Club Co-President Alan Jackson, New Member Rob Dickerson, Sponsor Robert Broome, Karen DickersonThe Rotary Club of Lake Hickory was proud to induct Rob Dickerson as its newest member on Tuesday, August 27th, 2013.

Rob currently works with Broome Associated Insurance, and has been a native of the Hickory area since a very young age.  He was sponsored as a new member by Rotarian Robert Broome, and was accompanied during the ceremony by his wife, Karen Dickerson.  He was formally inducted by Club Co-President Alan Jackson.

Welcome to Rotary, Rob!

The Rotary Club of Lake Hickory was very happy to welcome it's latest youth exhange student, Murilo Artese, to his first club meeting on Tuesday, August 13th.

Murilo is from Brazil, and is one of the several students from overseas visiting for this school years as part of their exchange program.

We look forward to seeing Murilo throughout the year, and wish him all the best while living with us in the United States!

At the club meeting on Tuesday, August 13th, Rotarian Richard Garlitz welcomed three students who had attended the RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership Awards) camp this past summer.  RYLA is held each June at the Brevard Music Center in Brevard, NC.

This year's students were Phoebe Livingston, Maggie Haas, and Thomas McBrayer (pictured with Dr. Richard Garlitz).

Each year, thousands of young people take part in the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) program worldwide. Young people who are chosen for their leadership potential attend an all-expenses-paid seminar, camp, or workshop to discuss leadership skills, and to learn those skills through practice. Rotary clubs and districts select participants and facilitate the event’s curriculum.

Lindsey Lowhan, Exec. Director of The Council on Adolescents spoke to the Rotary Club of Lake Hickory about their "Lunch Buddy" program.  This is a way for students that do not have an adult role model to be mentored by people in our community on a weekly basis during the school year.  The original idea came from Champions of Education and Young People of Integrity.  This program targets middle schoolers in the Newton-Conover, Riverbend, and Grandview areas.  They have added Arndt and Northview this year.  The school staff is able to pinpoint students at risk, and relay this information to the Council on Adolescents, which target children 10-18 years of age, in order to set up a Lunch Buddy.  Mentors are needed for this coming year; several of our members have participated in this program and found it to be very rewarding.  There will be three training sessions starting in August.  If you are interested or just want to find out more please Lindsey Lowhan at 828-322-4591.

Back Row: David Haas, Bill Shillito, Mike Johnson, John Link, Mark Childers; Front row: Mandy Pitts, Katherine Newton, Angela ChapmanThe Rotary Club of Lake Hickory will be playing a role in this year's Carolina Cycle Challenge, as the club will be helping with volunteer time, arranging food vendors, and helping secure sponsorships.  Several members of the club are part of the official planning team, including: John Link, David Haas, Mandy Pitts, Katherine Newton and Angela Chapman.  The club heard a presentation from other members of the planning team of the Cycle Challenge on July 9th, including Chairman Bill Shillito, Mark Childers and Mike Johnson.

Last year the ride had over 1400 riders and has over the 9 years raised a million dollars for Pediatric Oncology Research.  Four of the six valley Rotary clubs will be responsible for running the event.  Previous donators of the event will continue to support the effort, as well as, Levine's Children Hospital.  The event will be held Sunday, October 6, 2013.  There will be a Tot Ride, a 10 mile ride, and a 32 mile ride.  The charge is $25 for the entry fee.  This will be an excellent family event and chance to introduce Rotary to the public and possibly gain members.  You can learn more about the Carolina Cycle Challenge by visiting it's web site at: http://www.carolinacyclechallenge.org.

The Rotary Club of Lake Hickory had, as their program guests on May 21st, 2013, Matt Johnson and Matt Woodlief with the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and their new football program.

Matt Johnson, a former star at Maiden High School, is a student athlete in a quarterback role for the team, while Matt Woodlief, a former star at Bandys High School is on the football staff.  Both talked with the club about the football program's exciting first year starting up.

The Rotary Club of Lake Hickory is proud to announce its newest members:  Jim Goodwin (left) and Rob Setliff (right).  Jim and Rob were inducted into the club on Tuesday, January 29th, and - as of that moment - were the newest Rotarians in the world!  Welcome Jim and Rob!

The Rotary Club of Lake Hickory's January 29th meeting program was Jeff Neuville with the CVCC Small Business Center.

Jeff discussed that this is a tax funded endeavor that is open to all entrepreneurs of small businesses, whether it is a for profit or non-profit business.  They offer many training seminars several times a year to aid in the creation of business plans, obtaining licenses and permits, marketing and how to obtain financial assistance.

They ask that you pre-register, but there is no charge for the seminars.  They also have a Step-up, Start-up series that helps those thinking they may want to start a new business to take a more in depth look at the process.  This seminar series is currently happening on Tuesday evenings at CVCC East campus.

They currently work with the local Chambers of Commerce, local and city governments to get the word out and to attract new students to the program.  They have an Entrepreneurship Speaker Series, that our own Alan Jackson has been the speaker.  The next program will be given by Michael Neeley of Blind Squirrel Digital at the Conover Mfg. Solution Center from 6-7:30 on 2/13/13.

The Small Business Center will be relocating to a new facility in Spring of 2013. (Formerly the Ryan steakhouse).  As a side note, National Entrepreneurship Week is 2/18-2/22. 

The Rotary Club of Lake Hickory's January 22nd meeting program was given by Dr. Wayne Powell and Coach Mike Houston (pictured) of Lenoir-Rhyne University.  Dr. Powell introduced Coach Houston to the club, who then talked with those in attendance about the school's football program.  The success of last year's national tournament appearance was discussed, as well as the prospects for the upcoming season.

We thank Dr. Powell, Coach Houston, and all of the Lenoir-Rhyne University representatives for last week's program!

The Rotary International President 2013/2014, Ron Burton, has announced the theme for his upcoming year: "Engage Rotary... Change Lives".