Meeting Report from May 4, 1999

Meeting

Rotary Wheel

Report

May 4, 1999
By JACK SMYLIE

Today Rotary celebrated the achievements of twenty-one graduating high school seniors in the club's annual Rotary Scholarship program. Each winner receives $250 toward college expenses, as well as recognition from teachers and administrators at their school for outstanding scholarship, leadership citizenship and service. CURT FARMER led the program, representing the Youth Services committee, whose members are GLENN CLINEFELTER (chair), MADINE FAILS, STEVE KESSLER, LEROY MAYNE, JERRY ORR, and JOHN PHILLIPS. Following their recognition, each student was presented a plaque by AL ALLISON and SUSAN HANCOCK SEWELL also members of the committee and then photographed with the school representative by BERT VOSWINKEL. NED FOX, Headmaster of Charlotte Latin School, read the accomplishments of seniors from six private high schools, and introduced the school representative.
School	School Representative	Senior Honoree

CHARLOTTE CATHOLIC U.S.	Karen Grauman	ERICA HUGO
CHARLOTTE CHRISTION H.S.	Dr.Gary Colter	DETRA CHAMBERS
CHARLOTTE COUNTRY DAY	Shawn Samuelson	KATIE RACKOFF
CHARLOTTE LATIN	Ken Templeton	LEE KANE
NORTHSIDE CHRISTIAN ACADEMY	Mike Hiltibidal	MICHAEL SULLIVAN
PROVIDENCE DAY SCHOOL	Gene Bratek	JUSTIN REESE

ERIC SMITH, Superintendent of Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools, cited the distinctions of graduates from fifteen public high schools, and Introduced the school representative.
School	School Representative	Senior Honoree

HARDING UNIVERSITY H.S.	Dr. Venton Bell	RAGAN NICOLE BLISS
NORTHWEST SCHOOL OF THE ARTS	Dr. Charles LaBorde	EMILY DORNBLAZER
OLYMPIC H.S.	DaLe Lamb	MICHAEL KNOTTS
WEST CHARLOTTE H.S.	Lisa Troutman	DANIEL HOAG
WEST MECKLENBURG H.S.	Gary Evans	HOLLY BRADHAM
NORTH MECKLENBURG H.S.	Beverly Finley	CAMILIA MEADOR
Z.B. VANCE H.S.	Ann Clark	YOLANDA WARREN
D. W. BUTLER H.S.	Cynthia Shepard	ABLAVI GBENYON
EAST MECKLENBURG H.S.	Dr. Ron Thompson	CORTLAND PRESTON BOSC
GARINGER H.S.	Mike Turner	ADAM STUCKY
INDEPENDENCE H.S.	Rick Hinson	MATTHEW DAVID MORRISON
MYERS PARK H.S.	Dr. Lloyd Wimberley	ELESHA RENEE BARNETTE
PROVIDENCE H.S.	Dr. Les Potter	JOSEPH PAISLEY
SOUTH MECKLENBURG H.S.	Dr. James Knox	PETER JOHNSTONE
MIDWOOD H.S.	Jacqueline Muse	SARAH FRENCH

As a group, these students promise to become leaders, scholars, volunteers, and good citizens. Again and again they were cited as presidents of student groups, athletes, scholarship winners, and members of the National Honor Society. Of particular interest were the student who Interned at a Tennessee Sanctuary for retired circus elephants, another who scored a perfect 800 on the verbal SAT, several participants in the International Baccalaureate Program, another who served as a Page in the N.C, General Assembly, a student body president. Orchestra Musician of the Year, and an Eagle Scout. Rotarians showed special interest in the colleges and universities these scholars will attend. The list includes UNC Chapel Hill (7), Wake Forest (2), UNC-G, NCSU, Appalachian, Duke, UNC-C. Gardner Webb, Elon, Hampton-Sidney, Morehouse, University of Iowa, Towson State University, and Boston College. One student is deciding between Ga. Tech, Duke, Stanford and NCSU!

President RONNIE PRUETT presided, and after all the presentations, put Rotary's interest in these young students in perspective with a closing poem. THE BRIDGE BUILDER An old man, going a lone highway, Came at the evening, cold and gray, To a chasm, vast and deep and wide, Through which was flowing a sullen tide. The old man crossed in the twilight dim — That sullen stream had no fears for him; But he turned, when he reached the other side, And built a bridge to span the tide. "Old man," said a fellow pilgrim near, "You are wasting strength in building here. Your journey will end with the ending day; You never again must pass this way. You have crossed the chasm, deep and wide, Why build you the bridge at the eventide?" The builder lifted his old grey head. "Good friend, in the path I have come," he said, "There followeth after me today A youth whose feet must pass this way. This chasm that had been naught to me To that fair-haired youth may a pitfall be. He, too, must cross in the twilight dim; Good friend, I am building the bridge for him" WILL ALLEN DROMGOOLE Earlier in the meeting, HARRY DAUGHERTY introduced six visiting Rotarians and John Tabor, guest of DAVID ANDERSON. Announcements included a request for a volunteer counselor for an Asian student coming to Charlotte under the Ambassador Scholarship Project, and word that HENRY BOSTIC is hospitalized while recovering from abdominal surgery. PRICE GWYNN gave the invocation, and others seated at the heed table were JIM KISER, CINDY JOHNSTON, and JOHN LASSITER. Click here for photos of this Meeting