Tuesday was a day of celebration for Bainbridge Rotary, as they welcomed District  6900 Governor Alicia Michael and District Rotary Foundation Chair, Ray McKemie, as guests to their weekly meeting. 

The celebration revolved around the induction of 27 new Paul Harris Fellows, thus making the local club at the 100 percent level of Paul Harris Fellows – one of only 27 of the 69 clubs in the district to have achieved that milestone. This has been a ten year effort according to McKemie, who presented Rotary President Kim Walden with a 100 percent banner.

In her speech to the Rotarians, Michael rallied the members to meet the membership challenge, not only of recruiting new ones, but also retaining active members by spreading the word of the work being done by Rotarians in their communities.

As an example, she cited a 78 year-old man who was named rookie of the year in her Carrollton Rotary Club after becoming a member a few months earlier. Everywhere he went he promoted Rotary and as a result of his being actively engaged in community service their membership began to grow.

Michael said today people do not join clubs, but they do join causes. She urged the members to “show your impact of time, service and support as a Rotarian,” and by doing so you share the impact of Rotary in the community.

Michael awarded Rotarian Bo Jones and local President Kim Walden with pins for their recruitment of new members.

Following the custom of presenting the guests with certificates announcing a book donation to the local library in their honor, Walden announced that a new free library box will be placed in the town square in honor of the district governor’s visit.