https://www.facebook.com/140653855971431/

Clinton Rotary Club

Home
United States
Clinton, TN
Clinton Rotary Club

Call Directions

The Clinton Rotary Club is a civic organization that believes in 'Service over Self'

10/28/2026

🇺🇸 Clinton Rotary Club Welcomes Historian Ray Smith!

Clinton Rotary Club was honored to welcome Ray Smith, longtime Y-12 historian and Oak Ridge historian, as our guest speaker!

Ray shared a fascinating perspective on the exciting wave of artificial intelligence (AI), data centers, and technological investment coming to Oak Ridge and the surrounding region. Drawing comparisons to the original Manhattan Project, he challenged us to consider how the lessons of history can help us prepare for this next chapter of growth and innovation.

During World War II, Oak Ridge became the center of an unprecedented scientific and industrial effort that transformed our community and helped shape the world. Today, as new companies and technologies arrive in our region, we have another opportunity to make history. Ray reminded us of the importance of understanding the past as we work to prepare for the future and position our communities to prosper from this technological boom.

In his published work on “Manhattan Project 2.0,” Ray has explored how the determination, coordination, and willingness to take on seemingly impossible challenges that characterized the original Manhattan Project may offer valuable lessons for today’s ambitious technological initiatives. He has also written about Oak Ridge’s emerging role in nuclear energy and the infrastructure needed to power the future of AI. These are timely conversations for our region as we consider both the opportunities ahead and the responsibility that comes with such rapid growth.

As Rotarians, we know that strong communities are built through collaboration, forward-thinking leadership, and service. Ray’s presentation reminded us that history is more than a record of where we have been; it can also help guide where we are going.

Thank you, Ray, for sharing your knowledge, your passion for preserving our history, and your insight into the exciting future of East Tennessee! We are grateful for the opportunity to learn from you and look forward to seeing how our region continues to grow and prosper.

Service Above Self can also mean building on our history to create a brighter future! 💛💙

10/20/2026

The Clinton Rotary Club was honored to welcome fellow Rotarian and Tennessee State Senate candidate Jimmy Matlock as our guest speaker!

Jimmy shared the story and history of his family’s business, Matlock Tire, and reflected on the lasting impact that small businesses and community relationships can have over generations.

One especially meaningful part of his message was the collection of old receipts and advertisements from his father’s business that several people have shared with him over the years. He spoke about how these pieces of history serve as important reminders that “if it mattered then, it should matter now.” The values behind a successful small business—serving people, being available when needed, and building lasting relationships—are just as important today as they have ever been. These same values are at the heart of Rotary and our commitment to service.

Jimmy also reminded us that in both business and Rotary, there will be times when serving isn’t fun or convenient. But we continue to show up and do the work, honoring those who came before us and carried these commitments forward. Their example reminds us that service is about something bigger than ourselves.

He emphasized the importance of relationships and the trust we build with others. The impact of our service may not always be immediately visible, and sometimes it takes years to see the return on the time and care we invest. But the children and families we serve today are the future leaders of our community. How we show up for them, the relationships we build, and the trust we earn can make a lasting difference in the future of Clinton and Anderson County.

Thank you, Mr. Matlock, for sharing your family’s story, your perspective on small business, and such a meaningful reminder of why service matters. We are grateful for your time and for the opportunity to learn from you!

Service Above Self! 💙💛

09/29/2026

Today we were honored to have two guest speakers and a new Clinton Rotary Club member! Pictured left to right is Laura Carrington, Tom Kale, and Kristen Otto.

🚨🤝 Thank You, Tom Kale! 🤝🚨

Clinton Rotary Club was excited to welcome Tom Kale, District 6780 Disaster Relief Chair and Chair of the District Fellowship Committee, as our guest speaker!

Tom shared valuable information about Rotary’s role in disaster response and preparedness, including the importance of having plans, committees, and resources in place before disaster strikes. Rotary members around the world help communities through immediate response, short-term assistance, and long-term rebuilding following disasters. He also reminded us that Rotary is about so much more than our weekly meetings. Rotary Fellowships give members the opportunity to connect with people around the world who share their hobbies, interests, professions, and passions. From motorcycling and golf to photography, cooking, travel, and countless other interests, there are fellowships that allow Rotarians to build friendships and experience Rotary in new ways. Tom certainly practices what he preaches! A Rotarian for 25 years, he has served in numerous club and district leadership roles and attended six Rotary International Conventions. He is also a member of the International Fellowship of Motorcycling Rotarians and serves as its Southeast Ride Captain. In 2025, Tom rode more than 8,200 miles solo on his motorcycle to attend the Rotary International Convention in Calgary and has now ridden in five countries across three continents! 🏍️🌎 We especially enjoyed hearing how deeply Rotary runs in Tom’s family. His father was a longtime Chattanooga Rotarian, and both his grandfather and great-grandfather were Rotarians in Durham, North Carolina. His wife, Jane, is also deeply involved in Rotary and helped charter Rotary Rocks Chattanooga. Thank you, Tom, for reminding us that Rotary is at its strongest when we combine service, preparedness, shared interests, and friendship. Whether we are helping our neighbors recover after a disaster or building friendships with fellow Rotarians around the world, the relationships we build are what make our organization so special. 💙💛 We appreciate you taking the time to visit Clinton Rotary Club and share your experience with us!

🌎🕊️ Thank You, Laura Carrington! 🕊️🌎

Clinton Rotary Club was honored to welcome Laura Carrington from the Oak Ridge Breakfast Rotary Club as our guest speaker! Laura shared with us the inspiring Peace Pole Project and how Rotary clubs and community members can help spread a message of peace throughout our communities.

🕊️ What is a Peace Pole?
Peace Poles are internationally recognized symbols of peace. Each pole is traditionally inscribed with the message “May Peace Prevail on Earth” in multiple languages. They are placed in public spaces, schools, churches, parks, gardens, and other meaningful locations as a reminder that peace begins with each of us and extends throughout our community and around the world.

The Peace Pole Project is a wonderful way to bring people together around Rotary’s commitment to Peace and Conflict Prevention/Resolution while creating a lasting symbol of hope and unity.

💙 Want to get involved?
Individuals, families, businesses, schools, churches, civic organizations, and Rotary clubs can participate by sponsoring or creating a Peace Pole and finding a meaningful location to display it. Peace Poles can be customized with languages and messages that are meaningful to the community.

A special thank-you to Laura for taking the time to share this project with us and for inspiring us to think about how Clinton Rotary can help promote peace right here in our own community. We appreciate our fellow Rotarians in the Oak Ridge Breakfast Rotary Club for the work they are doing to bring this message of peace to our area! 🕊️💙 May Peace Prevail on Earth. 🌎

💙💛 Welcome, Kristen Otto! 💛💙

A special thank-you to our fellow Rotarian Kristen Otto, Vice President of Professional Services at Emory Valley Center, for joining us at Clinton Rotary!

We are so happy to have Kristen as part of the Clinton Rotary family and look forward to getting to know her better, serving alongside her, and benefiting from the experience and perspective she brings to our club and our community.

Kristen, thank you for being part of Clinton Rotary! We’re excited to have you with us! 🤝

Welcome to Clinton Rotary! 💙💛

09/27/2026

💙 Thank you, Nycole Gentry, from Voices for a Safer Tennessee! 💙

The Clinton Rotary Club was grateful to welcome Nycole Gentry, East Tennessee Coalition Coordinator with Voices for a Safer Tennessee (Safer TN), to our meeting last Tuesday. Nycole shared information about fi***rm safety in Tennessee, the work Safer TN is doing across our state, and practical ways communities can help prevent fi***rm tragedies.

So, what is Safer TN?

Voices for a Safer Tennessee is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization focused on reducing preventable fi***rm tragedies while respecting the Second Amendment. The organization began forming in the days following the Covenant School shooting in Nashville in March 2023, when a group of Tennessee parents came together with a shared goal of finding practical, collaborative solutions to fi***rm safety.

Today, Safer TN has grown to nearly 40,000 Tennesseans across all 95 counties and works through education, community conversations, research, and partnerships. Their work includes promoting responsible fi***rm ownership, encouraging secure fi***rm storage, providing safety resources such as cable locks, and helping communities better understand Tennessee-specific data.

Safer TN partners with organizations throughout Tennessee, including healthcare and social-service organizations, law enforcement, community groups, and the University of Tennessee’s Boyd Center for Business and Economic Research. Their healthcare partnerships include Erlanger Children’s Hospital, Dolly Parton Children’s Hospital in Knoxville, and Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital in Memphis. Together, these partnerships have helped distribute thousands of free fi***rm cable locks to Tennessee gun owners.

One of the most interesting resources Nycole shared was Safer TN’s Fi***rm Fatality Dashboard, developed in partnership with the UT Boyd Center. The dashboard uses verified information from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and Tennessee Department of Health to examine fi***rm deaths and injuries across all 95 counties.

📊 Tennessee by the numbers

According to Safer TN’s current data:

• Tennessee ranks #1 in the nation for fi***rms stolen from vehicles.

• Tennessee ranks #3 in the nation for accidental shootings by children.

• Tennessee’s fi***rm su***de rate is approximately 50% higher than the national average.

• Fi***rm injury has been the leading cause of death for Tennessee children since 2017.

The UT Boyd Center dashboard also estimates that fi***rm injuries and deaths resulted in approximately $4.49 billion in economic costs to Tennessee in 2023, including the value of lost life, medical expenses, emergency services, law enforcement response, and lost productivity.

These numbers represent real families and real communities, which is why conversations about prevention, responsible fi***rm ownership, and community safety are so important.

We appreciate Nycole taking the time to join us, answer questions, and help our club better understand the resources available to Tennessee families and communities.

Thank you, Nycole, for the work you are doing across East Tennessee and for sharing it with the Clinton Rotary Club! 🇺🇸💙

Also our secretary Jay Knapp (featured in the photo with Nycole) won a biometric safe during the presentation! 🏆

***rmSafety

09/20/2026

Club members! We are collecting non perishable food items for our RYLA students to take to their event this weekend. If you could please bring an item or two to meeting on Tuesday (9/22) it will be greatly appreciated!

09/16/2026

🌎 This week at Clinton Rotary Club, we traveled to Pakistan without ever leaving Clinton!

Our guest speaker was Rebecca Kemp Brent, PhD. Rebecca is a recently retired freelance designer, editor, writer, and educator whose career has centered around sewing, quilting, textiles, and needlework. Beginning her career in the 1970s, she has worked in theatrical costuming, apparel manufacturing, hand needlework, and sewing education.

She became a pioneer in educating people about computerized home embroidery machines and has worked with international companies, publishers, and designers throughout her career. Her work has appeared in numerous sewing and quilting publications, and she has been featured on PBS programs including It’s Sew Easy and Fresh Quilting, as well as The Quilt Show.

Rebecca is also the author of four books and holds a BS in Clothing and Textile Design and a PhD in Textiles and Clothing and Educational Curriculum and Instruction.

On Tuesday, Rebecca shared fascinating reminiscences from a Rotary Group Study Exchange trip to Pakistan 35 years ago. What began with an unexpected phone call asking, “Would you be interested in going to Pakistan, all expenses paid?” became an unforgettable journey filled with culture, history, adventure, and lifelong friendships.

We heard about bustling Karachi, historic Lahore, the Khyber Pass, Pakistani arts and crafts, textiles, food, architecture, and even the unforgettable traffic! But the most meaningful part of the presentation wasn’t the places she visited; it was the people she met along the way.

Through Rotary’s Group Study Exchange, she was welcomed into the homes of Pakistani families and experienced their lives and traditions firsthand. Decades later, she is still in touch with some of those families, demonstrating how a Rotary exchange can create friendships and connections that last a lifetime.

One of her biggest takeaways was a wonderful reminder for all of us: when opportunities arise to travel, host, serve, or connect with people from different backgrounds, seize them. The personal connections we make may become the greatest gifts we take with us.

Thank you for sharing such a memorable journey with Clinton Rotary! 🇵🇰🌎🤝

As she beautifully paraphrased Ernest Hemingway at the end of her presentation: “Wherever you go, for the rest of your life, it stays with you; for Paris ( or Pakistan), is a moveable feast.”

Our President Amanda learned about Rebecca’s connection with Rotary during an appointment at Butch Oaks Family Dentistry so naturally Dr. Oaks and Dr. Sawyers joined us as guests to hear Rebecca tell her story.

09/08/2026

We have 4 spots open! Please message our page! Open to 10-12 grade. Must be involved in a sport, club, or student organization at CHS or ACHS

09/08/2026

Reminder no meeting today!

08/25/2026

🌟 Clinton Rotary Club Meeting Recap 🌟

Today we had the opportunity to recognize Regina Copeland with her official Past President pin! 💙 This is just one small way for us to show our appreciation for everything Regina has done for our club—not only as our 2025–2026 President, but also through her service as Treasurer and President-Elect. Her leadership, dedication, and hard work have helped our club continue to grow and move forward. Thank you, Regina, for all you have done for Clinton Rotary! 👏

We were also thrilled to welcome back Dr. Mark Garrett for Part Two of his fascinating presentation, “Human Health from an Animal Expert.” 🩺🐾

Dr. Garrett shared a wealth of information about current health research and prevention. He also reminded us of something especially important: You know your body best. Pay attention to changes, ask questions, advocate for yourself, and work with your healthcare provider on prevention and early detection.

Thank you, Dr. Mark Garrett, for another thought-provoking and informative presentation! We appreciate you sharing your expertise with Clinton Rotary.

Address

101 S. Hicks Street
Clinton, TN
37716

Telephone

+18653882469

Website

facebook.com

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Clinton Rotary Club posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.