The drive to Abbeville was refreshing and did not require a GPS to find the wonderful Dutch Oven Restaurant in downtown Abbeville near the Square where the club meets each week. I was very impressed to see the Rotary Club of Abbeville board hard at work when we arrived about 20 minutes before the meeting was supposed to start with me. President Tom Howie had the board engaged in a lively discussion of their major fundraising and service projects. The club has been in existence for 50 years and has sponsored the Rotary Bowl for 45 of those years! They are now supporting the new Abbeville County Free Medical Clinic and involved with First Steps. A check was presented to the new Abbeville County Free Medical Clinic today in my honor. I was also very pleased to learn that the club plans to grow its membership from 44 to 55 members this year, a remarkable goal!
My presentation went very well today and several members commented that they were inspired even more to increase their membership and donations to The Rotary Foundation. The club had a first class AV setup that only required my flash drive and ran perfectly. Former Erskine College President Randy Ruble and a dear friend was present today, and we enjoyed sharing stories from the past.
I was pleased to recognize Dr. Charles Carlisle as the club's Notable Rotarian. Charles has been a member since 1963 and was a Charter member of the Abbeville Rotary Club. He has 46 years of perfect attendance! We often see Charles in my Emerald City Rotary Club meetings since he wants to maintain his great perfect attendance status. He is a graduate of Newberry High School and received his B. S. degree from Newberry College and Master’s Degree in History at the University of South Carolina. Honorary Doctor of Laws from Newberry College and Doctor of Humanities from Erskine College.
In 1947 he came to Erskine College as Assistant Professor of History and taught for seven years. Erskine moved him into the business office where he served as Vice President for Business and Finance for the next 35 years. Charles is active in the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church and is now an elder in the Due West Church. He served as Moderator of the denomination in 1972 and again in 2000. He was also a founder of Covenant Way and served as chairman of the Board of Directors for 18 years. He has been awarded the Order of the Silver Crescent by the SC Governor.
After returning home tonight and recounting my club visits to date, I was thrilled to learn that this was actually my 37th club visit -- only 18 more official club visits to go!
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