Our Rotarian of the Day this week is Lynn Fesperman. Born in Colorado in December 1957, Lynn’s family sought a warmer climate and moved to Tulsa in 1970. He attended Horace Mann Junior High, which was later converted to a halfway house for convicts. Now it’s a parking lot for TCC downtown.
He started high school at Holland Hall, but his parents wanted to live in the country. Thus, a month after getting his driver’s license, Lynn’s parents uprooted the poor boy and moved 5 miles north of Bristow.
However, not all was lost, as it was at this new high school that Lynn met his wife, Susan. The first time he drove by himself at night was to take her to the drive-in movie. They married in 1985 and have one son, Payton, who is a freshman at SMU.
Lynn graduated from Wesleyan University in 1979 with a B.A. in mathematics and physics, and then got a B.S. in industrial engineering from Oklahoma State. For 9 years, he was a manufacturing consultant for Arthur Andersen, and quit on his son’s birth date because he didn’t want to move to Orange County and travel as much as he had been. He acquired GT Industries of Oklahoma in 1991.
An active member of his community, Lynn has been involved with many groups outside of Rotary, including Tulsa Boy’s Home, Leadership Tulsa, Street School, United Way Allocations and Call Rape. Currently he is only active on DVIS/Call Rape. Lynn is a past president of Southside, serving during the 2005-2006 year. Now he is a trustee of the Southside Rotary Foundation.
His hobbies include golf, tennis, and keeping up with his son’s and wife’s activities (his son is a state champ in tennis, and his wife is active raising funds for social agencies and Bishop Kelley, and spending funds for the Fesperman family).
Thank you, Lynn, for arranging today’s program.
This Week’s Program
Memorial High School Concert Choir
The Memorial Concert Choir is a select group of students chosen for their exceptional singing ability. They travel throughout the city of Tulsa, singing to various groups and organizations. They are an elite group of students. Memorial is the only Tulsa Public School that performs a Latin Mass, with the assistance of a professional orchestra at the Holy Family Cathedral in Downtown Tulsa.
This year, the masterworks concert will take place January 14, 2010. This is a free concert for the public. This year also marks the 46th annual all-school musical. The students will be performing Cole Porter’s “Anything Goes” April 15-18, 2010.
The concert choir is under the direction of Tresa Waggoner. This is her second year at Memorial. Before teaching, she was Tulsa Youth Opera director for two years.
Thank you all for being with us today. Tulsa Southside Rotary welcomes you!
Southsider Quick Notes
Last week…
- Our ROD was Tom Wilson, and our speaker was Corey Williams with Sustainable Tulsa.
- We had a lot of fun at the Christmas party on Sunday. The music was good, the food was great, and the venue was perfect. Don’t forget to pay your $25!
- John Benjamin had an update on Biscuit Acres: “Southside Rotary Biscuit Acres at Hunter Park has now reopened after about $30,000 of additional construction improvements: new 2.5 acre irrigation system, additional bricking for the three entrances, new shade sail structure sponsored by QuikTrip, planting of a new Oak Tree donated by Southwood Nursery, and expanded drain constructed for the large dog section water station.
“This concludes all the major construction phases of Biscuit Acres. From this date forward, the Biscuit Acres Volunteer Team will continue to be supported by our Southside Rotary Foundation as weekly park maintenance is completed. Thanks to all Southsiders who worked and supported the Biscuit Acres Dog Park project.”
- Jonathan Cox fasted to raise money for Engineers in Action, and the total amount raised from the fast was somewhere around $14,000. This will go to helping EIA bring potable water and eco-latrines to people throughout Bolivia. Go Jonathan!
- Tom Wilson has a fundraiser for us: selling Topeca Coffee. Topeca is a coffee company that is all about the sustainable development. Tom will have bags for us to pick up, so see him to get yours! They make great stocking stuffers!
- We’ll be doing our annual Christmas bags for the kids at Springdale Elementary. Bag stuffing is at 11:30 on Friday, Dec. 18. Show up at Springdale if you want to help stuff!
- Remember to deliver your dictionaries. Fines will be starting soon, so get in touch with your schools!
- Be sure to check the Upcoming Programs for our speaker list through March 2010. Information on it is subject to change, but we’ll do our best to keep it updated!
- Well, that’s it for us for 2009! We won’t be meeting on December 24 or 31, so have a merry Christmas, a happy New Year, and we’ll see you on January 7!
