Home Page | Rotary Club of Metropolitan Savannah

Metro meets on 1st & 3rd Tuesdays of each month at 12noon at the Jewish Educational Alliance, 5111 Abercorn St., Savannah, GA

Club Meeting: Victoria Society
JEA

Jun 06, 2023
11:50 AM – 1:00 PM
Club Meeting: Presidential Address
JEA

Jun 20, 2023
11:50 AM – 1:00 PM
Board Meeting
Thomas and Hutton

Jul 13, 2023 8:00 AM -
Oct 10, 2024 9:00 AM

Announcements from May 2 Meeting

Posted by Kristin King

Committee Reports

President Elect, Jasmine Mills

May is Youth Service Month. Our district is involved in RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership Awards) Rotaract (ages 18-30), Preston Johnson Speech contest, Interact – Woodville Tompkins & St. Andrews. & GRSP (Georgia Rotary Student Program)
Dues invoices will be going out soon. Goal is to have everyone paid in full by July 15^th.
Reminder to pre-pay lunch for part of the year (contact Tony with any questions at tuhrich@husseygaybell.com)

President-Elect, Jasmine Mills presented her Board:

Leigh Acevedo: Sergeant-at-arms

Jamie Arkins: Communications Chair

John Bennett- Legacy Chair

Kristen Crawley- President Elect

Will Gruver: Immediate Past President

Sara HOLTON- Secretary

Ro Patrick- Service Chair

Lee Perry- Programs Chair

Zerik Samples- Membership Chair

George Seaborough- Interact Liaison, Finance

Tony Uhrich- Treasuer

Campion Usry- Finance

Josh Yates- Foundation Chair

Suzy Karpf- GRSP Liason

SERVICE & INTERACT

May 13 - Tharros Place volunteer - Julie Wade, Executive Director
May 25 - TEDxSavannah volunteering (bonus service)
ASP Committee has narrowed it down to 6 finalist. Finalists will present on May 16^th, with voting ending on May 31^st.

SOCIAL

Next social is May 23rd at Late Air

FOUNDATION: Josh Yates presented Paul Harris awards to John Bennett (first time) and Jason Sommers (2^nd time)

GUESTS/VISITORS:

Melaney Cress, a Construction Manager with ESG initiatives, Guest of Leigh Acevedo
Aaron Miller has done his service and social requirements for membership!

FEATURED SPEAKER: GRSP Beatriz Hashimoto

Lexi Hengigman introduced Beatriz Hashimoto, who will be heading back home to Brazil this month. Her hobbies include spinning classes, beach tennis. Back home she is a chemical engineer student and will be entering her 5^th year starting in June at State University of Maringa, which is one of the top ten in Brazil. She’s an only child, but her Italian mom has 10 siblings and her father is Japanese. Back home in Brazil, she participates in Rotaract and focuses on the “Friendship Forest” project as well as a partnership with the city collecting vegetable oil and then selling it for diesel- the funds they raise are used to purchase food for shelters. Her mom is a rotarian and she participates in many service projects with her. She loves going to the farm multiple times each month.

Beatriz shared an abundance of facts about Brazil, including what each part of their flag represents and that Brazil consists of 26 states. She is from the south where11 million people divided into over 400 cities. Local attractions include the breathtaking Iguazu Falls, Inga Park, Cathedral, Museums, Amazon Rainforest, and she shared images of typical Brazilian foods.

Did you know? The GRSP program consists of 44 students from 21 different countries, sponsored by 96 rotary clubs. Beatriz is also sponsored by Richmond Hill and Sunrise chapters and she expressed her gratitude for the welcoming committee at the airport upon her arrival.

She has stayed very busy with travel and service projects on student weekends, and visited the birthplace of GRSP in Thomasville. She’s been to ATL Hawks games, GSU football game, Savannah Bananas, Ghost Pirates, and Wrigley field. She has met past hosts of GRSP students, who she has stayed friends with over the years.

Some of the other highlights include

First time trying S’Mores
Greek Festival
Concerts
Meeting with a group of Serbians from Friendship Exchange, and a new GRSP will be here from Serbia with the Downtown Savannah Club
Sophie (last year’s GRSP) visited her in Sav.
Phil the Park
Birthday celebration
Disney with her Brazilian friends.,
DC with other GRSP
Charlotesville
First Thanksgiving
Christmas Pajamas
Parents visited between the holidays- loved that they got to meet Rotarian hosts, even though neither parents speak English.
Glass Blowing class
Boston- Samuel Adams, BU, MIT, Harvard

Announcements from May 16 Meeting

Posted by Jamie Arkins

Committee Reports

President-Elect, Jasmine Mills

Metro was awarded District 6920's LARGE CLUB OF THE YEAR at District Conference!!!
Metro named GOLD club again this year!
We were awarded the Distinguished Service Award for Brightside Child & Family Advocacy!
We were awarded the Distinguished Fundraising Award for Belly Laughs for Brightside!

***June 20 - Will's Presidential Address and final club meeting as President!***

President Will Gruver

Saturday, June 17 is District Assembly in Dublin, 9:30am - 3:00pm at Oconee Fall Line Technical College. Register to attend here!
Membership dues invoices will be coming out soon from Tony Uhrich. Please make sure your email address is up to date with Tony as he goes by the ones in ClubRunner. You can arrange for a payment plan throughout the year with Tony or Jasmine. You may also pay for all of your lunches up front for the entire year or be billed for them.

SERVICE

May 25 - TEDxSavannah volunteering (bonus service)
The May 13th service at Tharros Place was a HUGE success!

SOCIAL

Next social is Tuesday, May 23rd - Late Air, 2805 Bull St. (SW corner of Victory and Bull)

GUESTS/VISITORS:

Isabel Costa, Marketing Coordinator with Devin Olson Media - guest of Cari Phelps
Dana Schuller Smith, Board Vice-Chair for Matthew Reardon Center for Autism - guest of Jordan Chase
Kristen Sommer, new full-time trainer at Savannah Sport & Wellness and voted Savannah's Best Zumba Instructor - guest of Katie Balthrop

Announcements from April 18 Meeting

Posted by Jamie Arkins

Committee Reports

President Will Gruver

April is Maternal & Child Health Month (Rotary International)
Annual Service Partner: 22 applications to review and then the committee will narrow it down to 6, those 6 will present in person to the committee, then they will narrow it down to 3 for the club members to vote on.
The current ASP, Brightside Child & Family Advocacy/Savannah CASA, was submitted to the District for an award.

President-Elect, Jasmine Mills

Jasmine will announce her 2023-2024 Metro Board in May!
If you have any interest in serving on the Board, we need a more team approach for GRSP. Needs being "house mom" help during the holidays when they can't back to their home country to visit, help with entertaining them, driving them around to special events or club meetings, etc.

DISTRICT CONFERENCE 7 Metro members attending District Conference April 28-30. Raffle and silent auction items still needed - contact Will if you have anything to contribute

SERVICE & INTERACT

April 23 - Forsyth Farmer's Market Farm Picnic - openings for service
April 20 - Brightside Dancing with Savannah Stars service
May 13 - Tharros Place volunteer - Julie Wade, Executive Director
May 25 - TEDxSavannah volunteering (bonus service)

MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE:

The membership committee is wrapping up the current slate of members in April and induction will happen soon.

LEGACY PROJECT - John Bennett will provide an update at the next meeting

FOUNDATION: We are in good shape as a club in giving; please continue to give to RI Foundation!

GUESTS/VISITORS:

Dorothy & Jerry Gustafson - Kristin King's parents visiting from Michigan
Aaron Kelton. SSU Head Football Coach - guest of Lee Perry
Fitz Haile, United Way of the Coastal Empire - guest of Kristen Crawley
Brett Lundy, Broe Real Estate - guest of Emily Salzer

FEATURED SPEAKER: Preston Johnson Speech Contest winners from Woodville-Tompkins

Alfred introduced his two 9th grade students, Serani and Syniah, winners from the Preston Johnson Speech Competition at Woodville Tompkins. He’s honored to continue to work with wonderful students.

Syniah compared narcissistic behavior to the way we treat our world. Questioning why we continue torturing ourselves and the inability to set aside our own agenda for the better of the good. Help more, hurt less. Challenged us to act better - not just with words, but with actions. Everyone’s presence makes a difference. Every day we wake up knowing it’s possible to make or break our world. We perceive a world that deserves our best - so let’s give it to our world.

Serani challenged us to see the bright side when we are inundated with the world’s problems: sexism, hate crimes, safety at school, inflation, etc. We need to find hope in the small things. She asked us what one of our a favorite moments is. Do not give energy to the negative stuff. Priceless moments slip through our hands. She challenged us to apply the 4-way test to all parts of our lives. Take the steps needed to improve our society. Go beyond waiting for a better day. Better personality/family/mindset/community will all better our world. Are you willing to take that step forward?

Will presented both students with framed certificates and checks. Alfred also expressed his gratitude for our members and judges who provided feedback and assisted the students.

11th Annual Roastary!

Get Your Roastary Tickets Here!

Get Your Roastary Tickets Here!

Metro Savannah may not look like your grandfather's Rotary Club, but we're not all that different. We're proud to be members of Rotary International, believe strongly in its mission and traditions, and partner frequently with other clubs in the area.

We're just a bit different, and do things a bit differently. We're younger than the average club, and our meetings are twice monthly instead of every week. We fill in the free weeks with monthly service projects and socials. We throw larger events that have become legend.

Want to join us? Visiting Rotarians are welcome to join any of our lunch meetings or events. Others should come as a guest of a friend, colleague or acquaintance who is already a member of Metro. If you're interested in becoming a member after that visit, reach out to your host and they'll explain the membership process to you.

Thanks for checking out Metro.

Cheers,

Will Gruver

president@metrosavannahrotary.org