TERN AT A IONAL

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The Friday luncheon moved to Christ United Methodist Church where Rev. Smith was the pastor. The whole idea of the Catfish Club came about organically where local members would meet to discuss pressing issues of the day. It was a place where you might find yourself sitting next to the mayor, or sitting next to someone you might not normally meet during your day.

The panel of speakers agreed that there would never be another George Walker Smith and there would never be a Catfish Club exactly like the one that had served the community for over 50 years.

Rev. Smith was a man of civility. An example of the type of topics held at the meetings: the January 9, 2015 topic of the day was Civility. The description of the meeting: “We continue to see examples of incivility. It’s in our schools, where bullying is prevalent; in the workplace, where workers are stressed; in politics, where intolerance has taken the place of honest dialogue; and on the internet, where many hide behind the anonymity of technology. Please join as Dr. Carl Luna, Director of the Institute for Civil Civic Engagement and noted Professor at San Diego Mesa College leads a discussion, which takes a closer look at what civility means and why it matters.”

George Walker Smith was the first African American to be elected to the San Diego Unified School Board. He believed that if you sat down to speak with someone, you might like them.

The sentiment of the group is that there needs to be a rebirthing of something like the Catfish Club where all the people can come together, network, and discuss the issues of the day while getting to know each other.

Other members of the Rotary audience spoke about the impact that Rev. Smith had on San Diego and the importance of how he brought a community together.

“George Walker Smith had a great reach,” stated Neal Arthur, “We need to re-establish the interface. We need a voice.”