JULY 23, 2009 ISSUE
Civic Clubs in the High Country
Residents interested in joining civic clubs have plenty of options in Avery and Watauga counties.
Civic clubs have been around since 1905 and are organizations that serve the local communities, often working with national and international projects as well.
Locally, civic clubs do everything from raising scholarship funding to providing toys for children whose families are in financial distress to supporting the work of local nonprofits to providing local schoolchildren with dictionaries.
The High Country is home to a Lions club, an Optimist club, a Ruritan club, four Rotary clubs and two Kiwanis clubs.
To join a club, those interested in becoming members are typically required to fill out an application at a meeting, and membership is approved by the club. Members usually pay dues either quarterly (four times a year) or semiannually (twice a year).
Boone Area Lions Club
The Lions Club boasts 45,000 clubs and 1.3 million members, making it the world’s largest service club organization.
“The Lions Club was the first civic club in Boone,” said Vice President Terry Cole.
“Our primary service is [to] the blind and the hard of hearing,” he said. “At the local level, we provide glasses, eye exams and hearing aids for people [and we offer a scholarship through Caldwell Community College for a child whose parents are blind, deaf or have had an organ transplant. We collect eye wills and work with the N.C. Eye and Human Tissues Bank in Winston-Salem.”
The club’s two main fundraisers are an early spring pancake breakfast and the Valle Crucis Fair, where the club holds a raffle and sells two kinds of brooms made by the blind.
At the statewide level, the Boone Area Lions Club supports the N.C. Lions Association for the blind.
“We encourage anyone who would like to join us to join us,” Cole said.
Join the Club!
Boone Area Lions Club is comprised of fewer than 20 members, whose ages range from the 20s to 80s, and the club meets at Sagebrush Steakhouse in Boone from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. on the first and third Tuesday of every month. Membership applications are available at meetings. Dues are $20 each quarter, or $80 a year, and do not include meals.
For more information, call Vice President Terry Cole at 828-297-7920 or Membership Chairman Sarah Mast at 828-963-4420.
Boone Optimist Club
Optimist International is an association of more than 3,000 Optimist clubs around the world dedicated to the mission statement, that “by providing hope and positive vision, Optimists bring out the best in kids.”
Every year, Optimists conduct 65,000 service projects and serve more than 6 million young people.
Locally, the club supports children with cancer and heads up youth baseball, golf and bowling, said President Larry Foster, adding that the club also owns the Optimist fields, which it leases out.
Since the club’s adoption of the charity program in 1993, it has run Santa’s Toy Box, which gives toys at Christmas to children whose families are financially challenged.
Join the Club!
The Boone Optimist Club boasts about 200 members that range from ages 18 to 75. It meets at the Mountain House from 6:30 to 7:30 a.m. on the second and fourth Thursday of each month. Dues are $70 each quarter, or $280 a year, and include meals.
For more information or for a membership application, click to www.optimist.org or attend a meeting as a guest. For more information, call President Larry Foster at 828-964-5530 or email fosterlc@appstate.edu.
Mountaineer Ruritan Club (Sugar Grove)
Since its first club was chartered in 1928, Ruritan has spread to total nearly 32,000 members across the country.
The club’s name comes from a combination of the Latin words for open country, “ruri,” and small town “tan,” showing that the club pertains to rural and small town life. Ruritan rarely has national programs, striving instead to improve local communities through fellowship, goodwill and community service.
Nearly all clubs work with FFA, 4-H and other community organizations serving youth.
“Anybody that loves to volunteer and cares about people and the community—that’s what it constitutes to be a member,” said Joe Isaacs, former president and current member.
The club also owns a field near the Mountaineer Ruritan club house in Sugar Grove that it leases out to Watauga County Parks and Recreation. The club’s main fundraisers are monthly fish fries from April to October, but it also mans a booth at MusicFest ‘n Sugar Grove and sells tickets for the Boone Roundball basketball tournament.
“We support college scholarships, little league, Boy, Girl and Cub Scouts, medical emergencies and we pay to the National Ruritan Club,” Isaacs said. “They reach out and touch a lot of people.”
Join the Club!
The Mountaineer Ruritan Club currently has about 28 members, ranging from ages 35 to 97. Adults of all ages as well as teenagers are welcome to join. The monthly fish fries constitute meetings, except during the winter months, when the club generally meets at Dan’l Boone Inn.
An application may be found online or through any current member. Once the board of directors approves a membership application, dues are $65 per year.
For more information, click to www.ruritan.org or call the Mountaineer Ruritan club house at 828-297-2822 or member Joe Isaacs at 828-773-1718.
Rotary Clubs
Blowing Rock Rotary Club
Rotary International is the world’s first service club organization, with more than 1.2 million members in more than 33,000 clubs worldwide. The clubs work locally, regionally and internationally to combat hunger, improve health and sanitation, provide education and job training, promote peace and eradicate polio. The motto of Rotary International is “service above self.”
Locally, the Blowing Rock Rotary Club supports Hospitality House, Blowing Rock Art and History Museum, Blowing Rock Community Art Center, High Country United Way, the Hunger and Health Coalition, OASIS and Wine to Water.
“We’re a nonreligious, nonpolitical service organization,” said Mike Kebelbeck, president of Blowing Rock Rotary Club.
The club provides several scholarships for high school students, a scholarship for Caldwell Community College and heads up annual vocational days for the county’s 8th graders to explore 10 different industrial areas. It also supports the Wheelchair Foundation, an international project that supplies wheelchairs to those that can’t afford them. Last year, a group of 14 Rotarians helped with a project in Belize at a school for the mentally and physically handicapped.
“We put computers in, brought musical instruments [and] painted at the only school for the mentally and physically handicapped in Belize,” Kebelbeck said.
“Our three main fundraisers are the Blowing Rock Charity Golf Tournament, the Blowing Rock Charity Horse Show and an attic sale,” he added.
Join the Club!
The Blowing Rock Rotary Club currently has 75 members whose ages range from in the mid-30s to 91. The club meets every Monday from noon to 1:00 p.m. at the Manor House Restaurant at Chetola Resort in Blowing Rock.
Nonmembers can request a guest pass at the door, sit in on the meeting and discuss membership inquiries with current Rotarians. Out-of-towners who belong to other rotary clubs can attend meetings to make up for the meetings they are missing.
Membership dues are $950 a year, with additional contributions to specific projects encouraged.
For more information, click to www.blowingrockrotary.org.
Boone Rotary Club - Sunrise
The Boone Sunrise Rotary Club holds its annual fruit sale fundraiser in late November, said Ken Cone, member and former president.
The funds generated are distributed to scholarships for Watauga High School students to go to college, scholarships for students to attend Caldwell Community College, the Hospitality House and more.
“A lot of our funds go for international projects and local projects,” Cone said. “Anything worthy in the community, we look at and perhaps contribute to.”
Those interested in the Boone Sunrise Rotary Club are invited to “come to a meeting, see what Rotary is like and join if they want to,” he said.
Join the Club!
The Boone Sunrise Rotary Club has approximately 34 members, ages 35 to 70. The club meets every Tuesday from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. at the Broyhill Inn and Conference Center. Dues are $160 each quarter, or $640 a year, and include meals.
Persons interested in becoming members can attend meetings and fill out applications there.
For more information, click to www.boonesunriserotary.org.
Rotary Club of Boone
The Rotary Club of Boone raises money for the Hunger and Health Coalition, Alzheimer’s research and the efforts of Rotary International to stamp out polio worldwide.
“We’re part of the dictionary program that gives dictionaries to schoolchildren and we have a Read-In at the Mall where we read to children,” said President Fowler Cooper.
The club supplies volunteers for a race in Valle Crucis that raises money for High Country soccer, and it helps with the annual vocational days for the county’s 8th graders at the Holmes Convocation Center.
The club also heads up a student of the month program at Watauga High School, giving each student of the month an award and setting up a savings account with $50 in it through Piedmont Federal Savings Bank. The club selects a student of the year from the students of the month to receive a $500 scholarship toward his or her school of choice. The club also has a Caldwell Community College scholarship and hosts several types of international exchanges.
Volunteers from the club participate in street clean-ups and sometimes go on national or international trips, usually having to do with polio, Cooper said.
A main fundraiser for the club is the flower bulbs sale, which was held both in the fall and in the spring this past year, he said.
Club officers meet quarterly at a joint council of area Rotary clubs to talk about their joint programs, such as the vocational days at the Holmes Center, Cooper said.
Join the Club!
The Rotary Club of Boone boasts about 39 members, not including the six or seven honorary members. Members’ ages range from 30s to 90s, and membership is open to adults of all ages. The club meets at the Broyhill Inn and Conference Center every Thursday from 12:00 to 1:00 p.m. Dues are $70 semiannually, or $140 a year, and do not include meals.
For more information, click to www.boonerotary.org or call member Susan Norris at 828-264-5244 or email snorris26@bellsouth.net.
Rotary Club of Avery County
The Rotary Club of Avery County is part of the bell-ringing campaign for the Salvation Army and completely maintains and supports the playground at Cannon Memorial Hospital, said Sallie Woodring, member and former president.
The club has done several international projects in India in the past couple years—one focused on schoolchildren and one focused on clean water, she said.
The club holds a pecan sale every year, and along with other small fundraisers, provides money for scholarships for Avery High School students.
“We also have done a scholarship for Mayland Community College in the past as well,” Woodring said.
Join the Club!
The Rotary Club of Avery County has 19 members, ages 35 to 75. It meets every Thursday, from noon to 1:00 at Bella’s in Banner Elk. “It is a member-invitation club,” Woodring said. For more information, those interested in learning how to become a member can call President Richard Honeycutt at 828-733-1684.
Kiwanis Clubs
Kiwanis Club of Banner Elk
The purpose of Kiwanis International, and of the Banner Elk club, is “to improve the quality of life for children and families worldwide.”
Kiwanis International and its Service Leadership Programs boast a membership of more than 600,000 men, women and youth in about 16,000 clubs in more than 70 countries and geographic areas.
The Woolly Worm Festival is the biggest annual fundraiser, and the club also hosts other events, such as spaghetti dinners.
“On the Fourth of July, we had a used book sale at the park in Banner Elk,” said Cyclone Brett, member and former president. “We [helped with] the duck race for the first time this year and we sell programs at the Highland Games.”
The club provides scholarship funding to other organizations and raises money for the Reading is Fundamental program that gives three books to every child in kindergarten through fifth grade in Avery County.
“All the money we earn goes to the children of Avery County,” Brett said.
Join the Club!
The Kiwanis Club of Banner Elk has about 45 members that range from ages 25 to 88. It meets every Tuesday from 12:00 to 1:00 at the Lees-McRae private dining room.
Membership is open to anyone who shares club interests and goals and commits to participate in the work and activities of the club.
Applications are available at the meetings and dues are $60 per quarter, or $240 a year.
For more information, click to www.kiwanis.org or call Cyclone Brett at 828-387-2077 or email rebelroost@skybest.com.
Kiwanis Club Of Boone
In the spirit of Kiwanis clubs nationwide and worldwide, The Kiwanis Club of Boone upholds the motto “serving the children of the world.”
The Kiwanis Club of Boone’s main fundraisers are the early spring pancake breakfast and the fall spaghetti supper. The club helps with Santa’s Toy Box, Western Youth Network, blood mobiles and Meals on Wheels.
“All the money raised goes back to the children of Watauga County through our projects,” said President Evelyn Johnson.
“At Christmas time, we sponsor a couple of children and buy them Christmas presents. Last year we [also] did a glove and hat tree and distributed [the gloves and hats] to Hospitality House and OASIS,” she said.
Join the Club!
The Kiwanis Club of Boone boasts about 50 members that range from their 30s to 90s. It meets at the Broyhill Inn and Conference center every Tuesday from 11:45 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Club members pay a $50 membership fee to start and then $50 each quarter, or $200 a year, and do not include meals.
For more information, click to www.kiwanisboonenc.org. For more information or for a membership application, attend a meeting or call President Evelyn Johnson at 828-264-8784 or email ejohnson@arlibrary.org.
Community Interest
News & Notes
Events
Arts & Entertainment
