Rotary Program: 4/21/04

Program Chairperson: Jerry Kanney

Speakers: New Rotarians - James Meade,

James Meade is an accountant with Interstate Natural Gas, Crossrock and Empire Drilling. He was proposed by Jerry Kanney and resides with his wife Tara and their two-year-old son on Ratliffs Creek in Pikeville. He worked previously with Jim Harris CPA, Pikeville Methodist Hospital Foundation and Marshall Resources. He graduated from Mullins High School and went on to Eastern Kentucky University where he studied accounting for 3 ½ years. Then he took some time off and worked in construction for awhile before entering the army for 4 years at Fort Bragg. During his military career, he spent some time in Haiti and was overwhelmed with the poverty of that country. This experience, James said, helps him understand how organizations like Rotary can make an impact on the lives of so many people and why he is so glad to be a part of our club so that he can help our local area and people all over the world. After he got out of the military, James went back to Eastern to finish his BBA and began his career as an accountant.

Pam Howard introduced the next Rotarian. She is Gerri Clark of BB&T Bank and was proposed by Bonnie Scott. Gerri is from Kermit, West Virginia and is now living at Zebulon, Kentucky with her husband, who is from Martin County. He is employed as a medical technologist at the Williamson Memorial Hospital and they have no children. She says she came from a very small town where all the people were very close and that Rotary is much like that tight-knit community she loved so well. She first joined Rotary in Williamson, W.Va., and enjoyed that experience very much. She graduated from Southern West Virginia Community College with a degree in Accounting and General Business. She has spent the past 21 years in the Banking industry and loves her work, because it is doing things for others that makes it fulfilling.

James Sullivan introduced our next speaker. Tim Campbell is the UK Extension Agent in Pike County. His wife, Carolyn is a math teacher at Pikeville College. They have a daughter, Christy who lives in Corinth, Missouri with her husband, Stephen and children, Kyle, age 9, and Claire, age 6, and expecting a third child in July. Tim is athletic, who participates in weight lifting, jogging, hiking, racketball, and tennis. He is also an avid reader of historical fiction. Tim is originally from Chilocothe, Missouri and says he retired from the Tennessee Air National Guard in 1997 to return to graduate school where he got his Ph.D in Economic History. This came about as a result of his business going bankrupt and he wanted to go back to school to find out what conditions caused his and many other agricultural businesses to fail at that time. Today he is interested in collaborating with as many organizations as he can to help the economic situation in Pikeville and the surrounding communities. Some of those include working with many Rotarians in organizations such as the Mountain Ingenuity Venture Capital Club, the Small Business Support Committee, Self Driving Tour of the Hatfield-McCoy Feud sites, the Master Gardener Program, the Trash and Solid Waste Committee, and Team Pike County, just to name a few. Tim and his wife also serve on the Board at Mountain Comprehensive Care and he also works with Pikeville College and the Community Education Program.

Thanks James, Gerri, and Tim for the interesting program. - J. Morgan Chapman