The Tennessee District of Pilot International is one of 21 Districts that make up this “worldwide service organization”. The first Governor of the Tennessee District, Virginia Siebert of Nashville, served Pilot in 1938-1939 Pilot year. Since this time there have been many Clubs and members to come and go within our District. The membership of the Tennessee District currently stands at approximately 350 members.
Tennessee, known as the "Volunteer" state, continues to cherish that name as the 15 Pilot Clubs in the District volunteer to “serve by furthering Pilot International’s humanitarian efforts through charitable, educational and research programs in communities throughout the world”. Pilot members spend countless hours volunteering in their communities to promote “brain awareness” with projects such as Project Lifesaver, Lifeline, Pilot Power Walk, “BrainMinders” program, just to mention a few.
The TN District holds two annual meetings. Our District Convention is held in the spring, usually during the middle or end of April. At the present time this Convention is held in a central location, Murfreesboro, TN at the DoubleTree Hotel. For those who don’t know, Murfreesboro is the geographical center of the state of Tennessee. This has been done for a number of years and will continue through 2012. The host Club for District Convention is usually the Governor’s Club. All District business (unless an emergency arises), is conducted at this time, including election of officers, approval of district budget, amendments to bylaws, and any other business that may need to come before the body.
"Fall Council" is held usually in October of each year with every attempt being made for it to coincide with the “Brain Power Walk”, the first weekend in October. The site for Fall Council is determined by invitation from an individual Club and may be held anywhere in the state. This is a fun weekend with a number of workshops, a Pilot Walk and many other activities planned. It usually runs from Friday afternoon through Sunday morning. Pilots look forward to these events because of the knowledge they attain plus the friendship. These are times when all Pilots share their ideas and get to either renew old friendships and/or make new ones.
Tennessee Pilots have a close connection with St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital since it is located in our state at Memphis. Pilot International has been a supporter of this wonderful facility for a number of years. Our District is also a supporter of “Special Kids”, a program for special needs children.
Our District Project, the "Special Education Teacher of the Year" has been very successful in promoting brain awareness within our state. Local Pilot Clubs solicit nominations from school systems in their area and choose one winner. The local winner’s entry will be sent to the District Governor with one winner being chosen by a panel of “non-Pilot” Judges. Each Club is encouraged to honor their local winner at a Club meeting of their choice with the District winner being honored at District Convention. The District winner is honored at a luncheon and receives a plaque and a monetary award. . Each club will choose one local winner and honor them at one of their club meeting.
For more information about the Tennessee District, see our web site at: pilottndistrict.com or contact:
Janet Williams-2010-2011 District Governor e-mail: jajawms@hughes.net