CAROLINA THREAD TRAIL
By Jim Kelley
              
Jim Woodward introduced Ruth Shaw in her capacity as the Chair of the Governing Board of the Carolina Thread Trail. Ruth is well known to the members of the Charlotte Rotary as she was the first female member of the club in 1989. She also served as the president of the club in 1993 - 1994. Ruth has a BA from East Carolina and a doctorate from the University of Texas. In 1986 she became the president of CPCC and served in that capacity until Bill Lee, then CEO of Duke Power, asked her to join the executive management team at Duke in 1992. Ruth held a number of senior positions at Duke including President of Duke Power. Ruth has served in significant leadership positions in the Charlotte area. She is currently serving as the chair of the board of UNC Charlotte. In the past she has served as the chair of the board for the Arts and Science Council and the chair of their annual campaign. Likewise she has served as the chair of the board of United Way and the chair of their annual campaign. She recently received the prestigious Humanitarian Award from the Charlotte Coalition for Community and Justice.
 
Ruth started her presentation by telling us that the Carolina Thread Trail is one bold vision for our region. The Thread Trail is actually a network of interconnected trails in 15 counties connecting our region's special places and over 2 million people. The Trail came out of a regional discovery process by the Foundation for the Carolinas, the Catawba Lands Conservancy and the Trust for Public Land. Those groups decided that the environmental project that would make the biggest difference in the region was this Trail in terms of air quality, water quality, transportation and quality of life.
 
Early on Duke Energy endorsed the project by becoming its first corporate champion and committing $4.5 million gifts of cash, land and services. After her initial remarks, Ruth showed a 10 minute video that gave more specifics about how the vision of the Trail will become a reality. One of the more telling facts presented in the video was the point that in 1985, 35% of the land in Mecklenburg and some surrounding counties was developed. By 2030 the projection is that 97% of the land will be developed. That points to the need to preserve open land for trails now.
 
Ruth mentioned that the Trail had several principles at its core: regional connectivity, local self-determination, free access to all and private funding serving as a catalyst. Ruth said the vision includes approximately 500 miles of trails in the 15 county region. Currently there are less than 50 miles of trails.
 
The funding model calls for both public and private capital and it starts with a capital campaign. The goal of the campaign is $40 million in cash and land. To date the campaign has raised $17 million with the following gifts committed: Duke - $4.5 million; Wachovia - $4 million; Bank of America - $4 million; Foundation for the Carolinas - $2 million; Knight Foundation - $1 million: an anonymous donor - $250,000.
 
In closing, Ruth thanked the club for their interest and asked us to support this landmark effort with our allegiance and our abundance.

Head Table: Jill Santuccio, Warren Kean, David Zimmerman, Jim Woodward, Carol Jordan, Sammy Black;
Invocation: Thomas Moore;
Visitors & Guests: Doug Booth; Health & Happiness: Don Steger; Song: Matt Ryan; Piano: Thomas Moore

• Catherine Browning introduced the club's newest member, Greg Jones, owner of Alta Vista Trust and Alta Vista Wealth Management. Greg was a member of the Rotary Club of Morganton for fifteen years. Contact Greg at gjones@altavistawealth.com.
 
• Spencer Williams is serving as President-Elect of the Charlotte American Marketing Association and will advance to President in July 2008; Ronnie Pruett was elected to Business North Carolina magazine's Legal Elite. Phil Van Hoy is in the Legal Elite Hall of Fame, employment law; The 2007 Salvation Army bell ringers brought in a total collection of $2388.73. The team of Ed Wadsworth, Fred Brown, Kurt Waldthausen, Bill Anderson, Pat Millen & Family brought in the highest collection - $234.51. Slightly trailing with a collection of $234.03 was Wes Clark, George MacBain, Chuck Lew and Arch McIntosh.
 
• Ed Sanz joined GrowthFinance LLC as a managing director; Tom Bartholomy says more people are complaining to the BBB about how businesses are treating them. The jump is a result of the increased ease of filing complaints on the Internet rather than widespread declines in customer service; Klingman Williams (Dick Klingman) has agreed to merge with Raleigh firm Alfred Williams & Co. The Charlotte entity will be called Alfred Williams & Klingman; Alan Barnhardt, President & CEO of Carolina Raptor Center, announced that after successfully leading the organization through 8 ½ years of growth, will be leaving at the end of January. Alan is looking for his next career adventure. Email will change to 2gohiking@earthlink.net.
 
• Thanks to Classroom Central volunteers: Jessica Brasington, Mike Crum, Michael Elder, Mike Hummer, John Johnson, Lynn Johnson, Mark Norman, Sandy Osborne and Tom Robertson. Contact Lynn Johnson if you are interested in serving on this committee; Wishing a speedy recovery: Ed Lewis as he recovers from knee replacement surgery; Ed Ruff had double hip replacement this week.

• Membership chair Tom Bartholomy thanked everyone for their help in bringing in new members. To date, 21 new members have been introduced/approved and there have been 12 resignations. President David's goal is to bring in 40 new members with a net of 8. We're up 5 at this point. Contact the Rotary office if you are in need of an application.
   
- STOP HUNGER NOW is a program that provides food, medicine, and other life-saving aide to those with the greatest need around the country. Charlotte East Rotary Club is working to raise $20,000 in order to package and mail 100,000 meals to Haiti. Governor Graham has declared this effort a District-wide project and has announced a fundraiser to achieve this goal. Those attending the District Conference will work to package the food for shipping. Donations of $10 will be accepted at Charlotte Rotary meetings through January 28th. Should you wish to receive a tax donation by writing a check - make your check payable to Southpark Rotary DAF (Stop Hunger Now in the memo section). Visit www.stophungernow.org
 
- ALTO CAYMA: Jim Hintz provides an email update on all that's happening in Alto Cayma. A few tidbits of life in Peru….Flash! Jim and Gloria finally got cell phones, after a 12-day full court press which included 4 trips to the phone company office, putting up a security deposit of $270, and signing an amount of paperwork that would fall somewhere between that required for buying a car and buying a house in the States; Remembering it's summer in Peru - the weather has been cold and the rain very heavy - causing considerable erosion damage in the dirt streets of Alto Cayma. Heavy rain is a real problem for many houses whose "calamina" (corrugated metal) roofs are badly deteriorated. Once the rain starts pouring into the house, it ruins even the meager furnishings the people have been able to accumulate; The beautiful cards made by the Creaciones Angel Cardmaking Group has made it's way to Elizabeth, Queen of England. It seems a couple in Malta bought one of the wedding cards and sent it to Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip on the occasion of their 60th wedding anniversary in November. The Queen's private secretary sent a nice thank you note which was forwarded on to the girls.
 
This year's Peru Crew - Ed & Page Kizer, Luther & Sandra Moore, Pender & Kathryn McElroy, Will & Elsie Barnhardt, and Erskine & Betty Harkey, are geared up and ready to head out on February 8th.