The Rotary Club of Kernersville, NC

On July 21st, John Coulter spoke about the YMCA's program called "Bright Beginnings". This program pairs up a community adult with a needy child, and a trip to Wal-Mart so that this child can have a new pair of shoes, new clothes and enough school supplies for the beginning of the school year. Last year, about $5200 was collected from the community and some 100 volunteers assisted 80 kids.

Joanne Allen, COO of Novant Health Care System, spoke to us about the recent layoffs at Novant, the upcoming Spring 2011 opening of the Kernersville Hospital and the services that our hospital will be providing our community.

On July 14th, Jean Dominique and Susan Cook, a medical missionary, spoke to our club. Susan explained to us the conditions that the Haitian people have to endure and Jean conveyed to us the frustration involved in dealing with the corruption. The "Children's Nutrition Program" attempts to treat the many thousands of children that desperately need medical treatment and are malnourished. Their mission is to improve health and development of Haitian children.

July 7th - Club Assembly (pres. by Chris Oakman)

On June 9th, Joseph E. “Jed” McMillan - Governor's Senior Advisor on Logistics and Transportation spoke to our club. Jed explained the importance of our state's airports, its state ports, as well as our state railroad transportation needs for the future. NC has 7 regional hubs and each one has its own limitations. If we expect to keep up with the world's transportation and logistics requirements, we will need to plan and plan some more.

On June 2nd, the Forsyth Tech Scholarship winners were awarded their scholarships. Justin Bloomfield and Ashley Warren were this years recipients. A total of $83,000 has been awarded by our club since 1990.

On May 26th, Pat Ivey, NCDOT Division 9 Engineer  spoke at our breakfast. Some of the local and state projects that were discussed were the WS Northern Beltway ($800M), the I-85 bridge over the Yadkin River ($300M), the Salisbury St. Bridge ($4M), the Macy Grove Interchange ($52M) and the Union Cross widening project ($43M)

On May 19th, our own Bryant Foriest spoke about Junior Achievement and how it might be a great opportunity for our club to join forces w/ JA. JA's purpose is to inspire and prepare young people to succeed in a global economy.

Gary Mundy also spoke about the local Project Angel Lunch. This provides meals for kids that can't afford the school lunches.

On May 12th, Jeff Taylor presented a program devoted to the 2010 Rotary "Service Above Self" Scholarship Winners. From Glenn - Matt Thompson & Michael Pegg. From East - Carolyn Grigg & Casey Walker.

On April 21st, Wake Forest Asst.Basketball coach Rusty LaRue brough two of his seniors for our club meeting. These special guests were L.D. Williams and Ish Smith. Both are graduating seniors and ACC standouts all 4 years for Wake. Arnold and Kim King presented them both with Paul Harris Fellows. Rusty spoke about his years with Michael Jordan in Chicago and the upcoming recruiting season with the new head coach of Wake - Jeff Bzdelik

On April 14th - Our club hosted a Candidates’ Forum for Forsyth County Sheriff with Sheriff Bill Schatzman & Challenger Dave Griffith. Both explained their many years of experience in law enforcement and how they would tackle the many crime challenges including drugs & gangs in our communities and schools. It was spirited and at the same time very professional. Our Students and Teachers of the Month included Glenda Head (T), Rachel Gray & Laura Morga Garcia from Glenn - Alan Plaster (T), Carolyn Grigg & Dylan Swaim from East.

On April 7th, we had our Club Assembly. All of our upcoming events were discussed including the "Triad Flight of Honor - Cruise'N", Spring Folly, next week's Sherrif debate, the Kernersville Foundation Annual Meeting, "Pedal the Piedmont", etc.

On March 31st, 3 new members were inducted into our club. They were

On March 24th - Kernersville Farmers Market Progress Report - On December 8, 2009 the Kernersville Board of Alderman approved the funding, design, and construction of Kernersville’s Downtown Farmers Market. 

On March 17th - Geoff Lassiter - President of the Winston-Salem Dash baseball team spoke w/ us about the status of the Dash's stadium.

On March 10th, Pastor Pete Kunkle discussed and show a video from his latest trip to Nirobe, Kenya. In the Nafar Valley there are some 1.8 million people living with no running water, no medicine, no education, no jobs and no hope. The "Hope Partnership" treated 73,000 patients, planted many trees, built latrines and has taught the locals some basic economic principals. Students & Teachers of the Month - Glenn - Robert Kennedy (T), Justin Hunt, Nick Mello, East Forsyth - Julie Riggins (T), Samantha Luu, Nichaolas Bray

On Feb. 24th, John Ford presented Rotary “Polio Awareness Week”. After 20 years of hard work, Rotary and its partners are on the brink of eradicating this tenacious disease, but a strong push is needed now to root it out once and for all. It is a window of opportunity of historic proportions. Your contribution will help Rotary raise $200 million to match $355 million in challenge grants received from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The resulting $555 million will directly support immunization campaigns in developing countries, where polio continues to infect and paralyze children, robbing them of their futures and compounding the hardships faced by their families.

On Feb. 17th, Joshua & Jessica Katz from Katz Chiropractic discussed, " How to Reduce Musculoskeletal Disorders in the Workplace" . Preventing injuries, pain symptoms and avoiding retitive injuries were just a few items that were discussed by Dr. Katz.

On Feb. 3rd & 10th, our meetings were canceled due to weather conditions.

On Jan. 27th, Classification Talks were given by Jim Fradenburg, Bryant Foriest, Jean Dominique

On Jan. 20th, Tony Smits, Robert Gale & Steve Whitcomb gave Classification Talks. The Rotary Foundation has established the Haiti Earthquake Relief Fund, a donor advised fund, to streamline the flow of contributions from U.S. Rotarians.

On Jan. 13th, Chief Kenny Gamble introduced the newest police officers, Kernersville's own K-9s. The KPD's Belgian Malinois take care of suspect apprehension, searching buildings, searching vehicles for drugs, but do not search people. Students & Teachers of the Month were: Matt Oakley, Meredith Ward, Liz Cox(T) from East & Michael Pegg, Jordyn Reisenauer & Rae Hurley(T) from Glenn.

On Jan. 6th, Jason Grubbs led our CLUB ASSEMBLY. Scholarship Winners Ashley Warren & Justin Bloomfield spoke briefly. Goals and Achievements for 2009-10 were discussed, including the Pancake Supper which brought in some $20,000.