Carlton Norris elected to state Kiwanis office

NORRIS
J. Carlton Norris of Washington was elected secretary/treasurer for the Georgia District of Kiwanis International on August 19, 2006, during the annual Kiwanis convention in Atlanta.

Norris was nominated for this office by the Kiwanis Club of Washington and the nomination was delivered to the Kiwanis convention delegates by Washington Kiwanis President-elect Bill Steed.

Norris has previously served both the Washington club and the Kiwanis state district in several capacities including distinguished club president, distinguished lieutenant governor and currently, district chairman of new club building.

Consistent with Kiwanis tradition, Norris will serve as district secretary/ treasurer for one year, followed by a term as governor-elect and be installed as governor of the Georgia District of Kiwanis in August 2008.

Georgia contains 180 Kiwanis Clubs with more than 8,000 members.

Kerry McAvoy, president of the Kiwanis Club of Washington, said, "Kiwanis International has honored not only our local Kiwanis Club but also our community. Both our club and Washington-Wilkes will be closely identified with these offices all over Georgia for at least the next four years. The last time the Kiwanis Club of Washington had a Kiwanis district governor was in 1929 when the late Pembroke Pope served, so we believe we are certainly due."

The Kiwanis Club of Washington is one of the oldest clubs in the country with a history of more than 85 years. Chartered in 1920, the club has been a leading civic club in the community since its inception and had a rich tradition of community service.
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November 10, 2009 - Kiwanis Education

Lillie Crowe, Vice President, presents a Kiwanis cup to Steve
Blackmon as a birthday present.

Al Zima, George Brooks, and Chris McCormick, at

the near table, listen to a speaker.

Lillie Crowe, Vice President, explains a procedure.

Pam Eaton and Louise Maynard, at the near table, finish lunch.

Jim Finch, Harris Blackmon, and Bill Lee, at the
near table on the left, finish lunch.

Jama Carper, Bes Moore, and Deborah Guin,

at the near table, converse.

November 3, 2009 - Amethyst Wynn, After-School Program

LeAnne Mathews (left), owner of Johnson/Jones Insurance, joined the Washington Kiwanis Club and was inducted by President Sherry Hudson in a brief ceremony at the club's regular Tuesday lunch meeting last week.


New grant will assist Partnership, schools
Amethyst Wynn, Executive Director of the Wilkes County Community Partnership, spoke to the Washington Kiwanis Club and told members about the new 21st Century grant that the Partnership and Wilkes County Schools applied for and received. The purpose of the grant is to provide funds to expand community learning centers outside of school hours, before or after school. Wynn said learning begins at home but in some cases assistance is needed for both parents and students. The grant will help mesh the Partnership's activities with school programs, she said. Debbie Jackson (right) was program chairman for the day.


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WILKES COUNTY COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP
Our Mission: ... To serve as a catalyst for improving results for Georgia’s children, families and communities.
Our Vision:
All children, youth and families will be healthy, safe, successful in school, and prepared for productive adulthood.

The Wilkes County Community Partnership, a vibrant community-based collaborative, has been a 501 (c)-3 non-profit organization since 1996. WCCP serves as an umbrella organization for both Georgia Family Connection and Communities-in-Schools. Its purpose is to promote the well-being of our families and children, and to that end, over the last few years, our community has seen a reduction in teen pregnancies, fewer adjudicated youth, improved standardized test scores, improved parenting skills, and more children enrolled in Head Start and Pre-K. The Partnership has received national, state and regional recognition for its outstanding programs and accomplishments, particularly highlighting its neighborhood-based after-school program, which is in its 9th year of operation. The result? The Partnership has brought over $3 million into the county, and both adults and youth have more opportunities for success.

For more infromation about our initiatives and our work, see FACT SHEET on the lefthand menu.

October 27, 2009 - "Banking Today" and Interclub to Warrenton

Interclub Meeting Today

Club Visited

Warrenton Kiwanis Club at Miss Jane's Restaurant

Visitors from Washington:

(L to R) Bill Boyd, Al Zima, William Johnson shown with high school principal

Club Program in Washington:

Dave Tatum (right), a vice president of F&M Bank, presented an interesting program on "Banking Today," to the Washington Kiwanis Club at its regular Tuesday lunch meeting on October 27. Club President Sherry Hudson was program chairman.

Speaker:

Dave Tatum

Host:

Sherry Hudson

Subject:

Banking Today

With the ease of online banking today, many people choose to do their banking from home. One bonus is that you can continue banking with the same financial institution, though you can do so from your home computer. With 24-hour access to account information and anytime transactions, banking has become much more convenient.

There are many benefits to online banking. You can avoid fees sometimes charged for teller transactions or check writing. Also, online banking options often include better deals on checking accounts, often with lower service fees and no monthly charges. It is easy to pay bills electronically, with funds taken directly from your account-check-free. And banking software, such as Quicken, enables you to download banking information from your account into a budget spreadsheet.

Most banks in America now offer online banking options. Some banks offer online banking in conjunction with online trading, allowing you to use one institution for a variety of financial needs. There are some institutions that specialize only in online banking and do not have any physical branches. These require online or phone transactions and the use of other banks' ATMs.

This is one downfall of virtual banking. You may have to pay a fee for using a machine at another banking institution, and sometimes a fee from your own bank as well. Some banking institutions will waive ATM fees, as they know this can be a deterrent to potential customers. If you are an ATM user, make sure you research this before selecting a bank.

Another likely problem is making deposits. Direct-deposit options for paychecks are convenient; however, if you receive other checks you will need to deposit them yourself. With online banking, you may have to mail your deposit or make an electronic transfer from another bank account. This creates a longer lapse before you can access these funds.

Despite these issues, online banking appeals to many customers. Virtual banking allows you to take care of bills even while traveling. You can access your account whenever it is convenient to you, not just during banking hours. With this convenience, there is little excuse anymore for bounced checks.

Program in Warrenton:

Installation of Officers by Lieutenant Governor Bob Simmons (shown below)

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Newly installed president of Warrenton club, Walker Davis, presides (shown below)

Visitors from Washington to Warrenton club (L to R, above)): Bob Simmons, William Johnson, Bill Boyd, Al Zima

October 20, 2009 - Morris Museum

Invites all to visit Morris Museum

Phyllis Giddens (left), Director of External Affairs and Fund-raising for the Morris Museum Of Art presented the program on Augusta museum to the Washington Kiwanis Club last Tuesday. Giddens explained that the Morris Museum has become a public charity to help raise funds from multiple sources. She explained that the museum has a collection of some 5,000 objects and is affiliated with the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. Giddens encouraged the club and the public to visit The Morris Museum of Art and partake of the many activities. For more information, see http://www.themorris.org/. Jim Bundy (right) was program host.

Kiwanians attend workshop

Attending a Kiwanis Workshop in Macon were (l-r) Debra Guin, District 6 Lt. Governor Bob Simmons, Sherry Hudson, and Lillie Crowe. The group reported that they "all had such fun and really brought many new ideas back to our Washington Kiwanis Club."

Oct0ber 13, 2009 - Leigh Anne Aaron and Kill-a-Watt Meter

Today's program, introduced by Lillie Crowe, progam host, included a presentation by Leigh Anne Aaron of the University of Georgia Extension Service and the Wilkes CountyAgent's Office of the device known as the Kill-a-Watt Meter. She told the club that the device could identify household devices that use excessive electricity even when "off". She said that she and Lillie Crowe had identified the coffee maker used by the library staff during working hours but never unplugged uses $55.00 worth of electricity in a year. Here's information about the device:

Leigh Anne Aaron of the Cooperative Extension Service told members of the Washington Kiwanis Club about the Kill-A-Watt meter, a device that will calculate how much electricity an appliance is using and how much it costs to operate by the hour, day, month, and year. The Kill-A-Watt meter may be checked out from the Mary Willis Library, she said. Aaron also told that she conducts home visits for elderly people during which she helps them with electrical and natural gas usage and senior discounts. She further mentioned that some utility companies will provide an energy audit to help senior homeowners become more energy efficient and thus save money. Kiwanis president Lillie Crowe (left) welcomed Aaron to last week's meeting of the club.

Kill A Watt
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Kill A Watt model P4400


Prodigit Model 2000MU (UK version), shown in use and displaying a reading of 10 Watts being consumed by the appliance
Kill A Watt is an electricity usage monitor marketed by P3 International. It features a large LCD display and it enables cost forecasting.[1] It measures the energy used by individual appliances plugged into the meter, as opposed to in-home energy use displays, which display the energy used by a whole household. The name is a play on the word kilowatt.
Having a NEMA 5-15 plug and receptacle, and rated for 120 VAC, the Kill A Watt is sold for the North American market. The manufacturer is the Taiwanese company Prodigit,[1] which also makes models suited for 240 V with European Schuko, U.K. BS 1363 and Australian AS 3112 receptacles.
The device can be useful in measuring the standby power used by appliances.[2]

WWTourofHomes.com now online so tour-goers can plan their visit

A new website that was developed locally to help promote the Washington Wilkes Spring Tour of Homes is now online at www.wwtourofhomes.com. Tourists can now access information about the tour instantly anywhere in the world and plan their visits to Washington with up-to-date details about the featured homes and attractions.

A printable order form is included for mail-in ticket orders and online ordering is planned for sometime in the future but not currently available.

Patterned after the Tour of Homes’ print brochure and The NewsReporter’s annual tour supplement, the website is still too new to enjoy the services of top search engines on the internet. However, an increasing number of links at other more well-known sites are driving more and more traffic to wwtourofhomes.com each day. For example, there is a photo link at the top of The News-Reporter’s website, there are at least two links at washingtonwilkes.org, and other links are already active while still more are planned at the state level.

In addition to the information about the tour and its attractions, the website offers lists of accommodations, dining establishments, shops and antique dealers, and real estate agencies. There are also opportunities offered there for those businesses to enhance their listings with links and promotional information of their own.

A portion of all revenue generated by listings and advertisements will be given directly to the Tour of Homes Committee to use at its discretion. Remaining revenue will be used to defray the costs associated with hosting fees, marketing, and site maintenance and development.

There was no cost to the Tour of Homes for the site’s creation, development, or position on the internet and there never will be, according to publisher Sparky Newsome, who is the site’s designer. He was approached early in the year by Kiwanis Club members Mark Waters and Bill Steed who were exploring the possibilities of a tour website.

“This is something I have wanted to do for a long time, and this gave me an excuse to do it,” Newsome said. “Hopefully, it will add a lot to the promotion of the tour and maybe even provide some revenue over and above ticket sales.”

Tour of Homes 2009 - April 3-5

Spring Tour of Homes sees good crowds in spite of economic strains

Welcoming guests at the Robert Toombs House, docent Jenny Lindsey presents a timeless image of 1859 Washington.
Although the final attendance numbers are not complete, it appears that the annual Spring Tour of Homes was at least as well-attended as last year, despite the worsening economy.

"It was wonderful," said Louise Maynard. "We had a super crowd, at least as good as last year, which is very exciting, considering the economy."

The spring tour, which began Friday and continued Saturday and Sunday, brought visitors to some 19 tour homes and special events. "We had rave reviews from everybody who came. They said they really enjoyed it and wanted to come back."

Volunteers filled more than 400 positions in tour homes and other locations. "Everybody who worked gave 100 percent, and we are so grateful for their hard work all weekend," Maynard said. "This would not be possible without them."

The tour was sponsored by the Washington Woman's Club, the Washington Kiwanis Club, and the Washington-Wilkes Chamber of Commerce.


Story and photos by KIP BURKE Sabrina Dodgen welcomes Tour of Homes visitors to the Spring Street home of Deb Talley, which was the tour's Decorator Showcase house.
More than 80 guests attended Friday night's Champagne & Dessert Soiree at the home of Mark and Emilie Waters. "We had a full house, and everyone seemed to have a marvelous time," Mark Waters said. "It was a very nice group of folks."

Due to weeks of effort by Sue Davidson, Gone With the Wind stars Mickey Kuhn and Patrick Curtis entertained a devoted crowd with their "Hollywood Revue" Friday night at the Washington Little Theater. The two actors also appeared at the Washington Historical Museum and Retro Cinema on Saturday. "Sue put in so much work to see this happen," Maynard said. "It was a wonderful addition to the weekend."

Visitors also flocked to the Washington Historical Museum to see a collection of original, hand-painted Gone With The Wind poster boards and other movie posters of the era, while at the Robert Toombs House, re-enactors in 1859 period costume welcomed guests to the home on the eve of Senator Toombs' departure for service in Washington, D.C.

On Sunday, the Tour moved to the country to visit the classic country homes of Danburg. "Our Sunday in the Country guests really enjoyed the antique cars, and our country flea market was a big hit, especially Bobby Heffner's yard plants at the Old Danburg School," Maynard said.

Throughout the weekend, visitors shopped and dined in Washington. Merchants said that traffic was good, and that shoppers were buying despite the economy. Especially popular was the tour's Decorator Showcase House, done by Deb Talley and Debbie Bennett. "They did a wonderful job pulling it together," Maynard said. "More than 50 people paid at the door just to see the showcase, and it was terrific having something different to bring people out."
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Annual Spring Tour of Homes to begin Friday evening

Get all the details in the special supplement included in this issue.
2009

Weeks of efforts by homeowners, volunteers, and civic clubs of Washington-Wilkes will come to fruition this weekend with the return of the annual Spring Tour of Homes.


Beginning Friday and continuing Saturday and

Sunday, the spring tour includes 19 homes with special events scheduled each day in addition to the homes.

The tour is sponsored by the Washington Woman's Club, the Washington Kiwanis Club, and the Washington-Wilkes Chamber of Commerce.

For a list of homes and other featured attractions, a map of the area, plus more detailed information on homes, see the special News-Reporter Tour of Homes supplement included as part of this issue.

Tour headquarters will be at the Washington- Wilkes Chamber of Commerce on The Square on Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and in Danburg Sunday from 1-3 p.m. Headquarters on Saturday will be at the Washington-Wilkes Elementary School from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and courtesy tour cars driven by Washington Kiwanis Club volunteers will be available on Saturday only.


The Robert Toombs Historic Site will be open during the Spring Tour of Homes.
The tour on Friday, April 3, will be a Bed and Breakfast Candlelight Tour from 6 to 9 p.m. Six of Washington's beautiful Bed and Breakfast accommodations will be featured.

Special events Friday will be the Champagne & Dessert Soiree at the home of Mark and Emilie Waters from 6-9 p.m.

A highlight of Friday night will be Gone With the Wind stars Mickey Kuhn and Patrick Curtis entertaining with their "Hollywood Revue" at 8 p.m. at the Washington Little Theater. The two actors will also be appearing at the Washington Historical Museum Saturday afternoon from 2-5 for autographs. The Retro Cinema will have their exhibit of GWTW memorabilia on display Friday and Saturday.

On Saturday, Washington Kiwanis Club members will chauffeur visitors to the six homes of the Day Tour from the headquarters at Washington-Wilkes Elementary School.

In addition to the Tour activities, at the Washington Historical Museum a collection of original, handpainted Gone With The Wind poster boards and other movie posters of the era, special-made at the Loew's Grand in Atlanta, are displayed.

At the Robert Toombs House, re-enactors in 1859 period costume will welcome guests through the home on the eve of Senator Toombs' departure for service in Washington, D.C.

Saturday evening, the renowned GWTW collector Herb Bridges will be autographing books at Retro Cinema, and there will be a cocktail party in his honor at 5:30 followed by his lecture on "The Atlanta Premier."

For Sunday, the Tour moves to the country to visit the classic country homes of Danburg. "Sunday in the Country" guests will also find an antique car show, and a country flea market with antiques, crafts, arts, collectibles, and yard plants at the Old Danburg School.

Throughout the weekend, visitors can shop and register for a drawing for some 500 Washington-Wilkes Dollars to be spent in local store

October 6, 2009 - Organization of Club Committees

TODAY'S PROGRAM

Today's program was largely devoted to the assignment of members to committees by Sherry Hudson, President, and Lillie Crowe, Vice President.