From Our District Governor

Welcome to the Start of a New Rotary Year – Where We Will Serve to Change Lives!

By Mary Ligon

We certainly did that during the 2020-21 Rotary year – a tougher task because of COVID and the health and economic challenges it presented. Thanks to District Governor Kirk for his strong leadership, and to our district team and club presidents, and each and every one of you who kept us in the game – finding ways to stay connected and keep making a difference in our communities.

We embraced the Farmers to Families program, connections with local foodbanks and money from missed Rotary meetings to feed thousands in our district. We delivered PPE to local hospitals, fire and police departments just when they needed it most. We bought computers, enabled wi-fi connections and tutored students on Zoom … all to keep supporting Rotary’s mission during the pandemic. We look forward to celebrating their accomplishments more as we gather in Sandestin in August.

That said, it’s time to get back in the game in a big way – returning to meetings, , expanding our reach and our impact. Your district leaders, club presidents and boards have been using the “preseason” for the new Rotary year to get our game plan in order. One strategy focuses on increasing our impact through the Youth & Peace in Action (YPA) initiative.
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Youth and Peace in Action

Time to Board the YPA Peace Train!

By Becky Stone

District 6900 is making a huge investment in our youth this year! Rotary International Zone 33/34 has launched the largest local peace initiative in Rotary history and District 6900 is leading the way!

Youth & Peace in Action is a project that will be providing virtual peacebuilding training to high school students (they will receive peacebuilding certification), peace project training for student leaders, implementation of peace projects and peace training to teachers (in July) during the 2021-22 school year. More information is available at https://www.youthpeaceaction.org/. This project is a tremendous way to generate lots of excitement at your Interact Clubs this Fall and NOW is the time for ACTION! Do you know a group of high school students that would love to become peacebuilder certified? Would you high school and community benefit from peacebuilding?

If so, ask your schools/student organization to REGISTER FOR YPA at https://www.youthpeaceaction.org/ as soon as possible. If you are very certain that the school will implement the program this Fall, YOU can sign-up for your school. It takes about five minutes. What’s critical to share with the schools?
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Membership

Welcome to the Membership Committee!

By Mary Ligon

Welcome to the new members pictured above who joined District 6900 clubs during June 2021. We hope they'll be joined by many more new members in the 2021-22 Rotary Year, as we look to "Grow More to Do More."

As we kick off this membership initiative, we count on each of you to serve on the membership committee. So ask yourself – as an individual and a club
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Help Celebrate 75 Years of GRSP at the August Conclave

By Katheryne Fields

This year, the Georgia Rotary Student Program celebrates its 75th anniversary - and we will be celebrating at the annual conclave in Thomasville, Georgia - August 19-21, 2021. The Conclave registration page for golf fundraiser, hotel and general Conclave reservations are now open at www.grsp.org/conclave. Note, the Thomasville Marriott Courtyard Hotel reservation GRSP special rate link is active through July 19, 2021. A credit card will be required for guarantee to book and charged at check-out. The card is authorized at check-in with a 24-hour cancellation policy prior to arrival. Conclave event registration is open until August 13, 2021.

Read on or visit the website for more details about the conclave and the inaugural Conclave Classic Golf Tournament. [more]

GRSP Update

GRSP Builds International Goodwill and Lifelong Friendships

By Ian Bond

District 6900 Rotarians are understandably proud of the Georgia Rotary Student Program. This one-of-a-kind program was founded after all by members of the Rotary Clubs of Thomasville and Atlanta a mere 75 years ago. Along with our fellow Rotarians in Districts 6910 and 6920 we have been bringing nations together since 1946. The program began with only 4 scholars, and now we have more than 3,692 alumni from all over the world.

The program’s purpose is to develop leaders who promote understanding and peace throughout the world. A few weeks ago, Rachel Eadie (Edinburgh, Scotland), one of our D6900 alumni from the class of 2006-2007, shared a story that illustrates the enduring power of GRSP to build international goodwill and lifelong friendships, which is the foundation for genuine world peace.

Rachel reports that she just “randomly” bumped into two other GRSP alumni from 2006-2007 on the street while she was grabbing a coffee.
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From Rotary International

Reimagining Rotary: A Look Back and Forward

By Mary Ligon

Rotary International, General Secretary John Hewko opened his report to the RI Convention, saying "It’s been a challenging year, but Rotary has proven again that we can adapt and thrive in the face of change. The lessons we learned this year will shape our organization for years to come ...."

To be inspired by the impact we can have, take time to read the rest of John's report on the RI website at https://www.rotary.org/en/general-secretary-report-2021-convention
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Join the Largest Rotary Meeting Ever ... July 21

By Claudia Mertl

Past Rotary International Director Stephanie Urchick is conducting the first ever "Largest Rotary Meeting Ever" event at 1 pm on July 21, and you're invited to be one of the 1000 people attending!  Stephanie will be speaking at the meeting on the topic, "Rotary Responds: Surviving and Thriving During the Pandemic and Beyond”

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Honoring PDG Bill Mulkey

By Jennie Stipick

As most of you know, in early June, the Rotary Club of Dunwoody and District 6900 lost one of our most significant members - William (Bill) Mulkey. His long term support of Rotary included leadership of the club and district, support of the zone, a passion for the Rotary Foundation, resource guides for all things Rotary, and so much more.

The club plans to honor Bill in two ways: Creating a “Tribute” book of our memories of Bill, with messages for his family on what he meant to us Taking Bill to the next level of Major Giving for the Foundation – his passion. If you'd like to participate in either tribute, please read on.
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District Newsletter

Share Your Membership Stories for August- and Help All Our Clubs Grow More to Do More

By Jackie Cuthbert

August is Rotary International's Membership Month - and we'd like to celebrate that by sharing your stories about your club's successes in 1) recruiting new members, 2) getting new members "settled" in, and 3) Keeping Rotary vibrant for all your members - do you do anything special to recognize and/or re-energize long-term members? Share your stories/creative ideas - and pictures of new members since the start of this Rotary year to cuthbert@mindspring.com by July 25. Your story could be just the one to help another club "Grow More to Do More."

We want your other stories and pictures too for our August newsletter. The process is easy - we can take stories in a Word document or typed right into an email, and pictures as JPG files. You don't need to do any special formatting, and we'd prefer not to receive information in a PDF.

Thanks for helping!
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Club News

Welcome to New Satellite Club of Stone Mountain Passport!

By Margie Kersey

Rotary International has opened the door to evolutionary club formats and the impact of COVID 19 ensured that many of us took advantage of those formats. The Rotary Club of Stone Mountain became a fully hybrid club in 2017 (featured in Rotary magazine!) well before the pandemic. Now Stone Mountain is taking advantage of another club innovation – the Passport model! The newly-chartered Rotary Satellite Club of Stone Mountain Passport had its first meeting Wednesday night, June 23 and will meet online on the third Wednesday of each month.

This is the first club of its kind in District 6900. It offers a unique and exciting new way to allow members to continue service without the restrictions of physical meetings, speakers, and limitations of geography. This is more than an e-club, it is a new approach to Rotary. The new club combines two models – the Satellite club model and the Passport club model.
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Club News

Sandy Springs Partners with Fire Department to Collect Medical Waste

By John Neill

The Sandy Springs Rotary Club is currently partnering with the City's Fire Department to collect expired pharmaceuticals, sealed needles and PPEs. During COVID-19, hospitals have been unable to collect used medical equipment and prescriptions as they had in the past. Throwing away or flushing medical waste can contaminate our environment … [more]

Club News

Tucker Raises $10,000 for Local and Global Education

By Lizbeth Dison

In April, The Rotary Club of Tucker held its 2021 Annual Golf Classic: FOREducation at Smoke Rise Country Club and raised $10,000 to fund various local and global education initiatives, including

  • REACH Georgia Scholarships - helping students in Tucker Middle School and Tucker High School to strive towards a higher education … [more]

Club News

Midtown Atlanta Rotary Celebrates 65th Birthday!

By Rocky Ford

Midtown Atlanta Rotary Club celebrated its 65th anniversary on May 24 with a series of events which included a 6.5K walk at Piedmont Park the weekend before. T-shirts were designed and provided for all walkers, some of which who actually ran around the Active Oval and others who ambled or less! The celebration continued on May 25, when John Hewko, General Secretary of Rotary International, ZOOMed into the meeting ...
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Club News

Lake Spivey/Clayton County Recognizes Its Leaders

By Ron Swofford

The Rotary Club of Lake Spivey/Clayton County enjoyed its first in-person meeting in a year late this June, when it held its annual club recognition and officer induction banquet at the Lake Spivey Golf Club.

President Troy Hodges recognized several club members for the important roles they played and the extra miles they traveled this year in completing club service projects and other activities. Dr. Paddy Sharma was honored as Rotarian of the Year. Dr. Sharma, a past president and current assistant district governor, has been a strong supporter of many club projects and also has been instrumental in establishing a global grant in partnership with The Rotary Club of Madras South in Chennai, India to harvest rainwater at ten schools in Chennai.
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Club News

Roswell Jumps on the Peace Train for 2021-22

By Becky Nelson

Proud to help launch the Youth Peace in Action (YPA) with Rotary International, Roswell Rotary jumped on the Peace Train early, and will be sponsoring workshops through local school resources (including Interact Clubs) to educate and engage young community peace builders. 

As a nod to the club's commitment to YPA,  club members turned … [more]

Club News

Vinings Cumberland Recognizes Citizens of the Year

By Brenda Borden

Club News

Celebrating 100 Years of the Rylander Theater and Americus Rotary

By Angela Smith

This year's Annual Trip Raffle (a Rotary Club of Americus tradition) was celebration of a very unique year. The pandemic created opportunities for the club to meet many of the needs of the community, but made it difficult to have regular monthly socials created to "build better friendships" - one of four guiding principles that Rotarians think, say and do.

The year-end event was also used to pay homage to The Rylander's Centennial and the partnership the Americus Rotary Club has had with the iconic theater. Discussions in the Americus Rotary Club regarding the need for a civic auditorium in Americus led to construction of the Rylander Theater in 1921. After being closed for more than 40 years, the newly-restored Rylander Theater reopened in 1999 and the Americus Rotary Club was a significant contributor to its restoration. In March of this year, the Americus Rotary Club wrote for and received a $10,000 grant from The Rotary Foundation to help replace projector equipment and wiring, just in time for the theater's reopening after a year of closure.
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Club News

Balloons Over Dunwoody

By Jackie Cuthbert

The Dunwoody Family of Rotary gathered on July 5 to celebrate the New Rotary Year and fill Dunwoody with helium balloons - marking 30 years since we participated in our first (and Dunwoody's first) annual Fourth of July parade. We marched in the parade between Tim Le's vintage Hummer and Ken Levy's new truck - passing out balloons … [more]

From Facebook

Happy New Year District 6900!

By Jackie Cuthbert

We're closing this July newsletter with pictures of installation celebrations at clubs around the district ... collected from their Facebook pages! Happy New Year!  

From Facebook

Clubs Making a Difference in Their Communities

By Jackie Cuthbert

Carrollton Dawnbreakers completed their Road Clean Up - finalizing the 2020-2021 Rotary Year with a Service Project!

The Rotaract Club of Atlanta recently packed fruits, vegetables and other fruit items and loaded them onto the delivery cars so that the Concrete Jungle could deliver them to families in need. Concrete Jungle … [more]