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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER

April 15, 2025


Meetings

April is Environment Month

4/17 Meet at Second Harvest to Pack & Sort
4/24 GRSP Students’ Fairwell Address
5/1 Workforce & Childcare in Southwest GA
5/8 Sam McCoy & Britt Shiver from Thomasville Center for the Arts

Events

4/16 Coffee Chat
4/19 Produce Distribution at Weston Park
4/24 Rose Show Set up
5/1 Wine or Whine

ROTARY CLUB OF
Thomasville

Thursdays, 12:15 pm
Vashti Center
1815 East Clay Street
Thomasville, GA 31792

LEADERSHIP

President Marta Jones-Turner
President-Elect Nathaniel Tyler
Immediate PP Mary Beth Donalson
Vice President Nathaniel Tyler
Treasurer Warren Ballard
Secretary Anna Lee
Public Image David Sofferin

Directors

Membership Angela Williamson
Service Projects Barbara Williams-Anderson
Foundation Carol Jones
Club Director Scott Rich
Youth Service Chandler Giddes
Admin Devona Thompson

Rotary Online

https://thomasvillerotary.org
https://rotary6900.org/
https://rotary.org/

YEARS OF SERVICE

4/1 Andy Vann (36)
4/1 Bill Blackburn (49)
4/8 Warren Ballard (4)
7 years in Rotary
4/13 Will Brown, III (6)
4/15 Charles Dixon (26)
4/15 Amy Maison (4)
4/25 Sally Bowman (1)
4/25 Clark Lunsford (1)
4/25 Antwan Thomas, Sr. (1)

Wednesday, April 16
Coffee Chat

Join us tomorrow morning at Grassroots anytime between 7:30 a.m. and 8:15 a.m. for a cup of coffee and a casual conversation with fellow Rotarians! No agenda, no requirements. 

Thursday, April 17
Pack & Sort

The club meeting on Thursday, April 17 will begin at 11:30 a.m. at Second Harvest Food Bank. We will pack produce boxes for distribution at Weston Park on Saturday, April 19.


Saturday, April 19
Produce Market at Weston Park

Rotary will host its monthly produce distribution at Weston Park on Saturday, April 19. Set up begins at 7:30 a.m. Food distribution begins at or before 8:30 a.m. and is finished when all the produce is distributed, usually around 10 a.m.

This is one of our local Rotary Club's Big Impact Projects to help make fresh vegetables and fruits available to all. We partner with the Marguerite Neel Williams Boys & Girls Club, Envision Credit Union and Thomasville National Bank to sponsor these monthly events, but we need Rotarians to volunteer their time to help with the distributions. Please come.


Volunteers Needed
Rose Show Set Up

Rose Show setup will be Wednesday, April 23 from 8:45-ish to about 11:30 a.m. at the Rose Show tent on Remington Avenue next to Subway. Bring sharp scissors, a heavy-duty staple gun and staples if you have them. 

This group of volunteers will assemble tables and cover the top with white paper. New members are encouraged to volunteer.


Please RSVP to Bill Dickey at (229) 224-0189 (via call or text).


Thursday, April 24
GRSP Students Farewell

Dawn Mabaso and Manuela Velez, our club’s GRSP students, will speak about their experiences this year.

Manuela, who is from Colombia, was hosted by Devona and Stephan Thompson this year, and Dawn, from South Africa, was hosted by André and Walter Marria. The two will talk about the highlights of their time as GRSP students for the academic year. 

Volunteers Needed
City Schools to Host First Multicultural Fair

The Thomasville High School Spanish Club is hosting Thomasville's first ever Multicultural Celebration on Saturday, April 25 at the Deep South Fairgrounds from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Celebrate the cultural diversity of Thomasville and the surrounding areas, enjoy dance and musical performances, food vendors, craft vendors, and informational booths, along with face painting and crafts for children. There will also be raffles and door prizes.

But this student-led initiative needs adult volunteers to help make the event a success! Several of our Rotarians will be out of town for this year's District Conference, so our volunteer group will be small. If you are in town and available, please contact the THS Spanish teacher, Jackie King, at (229) 403-9581, to volunteer. 



Thursday, May 1
DECAL: Childcare in Southwest Georgia


Jill Taylor, director of Community Partnerships and 2Gen Outreach for the Quality Innovations and Partnerships Division at Bright from the Start: Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning (DECAL), will present our program on Thursday, May 1.

Her role encompasses 2Gen outreach initiatives, stakeholder engagement, and building relationships with Georgia’s business community. She oversees a dynamic team dedicated to fostering collaborations across the state to enhance early childhood education opportunities, building capacity and awareness among local leaders, ensuring that early education remains a priority in every community.

Jill has been instrumental in the design and implementation of DECAL’s Community Impact Grants, including the groundbreaking Expanding Parents’ Access to Nontraditional Delivery (EXPAND) grants. These grants provide community-level supports for Georgia’s children ages birth to 8 and their families, increase opportunities for sustainable community collaboration and create new opportunities for communities to innovate at the local level to address critical needs.

Before she joined DECAL in 2015, she served as the program coordinator for the Early Childhood Care and Education program at Wiregrass Georgia Technical College and taught Georgia’s Pre-K in the Coffee County School District. She and her husband, Christian, are parents to three grown children and call Statesboro their home.

Upcoming Events
Mark Your Calendar

Please plan your calendars for the remainder of the month.


  • Wednesday, April 16: Coffee Chat at Grassroots Coffee from 7:30 a.m. to 8:15 a.m. No agenda, just stop by for a cup and a chat. 
  • Thursday, April 17: Pack and Sort at Second Harvest from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
  • Saturday, April 19: Produce distribution at Weston Park. Arrive at 7:30 a.m. for set-up.
  • Thursday, April 24: GRSP Student Farewell
  • Thursday, April 24-Sunday, April 27: Georgia United District Conference
  • Thursday, May 1: Jill Taylor, DECAL: Childcare in Southwest Georgia
  • Thursday, May 1: Wine or Whine at Katie Chastain's house

The calendar is subject to updates. Come back here weekly for updates, or find the Rotary calendar anytime:

View full Rotary Club of Thomasville calendar.
Attend a club meeting via Zoom. Use the meeting ID: 850 1793 4263.
Dial-in by phone: +13126266799.