How I Got Where I'm At
Karen Simon, Alex Browning, Sandy Chambers, Dale Gillmore
By Jim Kelley
 
                        
How I Got Where I'm At continues to be a popular Rotary program and today's speakers made a strong case for that continued polarity. First to take center stage was Karen Simon from the Mecklenburg County Sheriff's Department. Karen came from a large family of six children. Her father did not make much money as an enlisted man in the Army so they were very poor. Karen often heard people say they didn't know they were poor. Karen's family knew they were poor. Karen's parents taught her that poor wasn't who she was. It was only the circumstances they lived in. Her parents lived their lives in quiet dignity facing the struggles of their circumstances courageously. Karen learned that what was important was not your financial situation but the quality of your character and the contributions you made to create a better world. Growing up in a military family through the 60s instilled in her a love of change. She learned to expect change, anticipate it, make it fun and embrace it with ease and acceptance. Karen's father used to tell her that she had to feel to learn even if those feelings were painful. Karen learned so much from her mistakes and her life is richer because of them. She dropped out of college after her first year to get married and have children. She returned at age 36 while raising two daughters as a single mother. Karen is grateful for all the angels who have guided her on her path in life and especially her father who lived long enough to see her return to college but not long enough to see her graduate.
 
Our second presentation of the day was by Alex Browning with Myers Park Mortgage. As a young boy Alex wanted to be a professional baseball player but quickly discovered that he could not hit a curve ball so his aspirations died at an early age. His idol growing up was Terry Bradshaw but he soon realized that having true role models like his father made more sense. He has been married to his wife Nicole for 12 years and has two young children, Aidan and Colin. Alex came to the conclusion that we all have had life experiences and lessons that have molded and shaped us into who we are. He learned about the beauty of life when he was standing at the front of the church door and saw his soon to be wife. He learned about the miracle of life while watching his two sons being born. He learned about the frailty of life when he got the call that a friend had been killed in a car accident leaving behind a wife and three small children. Alex learned that life can be summed up for him in Luke 12:48 that states "to whom more is given more is expected." So he wants to be the best husband and father he can be, have the best career he can, serve his clients in the best way possible way he can, be the best friend he can be and help bring about a positive change in the world.
 
Our third presentation was by Sandy Chambers with Dell Vedove USA. Sandy has been trying to answer the question of How She Got Where She's At her whole life. In recent years she has found some of that answer in her genealogical research. After much translation of memoirs and hand written journals, Sandy learned some things that shed a light on a few of her core characteristics - her meandering ways, her lifelong search for spirituality and her musicality. Her great, great, great, great grandparents, Matthias and Maria, moved from Switzerland to the Czech Republic to Germany and then to Pennsylvania. While Sandy has not traveled around the world she has lived in many places in the United States. Mathias and Maria moved to the United States to be Moravian missionaries and were the first in a long line of missionaries in subsequent generations. Sandy's spiritual search has led her to become nearly every flavor of Protestant. Sandy's ancestors were accomplished in playing piano, organ, wind instruments trombone. Sandy remembers playing organ in her church on Father's Day when she was ten years old. Her ancestors help explain part of how she got where she's at. She hopes to get the rest figured out soon.
 
Our last presentation was by Dale Gillmore with Boatsman Gillmore. Dale chose to talk about how he got where he's at with a mix of achievements, a series of humbling experiences and a couple of very important moments in his life. He was raised by a single mother in Flint, Michigan. Early in his life Dale fell in love with sports and competition. Among other things he excelled in football (making third team all state), baseball and track. He also excelled in academics graduating 12th out of 230 students in his high school. In college he experienced some humbling experiences. First, he did not receive any scholarship offers for football so he walked on at Central Michigan University. Second, he injured the kicker of the football team in practice causing him to miss half the season. Third, he lost his academic scholarship because he had a 3.17 and needed a 3.2. Fourth he had the first B in his life in calculus which Dale contends should not really be considered a math course. That experience steered him to the accounting school. His fifth humbling experience came when he was shifted to another partner group within an accounting firm. The partner not knowing that Dale had already been given a job tried to tell HR not to hire him. He had so little income when he first started working that he could only afford one suit for the first three months. In 2003, he also nearly started an accounting firm but it fell through. Things picked up when he married his wife, Laurie, and moved to Charlotte in 2004 and founded his own firm in 2006.
 
   
Head Table: Karen Simon, Alex Browning, John Snyder, Marilynn Bowler, Dale Gillmore, Sandy Chambers, Cindy Wolfe;
Invocation: Leland Park;
Visitors & Guests: John Nicolay; Health & Happiness: Mac McCarley; Song: Gregg Walker; Piano: Thomas Moore; Photos: Bert Voswinkel

• Past President Mac welcomed Meg McElwain, Katie Tyler and Janet Fortner back to the club following their leave of absence; George Robinette will have surgery at CMC next week; Sandra and Luther Moore were in Austin, TX last week to visit the new granddaughter born May 4; Joey Godbold reports Percival McGuire has been selected to market space in the building of the Charlotte Branch of the Federal Reserve; Rick Jackson was featured on the cover of the July issue of Greater Charlotte Biz.
           
• President John did a little research with Rotary International to learn Charlotte Rotary is not the 50th largest club in the world, but is actually the 41st largest club in the world. The largest is Seattle with 650 members, followed by Birmingham with 532 members.
  
• Former club member, William L. Spencer, passed away on July 4th. Bill joined Charlotte Rotary in 1986 and resigned in 2002 when he retired as President of Foundation for the Carolinas. Funeral services will be held at 2:00 July 8 at St. Francis UMC.
 
• NORTH CAROLINA RESEARCH CAMPUS TOUR: Biff Virkler has scheduled July 23 as the next date to tour the NC Research Campus. This will be the same format as last month's tour - lunch at Café 46 at 11:45 followed by the tour. The facility has requested a group of no larger than 25. Please notify the Rotary office if you would like to be included. If you are unable to make the July tour, he has also scheduled September 30.
 
• Alan Adler gave an update on the October 5th Rotary Scholarship Golf Classic to be held at Cedarwood Country Club. This is the first time at this point that the tournament has not been sold out. Sponsorships are coming along and golfers are needed! Alan also needs items for the goody bags and auction. Registration forms can be found on the lunch tables each week or the here on the website.

Attending weekly club meetings allows members to enjoy fellowship, enrich their professional and personal knowledge, and meet other business leaders in the community. The following members are recognized for 100% attendance during 2008-2009 (number of year's perfect attendance shown in parenthesis):