At the August 11 meeting of the Rotary Club of Lawrenceville the speaker for the day was North Johnson, the General Manager of the Gwinnett Braves.  He first characterized the club as a AAA affiliate of the Atlanta Braves with players usually in the range of ages 24-30 with three or so years of experience.  AAA is the last stop before the majors, and the main purpose of the Gwinnett club is to prepare players to move up to the major league team.  Because good players are constantly being called up for needed positions, he characterized the team as always being in flux.  He stressed that fans should always pay attention to the individual players because they constantly move on to become major players.  He offered Kris Medlen, Julio Tehran, Freddie Freeman, Jason Heywood, and Mike Minor as examples.  He praised current Manager Brian Snitken, who brings major league experience to the team. He had a chart which characterized the fan base by age, gender, education, and race and showed a slide listing the Field Events in this last season.

Rodney Lee Camren, Founder and President of NewLawrenceville spoke to the Rotary Club of Lawrenceville on August 4.  He wanted to tell members what NewLawrenceville is and what they have accomplished in promoting the community.  From 30-50 people meet monthly at varied locations to network and make plans for community events.  Meetings are open to all.  The group is probably best known for the Spring Green Festival, the Trolley Tours, and the Par for the Cause golf tournament, but the group provides help for small businesses with a helpful website, a Summer Guest Speakers series, information on using social media, marketing and branding aid, a business coaching circle, and their Quarterly Business After Hours with other community groups.   They have made over $20,000 in contributions to Lawrenceville charities.

The Rotary Club of Lawrenceville recently donated $18,000 to MedShare, a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving healthcare in developing countries.  MedShare collects surplus medical supplies in barrels placed in hospitals around the country and then sends these supplies to hospitals and clinics around the world.  

This donation is designated for use by a hospital for burned children in Paraguay.  After Rotarian Davis Stevenson visited this hospital, he appealed to his Club members to help solve the medical crisis there, and this donation is the culmination of his efforts.

Art Kleve, President of the Rotary Club of Lawrenceville, presented the check to Lane Conville-Canney , who accepted it on behalf of MedShare.  

U.S. health regulations require that many un-used items be trashed by hospitals.  MedShare collects useable supplies such as sutures, IV tubing, and syringes and gets them to needy nations.  One distribution center is here in the Atlanta area.  When items are collected, they are then sorted and prepared for shipment in 40-foot containers to 95 countries.  Sometimes used but good equipment is also sent to hospitals, along with the necessary technological assistance to make it work.

PICTURE CAPTIONS

Lane Conville-Canney (center) accepts a check for $18,000 on behalf of MedShare, a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving healthcare in developing countries.  Presenting the check are Art Kleve, President of the Rotary Club of Lawrenceville (left), and Col. Davis Stevenson (right), the Club member who spearheaded the money-raising effort to aid a burn hospital for children in Paraguay.

Raye Varney, the Executive Director for ArtWorks Gwinnett, spoke to the Rotary Club of Lawrenceville on July 21. The mission of her group is to “enhance cultural and economic capital and enrich the County’s residents and the business community.” She described the work of the group in all sixteen cities in Gwinnett County and mentioned such art outlets as the Aurora Theatre, the Hudgens Center, the Gwinnett Ballet Theatre, The Gwinnett Symphony, the New London Theatre, and Tannery Row artists’ studios. They sponsor annual awards programs like ArtsWorks Annual Award Program and the Student Art Awards for all levels in 28 public schools.   The group collaborates with Gwinnett Habitat for Humanity in sponsoring the Doors to Home and Hope project where 150 artists paint doors that are sold to the public. Funds support both groups. Future plans include offering creative activities for businesses to use in staff development and morale building. She referred the group to the website for more information: http://artworksgwinnett.org.

At the end of the meeting, President Art Kleve asked Col. Davis Stevenson (Ret.)  and MedShare representative Lane Conville-Canney to come up, and he presented a check for $18,000 to MedShare to finance a 40’ ocean container with medical supplies to a burn hospital in Paraquay.

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.

https://vimeo.com/100348209

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.