by Max Marbut
Staff Writer
A holiday tradition that’s been part of the season for as long as anyone could remember was renewed Monday when the Rotary Club of Jacksonville celebrated its annual Family Christmas Luncheon. Club members brought their children and grandchildren to meet Santa Claus and enjoy some fellowship. For some, it’s been part of the holiday season all their lives.
One member, Quinn Barton, pointed out that Monday’s luncheon marked the 54th year he has been in the club. Barton joined Downtown Rotary in 1955 and served as president for the 1976-77 Rotary Club year.
In addition to lunch, the Rotarians and their families also got to sing some Christmas carols led by club member and former Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra Music Director Willis Page. They also heard a selection of traditional and contemporary Christmas songs performed by baritone David Scheininger accompanied by Andy Clarke on piano.
On the only non-holiday note of the day, the club also heard from guest Lisa Domaradzki, who recently returned from volunteering on a Mercy Ship that sailed to West Africa. She thanked the club for contributing more than $800,000 to the Mercy Ships program which takes modern medicine to Third World nations.
“You have changed the lives of the patients and the volunteers and you have changed my life,” she explained.
Bringing medical treatment to people who practice voodoo and believe sickness and even birth defects are caused by doing bad deeds was an eye-opening experience.
“It’s a different world and a different mindset,” she said.
In addition to helping treat patients on the ship, Domaradzki also worked one day each week in an orphanage and a school for deaf children.
“Those kids stole my heart,” she said. “They had been through so much but it has made them so strong.”
The luncheon was the final chapter of quite a weekend for the Rotary Club of Jacksonville. They joined club members from all over the region at a luncheon Friday that kicked off the annual Rotary District 6970 Conference. “Kicked off” is appropriate because the entire event had a Jacksonville Jaguars theme and that included Sunday’s game against the Miami Dolphins. It was not only a chance for Rotarians to attend a football game, but also an opportunity to raise money to support Rotary International’s mission to eradicate polio.
Jaguars owners Wayne and Delores Weaver donated $5 for every ticket to the Dolphins game purchased by Rotary. Since the 2004 season when the initiative began, Rotarians have raised more than $100,000 through ticket purchases, said Jaguars partner Lawrence DuBow.
“It has truly been a wonderful partnership. Philanthropy is a science, not an art. Some people learn that and some people do not. I have a great deal of respect for Rotary because you have learned that commitment,” said DuBow to more than 500 members of District 8970 Rotary Clubs who attended the luncheon and conference.
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