Rotary Year 1997 — 1998

The Rotary International President was Glen W. Kinross from Brisbane, Queensland, Australia and the theme he selected was “Show Rotary Cares” for your community, for our world, for its people.

District emphasis programs for our communities were AIDS Awareness/Prevention; Character Counts; Drug Awareness/Prevention; Habitat for Humanity; Project Read; Operation Outreach and many other Literacy projects.

PDG J. Barry Smith was named Area Coordinator, United States / Canada for the RI Literacy and Numeracy Task Force.

RI Director Ed Hatcher convened the 1997 Rotary Institute of Zones 33 & 34 at The Hyatt Regency Cerromar Beach in Dorado, Puerto Rico. In attendance were District Governor Bill Mulkey, DGN Ann Henderson, PDG Barry Smith, PDG Bob Eskew and PDG Ralph Thurmond.

The 1998 Council on Legislation was held in Delhi, India. PDG Robert Eskew was elected to be the District Representative and PDG Bill Stubbs was elected as alternate.

Five new Interact Clubs were chartered: Hardeway HS by the Muscogee Club; Rockmart HS by the Rockmart Club; Centennial HS by the Roswell East Ciub; Sandy Plains HS by the Tyrone Club; and Cross Keys HS sponsored by West DeKalb Club. One new Rotaract Club at Emory University was chartered and sponsored by the Decatur Club.

The GRSP had 83 students and our district sponsored 36 of these students. The Rotarians in District 6900 contributed a total of $167,384 (52% of the state total) to the GRSP Endowment. The GRSP Conclave was held in Rome, Georgia and was well attended by our district trustees.

Rotarians in District 6900 contributed an all time record of $374,667 to the Rotary Foundation with another record amount of $292,777 going to the Annual Giving Fund. We had 267 new Paul Harris Fellows and 201 new Sustaining Members. New Benefactors for The Rotary Foundation totaled 112, which was an 82% increase. The district had two new Major Donors, which will result in more than $150,000 over a period of time. Our two Group Study Exchange teams went to Korea, District 3710 and Turkey, District 2440. District 6900 awarded two Ambassadorial Scholarships. Rotary clubs in District 6900 served as host counselors to 7 inbound Ambassadorial Scholars.

The District was saddened at the passing of PDG Frederick G. Storey of the Midtown Atlanta Club, 1965-1966.

Governor Bill and Conference Chairman Milton Baker, Dunwoody Club, worked diligently towards having a successful 1998 District Conference. The results proved positive with a record attendance of 1,202 Rotarians and family members and for the first time since 1985 all clubs (67) were represented. Our RI President’s Representative was PDG Dr. Joseph B. Serra and his wife Dorothy from Stockton, California, District 5220. Best All-Around Clubs were Tyrone, Sandy Springs and Dunwoody. PDG Barry Smith was recognized with The Rotary Foundation Citation for Meritorious Service.

Of all the major goals achieved, the one that Governor Bill cherished the most was that for the first time ever all Rotary Clubs in District 6900 earned and received a Presidential Citation from RI President Glen Kinross (100% plus one of the new clubs). President Kinross gave a special recognition and congratulations to District 6900 as one of only eleven districts in the world (2%) to obtain this maximum level of achievement.

RYLA was held in June at the State University of West Georgia in Carrollton with fifty-five students registered. The Carrollton and the Carrollton Dawn Breaker Clubs hosted RYLA for the first time.

It was a privilege for Governor Bill, with the expertise of Extension Chairman PDG Hal Barton, to charter 2 new clubs. The Perimeter DeKalb Club, sponsored by Dunwoody, chartered December 10, 1997 and the Clayton County Daybreak Club, sponsored by Clayton County, chartered February 16, 1998. The district ended the year with 67 Rotary Clubs and 4,891 members.

The year ended at the International Convention in Indianapolis, Indiana with a large contingent of Rotarians from our district in attendance. Ann Henderson, from the Muscogee-Columbus Club was elected to serve as the 1998-1999 District Governor. Ann will be the first woman to serve as Rotary District Governor in Georgia.

It was indeed a year that Rotarians in District 6900 embraced President Kinross’s theme “Show Rotary Cares” in all of their accomplishments in the four avenues of service.