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KIWANIS KEY
Volume LXXX Number 5 November 1, 2024
Kiwanis Day
November 16th will be a special day at the Boys & Girls Homes of North Carolina. Kiwanians and Key Clubbers from across North and South Carolina will gather at Lake Waccamaw to celebrate the Boys & Girls Homes celebrating the serving of children for 60 YEARS! Since Kiwanis of Fayetteville is one of the largest Kiwanis Clubs in the Carolinas District of North and South Carolina, I hope we will have a large contingent from our club to travel to the Boys & Girls Homes to help them celebrate! The event will last from 10 AM to 1 PM, so it will not take up your entire day. You will be treated to a trolley tour of the Boys & Girls Homes campus, hear from BGHNC President Marc Murphy and have lunch on the campus ($10 charge). In addition, the Kiwanis Cottage has a needs list and they are hoping we will bring donations for the BGHMC Country store. Please consider attending. If you’ve never visited, I’m sure you will be impressed with the homes and the kids that live there.
Committee Reports
Membership Committee: Kiwanian Cheryl Gleason reported that the next Kiwanis Social will be held on November 7th at The Sip Room at 106 Hay Street. This would be a good time to bring a prospective member to acquaint them with our club.
Farm-City Week: will be held at the Kiwanis Center on Friday, November 22nd. Lisa Childers, Chair of the committee, urges all Kiwanians to arrive a little early, since there will be many visitors on that day. As in the past, there will be an induction into the Cumberland County Agriculture Hall of Fame and recognition of the Young Farmer of the Year! In addition, there will still be a drawing for a number of cakes, slices of Country Ham and Piiis! Make sure you attend…you cannot win a Piiii without being in attendance.
Kiwanis Disaster Relief Project: Kiwanian Mike Pleasant is spearheading an effort to raise cash for those in Western North Carolina dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. It was reported today that we have already raised $1600, but our goal is $5,000. All money collected will be channeled through Al Miller and the United Methodist Church in Spruce Pine, NC. While these checks are not tax deductible, a gift from our club and supporters of Disaster Victims Assistance will go to very good cause, since many of our mountain friends have lost literally EVERYTHING! Make your checks payable to Kiwanis Club of Fayetteville and give them to either Mike Pleasant or our club treasurer, Richard Everett. Thanks in advance for your help.
Salvation Army Bell Ringing: Spiritual Emphasis Chair, Bob McAmis has announced that our club will be ringing the Salvation Army Bell at Cross Creek Mall on Saturday, December 14 from 10 AM to 6 PM. Be sure to sign up to ring the bell on that day.
Our own Gary “Coop” Cooper has been an outstanding Kiwanis servant for a number of years and his service continues. He has been President of our club, Lt. Governor of our Division, Governor of the Carolinas District of Kiwanis, Trustee of Kiwanis International and this week I noticed in the Kiwanis Magazine, Coop is the Kiwanis International Youth Programs Chair! Congratulations and THANK YOU, Coop, for your past and continuing service to the Kids of Kiwanis. We are proud of you!
Today’s Meeting
President Jim rang the bell about 1:15 PM and Kiwanian Kirby White led us in singing “My Country Tis of Thee” and the Pledge of Allegiance to our Nations Flag. Kiwanian Tom Johnston delivered a very nice prayer, and we were underway.
Prayers needed for: Debbie Best’s sister, Kara Brittain; Diane Parfitt’s daughter, Nicole; Kali Ziegler’s son in-law, Ben; Bruce Brown’s daughter, Karen; Tim & Susan Dunn’s son and family in Western North Carolina, plus their nephew Shane; Tom Keith’s wife, Ann; Robbie Talton’s wife, Deanna and Bobby Bleecker. Please remember all in your thoughts and prayers.
Birthdays: Will Gillis (10-26); Shirish Devasthali (TODAY, 11-1). Happy Birthday Will and Shirish. Hope your special days were terrific!
Did You Know: this is a new segment of our weekly meeting where we salute a current or past member of our club, or talk about some public service event, or talk about yourself. Today, Bruce Brown talked about a former Kiwanian who literally LOVED Kiwanis. He saluted the unforgettable FRED BEST! Fred was a retired US Army Colonel, who was a former President of our club. He also was a dues paying member of two other Kiwanis clubs in the area. Thanks for a great presentation, Bruce. If you would like to salute someone, just be in touch with President Jim. He mentioned today that there is not yet a person lined up to give a salute next week.
Today’s program was given by Diane Parfitt’s husband, Dr. Hank Parfitt. Hank gave a delightful program about the upcoming Lafayette’s Farewell Tour on March 4-5, 2025. Back during my radio broadcasting days, I had Hank on my talk program several times and I was always most impressed with his knowledge of General Lafayette, a French citizen who was the last surviving Major General of the American Revolution. General Lafayette was an admired war hero and a friend of George Washington. Fayetteville was the first city in America to be named in honor of General Lafayette and our city was the only namesake city he visited. We even had a visit from Lafayette at the meeting today. Stan Sea, who has been involved with local theater for years, made an appearance as General Lafayette and delighted all Kiwanians in attendance with his presentation. Thanks go out to Diane Parfitt for bringing her husband, Hank, to present today’s program. OUTSTANDING PROGRAM!
Next week we will be back at the Kiwanis Recreation Center for our meeting. John Holmes will be bringing Maddie Felton Kellogg (Kiwanian Ellis Felton’s daughter) from the Cumberland Community Foundation as our program. Should be another outstanding program. Hope to see you there.
Parting thought:
A PESSIMIST sees a dark tunnel
An OPTIMIST sees a light at the end of the tunnel
A REALIST sees a freight train
The TRAIN OPERATOR sees 3 idiots standing on the tracks.
Have a great week
Danny Highsmith
910-978-3947
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