Larry Lunsford Visit

Rotary Club of Summit (Greensboro) was delighted to host two very special Rotary guests at our recent Friday meeting. Opening the meeting was Larry Lunsford, the 2027-2028 Rotary International President. Larry had been in town as the keynote speaker for the District 7690 Rotary Foundation banquet. Larry shared more about his background and gave kudos to our region for lots of great work, including Summit’s accomplishment of highest per capita giving by members in the district.

Our speaker for the meeting was Greensboro Mayor Nancy Vaughan, who is retiring after 12 years in office. She shared some highlights and key accomplishments from the last few years, including the massive expansion of the aerospace industry in Greensboro.

She also shared some information about a housing initiative that the city is undertaking, to help increase housing inventory ahead of all the growth. In a very happy coincidence, one of the guests at the meeting was Jia Li Emaus, an Americorp volunteer working for the City in the housing division.

The coincidences didn’t end there, because Jia is also a former Rotary Youth Exchange student! She shares this in common with Larry, who studied abroad in Australia as a Rotary Youth Exchange student as well. Through the Rotary Club of Brevard, Jia lived in Ecuador as a high school student, becoming fluent in Spanish in just a short time. She lived with two different families over the course of the year, and attended local schools. A recent Summa Cum Laude graduate of UNC at Greensboro, Jia plans to pursue a career in public service. She credits the Rotary Youth Exchange program for igniting her love of service above self. Jia shared her story with the club, appearing in her Youth Exchange blazer, which everyone enjoyed seeing.

We are so appreciative to all of our guests for a fantastic meeting!