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This Week's Program

Ms. Valerie Scoon is a Professor at Florida State University Film School and oversees the script development of graduate and undergraduate thesis films. Over her time there, her students have won ten Student Emmys and six have been selected as Student Oscar Regional Finalists. As an executive at Oprah Winfrey’s Harpo Films, Ms. Scoon’s credits include the Golden Globe nominated “The Great Debaters” starring Denzel Washington, "Their Eyes Were Watching God" and "The Wedding" both starring Halle Berry as well as adaptation of "Beloved" by the Pulitzer Prize winning novelist, Toni Morrison. In addition, Ms. Scoon served as a Studio Executive at Warner Bros. and oversaw such film as "Malcolm X" directed by Spike Lee and the children’s classic "The Secret Garden." Other work includes being an Associate Director in News and Public Affairs at PBS where she assessed work in progress documentaries for possible national distribution. more

It's that time again!

             It's time!  Shotgun Tickets go on sale!

Summary of Last Week

The Rotary Club of Thomasville had 50 members in attendance last week, and we were reminded as to why Classification Talks are important. The talk is not for members to just get to know each other better. It is also hoped that the audience will be encouraged and inspired by something the speaker says. Scooter Grubbs was able to do this in his 2.0 talk last week. Scooter quoted former House Speaker Newt Gingrich as saying, “If all the people we have to deal with were Rotarians, the world would be a much better place.” To have outsiders praise the good work our organization does, is high praise indeed. Let us continue to take advantage of the opportunities Rotary opens to us.

The program speaker was James “Jack” Hadley, owner of the Jack Hadley Black History Museum. Assisting Jack was Melanie Martin, Director of Pre-College Programs at Thomas University. The duo gave a history of the museum and the latest acquisition of the museum, the Imperial Hotel. The hotel was built in 1949 and operated until 1969. It was the only hotel in Thomasville where traveling African Americans could be accommodated. It was listed in “The Green Book,” which was a guide for African American travelers on hotels, restaurants, and shops that would serve them during the Jim Crow era. The museum is working to completely restore the hotel. The goal is to have it once again be a positive force in the community.

Why Being Kind is More Important Than Ever

Your parents told yo to be nice to people.  Guess what?  They were right.  Here's why.

Doing good doesn’t only benefit other people. It helps us, too.

Studies show that helping others boosts serotonin, a neurotransmitter that makes us feel satisfied. Another benefit to feeling rewarded when we do good: It lowers our stress levels. Who couldn’t use that right now?

Facing the COVID-19 pandemic, people everywhere are feeling anxious about their health, their families, their jobs, and their futures.

“When we are all feeling lower than we are used to feeling, with some levels of situational depression, we all need a boost,” says psychologist Mary Berge, a member of the Rotary Club of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, USA, who has led discussions with many Rotary clubs about coping during the pandemic.  More