As told to Sylvie McCarthy
George Postell is serving his second term as president of the Ponte Vedra Rotary Club in Nocatee.
Tell us about Rotary and the club to which you belong. What is your position and what are your responsibilities?
Our organization, being one of over 45,000 Rotary Clubs throughout the world, is about seeking where needs are and meeting those needs, locally, regionally and internationally. We operate in over 200 countries.
I am beginning my second term as president of our club, which is the Ponte Vedra Rotary Club, which lunch meetings are every first and third Tuesday at the RISE apartment in the Nocatee area.
What do you like best about Rotary?
As Rotarians, our motto is “Service Before Self.” We welcome all people, as members and/or those we serve regardless of any political or religious association.
Our focus is to unite with others to create a lasting, positive impact on many people, most of which we will never meet. We do so by identifying partner organizations aligned with our creed in our community such as, but not limited to, Pie In The Sky and Blessings in a Backpack, combating hunger here in St. Johns County.
We support Habitat For Humanity with club builds in St. Augustine, helping to make available affordable housing.
Internationally, our club partners with Rotarians in Cambodia on clean water projects and in Guatemala, supporting efforts to create opportunities for local youth to develop job skills increasing opportunities to thrive at home.
What is a typical day like for you?
A typical day for me is to review our upcoming schedule of events. We meet for our formal “regular meetings” the first and third Tuesdays and also have socials and or community services scheduled the weeks we don’t meet.
We support education as we are in our St. Johns County schools to include Valley Ridge Academy, and Bartram Trail High where we sponsor a Rotary Interact club.
Tell us about your background, especially as it applies to your career or to your involvement with Rotary.
My professional background began in the Navy as a P-3 Orion pilot, at NAS Jacksonville. I then flew for NASA for 23 years flying the same model P-3 on a vastly different mission. Instead of a weapons platform in the Navy, the NASA P-3 flew suites of earth science instruments globally supporting the sub-orbital Earth Science programs.
Are you from this area originally, or did you settle here from somewhere else? If the latter, what brought you to this community?
I was born and grew up in Alabama. After graduating from Auburn University, I joined the Navy and eventually NASA, and then retired here in Ponte Vedra, which I consider a grandparent paradise. What is not to like? Like many, I followed family members to Ponte Vedra.
What do you like best about living here?
The climate, except in July and August, and the proximity to world class health care. There is so much to do!
How do you like to spend your free time?
Golfing, and making new friends.