Our current leadership team: DGN Kirk Driskell, DG Court Dowis, DGE Jim Squire, and DGN Deignate Mary Ligon

Attending the D6900 Governors Council

It is the halfway point in the race for Rotary year 2018-2019. Now is the time all Race Teams and Rotary Clubs check their gauges, check their mirrors and make adjustments to finish Strong this Rotary year! And to start revving up for 2019-20 too. Your leadership team recently traveled to International Assembly in San Diego, and then met here at Pine Mountain with our D6900 Council of Governors - all to be sure we're ready for next year.

This month is Rotary's month of Peace and Conflict Resolution. Our district is strong in its support of two programs in particular that have this focus in mind - the Georgia Rotary Student Program (GRSP) and Rotary Youth Exchange (RYE). We have fine leadership for both of these programs - thanks to District GRSP Chair Lynn Clarke (Bremen), our two GRSP Directors Ian Bond (Columbus) and Bill Smith (Brookhaven), and our RYE Chair Michael Parks (Dunwoody), as well as all the others who serve as trustees, coordinators, and host families in these programs. I appreciate all that you and your clubs do to Be the Inspiration for these young students to make a difference in the world and help it take another step toward peace and understanding.

As we move through the back straight away of this Rotary year, there are some things for all of us to check in our Rotary game plan:

For Every Rotarian:

• Are you checked in for your Family of Rotary family vacation at District Conference April 25-28 in SanDestin? There's still time to register for this great April event and to sign up for room at the SanDestin resort. I don't believe many of us have ever taken full advantage of the facilities at SanDestin when we have stayed there in the past. In this newsletter, you can see a list of the amenities you can take advantage of during your stay at SanDestin if you have booked your rooms through the Rotary room block. To date, most of you have, and what does not show up on the amenities list is the fact that the convention facilities are FREE when we meet our quotas. We are over 50% of the way to meeting those quotas at this time and we need everyone of you to sign up and join us as we have FUN in SanDestin.
• Are you signed up to join us for District Assembly on March 30? Everyone is welcome to attend but we especially invite those of you who will be taking on a leadership role in 2019-20 and those of you who have joined Rotary this year. Breakout sessions will focus on Membership Development and Retrention, Club Administration, Club Public Relations, Service Projects, The Rotary Foundation, Fundraising, District Awards, Rotary Education for New Members, as well as Club Treasurer and Club Secretary Functions and more. See your Club's President-Elect to learn more and ask about attending.
• Are you up-to-date with your plans to contribute to The Rotary Foundation this Rotary year? Check out the Foundation article in this newsletter to learn more about how District 6900 and TRF are doing good in the world this year. There's still plenty of time to support those efforts - now and in the future.

For Current Club Leaders:

• Final reports on your District Grants are due February 28.
• Is your team in the lead for the Rotary Cup Challenge final dash?
  • Enter progress toward your Foundation, membership and service goals on Rotary Club Central. You can check out your progress toward your Club membership commitment through "Membership Status" and review your "Club Recognition Summary" for The Rotary Foundation on myrotary.org
  • Contributions to GRSP and The Rotary Foundation should be mailed by mid-month.
  • District award submissions are due to PDG and Awards Chair Raymond Ray no later than March 8. You may log on to the D6900 District Web Site @ https://rotary6900.org/v2/ and access 2018-19 district awards information, data and club awards submission.
• Presidents-Elect should be planning to attend PeachState PETS at the Renaissance Hotel in Atlanta from March 1-3.

Thanks for all that all of you are doing to Be the Inspiration. It has been a great ride so far!