We are three quarters through our Rotary year. Thank you for all you are doing for Rotary. Everywhere I go, I see the impact Rotary is having on all the communities in our District and many places around the world. I was particularly touched recently by the work of the Peachtree City Rotary Community Corps - as they fund and train service dogs for people who need them in the community - and was happy to be able to provide a district grant to help them expand their reach in this area. You can read more about them later in this newsletter. 

As you are probably aware, on January 12, tornadoes caused severe damage in five counties in our District. District Rotary Foundation Chair Anne Glenn has secured a Disaster Relief grant to assist those communities in recovering to damage caused by the tornadoes. This past weekend two of the five counties were hit again by tornadoes.  We will be working to assist them in their recovery as well.

We have just returned from District Assembly, hosted by our DGE André Marria and her team. If you did not attend, you missed some excellent presentations.

Still Time to Sign Up for Green Acres ... The Place to Be April 27-30

This month, we have a special opportunity to gather for fun, fellowship, a little bit of beach, a little bit of learning, at District Conference in SanDestin, Florida from April 27 to April 30. Our theme is Green Acres and in keeping with that theme:

• Thursday night will feature a pig roast, a Cornhole contest and judging of your unique Cornhole board designs, and an old fashioned country fair Tug-of-War contest.
• The Barnyard will serve as our House of Friendship for the weekend, a place for fellowship and learning about what other clubs are doing.
• Our walk-in parade for Friday evening gives you an opportunity to dress up in Green Acres style.

Earlier on Friday, we will hold a Leadership luncheon for the presidents, assistant governors and district leadership. And Friday afternoon features a reception and buffet dinner in honor of the District 6900 Rotary clubs.

At Friday night's plenary session, we will hear from Ms. Whitney O’Connor, a licensed therapist, public speaker and cancer survivor with a  mission to encourage people to celebrate themselves and their circumstances by sharing how she created her own silver linings. After her talk, we will present the Sheffield awards, Follow Me Award and several other awards. 

On Saturday morning, we will have workshops on membership, The Rotary Foundation, public image and future of Rotary. At the brunch, we will hear from our youth – Interact, Rotary Youth Exchange, Georgia Rotary Student Program, Georgia Laws of Life. Later that afternoon, there is a reception for District Governor Elect André Marria and Walter Marria.  DGE André and Walter will enter the plenary session with her Rotary club. Our featured speaker is Randy Gravitt, a well-known author and leadership coach. After his speech we will pass out a few more awards. 

Then comes the grand finale on Sunday morning, when we will have the pin exchange for all the Governor’s line, and recognize the Club of the Year and Runner-up Club of the Year for each of the four categories.