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A Buckhead Rotary Club member, Alec Smythe is the principal at Team Forte, a strategy and marketing consulting firm based in Atlanta. After graduating from Harvard College in 1973 with a degree in economics, Alec joined Citibank, spending 19 years there and rising to Senior Vice President for Product Management in the U.S. Consumer Bank. In 1992 he relocated to Atlanta, where he worked in management at Prudential Bank and Equifax. From 2000 to 2002, he founded and led CollectionsX, an Internet startup. In 2002, he established Team Forte, where he provides strategic assistance and execution support for a variety of clients.
Weekly luncheon meetings begin at 12:15 pm
on Fridays unless otherwise noted.
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FRIDAY
NOVEMBER 15
Meeting/Speaker:
Jeff Hullinger
Broadcaster, Executive Producer | GPB
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FRIDAY
NOVEMBER 22
Meeting/Speaker:
Mike Alexander COO | Atlanta Regional Comm.
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FRIDAY
NOVEMBER 29
No Meeting
Thanksgiving Holiday
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Service Projects: Bob Ettensohn Asks Club for Their Interests
Bob Ettensohn has volunteered to help Maria Alvarez with service projects, and he encouraged members to help find more projects for our club. He asked us to think of any charity we are familiar with and to learn what their needs are. Is there a need or a project our club could help with?
Bob asked everyone to consider what types of projects interest you, such as:
Assist mental health charities
Cook/serve food to the homeless
5K run
Collect items for charity wish list
Purchase six doses of polio vaccine in recipient’s name / postcard
Assist animal shelter
Bike helmet program
Paint Your Heart Out
Reading with Rotary: adopt a school, reading time sign-ups
Work with Code Enforcement to assist elderly with yard clean-up, paint, etc.
Email Bob and let him know if any of these ideas – or others you may have – sound promising as a Decatur Rotary effort.
. . . . . Saturday 11/9 Service Project: Wetland Planting at Legacy Park
When was the last time you played in the mud? Legacy Park in Decatur needs our help with restoring their wetlands, and it’s gonna be muddy. Sound fun? Join us on Saturday, Nov. 9 at Legacy, 9 am to noon. Please sign up in advance here.
Didn’t we just have a service project at Legacy? Yes!
Earlier this month, our club helped with a planting project at Decatur’s Legacy Park. Read this story about how volunteer work is having an impact (and our club gets a shout-out): “These efforts, powered primarily by volunteers, have increasingly improved the health of the forest and have served as a prerequisite for restoration of the wetlands, improving their innate capacity to improve water quality, protect against floods, and provide habitat for all manner of plants and animals.”
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Milestones
Club Anniversaries
Eric Lucas, 37 years
Walt Drake, 34 years
William Harshman, 34 years Dave Jollay, 31 years
November Birthdays
Joe Kusmik, 29 years
Rick Garnitz, 27 years
Noel Maloof, 10 years
Mary Ann Cathopoulis, 5 years
Alan Yorker, Nov. 3
Noel Maloof, Nov. 4
Marvin Fralish, Nov. 6
Bob Wilson, Nov. 10
Dana Rickman, Nov. 24
Bedros Sharian Jr., Nov. 25
Robert Brown, Nov. 28
Jamaal Ellis, Nov. 29
FRIDAY, Nov. 22 | 2024
Todd Speed and Harl Pike served as greeters. Jamaal Ellis gave the invocation.
We welcomed some new and returning guests:
• Nichole Simms, guest of Alison Weissinger
• Terra Smiley, guest of Gyimah Whitaker
• Elizabeth Sullivan, guest of Lawrence Sharp
• Our Rotary Exchange student, Selma, also joined us.
. . . . . OUR SPEAKER: Frankie Atwater Sr., President & CEO of DeKalb County Chamber
Alison Weissinger introduced our speaker, Frankie Atwater, who in 2021 became the president and CEO of the DeKalb County Chamber of Commerce. Since then, he has grown the chamber’s membership and revenue significantly. He emphasized the commitment to making the organization more welcoming and appealing to small business owners, particularly by increasing access to larger companies. The Small Business Awards, started in 2022, is another way to highlight the importance of small businesses to the local economy and business environment.
Scenes from our most recent meeting and events. Individuals are identified from left to right.
Alison Weissinger and Kelly Caudle
Lawrence Sharp and guest Danielle Jones
Marion Curry, guest DeAnna Julian, and Maria Alvarez
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