President's Message
December
December being the last month of the year cannot help but make us think of what is to come.
I reflect on how our lives have changed. We removed obstacles, found new ways to connect, and embraced new approaches to service. As we have made it to the end of the year, think positive because thoughts are like the steering wheel that moves our life in the right direction.
Cheers to a beautiful holiday season and all good things to come!
This Week's Speaker
The SEC Network
Tony Barnhart is in his 45th season of covering college football for radio, television and the internet. He is currently in his seventh season as a college football analyst for The SEC Network and is a columnist for TMGcollegesports.com. Previously he was a college football analyst for CBS Sports and a reporter for ESPN’s College Game Day. He spent 25 years at The Atlanta-Journal Constitution as a college football writer. Tony has authored five books on college football. Two of the books are the autobiographies of Vince Dooley and Larry Munson.
Tony is a 1976 graduate of the Henry W. Grady School of Journalism at the University of Georgia. He has been inducted into the school’s Grady Fellowship, signifying career achievement and contributions to Journalism. In 2016 Tony received the Contribution to Amateur Football Award from the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame. In 1999 Tony was named the Georgia Sports Writer of the Year. On Oct. 6 Tony was named to the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame.
Tony and Maria, who just celebrated their 43rd wedding anniversary, live in Dunwoody, Ga. Their daughter (Sara) and son in law (Brian) live in a “divided household” with Sara as UGA Bulldog and Brian a Michigan State Spartan. Tony and Maria have a granddaughter, Sloane, who came into the starting lineup of life on Aug. 23, 2012. Their second grandchild, baby boy Beau, was born on Aug. 2, 2020.
New Member Profile
Brenda Blanton
Brenda has dedicated over 40 years to serving the residential real estate needs of families and individuals relocating into and out of Georgia. Her career began in 1978 as a REALTOR® in the state of Georgia and her first year in business she was the recipient of the Athens Board of REALTORS® "New Face of the Year" Award in 1979 and REALTOR® of the Year in 1983 and 1995.
A Life Member of the Million Dollar Club, Phoenix Award, Silver Gold and Emeritus for 40 years of success, by 1986 she had achieved her Associate Broker's Designation and opened her own brokerage which later became Prudential Blanton Properties then Berkshire Hathaway Home Services Blanton Properties. She has consistently ranked in the top 3% of sales professionals in her company nationwide.
She has been extremely active in her community of Athens, GA since the late 1960s in many civic organizations and charities including The Athens Rotary, American Heart Association which she is co-chairing GO RED this year with her daughter, DeAnn Blanton Golden, American Cancer Society, and many others. She was a member of the charter class of Leadership Athens. A member of Tuckson Methodist Church of Athens led by Rev Malone Dodson and later First Methodist Church.
Brenda is married to DeWitt Blanton, PhD, a retired professor from UGA’s School of Pharmacy. DeWitt is currently residing in memory care in Hillland Hills. Her daughter DeAnn a resident of Roswell GA.
Brenda relocated to Roswell to be closer to her daughter and 2 grandchildren, Grace 12 and Wilson 9. She is delighted to continue her tradition of helping families make their next best move whether in Athens or Roswell or anywhere in Georgia or across the nation and globe. “Home is where the heart is” and nothing warms Brenda’s heart more than bringing people home!
Rotary Last Week
