Program speaker for the day was Marjorie Treu, a motivational speaker focusing on advice to business managers and human resource officers about communicating across the various generations among their employees.  She opened with questions which located Rotarians in their specific generation:  Baby Boomers, Generation X, Gen Y (or Millennials), or Gen Z.  She focused on communication issues and how Millennials, specifically, differ from earlier generations.  She debunked five myths about them: 1) they are the most self-involved generation, 2) they have tiny attention spans, 3) they want constant attention and are used to all on a team getting trophies, 4) they can’t make a decision without everyone weighing in, and 4) they are most likely to jump ship if expectations are not met.  She then focused on major characteristics of this largest generation in history: they are well-educated with women outpacing men, are technologically savvy, are civic minded, and see themselves as global citizens.  She called on the group to list other characteristics and strengths of Millennials.

Members of the Peachtree Ridge  High School Robo-Lions team and their sponsor, Don Shaw, visited with the Rotary Club of Lawrenceville on June 20. They came to thank the club for the financial support that helped them in their robotics competitions.  Above, President Freya Myers presents a check to the officers of the robotics club.

On Monday, June 6, the Rotary Club of Lawrenceville held an assembly meeting presided over by President Freya Myers.  Chairs of the various committees gave up-dated reports on activities for the year.  Teresa Raetz described the Laws of Life writing contest, which the club sponsored, and read aloud the winning entry by Caroline Jernigan of Parkview High School. President Myers reported on public relations activities, such as features in the Citizen monthly newspaper and the webpage, and on volunteer projects such as the Feed the Children program and road clean-up.  Mere Page reported on the upcoming mini-golf event planned for July.  Art Kleve reported the club had received the $100 per capita award this year and has as a goal for next year 100% Paul Harris Fellow participation, which would qualify us as a Paul Harris Club. Beatty McCaleb and Jason Friedlander updated the group on Interact and Rotaract plans.  Don Bradford reported 42 active members and one on leave.  He credited the website with calling attention to the club and said that the goal for next year will be to get to 50 members.  The meeting closed with a classification talk from Sondra Davis, who gave an interesting and informative talk about her work with Performance Trucking, Inc.

Speaking at the noon meeting on May 23 was Rob Jenkins, Gwinnett Daily Post columnist, Georgia State University professor, and co-author of the recently published 9 Virtues of Exceptional Leaders: Unlocking Your Leadership Potential.  He spoke on the qualities of good leadership and focused on what good leaders do.  He quoted the old saying “You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink” and added the additional lines we don’t often hear “but you can put salt in his oats.”  In other words, a good leader can encourage a “thirst” in those he leads.  Other qualities included: serving as a role model, turning the light on for others, promoting a level of sanity and mental health, being friends and mentors while preserving appropriate lines, allowing people to screw up, and helping others learn discipline.  He entertained with a humorous anecdote to illustrate each of his generalizations.

According to Judge Kathryn Schrader, who spoke at the noon meeting on May 16, “Accountability Courts” recognize that good people do bad things.  They provide hope for the brokenness.  There are four such courts in Gwinnett County: Drug Court, DUI Court, Mental Health/Veteran Court, and Parenting Court.  She focused on information about the Drug Court in her talk.  She pointed out that there are all sorts of addiction, not just alcohol and drugs; for example, some are addicted to shop-lifting.  The court offers an alternative to jail time and connects people with mental help resources and attempts to keep them out of the system.  The expanded drug court saves money, at least $6 million in housing alone just in Gwinnett County, and lowers the crime rate.  Individuals are viewed as having a disease, not as experiencing a moral failure.  Participants in the program are highly supervised and experience a carefully structured environment to help transition to a new beginning.  She praised the positive outcome of the courts, with 75% of those who go through the program not repeating an offense.