This Week's program
Tita and Osvaldo, along with their two boys, Massimo and Danilo, came to the United States from Ancona, Italy, in 1973. They worked with family at Mom & Dad’s in Tallahassee until they moved to Thomasville in 1977.
After 40 years of business, Mom & Dad’s Restaurant continues to thrive, thanks to its longtime customer base and loyal staff. They are a purveyor of homemade Italian recipes to Thomasville and the surrounding cities. Danilo, his wife, Anna, and their children, Anthony and Daniella, who can be found in the restaurant every morning and night, carry on that tradition.
Mom & Dad’s is one of three family-owned restaurants, with a location in Valdosta, Georgia, owned by Massimo Pistelli, his wife Cindy, and his children Giuseppe and Vito, and a Mom & Dad’s restaurant in Lady Lake, Florida, owned by Danilo’s cousin Elaina Tucker and her family. Mom & Dad’s in Tallahassee has been sold and is no longer affiliated with the family and its long history, previously owned by Danilo’s aunt and uncle, Diana and Gary McLean, who are now retired and living in Tallahassee.
Family legacies and traditions still are found in all three Mom & Dad’s. We believe in the wonderful fellowship that a handcrafted meal can create and we are dedicated to providing our customers with quality service in an environment that feels like home. To our loyal customers we want to say thank you for 40 wonderful years and look forward to sharing 40 more years with you and new patrons alike!
Meeting Summary
Why are we Rotarians? People become Rotarians for various reasons. One of those reasons is to work with others for the better good of our community and our world. Henry Ford is credited with saying, “Coming together is the beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.” In order for these three things to happen, we must know something about the people we work and associate ourselves with. In the Rotary Club of Thomasville, we do this using the classification talk.
The classification talk gives members an opportunity to share who they are and how they became that person. Al Park did his classification talk at last week’s meeting and did it in a rather unique way. He gave us a snapshot of his life in reverse chronology. Thanks, Al, for demonstrating your creativity.
Melinda Pillar head of the business department at Thomas University was our guest speaker. One aspect of her message was the new jobs created in the age of Coronavirus. These were jobs that did not exist prior to the virus. Contact Tracing, Employee Temperatures, Covid-19 Testers, Modify Interior, Installers, Mask Sewers and Virtual Events. These jobs allow people to provide for their families and contribute to making Thomasville a better place. Melinda also shared with the club several new programs and majors T. U. has added to their existing programs. To help with the added programs and majors, T. U. has new faculty members joining the Business Department.
What can we take away or learn from last week’s meeting? One thing that comes to my mind is family. A family is built upon a relationship. A relationship is built upon trust. Trust is gained by getting to know who the other person is. The more we know about each other (as we learned about Al), the better we can understand each other’s struggles. This allows us to appreciate the value and worth of our fellow Rotarians. We see that we are more alike than different . They are trying to make a difference in their corner of the world just as we are. Once this is done, we are then ready to take advantage of the opportunities Rotary opens to us. Remember, “A family doesn’t have to perfect; it just needs to be united.”
News Briefs
New Arrival. New Rotarian Brett Jenkins and his wife Laura have their first child born July 31, 2020. He is a happy baby boy weighing 7 pounds 8 ounces and is 19.5 inches long. Welcome to this world Sawyer Brett Jenkins.
Ben Huntzinger Advisory Group. If you missed the email and still want to serve, please contact Jay Flowers.
Teen Pregnancy Prevention Initiative
Five years ago, Scott Rich was the president of the Rotary Club of Thomasville. At that time, Rotary member Andre’ Marria approached Rich and the board of directors and ask for their local financial support of a Morehouse College School of Medicine Teenage Pregnancy Prevention Initiative (TPPI). TPPI is a federally funded initiative designed … [more]
