Greetings!
After carefully weighing the emerging facts as well as our duties to the North West District, our members, guests, speakers, and the local communities we serve, the North West District has made the difficult, but necessary decision to cancel the District Meeting on Saturday, March 21st.
Ladies, this was a tough call to make which is why this decision was not made alone. Many discussions took place this past week between leaders and hostesses of the District. In addition because this is a member driven organization, I also sought the guidance from those that registered for the event. The majority of members indicated the meeting should be canceled. Furthermore the venue director of our Spring meeting stated: “I do believe, given your population and the fact your event would be considered a large gathering in a confined space that you should cancel. We will certainly work with you to reschedule.”
The caterer also stated: “I wanted to let you know that it is absolutely alright that you need to cancel this event. My greatest concern is for the members of your organization, and how they will be affected should they become ill with ANY type of virus, let's not even think about COVID-19! Nothing is worth risking life or limb currently with this epidemic in our midst. Everyone's health is what matters most, and I completely understand having to cancel because it's absolutely the best and right thing to do.”
Our Spring District meeting is an incredibly important event for our District. It’s one of our favorite ways to celebrate your hard work throughout the year by handing out accolades and silver to our clubs, in addition to honoring the current administration for their dedication over the past two years and welcoming a new administration. But we need to prioritize the health and safety of our members and everyone else such as caterers and banquet managers who organize and work on the Spring District Meeting. While what we do is important, the most important thing to me is the health and safety of our members..
I know how hard our hostess Clubs have worked and realize preparing for the District meeting involves the time, talent, and creativity of our hostess clubs, speakers, and meeting partners (Dunwoody Nature Center and Marlows). We’re incredibly grateful to the Dunwoody Woman's Club, Marietta Woman's Club, Chattahoochee Woman's Club and Roswell Cares Service League for their hard work and deeply disappointed not to be able to hold the meeting as planned.
I realize that cancelling a meeting has never been done before and you may hear of other meetings happening throughout the community but as leaders, we should first and foremost protect our members and follow the advice of our leaders, Governor and medical experts. If someone asks why your District chose to cancel the District meeting, here’s our response:
1. We are loving our neighbors by protecting our neighbors.
2. We are not being fearful. We are being responsible.
3. This is what love requires of us in this season.
"quote from Andy Stanley"
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Ladies, our leadership will work together to present a virtual meeting by providing recorded videos from some of our leaders and reports in pdf format. If you are registered to attend the Spring Meeting, please know that your registration fee can be applied to the Fall District Meeting cost.
In the meantime stay healthy and stay tuned for more news and announcements regarding our Virtual District Meeting.
Karen
