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No Meeting Friday, Sept. 4
• • • • •
Next Meeting: Friday, Sept. 11
Historic DeKalb County Courthouse
101 E. Court Square | 12:15 pm
Weekly luncheon meetings begin at 12:15 pm
on Fridays unless otherwise noted.
Friday, Sept.
11 MEETING SPEAKER
Toni Washington
Fire Chief, City of Decatur
Friday, Sept.
18 MEETING SPEAKER
Norman C. Sauce Superintendent, DeKalb County Schools
Friday, Sept.
25 MEETING SPEAKER
TBD
Join us Thursday, Sept. 10 for Thirsty Thursday and Family Night at Wheelhouse!
Wheelhouse Craft Pub and Kitchen will generously donate 15% of all proceeds back to our club.
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 $24,000 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
Interested students must attend a virtual information session in September (dates to be announced). To register for an info session, email Robert at robert@ryese.org or Kelly at kelly.caudle[at]gmail.com.
Applications opened August 1 and will close October 15, 2026.
Kelly, Jack, and Maria, snapped at Decatur Cooperative Ministry’s wine-tasting fundraiser. (Also pictured: Jack’s wife, Douan.)
. . . . . Milestones: September
Club Anniversaries
Marvin Fralish, 37 yrs.
Bryan Downs, 30 yrs.
Barbara Tedrow, 26 yrs.
Chet Burge, 12 yrs.
Leo Ladefian, 9 yrs.
Kelly Caudle, 7 yrs.
Adam Laverack, 3 yrs.
Birthdays
Dan DeWoskin, Sept. 1
Andrea Arnold, Sept. 2
Gyimah Whitaker, Sept. 3
James Smith, Sept. 8
Jason Conn, Sept. 8
Shara Sanders, Sept. 8
Vee Nelson, Sept. 18
DeAnna Julian, Sept. 21
Eric Lucas, Sept. 22
Stacey Stevens, Sept. 22
Friday, August 28: Meeting Recap
President Eric (left), and our speaker, Han Pham
Last week, President Eric announced that the club had renewed its lease for the courthouse space for many more years. He also acknowledged the death of entertainer Dolly Parton, noting the transformational power of her investment in literacy, an area that our club has also long supported.
Our lunch speaker was Han Pham, executive director of Her Term, an organization that helps women to run for political office in Georgia. Colleen Kiernan, a board member for Her Term, introduced Han to the club.
Han shared many statistics about women in legislative bodies around the globe. Notably, she said only seven countries have achieved male/female parity. In the U.S., women hold only about 28% of elected offices; Georgia ranks 42nd in the country for gender parity. Her Term offers female candidates and elected officials several layers of support through cohort building, mentoring, accountability groups, “friendly fundraising,” and access to therapy to manage the toxic environment that a political workplace can be. Han encouraged us to ask women we know to run for office–it takes an average of seven asks before a female will run!
We welcomed several guests last week:
Colleen Kiernan and Allyson Van Houten,
guests of Jack Kirivong
Josephine Figueroa, guest of the club
We hope you’ll visit again soon!
Individuals are identified from left to right.
Steve Szeremeta gave our invocation; Stacey Stevens asked for volunteer greeters
RYE committee members Kelly, Doug, and John work well together
Good news about Jerry Brillante’s 63rd wedding anniversary, and Dudley’s successful second knee replacement!
Her Term board member Colleen Kiernan introduced our speaker
Doug and David swap stories
Congrats to Nick, this week’s raffle winner!
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.
