Club Business
President Mary Thomas Gilbert brought the meeting to order. Joseph Williams led us in prayer and the pledge of allegiance to the US flag. Mary Thomas shared some nice thoughts in reference to the passing of basketball superstar Kobi Bryant.
Dr. Mark Cryan, our speaker and former member of this club, was with us today. He is the Assistant Professor of Sports Management at Elon University. Wednesday will be Cliff Parker’s birthday. For other upcoming birthdays, check the list below. Today was Chris Jernigan’s first official meeting as a new member. Welcome to the club, Chris! Our three latest additions to the club were all present today: Chris, Charlie Nolette, and Richard Atkins. We appreciate their being with us. Debbie Porch has the program next week.
Click here to see all scheduled program dates and responsibilities.
Plan to Attend the February Evening Out Fund Raiser
Mary Thomas reminded us that our first Evening Out Fund Raiser will be held on February 11. It will be in lieu of the lunch meeting that day and will be held at Burlington Beer Works at 6 pm. Tickets are $25 per person, which will provide for heavy hors d’oeuvres and a complimentary pint or glass of wine, thanks to the generosity of BBW. Other alcoholic drinks will be available on a cash basis. Part of the ticket cost will accrue to the club. We will also have a reverse raffle, door prizes, gift baskets, music, and other games. Raffle tickets are $50 each. This event will be open to people outside our club. Let’s invite friends and relatives to join us on this important night. Purchase dinner and reverse raffle tickets by clicking on this link. You can find it any time by clicking on the “Get Involved” link on the menu at the top of the page. Then select the fundraiser link. A link is also found on the Home Page half way down.
February Birthdays and Anniversaries
2 | John Beshel | 12 | Jason and Shea Crutchfield |
14 | Pete Beck | 18 | Dick and Bebe O’Donnell |
22 | Chuck Stedman | ||
24 | Jason Crutchfield |
Happy Dollars
- Grand Master Sang Ho Lee announced that his son, William, is raising funds for the Make a Wish Foundation. He has received gifts cards from several establishments, which he is selling as part of the fundraiser. If you are interested in purchasing one or more, contact Sang.
- Police Chief Jeffrey Smythe shared how meaningful it was for him to attend events sponsored by the MLK Coalition last week. He recommended it to the entire club for next year.
- Brooke Carpenter paid two dollars to remind us that he is the point person for donating gift baskets for door prizes for our upcoming Evening Out fundraiser. He also lauded his beloved Tar Heels for winning last week.
- Carolyn Rhodes let us know that she has a Square card reader and is prepared to take our money at the fundraiser.
Program: Dr. Mark Cryan – Everything Minor League Baseball
Thomas Phelps was responsible for today’s program. He has been a member of our club for three years, but he has been part of Rotary since 2001, having been involved with the Fayetteville, NC and Annapolis, MD groups, too. He was born and raised in Annapolis, in the same neighborhood as Bill Belichick. He arrived at Elon in 1989 as a student. In 1993 he joined the administrative team for the Burlington Indians minor league baseball team. he was at the helm when they won their last championship. He has been in sports related work ever since. One of his claims to uniqueness is that he has moved from Annapolis to Burlington on three separate occasions. He is married and has three children. In addition he is the owner of a somewhat infamous 75 lb. pig named Hamlet.
Dr. Mark Cryan earned his PHD at UNCG in Sports Management. he is married to Dale with whom he has two children, one at Princeton and the other at Williams High School. Mark was once the general manager of the Burlington Indians, which is one reason he keeps up with everything minor league baseball.
He agreed to share with our club his views on what is happening right now as Major League Baseball is reviewing its relationship with sponsoring minor league clubs. He explained that there are several levels of minor league baseball clubs: AAA, AA, A, Short Season A, Advanced Rookie (Burlington Royals), and Rookie. The proposal being considered at present by MLB is to eliminate one short season team per franchise, which could directly impact the Burlington Royals and the Appalachian League. Next season will not be affected, but beyond that, things are up in the air.
Several reasons for doing this have been floated. More is at stake than just profitability. For example, local communities are heavily invested in minor league baseball. Burlington just spent $1.2 million to up fit its stadium to host the Royals. Mark encouraged our members to contact their local government representatives to voice our concerns about keeping minor league baseball viable.
Conclusion
Pete Beck’s table held the winning ticket this week, but he failed in his quest to locate the Ace of Spades, drawing the 7 of Diamonds instead. Only 45 cards remain in the shrinking deck. Our odds are getting better each week. Mary Thomas led us in a recitation of Rotary’s four-way test before we adjourned. See you next time.