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Meeting Friday, August 21
Historic DeKalb County Courthouse
101 E. Court Square | 12:15 pm
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Our Special Guest This Week:
Cynthia Edwards Rotary District 6900 Governor
District Governor Cynthia Dorsey Edwards is president/CEO of Storehouse of Solutions, LLC, a management consulting firm. Cynthia joined the Rotary Club of Stone Mountain in 2009 and has served in numerous leadership roles, including club president (2013–2014 and 2020–2021). During her 2020–2021 presidency, the club was named Club of the Year in its size category. She has received the Rookie of the Year and the Guardian of the Legacy awards from her club. She also received the Outstanding Leadership Award from the DeKalb Rotary Council. Cynthia is a Paul Harris Fellow, a Benefactor, and has sponsored 20 people into Rotary.
Weekly luncheon meetings begin at 12:15 pm
on Fridays unless otherwise noted.
Friday, Aug.
28 MEETING SPEAKER
Han Pham,
Her Term
Friday, Sept.
4 NO MEETING
Enjoy the Labor Day
holiday weekend!
Friday, Sept.
11 MEETING SPEAKER
Toni Washington
Fire Chief, City of Decatur
SERVICE PROJECT: Bring Pantry Items for Food Drive THIS FRIDAY
Don’t forget to bring canned and boxed food and personal care items for the DEAM (Decatur-area Emergency Assistance Ministry) food drive this week!
Ongoing Items Needed
Most-needed items are indicated by asterisk (*)
Pasta and pasta sauce
Cereal, oatmeal and grits
Canned soups, hearty*
Canned beans (esp. white or pinto)*
Canned veggies
Canned fruit
Canned chili
Canned meats (esp. tuna and chicken)*
Condensed soups
Cooking oil
Saltine or Ritz type crackers (sleeved)*
Peanut butter and jelly
Rice (brown, yellow* or white in 1-lb bags)
Pod style laundry detergent (economy-sized boxes are most welcome)
Full and travel size toiletries (toothpaste, soap, shampoo, etc.)*
Reusable cloth bags
Plastic zipper bags
Applesauce cups
Juice boxes
Peanut butter cracker packs*
Hot cocoa packets
Granola bars*
. . . . . BUY TICKETS NOW!
Fall Fundraiser Set for
Thursday, Oct. 22
Mark your calendar, buy your tickets (or consider a sponsorship) and stay tuned for more details about what is certain to be a fun event!
. . . . . Applications Open for RYE Study Abroad for 2027-28 School Year
Spread the word! Rotary Youth Exchange is an incredible opportunity for high school students to experience immersion in another culture, and now is the time to apply for the next school year.
• Study abroad with a $25,000 scholarship
• Become fluent in another language
• Build friendships and memories that last a lifetime
• Set yourself apart on college applications
• Open to students ages 14-17 on date of application
Nick, David, Art, and Andrea, captured at the last Decatur WatchFest event in July.
. . . . . Milestones: August
Birthdays
Desiree Peagler, August 3
Mac Willett, August 6
Tonya Veal, August 7
William Harshman, August 13
Dave Jollay, August 15
Brian York, August 22
Club Anniversaries
Tom Adams, 47 years
John Bennett, 20 years
Desiree Peagler, 20 years
Doug Park, 12 years
Donna Phillips, 4 years
Marion Curry, 4 years
Laura Brookshire, 3 years
Brian York, 1 year
Friday, August 14: Meeting Recap
Panelists Rodney Ho, Rick Folbaum, and Molly Samuel
Last week, journalists Rick Folbaum (Atlanta News First), Rodney Ho (Atlanta Journal-Constitution), Molly Samuel (WABE-National Public Radio affiliate), and Duane Stanford (Beverage Digest) held a lively and informative Q&A discussion with lunch guests, covering such topics as fact-checking and accountability, how topics and stories get reported, the blurring of opinion and reporting, and more. The panelists are also members of the Atlanta Press Club, one of the largest and most active professional journalism associations in the country.
Bob reminds us to donate canned and pantry goods
We watched a brief video about the work of DEAM, and how they serve community members who need help on a short-term or emergency basis.
Bob Ettensohn thanked those who helped out with the FODAC service project, and he encouraged all to bring lots of food this week for the DEAM drive.
President Eric informed the club that we will be doing another project with our sister club of Cebu, Philippines, to be presented soon.
Lucille Brillante snaps a pic of Jerry’s induction
Jerry Brillantewas inducted as a member of Decatur Rotary. He formerly belonged to the Rotary Club of the Villages, in central Florida. Welcome, Jerry!
We welcomed special guests from the media last week:
• Julia Boyd, Atlanta Press Club
• Oli Turner, Atlanta Press Club
• Susanna Capelouto, National Public Radio
• Ken Foskett, Atlanta Journal-Constitution
And we welcomed other guests as well:
• Bing Martinez, visiting Rotarian from Cebu, Philippines
• Lucille Brillante, guest of Jerry Brillante
• Sonali Bello, guest of Art Rosser
We hope you’ll visit again soon!
Individuals are identified from left to right.
Charlie Lutin gives the invocation
Bing, Herb, Pete, and Steve gather before the meeting starts
David, Stacey, and Leo pack up leftover lunch to be delivered
Tom and David have more questions for Rodney Ho and Duane Stanford
Bob wins the raffle . . . AGAIN!!!
Thank You to Our Club Sponsors
We are grateful for the support of our local sponsors, and we encourage our members to support them in return.
Our Special Guest This Week:
