Willett Honda in the Community
Willett Honda South would like to congratulate Laura Johnson, a kindergarten teacher at Pate’s Creek Elementary. Ms. Johnson was named Henry County Schools highest honor, Teacher of the Year. Ms. Johnson, who has been with Henry County Schools for six years, obtained a Masters in Education from Central Michigan and a Specialist in Early Childhood Education from Georgia State University. Ms. Johnson feels the highest honor she can receive is the reward of her students' accomplishments. The finalists chosen from 47 exceptional Teachers of the Year (TOTY) were Rock Spring Elementary’s Ashley French and Ola Middle’s Kelly Teague. The event, held at the Henry County Performing Arts Center, honored all of the individual schools’ Teachers of the Year, as well as the HERO and special awards recipients.
In order to decide which finalist represents the School District, the judges observed all teaching in their classrooms, in addition to personally interviewing them. The winner, Laura Johnson, drove away in a 2010 Honda Insight Hybrid provided by Willett Honda South.
Scott Willett says, "This event is one of the most important things that we do every year. We knew going into 2009 that we had a tough road ahead and had to make significant cuts in all aspects of our dealership. The only thing that was voted unanimously by us to keep was the teacher of the year award because it has the most direct positive impact on our community. This impact starts from the children on up to the parents. We look at some of the other school districts in metro Atlanta and all of us can see that we are extremely blessed to have the faculty and staff we have in Henry County."
The Atlanta Bow Tie Society was formed in late 2007 as a non-profit organization to provide a happier holiday to needy teenagers within the Metro-Atlanta area. Scott Willett (Co-owner of Willett Honda South ), a founding member, toyed with the idea of helping older kids who were often forgotten during the holiday season. With this in mind, Willett called his wife Kelly while she was attending a luncheon with Lisa Tush, wife of Bill Tush, former CNN anchor, and Merry Carlos, wife of local Atlanta businessman and philanthropist Chris Carlos. His idea blossomed from their brief discussion at lunch to their first cocktail reception in December of 2007. The reception rose over $12,000 worth of gifts for local Atlanta charities and recruited over 25 new members to the Society.
The goal of the ABTS is to create a process for the 150 members, and their invited guests, to celebrate a special season, while allowing all to contribute towards a better holiday season for the under-privileged teenagers throughout the Atlanta area. The Atlanta Bow Tie Society’s annual "Black Tie Ball" format was developed as a means to achieve this goal. The 150 members represent a cross-section of Atlanta area business leaders. Our goal is simple…to organize and sponsor one of Atlanta’s grandest gala events that is intended to kick-off the Atlanta Holiday Season… THE ATLANTA BOW TIE SOCIETY "BLACK TIE" BALL.
The process we use is as simple as our goal. Each member and their invited guests are requested to bring to the event a high quality unwrapped gift for a boy or girl teenager. The Society then distributes the collected gifts to various teen organizations and group homes within the Atlanta area.
The Atlanta BowTie Society thanks each and every person who has helped our organization achieve its goal. Without everyone’s generous help and holiday spirit you unselfishly provide, the holiday season would continue to be very disheartening for the local Atlanta area teenagers.
Sincerely,
The Founding Members of the Atlanta BowTie Society
Lisa and Bill Tush, Kelly and Scott Willett, Merry and Chris Carlos
Willett Honda South Sponsors 9th Annual Walt Walden Memorial Rodeo PR Log (Press Release) – Aug 28, 2009 – ATLANTA -
Willett Honda South of Morrow will sponsor the 9th Annual Walt Walden Memorial Rodeo presented by the Henry County Rodeo Association with the International Professional Rodeo Association (IPRA) from Sept. 10-13, 2009, at Jason T. Harper Event Center in McDonough, Ga.
The Walt Walden Memorial Rodeo attracts professional and amateur rodeo cowboys and cowgirls from across the Southeast who will vie for more than $10,000 in prize money this year. Contestants will compete in saddle bronc riding, bull riding, bareback riding, barrel racing, steer wrestling, calf roping, team roping and breakaway roping.
The rodeo is named in honor of the late Walt Walden, a champion calf and team roper who resided in Henry County. A portion of the proceeds from the rodeo will benefit several Henry County nonprofit organizations and also provide scholarships to three Georgia high school students.
Traci Walden, former wife of Walden and a competitive barrel racer, heads up the scholarship portion of the rodeo. "Scholarship recipients may participate in the rodeo this year. Past recipients have used their scholarships for college rodeo and often go on to further their rodeo careers," said Walden. "Most of the young men from Georgia who are now rodeo professionals, Walt taught them," she added. "He worked with so many kids in Henry County; this rodeo is a way to give back and keep Walt’s memory alive for his [young] son, Wyatt.
Willett Honda is lead sponsor of the rodeo for the third consecutive year. "The Walt Walden Memorial Rodeo is great entertainment for the entire family and also a significant fundraiser that annually donates on average about $10,000 to various nonprofit organizations in Henry County," said Scott Willett, co-owner of Willett Honda South. "We are glad to support this event, which has been a tradition in Henry County for so many years."
For more information, visit http://www.hcrodeo.com
