Club Business
President Mary Thomas Gilbert brought the meeting to order. Ed Woodall led us in prayer and the pledge of allegiance to the US flag. Mary Thomas shared some interesting historical trivia and related to us that Arch Klumph planted the seed for launching the Rotary Foundation in 1916. The RF was officially begun in 1917 and today is one of the world’s leading humanitarian foundations.
We had several guests today. Dick O’Donnell introduced Dirk Wentzel from the Rotary Club of Karisruhe-Baden, Germany, who was in town to attend the Elon-Duke soccer game Tuesday night at 7 pm. He is the president-elect of his club. Dick also introduced Charlie Nolette, the GM and COO of Alamance Country Club. Susan Watson presented Kellee Hawley with the United Way, who was with us for the second
time. She and J.J. Johnson, with Blackwell Funeral home have submitted applications for membership. This was their official first reading before the club. The United Way is asking for a corporate membership.
Dean Jones, a former member of our club and presently with the Rescue Dive Team, pitched the 30th Annual Hollywood Horror Show.
Next week Sid Little will have the program, which will feature Karen Carrouth, the Community Outreach Coordinator with Alamance Arts. On the 29th we will have our quarterly club assembly.
Mary Thomas announced that John Beshel is promoting a charity golf tournament on October 19th. Click here to go to the link.
Mary Thomas presented Dirk Wentzel with a banner from our club to take home with him. He promised to send us one in return.
Click here to see all scheduled program dates and responsibilities.
October Birthdays and Anniversaries
7 | Brooke Carpenter | 12 | Randy and Reida Perkins |
13 | Mary Thomas Gilbert | 12 | Stuart and Betsy Sioussat |
19 | Sid Little | 21 | Mark and Carolyn Rhode |
20 | Micah Fox | 24 | Chuck and Debbie Porch |
Happy Dollar Announcements
- Dick O’Donnell congratulated the Elon Football Team for their big win. He invited everyone to come out for the Elon-Duke soccer game. It’s free.
- Mary Thomas let us know that the US Department of Education and the American Council for Private Education just ranked Burlington Christian Academy in the top 15% of all schools in America.
- Randy Perkins and his wife, Reida, just celebrated 51 years of marital bliss. Congrats, Randy.
Club Member Providing Today’s Program: Sang Ho Lee
Grand Master Sang Ho Lee moved to the US in 1986 and was naturalized in 1993. He began teaching martial arts in Alamance County in 1991. He joined our club in 2009, where he has served on the board, as president (2014-15) and as Assistant District Governor (2016-18). He is married to Allison, with whom he has a son, William, who is 17 and a senior at Western High School. William helped launch the Interact Club there as a freshman and now is the president.
Program: Stephen Henry – Alamance County Rescue Dive Team
Stephen Henry told us that there are two types of people in Alamance County: those who know we have a rescue dive team and those who have never needed its services. After today, there is a third group who understand the valuable role they play without ever needing a rescue. Stephen showed us the typical equipment used by the team members and demonstrated the various signals used by divers and shore support personnel. He told us about the dangers of night diving, swift water, going deep, and contaminated water. He told us that submerged vehicles are lifted using air bags. Their tremendous buoyancy can lift a great amount of weight. One bag will raise a car. He said in a typical “good” year they will get five or six rescue calls. A “bad” year might see as many as 13 or 14. They retrieve people, animals, vehicles, and weapons. The deepest water in the county is in Lake McIntosh at the main bridge. It is 75 deep there. Most of the time they dive in 12-25 foot depths.
The team trains once a month to keep their skills sharp. All members of the rescue dive team are volunteers working for free on their own time. Today everyone on the team has the same equipment, which really helps in an emergency. Bill Henderson, who has been with the team for fifty years, told us that most of the money used to run the team and purchase equipment comes from donations, which have been down in recent years, along with some county money. Their crash truck cost $165K in 1996. To replace it today would cost around one million dollars. They are presently looking for alternative funding sources. There are 65 members on the team, which mainly serves Alamance County, but occasionally gets calls from elsewhere.
Conclusion
Micah Fox held the winning ticket today but failed to draw the King of Hearts. Only 49 cards remain in the deck. Our odds are improving every week. Mary Thomas led us in the recitation of Rotary’s four-way test as we adjourned. See you next week.