This week is a Favorite Meeting for so many of us… We will have 11 of our 14 Interact Clubs talk about their Club’s year. We will hear about the service projects they have completed and the lessons they have learned all while applying and personalizing the Roswell Motto of Service Above Self. This 2025-26 year has been exciting for so many reasons but one of them is the collaboration! We have seen clubs working together on a few projects as well as showing up for some of the RRC events. Building the float for the Youth Day Parade and Sweep the Hooch are great examples with several clubs participating and making a difference community even whole state-wide! Introducing new ideas and then inviting other clubs to join in on the fun is the goal.

Collaboration is just one of the missions that Joe Gillespie will be encouraging as he takes the reins of Interact for Roswell Rotary. There has been a tremendous amount of interest in our international projects as well as celebrating our Hometown Heroes. Launching the next Interact Club evolution, he hopes to create a middle school/high school-specific event as well as an elementary school specific service project. There will be a focus on accountability to community and leadership styles all while cleaning up the river, installing a peace pole or finding a pen pal group through the International Interact Conference being held in October in Ecuador.

It has been a rewarding 12 years involved with the Youth Programs within the Roswell Rotary Club. I will still be involved with Roswell Youth Council, the youth leadership collaboration started this school year between RRC and the City of Roswell, but the rest of the succession leadership is solid. The Rotarians who are stepping into these legacy leadership roles are doing so with the commitment to not only keep them strong but also relevant. Joe exemplifies this future.

RRC continues to stand strong with our focus on our Roswell youth by sponsoring an unprecedented 14 clubs: 5 high school, 3 middle and 6 elementary. We stand unique by offering elementary schools an Interact Club format tailored to them. And, as you will hear on Thursday, each club is different, they reflect their school community and make an impact.

As a club, we make sure that those under 18 are heard, seen and encouraged to participate. Look at BTV (Debbie Cwalina) and End Trafficking Now (Dave McCleary). I wanted to take a moment to thank each of you for stepping in to help with a school, an event or an idea. The current Interact Rotary Liaisons absolutely rock that role. They show up. They make suggestions and then they make introductions often with a snack and a smile. After speaking to many Rotary Clubs across the District about Interact, please know that Sid Disher, Dave Schmidt and Becky Stone started this Youth Initiative deliberately in 2013-14. They built a solid foundation so many of us have been able to serve our community by investing in our next generation.