February 26, 2024
Meeting Minutes
President Bill Keogh rang the bell and called the meeting to order.
Anna Reeves gave the pledge and invocation.
Matt Barrett introduced the guests and visiting Rotarians.
Connie Melear gave the Sunshine Report.
Announcements
- President Bill recognized TR Reddy’s guest Mr. Sharma who is visiting from India. Mr. Sharma holds a government position equivalent to a Senator and shared a video of Dream Destination City which is a development project in India.
- President Bill thanked Brenda Durant and Bob Goodman for their work on the highly successful New Member Reception last week.
- Club member Matt Aitken addressed the club and announced his decision to run for District 1 Commissioner. Matt previously had that position in 2009.
- Everyone is encouraged to use the DACdb website and app. It is a great way to stay connected with fellow Rotarians.
- Read Across America will take place on Monday March 4. We need 15 volunteers to read Dr. Seuss books as part of the Head Start Program. Also, we will be collecting books to be donated to Copeland Elementary School. Anyone wishing to participate should reach out to Candace Hillman or Anna Reeves.
- A special thank you to club member Chuck Fuqua who sits on the Board of Rise Augusta for donating 500 books to elementary schools. Rise Augusta will also be hosting their annual golf tournament on May 20.
New Members
Dr. Zach Kelehear introduced our newest member, Dr. Karen Head.
Paul Harris Fellows
None presented
CART: President Bill asked everyone to please continue to contribute to the blue buckets on the table or online at mycartfund.org using the same login credentials you use with DACDB. Also, please complete our club’s Google form to sign up to be a Cart Challenger.
Upcoming Speakers
- March 4 Speech Contest Winners
- March 11 AU Cancer Center program on Car-T Cells
- March 18 Stephanie Stuckey – Stuckey’s Gas Station
- March 25 Tonia Gibbons with Channeled Paths, Inc.
- April 1 Dr. Jackson Drumgoole – The Bridge Builder Community
- April 8 & 15 No meetings due to Masters Week
- April 21 Vahid Majidl – SRNL
- April 28 Justice Carla Wong McMillian of the Supreme Court of Georgia
Upcoming Events
- March 4 Read Across America Day
- March 16 Rotary Leadership Institute (RLI) in Thomson
- April 20 Club Service Project with Turn Back the Block
- April 26-28 District Conference, Jekyll Island
- May 7 Annual Golf Tournament – River Club
- May 25-29 Rotary International Convention (Singapore)
- June 24 Passing of the Gavel
Guest Speaker/Program
Sue Parr introduced our guest speaker, Retired Colonel Eric Toler, Executive Director of the Georgia Cyber Center at Augusta University.
Colonel Toler shared his vision for the Cyber Center and put special emphasis on the need to go faster as the number and complexity of cyber threats continues to evolve. He showed a graphic illustrating there are over 550,000 unfilled cyber related jobs in the US.
He said the center’s mission is to Educate, Innovate, Operate, and Cultivate. Within the Cyber Center, students are being educated, innovation is being fostered, interns are getting real world operational experience, and they are cultivating relationships with local, state, and federal agencies to combat cyber threats.
In closing, Colonel Toler warned that if we are to maintain our status as the Cyber Capital of the Southeast we must accelerate our research & development, leverage our collaborations with other schools and agencies, and prepare a workforce to fill the critical jobs that are currently available.
President Bill led us in reciting the four-way test and then adjourned the meeting.
Easy links to pages on our website
Rotary schedule of meeting dates and speakers
Member Proposal Form
Online directory - Find a member or update your information
Bulletins - Weekly bulletins from 2014-current
