Minutes of the Rotary Meeting
April 5, 2018
By Kathy Miller
Call to Order: The meeting was called to order by John Dukes at 12:00 p.m. Dan McDaniel offered the invocation and Tommy Blankenship led the Club in song and the Pledge of Allegiance.
Guests: Jeff Zoghby introduced guests and visitors.
Announcements: John reminded members of the next Rotary Dine Around on April 17 at El Papi from 5:00 to 7:00 and asked that members RSVP to Peggy. He also reminded members of the Golf event on April 24. The proceeds will benefit the Rotary Foundation, Wilmer Hall and Habitat for Humanity for Southwest Alabama. He also reminded members of the District Conference at the Beau Rivage. John reported that the Club had made a $5,000 global grant and had joined with several other clubs in the District in a $200,000 grant to upgrade a school in Jaipur, India.
Program: Tom McGehee introduced Board member Garrett Williamson, who presented a program about the Save-A-Stray program. Mr. Williamson is a native of Mobile and a graduate of UMS. He was a pole-vaulter for the University of Georgia and received a degree in Exercise Science. Mr. Williamson has a masters degree from the U.S. Sports Academy and is the owner of Personal Edge Fitness in Mobile. Mr. Williamson introduced his wife, Stephanie, who is the Executive Director of Save-A-Stray. The mission of Save-A-Stray is to save animals in shelters by adoption, spaying and neutering and education. Save-A-Stray has been involved in over 600 adoptions and transports an average of fifty dogs a month from Mobile to New York for adoption. Save-A-Stray partners with Helping Hands in DeWitt, New York, a suburb of Syracuse. The trailers that transport the dogs meet Save-A-Stray’s transportation standards. The dogs that are transported are in good shape, vaccinated, spayed and neutered and have a microchip and health certificate. The dogs are fostered in homes for two weeks after they are removed from the shelter before they are eligible to be transported. This allows Save-A-Stray to determine how the dogs interact with families and to provide feedback to potential adoptees. A number of veterinarians partner with Save-A-Stray to vaccinate and spay and neuter the dogs. John presented Garrett with recognition of the Club’s appreciation for his speaking to us.
Adjournment: After announcing members’ birthdays, John adjourned the meeting at 1:00 p.m.