Fernando Sanchez presented many historical details about the Bay of Pigs Invasion of which his father fought in, was captured, and released 18 months later.

Speaker: Fernando Sanchez
Program: “The Bay of Pigs Invasion” — a failed military invasion of Cuba undertaken by a CIA-sponsored paramilitary group on April 17, 1961. Fernando’s father was a Cuban exile who was part of the invasion. Fernando spoke about the history of the invasion, his relatives involvement, the failure of US government support, the capture of most of the fighters and their ultimate negotiated release 1½ years later upon ransom payments of $65M to Castro.

Attendance: 13 Members, 15 Visitors

South Sudan Water Well Project

A 2017-18 Multi-club District Grant has been approved for the South Sudan Water Well Project. Fund raising continues in the local middle schools, with an upcoming campaign at Ft. Loudoun Middle School, the last school scheduled to be visited by the Rotary team. The three grant participating clubs, RCTL, Loudon & Lenoir City, will make up any funding shortfall to reach the $15K requirement to drill a new well.

Two Eskimos sitting in a kayak were chilly, so they lit a fire in the craft. Not surprisingly it sank, proving once again that you can’t have your kayak and heat it too.

Hiwassee College Dental Hygiene Clinic

Pictured above are John Wood, Vice Chair of the Hiwassee Trustees; PP Sue Everson; President John Everson; Randa Colbert, Hiwassee Interim Dir of Dental Hygiene; and a Hiwassee faculty member.

Several club members attended the Ribbon Cutting ceremony of Hiwassee’s new Dental Hygiene Clinic on Jan 20. The ceremony also dedicated the new Mobile Dental Unit that RCTL helped to complete by funding the final portion of the new generator required for mobile operations.

Sevier County Firestorm

Rotarians are still needed to volunteer at the Boyd’s Bear Rotary Distribution Center, 146 Cates Road, Pigeon Forge. Be sure to sign-in when you go. Volunteers hours are: Monday and Tuesday and Thursday through Saturday 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM. The Rotary Distribution Center will be operating until about February 15th.

2017-18 RI President Announces Presidential Theme

Rotary Theme for 2017-18

2017-18 Rotary President-Elect H. S. Riseley

Rotary International President- elect Ian H.S. Riseley, a member of the Rotary Club of Sandringham, Victoria, Australia, unveiled the 2017-18 presidential theme, “Rotary: Making a Difference,” to incoming district governors at Rotary’s International Assembly in San Diego last week. The President-elect challenged every Rotary club to make a difference by planting a tree for each of its members between the start of the Rotary year on July 1 and Earth Day on April 22, 2018.

“I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.”  Thomas Jefferson