Christmas Party Monday

Fellow Rotarians, family and friends, The time is upon us once again to come together to celebrate the holiday season and the end of 2020!   We'll be having the Christmas party at Shortway Brewing Company, Monday, December 21st at 5:30pm.  Riverside will be catering with a main dish and side, and we'd love to have some appetizers and deserts if you would like to bring something.  Looking forward to gathering together and seeing those we've missed throughout the year! Service above self, Pres. Matt Shortway.

Dictionaries in the Schools Day with Newport Rotary 2020

 Click here for the story.  

August 17 Speaker: CCATS Travels the County

Vickie Clifton with CCATS will be our guest speaker at Newport Rotary on August  17, 2020. She is an Administrative Officer with Carteret County Area Transportation System CCATS, having worked her way up from a part-time driver five years ago. A native of Winston-Salem, she has had varied careers and experiences. She was an over the road truck driver for 18 years, traveling in 49 states, every province of Canada and several in Mexico. She and her husband Larry also lived in New Mexico for 5 years working for the Department of Energy. They have called the Crystal Coast home since 2000. Larry and Vickie have two grown children 36, and 39. She will share her observations on CCATS and how her job has been impacted by the COVID-19 virus. 

August 10 Program: Carteret Literacy Council

Robin Smith of the Carteret Literacy Council was the guest speaker at Newport Rotary on August 10, 2020. Robin did an excellent job of putting the club members "in the shoes" of a literacy or numeracy challenged person during her talk, citing the many struggles, challenges, obstacles and coping mechanisms observed in our county. 18% of Carteret County residents are believed to fall in this category. CLC works one-on-one with these individuals to help increase their literacy to job and life functional levels. She also spoke about Little Free Libraries as a NRC project. Thank you Robin, for all you and your group do!

Aug 3: Rotary Postponed

The August 3 Meeting of Newport Rotary will be postposed due to the arrival of T.S. Isaias to next Monday, August 10, 2020 at 5:30pm.  

NC Treasurer Dale Folwell addresses Newport Rotary

NC Treasurer Folwell

Dale R. Folwell, CPA, North Carolina Treasurer, was the guest speaker via Zoom at Newport Rotary on July 6. His remarks centered on COVID-19 Relief funds, the diverse financial situations that different NC towns and cities found themselves in during the pandemic, the importance of city and county fund balances (stewardship) and the importance of Rotary in NC's communities. 

Folwell was sworn in as State Treasurer of North Carolina in January 2017. As the keeper of the public purse, Treasurer Folwell is responsible for a $100 billion state pension fund that provides retirement benefits for more than 900,000 teachers, law enforcement officers and other public workers.Under Folwell’s leadership the pension plan was rated among the top five highest-funded in the country and won accolades for proactive management and funding discipline. In 2018 the state’s coveted AAA bond rating was reaffirmed by every major rating agency, making North Carolina one of only 13 states in the country to hold that distinction. Treasurer Folwell also oversees the State Health Plan, which provides medical and pharmaceutical benefits to more than 720,000 current and retired public employees and is the largest purchaser of health care in North Carolina.

DG Dawn Rochelle to Induct Officers

DG Dawn Rochelle

Rotary District 7730 District Governor (DG) Dawn Rochelle of the Jacksonville Rotary Club will be installing club officers at Newport Rotary, 5:30pm, July 6, 2020 at Shortway Brewery, Newport as Pres. Matt Shortway and his team take office for 2020-21. 

See some comments by DG Dawn in the Monthly District Newsletter.

We hope to see you all there! 

July 20 Program: Camp Albemarle

Our speaker at Newport Rotary will be Rotarian Tom Hussman, Executive Director of Camp Albemarle. His bio follows.

Tom Hussmann has served as Executive Director of Camp Albemarle since January of 2009. Tom started working in camping in 1975 at an Easter Seal Camp in Southern Indiana, and has been privileged to serve several organizations since, including Indiana University, Easter Seals of CT, and The Foundation for Youth of Columbus, IN. Prior to coming to Camp Albemarle Tom served as the Executive Director of The Fowler Center, an organization that provides camping and respite services to children and adults with developmental challenges in Michigan.

Tom is just finishing his term as Treasurer of the Morehead City Noon Rotary Club. Tom also serves as the treasurer of the Crystal Coast Nonprofit Network, and is on the committee for the local Fellowship of Christian Athletes. He has previously served on the Head Start Policy Council for Carteret County, the Young Life Committee, and was a member of the Carteret County Parks and Recreation Advisory Board. He serves on the committee for Leadership Carteret having been a proud graduate of the class of 2010 (Best Class Ever!) He assists with the worship team at Life Church and is grateful when they let the old guys play.

Tom and his wife Jan will celebrate their 40th anniversary later this year and are the proud parents of three children and even prouder grandparents of four.

Rotary District Virtual Meetings Announced

District virtual meetings for Women in Rotary (May 20 @ 5pm), the Governor's Installation ( June 23 @ 6:15pm), the District Conference (September 25 @ 9am) can all the accessed via your online DaCdb portal. 

Town Leaders Give COVID-19 Update

New Newport Town
Manager, Bryan Chadwick 

Mayor Dennis Barber

Newport Mayor Dennis Barber and new Town Manager, Bryan Chadwick, were the guest speakers, via Zoom, for the club's May 18, 2020 meeting. Like other local governments, Newport is having to deal with "unprecedented" numbers of "unprecedented" issues surrounding the pandemic. However, Newport was in good financial shape with its fund balance with an 18 month reserve, and has tightened its belt where possible to meet the financial challenges. Sales and Use Tax revenue income will most definitely be down, but projections are unsure how much. January 2021 has Heritage Point, Phase 1 coming online with new tax revenue expected. Town Hall is closed to visitors, but is now back to full staff and will set appointments to meet with those who need to meet in person. A lot of town business is being conducted by Zoom and by phone. Both Barber and Chadwick stressed that furloughing any town staff would be the very last resort, and they don't envision that happening anytime soon. Both leaders were thanked by club members for their flexibility and management of the crisis. 

Other discussion during the meeting also focused on funding existing projects and COVID-19 needs. Ongoing repair of the Rotary Building windows and siding, and approved new vinyl fencing around the propane tank were discussed. Newport Rotary is looking for ways to support the community through the crises with its upcoming grant funding with applications due June 1, 2020. Newport Elementary efforts to feed children end in June, so there's a big need. Also Food Pantries are low and need funds. District virtual meetings for Women in Rotary (May 20 @ 5pm), the Governor's Installation ( June 23 @ 6:15pm), the District Conference (September 25 @ 9am) can all the accessed via your online DaCdb portal.   

Dictionary Give-Out to Third Graders at Newport Elementary Postponed

Newport Elementary School Third Graders will get their free dictionaries, although the distribution will be delayed due to COVID-19 virus quarantine concerns. According to Newport Rotary President Steve Blizzard Newport Rotary has distributed dictionaries to local third graders for over 25 years as part of The Rotary Dictionary Project.

A new distribution date will be set with school authorities. 

Boys & Girls Home Receives Support

Newport Rotary voted extra financial support for The Rotary Cottage at The Boys and Girls Homes of NC at Lake Waccamaw during its April 6 Virtual Meeting. Treasurer Maher Saikali reports that a $200 extra contribution was  authorized by club vote based on recent damage to the facility. 

Newport Rotary Hospice Meal Schedule

Our Crystal Coast Hospice House

Newport Rotary is a regular supporter of The Crystal Coast Hospice House in Newport. It's a great program and helps families when they are at their most distressed. In addition to financial support, Newport Rotary has regularly provided lunch meals for staff and guests. As a reminder, here is the schedule for the next few months:

We provide meals on the third Monday of each month:
March 16- Rachel Bell
April 20- Bevin & Pam Wall
May 18- Rick & Anita Moreau
June 15- Steve & Tammy Blizzard
July 20- Rick & Erin Smith
August 17 - Julia Saikali
September 21 - Matt Shortway
October 19- Michelle Garcia 

Newport Rotary Hosts First Virtual Meeting

Due to COVID-19, Newport Rotary will meet via Zoom at 5:30 Monday 4/6/2020.

Links are being sent through email.   

COVID-19 Coronavirus Meeting Pause

Newport Rotary has paused it's live meetings temporarily and will resume them as soon as it is safe to do so. Rotary work and service to our community continues...  

All Call for Newport Rotarians - Croatan Ridge Gardening Project

We're trying to finish up our grant project at Croatan Ridge Nursing Home. We have some finishing touches to do on the vegetable raised beds and some assembly on the patio sets. There will probably be a few other small jobs to complete and lots of hands will make the work very short. Would like to start about 9 AM on Sat the 14th of March and we will be finished before noon. Please come and do Rotary with the club. When we're finished let's head to Shortways for a beer and a sandwich (Dutch Treat). See you there and thanks. Rick Moreau. 

ed. The Gardening Project at Croatan Ridge is a project of Newport Rotary with help of a grant from The Rotary Foundation. Approximately $5,000 is available from the Foundation for this signature Newport Rotary project!