Josh Brown's new book about Allen Jay

JOSH BROWN SPOKE ABOUT THE STRUGGLES AN EARLY MIDWESTERN QUAKER UNDERTOOK FOR THE BETTERMENT OF HIS LARGER COMMUNITY. BORN IN NORTH CAROLINA, HIS FAMILY MOVED TO MIAMI COUNTY, OHIO WHERE SLAVERY WAS UNLAWFUL. EDUCATED UNDER DIFFICULT CIRCUMSTANCES, HE ENDURED THE TORMENT QUAKERS SUFFERED AT THE HANDS OF HIS NEIGHBORS WHO AT TIMES PUT THE LAW OF THE LAND ABOVE THE LAWS OF GOD.
THE REV. BROWN RELATED A POIGNANT STORY ABOUT A RUNAWAY SLAVE WHO WAS AIDED BY THE FAMILY OF ALLEN JAY. THE SLAVE, TREATED WITH UNDERSTANDING AND COMPASSION, WAS ON HIS WAY NORTH AND COULD NOT BELIEVE THAT HE WOULD BE ASSISTED WITH KINDNESS OF WHITE STRANGERS.
BY TODAY'S MEASUREMENTS, JAY WAS RELATIVELY WELL EDUCATED, HAVING OBTAINED A SEMESTER OF COLLEGE AT EARLHAM AND A YEAR AT ANTIOCH. HE LATER MARRIED AND SETTLED IN LAFAYETTE, INDIANA. HE WAS DRAFTED INTO THE SERVICE DURING THE CIVIL WAR, BUT PRESIDENT LINCOLN, AT THE REQUEST OF GOVERNOR MORTON, EXCUSED QUAKERS FROM THE DRAFT.
AFTER THE WAR, JAY TRAVELED TO THE SOUTH TO AID SOUTHERN QUAKERS RE-ESTABLISH THEIR LIVES DURING RECONSTRUCTION, AIDING IN THE ESTABLISHMENT OF 60 SCHOOLS AS WELL AS BUSINESSES AND AGRICULTURAL PURSUITS. HE THEN RETURNED TO EARLHAM, ASSUMING A TITLE THAT WAS A COMBINATION OF TREASURER AND DEAN. WHILE THERE, HE WAS INSTRUMENTAL IN EXPANDING THE COLLEGE FROM ONE WITH ONLY ONE BUILDING TO AN INSTITUTION WITH SIX, WHILE ALSO IMPROVING ACADEMICS AND WIPING OUT PREVIOUS DEBT. HE DIED IN 1910.

CENTER CITY DEVELOPMENT

Renee Oldham, Director of Center City Development, spoke on the subject of the Innovation Center and the multitude of services it renders to the entrepreneurs in the area. Not only is it a place designed to stimulate business development and provide support for business ideas and plants, it also encourages entrepreneurial activity and greater awareness of resources available to grow new businesses in Richmond and Wayne County.
Nearly 25,000 individuals have utilized the services of the center, and the staff has worked with nearly 1,300 entrepreneurs. She stressed the need for users to understand hard work.
Various organizations utilize the center, including Indiana Wesleyan University, Indiana University and Purdue University.
Staff members work one on one with clients as long as three years until is is felt that the client is capable of independent pursuit. She differentiated between entrepreneurship and interpreneurship, which is represented by a person who has an idea but doesn't want to leave his or her home community.
She concluded by noting that the concept of Main Street is still in tact.


Marcy Crull was inducted into the Richmond Rotary Club on March 16th. She is the Executive Director for Junior Achievement of Eastern Indiana.
WELCOME TO THE CLUB, MARCY!!!!

CIS- COMMUNITIES IN SCHOOLS

Communities in Schools Executive Director Vivian Ashmawi spoke to the club on March 9th and gave an update of the programs currently in place with the organization. She noted that every nine seconds, a student drops out of school in the United States; thus, CIS has as it's mission making it's resources available to potential dropouts.

One means of reaching such students is by pairing one adult with one student in the hopes of improving ISTEP and reading scores.

CIS utilizes numerous coordinators and assists Peers Helping Peers, The Discovery School, aids with a Reality Store, helps sponsor the Test Expo and sponsors Eagle Buddies at Western Wayne Elementary School.

Rather than duplicating services or competing with other youth-serving organizations and agencies, CIS identifies and mobilizes community resources and fosters cooperative partnerships. CIS also tracks outcomes, and tracks better grades as well as the reduction of discipline problems.

Also last week, Third Graders at Crestdale Elementary received their Rotary Dictionaries. Our goal to provide Dictionaries to all 3rd Graders in Richmond and Centerville is nearly finished. This is one of the ways our club contributes to the efforts of improving literacy in Wayne County.

We had a good time March 2nd discussing what our club does in the community and world. We watched a video that reminded us of what Rotary is all about. Susanna Nave was a guest of Mandy Jack and works at Meridian Services. She is interested in Rotary, so we took turns talking about club activities. Frank Bruggner from the Fishers Indiana Rotary Club talked about some of the projects and fundraisers his club is involved

with. Max Bailey and Jodie Scheiben received fantastic ice cream sundaes from Little Sheba's because it was their birthdays!

Mandy is sad in the picture because she is getting ready to move away from Richmond area and will no longer be able to join the Richmond Rotary Club for Tuesday luncheons. WE WILL MISS YOU MANDY!

Group Study Exchange to Africa

Steve Currens of the Kokomo Club, spoke on the GSE trip to Africa in May of 2009 to visit four countries, including Zibabwe, which had to be cancelled.

However, the group visited Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique and observed the vocational and cultural lives of the residents. During the trip the Rotarians built good will and friendship among the people they encountered while observing wildlife and nature, particularly the scenery and especially the rivers.

John Kelley Hats and Patches Collection

Fellow Rotarian and President-Elect John Kelley gave the club his annual update on his hats and patches collection. The collection is from various police agencies from around the world. You would never realize how many different types of protection agencies exist in other countries.

John Simpson is poses in one of the hats, campaigning for a future position as the club's Sergeant at Arms.

Stephen Angell- Neighbors, East and West

Stephen Angell spoke to the club on February 2nd regarding his recent experiences in Iran as a member of a group of twenty-four. The trip was led by Richmond natives Sam and Ruth Neff, who are sponsors of "Neighbors, East and West," an organization that attempts to bring together countries whose past has been unfriendly.

He said that Iranians are well educated by Middle Eastern Standards and that the proportion of women in higher education is remarkable. English is the second language of the country and young people everywhere seek out Americans to practice their English skills. He noted, however, that one rarely sees an American in Iran.

Regarding the most rercent election, he said many individuals believe the re-elected incumbent was returned to power by fraudulent means, with about only forty per cent of the populace actually supporting the regime.

The Iranian people are acutely aware of their geographical dilemma in that the nation lies between Iraq and Afghanistan.