Newsletter

District Conference Recognition

By Marta Jones-Turner
At District Conference last month, Rotary Club of Thomasville was recognized in several areas, thanks to your hard work throughout the year.

Per Capita Giving to GRSP: As the birthplace of the Georgia Rotary Student Program, it has always been important for our club to support GRSP with financial contributions. This year, Thomasville earned top per capita giving among large clubs (with more than 100 members) and earned the GRSP Jake Cheatham Award with 100% giving to GRSP. We've earned this recognition for at least 15 years, as we maintain our 100% giving rate. Kudos to all our members for their donations and to our GRSP Chair Debbie Goodman.

Thomasville also was recognized as an All-Star achiever finalist in four of six areas of service that the District Governor identified as most significant this year. Our All-Star finalist  recognitions were:

• Peace Pole: We will place specially designed peace poles in historic Paradise Park and at Olmapinu School in Kenya, in connection with the club's recently approved Rotary International global grant project. Read more about our project in Kenya.
• Club Fundraiser: The club held its inaugural online auction of high-end items to raise funds to support our Big Impact projects. Again, thanks to your help – donating items, asking friends to donate, sharing the auction among your friends and families, and bidding on or buying items – we raised more than $30,000 and netted $25,000. It was a phenomenal fundraiser that I am happy our team was recognized for. 
• Member Engagement: To expand members' engagement level and improve board succession, we filled assistant officer and director deputy positions with a combination of new and experienced members. We also built advisory boards for finance, tradition, and event support. These teams have positively impacted our club and helped set the foundation for continued development within our club.
• World Polio Day: On World Polio Day, Thursday, Oct. 24, Foundation Chair Carol Jones presented a history of polio and the dramatic impact of the vaccine. She also brought a guest speaker who shared his experience as a child with polio who now has adult polio syndrome. Additionally, our members Walter and André Marria traveled to India to help administer polio vaccines to children. 

As we close out this Rotary year, I am proud of all that our club has accomplished, and these district-wide recognitions serve to highlight the service our Rotarians put into the community.  

Rotary Youth Exchange
Support Ivan's Study Abroad Year

Ivan Santoyo is still fundraising for his upcoming study abroad program through Rotary Youth Exchange. We are very excited for Ivan, our first-ever Rotary Youth Exchange participant, and our club has committed to help Ivan pay his out-of-pocket expenses for the program.

To assist with fundraising … [more]

Thursday, May 8
Center for the Arts Update

This week’s program is brought by Britt Shiver and Sam McCoy with the Center for the Arts.

Britt is director of programs and engagement for the Center for the Arts, where she cultivates relationships with community members, partners, artists, and instructors, and is responsible for shaping the vision for day-to-day programming. 

She has established five new programs in the past year, all of which are open and accessible to a wide-ranging audience, including newcomers and beginners. 

Sam is director of exhibitions at the Center. She works with artists and is part of the curatorial team that brings shows to the Center’s main building and Wall Space at Grassroots Coffee Co. She works with established artists who showcase contemporary exhibitions three times a year, emerging artists to develop and build their professional practice as fine artists, and the Center’s local collective of artists, the THOM Collective, on putting together juried exhibitions.

Sam also is an instructor in the Interior Design and Architecture department at Florida State University as well as a contemporary painter who earned her MFA from FSU.  Her work focuses on contemporary landscapes with a focus on hyperlocal flora and fauna.  She’s interested in how tourism has shaped our ecology and the roles of curated gardens and the ecotourism industry.

They will provide an update about what’s happening in art in our community. 

Upcoming Events
Mark Your Calendar

Here is a look at our upcoming events for May.

• Thursday, May 8: Sam McCoy & Britt Shiver, artists from Thomasville Center for the Arts
• RESCHEDULED: Monday, May 12: Board Meeting, 5:15 p.m. at the Chamber
  All Red Ribbon members are required to attend a board meeting as part of their Red Ribbon program.
• Thursday, May 15: Sort and Pack at Second Harvest, beginning at 11:30 a.m.
• Saturday, May 17: Produce distribution, Weston Park. Set up begins at 7:30 a.m., distribution begins at 8:30 a.m. or as soon as set up is completed.
• Wednesday, May 21: Coffee Chat at Grassroots Coffee. No agenda, just drop in to get to know your fellow Rotarians a little better. Anytime between 7:30 a.m. and 8:15 a.m.

The calendar is subject to changes. Find the most updated Rotary calendar anytime:

• Add any individual calendar item from the Rotary calendar to your personal calendar.
• Subscribe to the Rotary calendar for automatic updates.