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MAYOR PAT McCRORY
 By:
Suzanne Bledsoe
We were privileged and honored to have the Honorable Mayor Pat
McCrory, fondly known as “Mayor Pat”, speak to us today. After much
ribbing about his long tenure in office (he still hasn’t figured out
what to do, according to Don Steger and is still in training per Pam
Syfert), Mayor Pat shared with us all the accomplishments that have
been achieved over the past 10 years, under his leadership, as well
as the reasons that he continues to enjoy his position. As the Mayor
of our great city, Pat enjoys working with very competent and
capable people, many of whom are members of our Club, meeting very
interesting people (Presidents, movie stars and the like) and
articulates with great pride and humility the amazing changes our
city has undergone. Consider the following:
- Ten years ago, Charlotte
International Airport was “international” in name only.
Today, we are truly an international airport, with
destinations and arrivals to and from all over the
world.
- We are the corporate
headquarters for multitudes of companies, including Bank
of America, Wachovia, BF Goodrich, Duke Energy and enjoy
the presence of many other national and multinational
companies.
- Evenings spent at the
corner of Trade and Tryon (and other nearby locations)
are full of energetic people, enjoying the attractions
of downtown Charlotte. Vastly different from ten years
ago when, as Mayor Pat described it, you could take a
nap in the middle of the Trade and Tryon intersection at
5:00 and not worry about being hit by a car!
- Our educational
institutions have increased and grown tremendously: CPCC
has gone from one small campus near downtown to 6
campuses around the county, UNCC is a city into itself,
Johnson and Wales opens it doors to 1,200 students in
September and Queens College is now Queens University.
- Our inner city
neighborhoods have been revitalized and are now
destination points with names: NoDa, SouthEnd and Plaza
Midwood.
- Our transportation
system is becoming even more functional with the
centrally located transit station and bus terminal as
well as the recent addition of the Trolley.
- Our trees are being
protected and our neighborhoods and roadways are not
overrun with Billboards.
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All in all, our quality of life in Charlotte has
improved drastically. We have grown from a population of 400,000
residents to over 600,000. In spite of our successes, however,
challenges remain. Mayor Pat is concerned about the ongoing
viability of our airport, our economic security and personal safety
in the event of future terrorist threats and the increasing gang
population in our community. From a state perspective, Mayor Pat is
concerned that we are not getting our fair share of road dollars or
support for our educational institutions, namely UNCC. He is
focusing on these issues and at the advice of his friend and mentor,
Bill Lee, trying to anticipate the pain and plan for avoidance. In
closing, he urged us all to look in the mirror and think about what
we can do to prepare the city for growth and prosperity in the
future.
Head Table:
Joey Godbold, Budd Berro, Catherine
Browning, Pam Syfert, Marilynn Bowler, Hunter Widener; Invocation:
Carol Jordan
Visitors and Guests:
Bob Knight; Health & Happiness: Don
Steger; Song: David Erdman
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New Member Profile |
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Janet F. Fortner
Hospice at Charlotte and Hospice of Lincoln County
Classification:
Health Services-Non Profit
1420 East Seventh Street (28204)
704-335-3501
fortnerj@hospiceatcharlotte.org |
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Janet Fortner has been President and Chief Executive Officer for
NewSouth Health Care (Hospice at Charlotte and Hospice of
Lincoln County) since 1983. Under her direction the organization
has grown from serving 15 patients a day to serving over 300
patients a day with multiple health care, counseling and
educational services to over 14,000 individuals a year. NewSouth
HealthCare serves nine counties with offices in Charlotte,
Lincolnton, and Davidson and has specialized services for
children, AIDS patients, residents of long term care and those
living with serious illness that are in need of palliative care
for pain and symptom management. Janet has a long history of
volunteer community service. She has served on more than a dozen
boards and committees and has served as President of Leadership
Charlotte, President of Women Executives, Chair of the
Mecklenburg County HIV/AIDS Task Force, and Chair of the
Carolinas Center for Hospice and End-of-Life Care. She was the
founding Chair of the Hospice Provider Network, a NC network of
progressive hospice programs. Janet currently Chairs the
Mecklenburg End-of-Life Coalition and serves on the board of the
Hospice Provider Network, Leadership Charlotte’s Past Presidents
Council and Women Executives Past Presidents Council. She is a
Senior Fellow in the American Leadership Forum. Janet is a
recipient of the Peter Keese Award, the highest award given by
The Carolinas Center for Hospice and End-of-Life Care for
exemplary service to the hospice movement on the state and
national level and was a 2003 recipient of The Charlotte
Business Journal’s Women in Business Achievement Award. Janet
holds a Masters Degree in Social Work. |
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Rotary Foundation chairman
Pender
McElroy
presented Paul Harris Fellow certificates to
Tony Marciano
and
Mike Parrott. Don Millen, Sr.
was on hand to continue
the family tradition by awarding a Paul Harris Fellow to
son,
Don Millen, Jr.
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2004-2005 Club Rosters are
available for pickup. Thanks to
Bill Loftin (Jr. and Sr.) for making this happen.
Please review your information and report changes to the
Rotary office. NOTE: committee assignments are shown
under your address.
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Martin Waters’ 12 year-old grandson,
Preston Griffith, and
daughter/mom Robin, have
reached the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro. What an impressive
way for this young man to spend his summer vacation.
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If you have received an
invoice from The Rotary Foundation for your Polio
Eradication pledge, please send your payment through the
Rotary office.
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HELP NEEDED:
135 copies of
The Reporter are mailed (usually) on Thursdays. Anyone
wishing to come down to the Rotary office to handle this
process (stuffing, labeling, and postage) is most welcome!
Two people can easily complete this in an hour. Be sure to
contact Sandy on Wednesday to make sure the printed copies
will be ready on Thursday. This team of volunteers will also
be needed on a quarterly basis to prepare invoices for
mailing.
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Smith
Foushee was
named broker-in-charge of Bissell-Hayes Realtors’ Ballantyne
office.
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Dilworth South End Rotary
is planning a trip to Guatemala in late January to work,
explore and learn. Anyone interested in going to learn about
World Community Service should contact Joe Morris,
jmorris18@carolina.rr.com.
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SUPPORT THE
9/11 SCHOLARSHIP GOLF CLASSIC – September 21st at Raintree
Country Club. Contact Chip Scholz for info.
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Did You
Know: As of the
latest update (2003), there were 31,364 Rotary clubs active
in 166 countries. Charlotte Rotary, the 6th Club formed in
North Carolina, was chartered on December 1, 1916 with 48
members. Our membership now totals 327. |
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Attendance
Record |
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7/20/04 |
7/22/03 |
| visitors &
guests |
21 |
15 |
| club
members |
185 |
178 |
| total
attendance |
206 |
193 |
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Wedding
Anniversaries |
27 Alisa and Jeff Longo
29 Karla and Tim Newman
01 Dorothy and Gordon Berg
02 Carolyn and Byron Bullard
03 Sarah and Richard Early
05 Jenny Lou and Rob Wright
05 Dottie and Jim Barnhardt |
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New Members | Resignations |
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Janet Fortner |
Dave Guilford
Jamie McLawhorn
David Tate
Debby Millhouse |
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| Roaming
Rotarians |
Emmy Lou Burchette,
Chapel Hill, NC
Susan Patterson, Macon, GA
Bill Stegelmeyer, Charleston, SC
Phil Van Hoy, Wilmington, NC | |
| Birthdays and
Birthplaces |
27 Jim Adams, Salisbury, NC
27 Sadler Barnhardt, Charlotte, NC
27 Charlie Briley, Greenville, NC
27 Ward Matthews, Birmingham, AL
27 Worth Williamson, Salisbury, NC
29 Bill Barnhardt, Latrobe, PA
29 Thomas Moore, Gastonia, NC
29 David Norman, Charlotte, NC
29 Roger Sarow, Wisconsin
30 Steve Byrum, Ft. Lauderdale, FL
31 Fred Parker, Bowling Green, KY
01 Chuck Lew, Milwaukee, WI
02 Vernon Anderson, Spartanburg, SC
02 Don Esposito, Greenville, SC
03 Lamar Thomas, Charlotte, NC
04 Al Nikles, Akron, OH
06 Lori Hurd, Pittsburg, PA
07 Bob Landers, Vallejo, CA
08 Bob Boehm, Bayonne, NJ |
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