On July 18th we learned about stem cell therapy and I don’t think I was the only person in the room that didn’t understand half of it.  I did write down the highest concentration of stem cells are in the hip bones; I am again screwed as mine are metal – takes forever for me to get through the airport.  He did enlighten us on where they get stem cells and put to rest some of the horror stories we hear.  I had no idea it could be used in so many ways.  We are blessed to live now.

    Next Week:  We will have Sandra Clark with Knox TN Today to give us her predictions on the outcome of the elections. Early voting ended on Saturday and the “real” election is Thursday so should be interesting.

  • Meeting 11-30-16

    We literally went to the dogs this week with a program from Smoky Mountain Service Dogs. Mike Kitchens the Volunteer Chair and Laurie Birt the Community Events Coordinator brought “Hooligan” one of their canine ambassadors. He demonstrated his ability to pick up items, go find and retrieve things like a telephone, pick up a credit card that has been dropped, assist in getting up and down.  After completing training, each dog in their program is specifically matched with a recipient based on the person’s needs and the ability of the dog to serve those needs. All of the work that goes into making a service dog is done with volunteers only from raising puppies to the final stage of placing the dog. Occasionally they have a dog that is just not “suited” to be a service dog and they “assist” him to another career.

    Next Week:  The South Doyle Madrigal Singers. Good time to bring a friend or a perspective new member.  Be kind to Marianne and let her know if you are bringing several people.

    On a sad note:  Nancy Biddle, Allie Harmon’s friend, passed away. Her service is Saturday @ Sequoia Presbyterian.

    Also, our long time Sertoma member, Jim Key passed away.  I understand he had moved out of state to be close to a relative. Don’t have any information on his service.

    We conducted a drawing for those persons who had bought/sold a lot of tickets for Oktoberfest and the results were: Rusty Farrell got the UT tickets (which he had donated) Caroline Grimm won a UT picture and Jacob Tippens won a bottle of liquor.  Not to be outdone, Al Gill won the grid pick.

    Record keeping: Andy Schoerner read the prayer, Alan Stuckey led the pledge, we had Tricia Hatenger from UT and our Sertoman in Training Michelle Simpson.

    We will not meet December 21 and 28.

  • Meeting 11-16-16

    Bob Rentenbach introduced our speaker, Father David from Sacred Heart Catholic Church. Anyone traveling on Northshore is aware of the building they are in the process of constructing and evidently it will be massive. Twenty-eight thousand feet to be exact. He stated people ask why they are spending all that money on a building rather than giving it to the poor. He said each year the church invests over six million dollars to the poor and they believe a beautiful building will bring more people to Christ. This, of course, is the goal.  He is originally from Cleveland but has been in Knoxville since 2010. We have been invited to attend a service anytime it is convenient.

    Report on the board meeting:  Seems the meeting went over long (I was on a church trip and missed it) but the problem was in deciding the percentages we would be giving to our various charities. After much discussion, they decided on: Stockings from US 45.3%, UT Speech and Hearing 26.4% and the Sertoma Center 28.3%. We realized a net gain of $5148.from Oktoberfest. Stockings from US got the bigger piece of the pie as this is the only fund raiser that they participate in, whereas both UT Speech and Hearing and the Sertoma Center have other fund raisers to help them out during the year.  Both of my brothers were in service and away from home on Christmas (so was my ex-husband but we don’t count him) so I am of the opinion we can’t do enough. Jesus Christ and solders are the only ones who have offered to die for us. Per Rusty we all got an “atta boy”; every member bought a ticket and brought a brown bag item.

    Next week:  We will not have a speaker and we are joining up with the Kiwanis to share their speaker. Come and have lunch if you want too or since it’s the day before Thanksgiving we won’t hold it against you if you don’t show up.  On November 30 Andy Libby is responsible for the speaker and hasn’t shared with me who he has or if he has one.

    For the Record:  Julie Beeler from UT Speech and Hearing received the check Rusty presented. She said they appreciate what we do for them and it is making a difference in several students lives.

  • Meeting 10-12-16

    Our District Governor Larry Vaughn was our speaker this week and he says we are in the same boat as other civic clubs trying to get new members as some of the older members are either moving into nursing homes or going to heaven. He put most of the work onto our younger members as this is the age group we are looking for. Jacob Tippens is a great example as he brought a friend this week, if we could clone Jacob we would have the problem fixed in a couple of months.  Larry has been in Sertoma for 40 years and says the thing that inspired him was his opportunity to help other people; there is so much we can do as a group that an individual just does not have the funds or time to tackle. He brought a handout of Generational Differences in the Workplace that is most interesting.
    Larry also brought with him a plaque for our own Dr. Carl Asp as he was selected as Sertoman of the Year for the district!  You just can’t keep a good man down! We are fortunate to have him with us!

    Next week:  We will have the Ice Bears! Well, not all of them but we will have their general manager Mike Murray and their coach Mike Craigen. They are being brought to us by our own Chris Hoosier.

    Announcements:  Terrell Kerr announced a Block Party on Oct. 20 at Northgate Terrace from 4:30 to 7:00pm. This is a fund-raiser for the Manor at Northgate Terrace. Cost is $10. And you get to eat, shop and play games.
    The board meeting is postponed for next week and moved to the 25th.
    We have raffle tickets for sale to attend a UT game but I failed to write down who we are playing but I bet we’ll have an opportunity to find out. I do remember they are only selling 300 tickets so your chances are good and the seats are in a good location. Check back next week for more details.
    Marianne has scheduled the Madrigal Singers from South Doyle High School for December 14th. This is always a great time to bring guest.

    Housekeeping: Bob Rentenbach prayed, Ron Grimm led the pledge and we didn’t have a grid pick winner as our “picker” was out of town!

    #SerToMa
    #TheDowntownSerToMaClub

  • Meeting September 28th 2016

    Senator Becky Massey

    According to Senator Massey the state of Tennessee is doing well and she is in a position to know. We have a state budget of 34 billion dollars (that’s way too many zeros for me) and they are required to balance the budget. We rank 8th for the strongest state, 2nd for roads (Texas ranked best). All is not good, we still have health problems, drug addiction, homeless and people on welfare but on a lighter note the Sertoma Center is doing well and continuing to grow with 31 residential locations and more being planned.

    We had a brief pause to install our newest member Bert West. He is retired, lives across the street from Jerry Faerber, married to the same woman since ’77 and has three grown children. I think it’s safe to say he will be an asset to the club.

    We also presented Dr. Carl Asp with the plaque that went along with his being chosen Sertoman of the Year.

    Next week: We will have Col. Dave Beck brought to us by Terrell Kerr – we will be meeting at the Southern Railway.

    The Kiwanis are again selling Christmas wreaths and would like to get your order. If he told the cost I missed it.

    Oktoberfest is just 1 week away! Get those brown bag items in and get ready for a fun evening. Just think, you could go home with $5000 in your pocket and regardless you’ll go home with something!

    Record keeping: Jason prayed, Becky led the pledge and Jim Thompson won the grid pick.

    #TheKnoxvilleDowntownSertomaClub

    #SErToMa