Created for our Tenth Anniversary
Our beginnings…
So much accomplished in so little time. It was just a little over 10 years ago that six people took on the task of forming a Rotary Club for the Green Hills area. A club which turned out to be the most successful new club in the district in a decade. But, the planning actually began months before in early 1988 when Boyd Fulton, extension chairman for the Nashville South Rotary Club, and Jon Johnson began discussing the possibility of forming a new club.
Under Rotary International rules at that time, two things were required before a "provisional" club (the precursor of a real club) could be formed. First, permission of all existing area clubs had to be obtained and second, a nucleus of persons had to agree to begin recruiting qualified potential members. Boyd took on the first task, they shared the second and Jon became responsible for coordinating the process with Roger Staedke at Rotary International.
Three clubs (Downtown, Nashville South and Donelson-Hermitage) were sharing the Davidson County territory. Boyd Fulton convinced Larry Boyd and the Nashville South club to become our sponsor which put them in the fold. He then began trying to convince the other two clubs to allow us in. He not only accomplished that but he got Brentwood to sign on for good measure! With the necessary clubs on our side, we began recruiting potential members.
A nucleus, later to become the club’s first slate of officers, was formed. It became the task of Carl Campbell, Tom Clark, Brian Devine, John Farringer, Boyd Fulton, Jon Johnson and Marilyn Willis and to attract at least 30 community leaders to become Charter Members of the club. After a couple of weeks of humming phone lines and numerous explanations, about 15 potential members gathered at the Green Hills Shoney’s to learn more about Rotary and how the community would benefit from having a club in Green Hills.
The charter membership period ended on August 19, 1988, after barely a month of "provisional" status, when David VonDohlen put us over the top. Thirty Charter Members were on board, dues had been collected and all the necessary paperwork completed. On August 30, District Governor Dixon Hood signed our formal application to Rotary International and the whole package went off to Roger Staedke at R. I. on September 8.
During the application approval process one problem did crop up however. The staff at Rotary must be able to identify the local club area on a map and they couldn’t find Green Hills. After an hour of frantically trying to convince Roger that Green Hills really exists, he finally located Greenhills somewhere near Columbia and we were approved! Technically our charter belongs in rural Maury County. But, we won’t tell, will we?
The Charter Night event was a huge success. Everyone turned out in their finest and the party set the tone of the club that has lasted all these years. Our community service goals are serious, but we can have fun doing it. Most of the area clubs sent representatives, while others sent presents to get us started; flags, bell, podium, etc. At about 9 P.M. on Thursday, October 20th, 1988, District Governor Dixon Hood presented our charter, dated September 23rd, to Boyd Fulton and we were finally a part of the world’s largest service organization, Rotary International.
Getting Underway…
We rapidly outgrew our Shoney’s meeting place and we moved to the Green Hills Cafeteria, our home ever since. Although he had been warned, the first real snow of the year convinced cafeteria manager Dave Green of our commitment to attendance. Assuming we wouldn’t venture out in the bad weather since the Exchange Club didn’t, he had to literally scramble to make breakfast when we pounded on the door. Dave hasn’t made that mistake again.
Early in our existence, we were privileged to get to know Mrs. Nell Allison, a spry octogenarian who kept our coffee cups full as we marveled at her good humor. Mrs. Nell became an honorary member of our club in 1993 when she finally had to give up her duties at age 92. Following in Nell’s footsteps, literally, Mrs. Catherine Flippo fell in love with many of our members and kept us coffeed until her health forced her to retire. Since then Bob Nemer has done the job sporadically, or is that spastically?
True to our start, we’ve always been a fun loving organization. Reversing the rumor that Rotary Clubs are stuffy (sorry Downtown) we have fun. While the club was small we often met for dinner. It is rumored that Green Hills Rotarians have almost been asked to leave some of the finest restaurants in Nashville. As a group we’ve also enjoyed wine tastings with Skippy Culhane, Cajun Cookouts coordinated by Scott Reynolds and parties par excellence often planned and executed by Colleen Dowd. We perhaps outdid ourselves with the Christmas party at the Parthenon in 1995. It fit well with another of our activities that year. But, more on that later.
Community Service…
In its short life, the Green Hills Rotary Club has provided ongoing community service and pioneered fund raising projects. The community didn’t know what to think when we produced the "Great Green Hills Garage Sale" our first club year. Under a huge tent in the field next to Hillsboro High School, vendors sold treasures and club members sold their trash. Late on the second and last day of the event, Vance Stewart was selling suits for five dollars. Not good training for his day job.
Having cleared the club’s collective attic the first year, next we started what soon seemed to be an epidemic in Nashville…golf hole-in-one contests. Our first Million Dollar event was again at the Hillsboro field with a hastily constructed putting green. We had eight holes-in-one in the preliminaries, including a smiling John Farringer, who won a pair of American Airlines tickets. The actual shot for a million bucks took place at a reconstructed hole at the old Richland Country Club off West End. A great lunch and silent auction made for a perfect day even if we didn’t award the million.
The next three years, under Craig Laine’s direction, the hole-in-one and moved to the Antioch area and prospered. In fact, we were a victim or our own success. The concept became so popular, that there seemed to be one every weekend which eventually lessened our impact. In spite of the competition, though, our events were unqualified successes, primarily because every member got involved It was rumored that some members actually lived at the site the entire week.
Our really big splash, though, came in 1995, early in Craig Laine’s presidential year. He, Glen Craig and a tireless team of coordinators had spent a year crafting the "Parthenon 500", a mini-car race event and our most profitable fundraiser. As a club we sold cars and sold sponsorships. The weekend of the event, we set up a race track in Centennial Park, ran lots of races and returned the park to its pre-race condition. We’ve also sponsored a couple of follow-up contests to keep the competitive juices flowing.
Our most recent fund-raising activities have centered on golf outings and raising money for organ transplant information programs. Gary Fitzhugh and Michelle Marek put together the cast of swingers who tried to keep Spencer Thompson and Charlie Moore out of the traps…sand, that is.
International Service…
Our first venture into international service was helping provide airfare for two Haitian heart patients to receive treatment at Vanderbilt Hospital in partnership with the Brentwood club. Since then we’ve hosted two International Group Study Exchange parties and Arthur Washington led an Exchange Group to India. And, as we know, our contributions to the Rotary Foundation help Rotary’s work around the world.
Our Good Works…
With the proceeds of our first fundraiser we began our scholarship program at Hillsboro High School, sponsored a special needs Boy Scout troop and funded other small projects. In 1990 we formed the Green Hills Rotary Foundation as our philanthropic arm. Since then we have expanded the scholarship program, planted commemorative trees at Hillsboro, helped upgrade the auditorium light and sound system at Hillsboro and helped sponsor Hillsboro students in the Washington American Studies Contest.
For both Hillwood and Hillsboro high schools, Jackie Shrago chaired a group that created Career Day which has since evolved into Bob Duthie’s "Nashville Careers". This innovative project introduces students to local career opportunities via compact disc. Student involvement has helped make the project an instant success.
We’ve donated money for Christmas toys for children at the Martha O’Bryan Center. John Hopper introduced us to the need for books at Carter-Lawrence School and Scott Reynolds was instrumental in helping us make Christmas nicer for a number of needy families. Carol Thigpen introduced many of our members to Nashville Reads. Over the years we’ve given unselfishly of our time and our resources. This club truly has a big heart.
One of our earliest community projects has actually been appropriated by the city. Tom Clark coordinated the first Christmas Tree mulching project in Nashville. We chipped trees, cleaned out cars and gave away tulip poplar seedlings. Now, Metro does the same thing at eight sites across the county. Did we get thanks? Nah.
Club Accomplishments…
Following his 1988-90 tenure as club president, Boyd Fulton continued as Extension Chairman for the district. As a result, twelve new clubs were chartered between 1990 and 1996. Boyd was elected District Governor for 1995-96, recognizing his tireless efforts on behalf of the district. To our club’s credit, never before had a club so young had a District Governor. During his DG year, Boyd concentrated on promoting the RI Polio Plus Campaign and began his leadership in organ donations.
During Richard Fulton’s 1992-93 presidency, the club began building significant fiscal reserves, the golf event moved to Antioch and prospered. Dick also engineered a beautifully crafted portfolio of the club’s many accomplishments for the District Conference, missing by a whisker.
Bill Warner served our club as president in 1993-94 during which time he created a Past President’s Council, took great strides in budgeting and formulating a long range strategy for the club as well as instituting a formal mentoring program for new members. A ramp-building program for home bound persons which Michael Rankin has spearheaded was instituted. Bill’s giving nature in life was reflected in his tragic death in 1996 with at least eight persons receiving organs transplants. A state law encouraging organ donation bears his name.
Building on this groundwork and his own leadership, Bill Herring accepted a Presidential Citation for Community Concerns during his 1994-95 club presidency. Bill also presided over significant planning and reassessment which proved the basis of future growth.
Craig Laine was club president in 1995-96 while Boyd was District Governor. That year we achieved record membership growth, passing the 90 member mark. We created the most Paul Harris Fellows ever. Our racing fundraiser netted over $24,000 and we partied down with Athena at the Parthenon at Christmas. It was a memorable and productive year.
Brian Devine took the reins in 1996-97 and continued to follow a building course with major emphasis on the "Share Your Life" campaign benefited by our first golf outing fundraiser. Brian strongly supported an organ donation law honoring Bill Warner which became law during his tenure.
And so the club ended its first decade with President Gino Marchetti for 1997-98.