December 18, 2019
Meeting Notes
President David Powell called the meeting to order. Rotarian of the Day John Sullivan asked Emmett Hudgins to lead the invocation. Mr. Sullivan led the club in the Pledge of Allegiance and the Four-Way Test.
There were a number of happy dollars before Christmas. John Cobb’s grand-daughter just completed her first semester at OU with straight A’s. Marcus Cunningham now has his broker’s license.
The Rotary Christmas Party last Wednesday was a success. President Powell thanked everyone involved with making it happen.
Emmett Hudgins presented the magazine report for this month. He said that it is a must read issue of the Rotarian and that it is very good this time. The most interesting section included a number of Rotarians in “What It’s Like” or how it is to do something extraordinary. Examples include donate a kidney to a friend, receive a kidney from a friend, fly a chopper in Vietnam, and plant a garden with the first lady.
Emmett Hudgins thanked everyone who rang the bell for the Salvation Army last Friday. He thanked Daniel Gibbs for helping to coordinate the volunteers. The total raised for the day was $2,580.12.
President Powell inducted our new member Jared Wise in to our club. There is no regular meeting next week. We will see each other again in the New Year.
Rotarian of the Day
Rotarian of the Day, John Sullivan, introduced our speaker for the day. Heidi Grant is the Executive Officer of Gaming and Hospitality at Choctaw Casinos & Resorts. She oversees 22 casinos and 6 hotels with over 10,000 slots, 1,000 hotel rooms and 5,000 associates. She has worked for the Choctaw Nation for 22 years. Heidi explained the taxing situation as it exists now with the tribal compact that was created back in 2005 with State Question 712. She explained the differences between the different classes of games. Out of the 300 compacts in the United States, 100 of the compacts provide no exclusivity fees. The tribes in Oklahoma have paid $1.5 billion to date in fees to the State of Oklahoma. The tribes provide 96,177 jobs in Oklahoma. The disagreement with the State of Oklahoma centers on the provision in the current compact that allows for auto-renewal of the current agreement. The Governor of Oklahoma contends that it does not renew automatically and the tribes will be operating illegally after January 1, 2020.
Attendance
34 members and 4 guests were present for a total of 38.
Guests
Robby Short, guest of Kim Benedict
Heidi Grant, speaker, guest of John Sullivan
Stacy Sullivan, guest of John Sullivan
Teresa Brown, guest of John Sullivan