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Lunch Meeting Friday, Nov. 13
Historic DeKalb County Courthouse
101 E. Court Square | 12:15 pm
OUR SPEAKER THIS WEEK:
Jack Kirivong
U.S. Army Veteran
"From Combat Zones to Community Service"
In honor of Veterans Day, Jack Kirivong will share his experiences not only to honor those who served but to inspire others to lead with purpose, serve with compassion, and strengthen the communities we call home. Jack is a U.S. Army veteran and global leader whose career reflects the very heart of Rotary’s mission, “Service Above Self.” With more than 30 years of domestic and international leadership experience, Jack served in combat deployments to the Persian Gulf, Somalia, and Haiti, where he led soldiers in high‑risk, rapidly changing environments and earned selection as an Instructor at the United States Military Academy at West Point. His military service shaped a lifelong commitment to service, resilience, and community impact.
Weekly luncheon meetings begin at 12:15 pm
on Fridays unless otherwise noted.
Friday, Nov.
20
PROGRAM Board Reports and Survey Results
• • •
Board meeting 11:15
Friday, Nov.
27
NO MEETING
Enjoy the Thanksgiving Holiday! 🦃
Thursday, Dec.
3
Thirsty Thursday Muchacho
129 Church St.
Decatur 30030
. . . . . SERVICE PROJECT Forest Restoration at Legacy Park with Trees Atlanta, Nov. 20
Volunteers are needed for this service project, where we will work with the folks from Trees Atlanta to beautify Decatur’s Legacy Park. (Note that it occurs before the monthly board meeting at 11:15 the same day.)
When and Where
Friday, November 20, 8–11 am
Decatur Legacy Park
500 S. Columbia Dr., Decatur, GA 30030
The exact meeting spot inside the park is on the signup page.
What We'll Do
We'll help Legacy Park grow a healthy plant community and a sustainable forest by hand-pulling and cutting invasive plants in a wooded area off trail. The work improves the greenspace for the people who enjoy it and for the wildlife that live there.
The work is physical, with lots of bending, pulling, lifting, and kneeling. Expect to break a sweat, get a little dirty, and learn a lot!
Speaker Mark Riedl spoke about how large language models work.
At last week’s meeting, we heard from lunch speaker Mark Riedl, PhD, the director of Georgia Tech's Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence Lab. He helped us understand how LLMs (large language models) work and explained the concept of jagged intelligence (AI’s competency is jagged – one area may be highly efficient and correct, while another area may be significantly worse than human intelligence or knowledge). Dr. Riedl encouraged young people to become good thinkers and critical thinkers, and not to offload thinking to machines. Coding can always be taught.
Maria Alvarez, President Eric, Katie Furlough, and Kelly Caudle
We inducted Katie Furlough into the club. She is the executive director of the Decatur-DeKalb YMCA. Be sure to introduce yourself to her!
Doug and Bob announce the 2027 MLK project
Doug Robinson and Bob Ettensohn are getting ready for the MLK Day service project, January 16, 17, and 18. Expect to hear more about signing up for this fun work day.
We welcomed two prospective new members last week: Brian Blum, a visiting Rotarian of Washington, D.C.; and Carol Hill, guest of John Bennett.
We hope to see you again soon!
Individuals are identified from left to right.
Brian Lake and Doug Robinson have good news to share. Right: Jack Kirivong thanks everyone for their support of the fall fundraiser.
Doug Tozzi has an important question for our speaker.
Congrats to Elliott Augustine, winner of the weekly raffle.
Jack Kirivong 
Heard a good speaker lately? Send your suggestions for a lunch speaker to Nedra (
Doug and Bob announce the 2027 MLK project
Doug Tozzi has an important question for our speaker.
Congrats to Elliott Augustine, winner of the weekly raffle.
