Club Business
President Jim Cartner brought the meeting to order. Phil Brown led the prayer and pledge of allegiance to the US flag. The new bylaws were passed unanimously after Chuck Stedman made the motion that we accept them as written and Paul Mauney seconded it. This completed a year’s work and brings our bylaws up to date with current Rotary policy. Next Tuesday, our District Governor, Claudia Canady, will be our speaker. Jim said he would like to see a full house; so, please plan to be on hand if at all possible. There were no guests or visiting Rotarians this week. Next Thursday, September 27, Outback will be hosting two luncheons at 11:30 am and 1:15 pm to raise funds for a Times-News literacy initiative. The cost will be $18 per plate, a portion of which will be donated to by Outback. David Moore is recuperating from hip surgery.
- Mary Beth Delfs announced that Alamance Leads will be celebrating its 10th anniversary.
Club Member Responsible for Our Program: Jim Cartner
Jim says he has lived a wonderful life. He has been happily married for over 40 years. His wife is a cancer survivor and has been battling MS for twenty-five years. He declared that we must take what life gives you and make the best of it. Jim’s company, The Cartner Group, helps you find hidden money for your company. Jim has been a Rotarian since July, 2016 and is already serving as our president, which says a lot about his commitment and abilities. He is also a Paul Harris Fellow.
Penny Scott – Alamance Partnership for Children
Penny is a literacy specialist working for Alamance Partnership for Children. She is a Rockingham County native who spent thirty years teaching elementary and middle school students. She has been with Alamance Partnership for Children for three. She is married to Chuck and has two grown children. She said that she wished she had invested her teaching years in the 2-5 year age group because of how much benefit comes from the developing their literacy.
Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library
The Reach Out and Read® program (ROR)was initially developed and tested in medical practices in Boston, Massachusetts. The program incorporates literacy awareness into health care for young children by educating parents that healthy development for their children goes beyond physical care and encompasses developmental and cognitive care as well. At regularly scheduled well-child visits, doctors ask questions about family reading patterns when completing developmental screenings. They inform parents regarding age-appropriate pre-literacy skills and expectations as well as give tips on effective practices to encourage shared family reading. Beyond that, the doctors give age-appropriate books (provided by the Alamance Partnership for Children) to the children to take home, ensuring that the child’s home environment is print-enriched and thereby reinforcing the importance of reading. ROR is currently being administered out of Burlington Pediatrics on Webb Avenue, Mebane Pediatrics and Kernodle Clinic in Elon. ROR has distributed nearly 5,000 books during well-child visits. Additional offices providing well-child visits are being added.
Penny shared the ways she is trying to get the word out about the Imagination Library, and she asked club members for their ideas. She said that Parton has donated her 100 millionth book to the Library of Congress.
Conclusion
There was no drawing today. Jim presented Penny with a book in honor of our emphasis on literacy. Then we all stood to recite Rotary’s four way test before Jim adjourned the meeting.
Until next time…