Newly elected President Worth called the meeting to order promptly at 12:30. He then called on Howard Chadwick for the Health and Happiness Report. Howard called for the club to give our new president a very cordial welcome as he takes the helm of the area's largest Rotary Club. Everyone enthusiastically responded.
     Howard said President Worth had already given some directives to the Health and Happiness Committee: One, make the reports more substantive; two, give a little more attention to the membership of the club; three, please, a little less humor; and last, make it short! Howard then congratulated Bill Wood and the folks at First Presbyterian Church for their recent expansion announcement. Howard then talked about a sizable segment of the club — the eighty-year-olds.
     Julian Aldridge then introduced visiting guests and Rotarians.
     President Worth led us in the Pledge of Allegiance followed by Chuck Lineberry leading the club in song. We were glad someone put the words on the tables. The invocation was then given very eloquently by David Anderson.
     President Worth announced that Marilynn Bowler and Harold Bouton are leading the club's membership development and public relations activities this year and they are calling on the committee chairs to keep them better informed on the committee activities this year so they can generate more publicity to the community and keep our membership better informed. They will pass out information sheets to make the process easier.
     The new 1999-2000 membership rosters are now available for our members. The Rotary Foundation Workshop will be held on Saturday, July 24th, from 8 a.m. till noon in Mooresville. All interested members, plus officers and chairs, are encouraged to attend.
     President Worth introduced his wife Sarah and then recognized the head table (finally). Our new president is "doing away" with the "right and left" routine this year. since he understands it's confusing and most members don't know the difference anyway. He will just ask that the recognized individuals hold up their hands when their names are called, if they are awake. Holding up their hands were Don Haack, Jesse Hite, Catherine Browning, Don Steger, David Anderson, Pam Syfert and Bill Underwood — but not necessarily in that order.
     President Worth and Sarah just recently returned from the Rotary International Convention in Singapore. Worth told of the visit and wonderful city in which the convention was held. He gave a recap of the visit and said that 128 countries marched their flags in during the opening ceremonies. There were 17,843 Rotarians from 4,455 clubs throughout the world in attendance. He said that the convention really shows the tremendous impact that Rotary has worldwide. Those in attendance exemplified how Rotarians are working very hard to make their communities, their countries and the world a better place to live.
     Worth commented on how much everyone was impressed with the impact that Rotary projects are having throughout the world. The programs include literacy, polio eradication, disaster relief, welfare of children, water cleanliness, world hunger, world poverty, environmental and alternative energy sources, world peace, economic freedom and on and on. These are not just projects on paper, hut major endeavors by Rotarians throughout the world. Nothing is impossible. Since 1985, Rotary and several worldwide health organizations have all but eliminated polio. These other projects can be accomplished if we all continue our dedicated efforts and practice what Rotary is all about. Worth emphasized that it all starts on the local level with our local membership, and one of his goals this year is to try to keep our members more informed on local as well as international projects. We are the world's first and largest service club and we must continue to set the pace for service to our local communities, our state, our country, and indeed the world, for it's getting smaller every day.
     He asked everyone to make an attempt to contribute something positive to the club during the coming year — become more active, sponsor a new member, socialize more with fellow members, pick at least one project to work on during the year. These things we must do in order to continue to grow the club and better serve our community. We must think about positive changes in order to improve the way we operate. Communication is the key that we will have this year. Worth again made mention about the importance of this very special year and to gel oil to a great start he ended the meeting several minutes early.

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HAIL TO THE CHIEF !

J. WORTH  WILLIAMSON, JR.
83rd President of Charlotte Rotary

     Banker-entrepreneur J. Worth Williamson, Jr., took over the helm of Charlotte Rotary on July 1. Charlotte Rotary's outgoing president and poet laureate Ronnie A. Pruett passed the gavel to the Salisbury native and secured the coveted diamond president's pin on his lapel at the June 27th meeting, thus beginning the 84th year of Rotary in the second largest banking city in the nation.
     We're all definitely in for a treat if his goals for his presidency are realized: to enhance fellowship, friendship and fun among members, to help members become better informed about Club activities and accomplishments, to strengthen members' appreciation for Rotary's international mission and to celebrate opportunities for service. In short, he has plans to jazz up Charlotte Rotary.
     A member of the club since 1986, he has also been a member of Charlotte North and Hickory Rotary Clubs.
     President Worth, 58, graduated from Davidson College in 1962 with pre-med major. He declared himself "a significant underachiever." He earned a commission in the U.S. Navy via officer candidate school in 1963 then spent three and a half years of active duty on an aircraft carrier.
     He joined North Carolina National Bank in 1966 and had a 16-year career there that included positions in trust/investment management, credit analysis, branch management, lending, Hickory city executive and specialized ("i.e. bad" - his description) loans.
     To realize one of his "suppressed desires," President Worth left NCNB in November 1972 to organize First Charlotte Bank. He ran the bank as President/CEO for 21 years until it was sold to Centura Bank in 1993. He stayed on with Centura to inaugurate that bank's Charlotte region trust department.
     He is now with Edmiston Investment Consulting Group of Wheat First Union which he joined in 1997. Clients include individuals, endowments, foundations and retirement plan sponsors.
     Our new president has always been involved in the community. Currently he is president of the Historic Rosedale and the Charlotte Executive Club; serves on the board of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Senior Centers, the Charlotte City Club, Charlotte Country Club, and The Goodfellows Club; and is an advisor to the Ben Craig Center.
     Past volunteer activities include the Children's Home Society of North Carolina, United Way, Charlotte Nature Museum, Junior Achievement, YWCA, Alzheimer's Association, Metrolina Entrepreneurial Council, Charlotte Chamber of Commerce, Johnson C. Smith University, Queens College, and Myers Park Presbyterian Church.
     Married for 36 years to the former Sarah Pickens of Charlotte, they have two married sons, Worth and Marshall, and three grandchildren. Sarah recently retired from a career with Carolinas Medical Center.
Since his former suppressed desire to start a bank has been fulfilled, President Worth's current desire is to "live until July 2000, so I can start drawing my Navy retirement pay." He served in the Naval Reserve for 23 years.
     President Worth and Sarah just returned from a trip to the Far East organized around their attendance at the Rotary International Convention in Singapore. Please welcome Worth Williamson, our president who will lead us into the new millennium (1999-2000).

By Henry Bostic

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