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February 24, 2026 Meeting Recap

We had a large crowd at our lunch meeting this week. Our visitors included visiting Rotarian Pam Baxter from the Albany Mosaic Club in Albany, NY. Pam has been a Rotarian for over 20 years and her club recently started a Companion Club that she decided to join. We also had Past District Governor and Alpharetta Rotarian Kirk Driskell visiting and he brought Drew Hancock to visit our club. We were happy to welcome Sylvia Cardona, a self-described lapsed Rotarian who works for North Fulton Community Charities. In addition, it was nice to see prospective member Chris Lyboldt visiting us again. 

Steve Cory led us in Happy Dollars and members had a lot to be happy about this week:

Mike Mudd is heading to Disney where his wife Rachel will participate in her 8th consecutive Disney Princess half marathon.

Speaking of marathons, Cliff's son Robbie is running the Publix half marathon.

Brad Serff mentioned that next Tuesday, March 3rd, Cue Barbecue is donating 10% of their proceeds to the Milton First Responders Foundation.

Doug Higgins announced that he is retiring, effective April 30th!

And last, but certainly not least, Dan Jenkins announced that he and Karen will become grandparents in August. 

Proceeds from today's Happy Dollars will go to Jacob's Ladder. 

Companion Club member Erika Morgan attended today's meeting and we were happy to celebrate her receiving her white badge. Erika is a Chiropractor and joined us in October 2025. 

Kile Lewis, Alpharetta Rotarian and Chair of this year's Polar Plunge, stopped by to deliver our proceeds from participating in the Polar Plunge. What a nice surprise to have a visitor come and bring us money! Many thanks (again) to Richard Matherly and Rick Clark for volunteering to be our participants. 

GUEST SPEAKER

Today's guest speakers were our Companion Club Chair, Joseph Powell and Mt. Pisgah Varsity Football Coach, Brad Watkins. Joseph serves on two boards: Revved Up Kids and the Alpha Loop Foundation. Revved Up Kids is a non-profit created with the goal of protecting children from sexual abuse through an age-appropriate educational platform. This instruction is given at churches, schools, and HOA clubhouses. Revved Up Kids is having their annual fundraiser on Saturday March 21st: Shamrock n Roll Casino Night

Tickets are $175 each or a table of 10 is $1650. Please reach out to Joseph if you'd like to attend or support this cause at (912) 662-2246.

COACH BRAD WATKINS

Last year, Joseph expanded his community service to include coaching at Mount Pisgah where he worked closely with Varsity Football Coach Brad Watkins. Coach Watkins spent 12 years coaching at the college level before transitioning to high school. He shared the core values for Mount Pisgah's football program using the word "together" as the acronym: Trust, Opportunity, Gratitude, Effort/Energy, Toughness, Heart, Excellence, Respect.

He has five goals for the football program (besides making it to the state championship game):

1. Have fun.
2. Win game one.
3. Develop players to be the best athletes they can be.
4. Develop servant leaders.
5. Create an environment for players to grow in their faith.

It is clear that Coach Watkins has a heart for leading young people to become the best versions of themselves and we are grateful he shared with us!

First Tuesday Social: March 3rd

Please join us at our First Tuesday Social at Olde Blind Dog Irish Pub on March 3rd from 6:00 to 8:00 pm. If you have any questions, please reach out to Steve Cory at (678) 710-5103.

Steve would like to try something new and add a trivia component so please reach out to him if you have any experience in this area.

Olde Blind Dog Irish Pub, 12650 Crabapple Rd, Milton

Women in Rotary

The next quarterly Women in Rotary event will be sponsored by Rotary Club of Alpharetta on March 5th from 5:00 to 7:00 pm at:

The Hamilton Hotel, 35 Milton Avenue, Alpharetta. (Join us in the back of Carrie's Conservatory restaurant.)

Appetizers will be provided and guests will purchase their own beverages.

Please bring a $5.00 or $10 gift card for Publix/Kroger/Walmart to support Children's Development Academy.

Please RSVP at: Women in Rotary

Gentlemen - please let your significant others know about this! 

Any questions, please call Joy at (770) 715-5422

Peace Pole Installation on the Alpha Loop

This Saturday, March 7th, we will gather together on the Alpha Loop for the installation of our 4th Peace Pole (our third this Rotary year!). This project is part of a competitive grant awarded by District 6900 and is the final component in our grant application. The installation will be near the Northwinds area and our lead coordinator for this installation, Stacey Nyman, will send a pin drop later this week - likely in Telegram. Start time is 10 am and all are welcome to join for pictures or support - no sign up needed as we technically only need two people to do the installation. Many thanks to the following members for your work on this:

Stacey Nyman - lead coordinator for this final Peace Pole

Rick Clark - Competitive Grant application lead

Carolynn DeSandre - Competitive Grant writer

Steve Siders - Project Lead for entire Competitive Grant project

Kathleen Peneguy - graphics for plaque and signage 

Joseph Powell - coordinating with City of Alpharetta, Alpha Loop Foundation and Alpharetta Parks and Recreation for approval

Doug Higgins - for sourcing and ordering this final Peace Pole

Service Project: Jacob's Ladder Art Walk & Talent Show

Jacob's Walk Art Walk & Talent Show is an event to showcase the incredible talents of those who attend Jacob's Ladder, and provide a day of entertainment for their families. Festivities begin with a walk around the trails on campus so parents can enjoy their child's displayed artwork. The Art Walk concludes at the soccer field at 12:00 pm when the talent show begins. 

The volunteer need is from 1o:00 am to 1:00 pm on Saturday, March 21st and you can sign up here: Jacob's Ladder

If you have any questions, please contact Amie Blanton at (770) 315-9974

Interfaith Prayer Breakfast: May 7, 2026

Submitted by Committee Chair, Jonathan Stelling

This year, our signature community service event, the Rotary Club of North Fulton Interfaith Prayer Breakfast, will be held on May 7, 2026 at St. David's Episcopal Church. Please save this date on your calendar now, as we need everyone's help to make this a continued success for the community. 

Our keynote speaker will be fellow Rotarian, and Past District Governor, Kirk Driskell, founder of Vision Warriors. Our committee is working on the event flyer and speaker bio and will share that in the near future. 

Sponsorships are currently available to club members. We'll open sponsorships to anyone outside the club after our March 14th meeting. As in years past, table location selection is based on the order in which sponsorships are purchased.

Sponsorships & Table Pricing:

• Gold - $1,000 (nearest to front plus table sign, recognition from stage and name listed in program)
• Silver - $800 (next nearest to front plus table sign and name listed in program)
• Table - $400 (open tables after gold/silver sponsors)

Table Sales Schedule:

• Feb 24th: Open to sponsors from RCNF
• Mar 14th: Open to sponsors outside our club
• Mar 31st: Open to table sales

Thanking our Milton First Responders

What a fantastic day of service and fellowship! Members of the Cambridge High School Interact Club joined our club members to assemble snack boxes for our Milton First Responders. Working side by side, the group filled each box with a variety of treats - including fresh fruit, granola bars, trail mix, beef sticks and even a few special goodies!

Students also added heartfelt messages of gratitude to each box before they were delivered to the Milton Police Department, every fire station and the 911 Telecommunications Center. 

We are so grateful for the dedication and sacrifice of our First Responders who work tirelessly to keep our community safe. We are also grateful for our member, Steve Cory, who planned and led this gratifying project! 

Membership Minute

Submitted by Jeffrey Esterkes, Membership Chair

Every member has wisdom to share. Take time to mentor someone new, or encourage a prospective member to shadow you in service.

Companion Club Update

Reminder that our companion club meeting is March 19th at Thrive, 44 Milton Avenue, Alpharetta (located above Minnie Olivia Pizza) at 6:30 pm. 

The meeting will feature Guest Speaker Christy Hulsey, Community Programs Coordinator at Greater North Fulton Chamber of Commerce. 

If you have any questions, please reach out to Joseph Powell, (912) 662-2246.