From "Nate the Great" to Sandy's "Whatever"
We had the best time at the Freemans' Soiree
By: Marilynn Bowler
   
                        
The fabulous Nate Brown and his Steel Drums were the perfect background for our annual Rotary pig-pickin' at SMS … our favorite off-site hangout! The Freemans have put their special touch on the facility, adding each year to its beauty ~ the dazzling lights, the warm fireplaces, the glass-glass-and-more-glass windows which let us peek out onto the cozy patio outside. And inside, the incredible smell of barbecue, beans, potato salad, cole slaw and corn-on-the-cob, displayed on the buffet table in a manner that tempts our palates and calls out, "Fill up your plate in heaping proportions and then come back for more!" The Freemans - Bob and Robert/father and son - really know how to put on a party!
 
Wandering around chatting and laughing together, we had a great time and even learned some things:

Sadler Barnhardt is the original "Marlboro Man" with his black hat and his two-steppin' with Mary Erwin (who zipped all the way from Morganton to be part of the action.)
 
Tim Newman has a daughter who's driving and twin sons who will be taking driver's ed in a few years. Somewhere there's an auto insurance agent drooling at the prospect of acquiring that account. And did we mention that Tim will be receiving the esteemed Pegasus Award on the evening of October 21st? Quite a coup but so richly deserved!

The unflappable Pender McElroy was seen having two "desserts." One was the usual vanilla ice cream in a cup but preceding it was a bowl of hush puppies "disguised" as a dessert … or so we accused him.
 
Speaking of ice cream cups, those little paper cup lids brought back fond memories to Jill Santuccio who let us in on a little secret. When she was a school kid, she and her friends would lick those lids on the inside and plaster them to the underside of the tables at school. Bet the maintenance guys had a surprise when they up-ended the tables at year's end to spruce them up!
 
Allie Tabor (daughter of Lee and John) and Rotary Exchange Student Anna Skalicka from the Czech Republic were smilingly confident, quite darling and impressively talented as they took to the stage to try their hands at playing the steel drums. Nate taught them well and they were both GOOD!
 
John Mahaffey brought his wife, Judy, to meet our Rotary gang. John's the new area Kodak rep and has the class to prove it. Judy and John are looking around the Park Road area near the YWCA in the hopes of finding their dream house …They love that part of Charlotte (and we love having them here.)
 
We got a chance to say "hi" to Katie's hubby, Scott Tyler. Hopefully, we'll persuade him to come to more of our functions … he fits right in.
 
Mark Norman's son has graduated from college and is back home in search of a job (as so many of our children are these days!) He'd like to find work in Charlotte while also finding the fastest route to Elizabeth City.
 
The Barnhardt clan was at the party en masse … except for our pal, Alan, who scooted off to that new job in the Hickory area. We miss him!
 
To sum the evening up, someone asked our favorite gal, Sandy Osborne, whether this was a social, a meeting or an assembly. As only Sandy can say it, she laughingly responded, "Whatever!" It was, indeed, "whatever" we wanted it to be, but most of all it was FUN.
 
Thanks to Bob and Robert Freeman, to Sandy Osborne, to Bert Voswinkel, and to the fantastic members of "THE Charlotte Rotary Club." We had a ball!
 

• Sympathy is extended to the Floyd and Ann Davis family. Floyd's mother passed away last week and while the family was gathered for her service, a nephew passed away.
                 
• Congratulations to Heidi and Jim Cusson on the birth of daughter number two, Charlotte Anna-Leise; The Habitat ReStore will have a book sale October 24th between 9am and 4pm at the N. Wendover Rd location; Budd Berro is one of the organizers of the new Professional Career Center recently opened to help remedy Charlotte's unemployment epidemic.
 
• You'll never guess what Dumont Clarke is up to…he's onboard the USS Ronald Reagan sailing from Hawaii to San Diego with his daughter, Elizabeth. Elizabeth is in Naval Intelligence and she was recently on TV talking about her assignment to look for pirates off the West coast of Africa.
 
• Rotary Foundation Banquet: Scheduled for November 16 at the Embassy Suites Convention Center in Concord. Social gathering at 6pm and the meeting will begin at 7pm. Keynote speaker, Jody Zogran, polio nurse connected to Dr.Salk's polio vaccine research team, will share her perspective of polio from vaccine development through the effect polio has on its victims and their families. $40 per person.
 
• Top-of-the-Week Rotary is having their Annual Auction and Costume Ball on Friday, October 23 at 6:30pm at the new Ritz Carlton. Tickets are $60 each (Charlotte Rotary will receive back $10 per ticket) and there will be over 140 auction items. TOTW Rotarian Jim Povec will attend Charlotte Rotary's meeting on the 20th and will have tickets in hand. Should you need to contact Jim, he can be reached at 704-280-7595.
  
• Flu Shots: Club members and guests are given the opportunity to get a Flu shot October 20. The vaccine will be provided by Maxim; tables set up outside the meeting room from 11:30 to 2:00; Medicare and several other insurance providers will be accepted; $30 if no insurance; they will also have the pneumonia vaccine.