Club Business
President Brian Dement was absent. President-Elect Jim Cartner opened and conducted the meeting in his place. Lee Isley prayed and led us in the pledge of allegiance to the flag. Dale Greeson introduced his guest, Kris Causey, an intern at his business. Paul Mauney presented David Jones, a sales manager at the paper. Two new members were announced: Jeff Petress and Maribeth Delfs! Welcome to the club! Next week Rodney Councilman will provide our speaker. On June 26, our new officers and board will be installed. There will be no meeting on July 3.
Happy Dollar Announcements
- Mary Thomas Gilbert just celebrated her thirty-first wedding anniversary sans kids! Congrats!
- Carolyn Rhode said that her oldest daughter underwent a successful wisdom tooth extraction. Yay!
Club Member Responsible for Our Program: Jim Cartner
Jim has been a Rotarian since July, 2016, which means he has definitely been on the fast track to becoming president. There is no glass ceiling for new members in our club! He will assume presidential responsibilities on June 26th for the coming year, and we wish him and his team great success. Jim is president of the Cartner Group, which assesses and helps businesses increase cash flow and reduce expenses. He is married to Gayle and is a Paul Harris Fellow.
Literacy in Alamance County
Our two speakers are both connected to the Mebane Public Library. Katherine Arends is the Branch Manager. She has been employed in the Alamance County library system for seventeen years. Her topic was a program called Alamance Reads, which is in its eighth year. The library selects a book title for reading and discussion, which is available for purchase at the library. This program targets adults. She said the library system is a vital resource for the community, stressing that there are all sorts of literacies. Besides encouraging and developing reading, the library seeks to stay relevant by helping people develop financial, technological, job, and health literacies. Some of the topics covered are budgeting, mortgages, healthcare, wills, and job skills. May Memorial Library also hosts GED classes.
Amy Segposyan is a Children’s Library Assistant at Mebane Public Library. Children’s literacy has always been her passion, and she credits that to Dr. Seuss. Amy presented us with the normal array of data used to point out the need for focusing on developing reading skills in our children, especially among those who are poorer. She said we need to expose children to books and reading at a young age and model reading books to them. She emphasized the importance for providing children with access to books, having a connection to the library, and exposing them to various genres of literature. Some of the programs the library offers are:
- ACPL Connect
- Libraries Rock!
- Paws for Reading, and
- Every Child Ready to Read, which is aimed at parents
Conclusion
The raffle pot continues to grow. At the conclusion, we all stood to recite Rotary’s four way test before Brian adjourned the meeting.