Our Rotarian of the Day today is Ray Orf. Ray, retired since 1997, was a professional photographer for nearly forty years. During his career he photographed thousands of people and weddings, as well as a variety of unusual subjects on location. Ray never knew what he would be called on to photograph, and has shot everything from adorable bouncing babies to bungled boob jobs and corpses in caskets. Advertising, aerial, corporate, and legal photography afforded Ray welcome breaks from the daily routine of indoor studio work. Photography had been always been a passion of Ray’s and he feels fortunate to have worked at something he still enjoys to this day.

He and Gayle married in August 1987 and make their home in Claremore, OK on twelve wooded acres where they entertain their many children and grandchildren. Among their favorite hobbies are landscaping, gardening and working in their shop where they create metal sculptures.

Sharing their home is 13-year-old granddaughter, Jessica, whose mother passed away five years ago. If you ask Ray what he enjoys about retirement, he will tell you it’s never having to wear a watch or be on a schedule, except on Thursdays when he attends Rotary meeting.

Our Speaker

Our speaker today is Casey Shell. Casey was named Director of Operations for ODOT in October 2009. Having served as Division Engineer in the Division 4 office since August 2002, he has been with the department since 1986. The department’s Division 4 area covers nine north central counties.

He was born in California and graduated from the University of Arkansas with a bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering in 1986, joining ODOT soon after as an Engineer-in-Training.

In 1987, Shell became a Project Engineer at Stillwater, moving up to area Maintenance Engineer in 1992. He was named Resident Engineer in Perry in 1996, and in 2000, was promoted to Assistant Division Engineer for Construction and Maintenance, a post he held until being named Division Engineer.

Shell has been a registered Professional Engineer since 1991. He is an honorary member of Chi Epsilon, OSU engineering honor society. He is an assistant scout master with Boy Scout Troup 828 and a member of the Sunnybrook Church.

He and his wife, Beth, who is a school teacher, live in Stillwater. They have a son, Parker, and a daughter, Darby.

Casey, thank you for being with us today. Tulsa Southside Rotary welcomes you!

A LOOK BACK AT AMERICA’S FIRST LADIES

Anna Harrison (1775-1864)

When Anna Harrison heard that her husband had won the election of 1840, she signed: “I wish that my husband’s friends had left him where he is, happy and contented in retirement.”

She had been ailing and did not plan to be present at the inauguration on March 4, 1841. Her doctor advised her to wait until May, when the weather was better, before making the trip to Washington and she decided to let her widowed daughter-in-law, Jane Findlay Harrison, preside over White House receptions until she got there.

But she never did make it to Washington and she was First Lady for only a month. A few days after the inauguration William Henry Harrison became ill and a month later died of pneumonia. Vice President John Tyler’s wife Letitia replaced Anna Harrison as First Lady.

HENRY BELLMON GALA

The Henry Bellmon Awards are coming up soon! They’ll be September 16 at the Mayo Hotel. Individual tickets are $125 apiece. Be sure to sign up and get your payment in!

MORE ON PAUL HARRIS

August 1910, with sixteen clubs in Rotary, Paul Harris served two terms. He was a founding member of the Prairie Club of Chicago. On one of the club’s early hikes a beautiful young woman from Edinburgh, Scotland pointed out a tear in his jacket and offered to fix it. Jean Thomson and Paul Harris were married several months later.

In two years, he bought her a large home and they named their home after a road in Edinburgh, “Comely Bank.” There they started their lifelong friendship garden. The Chicago home is being preserved by Rotarians in the 21st century.

In 1911, fifteen new clubs had joined the ranks of NARC (National Association of Rotary Clubs). Many others were organized and doing business as those in the United Kingdom were. On June 3 of that year, he sent a letter to the Dallas club asking if they intend to be a secret organization. Paul and secretary Ches Perry learn that former San Francisco Rotarian, Stuart Morrow, has returned to his home in Ireland and is independently organizing Rotary clubs.

ROTARY IS…

An organization that is truly international, apolitical, and without any specific religious or denominational affiliations. And it has changed the world for the better. Rotarians helped broker a peace pact between warring South American countries, helped found UNESCO, and launched the PolipPlus campaign to eradicate the scourge of polio from the face of the earth.

SEPTEMBER BIRTHDAYS

John Benjamin: September 4, 1943
Monte McNutt: September 21, 1961
Bryan Osborne: September 21, 1962

THIS DAY IN HISTORY (SEPTEMBER 2)

Events:
1666: Great Fire of London: More than 13,000 homes were destroyed along with St. Pauls Church.
1789: U.S. Department of Treasury is established.
1945: World War II: Japan signs the surrender terms aboard the battleship Missouri.
1992: Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky begin their controversial $5,000,000.00 chess rematch. Fischer won a month later, 10 games to 5

Births:
1948: Christa McAuliffe: High School teacher (Died in the Challenger explosion)
1948: Terry Bradshaw: Football quarterback (He lead Pittsburgh to four Super Bowl titles)
1952: Jimmy Connors: American tennis player
1955: Linda Purl: Actress (TV: Matlock)
1964: Keanu Reeves: Actor

Deaths:
1964: Sgt. York: American World War I hero (My niece is married to his great-grandson)
1969: Ho Chi Minh: Founder and First President of North Vietnam
2005: Bob Denver: Actor (Remember Gilligan’s Island?)

A WILL ROGERS QUOTE
“The Lord so constituted everybody that no matter what color you are, you require the same amount of nourishment.”

SUMMER
Is a drag because even normal people become obsessed with their bodies. A bad bathing suit can humiliate you more than anything else in life.

IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN
For all sad words of tongue and pen, the saddest are these, “It might have been.” (Thank you Jerry Ramey)

ENTHUSIASM
Enthusiasm brushes upon with those with whom you come in contact. You must truly enjoy what you are doing.

PARTICIPATION
Do you like every type of music and every musician? Do you like every show that airs on TV or every movie that is produced? Do you like every food item on the menu? Do you like every person at your school or in your place of employment (or even in your family)?

Unless we have very low standards, these questions are all answered with an “Are you kidding me? Of course not!”

A classic “Lose-Lose” strategy is not to participate in some activity, group, or relationship because we are critical and overly selective. We all like different tastes in entertainment, food, and personalities. Just because I do not like something on the menu does not mean I cannot order a great meal. Blaming someone else for their hypocrisy and using it as an excuse to not participate does not make me a better person. But getting involved and making things better always will.

THAT LITTLE ROTARY PIN
Are you wearing yours?

DO YOU KNOW WHAT I THINK?
Rotary provides an ideal time for meeting interesting and talented people from all walks of life with whom one can work for a better tomorrow.

A ROTARY MOMENT
Rotary makes the phrase The Human Family real. It is an organization that looks past race, religion, and creed and makes us all a part of a universal human family.

The belief in SERVICE ABOVE SELF is an enduring and irresistible belief. It is a fundamental tenet of all religions and we chose our heroes in life because of it. From cartoon characters like Superman to real life people like Abraham Lincoln and Mother Teresa, they were an embodiment of this ideal.

Charity begins at home but does not end there. We joined Rotary to serve the world. Our world. A human world that can also be a humane world.

ON THE LIGHTER SIDE
Sunday School Teacher: “Why is it necessary to be quiet in church?”
Little Girl: “Because people are sleeping.”

SEPTEMBER IN ROTARY IS…
New Generations Month, when Rotary clubs of the world give special emphasis to the many Rotary sponsored programs that serve children and young people.

A GREAT THOUGHT
The secret of genius is to carry the spirit of the child into old age, which means never losing your enthusiasm.

OH YES
Love at first sight is easy to understand. It’s when two people have been looking at each other for years that it becomes a miracle.

IN CLOSING
The thing that is really hard, and really amazing, is giving up on being perfect and beginning the work of becoming yourself.

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