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November 8, 2005 |
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 REFLECTIONS...How I Got Where I'm At with Chris Thomas and Powell Majors By Natalie English Tuesday's How I Got Where I Am At featured one member as well as our club as a whole. Chris Thomas gave us his individual HIGWIA followed by Powell Majors telling us how Charlotte Rotary got where it is at. We learned a lot about a fellow member and even more about our club. Powell was kind enough to share his notes so we can see where he left off when 1:30 quickly arrived and he cut off his speech. Chris Thomas is a Charlotte native who began his HIGWIA by voicing regret that he hasn't yet gotten more active in our club. He knows that Rotary will give proportionately what we give it. He reflected on Bishop Jones' Five Rules of Living: Laughter, Exercise, Attitude, Reflection and Nurture. Chris then thanked Luther Moore who has been Chris' friend and mentor for 20 years. Ray Killian was thanked for recognizing something of value in Chris and hiring him. Chris recalls lunches while working at Belk during which David Burkhalter practiced Health and Happiness stories. His introduction to Rotary came watching David, Tom Belk, Luther and others leave for Rotary every Tuesday. Chris says he is a product of his family and his faith. His family instilled in him that he should work hard, earn what he has and value his faith, family and friends. Chris went to Olympic High School and shared that in his current job with Childress Klein, he is building a 600,000 square foot shopping center right down the street from Olympic which, at that time, was in the country. His first introduction to service was as a member of the Junior Civitan Club. He learned that service is fun because he was able to eat with the Sharon Civitans at S&W cafeteria and there were Civinettes. He made sure from Luther that Rotary had no Claxton Fruit Cakes before he would commit to joining. Chris enjoyed his time at UNC-Chapel Hill and is still celebrating last week's win on the football field. He said his job at Belk allowed him to develop a relationship with Childress Klein and in leaving Belk to join CK, Chris moved from tenant to landlord. Chris has been married to his high school sweetheart, Jane, for 19 years and quoted her as saying she got Chris young and trained him properly. Chris has a daughter at Carmel Middle and a son at Charlotte Prep. He spends his spare time coaching his daughter's soccer team and participating in scouting activities with his son. He is an active member of First Baptist Church and is active in the Festival In The Park with friends the Daltons and the Whitneys. Chris says his hero would have to be the Reverend Charles Page who recently lost his battle with cancer. Chris' thought for the day was attributed to Wolfgang Goethe's Nine Requisites for Contented Living: Health enough to make work a pleasure, Wealth enough to support your needs, Strength to battle difficulties and overcome them, Grace enough to confess your sins and forsake them, Patience enough to toil until some good is accomplished, Charity enough to see some good in your neighbor, Love enough to move you to be useful and helpful to others, Faith enough to make real the things of God, Hope enough to remove all anxious fears concerning the future.  As
those of you who were in attendance know, Powell Majors
shared some very interesting and sometimes funny reflections on our
Club. He started by telling us that he became a Rotarian at the
recommendation of J. Norman Pease. Pease was President of this Club
in the early twenties but dropped out during the Depression. They
were working together when Powell was invited to become a Lions Club
member but Pease advised him that Rotary was the best service club.
R. M. Pound, father of current member Ralston, was a Charter member
of the club and sponsored Powell's membership. In April of that
year, 1938, Powell was asked to be a greeter and to learn everyone's
name. The membership was at 124 and met at a dining room run by the
Chamber of Commerce on West 4th Street. The meal was $1.25. Powell
was told to call everyone by their first name which was overwhelming
for a 31 year old. Powell shared kind words about Norman Pease who
was a colonel in both World War I and II. He was 102 years old when
he died but not the oldest member of our club. Ben Hood was 104 when
he died. Powell said he will have them beat in six more years to
which everyone applauded. Powell said Charlotte Rotary was
conservative and followed the rules and bylaws to a tee when he
joined. He said that, for many years, there was only one minister,
one lawyer and so on. He likes the current interpretation better
because the more liberally interpreted classifications allow for a
wider diversification. He said the closest make up meetings were in
Belmont and Mount Holly until the creation of the Dilworth club
which was opposed by some of our members. That was the year that
John Pender came up with How I Got Where I am At which gave members
no notice, but just called out names during the meeting. Powell
served as Secretary of the club for two terms and has been to
several national conventions. There were hotel issues the year the
meeting was in Denver and he had to spend a night in a Pullman car
on the way to the New York convention. Powell served as President in
1946 and took his wife and 11 year old son to Atlantic City for the
convention. His son roomed with Everett Bierman who groused about
the orchestra and wished the director would fall over dead. He did,
during the intermission!! That same year a boy's choir was approved.
The choir started out slowly but became hugely successful and
scheduled appearances at outlying towns on Friday nights. The choir
was making money and gave scholarships to Davidson for several
years. The following things were in Powell's written comments but he
was unable to get to them as he spoke. Powell was present when Paul
Harris planted a tree at the Mint Museum. The tie he wore was a gift
from last year's President of Rotary International Glen Estes who
also planted a tree on the CPCC campus. He shared that one of the
Charlotte Rotary projects was to give a truck load of dogwoods and
maples to the Parks and Recreation Department which caused about 500
trees to be planted at various spots around Charlotte over ten
years. Another early project of the Club was a crippled children's
clinic run by Rotarian Alonzo Myers and financed by the Club. The
student loan fund was started in 1922 and is now the scholarship
fund for students going to CPCC. At the onset of WWII, this club
staged a play to raise funds for civil defense. In that cast of
Rotarians and friends was an Ivey, a Belk and an Efird representing
the three big department stores in Charlotte at the time. Powell
recalls President Bill Hart pushing his chair too far back on the
platform which caused him to fall off backwards during one meeting.
Another recollection is when Eddie Reckenbacker, President of
Eastern Airlines, came to speak. He was on a plane not scheduled to
stop in Charlotte but he made it make an unscheduled stop. Powell
shared that at Ben Hood's 104th birthday, a scantily clad dancing
girl serenaded Hood who liked it and gave her a hard time about
getting up from his lap. One of the Charter members was Charlie
Williams, III's grandfather. Charlie's father was also a member and
was President in 1944. In 1949, Club President Everett Bierman
wanted to promote giving blood so he gave blood in front of the
whole club. His last recollection, this week, is that he had the
pleasure of introducing the club's first female member, Ruth Shaw,
in 1988. She was Club President in 1993 and later, as you all know,
became President of Duke Power.Head Table: Mac McCarley, Powell Majors, Herb Harriss, Edwin Peacock, Chris Thomas, Ron Kimble, Gib Smith; Invocation: Chuck Woodyard Visitors & Guests: Roger Sarow; Health & Happiness: Randall Groves; Song: Alan Barnhardt; Piano: Thomas Moore
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Copyright © 1998-2005. The Rotary Club of Charlotte. All rights reserved.
Revised: January 24, 2008.