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.
At the April 21 meeting of the Rotary Club of Lawrenceville GRSP student Kate Parker of New Zealand reported on her experiences as a GRSP student this year. She enjoyed fellowship with her host family who lived on Lake Lanier and recounted her adventures during her year in Georgia. She experienced fire ants first hand, transitioned from a winter to a very hot summer, attended a UGA game, and managed to work in travel all over the United States, from Las Vegas to the Grand Canyon to Miami and Key West. She particularly enjoyed hearing Fleetwood Mac on New Year’s and traveling to Zion National Park and the Grand Canyon. She enjoyed her classes and her experience at Brenau, particularly the beautiful campus and the tight-knit community, and celebrating American holidays such as Halloween and Thanksgiving. She thanked the Rotarians for the opportunities of this past year to learn more about the U.S. and to make so many new friends.
DavidFreeman, a long-time, dedicated member of the Rotary Club of Lawrenceville, shared his thoughts on Rotary membership with his club on April 7. He invited Rotarians to ask “Why did I join Rotary”? He knew some joined for friendship, to make a difference, or for professional networking. With him and his Rotarian wife, Nina, Rotary has become a way of life. He told his personal story of how he came to Rotary and maintained that it takes time to assimilate what it means to be a Rotarian. He has profited from business contacts through the group and believes that is a major benefit of being a member of Rotary. He encouraged Rotarians to wear their pins; many times he has been asked about the pin and found opportunities to tell people what Rotary is. He pointed out advantages of membership such as chances to visit with other clubs and training opportunities through seminars like LEADS and RLI. He read off a list of Lawrenceville Rotarians who have served on the District level and encouraged others to take advantage of such opportunities.
At the March 31 meeting of the Rotary Club of Lawrenceville the guest speaker was Maureen Downey, Education Reporter/Columnist for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Ms. Downey first addressed the nostalgia she often hears expressed about the “good old days” of education. She pointed out the striking ways in which this era differs: there was a high failure rate back then but it didn’t matter so much because there were many jobs that didn’t require an education, not so today when kids without a high school education can’t support themselves; only 10% went to college back then, whereas today a college education is more necessary. The mission of public education has changed: today students have to learn critical thinking and problem solving. She asserted that the problems we have are not fixed easily or cheaply and that the General Assembly fails each year to deal with the real issues, getting sidetracked with some inane topic like the Common Core issue this year. She held up Finland as a model; it requires rigorous teacher training and pays teachers well and now has the top ranked education system in the world. She closed with praise for Gwinnett County’s public school system and credited that success to good leadership over a sustained period of time.
Bob Cowan invited his fellow Lawrenceville Rotarians to look back at the history of this particular club. He provided a list of the former presidents and the founding members of the club and highlighted memorable events of these seventeen years. In the 1970s there was one Gwinnett County club, but beginning in the 80s, several communities started their own clubs, Peachtree Corners in 1981, South Gwinnett in 1983, Duluth in 1986, Snellville in 1990, Buford in 1994, and Lawrenceville in 1997. With thirty charter members, the club has generally maintained between 30 and 40 members over the years. Initially the group met as a Monday breakfast club at the Flying Machine at Briscoe Field but later moved to the Little River Grill and then the Corner Stop Cafe and later to Garden Plaza. In 2005 they changed the meeting time to noon. Noteworthy events included the controversy over including women members early on, with the first president, Jo Ann Pinder, being a trailblazer. Bob remembered the fund-raising adventures at the Concession Booth at the Bell South Golf Tournament. He, along with Judy McDaniel and other charter members, are working to compile historical information in a format which will be easy to pass along to new presidents and will help preserve the history of our group.
According to Karen Shields, the Public Information Officer and Communications Manager of the Gwinnett County Health Department, the mission of her department is to have a healthy, protected, and prepared community. She spoke to the Rotary Club of Lawrenceville at their noon meeting on March 17. Their health services include childhood and adult immunizations, travel consultation (particularly about shots needed when traveling), screening at schools, maternal services, and working with the WIC program. To protect the community, they are involved in promoting tobacco-free environments, inspecting and rating restaurants, providing disease education, and supporting the Georgia SHAPE in-school exercise program. As for preparedness, the office provides information about planning for all types of emergency situations. Information on restaurant ratings or on any aspect of public health can be found on the website www.gnrhealth.com. Healthy guidelines for eating can be found at www.weightforus.com.
