May 9, 2008

It seemed like a big crowd today, but that was probably the 25 members of the AHS jazz band, who not only took up 3 tables, but a lot of floor space for instruments. Doesn’t it seem that young people take up more space generally than older people? Has anyone ever done a study about that?

And we had other guests, too. Shell Kellam was the guest of Jaci Betts (Shell is a caterer, d/b/a “Sav-the-flavor,” I’m told). Pamela Vuncannon was visiting with Henry Trollinger. From the Randolph Club we had a full contingent: Tom Barton, Rob Wilkins, Maggie Stevens and Harold Brubaker. Alan Pugh introduced our regular AHS guests Jessica Gage and Clara Lennon (who were mysteriously attracted to Philip Shore, as you see in their photo. Do you think it’s because they both work at Chick-Fil-A?). Jessica is the daughter of Millie and John Gage, spent last summer in Spain, played four years on the AHS tennis team, and will be attending UNCW this fall. Clara is the daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Yates Lennon. Last year she went on a mission trip to the Dominican Republic, and her hobbies are cooking, ballet, and playing the piano. She plans to attend Meredith next fall, study nutrition, and own her own restaurant some day.

President HR reminded us of Farm-City Day on May 13th, where we’ll be able to participate in the annual “Farm-City Pig Pickin’” sponsored by the Randolph Livestock and Poultry Improvement Association.  It is Tuesday May 13th at 6PM at Allen’s Dairy Farm on Osborn Mill Road.  DIRECTIONS:  Take NC 42 south about 6 miles and turn right on Olc NC Hwy 13.  Go about one mile and turn left on Kemp Mill Road.  Go about half a mile and turn right on Osborne Mill Road.  Farm is about  a mile on the right.  Watch for signs and bring your lawn chair.  Here’s a map.

Also, TOMORROW is the first outdoor festival on Sunset and Church streets, from 9AM to 6PM. Foster Hughes and the Asheboro Parks and Rec department are sponsoring, so check out their website at www.asheboroparksandrecreation.com .

The Club will meet OFFSITE on May 23rd for a picnic at the Rotary Shell in Bi-Centennial Park. Afterwards we’ll walk over to the “A Statue” beside City Hall (which we helped purchase, with the Randolph Club) for a dedication ceremony.

Tar Wheel History, July 20, 1955: A story about Cherokee Bill, and his hanging, where the punch line was “I came here to be hung, not to make a speech.” Several people asked me if this were true, an Indian hanged in Randolph County. All I can say with certainty is that I assume it’s meant to be a joke, and therefore isn’t really history. The clue is that Red writes that he fears that the story “will not be verified by Dr. Jess Pritchard.” Dr. Pritchard was considered to be one of my predecessors as Randoph County historian in the 1930s and 40s (it’s an inherited title, you see).

Phil Homiller rose to introduce the Asheboro High School Jazz Band, a crew 25 strong who meets at 7:30 each morning (“Zero Period”) to play for 45 minutes. Here’s the roster (first names only- it’s a miracle I could write THAT fast-) On Sax, Kirby, Julia, Matthew, Caleb, Cody and David; Trumpet: Tyler, Taylor and Alex; Clarinet: Kirstin, Corbin, Billy; Trombone: Will, Reuben, Chris (and coming after his AP exam, Nash Dunn); On Piano, Catherine; tuba, A.J.; Guitar, Jesus; Bassoon, Emily; Piccolo, Sarah Elizabeth; Drums: Steve, and last and late but still good enough to solo at a moment’s notice, Richard Trotter.

The crew played (1) “If I Only Had A Brain,” dedicated to the space cadet Miss Teen South Carolina; (2) Harlem Nocturne; (3) Groove Merchant; and (4) some Afro-Cuban Latin Funk, with roots in 70s rock and roll.
Maestro Homiller reminded us that jazz is improvisational, but it’s the solo instruments who improvise. The rest is entirely notated. And he pumped for attendance at their concert “2 weeks from yesterday”, where the band director at UNCA will make a guest solo appearance. Phil says there will be concerts every Tuesday and Thursday night for the next two weeks. That’s part of the run-up to graduation, which one of the band reminded us is in “22 days!”

By the way, the trombonist, Reuben, that Phil introduced as “my son”– that’s because he lives with Phil and Kathy, and in pretty much every way has been raised by Phil. The result: Reuben is president of the student body at AHS, and will be attending NC Central next fall to study in their jazz band program with Branford Marsalis.

Phil said in closing that the musician’s way to damn with faint praise is the compliment “Well, at least your horn is shiny!” I think we all agree they exceeded that in every way.

December 14, 2007

Our last program before Christmas was Mostly Music. Bob Walker started us off with an invocation; Tom White prompted the Pledge and the 4WT, and then Delores Crutchfield and the Asheboro High School choral music students sang (for their lunch) the Star Spangled Banner.

Guest Richard Hughes was visiting with Foster Hughes; Maggie Stevens and Harry Lane joined us from the Randolph Club. Charlene “Sherry” Holt was a guest of the Club, and was introduced by Jim Rich. She is the first winner of our new RCC scholarship, started by President Ed Clayton. Sherry is married and has four children, yet maintains a 4.0 GPA, and is a full time student.

Our AHS student guests were Saba Warraich and Alex Mabe. Saba is the daughter of Saida Begum and Muhammad Afzal; she has four brothers and is involved with the Key Club, the International Club, the National Honor Society, and Future Business Leaders of America. She plans to study Pharmacy at a four-year university. Alex is the son of David and Cindy Mabe, and many of us have seen him grow up from a tiny handful. He’s now president of the Latin Club, plays bass guitar, practices the Japanese marital art of Aikido, and enjoys muscle cars at car shows. He plans to attend UNC-G or ASU, get an MBA, and start his own business.

President HR presented our AVS hostess Jessica with a present from the club, and reminded us that there is NO MEETING next week (12-21). There WILL be a meeting Friday 12-28! He called our attention to the flyers on each table for the District Conference, April 24, 2008, at the “Chateau Elan Resort and Winery” in Braselton, Georgia. (Register early and get the special conference room rate). HR read from the Tar Wheel of December 5, 1951, where future club president Tommy Redding, then the small son of Henry Redding, immediately saw that the upside of losing a couple of fingers would be “no more piano lessons!”

Our musical program was provided by the Park Street Vocal Ensemble, under the direction of Delores Crutchfield. I regret I can’t tell you who they all were, but they regaled us with such a capella numbers as “Ding Dong Merrily on High,” “I’ll Be Home for Christmas,” “The Haitian Noel” (sung in French or Creole). They finished up with “Christmas Is…” with Delores on the piano.

Have a Merry Christmas!

September 28, 2007

The Greensboro Symphony visits Asheboro Rotary (but Joy Provides the Music)!

Everybody seemed to be on their best behavior, what with the Conductor of the Greensboro Symphony being our speaker.

The Scribe Table started the day with the usual pleasantries: beautiful day, but don’t we just need the rain? Or, What will Phil Shore do if it rains on the Fall Festival for the second straight year? asked George Bain and Phil Koonce. Resign, says the Shoremaster. Then the conversation turned towards Grandfatherhood and Fatherhood: both of those “hoods” are a “piece of cake,” said Elizabeth Mitchell, in comparison to the other, Mother-hood. It depends upon the perspective, I guess.

But the conversation finally died away as we stopped to admire Joy’s power piano, thumping out everything from Born Free to a concerto or two. I’m not sure if it impressed the maestro, but it certainly impressed the Scribe Table!

Another impressive touch were the odd flowers on every table

– courtesy, as usual, of Jaci Betts. Lee Malpass was on the injured reserve list – a broken wing, it  appeared.

Everett Thomas opened with an appropriate invocation from the Book of Common Prayer. Russ Williams led the Four Way Test. Rebecca Redding welcomed Archie Odell from the Randolph Club, and Charles Link, Betty Hunt and Boppy Toledano, all guests of John O. Rodney Mason introduced our student guests from Asheboro High. Marisol Romero is a senior, member of the Key Club and the National Honor Society, and hopes to major in college in chemical and biochemical engineering. Daniel Marley is on the varsity soccer team, plays football and tennis, and hopes to study physics at NC State or Duke. President HR congratulated him on kicking the first field goal in last week’s football win.

Past President Mary Joan Pugh stood to rally the troops to participate in Saturday’s Big Sweep. George Bain and his wife got the jump on everyone by picking up 391 pounds of trash this past week, but tomorrow at 10:00 you can meet Partrick at the YMCA to help supervise the Webelos, who are volunteering. [Your Scribe saw a big crowd of Eastern Randolph JROTC students in the Franklinville park Saturday, with a mountain of refuse, so participation appears to have been high. The rest of the state holds Big Sweep this coming Saturday, the first weekend in October. Phillip Shore, of course, insists on holding the Fall Festival that day, so Randolph County cleans up a week early.

ATTENTION!!!

Next Friday Jamie Stith will bring High Point University's resident expert on the Middle East back to talk. Then, we will hold a Joint Meeting with the Randolph Club the very next WEDNESDAY, where U.S. Senator Richard Burr will speak to both clubs. Asheboro Rotary will NOT meet on Friday that week (the 12th). Then the NEXT Friday (the 19th) is the rescheduled date for our visit from the District Governor- be on your best behavior. The Last Friday of October (the 26th) we will not meet at AVS, but WILL meet offsite at Randolph Electric. Make all these mental changes!!!

HR congratulated John O and Boppy on their 40th wedding anniversary- coming up on the 29th.  HE went on to read an entry from the Tar Wheel of August 3, 1950, where Dr. Jake Fritz RSVP'd to a dinner invitation in handwriting so incomprehensible that Jim Fox translated it into a 8 oz. bottle of medicine.

John O., the long-time representative of the Greensboro Symphony to Randolph County,  introduced the president of the symphony, Lisa Crawford, who introduced our speaker  .

Dimitri Sitkovetsky came to North Carolina as a guest violinist, recruited by former director Stuart Malina.  In 2003 he became the 7th and current Music Director of the Greensboro Symphony, which was created in 1959.   Dimitri (or "Dima," his Russian nickname) was born in Azerbaijan, but grew up in Moscow and emigrated to the US in 1977.  He studied at the Juilliard School, and has worked as a violinist with most of the very best orchestras in the world-- Berlin, Leipzig, London, New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, etc., etc.  He has performed at every festival you every heard of, and many you never heard of.  Besides the Greensboro Symphony, he is also currently the principal Guest Conductor of the Russian State Orchestra.

Dima said he was impressed by this are of North Carolina, especially by the UNCG School of Music, where the new building is perfect for chamber music. [The symphony's new "Rice Toyota Chamber Music Series, sponsored by Garson Rice, is tailored for that facility.]  But he was attracted by our connection to literature:  O. Henry is perhaps better known in Russia than in America; there was even a Russian stamp issued to commemorate his 100th birthday.  So that was the hook that caught his attention!

He is a “music geek,” he told us– geeks being the ones in every profession who show the way forward, the “passionate preachers.”  Dima says that musicians are privileged to be paid for their passion- to work in their hobby.  Music doesn’t need translation, it’s the universal language, beyond words and description, it expresses feelings and emotions.  Everyone responds differently to the same music.  And music doesn’t discriminate by skin, politics or age.  There’s no substitute for experiencing the real thing- all one needs is attention and silence.

The orchestra itself is a team of 75 individuals-people who don’t live or associate together, don’t even work together full time, and may not even be friends, but pool their energies and souls to recreate and reinvigorate something written on paper many years ago.  Yesterday, he said,the symphony played Richard Straus’ tone poem Don Juan, written 100 years ago, about an era 3 or 400 years ago, but it speaks deeply to contemporary audiences.  The symphony, he says, is a machine to travel in time.

Maestro Sitkovesky is an enthusiastic speaker, who obviously loves his job and is excited about his organization.  He is expanding the symphony’s audiences and repertory, and has improved the quality of play.  He has begun an outreach program to public schools, run by the resident conductor, which travels all over the state.  Their 150-member youth symphony performed at Carnegie Hall last year, an unforgettable experience.  He travels constantly, and is used to being away from his family- wife (a New Yorker, former opera singer) and daughter live in London, where his daughter is applying to university.  He grew up playing chess against some of the best grand masters in the world.

The Greensboro Symphony, Dima says, is the best-kept secret in North Carolina, and he is truly lucky to be its music director.   Just come once this year and see– he guarantees the trip isn’t painful.

August 3, 2007

AVS was full of Copperheads today; the baseball variety, that is. We hosted our local college-level team thanks to the generosity of Jaci Betts, and used the entire AVS ball room for the first time in a while to house at least several dozen strapping young men. At the scribe table, we interviewed Chris Powell, who happened to be from Randleman (actually, Johnstonville, as he lives just a rock throw from our original county seat). He’s a pitcher for the Copperheads, graduated from AHS, attends ECU, and wants to be a writer and a lawyer. (Hmm. What a great combination!)

Most of the scribe table actually was taken up with babies and proud parents. Phil Shore brought his oldest, Seth, who is finishing up an advanced degree and looking for gainful employment. And Kathy and Phil Homiller were introducing Li Li to the club, soon to be five months old, but only about one month of that has been in the USA. She was passed from hand to hand, and appeared to revel in all the attention, so Your Scribe suggested to both Phils that perhaps she ought to stage a walk-on role in The King and I… After all, the play calls for lots of children, and she’s perfect for the part!

HR got us going early, because we had a full schedule. There were lots of newbies to greet, for starters; then Archie Smith led us in the Four Way Test; HR in the POA; and Maisie Fleetwood in the invocation, asking God to guide us in improving the quality of life for all people.

Rebecca Redding introduced the guests, most of whom were somehow connected to Jaci Betts: Mary Moore of the Courier-Tribune, Add Penfield (making that Duke connection with Jonathan Foreman, the Copperhead who lives with Jaci), Lynn Jones (former president of the Kiwanis Club) and wife Kathy Jones (who are hosting a team member for the first time), David Smith (Asheboro Mayor pro-Tem, past printer/mailer of our Tar Wheels, another Kiwanian and food coordinator for Copperhead games) Tommy McDonald (of Randleman, the game announcer), and Dusty Blake, Coach of the Copperheads. We don’t have a list of the team members in attendance, but the whole team was invited, which would make about 27 The Homillers and the Shores you’ve already met; Patrick Osteen, Lisa Johnson and Stephanie Vaughn you’ll meet in a minute; and Derek Grantham was the sole representative of the Randolph Club. Whew.

While recognizing Copperheads, President HR made special mention of Jordan Nicklebury, who formerly lived with Steve Schmidley and his family until last Tuesday, when Jordan came home, found the house on fire, and rousted the whole family. Thanks to him they were all able to escape before tragedy occured, except to the house, which will take several months to put back into shape.

HR recognized the August birthdays and club anniversaries, which I’ll edit in if Elizabeth sends them to me. But some highlights: Ken Gobel, Shiv Harsh, and Wayne Thomas have birthdays (Wayne’s is tomorrow, so we went ahead and sang happy birthday). Wilbert Hancock has been a club member 35 years this month; Allen Holt, 36 years; and Archie Smith, 61 years!

HR read us the Tar Wheel of September 19, 1945, which recounted VK Day: Asheboro Rotary’s famous softball game victory over the Asheboro Kiwanis and Lion’s Clubs (sorry David and Lyn!). Tar Wheel editor Red Underwood was “Hind Catcher” and another team member was “Death Valley Croom.” The game raised money for the Asheboro High School athletic fund.

John Grey’s membership committee had the program, which started out with member talks from Lynn Dodge (relatively new member) and Allen Holt (surprisingly old member). Lynn spoke about her move from upstate New York, land of snow and ice, to Hanover Court, a/k/a Divorce Court. She was hired to come to Randolph County by Maisie Fleetwood, but knew no one within 500 miles. She and her husband Fred Dodge, an attorney down Sunset Avenue from Yr.Scr., were eventually made to feel very welcome despite numerous trials and tribulations. One reason Lynn joined the club is to give back to the community.

Allen Holt, Editor of the Tar Wheel from 1976 to 2002, next took us back to The Days when Pearl Humble and Omie Kilpatrick were the only female members of the Club (and Honorary members at that; Allen says Pat Kilpatrick was just an Ornery Member). Memorable characters were Tar Wheel Founding Editor Red Underwood (“I feel just like an 18 year old boy,” he said, “With something wrong with him.” J.D. “Joe” Ross, a/k/a “Mr. Rotary,” who once came home from work because he “forgot to take my Rotary pin off my pajamas and put it on my jacket.” Henry Armfield, “who lived life to the fullest, and then settled down.” Allen ended by reading us the manual which HR has so desperately needed: “Instructions for the Proper Sounding of the Gong for Opening and Closing Rotary Meetings.” It was great, and if he emails me a copy, I’ll put the whole thing on the website. Memorable excerpt: “Address the Gong. (Hello, Gong!)”

HR then bravely handed off control of the meeting to Alan Pugh,  who introduced us to certain cast members of the RSVP production of The King and I, opening tonight and running through next weekend. Alan, as if he needed more power around these parts, plays the autocratic King of Siam in that production, and was featured on the front page of today’s Courier-Tribune. With Alan were:

Lisa Johnson, a K-8 teacher at Bonlee school and organist at Church of the Good Shepherd, was introduced as the accompanist whose magic fingers on the piano always make the cast sound good;

Patrick Osteen, he of the “24-pack” (he has the whole case and not just the 6 pack, Y.S. was informed by both Phils, Shore and Homiller), plays Lun Tha – an Emissary from the Court of Burma who has fallen hopelessly in love with Tuptim, a Gift to the King from the ruler of   Burma;

Stephanie Vaughn, a CPA/ internal auditor with United Guaranty Greensboro, playing Anna, the English governessa nd schoolteacher to the children of the King.

The Rogers and Hammerstein musical is set in the 1860s, but opened on Broadway in 1951. It ran for 1,246 productions, and won the Tony for Best Musical. It was made into a film in 1956 with Yul Brynner and Deborah Kerr in the lead parts. To wet our whistles, Patrick sang “We Kiss in a Shadow,” part of his duet with Tuptim. (Alan says Patrick has a dynamite dance number, too.) Then Stephanie sang part of “Hello, Young Lovers,” then joined Alan in part of “Shall We Dance?”

Alan  evidently has been asked whether it is morally-correct for him to star in an amateur theatrical production. (One might that Religious Right conservatives would recall that the English Puritans tore down Shakespeare’s Globe and banned the unholy Theatre in 1642. (They also banned Wrestling, Bear-baiting, Cockfighting, Horse-racing and Ale-houses, while they were at it). Not at all, says Alan. “My participation is merely an attempt by the Chairman of the Randolph County Republican Party to reach out to traditionally Democratic interest groups.” (An answer that would play well on Fox News!)

As Randolph County Democratic Party Chairman, Your Scribe certainly feels the need to support my base, so I’ve already got my ticket, in fact, to the Sunday matinee.

July 20, 2007

It was a dark and rainy Harry Potter day as we straggled into Rotary this morning; the talk at the Scribe Table began by wondering whether it would be cheaper to buy our midnight copy of HP and the Deathly Hallows with the crowds at Books-A-Million or stealthily at Walmart. (The computer literati amongst you can magically download it via http://torrentfreak.com/harry-potter-and-the-deathly-hallows-leaked-to-bittorrent/ ).

When Past President Phil Shore arrived, shaking the rain off his pork-pie hat, the talk changed to The King and I, the cause of Phil’s new nearly-shaven ‘doo. Phil reports that Alan Pugh, starring as the King of Siam, is taking to the musical like he was born in a trunk. (That’s what type-casting will do for a role, I’d say!) Phil’s report about just HOW much Alan REALLY likes wearing the ear-rings and makeup prompted some at the table to suggest that maybe Alan’s next star turn could be the Edna Turnblatt role in Hairspray– come on, Alan, if John Travolta can do it, you can!

Understandably, the talk immediately took a turn toward less disturbing visuals as the table began comparing notes on our Children in Foreign Countries. This topic was initiated by Kathy Homiller, home at last from several weeks in Vietnam, where she and Philip collected their new daughter Li-Li (meaning “Lotus Blossom”) . Kathy promises to bring her to Rotate as soon as Daddy will let loose of her. I allowed that I’ve heard from Roman by email or MySpace about twice a week from Orenburg, and I’ve phoned Russia at least once a week myself. He’s doing well, but spending a lot of time in summer school catching up on classes so he can rejoin his grade in September. And not to be out-done, John Revell revealed that his daughter Kate Mills and her husband and daughter have taken up residence in Allahabad (I think) India, where she is teaching in a Muslim school. Kate has a degree in Islamic Studies from Duke (mightily pleasing to PP Shore and PDG Allred, who voiced their unqualified approval), and PP Prithi will be happy to know vegetarian Kate says the food is great (John says that Kate is from the left-leaning side of his family; even the baby is named to honor President Carter!)

 Lonesome-looking Prez HR eventually bonged and pledged us to order, and Tom White joined him onstage to lead the Four Way Test, with Bob Walker praying from stage right. Sergeant-at-Arms Rebecca Redding welcomed guests Kathy Clark, with Linda Cranford, and Davis Cranford,  son of Linda and Sam, with Sam. We were also privileged to have Tom Nickens, Ralph Hardison and Sheriff Maynard Reid making up from the Randolph Club.

HR bade us all sing Happy Birthday to honor newly-minted Nonagenarian Pat Kilpatrick (Note to Ed Clayton: that means someone whose age is in the 90s!) HR reminded us that Kate Bryan’s daughter would be on All My Children on ABC on next Friday August 3rd (add that to the News from Proud Parents, see above-). Owen George announced that it’s GSE Time Again– time to nominate team leaders and members for interviews, that is. Tim Albertson, leader of our team to Germany two years ago, is district GSE Coordinator. This year’s trip is once again to Taiwan (we’re bonding with them… they’ve put big bucks into that special scholarship that our club’s student is using). Contact Owen or see the District Website for more details.

Elizabeth Mitchell and Your Scribe were circulating the District Website email address print-out for corrections, so you can expect a timely Tar Wheel notice as soon as this is typed! And finally HR read us an excerpt from Red Underwood’s Tar Wheel of July 14, 1944, regarding Joel Whaley’s first day as Treasurer, and the general suspicion that new cars and a flood of products out of the Montgomery Ward catalog would soon be in evidence.

Today’s program was introduced by Tom White with the phrase, “Ladies, Take Your Position!” (Phil Shore, the only one at the Scribe Table whose mind is in need of laundering, muttered “Missionary, I’m sure! What a way to greet the church ladies, PS.)  The Grace Notes are a singing ensemble well-known around Asheboro, whether in churches or as part of the Asheboro Chorale or in other civic meetings. The group, done up in fire engine red shirts, consists of Bev Lawrence (in red stripes, maybe that makes her the Leader); Anne Shirk; Jeannie Swaney; and Kathy Shropshire. Kathy’s mother Kitty Upchurch provides their piano accompaniment. Bev is the office manager for a local recycling company and runs music and handbells both at Central Methodist and East Bend Methodist; Anne is the Randleman High School Chorale Director (we saw her and her people here last Christmas); Jeannie is a busy wife and mother; and Kathy works for the Randolph Cancer Center (more on that later).

Their first song was “Grandma’s Feather Bed,” which I remember Rose Patterson teaching us about 40 years ago, and I must admit that back then I had no idea what a phrase like (“a whole bolt of cloth for the tick” meant. As a textile historian, I’ve since figured it out.) Next was “St. Louis Blues,” then “Climbing Higher Mountains” (a duet between Jeannie and some gospel piano-playing). “The Midnight Cry” was next, and their last number was a patische of ’50’s Do-Wop ballads “Teenager in Love,” “Lollipop,” “Earth Angel,” and “Life Could Be A Dream.” Before they started they faked-out HR by laying their music books aside; then they set us all up with hand motions appropriate to each song: finger snap, wave, clap and champagne cork “pop”, all of which were used as needed. These ladies then showed that they had more energy than the rest of the club put together! Sha-Boom!

Any contributions made to honor the Grace Notes are donated to the Randolph Cancer Center, a program of Randolph Hospital. They help replenish the Patient Assistance Fund, originally started with a grant from the Hospital Foundation. The fund pays necessary expenses for any patient in need at the center, and all the money stays locally. For more information, see http://www.randolphhospital.org/svc_cancerCenter.htm .

President HR then doinked the meeting to a close. Really, he asked for a review. The collection of past presidents around the scribe table gave it a 4 on the 10 scale, at best. It’s all in the wris, HR- don’t worry if it sounds too loud to YOU- it’s half as loud by the time it gets to the first row. It’s not just me! The original Limp-Wristed Presidential Bell-Ringing Award was begun by Red Underwood back to when the mind of man runneth not.