Lisa McCurdy Barry, the owner of The Supply Company in Glennville, accepted the gavel from outgoing club president Joe Sikes so as to serve as the 2024-2025 president of the Glennville Rotary Club, a service club that was formed in Glennville in 1984. The changing of command was held at the Wednesday, June 26, 2024, installation banquet at the Glennville Garden Club Center.
Sikes, 2023-2024 club president, thanked the club members for their support during the year, and especially the efforts of Donald Fountain in assisting the Long County Rotary Club in making their application as a new club in District 6920. He and another club member have attended several meetings over the past year and participated in the Long County Rotary Club's Charter Banquet this past spring. Sikes also commended the club for their efforts in the raising of funds for scholarships from the golf tournament, chaired by Chris Roessler and Greg Parker, with assistance from Lee Dubberly and Pam and Terry Waters. Also, another plus for the club was the annual online auction, gift card raffle, and Last Man Standing drawing, which are chaired by Darla Kicklighter and Tiffany Sittle.
Sikes was voted by the members of the club as Rotarian of the Year for his dedication to the club's projects and his service. He was presented the plaque by Lisa Barry, who also presented him with the Past President Award.
Another highlight of the June 26 event was the recognition of two new Major Donors to the Rotary Foundation, who are Darla Kicklighter and Tiffany Sittle. A Major Donor recognizes $10,000 in contributions on behalf of the individual to the Rotary Foundation, which is the arm of Rotary that provides humanitarian service around the world. Darla has been a member of the Glennville Rotary Club since 1991 and Tiffany since 2005; both have served as president of the Glennville Rotary Club and are active in many of the club's fund-raising projects.
Glennville Rotarian Terry Waters was recognized with his next Paul Harris Fellow (PHF) designation, to a PH+2 level, which represents $3000 in contributions to the Rotary Foundation to date. Each level represents a contribution of $1000.
Donald Fountain, in making these presentations, was assisted by Hamsa Thota, who is Rotary District 6920 Global Grants and Foundation Chair. Hamsa commented on the Polio Plus Eradication efforts, which is to completely rid the world of polio, a project that was founded by Rotary International in 1985. He was the first chair for Georgia and led in the raising of $140,000 that first year. Dr. Troy Rahn, a Glennville Rotary Club charter member, chaired the local club's campaign and challenged his fellow club members in raising over $5000 in the mid 1980s. There have been six cases of polio in 2024, two in Pakistan and four in Afghanistan. He added that the goal is to completely eradicate polio within the next three years.
Rotarians who pledge $100 a year until polio is completely eradicated are members of the Polio Plus Society. These new members are Mickey Anderson, Lisa Barry, Rob Barry, Tim Cooper, Kim Craft, Tyler D'Alto, Stan Dansby, Wayne Dasher, Wes Kicklighter, Dennis Lamb, Zuber Malek, Paul Peterson, Troy Rahn, Kyle Sapp, Ashley Sittle, Joe Skeens, and Jackie Trim. Those members for the second year are Donald Fountain, Lynda Goodell, Bobby Kennedy, Darla Kicklighter, Jay Martin, Hugh McCullough, Dylan Mulligan, Greg Parker, Chris Roessler, Charlton Rogers, Will Sheffield, Joe Sikes, Tiffany Sittle, Wayne Terrell, Paul Thompson, Donna Tootle, David Tucker, Pam Waters, and Terry Waters.
"Until the last child is immunized and the world is certified polio-free (three consecutive years), every child is at risk," said Hamsa, in encouraging all members to become Polio Plus Society members.
In addition to President Lisa Barry, others who were installed for the 2024-25 year are as follows: Past President-Joe Sikes; President-elect-Paul Peterson; Treasurer-Chris Roessler; Secretary-Donald Fountain; Sergeant-at-Arms-Joe Skeens; and Board members: Darla Kicklighter, Greg Parker, Terry Waters, Lee Dubberly, and David Tucker. The past year's officers were also recognized.
The club's Major Donors total 11, and include Jimmy Dubberly, Jimmy McCurdy, Brent Walker, Clyde Davis, Dr. Troy Rahn, Donald Fountain, Zuber Malek, Dr. Paul Thompson, Pam Waters, Darla Kicklighter, and Tiffany Sittle. Although Dennis Strickland would have been made a Major Donor, instead his wife, Sindy, and their three children were made Paul Harris Fellows, which equals the $10,000 Major Donor donation.
In closing, new president Lisa Barry commented that she looked forward to a productive year filled with service to the local community and abroad. She expressed her appreciation for the continued leadership in the club's various fundraisers.
