In 1975 I was invited to present the program at the Rotary Club of Loves Park, Illinois (District 6420).  I must have done an acceptable presentation since I was invited to join the club.  My father was (and is) a Rotarian so I knew a little about Rotary.  I dropped out of Rotary when we moved to Michigan in 1983 then joined the Rotary Club of Muskegon (District 6290) in 1990.  I served ¾’s of a term as club president in 2000-2001 before a job change and move necessitated my resignation.  I joined the Rotary Club of Lynchburg, Virginia (District 7570) and served as club president in 2006-2007.  I currently serve as the District 7570 Disaster Committee Chair. 

In 1999 Rotary International became involved in the Open World Program.  Developed and operated by the Open World Leadership Center at the Library of Congress, the program brings delegations of young, emerging Russian leaders to the United States for eight-day stays.  During the intensive, short-term visits, participants learn about the responsibilities of and the relationships among the three branches of the U.S. government at the federal, state, and local levels. They also learn how private and nonprofit sectors help meet social and civic needs.   The visits are based on one of several civic themes.  I first became involved with the program in 2000 in Michigan. Since moving to Lynchburg, we’ve hosted seven delegations and are getting ready to host our eighth this fall.  Since the Lynchburg area has seven different institutions of higher learning, we always choose to host a delegation interested in education.  We’ve now served as coordinator for ten delegations.  The program has grown and matured since we hosted the first two groups in 2000.

In addition to ROTI, I’m also a member of the Police/Law Enforcement Professionals Fellowship of Rotarians (POLEPFOR), the Disaster Rotary Action Group, and Rotarians of Amateur Radio (ROAR).

Professionally, I’ve been a deputy sheriff, an emergency management coordinator, and the director of a consolidated dispatch center.  After 34 years of public sector employment, I joined CTA Communications, a communications consulting and engineering firm based in Lynchburg, Virginia in 2001 where I specializes in emergency communications center and 9-1-1 system design and operations.  CTA Communications is now part of AECOM Design, a global provider of professional, technical, and management support services to a broad range of markets, including transportation, facilities, environmental and energy.

I am a past president of the Association of Public Safety Communications Officials International.   I received my undergraduate degree from Rockford College and my Masters in Public Administration from Western Michigan University.

Currently I’m a member of the Board of Directors of the Campbell County Rescue Squad and the Historic Virginia Chapter of the American Red Cross.

In my spare time, I was a volunteer firefighter and emergency medical technician for twenty-two years, but retired from that in 2000. Now I enjoy sailing (if there’s wind!) and amateur radio.  My amateur radio call sign is N8TE.

For the past 42 years, I’ve been married to Donna.  We have three daughters and one granddaughter.  Even all of our dogs have been female so I don’t stand a chance!