Rotary Club of Columbus, Ga

Chris Largent, Executive Director of the Chattahoochee River Conservancy, shared with us June 2nd lots of great information on the continuing effort to protect and restore our area's waterways. Also, Teddy Price provided our invocation; Lisa Smith introduced our visiting Rotarians and guests; Mike Smajd introduced SFC Juan Vargas as our military guest from US Army Fort Benning; and Past-president Michael Silverstein presented Juan Osorio and Stephanie Payne with Paul Harris Fellowships thanks to an anonymous donation from one of our members. #rotaryclub200 https://youtu.be/3JR9DHIa6ks

We'd be lost without this special lady! Happy birthday, Julie Bond! Enjoy your special day!

Sheriff Greg Countryman joined us May 26th with an update on his goals and objectives for the Muscogee County Sheriff Department. Also, Cedric Hill provided our invocation; Teddy Price introduced our visitors and guests; Vern Humphrey introduced Sergeant First Class Matthew Nelson as our military guest from US Army Fort Benning; and Steve Davis introduced Kevin White as our newest member. #rotaryclub200... https://youtu.be/1UK_HK4gOic

Congratulations, COL Puckett, on this well-deserved recognition! https://www.wrbl.com//video-exclusive-complete-look-at-wr/

As a way over the past year to continue our tradition of saying the Pledge of Allegiance at the start of each meeting while we were either conducting our meeting virtually or in person at the Trade Center but with COVID protocols in place, we've asked our members to send in videos of the kids and grandkids saying the pledge. We've enjoyed these videos, but today was our last pledge via video as we move next week back to in-person recitation of the pledge. Enjoy this virtual pledge compilation played to the backdrop of a beautiful rendition of "American the Beautiful" played by Rotarian Rick McKnight.

Our club is uniquely strong due in large part to the significant number of members who have previously served in our armed forces protecting the freedoms that we all enjoy. Commitment and sacrifice come first nature to these servicemen and women, and for that, we say "thank you" on this Veterans Day. #veteransday2020 #rotaryclub200

Dan Reed was an exceptional person and Rotarian who set the standard for service and leadership in our club. Each year, we award the Dan Reed Award as tribute to his legacy to a non-Rotarian in our community who exemplifies Rotary's motto of Service Above Self. Also, Reagan Markwood virtually led off our meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance; Tom Waynick honored SFC Ryan Gartmann and we also recognized our own BG (Ret.) Pete Jones for his service; four new members were introduced including Ish Espada, Dave Ranieri, Andrea Winston, and Donna Morgan; and we received "thanks" from the Junior League of Columbus and Clement Arts for our club's recent contributions to their programs as part of our Children's Fund program. #rotaryclub200 https://youtu.be/Ca4BnGgSd7g

Blake Melton joined us October 28th to speak on the exciting work taking place to create Standing Boy Trails. Also, our Pledge of Allegiance was led by Jimmy Elder's grandchildren Ava, Jackson, and Drew; Andy Redmond honored Master Sergeant Mario Manan for his military service at US Army Fort Benning; Rodney Close from the Boys & Girls Club of the Chattahoochee Valley shared how our club's contribution would be used to support their programs; Chrissy Redmond from Hope Harbour shared a "thank you" for our recent service project to help victims of family violence; and President Joe highlighted our club's participation with the Rotaract Club of Greater Columbus at the past weekend's Spooktacular Halloween event. #rotaryclub200 https://youtu.be/xJpYD4nuN64

COVID has done a lot of things, but it hasn't taken away people's enthusiasm for celebrating Halloween! This picture sums up Columbus' Spooktacular event at the Columbus Civic Center. We were proud to partner with the Rotaract Club of Greater Columbus tonight to share a little cheer. #rotaryclub200

The "Show Will Go On" at the Springer Opera House, and Dani Varner & Paul Pierce shared with us on October 21st just how the Springer will do so. Also, Taylor Ames, grandson of Joel Ames, provided our Pledge of Allegiance; Vern Humphrey honored Staff Sergeant Roberto Silva as our guest from US Army Fort Benning; and we learned from Rotaract Club of Greater Columbus president, Lamar Fortson, and Jeremy Ackles about an upcoming Halloween event being held on October 24th, the Rotaract club's 3rd anniversary and also World Polio Day. #rotaryclub200 https://youtu.be/pFCP5FL92po

The full Spooktacular Team from @rotaractofgreatercolumbus and @rotarycolumbusga

Spooktacular at the Civic Center with @j.debonair @fishingleuer and Joe Young

Spooktacular at the Civic Center!

We were honored on October 14th to have Major General Patrick Donahoe, Commanding General of US Army Fort Benning, as the speaker for our first in-person meeting since March. #rotaryclub200 https://youtu.be/nf2rjTxq2j8

Our first in-person meeting since March

For nearly 105 years, we've meet on a weekly basis through some challenging times. But this coming week, we're suspending our in-person meetings for a few weeks to observe how the covid-19 scenario plays out in our community. But we still intend to meet, just using digital means. Stay tuned for information on how to join our club's regular meeting until we resume normal operations. Shown here are examples of our Rote-a-bit dating back to 1936. In 1941, General George Patton (hopefully GEN Patton never found out that we misspelled his name!) was our speaker, and in 1945 we tracked our meeting time in "war time." #rotaryclub200

Steve Smithwick of Columbus-based Masterwall, Inc. joined us October 7th to share his insights into building company culture at his company. Also, Rick McKnight opened our meeting with a beautiful rendition of My Country Tis of Thee; Andy Redmond honored Master Sergeant Terrance Johnson from US Army Fort Benning; Dr. Chris Markwood introduced our newest member, Michael Tullier; and Lakisha Taylor, Program Director for Easterseals and also a Muscogee Rotarian, provided thanks for our club’s contribution to Easterseals’ programs. https://youtu.be/I7yPa589oPw

Rotary District 6900 Governor Kirk Driskell joins us for our September 30th program to share an update about our district and his passion for Rotary. #rotaryclub200

Great Rotary multi-club service project. Thanks for your service North Columbus Rotary, Muscogee Rotary Columbus, Georgia and Rotary Club of Columbus, Ga. way to use your Rotary District 6900 grant.

Rotary truly brings the world together, and our program this week was a great example. Three of our former students from the Georgia Rotary Student Program (GRSP) joined us to share how they're doing. The trio of Rachel Eadie, Lida Kalustova, and Siri Nordlander delivered a wonderful program! Also, St. Luke School 5th grade provided our Pledge of Allegiance; we recognized SSG Nathan Streeter for his service at US Army Fort Benning; Past-president Michael Silverstein recognized Bob Kidd and Ian Bond for their contributions to the Rotary Foundation; and we were excited to welcome our newest member, Carol Ridley. #rotaryclub200 #peacethroughunderstanding #grsp https://youtu.be/H8G3DmD-sBA