It was in February of 2007 that Sam Morris received a telephone call from then President of the Rotary Club of Peachtree City, Mary Chapman.
Mary indicated that District Governor Steve Stanfield and she had been working through RI to get approval to sponsor the formation of a new club in our area and that approval had been received. The concept was for an evening club, to be accessible to those who for reasons of job responsibilities were not able to attend a lunch or breakfast meeting time. This was to be the fourth Rotary Club in Fayette County, but the only one that was formed with the idea of an evening meeting.
Sam could certainly see that this reasoning made a lot of sense and was one who fell into that group several years ago. Mary was aware that Sam had recently taken early retirement from his corporate job with State Farm Insurance Companies and gone back into a local agency in Fayette County. Being aware of his past involvement with Rotary, she asked him if he would be involved in an effort to get this new club off the ground.
Mary invited him to an initial meeting at her home on March 6, 2007. At that meeting were also Jim Cox and Jay Arnold, two who have been instrumental in getting us to where we are today. I met Jim and Jay for the first time that evening at Mary’s home, and they have been steadfast since the beginning in the brainstorming of ideas and setting the course of this new club.
Also present that night was District Governor-Elect Ted Propes. Hearing Ted and the other Rotarians there giving their testimony of what Rotary was about, and what it meant to be a Rotarian, really helped my commitment to get involved.
Our next meeting was held March 20, 2007 at the conference room in my office. Then the following week we began a series of meetings at Jim Cox’s conference room at Merrill-Lynch in Westpark. During these sessions, we were joined by other charter members. Early on there were Ernest Johnson, Jim Qualls, David Gibson, Jon and Beth Hughes, Ginger Couch, and Mark Briggs. Soon we were joined by Beth Brooks and Cynthia Monsour.
During these meetings we received a lot of support from other Rotarians, particularly from ADG Carol Stallings, PTC Club Extension Chair Denise Statham, and District Extension Chair Barry Smith. Without the involvement and guidance of these three people, we would likely not have made it to the point of receiving our charter. These sessions were all about answering some basic but critical questions, such as what should be the name of the Club, what night and where should we meet, and who will be the officers and directors. We also got an introduction to Rotary basics during these sessions, such as vocational classifications, attendance, the Foundation, the 4-Way Test, and many other aspects of Rotary. District Governor Bill Woulfin attended two of our meetings during this formation phase and pledged his support. And he has never wavered since!
We decided on the name of Coweta-Fayette Rotary to be inclusive of others in our area who may not happen to reside or work in Fayette County. Our idea is to have members from both Counties and to perform service projects to benefit both. We also decided to meet on Monday evenings as that seemed to be the night with less conflicting events in the community. We scheduled our first social event for July 24, 2007, which was a cookout hosted by Jim Cox at his father’s lake in Coweta County. We struggled for several weeks with identifying a meeting place, but finally were graciously offered the room at the GA Café by owner Steve Teague. We met at GA Cafe from July 2007 through March 2008. Upon GA Café closing its doors, we were forced to relocate to our current meeting place of the Peachtree City Tennis Center.
We participated as a team in the Dragon Boat Races sponsored by the Peachtree City Rotary Club on October 6, 2007 and had a concession stand there that was our first attempt at fund raising. Our next attempt at fund raising was a Car Show in Peachtree City held on June 7, 2008. We have also carried out several service projects that were documented in our first scrapbook displayed at the 2007-2008 District Conference.
We finally reached the magic number of twenty members and applied for our charter through Rotary International in October of 2007. The charter was approved and we became an official Rotary Club in District 6900 on November 15, 2007. Our charter party was held at The Depot event center in Tyrone, Georgia, on February 9, 2008. We had in attendance eight Past District Governors and the evening was a huge success. Many thanks go out to Beth Brooks and Cynthia Monsour for making sure that it was an evening to remember! We were presented our Club Bell and Gavel by the Peachtree City Club President David O’Rear. Our Club Banner was presented by the Newnan Club President David Galloway. Our badges and membership packets were presented by the Fayette Daybreak Club President Brenda Jones. And our badge box was presented by the Sandy Springs Club, member, and current secretary, and Past District Governor Barry Smith.
We are an official Club now and off to a great start. We know and understand that there will be challenges to overcome, but we are committed to making this Club a leading Club in the best District in Rotary International. May what we have begun here be the beginning of a rich and lasting legacy of Service Above Self.