ur “Rotarian of the Day” today is John D. Benjamin. John is the area sales manager for Capital One Auto Finance (COAF), headquartered in Plano, Texas.

COAF is a division of Capital One Financial which is one of our nation’s largest credit card companies. For the past 13 years, John has been responsible for auto dealer finance sales, marketing, and customer relations for Capital One in Oklahoma.

John has lived and worked in the Tulsa area since 1968. He spent 15 years in bank marketing and has more than 35 years of financial marketing and sales experience.

John is married to Laura Benjamin and they live in Bixby. They have two children: Piper, 36, a graduate of the University of Tulsa, and Katie, 26, a graduate of the University of Oklahoma. Both daughters are married and each has given John and Laura one grandchild.

John’s involvement in Oklahoma is extensive. Since 1968, he has served in leadership positions with more than 30 Tulsa boards, commissions and non-profit organizations, including Tulsa’s City Council from 1990-1996. He was chairman of Tulsa City Council in 1995. He is also a past president of Southside Rotary.

This Week’s Program

Classification Talks

t’s too cold for the proposed breakout meeting at Hunter Park, so we’ll be meeting at Ti Amo’s with classification talks from some of our newer members.

Southsider Quick Notes

Last week…
- Last week our ROD was Donna Petty and our speaker was Lloyd Fields.

- Cindy Llewellyn, our newest member, gave her classification talk. She is the co-owner of Joan’s print shop.

- Sadly, Mella Glenn has resigned from the club. We’ll certainly miss her.

- The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation gave the RI Foundation $255 million as a grant for polio eradication.

- Our very own Bob Brooks was inducted into the ORU Hall of Fame. Congratulations!

- Soon, very soon, we shall have our list of nominations for next year’s officers.

- We still need chairpeople for the Hunter Park Biscuit Acres Bark Park fundraisers. Start thinking about volunteering! Remember: you don’t have to do everything yourself. You can shanghai other club members into helping you. In fact, shanghaiing is encouraged.

- Dolly Dixon has cancer and is currently undergoing chemotherapy. Let’s all keep her in our prayers.

- Jim Netherton needs a ride to and from meetings on Thursdays. He lives in the Brookside area. If you can help out, let us know!

- Next week, our speaker will be Cory Nickerson from Polio Plus, telling us his story.