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Jay Arnold has been a Food Banker for more than six years, holding multiple roles across multiple departments at the organization. With a background in corporate sales and customer service, he strives to bring experience, passion, and empathy to conversations centered around the Food Bank's work and the issue of food insecurity with donors and the community. As an Atlanta and Dekalb County native, he takes pride in a varied knowledge of the Food Bank's work and the communities they serve across North Georgia.
Greeters: Elliott Augustine and Dan DeWoskin
Weekly luncheon meetings begin at 12:15 pm
on Fridays unless otherwise noted.
. . . . .
FRIDAY
DECEMBER 20
SPEAKER
Dr. Robert M. Franklin Jr.
Candler School of Theology / Emory
. . . . .
FRIDAY
DECEMBER 27
No Meeting
Happy New Year!
. . . . .
THURSDAY
JANUARY 2
Thirsty Thursday
Location TBA
. . . . . WINTER COAT DRIVE: Bring Coats to Rotary Meeting on Dec. 13
Coat donations needed! Any size coat is acceptable, but XL–3XL are especially needed. Thanks to our friends at Decatur Presbyterian Church's Threshold Ministry for distributing the coats to those in need.
. . . . . Service Project Opportunities
in December and January
Our house captains Adam and Doug Robinson share details about the MLK service project coming up in January.
Sign up for a project, and enlist a couple of friends to help, too. Let’s work together to support our community!
SERVICE SIGN UPS
MLK Sign up for Shifts:sign up HERE
Home and yard maintenance and repair for elderly residents
Help Setup Rotary Meetings: sign up HERE
Setup for the weekly meeting and breakdown afterward
Food Donation:sign up HERE
Drive leftover lunch food to shelter on Church St., 1.5 mi from courthouse
. . . . . Be a Salvation Army (Rotary) Bell Ringer This Holiday Season
Decatur Rotary is turning out to help the Salvation Army and our member Captain Jamaal Ellis.
WHEN: Saturday, Dec 14 WHERE: Kroger, 2875 N. Decatur Rd., Decatur, GA 30033
Thanks to all who signed up. Remember to wear your Rotary swag for your shift!
. . . . .
Milestones
Club Anniversaries
Judy Turner, 34 years
Al Adams, 27 years
David Hughes, 23 years
December Birthdays
Elliot Augustine, 18 years
Pete Pfeiffer, 16 years
Dud Larus, 3 years
Delores Crowell, Dec. 4
Brian Deutsch, Dec. 6
Tim Martin, Dec. 12
Dan Coursey, Dec. 18
Kris Webb, Dec. 21
Mary Ann Cathopoulis, Dec. 25
FRIDAY | JANUARY 31, 2025
Harl Pike gave the invocation. Tim Martin (right) reminded everyone that this week’s special program starts early: hosts for STAR program guests should arrive at 11:30, and lunch will be served at 11:45. Doug Robinson (above, left), house captain for our MLK service project, reported that inclement weather prevented us from completing the finishing touches. He’s looking for three consecutive good-weather days for us to return to the home and complete the painting job. Stay tuned for those make-up days.
Wondering where some of our club members are? Are you missing having conversations with anyone? If you notice someone hasn’t been attending meetings, take the initiative and call or email them (use our handy Club Runner directory). Make sure our members know that we care, and we want to see them at lunch. Let’s take care of our Rotary Club community!
Maria Alvarez reached out to Mary Ann Cathopoulis, who has been recuperating from illness. Eric Lucas said that he had contacted Barbara Tedrow, who has also been out because of illness.
Speaker Jon Thompson with Club President Dudley Larus
Maria Alvarez introduced speaker Jon Thompson, CEO and co-founder of the nonprofit organization Comunidad Connect, which offers programs in Nicaragua and Dominican Republic designed to improve public health, community development and sustainability, and opportunities for young people through sports. Jon talked about how critical relationships are to his organization’s success. He said, “Real change happens at the speed of trust.”
Visitors were Nedra White-Shaw, guest of John Bennett; Candiace Williams, guest of Danielle Jones; Misty Palmer, guest of Dan DeWoskin; Jailah Zanders, guest of Lawrence Sharp; Dr. Mohamed Saleh, president of the Cairo Rhine-Nile Club in Egypt.
Bob Wilson and Andrea Arnold served as greeters, and Shara Sanders gave the invocation.
James Herndon introduced our speaker, William Patrick Bryant, the city manager for Avondale Estates. Bryant spoke about Avondale Estates’s history, its upcoming 100th anniversary, and ongoing plans to make the community more walkable, with more diverse housing and business types.
Visitors included Danielle Jones, a returning guest of Lawrence Sharp; Indigo Triplett, a visiting Rotarian from Melawati in Kuala Lumpur; Stephen Quinn, guest of Bob Wilson; and Selma Doganson, our youth exchange student.
As this was our club’s annual meeting, President Dudley Larus asked attendees to vote for a president to follow Alison Weissinger (the current President-Elect) as well as four board members. If you did not turn in your ballot, you may still complete one at the Dec. 13 meeting.
Remembrance: Walt Drake delivered a remembrance of former Decatur Rotarian Ruth McCann, who died in November. Ruth was a very active member of the club from 2002 to 2010, after retiring from her realty business in Avondale Estates.
Event description here
Caption
Scenes from our most recent meeting and events. Individuals are identified from left to right.
Decatur Rotary is turning out to help the Salvation Army and our member Captain Jamaal Ellis. 
Harl Pike gave the invocation. Tim Martin (right) reminded everyone that this week’s special program starts early: hosts for STAR program guests should arrive at 11:30, and lunch will be served at 11:45. Doug Robinson (above, left), house captain for our MLK service project, reported that inclement weather prevented us from completing the finishing touches. He’s looking for three consecutive good-weather days for us to return to the home and complete the painting job. Stay tuned for those make-up days. 
Speaker Jon Thompson with Club President Dudley Larus
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