PRESIDENT ALEX'S MESSAGE
Fellow Rotarians-
It is hard to believe that one
month of Rotary Year 2023-2024 has come and gone. I believe that our lunch and
lunch service is improving. We will continue to work towards refining the
process so please be patient.
Kurt Hilbert and I just returned
from Colombia where we met the Club's 2022-2023 GRSP Student Emilio Ochoa and
his family to celebrate Emilio's college graduation. We also connected with his
uncle, who is a Rotarian, and we are working towards a joint
international project - stay tuned!
Our speaker this week is Congressman Rich McCormick of the 6th Congressional
District. Congressman McCormick's resume includes being a Marine, a doctor, and
a family man. He is a dynamic speaker, so
I encourage everyone to attend.
Featured Speaker- Dr. Rich McCormick, GA Congressman 6th District
Roswell Rotary Club is honored to welcome Dr. Rich McCormick, Congressman from Georgia's 6th District, as our featured speaker this Thursday.
Dr. Rich McCormick is a decorated veteran and Emergency Room physician who proudly serves Georgia’s 6th Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives.
Raised by a single mother, Rich was a paperboy in middle school and eventually worked his way through college, earning a degree from Oregon State University. A firm believer in service before self, McCormick joined the Marine Corps and became a helicopter pilot. During his two decades of service, Rich deployed to combat zones in Africa, the Persian Gulf, and Afghanistan. As a Marine, he flew helicopters, was Airborne and attached to Army and foreign forces. Additionally, Rich taught at Georgia Tech and Morehouse College as the Marine Officer Instructor. In the Navy, Rich earned the rank of Commander and served as Department Head for the Emergency Medicine Department in Kandahar, Afghanistan.
Between deployments, Rich earned his Master of Business Administration from National University and medical degree from Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, where he was honored to serve as student body president. He completed residency in Emergency Medicine through Emory while training at Grady Hospital in Atlanta. Most recently, Dr. McCormick served as an Emergency Room physician at Northside Hospital.
In Congress, Rich serves on the House Armed Services, Foreign Affairs, and Science, Space, and Technology Committees, as well as the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic.
Rich lives in Suwanee, Georgia with his wife Debra, who is an oncologist, keeping busy as parents to seven amazing children. The McCormick's are members of Cross Pointe Church.
Let's have a full house to welcome Congressman/Dr. McCormick to our club!
End Human Trafficking NOW
Rotary (and the Braves) Beat the Brewers in a HOT Game
The Braves Beat the Brewers 8-6 in (literally) the hottest game of the summer. Thank you, Dave McCleary and your many Roswell Rotary, Delta, and other Rotary friends who came out in support of End Human Trafficking, NOW! The Power of One has built an army!
New Location: Houck's Grille on Wed, Aug 23
Blood Drive: It's Personal for Me
Last week I wrote to you asking you to make giving
blood personal to you. This week I’m writing because it’s personal for me.
August 9, I head back to WellStar North Fulton Hospital to have a second kidney
procedure. I must have 15 to 20 kidney stones removed from my left kidney. I
had the right kidney cleaned out March 29. August 9th is a rather
wonderful, yet ominous date for me. Two years ago, on that date my daughter
received word in the morning that she was indeed pregnant with my first
grandchild, it was the little guy you saw pictured last week. In the afternoon
she received a call informing her they may have to pull the plug on her
father…me, as I lay in a coma battling Covid.
As I head back for this second procedure, it is
possible I will have to have blood infused. I didn’t have to last time and I’m
hopeful I won’t have to this time either, but I won’t know until I know.
The bottom line of this is simple. You don’t know
until it happens if you will ever need blood. It’s good to know there are
people out there willing and able to do so. Please be one of them. If you can’t
yourself find someone to give in your honor. It will truly be an honor to them
to do so. Just ask them. You will truly be a blessing to the one who receives
it, just as it was for me two years ago when I received 3 pints.
