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A native of Vilnius, Lithuania, Professor Budryte now lives and works in Atlanta. She will talk about the Impact of the Russo-Ukrainian War on Eastern Europe and beyond. Her research interests include memory politics, trauma, Holocaust justice, and gender studies, and she has been recognized for her skills in the classroom with a University System of Georgia Excellence in Teaching Award.
Weekly luncheon meetings begin at 12:15 pm
on Fridays unless otherwise noted.
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FRIDAY
OCTOBER 18
Meeting/Speaker:
Bob Obrien
En-Road Climate Ambassador
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FRIDAY
OCTOBER 25
Meeting/Speaker:
Debbie Cwalina
Executive Director
Be The Voice
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FRIDAY
NOVEMBER 1
Meeting/Speaker:
Frankie Atwater
President & CEO
DeKalb County Chamber
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THURSDAY
NOVEMBER 7
Thirsty
Thursday
Location TBD
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FRIDAY
NOVEMBER 8
Meeting/Speaker:
Alex Smythe
Rotary District Webmaster
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FRIDAY
NOVEMBER 15
Meeting/Speaker:
Jeff Hullinger
Broadcaster, Executive Producer | GPB
Announcements
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SATURDAY! Service Project at Decatur Legacy Park
Join us for a Wetland Planting and Beautification at Decatur Legacy Park on October 12, 2024, from 8:45 am-noon. Free lunch will be provided at noon! Volunteers are encouraged to wear clothes they can get dirty in and to bring gloves and digging tools, but Legacy Decatur will also provide tools. Please bring a water bottle; extra water will be provided.
Decatur Legacy Park is a 77-acre site that includes historic buildings and a 22-acre conservation area with a pond, wetlands, riparian areas, nature trails, woodlands, and meadows. Although all types of ecosystems are important, wetlands are incredibly vital for stormwater management, pollution filtration, and wildlife habitat. On October 12, we are excited to bring the community together to plant native vegetation along the wetland area to support the Park’s biodiversity, stabilize the stream bank, provide food for wildlife, and provide a calm and aesthetically welcoming environment for the community to learn about the importance of wetland areas.
Meet at 500 South Columbia Drive, Decatur, GA, 30030. Please follow event signs at the park to find the volunteer group.
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Help Rotarians Recover from Hurricane Helene
The District Disaster Relief Team is actively working with GEMA, FEMA and partnering volunteer/relief organizations to assess needs and provide support. We are also in daily contact with our counterparts in all the impacted Rotary Districts in Georgia, Florida, North Carolina and South Carolina to share resources or best practices.
How can you help?
Money. Donate to the Disaster Relief Fund. On the relief fund website, see how your funds will be used to help with immediate needs: for example, $100 pays for 15 meal kits, $250 pays for a chainsaw, and $500 pays for a pallet of water.
Supplies. If you or your company can help procure large quantities of such items as bottled water, baby formula, cleaning supplies, portable power generation, batteries, charcoal, hand tools or other supplies you think would be helpful, please contact Chris Brand of FODAC and Stone Mountain Rotary Club at chrisbrand@fodac.org.
Work. Join fellow Rotarians on a road trip later this month to hard-hit areas, where the group will help clear debris or repair homes. The first trip is scheduled for October 30 through November 4. If you are interested in doing this kind of volunteer work, please fill out this form and we will keep you up to date as opportunities arise.
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Ending Polio: World Polio Day, Oct. 24
Every year Rotary International helps to vaccinate 400 million children against the polio virus. As we approach World Polio Day on October 24, every Rotary club is asked to contribute at least $1,500 for this cause. Doing so will help raise the $50 million needed to match funding from the Gates Foundation. Although thanks to Rotary’s efforts polio cases have been reduced by 99.9%, the virus is still not eradicated. Let’s help the effort to eradicate!
Did you know? Polio (poliomyelitis) mainly affects children under 5 years of age. As long as a single child remains infected, children in all countries are at risk of contracting polio. Failure to eradicate polio from these last remaining strongholds could result in a global resurgence of the disease.
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Help needed for meeting set-up
President Larus told the club that we need more people to help with Friday meeting set-ups, from 11:45 until noon. If you can help, please let Dudley know.
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Milestones
Club Anniversaries
Linton Broome, 54 years
Lawrence Sharp, 31 years
Brenda Leder, 27 years
Delores Crowell, 20 years
October Birthdays
Todd Speed, 17 years
Tim Martin, 17 years
Maria Alvarez, 2 years
Doug Park, Oct. 4
Jennifer Topple, Oct. 10
John Robinson, Oct. 25
Judy Turner, Oct. 28
Rick Garnitz, Oct. 29
Douglas Tozzi, Oct. 29
FRIDAY, Dec. 6 | 2024
Greeters: Barbara Tedrow and Pete Pfeiffer.
Jason Conn introduced two guests: Sherry Jarrell, retired economics professor Alyssa Bernstein, Emory grad student, prospective Rotary scholar
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Program Notes
Our Friday program made a quick pivot when our scheduled speaker was unable to attend the meeting. We are happy to report that he's been rescheduled for later in the year.
Mary Ann Cathopoulis provided more information on polio eradication efforts. President Dudley told us that there will be heightened focus on this issue as we approach World Polio Day on 10/24 as well as more focus over the course of the next year.
District Governor Designate Cynthia Edwards was present, and she shared several helpful items: in addition to the need to support polio eradication efforts and the opportunity for Rotarians to help with Hurricane Helene recovery efforts, she reminded members to register for the “one district” conference on Jekyll Island in April 2025 and the international conference in Calgary, Canada, next June. She invited female Rotarians to join the Women of Rotary group that meets weekly to discuss issues of significance to women and families.
Scenes from our most recent meeting and events. Individuals are identified from left to right.
Bryan Downs and Walt Drake
Exchange student Selma Doganson and Doug Park
Dudley Larus, David Hughes, and Lawrence Sharp
Doug Park, TES, Shara Sanders, and visiting Rotarian Indigo Triplett
This month we met on the patio at Twain's for fun and fellowship. Save the date for Nov. 7 when we do it again! Location TBD, so stay tuned.
Jane Ledafian, Dan DeWoskin, Harl Pike, Pete Pfeiffer and Leo Ledafian enjoy an October afternoon.
President Dudley (who clearly got the snazzy cap memo), Marianne Adams, Tom Adams (also capped!), and Alison Weissinger
Maria Alvarez, sporting her snazzy cap, with Jason Conn
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.
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