Rotary Club of Harris County Georgia

10/22/2026

The Rotary Club of Harris County had another great meeting this week at the Chipley Woman's Club in Pine Mountain. Amy Skinner and Diane Humphrey presented our program.

Amy founded the Pine Mountain Art Alliance. The alliance aims to spark the local art scene, support regional artists, and boost tourism through creative events. The alliance meets at 5:30 PM on the 4th Tuesday of each month at the Sunnyside Community Center (93 Sunnyside Church Road, Pine Mountain, GA).

Diane is the proprietor of the Pine Mountain Center for the Arts and works closely with the PMAA. The center is located at 150 North Commerce Avenue in downtown Pine Mountain, Georgia, next to the Pine Mountain Tourism Center.

One of the cool creative events they sponsor is going down this weekend in the Pine Mountain/Callaway Gardens area. The En Plein Air – Pine Mountain and Callaway event takes place this Saturday, October 24, 2026, from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. See the attached flyer for more information.

The two shared with us some of the amazing programs and activities they are doing in our community. The two are pictured with our club president, Terry Edwards.

Join us next week for our monthly lunch meeting at noon at St. Nicholas Church in Hamilton. After lunch, we pack Backpack Snacks for food-insecure children in our county. Join the cool kids for lunch and help us make a difference in our community.

10/22/2026

Every month during the school year, we recognize/honor a Student of the Month and a Teacher of the Month. The student qualifies to compete for our Rotary Club Scholarship, which we have presented for over ten years.

The Student of the Month for October is Spencer Bowden, a senior at Harris County High School. Spencer's other achievements include membership in the National Honor Society, varsity basketball, and Eagle Scout status with our local Troop 40. He also attended RYLA (a leadership summer camp sponsored by Rotary International) this past summer.

Our October Teacher of the Month is MacKenzie Myrick of Harris County-Carver Middle School. She has been teaching for only two years, but has already made an impression on her students, fellow teachers, and administrators at HCCMS. She teaches seventh-grade Language Arts.

Both of our October honorees are pictured with Emily Byrd. Emily, a retired educator, has spearheaded this project for the Rotary Club of Harris County for several years now, and she has done an outstanding job.

Join us at Rotary and make a positive impact on the world by making a difference in Harris County.

09/30/2026

Rotary Meeting Summary for September 30:

We met at the Chipley Woman’s Club for breakfast.

We had 16 members present and no guests.

Our speaker was one of our newest members, Curtis Bray. He gave us a brief biography of his life and his career in the railroad industry. He told a cool story about a runaway train.

Gary Byrd, our minister of music, gave a presentation on the great Dolly Parton. He played many of her hits during our pre-meeting socializing and eating time. That’s some of the good stuff you miss when you don’t come early.

After Gary’s presentation, several of us told our best and most memorable Dolly stories.

Tammy brought her Dolly book, “Behind the Seams,” and shared it with many interested members. It is chock full of the many outfits Dolly wore during her legendary career as an entertainer and humanitarian.

There were tons of Happy Dollars. They are one of the many ways we finance our scholarship programs. Members pay a dollar to share something good happening in their lives.

Here are a few upcoming things happening in our community:
On 10/6, the HC library will be hosting a Wellness Session on Coping with Grief at 11:30 AM.
The Chipley Woman’s Club will be hosting a First Responders dinner on the evening of 10/8.
Earlier on 10/8, the CWC will be hosting a Mahjong tournament.
Harris County Airport will host its annual open house on 10/24.
Also on 10/24, the town will host their annual Trunk or Treat that evening. Our club will participate. More information will be announced soon.
The town of Pine Mountain will be holding a block party on 10/30.

We will be back at the woman’s club next Wednesday morning and the following Wednesday. Come a little early for fellowship and socializing.

Please know that if you were not with us today, you were missed, and we look forward to seeing you back at the Chipley Woman’s Club the next two Wednesdays.

Andy Cunningham has the programs for October, and
Jim Trott has the food.

In the two pictures, we have Curtis Bray telling us about the runaway train, and our club president, Terry Edwards, and Curtis. The two of them are holding a certificate we give to all of our speakers. The certificate symbolizes a donation our club makes to Dolly Parton's Imagination Library. The Imagination Library has given millions of books to millions of children over the years. It started near her home in East Tennessee to help eradicate illiteracy.

09/21/2026

09/21/2026

09/09/2026

We had a great time at the Labor Day softball game in Pine Mountain.
We sold hot dogs, drinks, and chips to fans.
We raised a get bit of money that will help fund our scholarship program. We award two each year.
You should think about joining Rotary and making a difference here and around the world.

09/09/2026

We call it Rotary your way. Pick a meeting and time that suits you and your schedule.

08/29/2026

Article taken from rotary.org

Photo courtesy of Rotary International

Talking Reading and Rotary with Dolly Parton

The entertainer and philanthropist Dolly Parton died on 25 August 2026. This Q&A was originally published in the March 2010 issue of The Rotarian (now Rotary) magazine. Later that year, she spoke at the Rotary International Convention in Montreal, Canada.
25 Aug 2026

Growing up in the mountains of Tennessee, USA, Dolly Parton had little time for reading. Before and after school, she and her 11 siblings had chores: fetching water from the well, cooking over the wood-burning stove, and tending the vegetable plot. Her father, a to***co farmer, never learned to read.

Parton’s impoverished childhood and her father’s illiteracy inspired the country music legend to launch a children’s book program in 1996. She started in her native Sevier County. Now home to about 80,000 people, the county had a population of 60 during her youth — “and 36 of them were Partons,” she says.

The Dollywood Foundation’s Imagination Library provides a new book every month to children from birth to age five, starting with The Little Engine That Could. To date, the program has delivered more than 23 million books to preschoolers in Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States. A year ago, Parton’s organization and Rotary International teamed up to further the effort, which costs US$28 per child annually. More than 140 Rotary clubs participate.

Parton will give a keynote address on 23 June at the 2010 RI Convention in Montréal, Que., Canada.

An actress, songwriter, and singer, Parton has won seven Grammy Awards and was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1999. Her Broadway musical, 9 to 5, based on the movie, will be touring later this year. This month also marks the 25th anniversary of her Dollywood theme park, in Pigeon Forge, Tenn.

Most philanthropies help only the poor. The Imagination Library took income out of the equation, offering books to all children, regardless of family finances. Why is that?
I never wanted a child or family to feel they were getting books because someone decided they must be poor or underprivileged. I want kids to feel that they are getting a book because they are under five and their community loves them. And I do have a practical side: If we had to take on the burden of deciding who qualified and who didn’t, we would spend more time and money qualifying people than on books.

How has Rotary supported your work?
Rotary has been a wonderful partner. It has helped us in all kinds of ways — getting the word out, funding the effort, and finding others to help fund it, and also registering lots of kids. It won’t be long till we are mailing to 600,000 kids a month.

What is your impression of the Rotarians you have met?
I never really pay much attention to what people are; I focus on who they are. Everyone I have met has been warm, loving, caring — and pretty darn funny!

Do you own a Kindle?
No. I love everything about a book — the way it feels and the way it smells. I think there will always be books, and I think the world is plenty big enough to have both books and Kindles.

What do you envision for the future of the Imagination Library?
My hope is simple: that no child will ever have to grow up without books. Our partnership with Rotary is just beginning, so I am sure as we grow closer, our dreams will grow.

What books do you have on your nightstand?
I read all the time, but the one book that is always on or near my nightstand is the Bible.

Does anyone read to you?
For me, reading is a solitary adventure. I get up real early every morning. I call it my ‘God time’ — it’s so quiet, and I can read, pray, write, create. It is a very special time for me.

How have your philanthropic efforts inspired your music?
Everything I do somehow makes its way into my music. However, as I mature (I don’t get older — I just keep growing and maturing), I want to do more with kids, entertain them, have fun with them, and maybe even inspire a few along the way. I am just a big kid myself, so I have been enjoying writing music for kids. One day, I will release my first children’s collection, so stay tuned!

Photo courtesy of Rotary International

08/29/2026

Did you know that Dolly Parton was an honorary Rotarian and worked closely with Rotary International through her literacy initiatives?

The Rotary Club of Harris County has supported Dolly's Imagination Library for many years. We donate to this worthwhile cause in honor of all our guest speakers. Our club joins the world in mourning the loss of one of the greatest humanitarians the world has ever known.

She did not just talk the talk; she walked the walk.