What a full and eventful meeting we had on October 28th! We had many visitors, including some from neighboring clubs Roswell (Past District Governor Bob Hagan and Lee Hollingsworth) and Alpharetta (Lauri Young and Bob Murphy), returning visitor Jim Murphy, as well as several folks visiting for the first time. 

Fresh from his return from cruising the Mediterranean, Steve Cory led our Happy Dollars, with all funds going to Polio Plus. There were many Happy Dollars, per usual. Here are just a few:

Past President Rick Clark expressed his gratitude for all the well wishes and prayers he received during his stay at Wellstar North Fulton Hospital. Rick, we were all so happy to see you at the meeting! Rick also mentioned that he is going to be checking an item off his bucket list next month by attending a Green Bay Packers game at Lambeau Field in the winter. (I don't know about you, but my bucket list does not include being outside during the winter in Wisconsin for several hours!) 

Marc Gelber and Steve Cory shared some exciting news related to AED devices. Alpharetta, Milton and Roswell are going to be 4-minute cities due to the generous support of Wellstar North Fulton Hospital. A 4-minute city is a community-led program designed to dramatically improve survival rates from sudden cardiac arrest by ensuring an AED can reach a person in need within 4 minutes of the emergency. 

Amie Blanton shared how meaningful her mission trip with The 410 Bridge to Guatemala was.

CLUB UPDATES

Several of our members became Paul Harris Society Members recently and were recognized for this by Past District Governor (and current District Foundation Chair) Bob Hagan. Also on hand to celebrate this was Lauri Young, the Paul Harris Society Chair for our District. These new Paul Harris Society Member are: President Elect Dan Jenkins, Jonathan Stelling, Brad Serff, Past President Rick Clark and President Erik Bykat. Thank you all for your generosity to The Rotary Foundation! 

Foundation Chair Doug Higgins also recognized Past President Joy Manbeck and President Elect Dan Jenkins for becoming new Bequest Society Members of The Rotary Foundation. 

New White Badge Status

Several members have transitioned from red badge status to white badges by completing their new member assignments. Congratulations to Lou Weiland, Sandy Holiday, Daniel Simonton, Regina Orlick (not pictured) and our Membership Chair, Jeff Esterkes! We look forward to continuing to serve alongside you.

Club Bylaws

Jeff Esterkes and PE Dan Jenkins have worked on updating our bylaws over the last couple of months and the new bylaws were shared by President Erik Bykat over e-mail for our review. We needed at least 2/3 of the members present at the meeting to vote in favor of approving the new bylaws and this was accomplished at the meeting. Thank you, Jeff and Dan for leading this important effort. 

GUEST SPEAKER

Today's guest speak was Officer Hal Schoffeit with the Alpharetta Police Department. Hal is one of the organizers of the Alpharetta Citizens Academy, a 14 week series of classes that will teach you all you wanted to know about what the police, fire department and 911 operators do every day to protect the citizens and guests of Alpharetta. Classes cover the following areas: DUI/Traffic Law, Structural Fires, Criminal Investigations, S.W.A.T., Crisis Negotiations, Auto Extrication, Rescue Task Force, Hazardous Materials, K-9, Community Relations, and CPR/AED (I guess we already know a thing or two about this one!). 

The next session begins January 8, 2026 with classes on Thursdays from 6-8 pm and some Saturdays from 9 am to 12 pm. Contact Office Hal Schoffeit for an application: hshoffeitt@alpharetta.ga.us. If you'd like a citizens perspective, feel free to ask Joy - she and Bud completed the academy in 2025.