Teacher Thanks Club for School Supplies Project

Email received December 4, 2022 from a Newport Elementary School Teacher commenting on Newport Rotary's Clara's Closet project:

Genuine Thank You to Newport Rotary

Dear Newport Rotary Members,

Although this thank you may be a bit late, please know it is double portioned with gratitude. At the beginning of the school year you supplied our staff with school supplies through your Clara’s Closet program. On the practical side I would like to personally thank you, you saved me about $200 coming out of my own pocket. What a sweet and practical gift you gave us, thank you.

On a personal note, please tell Clara’s family that they inspired me to do the same type of gift to the school my own father taught at for thirty years in Ohio. He has passed away now going on 20 years but we still get letters of remembrance from his former students. When I called my mom about your thoughtfulness, my sisters and I thought this would be a fantastic idea to give back to a community that blessed our family tremendously.

In a world where genuine people seem to be a diamond in the rough. Please know how truly thankful I am to your organization. May this be a year where God’s favor and prosperity are displayed through you and your families.

Warmest Regards,
Rachel E. Hampton

PRINTED WITH PERMISSION OF SENDER

Nov 21 Program - Diane Matlock from Carteret Community College

Ms. Diane Matlock has been employed by Carteret Community College for 28 years in a variety of roles. Since 2002, she has worked in the Basic Skills department. She supervises the Adult Basic Education program; Adult High School program; English as a Second Language program; and High School Equivalency program.

*Did you know that Carteret CC offers an English as a Second Language class and High School Equivalency diploma class at Newport Elementary School?

*Did you know that from May 2021 through May 2022, the Basic Skills department graduated 50 students with either an Adult High School diploma or High School Equivalency diploma?

Please attend the November 21, 2022 Newport Rotary club to find out more information regarding these outstanding Basic Skills programs.

November 7 speaker from NC Aquariums

Carol Price 
photo credit: cmast.ncsu.edu 

Protection of the Environment is one of Rotary Foundation's "Areas of Focus". To promote another of our local resources, Newport Rotary welcomes Dr. Carol Price from the NC Aquariums as guest speaker at the November 7, 2022 meeting.  

Carol is the conservation research coordinator for the NC Aquariums where she develops, conducts and oversees research and field work that aim to protect species and habitats of high conservation need. Her work reflects the commitment of North Carolina’s three aquariums and educational pier to promote appreciation and conservation of the diverse natural resources of our state’s ocean, estuaries, rivers, streams, and other aquatic environments. One of Carol’s primary responsibilities is to manage Spot A Shark USA – a citizen scientist program that aims to better understand sand tiger shark Carcharias taurus populations along the Atlantic coast.

Carol earned her BS in Marine Science from the University of South Carolina, MS in Fisheries and Wildlife from Clemson University and PhD in Fisheries Science from Oregon State University.

The meeting starts at 5:30 and the public is welcome. 

Newport Rotary Prepares for Halloween Hootenanny

Each year, Newport Rotary is proud to keep a local tradition alive - the Newport Halloween Hootenanny. The club coordinates the various government, business and civic community organizations that sponsor and volunteer for the event, keeping it free to the public. THANK YOU, SPONSORS!. Rotarians Rick & Erin Smith and Bevin & Pam Wall lead the effort annually for the club. For Hootenanny updates, click this link or visit the Hootenanny  webpage at https://newport-hootenanny.blogspot.com/.  

Community Volunteer is newest Newport Rotary member

Katey Simmons, the founder of a local nonprofit fighting period poverty, is the most recent member of Newport Rotary. Simmons was inducted by Past District Governor Bevin Wall of the club and welcomed by Club President Mark Eadie. She is the Executive Director of Katey's Kits.

The photo to the left show new Newport Rotary member Katey Simmons receiving her Rotary pin from President Mark Eadie at the September 19 meeting. 

Newport Rotary Receives Top District Award

IPP Julia Capps (l), joined
by Pres. Mark Eadie (r)

Newport Rotary received the District 7730 Governors Award, the highest club recognition for overall excellence, announced by 2021-22 District Governor Ellen Deaton. Only 4 of southeast North Carolina's 54 clubs qualified for last year's recognition. 

Newport Rotary Immediate Past Club President Julia Capps accepted the award at the September 19, 2022 Newport Rotary meeting. The award recognizes club level leadership in the areas of membership, DEI (diversity, equity & inclusion) and Rotary Foundation support. 

Sept 19 Program - Rotary's Emphasis on Environmental Concerns

 

Photo credit: John Pagliuca

Todd Kelly of the Carteret County Soil and Water Conservation District is Newport Rotary's program on September 19, 2022. CCS&WCD is a governmental subdivision of the state. The District's responsibilities are to prevent soil erosion and protect water resources by providing technical assistance to individuals and groups, and to inform and educate the public on conservation practices. 

Rotary shares an interest in protecting our common legacy: the environment. Rotary is committed to supporting activities that strengthen the conservation and protection of natural resources, advance ecological sustainability, and foster harmony between communities and the environment. We empower communities to access grants and other resources, embrace local solutions, and spur innovation in an effort to address the causes and reduce the effects of climate change and environmental degradation. 

Newport Rotary Awarded Highest 2021-22 Award by Rotary International

Newport Rotary has again been recognized by Rotary International as one of its elite service clubs according to Past President Julia Capps who led the club's efforts during the 2021-22 Rotary year.    

Immediate Past Rotary International President, Shekhar Mehta announced the awardees for the highest Rotary Club recognition for the 2021-22 Rotary Year, the Rotary Presidential Citation. Across Southeast North Carolina only nine of fifty-two clubs  earned the Rotary Citation for 2021- 2022.   

In announcing the award, Immediate Past District Governor Ellen Deaton stated "this is the most significant award a Rotary club can achieve. During a year that was challenging for many Rotarians around the world, our clubs demonstrated a commitment to achieve their goals, which ultimately helps strengthen Rotary and shape our future".  

The Rotary Citation awards recognize the hard work clubs do throughout the year. Taking action toward achieving the citation goals helps clubs engage their members, stay relevant in their communities, and run more efficiently. A welcoming and engaging club also reflects the values of Rotary. When clubs achieve citation goals, they contribute to the overall health and culture of Rotary for generations to come. Goals include increasing club membership, developing sustainable service projects, giving to The Rotary Foundation, and building awareness of Rotary in your community. Congratulations, Newport Rotary!

2022 First Day of School Cleanup a Success

Newport Rotary President Mark Eadie
(2nd fr l) and the cleanup crew

A dozen Newport Rotary members and friends spent the day before the first day of school at Newport Elementary School cleaning up, mowing, weed-eating and hanging flowers to make the school grounds look well-kept. 

For over ten years, Newport Rotary has helped the school put its best foot forward when greeting their new students and parents on the first day of school. Budgets and schedules make county mowing and maintenance unlikely to occur in a timely manner. This year there was the added hurdle of security wall construction that was ongoing. Even so, we love to pitch in and help. 

Kudos to Rtn. Maher Saikali for organizing the effort. 

To our new returning elementary school students- have a great first day of school! 

See our photo album here. 

Teacher Supplies Project Dedicated at Newport Elementary School

Clara’s Closet, the 2022-23 Newport Rotary major project, was dedicated in the Newport Elementary School Teacher Resource Room on August 26, 2022 with Newport Rotarians, school administrators and representatives of the Clara Wall family in attendance. The project was immediately unveiled and provides Newport Elementary School teachers with teacher and classroom supplies which may not be provided by the school system. Clara’s Closet will be available for the Fall 2022 and Spring 2023 semesters. 

Click here for Clara’s Closet event dedication photos. 

Click here for more information on Clara’s Closet. 

Local Banker is Latest Newport Rotary Member

Jacob Hardesty, Branch Manager of First Citizens Bank, Newport, is Newport Rotary's most recent member. Hardesty was inducted by Past District Governor Bevin Wall of the club and welcomed by current District Governor Nancy Carr, who was conducting her official visit to the club. See photos here. 

Clara's Closet Project to Meet Local School Needs

Newport Rotary President Mark Eadie has announced that Clara’s Closet is the 2022-23 Newport Rotary major project. It seeks to provide Newport Elementary School teachers with teacher and classroom supplies which may not be provided by the school system. Clara’s Closet will be located in the NES teacher resource room and will be available for the Fall 2022 and Spring 2023 semesters. Teacher surveys are being used to target the appropriate supplies. Start-up and mid-year needs are being provided. 

The project is named in memory of Clara Wall, “Miss Clara”, a career third-grade teacher at Newport Elementary (1960s-1980s) whose husband, son and daughter-in-law were all Newport Rotarians.

Clara Wall

Clara’s Closet is funded by Newport Rotary, The Newport Halloween Hootenanny, a grant from The Rotary Foundation and private donors.

The Clara's Closet dedication will be held Friday, August 26, 2022 at 10:00 am at Newport Elementary School. The event will be livestreamed. All are invited to attend. 

Newport Rotary supports local "Period Poverty" nonprofit

In it's most recent meeting Newport Rotary voted to support Katey's Kits, a local nonprofit organization fighting "Period Poverty". The project fits squarely within Rotary's Seven Areas of Focus - as a "Protecting Women & Children" project. Katey Simmons, the club's speaker on August 1, 2022, is a Newport native and started the project when looking for a Gratitude project idea in the Spring of 2021. She came across the unbelievable statistics in the US and was even more shocked by the lack of access in our own community. That day, she decided that she would change her focus to those who attend school with her children and are their neighbors in Eastern NC. Katey's Kits was created to help young women have access to the supplies they need monthly and gain the confidence and the ability to participate in school and extracurricular activities without worry of where their pads will come from. For more detail on the project or to donate money or supplies, visit their website at https://kateyskits.wixsite.com/website 

District Governor Visits Newport Rotary

2022-23 Gov. Nancy Carr

District Governor Nancy Carr visits Newport Rotary on August 15, 2022 at 5:50pm. We are looking for 100% member attendance and bring a guest! We are also having Gov. Nancy do a "Member Welcome" for our newest member, Jacob Hardesty, our Newport branch manager at First Citizens Bank. In case you missed it, Gov. Nancy's August statement is below.

I am honored to serve as your District Governor for the Rotary Year 2022-23. We are already one month into our journey and I am pleased to see that so many of you are intentionally incorporating RI President Jennifer Jones' theme Imagine Rotary. Imagine the possibilities for your club, your community, and the world. Dream big!

As I visit the clubs in our district, I am in awe of our amazing Rotarians, the outstanding service projects both local and across the globe, and the compassion and kindness shown to others. Please continue to invite me to your service projects, fundraisers and socials.

August is Membership Month, and we encourage everyone to imagine the greater impact we can achieve by engaging others with a Service Above Self spirit and a passion for fellowship. This is also a time to celebrate your club’s many accomplishments, the impact of your service projects, and your appreciation for each other. A fun August club social could be just what is needed during this relentless heatwave!

“Imagine a world that deserves our best, where we get up each day knowing that we can make a difference.” – Jennifer Jones, RI President, 2022-23

Mark Eadie Installed as Newport Rotary President

Pres. Julia & Pres-Elect Mark (left)
celebrate a successful leadership transition 

Newport Rotarians celebrated the installation of 2022-23 Club President Mark Eadie and his leadership team during a combination installation and club social event at Shortways Brewery in Newport on June 20, 2022. Outgoing Club President Julia Saikali Capps presided over the meeting and Past District Governor Bevin Wall, a Newport Rotarian, conducted the installation. Mark is already a leader in the Newport Community and currently serves on the Newport Town Council. His wife, Anita, is also a Newport Rotarian. We wish President Mark and his team success for the new Rotary year as we all "Imagine Rotary"!

Newport Rotary part of 150,000 Little Free Libraries Installed!

 

Newport Rotary Installs Little Free Library in White Sands Subdivision

It only took 2 phone calls to Mayor and Newport Rotarian Dennis Barber to get the ball rolling for the installation of Little Free Library in White Sands in Newport. Town of Newport employees Peter and Bernie met Rotarian Rick Moreau in White Sands to make sure the placement of the LFL pole was in the right place - and would not interfere with any water lines. Bernie dug the hole - and the three of them proceeded to place the base pole, and mix and pour the cement. It's great when a partnership works...so let's give a big shout out of THANKS to Mayor Dennis...and Bernie and Peter. Two more Little Free Libraries are set to open up. 

White Sands Subdivision was identified as a location with a high density of students and adults in a "library desert" in the Newport area. If you know of other areas in need of a library, please contact Newport Rotary at NewportNCRotary@gmail.com. STORY/PHOTO CREDIT: ANITA MOREAU

Newport Rotary Supports Camp Albemarle Service Day

Dateline: May 28, 2022. What a great day to be on the water – at Camp Albemarle. Morehead City Rotarian Tom Hussman does such a great job making sure the young folks in Carteret County and beyond have this wonderful opportunity to explore and learn about outdoor living – the environment and sustainability. Some of our Newport Rotarians took a couple of hours out of their Memorial Day weekend to join up and help Tom get the camp prepped for the summer. Rotarians Rick and Anita Moreau, Rachel Bell, her son Matthew, and her friend Lucas Burdick (along with his son Jimmy) spent 3 hours cleaning up camper cabins and putting bunk beds together. All around the camp, many other volunteers were erecting tents and yurts, cleaning and painting tables and benches, planting and mulching flower beds and gardens – and helping with general maintenance so that the camp would pass inspection in time for the campers to descend on it. There was enough work to go around for everyone to participate, and I’ll bet that if you have a couple hours to give, Tom has something that needs to be done. See our photos below.  ARTICLE BY ANITA MOREAU, PHOTO CREDIT RACHEL BELL.

Newport Rotary recognized with Governor's Award 2020-2021

 

Congratulations to Past-President Matt Shortway and 

the 2020-2021 Newport Rotary Leadership Team!

Newport Rotarians Attend Boys & Girls Home Event

Rick & Anita Moreau attended the Boys & Girls Home at Lake Waccamaw on March 26, 2022 representing Newport Rotary. This project is supported by District 7730 and many of our local Rotary and other civic clubs across the state and region. The Rotary Cottage is undergoing renovation and will be the first Level 2 Cottage - this will be "home" for children who need special therapy and intervention for emotional and psychological needs that result from severe trauma and PTSD - many good changes are in store for B&G Home - many thanks to Rotary. Our contact there will change - Mason Smith has taken a new position in Germany and is excited about it, but knows that he will be leaving a wonderful place in Lake Waccamaw. The day was bright, but chilly - but the welcome for all the Rotarians was so warm...we toured the campus, learned about the coming changes and growth and shared lunch with everyone (however, my plate blew off the table (we ate outdoors) and I had to get another hot dog and slaw). This is such a good facility to support - we had $125 in Dick's gift cards to donate - plus our annual giving from Newport Rotary. If you haven't been...make it a point to GO,GO,GO...

Newport Rotary Installs Little Free Libraries around the Newport Community

It was a fun evening in the neighborhood – the Newport North Carolina neighborhood(s) – as Newport Rotartians gathered shovels, concrete, drills and books and installed three Little Free Libraries..and that’s only the beginning. The bright blue and yellow boxes went up in front of the Newport Rotary building, in Maher Saikali’s Exxon Station on Highway 70 and in front of the Habitat for Humanity ReStore in Newport. Crystal Coast Habitat and Newport Rotary teamed together to support literacy for Newport, and the surrounding communities, by donating boxloads of books to keep the LFL’s stocked. Friends of Rotarians, Friends of the Public Library, Friends of Habitat, and friends of friends have made sure that we have a room overflowing with books of all kinds – so the install fun will continue as we spread out to fulfill requests from several Newport neighborhoods. Newport Rotarians Julia Saikali Capps (President), Maher Saikali, Steve and Tammy Blizzard, Bevin Wall, Rick and Anita Moreau, Joe Garner and President-elect Mark Eadie made the most of the of our time together, enjoying the spring weather and the Rotary fellowship. Newport Rotary now has 6 Little Free Libraries available to various Newport communities with boxes at St James UMC fellowship hall…Camp Albemarle on Hwy 24…across the street from Newport Elementary School in downtown Newport…Crystal Coast Habitat for Humanity ReStore, Saikali’s Exxon Station and next to the Rotary Bench, across from the Newport Park on Howard Blvd. We chose our area of focus to be Basic Education and Literacy this year – knowing that the 2 years of COVID left us with book deserts all over our county – and we felt we were best able to help our community by providing books for all ages. PP ANITA MOREAU. 

Dictionaries Donated to Local Third Graders!

Newport Rotary continues the Dictionary Project tradition in 2022. 4 Newport Rotarians were warmly welcomed in Gramercy School in Newport on Tuesday, March 15…and had a wonderful time. Gramercy school has two lively third grade classes – 32 students having fun with their new dictionaries – eager to show off their new-found treasures in the pages of their books. These dictionaries offer much more than words…and each student seemed to find something important to show us – maps, periodic tables, sign language, the longest word in the English language (that no one could pronounce) – and of course, their favorite words and how to find them. Newport Rotary club President Julia Saikali (she said this is her favorite project), Newport Mayor and Rotarian Dennis Barber, and Rick and Anita Moreau have found that giving children the gift of knowledge becomes “beneficial to all concerned”. Thursday, March 17th found the Rotary warmly welcomed by a myriad of little leprechauns at Newport Elementary School. Although we could not go into the classrooms, and all the third grade classes were on a field trip, we gave the dictionaries to the school for distribution. Newport Rotarians Tammy Blizzard, Rick Moreau and Anita Moreau had a great time with a few teachers and students - all dressed in green for the big day. The dictionary project certainly helps build good will and better friendships, because they know we will come back year after year. ANITA MOREAU. 

Open House at Boys & Girls Home

The Open House for the North Carolina Boys and Girls home will be held on March 26, 2022. All Rotarians are invited (you can find further information in the current District Newsletter). Rick and Anita Moreau will be attending and the Boys and Girls Home has requested donations of gift cards for Dick's Sporting Goods. The Moreau's will be glad to take any donated gift cards with them and pass them along. You can bring a gift card (of any amount) to the next Rotary meeting on Monday, March 21st or drop it by Bevin Wall's office where Rick and Anita can pick it up by March 25th. Thank you for your generosity! BY JULIA SAIKALI

Newport Rotary's Community Service this month

Newport Rotary is extremely busy with service to others in and around the Newport community and this was reflected in their March 7, 2022 meeting. Here are some of the happenings: 

• Eleven (11) new Little Free Libraries kits were received and are ready to install in and around the Newport area. A portion of the $7,500 project is supported by a Rotary Foundation District Grant and the other by Newport Halloween Hootenanny proceeds. Three libraries are already in the community. 2-3 more will be placed on the Service Meeting of March 21, 2022. Locations are TBA on the other Libraries. Significant Books have been collected and are in-hand for the project.  

• Newport Rotary was a "Silver Sponsor" of the Hope Mission "Empty Bowls" fundraiser. Newport Rotarians Rick & Anita Moreau, Tammy Blizzard and Mayor Dennis Barber are active supporters and collaborators with Hope Mission. Three "empty bowls" were re-auctioned with $105 in new money being donated to the cause. 

• Dictionary Project books will be delivered to Grammercy School on March 15, 2022 and to Newport Elementary School on March 17, 2022. Newport Rotarians will be on hand. Newport Rotary spearheaded the effort countywide in 1996. It's remarkable that some of the teachers at Newport Elementary have the very dictionaries they were given when they were in the third grade at Newport Elementary. 

• Hospice House meals are still being delivered monthly to the Crystal Coast Hospice House in Newport. We discussed the effectiveness and smarter implementation of this project. Rick & Anita Moreau will report back. 

• As is customary, Newport Rotarians will volunteer for the Newport Pig Cooking Contest culling station and other locations around the project on Saturday, April 2, 2022. Several Newport Rotarians are instrumental in the Pig Cooking organization, including Steve Blizzard, Tammy Blizzard and Dennis Barber.     Whew!