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April 25, 2006 |
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 JOHN
CARTERWBT TV By John Galles Cecily Durrett introduced John Carter as our speaker. John is the morning and mid-day news host for WBT TV. A graduate of Appalachian State University, John is married with two children. He is an avid golfer and plays on the WBT softball team. He keeps physically fit by running 6 miles every other day. As a former state senator and a TV news personality, he enjoys public speaking and especially visiting kids in schools where he encourages reading in a big way. Aside from having paid (?) Cecily $500 to speak at Rotary after serious negotiations over his speaking fee, John Carter was pleased to see so many friends in the audience and promised to speak about his role at WBT TV and his own personal and physical confrontation with prostate cancer. In his role as news host of the morning WBT TV news program, John wakes up at 1:45 each day and is in the station by 3 a.m. Upon his arrival, he works with producers to scour the recent news to report on his program. Typically, the news to be reported at that time of day includes shooting, robberies, fires and traffic accidents. Having collected and reviewed that content, John, his producer and the photographer organize those reports into a program format that is broadcast during their time slots. Serving an 18-county region, WBT seeks to provide all the news and content that informs citizens and supports their participation in life and helps them to be free and self-governing. He especially enjoys that his workday ends in the early afternoon because that allows him to play golf frequently. Before he left the topic of WBT, John invited and encouraged listener feedback to him and/or to the station to let them know what people like and dislike about their programs. He appreciates all feedback he has received so he can continually improve his program and his presentation. His second topic was a personal focus on prostate cancer. John Carter was diagnosed with prostate cancer late in 2005. Declaring out loud "I have cancer," John urged everyone to remind his or her friends, family, brothers, fathers, uncles, grandfathers and boyfriends to get checked for prostate cancer. In reporting his own check-up experience, he spoke about his respect for women who go through regular check-ups even more frequently than men. He said there are two primary checks that can be done to learn whether one has prostate cancer. With great eloquence and superb histrionics, John described his experience with the digital rectal exam after apologizing that this topic was being discussed after lunch. In addition, he explained that a PSA blood test would also be valuable in determining prostate cancer. If there are indicators from either the PSA test or the digital exam, a biopsy will be taken to confirm or deny those indications. John Carter described prostate cancer as the #1 cancer in men and that nearly 1 out of 6 men is likely to have prostate cancer during their lifetime. He said the best thing any man can do to protect himself from prostate cancer is to get checked often. He said that when prostate cancer is caught in its early stages, it can be cured. Over and over, he encouraged men not to be embarrassed and not to wait too long. Tests have been refined and this is a cancer that can be defeated. In closing, he encouraged people to give to the American Cancer Society and to support its "Relay for Life!" Head Table: Todd Smith, Dee Dee Murphy, Herb Harriss, Cecily Durrett, Randall Groves, Bob Webb: Invocation: Meg McElwain Visitors & Guests: Visitors & Guests: Todd Owens; Song: Alan Barnhardt
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Ralston
Pound was introduced to Rotary by his father in 1948. In his
58 years as a member of Charlotte Rotary, he has maintained
a perfect attendance record for 56 years. Ralston is a
Charlotte native who attended public schools, Fishburne
Military School, and NC State before becoming a fighter
pilot for the U.S. Navy in 1941. Ralston and wife, Deanie,
have just celebrated 60 years of marriage. He has served the
club in several capacities, including Secretary, Treasurer,
Director, committee and Avenue chairs many times, and became
the club's 189th Paul Harris Fellow. Ralston's father, R. M.
"Gus" Pound, was a charter member of the club (1916),
president in 1928-29, and was also a 50 year member.| Click here for Archives or use Search menu bar for Photos and Reports of previous meetings |
Copyright © 1998-2006. The Rotary Club of Charlotte. All rights reserved.
Revised: January 24, 2008.