At the July 12 meeting of the Rotary Club of Lawrenceville, Sue Cone gave an inspirational talk about her experiences working with a surgical mission team in Bangladesh in 2013. The trip was sponsored by Alliance for Smiles, a Rotary formed group to help children with cleft lip and palate reconstructive surgical needs. She participated as Record Keeper and informed the Club of the wonderful work done by the surgeons and nurses who dedicate time to such a project. She showed a slide presentation with some dramatic before-and-after pictures of children whose lives have been changed through the efforts of this team. President Art Kleve presented her with a contribution from the club at the end of the presentation.
Rotarian Gene Windham spoke to the Rotary Club of Lawrenceville at their noon meeting on July 7 on the topic of “RLI” (“Rotary Leadership Institute”). He emphasized that the goal of RLI is to teach Rotarians how to be better Rotarians and to make clubs better. He thought “Rotary Knowledge Institute” would be a better name because “all the knowledge is in the room” and there to be shared. He encouraged all to become engaged by having them stand and participate in a Rotary “growl.” In his comments he focused on membership engagement and the importance of sharing one’s “time, talent, and treasury.” Audience members responded to queries re: the values of engagement and the ways to encourage engagement of members. Windham stressed the importance of attendance and suggested strategies for retention of members.
At the noon meeting on June 30, club member David Freeman shared information about polio and Rotary’s mission to help eradicate it from the planet. David first presented a definition and history of polio. The last case in the U.S. was in 1979, so younger generations do not know a lot about the earlier epidemics. It was the most dreaded childhood disease until vaccines were developed in the 1950s. He focused on Georgia’s central role in polio treatment and gave a history of the facility at Warm Springs, which was made popular by Franklin D. Roosevelt, who benefited from the hot springs treatments. He praised the work done by District 6900 to restore the historic cottages there. He encouraged members to participate in the upcoming club outing planned for July 26 to visit the Roosevelt Warm Springs Institute for Rehabilitation and the Little White House. He can be reached at davidfreeman@remax.net or 404-314-4718 for details about this event.
Stephanie Sokenis, Director of Small Business Development at the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce, spoke at the noon meeting on June 23 on the topic “Small Business Education, Resources, and Programs.” The Chamber’s vision is captured in their motto: “Start, Sustain, and Succeed.” She wanted the group to know about the services offered by the Chamber to small business owners in the County. She provided details about six Chamber offerings that have served members and non-members: 1. monthly educational workshops on special topics, 2. a bi-monthly panel of small business experts developed in cooperation with local cities, 3. Small Business Saturday, 4. a Small Business Toolkit with access to the webpage site at [http://www.GwinnettSmallBusiness.com,]www.GwinnettSmallBusiness.com, 5. Small Business Week on June 16-20, and 6. a culminating Small Business Summit to be held November 13, 2014. In an attempt to get the Chamber’s resources to all Gwinnett County, a five-member coalition of groups working for small businesses has been formed. She reported that in the last six months, the Chamber has made great strides with new programs, 28 new members, and better communication.
We need more women in the technical fields. Such was the contention of Monica Thornton, the Executive Director of Women in Technology, or WIT, when she spoke at the Rotary Club of Lawrenceville on May 12. The goal of WIT is to have an impact on the Georgia work force by encouraging women of all ages to consider technical jobs. She spoke about the film industry in particular where women tend to be given the less equipment-based or technological assignments. She then outlined the activities of the group on all levels. In middle schools girls are encouraged to participate in such activities as Robotics competitions, where they can discover they have the aptitude and the ability to perform. In high schools WIT provides opportunities for students to explore careers by going into companies and seeing the jobs available. There are opportunities for Rotarians to volunteer for panels and to serve as speakers to help educate young people about various jobs. On the college level, they create a club or “sorority” for nerdy girls. Programs are also developed for career professionals to develop needed skills. There are even programs for managers to encourage leadership development and for retirees to use them as teachers and mentors.
David Horton, of Eastside Medical Center, addressed occupational health issues in his talk to the Rotary Club of Lawrenceville on May 5. He first defined “occupational health” as relating to issues of safety and health in a business and discussed the four areas to consider: pre-hire screenings, workplace safety policies, employee health, and Worker’s Compensation. One interesting statistic he presented related to missed work because of flu: 111 million days were missed in a year for a cost of $7 billion. That makes flu shots seem worthwhile. He outlined the advantages of a conscious program supporting occupational health: legal, financial, retention, productivity, and morale. He specifically emphasized the need for a strong physician panel which follows Georgia and Worker’s Comp guidelines.
At the April 18 meeting of the Rotary Club of Lawrenceville, Lisa Anders informed the group of the work she and her staff do to make Gwinnett County a destination for groups to come. She serves as Executive Director for Explore Gwinnett, the marketing brand of the Gwinnett Convention and Visitors Bureau. The group was surprised to hear about the volume of tourism in the County. Visitors expend $972 million, and Gwinnett is #3 in the Atlanta area in tourism income. She gave examples of the myriad avenues in which this money comes in: the movie industry, the Arena, the Hindu Temple, Parks and Recreation, sports events, among others. She described the marketing strategies employed and mentioned in particular Restaurant Week in July and the Hospitality Education provided through the Gwinnett Tourism Awareness Program. Future plans include a headquarters hotel and expansion of the Convention Center.
Receiving recognition for their contributions to the Georgia Rotary Student Program at the Rotary meeting on Monday, April 21, were Phil Hoskins and Al Hombroek. Phil was awarded the Will Watt Fellow designation for his $1,000 contribution, and Al the A. Kendall Weisiger Fellow award for his $5,000 contribution. Each received a plaque and a GRSP lapel pin. Presenting the awards were Beatty McCaleb, Youth Services Chair, and President-Elect Art Kleve.
