Changing of Guard at Rotary-Farragut
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New Rotary Club of Farragut board members sworn in during its meeting in Fox Den Country Club Wednesday, June 24, from left, included: Doug Powell, Scott Weinstein, Howard Fass, Cindy Kraus, Sonya Ford, Kristin Abouelata, Mark Bialik, Arlene Weinstein, Josh Hornberger and David Bluford. - Tammy Cheek
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Outgoing RCF president Staci Wilkerson handed over the gavel to incoming president Edward Jones. - Tammy Cheek
As the 2019-20 Rotary Club of Farragut officers and board step away from their roles, after setting fundraising and other records this past year, Rotary 6780 District Gov. Greg Maciolek swore in a new board to meet “unusual” challenges at the club’s first in-person meeting since March in Fox Den Country Club Wednesday, June 24.
“You have a lot of responsibility,” Maciolek said in addressing the new leaders among 39 in attendance. “And the rest of the club has a lot of faith in you.”
Staci Wilkerson, RCF 2019-20 president, handed over the gavel to Edward Jones, who officially took the reins as RCF’s 41st president Wednesday, July 1. She said the past Rotary year was marked with firsts and broken records.
For instance, the club donated $120,546 in charitable giving and donated $2,718 volunteer hours, which is equivalent to more than $69,000, Wilkerson reported.
Additionally, the club added a new project: a literacy project at Ridgedale Alternative School, she said.
RCF was chartered April 22, 1980, three months after the Town of Farragut was chartered.
“We had 24 charter members and we were sponsored by the Bearden Club,” she said, adding the club finished the just-completed year with 98 members.
The club had planned to hold a celebration this year but had to cancel due to COVID-19.
“We said goodbye to Staci Wilkerson as our 2019-2020 president with a standing ovation and a beautiful, engraved vase with red roses,” past president Tom King, Public image Relations chairman, stated in his club’s newsletter.
“First, I thank Staci for leading us through a tough year,” said Jones, who as been an RCF member since 2006. “Second, I’m honored to be your president, and I’ll work hard to make this a great year as we continue to deal with this virus and these unusual times, and live up to this year’s Rotary motto of “Rotary Opens Opportunities.”
While Jones said he looks forward to his new role, he acknowledged, “It’s an unusual year to step into the presidency with all the stuff that we’ve got going on.
“We’ll have to make appropriate adjustments and move forward, continuing to do the things that we are known to do and continue to serve,” he added. “That’s going to be a hard one, the reason being it’s not business as usual, so I think a lot of work of this administration is going to be laying the groundwork on what the new normal is going to be.”
However, Jones also said, “We’ve got some good people that we’re working with, and we’re thinking outside of the box on what we can do and how we can do it.
“We have a responsibility not only to the community that we serve but we also have a responsibility to the members,” the new RCF president added.
“We got a lot of things going on, Staci does, and I want to continue what she’s got going. But one of the things I was involved with early on in coming to the club was our literacy project. I would like to see us continue initiatives in that arena and perhaps expand on what we already have going.”
Jones, a Farragut resident since 1978 and a South Carolina native, is president and owner of Jones, Kirkpatrick Financial Services.
Prior to his business venture, Jones was a chemist in Oak Ridge for 23 years.
He and wife, Emma Jones, have been married for 43 years and have two children, Gregory Jones and Tonya Jones.
Their infant first grandchild, Isabella Elizabeth Jones, was born on Easter Sunday morning, April 12.
