Rotary District Governor Here Oct. 17

Dr. Ellis Potter, District Governor of Rotary District 6110, will be speaking at the Grove Rotary meeting on Oct. 17 at Noon at the Cowskin Prairie restaurant.

Dr. Potter was born and raised in Chanute, KS and after graduation from Kansas University and Southern College of Optometry in Memphis, TN, Dr. Potter served as base optometrist for Kincheloe AFB, Michigan. He practiced in Salina, KS and Denver, CO before returning to South East Kansas to establish a multidiscipline practice that now includes three optometrists and two ophthalmologists. Dr. Potter has been involved on many Optometry Boards and committees. He is a Diplomate of the American Academy of Optometry and Diplomate Chairman for the Primary Care Section. He serves on the educational committee of the Heart of American Contact Lens and Primary Care Society. He has authored over 80 Optometric articles and served his state association as editor of the Kansas Optometric Journal. In 2006 he was named by the Kansas Optometric Association as Optometrist of the Year.
Dr. and Mrs. Potter have participated in five international eye care missions. Inspired by hosting a Rotary Group Study Exchange from Chile in 1989, they received a RI Discover Grant to travel to Chile to determine the feasibility of an eye care mission to that country. In coordination with VOSH (Volunteer Optometrists for Service to Humanity) they subsequently have organized and led three teams of eye doctors and Rotarians to Osorno, Ancud and Coyhaique, Chile, South America. Dr. Potter is a Fellow of VOSH International.
He has served in most positions in the Iola Rotary club as well as four terms as Assistant Governor. His father was president of the Chanute, Kansas Rotary club. The Potter’s son and daughter both participated in Rotary Youth Exchanges. Dr. Potter and his wife have been involved in 9 Group Study or Youth Exchanges and he has received the RI District Service Award, the RI Four Avenues Service Citation, several citations from the Ancud and District 4350 Rotarians and the Iola Service Above Self Award. He is a member of the Rotary International action group for Avoidable Blindness. Both he and his wife, Jane are Paul Harris Fellows
He and his wife, Jane a nurse, have two children: Jim, a Real Estate Development Consultant and developer in Kansas City, MO and Julie Mercer, a bank Human Resource Officer in Glen Ellyn, ILL. They have two grandsons, Kale Evan Mercer and Hayden James Potter.

Rotarians from Brazil Visit Grove

Five Rotarians from Brazil visited Grove this week. Shown are Davi De Paula, a pediatrics and neonatology physician; Marcello Rodrigues de Oliveira, an information technology manager at a refinery in Canoas; Irina de Oliveira, an architect and urban designer; Patricia Barbosa, an English teacher; and Jorge Da Silva Duarte, accountant at a construction company. Housed in private homes in Grove, the group visited Lendonwood Gardens, Har-Ber Village Museum, Pensacola Dam, NEO and the mushroom farm in Miami, and saw "Oklahoma" at the Coleman Theatre. Prior to coming to Grove on their 40-day American visit, they spent time in Bentonville, Fayetteville, Eureka Springs, Lamar, Mo., Iola, Kan., Bartlesville, and continue next week to Muskogee and home to Brazil.
There are more than 50,000 Rotarians in Brazil.

Grove Rotary Students of the Month

Jana Hill and Tyler Dodson are Grove Rotary Club's Students of the Month. Both are seniors at Grove High School. Jana plans on attending college and a teaching career and maybe writing a novel, while Tyler would like to be a coach and teacher after college graduation.

Rotary Hosts New Grove School Principals

New Grove Public School Principals and their assistants were guests of Grove Rotary this week. Pictured left to right are Theresa Morley, Middle School Assistant; Sandy Harper, Lower Elementary Principal; Julie Bloss, Early Childhood Principal; Shelley Barnes, Upper Elementary Principal; Renae Dozier, High School Principal; Pat Dodson, Middle School Principal; and Ed Sturgeon, High School Assistant

History of Cherokees Told to Rotary

Members of the Grove Rotary Club heard this week from Dr. Julie Coates, professor at the University of California at Davis, who also spends much of her time in Tahlequah.
She explained how the Cherokee Council came to be, going back to a 300-year-old treaty with Great Britain, and how the Cherokee Nation became sovereign.