ur Rotarian of the Day is Tom Sawyer. Tom was born in Columbus, Ohio, in 1942 and grew up in Tulsa. He attended Parsons College in Fairfield, Iowa, and the University of Tulsa. He was married in 1963. Tom has three children: T. Shannon, Holly Friedman, and Ryan A. He married Sharon Butler, now Sawyer, in December 2007.

Tom was general manager of Magic Circle Manufacturing Company from 1963 to 1968. He went to work at Sawyer Manufacturing Company in 1968 and became CEO in 1979.

Tom is past president of Tulsa Farm Club and past treasurer of The Early Ford V8 Club. He is also a member of Tulsa Trailriders (off-road motorcycles) and the Harley Owners Group. His hobbies include: motorcycles, old trucks and farming/ranching.

Thank you, Tom, for arranging today’s program. We appreciate it.

This Week’s Program

Kostis Protopapas

ur speaker today is Kostis Protopapas, the artistic director of Tulsa Opera. He previously served as the company’s associate conductor and chorusmaster. His conducting credits with the company include productions of Carmen, Cavalleria Rusticana/I Pagliacci, Le Nozze di Figaro and The Magic Flute, as well as student matinee performances of The Cunning Little Vixen and La Boheme.

Protopapas has also been an assistant conductor for the Los Angeles Opera since 2004 and has served as assistant conductor at the Lyric Opera of Chicago and Santa Fe Opera. During the 2002 and 2003 seasons, he was the assistant chorusmaster at Lyric Opera of Chicago, under Donald Palumbo.

Protopapas has served on the music staffs of Opera Memphis and Virginia Opera. He conducted at Opera in the Ozarks every summer from 2000 to 2004 and has conducted for Da Corneto Opera in Chicago and Union Avenue Opera in St. Louis.

Born in Athens, Protopapas studied archaeology and history of art at the University of Athens. He came to the United States in 1993 on an Onassis Foundation scholarship to study piano at The Boston Conservatory and conducting at Boston University.

He lives in Tulsa and Chicago, with his wife, soprano and stage director Cathleen Dunn, and their two cats, Gus and July.

This is a program you do not want to miss. Mr. Protopapas may have a surprise or two.

Mr. Protopapas, thank you for being with us today. The Rotary Club of Southside Tulsa welcomes you and those with you.

Southsider Quick Notes

Last week…
- Our ROD last week was Jeff Finkenstaedt, and our program was the 4-Way Test Speech Contest, which has been going on nearly as long as the 4-Way Test has been in existence. Three Jenks students, Maggie, Brittney, and Garrison, spoke to us about the 4-Way Test. Our panel of judges named Maggie the winner.

- We also inducted a new member last week. Everybody, be sure to give a warm welcome to Janice Nicklas!

- John Haley made a $1,000 commitment to RI for polio, in order to help make up for some of the clubs that won’t be able to make their $3,000 matching donation for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. If you’re one of the members who agreed to help match John’s commitment, please make your checks to the Southside Rotary Foundation and indicate what they’re for. We’ll be writing RI a single check.

- Jerry Ramey asked a question from the Rotarian’s comic book issue, and Steve Glenn took home the $5 prize!

- Keith James, Donna Petty, and Tom Wilson are now in Uganda, where they’ll be for the next few weeks. They’ll be meeting with our sister club while they’re over there.

- David Dopp and Don den Daas have been fined for not delivering their dictionaries. Come on, guys, you’re the last ones!

- Be Wise Immunize is on May 2 this year. Coincidentally, so is the grand opening for our Biscuit Acres bark park. Oooh, a conundrum!

- There will be a board meeting Thursday, Feb. 19, at 5:30 p.m. at Ti Amo.

- Here’s the weekly update on Biscuit Acres:

• - Michelle and Jessica have been helping John Benjamin with the proposals, which Cindy Llewellyn will be printing. We’ll start mailing those soon.
• - Steve Glenn is ordering the deposit containers for us, but we still need a chairman to help them get distributed.
• - Keith is the chair for the grand opening.
• - One of the fundraisers will be a memorial dog biscuit plaque.
• - We’ll have a founders dinner on May 1, the night before the grand opening.
• - All Southside Rotarians are called to commit $200 or find somebody who can.
• - Remember, if you have any ideas or would like to help out in any way, let Don or John Benjamin know!

- Leon has talked to Dolly Dixon. Right now, she has a low platelet count, so she hasn’t come out because she could get sick very easily. She’s looking forward to coming back, but doesn’t know when that will be.

- According to Donna, there is still $31,000 left in Gerald Harp’s matching funds, but in order to be matched, you must donate your $100 to RI by June. Instead of just paying electronically, you can also get the matching funds by paying a lump sum.

- Next week, our speaker will be Scott Black of OK MOZART. It sounds like we’re having a very music-themed month!