Category: Members

Four new members of Lawrence Central Rotary engaged in a panel discussion at the September 16 meeting and, while they work in very different professions, it became obvious that they have a lot in common.

Serving as moderator, Rotary President Kate Campbell asked each of the four, Steve Mason, Margaret Weisbrod Morris, Janis Bunker and Paul Radley, three questions:

1. How did you get involved with service organizations
2.  What are family traditions in your family, and
3. Describe what you think is a perfect day.

Three of them, Radley, an architectural engineer with Professional Engineering Consultants, Mason, a programmer for Lawrence Parks and Recreation and Bunker, senior vice-president and trust officer of Trust Company of Kansas, all said they were invited by friends to join a service group. Both Mason and Morris , program officer for the Lawrence Arts Center, said they were influenced by their parents who were active volunteers in service organizations.

“I come from a family where community service was important. My parents were early workers in the civil rights movement,” Morris said.

Family traditions all involve get-togethers with extended family. Bunker’s family has a Christmas eve tradition, Radley’s family times are during summer vacations at a family compound in Minnesota, while Morris’s family goes to an island near Seattle. Mason’s family times all involve music. “Birthdays, any time we get together, turn into a jam session,” he said.

A favorite day for Radley, Morris and Bunker begins with sleeping late, while Mason is up and out—preferably on his bike.

President Campbell said she plans on more panels like this one that will include long-time members.

Lawrence Central Rotary welcomed a new member and learned about a new KU program at its meeting on May 27.

Margaret Weisbrod Morris, chief program officer for the Lawrence Arts Center became an official Rotarian after having visited the club several times. President Carolyn DeSalvo  gave her membership materials and her pin.

Margaret Weisbrod Morris came to the Lawrence Arts Center from the Kansas Arts Commission where she was the program manager for Arts in Education. She managed the funding, partnerships, and initiatives related to arts education for the state arts agency, and served as the program administrator and event producer for the Kansas Governor’s Arts Awards and the Kansas chapter of the Poetry Out Loud National Recitation Competition.

Before moving to Kansas, she created studio art and art therapy programs for non-profit organizations in Brooklyn and Manhattan, and provided training on the use of art in social service and community settings. Ms. Weisbrod Morris is active in the arts education and non-profit community, presenting in national forums such as the Arts Education Partnership’s National Forum, the National Association for State Arts Agencies National Assembly, National Art Education Association’s National Conference and the Americans for the Arts – Arts Education blog salon. She has served as a panelist for the US Department of Education, National Endowment for the Arts, Mid America Arts Alliance and the Oklahoma Arts Council.

Morris holds a B.F.A. in painting and printmaking from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and studied with Edith Kramer, the founder of the field of art therapy, to get her M.A. degree from New York University.

At the August 6th meeting Bob Swan presented Lawrence Central with 12 banners he received from his days as a Rotary Ambassador in South America.  We thank Bob for these –

A July tradition at Rotary – The passing of the gavel. Today Carolyn DeSalvo took the reigns of Lawrence Central and Tobin Neis joins the club of past presidents. Here’s to a wonderful Rotary year 2014-2015!