Emory-Druid Hills Rotary Club Joins Buckhead Rotary Club to Shine Apples for Local Teachers

Tuesday, Oct. 21, the Rotary Club of Emory-Druid Hills joined the Rotary Club of Buckhead and ten other local Rotary clubs to thank local educators in an iconic way: by polishing red apples and placing them on teachers’ desks. Buckhead Rotarians held the first Apple Polishing in 1973, setting an annual tradition. Forty-one years and more than 100,000 apples later, Buckhead Rotary is just as committed to honoring the men and women who are called to invest their time and talents in future generations.

“Tonight we’re polishing apples for our teachers – those who work hard every day to make our children’s futures shine,” said Buckhead Rotary President Elizabeth Gill (fourth from the left). “This time-honored event is a simple but heartfelt expression of our gratitude.”

At this year’s event, school superintendents Robert Avossa (third from the left) and Michael Thurmond (far right) from Fulton County and Dekalb County, respectively, rolled up their sleeves to polish apples alongside hundreds of Rotarians, including Rotary International President Gary Huang from Taiwan. President Huang’s visit comes as a great honor to the Rotary Club of Buckhead and other Atlanta-area clubs, as they are among the select few out of 34,000 Rotary clubs internationally Huang will visit this year. Rotary International Director Robert Hall, past president of the Dunwoody Rotary Club and honorary member of the Atlanta Rotary Club, helped secure this opportunity. Huang spoke about Rotary’s commitment to education and to educators in communities around the world.

While polishing 3,000 apples each year is a gesture, Rotarians’ commitment to education is very real. Over the course of a five-year period, the Rotary Club of Buckhead has given approximately $125,000 to the literacy programs of two educational partners in Atlanta: KIPP South Fulton Academy and GEEARS. This financial commitment comes with over five hundred hours of community service from many Rotarian volunteers.

Buckhead Rotary invited members of 11 other Atlanta-area Rotary clubs to join in the Apple Polishing this year. In addition to the Emory-Druid Hills club, other participating Rotary clubs included Atlanta, Atlanta West End, Brookhaven, Decatur, Dunwoody, Midtown, North Atlanta, Northlake, Stone Mountain and South Dekalb. Rotary is a group of business leaders who work together to positively impact their communities and world. By shining apples for local teachers, business leaders from these clubs are celebrating the everyday heroes who are at the core of that mission.

Buckhead Rotarian Walter Allen attended the original apple polishing event in 1973 and has polished apples every year since then. “The best part happens Wednesday morning, when we deliver these shiny apples and thank-you notes to the schools,” Allen said. “Special teachers all over Atlanta will smile, knowing that Rotarians notice and appreciate them.”