Good times at the Rotary Club of Fountain Inn!

Kathy and I had a great time at the Rotary Club of Fountain Inn today! Although we struggled a little finding the location of the board meeting (not the same place our GPS identified), we found a club with excitement and a very engaged group of Rotarians! They were excited about the District Governor visit and even made a sign welcoming us! The board identified the club strengths as its rich heritage, involvement in the community, and a history of service. They would like to be more diverse and reduce their average age.  President Ray Ovcrstreet is excited about the club's commitment to a new Rotary Park in downtown Fountain Inn. I have enjoyed participating in their signature event for area high schools, the Rotary Night of Singing. This event has become so large that they moved to a 2,500 seat church auditorium!

For those of you interested in the origin of the Fountain Inn name, Wikipedia has these comments:  The town nickname is "The diamond tip of the Golden Strip". The town got its name from an Inn and fountain that were along the old stage coach route. The stage coach drivers called the stop Fountain Inn and it stuck. A small garden fountain is installed at City Hall and there is a marker on the north side of town showing the former location of the old inn. We saw this fountain while stopping by City Hall to locate the law office of Andy Goodson where the board met today.

I had the great pleasure of meeting Jean Anderson, the Notable Rotarian and Rotarian of the Year for the Fountain Inn Rotary Club. Jean has been a member since 1993and is a retired high school media specialist (last 26 of 38 years at Hillcrest High School). Despite the discomfort of surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy for cancer, she remained active in her Rotary Club and was a great advocate for screening colonoscopy to prevent colon cancer. Jean is an ordained elder at Nazareth Presbyterian Church which was founded in the late 1700’s. She is also an active member and leader in Alpha Delta Kappa, an international sorority for women educators. She is the Past President and current Historian of the Reidville Historical Society and served as the Chair of the Relay for Life during its first two years in the Golden Strip area. Jean is very close to her family of two sisters and their families (includes 1 niece, 3 nephews, 1 great-nephew, and 2 great-nieces). I was so pleased that 5 family members were present today at the meeting. Her hobbies include reading, crochet, photography, gardening and travel (has a bucket list!).Kathy and I sat with Jean today. Her zest for life and love of her Rotary Club was obvious. Her enthusiasm radiated throughout the club! 

Today was a great day for us and renewed my energy for the remaining 16 official club visits. Our only hiccup today was the discovery that someone had hacked my Earthlink e-mail account and sent messages with links to a Viagra/Cialis web site to hundreds of friends around the world. Several of them called and e-mailed on our drive to and from Fountain Inn. For those of you who asked if I sent this message, please be assured that I do not send mass e-mails and really don't have an interest in promoting Viagra!