HOW I GOT WHERE I’M AT
Tom Wright, Carol
Hughes, Lori Hurd, Ed Turner
Larry Sagehorn arranged for short talks from four relatively
new members.
Carol Hughes told how she
happened to become leader of Crisis Assistance Ministry, which every day serves 125
neighbors who experience financial stresses. Her
years of volunteer experience came natural for the child of a “social activist
minister dad” and a “community activist mom.” Going to college at Furman meant for this
Floridian cooler weather and a change of seasons. Duke
Power hired the newly-trained computer and numbers person, and rewarded her performance,
15 years later, with advancement into management. But
she left this promising post when Crisis Assistance Ministry sought her help, as its CEO. We appreciate her bringing her constructive
attitudes into Charlotte Rotary.
Tom Wright, a born and bred
Charlottean, is “kid brother” of our fellow Charlotte Rotarian Rob Wright. While at W & L in Virginia, he got excited
about architecture, so he next went to Penn in Philadelphia to study it. He learned to adapt when he found himself the sole
(?) student there from the “Deep South.” When
he landed in Atlanta to practice his trade in the late ‘70s, he tried his hand at
“urban infill” residential construction, setting off a mini-boom among the
upwardly mobile. A half-dozen years later, he
moved to Charlotte to work at the same thing. Another
five years, and he was ready for starting his own architectural firm. Charlotte Rotarian Frank Martin was involved with
Tom professionally and in volunteer activities. This
included Community Outreach Christian Ministries' work with the with homeless. Tom designed an impressive facility for them, and
has also built his firm up to 20 staff.
Ed
Turner has devoted his talents to the Charlotte community for most of his adult
life, after moving here from West Virginia. He credits his tobacco-spitting supervisor,
when he worked as a lineman after high school, for part of his philosophy of life--“There’s
no such word as ‘can’t.” Returning
from service in Viet Nam, and already happily married, he enrolled in Marshall University. With his degree in hand, he joined Arthur Andersen
in Charlotte. Soon he switched to a start-up
company, which he bought within a few years, as he advanced in a career of assisting
companies in recruiting and staffing. Now
Business Development Manager for the Human Capital Consulting Group of Spherion Corp., Ed
once was president of Top-of-the-Week Rotary Club here.
Lori Hurd, born a Kentuckian, had
a career in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools as an early childhood teacher and then
Director of After School Enrichment Programs. With
advanced training in education and psychology, and certification in Non-Profit Management
(a Duke program), she was enticed into working with the Girl Scouts, Hornets' Nest
Council, first as its chief development officer, and then, in 2001, as its Executive
Director and CEO, her current job. Lori told
the roots of how she got where she is today. Several women who influenced her were
"by no means shrinking violets.” Her
Italian grandmother taught her much and was "not generous with praise.” To hear
“Good job!” from her was praise indeed! Her
Austrian grandmother showed, in her home, an openness to many sorts and conditions of
people. And her mother believed God had a
special plan for each of our lives, and advised: “Don’t push; just go about your
business, and doors will open.” Knowing
what brought these four community leaders to where they now find themselves made us more
appreciative of their having joined us in Charlotte Rotary.
Head Table: David Anderson, Larry Sagehorn, Tom Wright, Carol
Hughes, Ed Turner, Lori Hurd, Rob Thomas; Invocation: John Rogers.
Visitors & Guests: Mark Norman; Health & Happiness:
William Rikard; Song: Chuck Lineberry.
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ROTARY CLUB OF CHARLOTTE 2002-2003
PHILANTHROPIC UPDATE
Rotary
Youth Merit Awards $10,000
$500 scholarships
have been awarded to 20 students in Charlotte Mecklenburg Public Schools.
Seed
Programs, Inc. $1,000
Program to feed
children in Third World Countries that suffer poverty and malnourishment.
Arequipa,
Peru Support $1,000
Programs managed
by Father Alex Busuttil in Arequipa, Peru, include construction of a day care center,
health care services, education and basic literacy training for women, community kitchen,
classes in life-skills and academic support for older children.
Victoria
Hospital Project $1,000
Support of the
Victoria Hospital Project sponsored by the Constantia Rotary Club in Cape Town, South
Africa.
Argentina
Project $1,250
Working with the
Health Department in Buenos Aires to provide surgery for children with birth defects.
Habitat
for Humanity $14,641
In addition to
cash, club members provided invaluable in-kind contributions and tremendous manpower to
provide a home for a Charlotte family.
Greater
Enrichment Program $2,200
Support to the
after school program that provides social, emotional, and intellectual growth to children.
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IN MEMORY
OF
DR. BONNIE E. CONE
June 22, 1907 – March 8, 2003
Bonnie Cone died at the age of 95 on Saturday, March 8th. As an Honorary member of the Rotary Club of
Charlotte, we recognize her for her tremendous contributions to our community. Without her leadership and tenacity to make things
happen, UNC Charlotte would have never become the outstanding university today that has
contributed so much to our community. Her
influence has been felt by hundreds of students. While
we mourn her death, we honor her friendship and thank her for being a member of the
Charlotte Club.
Born in Lodge, South Carolina, on June 22, 1907, she was the
daughter of the late Charles Jefferson and Addie Harter Cone. She graduated from Coker College with a degree in
Mathematics and earned a Master’s Degree from Duke University. She began a long career in the education field in
her native state. She taught in Lakeview and
McColl before coming to Charlotte to assume a teaching position at Central High School. The onset of World War II altered the course of
her career. She was called to Duke University
to teach Navy V-12 officer candidate students. Subsequent
war years took her to Washington, DC, where she did statistical work for the Navy. She worked with classified material and
statistics on mine laying and sweeping. Anxious
to return to the classroom in Charlotte, she resumed her role as mathematics teacher at
Central High School in 1946. In an extended
capacity, she became the director of the center that would help returning veterans prepare
themselves for advanced degrees. She taught
high school mathematics during the school day and engineering mathematics in night school. This center for learning was later to become
Charlotte College with Miss Cone at the helm, filling an educational need for a quickly
growing metropolitan Charlotte.
Undaunted by a woman’s role in this capacity in the post war
years, she was determined to see her college become a branch of the university system. Her dream and Charlotte’s university became a
reality in 1965 when Charlotte College became the University of North Carolina at
Charlotte, now located on a spacious campus north of Charlotte. After such success as the “mother of the
university”, she served one year as acting chancellor.
When a new chancellor was hired in 1966, she became vice chancellor for
student affairs and community relations. She
received numerous honorary degrees for pioneering work in higher education. In 1977 she retired from this capacity, but never
ceased promoting her university and its students at every opportunity.
She was an early member of Myers Park Baptist Church, member of
Altrusa Club, a consulting rosarian and member of the Charlotte Rose Society, Friends of
UNC-C, American Association of University Women, Phi Kapa Phi, and many others.
Miss Cone is survived by nieces, Ann Cone McWhirter, Crofton, MD,
Bonnie Cone Sawyer and Mary Celia Cone, Saluda, SC; nephews, Robert Wilton Cone, Aiken,
SC, and Charles Sherwood Cone, Summerville, SC; and 19 great nieces and nephews, and 21
great-great nieces and nephews. She was
preceded in death by brothers, Eddie Oswald Cone, William Walter Cone; sister, Louise Cone
Smith; and niece, Virginia Cone Kimmer.
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New Member
- James S. Gearity (Jim)
-
- Belmont Abbey College
- Classification: Private College
- 100 Belmont-Mt. Holly Road
- Belmont, NC 28012
- 704-825-6726
Jim Gearity is the President and CEO of Belmont Abbey College. Born and reared in Brooklyn, New York, Jim has
dedicated virtually his entire career to higher education.
After teaching theology for several years in the late 1960’s, he joined
the staff of Fordham University in the Bronx, NY, as Assistant Dean of Students.
In the mid 1970’s, he earned the
doctoral program in American Studies at the University of Minnesota. After receiving his degree in 1979, Jim accepted
the position of Assistant to the Dean of College of Liberal Arts. He remained at CLA for five years and became its
first Director of Development.
In 1984 he joined American Public
Radio as Senior Director of Development. In
1988 Jim returned to higher education as director of the graduate management program and
first Dean of Graduate Studies at Metropolitan State University in St. Paul, Minnesota. In 1991, Jim returned to the east as Dean of the
Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at Marywood College in Scranton, Pennsylvania.
Jim became Provost of Our Lady of the
Lake University in San Antonio, Texas in 1999. In
July 2002, he became the 14th President of Belmont Abbey College in Belmont,
North Carolina.
Jim lives on Roxbury Road in the
Southpark area. He has two grown children;
his daughter Meghan Kimmel and her husband live in St. Paul, Minnesota; and his son Liam
is an aspiring actor in New York City. Jim
attends St. Gabriels Catholic Church. Welcome
to Charlotte Rotary, Jim.
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