About a year ago Rotary International created a pilot program designed to encourage corporate membership.  Rotary International came up with this plan because of some of the membership challenges facing all Rotary Clubs.

Board sets policy for reimbursement of GRSP student Host Families

The Rotary Club of Dalton has a long history of hosting GRSP students going back to 1951, hosting students from all over the world.  Becoming a host family for a GRSP student is a huge but rewarding commitment for a member of our club.  Host families have typically provided significant financial support to the students they host in a variety of ways including gas, food, dinners at restaurants, hotel stays, tickets to games, entrance fees for tourist attractions, Christmas presents, and many other items.  As such, the board felt, that to encourage and strengthen the desire of Rotarians to become host families and take on this year long commitment, a budget has been established of $1,000.  This budget item can be used by the board to compensate host families for reimbursable expenses with appropriate documentation up to this total amount.  If you have questions about being a host family, you can contact a board member, Rotarian who has served as a host family, or Bill Bowen. 

Coach Ronnie McClurg, surrounded by wife and children, accept the W. Lee Arrendale Award for Vocational Excellence from Rotary President, Mark Marlowe and Rotarian, Ty Ross.

The Rotary Club of Dalton hosted a delegation of six Russian physicians from Sunday, January 29 through Wednesday, February 1. The group stayed in the homes of various Rotarians during their visit and was also honored with a reception and dinner on Monday evening, January 30.

DALTON, Ga. (January 24, 2012) Immediate past president, Dr. John Richmond introduced today’s speaker, Pablo Perez, MD.  Dr. Perez has been board-certified in Internal Medicine since 1999. Born in Trujillo, Peru, he moved to Mexico after high-school to pursue the study of medicine. He received his medical degree from the Universidad Autonoma de la Ciudad de Mexico and later moved to New York to continue training in Internal Medicine. According to Dr. Richmond, “Dr. Perez has worked tirelessly to bring good health care to Dalton and Northwest Georgia.”  He is also involved in over-seas medical outreach, having been one of the first physicians to arrive in Haiti following the massive earthquake and making three additional trips to Haiti since then.

DALTON, Ga. (January 17, 2012) Jennifer Nelson, currently holds the position of Director of Existing Industrial and Regional Development with the Georgia Department of Economic Development.  She began her presentation by thanking local Rotarian, Bob Kinard for his service on the Georgia Economic Development Board. She also thanked our elected officials, private sector and the members of the local Joint Development Authority Board.

Rotarian Coy Temples provided an informative introduction of today’s speaker, Superior Court Judge, Bill Boyette, stating that Judge Boyette is well qualified, experienced and possessing great wisdom.  A native of Dalton, Boyette played football for Dalton High School under then coach Alf Anderson. While studying at the University of Georgia, he was the room-mate of Rotarian, Hilliard Jolley. After completing his studies, he returned to Dalton to practice law. He has served on the Superior Court bench since 1983 as an Administrative Judge in the 7^th District. Temples pointed out that underneath his judicial robes, Judge Boyette often wears a bulldog t-shirt and that he is never happier than when he is en-route to ‘The Holy City’ of Athens, Georgia, or to visit one of his grandchildren.

Rotarian and State Senator Charlie Bethel provided today’s program as a legislative update. He was joined by Representatives Tom Dickson and Roger Williams, who briefed the group on the activities in the House of Representatives.

DALTON, Ga. (December 6, 2011)  Rotarian David Aft spoke today on the use of a $3,000 District Simplified Grant provided to the Rotary Club of Dalton from the Rotary International Foundation. This grant was put together by Rotarians David Aft and Dixie Kinard and brought funds back into the community from Rotary International to help support some key community service projects undertaken by the club.

Rotarian, Norris Little, introduced today’s speaker, Wiley A. Smith, MD.  Dr. Smith has been located in Dalton for the past two and a half years serving with the Grace Medical Outreach Clinic, a ministry of Grace Presbyterian Church.  

Hi Mark!

So nice to hear from you. I've been following Alexandra on Facebook and it looks like she is having just as much fun as I had last year. I can't help feeling a bit jealous of her and Kathrin - I would have loved to stay another year, it was so amazing. But the beauty of the program is of course that we are not supposed to stay, but to go home and tell people in our own countries about our experiences and learn from each other. If we all stayed the program would have a different effect. Although I know this, I still wouldn't hesitate if I got the chance to go back - so please call me if one of the girls wants to go home and you then have a free spot in the program! 

Today’s speaker was Chris Clark, President of the Georgia Chamber of Commerce. Before Mr. Clark was introduced by Brian Anderson, President of the Greater Dalton Chamber, Representative Tom Graves made a few remarks. “No matter how difficult things look in Washington,” said Graves, “I believe that Georgia is going to be a beacon of hope for this economy.” 

Today’s speaker was Kathrin Hennicke, Georgia Rotary Student Program (GRSP) class of 2011-2012.  Since 1946, Rotarians in Georgia, USA, have promoted world peace through understanding by offering scholarships to international students for one year of study in Georgia colleges and universities.  Each year, about 80 students from all over the world make friends in the United States and other nations and learn about differing cultures and life styles.  Georgia Rotarians believe "Peace is Possible" and through GRSP promote international goodwill through the bonds of friendship and understanding.  Kathrin, who comes from Münster, Germany, is being sponsored by the Carpet City, Ringgold, Chatsworth/Murray, and Summerville/Trion clubs.  She was introduced by Rotary member, Mel Abernathy, who is serving as GRSP host for the Dalton club, which is hosting Alexandra Olsson from Sweden.  Both young ladies are attending Dalton State College.

Today’s speaker for the Rotary Club of Dalton was fellow Rotarian, David Aft, President of the Dalton-Whitfield Community Foundation (DWCF). Aft noted that the Community Foundation recently received national accreditation and thanked several Rotarians who have been instrumental in the foundation’s success, including Founding Board Chair, Gordon Morehouse; Founding Board Member, Norris Little; Jim Bethel; Dr. Sherwood Jones; Larry Winter; John Neal, and William Bronson. He also expressed appreciation to Norman Burkett and James Brown, both of whom are now deceased.

At today’s meeting of the Rotary Club of Dalton, Rotarian, Dr. Bill Blackman, Chair of the Whitfield County Historical Preservation Commission (WCHPC), presented an award recognizing Bob McLeod for his outstanding contributions to historic preservation. Dr. Blackman praised McLeod’s serious commitment to the restoration of historic Rocky Face Ridge, site of the first major battle of Sherman’s campaign for Atlanta, and for his efforts to make it into a useable recreation and heritage tourism location. “His enthusiastic encouragement to other groups to advance the protection and continue this work has gone beyond the normal boundaries of a person’s job or profession,” said Blackman. “His genuine enthusiasm deserves special recognition and exemplifies Rotary’s motto of ‘Service Above Self.’”

Today, Principal Tim Fleming made an in-depth presentation about the Career Academy. He was introduced by Whitfield County School Superintendent, Danny Hayes and assisted by Board Member, Brian Cooksey. Fleming outlined the advantages of the Career Academy and outlined several administrative and curriculum changes. As part of these changes the school will be known as Northwest Georgia College and Career Academy (NGCCA), and his title will change from ‘Principal’ to ‘CEO’ of the school. According to Danny Hayes, “As CEO, he will spend about 50% of his time connecting with local businesses and finding out how to best meet their needs.”

The Rotary Club of Dalton today presented Vocational Service Awards to an outstanding member of Hamilton Emergency Medical Services, Dalton Police Department, Dalton Fire Department, and Whitfield County Fire Department.

Today’s guest speaker at Dalton Rotary was noted economist, Dr. Tom Cunningham, Associate Director of Research for the Federal Reserve Bank. A native of California, Dr. Cunningham holds Bachelors, Masters, and Doctoral degrees in Economics. He joined the Federal Reserve Bank in 1985 as an economist with the Macro-Policy Group.

Club member, Elyse Cochran spoke today to the Rotary Club of Dalton on the proposed Redevelopment Powers Law (RPL) that will be on the ballot on November 8. Cochran explained that the law was passed in the U.S. in 1958 and in Georgia in 1985; however it must be enacted at the local government level. There are currently 27 Redevelopment Districts in Georgia, and to-date there have been no failures.

Thank you to Marcia Casteel and Judy Elliot for working the Prime Time mini expo event which was a free marketing opportunity for the Club provided as a part of our Chamber of Commerce membership.  The meet and greet event was a success.  Marcia and Judy handed out Rotary information about the club and the great things we do and opportunities we provide.  Ultimately, we hope to gain some new members as a result.

There are thousands of major news stories every year, but once in a great while an event happens which is so powerful that, years later, most people can recall exactly where they were and what they were doing when they first heard the news.  The attacks of September 11, 2001 had such a profound effect on this nation that events are now often referred to as being either ‘pre’ or ‘post’ 9-11. 

Today the Rotary Club of Dalton had the privilege of hearing from Micah Riggle, Director of Human Resources with International Vinyl Company (IVC). Riggle is a native of Valdosta and a graduate of Oglethorpe University. Prior to joining IVC, he served in a similar capacity at Shaw Industries for eight and a half years.

Over the weekend of 8/16/2011, the GRSP students had a little excitement white water rafting down the Ocoee River with the Abernathy family.  Rotarians are encouraged to call our GRSP student, Alexandra Olson at 706-934-2894 or email her at Aleex92@hotmail.com to arrange a time to get to know her.

Mimi is a 2007 graduate of Dalton High School and recently completed undergraduate degrees in English and Journalism from the University of Georgia. While enrolled at the University of Georgia, Mimi served as editor of the Red & Black, the student newspaper with a daily circulation of over 17,000. She was also involved in C.U.R.O. – Center for Undergraduate Research Opportunities and was an active volunteer for the Boys and Girls Club.