February 27, 2004 Meeting Notes

Speaker: Snyder Turner, Administrator of Calvary Children's Home
Doug Stoner, State Representative
Brian Cooper introduced an old friend of the club, Snyder Turner. The children's home was begun in 1966, and Snyder has been the Home's administrator since 1971, following in his father's footsteps. He reminded us that our club made the first contribution to the Home's first project, purchasing a school bus for transporting the kids.

Snyder told us that the home was begun by his father so that siblings would not have to be separated when their parents were not able to care for them. Calvary provides long term placement with the average stay of 4-5 years. Their goal is to bring stability and values into the lives of children, who, many times, have known only chaos and neglect. They teach responsibility and accountability as being a part of a family. "Choices have consequences" is a common theme the children hear. Snyder reminded us how difficult it is to heal children who have been rejected over and over by the most important people in their lives, their parents. He used to believe that kids are resilient and can bounce back, but he's not so sure about that now.

Our Christmas donation of $20 per child is much appreciated. The kids use this money to shop for others. Snyder said the also look forward to receiving cards (with $$) around their birthdays and begin looking for them days in advance. ,

Doug Stoner, State Representative, dropped by to update us on the current amendment on gay marriage being debated in the Legislature. He explained that he didn't vote for the current proposed "domestic partnership" because of its effect on businesses. he also told us that the $180M in found state monies would mean that $17M would not have to be cut from Cobb education.

The Meeting
There were 46 members and 2 guests. Ken Smith reminds us to pay our 2nd quarter dues. Third quarter is almost year and "you can run but you can't hide" from him.

RJ McCurry is wished a speedy recovery from foot surgery.