Last Friday, Jackie Cuthbert shared her personal and Rotary stories with the club.

Communication was always part of Jackie's professional career - first at Pay Less Drug Stores corporate offices where she produced the employee newsletter and had some public relations responsibilities, and then as a consultant to large companies in her employee communication work at Johnson & Higgins in San Francisco and then Mercer consulting in Atlanta. Communication has always been part of her Rotary "career" too - be it club or district newsletters, club yearbooks or communication to support events and initiatives.

Jackie is a third generation native Californian and graduated from Cal State University, Hayward. She remembers her grandfather's fishing boats based in the Monterey Bay and traveling up the California coast with her grandparents to meet the boat and its pilot. She still spends a fair amount of time visiting her California family ... from mom Rhoda who is 92 all the way to six-year old great nephew Luke. And in her free time, she enjoys traveling (photo here with Susan Schwall in the Galapagos), stitching and paper crafts.

Jackie says she met Rotary on a "blind date" when California friends introduced her to Rotarian Scott Cuthbert in California. She didn't join Rotary until after she moved to Atlanta. She loves the international side of Rotary - reminiscing about service trips to Costa Rica, ten International conventions and her involvement with GRSP. "GRSP made me a mom five times and I'm now five times a GRSP grandma too." Jackie served as a GRSP trustee and is currently Assistant Secretary of the organization.

Why Rotary? For Jackie, it's the Rotary family and the good work we do here and internationally. "I liked the club members when I met them, and care a lot about the people now. And there are lots of good memories - of projects that made a difference and crazy, fun moments. I wouldn't trade a minute of my almost 22 years in Rotary."