Club Business
President Brian Dement opened the meeting. Joseph Williams prayed and led us in the pledge of allegiance to the flag. Brian reminded us that our District Conference will be at Pinehurst, May 25-27. The club can offer limited financial assistance to those who plan to attend. The makeup Grasshoppers baseball game will be held on May 6 at 2 pm. Tickets can be purchased on the District Website. Marie Janssen submitted her application for membership. She is Pete Beck’s daughter, a wife and mother of three, and a professional photographer.
Happy Dollar Announcements
- Susan Watson – The Women’s Resource Center’s 21st annual Herb Festival this year was the most successful ever, raising $35,000.
- Trip Durham announced his company 2D’s 8th anniversary. He thanked Dr. John Beshel for the good results his chiropractic work has accomplished for his wife, and he lauded the value of the police department’s Ride Along Program. If you are interested in taking advantage of this opportunity to learn more about our police department, click here.
- Chief Jeff Smythe introduced his lovely wife, Kim. They are the current host family for our speaker.
- Joseph Williams announced that Feed the Hunger’s 5oth anniversary Packathon will be held at Vailtree Event Center in August.
Club Member Responsible for Our Program: Ed Woodall
Ed has served our club as president and is now chairman of the Youth Services Committee, which does outstanding work with Rotaract, Interact, the Rotary Youth Leadership Program, and the Rotary Youth Exchange Program. He is married and has three children. He is a VP at First Bank, serving as their Business Development Officer.
Ed opened his part of the program by introducing Madison White, a student at Burlington Christian Academy, whom our club will sponsor this summer in Greensboro at the Rotary Youth Leadership Program. Another student, who will also attend, was not present. His name is Watson Jones. Also on hand was Nick Bond, last year’s RYLP sponsee, also a student at BCA. He is planning to attend NC State and major in sports management and law in order to pursue a career as a sports agent. He thanked Rotary for providing him with the opportunity to attend RYLP, which, he said, showed him his true potential and helped him immensely. He is also a recipient of the General Hugh Shelton Leadership Scholarship, as reported in the Times-News. His mother, Barbara Bond, also attended our meeting and was recognized.
Ana Paula Turina de Carvalho, Exchange Student from Brazil
Ana is the student our club is hosting this year as part of Rotary’s Youth Exchange Program. She hails from Aparecida d’Oeste, Sao Paulo, Brazil, a town of about 4000 people. She is 17 years old and a high school junior. The sponsoring Rotary Club is located in Jales, Brazil: Grandes Lagos #4480, located about 40 minutes from Ana’s home town. The exchange program is a cultural exchange rather than a scholastic one; so, the emphasis is on acquiring a cultural experience primarily. Ana’s presentation covered the process of convincing her Mom to let her go, a comparison of Brazilian and American foods, her experiences with her three host families, trips she has taken, and a myriad of new experiences, including going to Disney World, the Biltmore House, a ski trip, New York City, Washington D.C., Broadway, a Bon Jovi concert, enjoying a Thanksgiving meal, and attending American football and basketball games. She thanked the club for helping make all this possible.
Conclusion
We moved a week closer to someone winning the raffle. Afterward we all stood to recite Rotary’s four way test before Brian adjourned the meeting.