The Bulletin

Home of
Immediate Past District Governor
Jim Squire
&
Past District Governors
Frank Bentley,
Ralph Thurmond,
and Barry Smith

Meetings

January is Vocational Service Month

Our Rotary Family
BIRTHDAYS

WEDDING ANNIVERSARIES

Rotary Online

https://sandyspringsrotary.org
https://rotary6900.org/
https://rotary.org/

ROTARY CLUB OF
Sandy Springs

LEADERSHIP

PRESIDENT'S CORNER
Welcome to the Sandy Springs Rotary Club

Welcome Sandy Springs Rotarians to the new Rotary year. It will be hard to top last year but we'll do it with your help & support. Kudos to past president Nancy Schroeder and PDG Jim Squire for your service and helping the club receive many awards at the District Celebration including our second "Club of the Decade" designation.

Some changes are being made in our club's meeting program to make it more varied & interesting. We will be adding the Sandy Springs Business Spotlight, a third raffle drawing, and wine one meeting a month. Members are now asked to come a little earlier as lunch will begin at noon with the program to start promptly at 12:15. Along with our traditional club events & projects we'll have a couple more service projects/media events, membership events (Rotary Pizza Night at Pontoon) and different Family of Rotary social events. I look forward to engaging with you to make it a exciting year.

Visitors are welcome to experience the Rotary Club of Sandy Springs' hospitality and energy. Meetings are typically the 1st, 2nd & 4th Mondays. Lunch is served at noon and the 1 hour program begins at 12:15. Hilton Perimeter Suites, 6120 Peachtree Dunwoody Road, Sandy Springs, GA 30328. Reserve a spot by going to our website at www.sandyspringsrotary.org. Join your fellow professionals, community and business leaders, and learn how Rotary can benefit your future. Experience Rotary Making Things Happen in Sandy Springs!

Upcoming Program
Consul General of Belgium - Michel Gerebtzoff to speak at the RCSS

On Monday February 1st, Michel Gerebtzoff from the Belgium consulate will be speaking to the Rotary Club of Sandy Springs.

Mr. Gerebtzoff was born in Geneva on March 3, 1972, into a family with Russian and French roots. He graduated as a Water and Forestry Engineer from the Faculty of Agronomic Sciences in Gembloux, Belgium. He first started a career in the private sector, as a specialist in geographic databases and earth observation systems.

At the age of 30, he passed the diplomatic competition and joined Foreign Affairs, becoming Embassy Secretary in Geneva (WTO and WIPO, from 2005 to 2008) and then in Beijing (2008-2012). After a year at the Directorate General of European Affairs (trade policy department), he returned to China, to Guangzhou , to head the office for the promotion of exports and investments of the Walloon Region (2013- 2016). During that time he was also appointed to the Governing Board of the American International School of Guangzhou.

Upon his return to Brussels, he became an advisor at the Permanent Representation of Belgium to the European Union, iq charge of trade, research and space (2016-2017), after which he became Chief of Staff to the Deputy Permanent Representative of Belgium to the European Union (2017-2019).

In 2019 he joined the cabinet of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Didier Reynders before becoming Deputy Chief of Staff to Minister of Foreign Affairs Philippe Goffin (2019-2020). In that capacity, he sat on one of the main pandemic management bodies.

Michel Gerebtzoff took office as Consul General of Belgium in Atlanta on August 1, 2020. He is married and the father of two daughters.

More information about the Consulate General of the Kingdom of Belgium can be found here:
https://unitedstates.diplomatie.belgium.be/en/embassy-and-consulates/consulate-general-atlanta

THIS MEETING CAN BE ATTENDED IN PERSON OR ONLINE AT:
MEETING ID  830 5329 7439
HTTPS://US02WEB.ZOOM.US/J/83053297439 

Past Program
Happy Tails bring joy and love

Monday, January 25, 2021, The Rotary Club of Sandy Springs had some very special guests.

When Drake ambles up to say hello, one cannot help but to say hello right back to him. Drake is a calm four-year-old chocolate lab. He is also 88 pounds of love, claims his owner. Drake was not alone. He had with him Leo, a 14-year-old lab, and Charlie, a rescue dog from Turkey. With these special guests wandering the room acting as greeters, one almost forgets that Dave Frew and Howard Shore from Happy Tails Pets were visiting also. Dave & Howard just dropped in to tell us more about the Happy Tails pet therapy program, how to get involved and share a few stories.

“Attorney’s run hospitals. Because of that, it took about nine months to get permission to bring in the certified therapy dogs to help raise the moral of suffering patients. The dogs work equally as well with the hospital staff.”

This group of Happy Tails works with Northside Hospital two days a week. The visits are kept reasonably short, because though the dogs love the work they will become exhausted after about 60 minutes. "The minute the vests go on the dogs, they know they are going to work." says Howard.

In photo from left to right(humans first): Dave Frew, Howard Shore, Charley (laying down), Leo & Drake

These photos and more can be found in their original resolution for free here: https://rotaryclubofsandysprings.zenfolio.com/p704051244
Dave and Howard did a virtual visit last year. Here is a link to that story: https://sandyspringsrotary.org/story/4486
To learn more about Happy Tails Pet Therapy click here: https://www.happytailspets.org/
To learn more about Alliance of Therapy Dogs click here: https://www.therapydogs.com/

The Rotary Club of Sandy Springs would like to thank Dave & Howard for letting us meet their wonder team of dogs. Charley, Drake and Leo certainly raised the spirits of the club.

Special Event
Family of Rotary night at Hammocks Trading Co.

Wednesday (1/27/21) night at 6:00pm the Rotary Club of Sandy Springs will be having a Family of Rotary night at Hammocks Trading Co. Join us promptly at 6:00 for a Club sponsored happy hour of hors d'oeuvres and conversation then stay for dinner. Bring your spouse or a guest.

Hammocks is located at 7285 Roswell Road, Atlanta, Georgia 30328.

Join us at Wednesday at Hammocks!

More information about Hammocks can be found here:  https://hammockstradingcompany.com/

A Look Ahead
A quick glimpse of our Rotary meetings next year

Upcoming Program (02/08/2021)
Andrew Staunton - The British Consul General in Atlanta

On Monday, February 8th, Andrew Staunton will speaking virtually to the Rotary Club of Sandy Springs.

Andrew Staunton took up his appointment in Atlanta as Her Majesty’s Consul General in June 2018. Andrew is the senior UK government representative in the Southeast United States responsible for relations with the states of Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Mississippi and Alabama. He leads a team which works to promote UK-US trade and investment, support British nationals, conduct public diplomacy on key issues, and build scientific and research co-operation. He also sits on the Marshall Scholarship selection committee.

Before taking up his posting in Atlanta, Andrew served four years as Deputy Head of Mission and Economic Counsellor at the British Embassy in Athens. He was also Deputy Head of Mission at the British Embassy in Dublin from 2009 to 2013. Throughout both postings, Andrew’s main focus was on the economic crises in Greece and Ireland, boosting bilateral relations, promoting the UK’s interests, and working on a range of issues linked to the European Union. Prior to this, Andrew worked in the Foreign Office as Deputy Director responsible for Security.

Andrew joined the UK’s diplomatic service in 1987. He has also served overseas in China, France, Romania and Canada.

Andrew was born in Glasgow, Scotland. He is accompanied in Atlanta by his wife, Rebecca. They have two adult children, both living in the UK.

This meeting can be attended live or online at:
Meeting ID  830 5329 7439
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83053297439

Please join us and give Mr. Staunton a warm Rotary welcome.

Upcoming Program
2021 Rotary International Convention - Taipei

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE