The Aberdeen Home and Garden Club met Tuesday, Feb. 19, at Southern Lights, Aberdeen, with Barbara Greer as hostess. There were 17 members and one guest present.

Frances Marks, vice president, called the meeting to order.

Carol Wright, program chairman, introduced Kathy Liles from the Aber-deen Planning and Inspection Department.

Liles is a graduate of N.C. State University. She worked 11 years in Florida and four for Moore County before becoming head of the department in Aberdeen.

With the aid of screen projections, she discussed reasons for zoning, how the flood plain and water shed affect areas, and the need for landscaping on sites. She went through a recent project in Aberdeen and showed step by step how development of the site had taken place through this department.

Liles stated that Aberdeen has grown from a population of 850 in 1920 to over 5,000 people today. In 2007, the Aberdeen Planning and Inspection Department issued 855 permits and did 2,107 inspections.

The business meeting followed, conducted by the president, Janet Kenworthy.

ASGA

American Singles Golf Association (ASGA) Pinehurst Chapter is open to all area single adults who are interested in playing golf and having fun.

Prospective members are encouraged to attend two functions before committing to membership.

Visit www.pinehurst.singlesgolf.com, contact Al at 215-8105 or Jean at 295-1673, or write to ASGAGolfpinehurst@nc.rr.com for more information.

- Monthly dinner meeting, 6:30 p.m. Thursday, March 13, Elliott's on Linden, Pinehurst. The wine manager at Elliott's will present wines from Washington State and the Burgundy region of France for sampling and comparison. Foods of both areas will be available in "tapas" form.

- Golf clinics at Knollwood Golf Course start Wednesday, March 19.

- Tuesday, March 25, Nine & Dine starts with Midland Country Club golf and Table on the Green for dinner.

- The season opener for 18 holes of golf will be Saturday, March 29.

Computer Club

The Computer Club of The Sandhills will meet at 4 p.m. Monday, March 10, in the lower level meeting room of the Whispering Pines Village Hall. The guest speaker will be Alison Earl, an instructor at Sandhills Community College, who will present a program on OpenOffice, a multi-platform suite of office software.

Earl will demonstrate some features of OpenOffice, which includes a word processor, a spreadsheet program, a program to create presentations, a database program and a program to make simple diagrams or 3-D illustrations.

The OpenOffice suite is available for download at no cost. These programs are able to open and save documents created in similar MS Office programs.

Earl retired in 1995, following a 26-year career with NY Telephone/AT&T/NYNEX (now Verizon). Later that year she, her husband, Warren, and their daughter, Rebecca (now a Teaching Fellow junior at UNCG) moved to the Sandhills.

In early 1996, Earl accepted a computer instructor position in the Continuing Education department of Sandhills Community College. She has taught various courses, including Windows, Word, Excel, PhotoStory and PhotoShop Elements and OpenOffice.

"Visitors are always welcome," says a spokesman.

Eureka ECA

The Eureka ECA met at the home of Mary Ruth Whitaker Tuesday, Feb. 19. Nine members and one guest, Joan Robinson, were present.

Taylor Williams, extension agent, presented the program on small-area gardens. Topics such as raised bed construction, soil mixture, plant spacing, pest control, and maximum production in drought conditions were discussed. Williams answered many questions and offered new ideas to the members.

The Eureka ECA and the Sandhills ECA joined together to wish the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan "Happy Valentine's Day." A total of 118 dozen cookies and 195 miscellaneous items to be used in hot weather conditions were sent. The clubs are planning to send items again for Memorial Day.

The backpack delivery program for the month is as follows: March 6, Peggy Gibbs and Becky Bowen; March 13, Peggy Gibbs and Becky Bowen; March 19, Florence Wozniak and Wilma Thompson.

Achievement Day will be held at the Agriculture Building Wednesday, March 19. The covered dish luncheon will begin at 11:30 a.m.

The March project is collection of cleaning supplies for Friend to Friend. Earlene Frye will host the meeting at 2 p.m. Tuesday, March 18.

Men's Fellowship

The Sandhills Men's Fellowship continues its 2008 breakfast speaker series with Grady Little as the guest speaker on Tuesday, March 11.

Little is the former manager of the Boston Red Sox (2002-2003) and the Los Angeles Dodgers (2006-2007). Little also played in 167 games as a catcher over five minor-league seasons in the Atlanta Braves and New York Yankees organizations. He retired from playing in 1973.

Fellowship begins at 7:40 a.m. at the Pinehurst Member's Club. Breakfast will follow at 8 a.m. For more information, call Tom Stewart at 295-9775.

Business Guild

Members of the Pinehurst Business Guild met at Homewood Suites for the February meeting. Patrick Barry, president, welcomed members to the after-hours meeting.

Barry introduced George Bonville, chairman for the annual St. Patrick's Day Parade. Bonville talked about plans for the parade to be held on Saturday, March 15, in the Village of Pinehurst.

The Pinehurst Business Guild comprises retail, professional and service-oriented businesses. The Guild sponsors several annual events in the Village area, including the St. Patrick's Day Parade, Holly Arts and Crafts Festival and the annual Christmas Tree Lighting.

For more information about joining the Pinehurst Business Guild, contact the Guild office at 295-7462 or e-mail pbguild@pinehurst.net.

NARFE

The National Active & Retired Federal Employees (NARFE) Sandhills Chapter 1895 will hold its quarterly "Eating Meeting" at 11 a.m. Monday, March 10, at the Days Inn, U.S. 1 and Morganton Road, Southern Pines.

Chapter 1895 welcomes all Federal (including U.S. Postal Service) active employees, retirees, spouses and surviving spouses to monthly meetings.

Additional information about NARFE is available by contacting Vilma Geisert at (910) 215-5898 or George Sandoval at (910) 246-9881.

Seven Lakes Lions

The Seven Lakes Lions Club will host Todd Pusser at the Thursday, March 6, meeting at the West Side Community Center. Pusser, a native Carolinian, has been recognized as one of the world's best wildlife photographers. His articles are regularly featured in many top magazines and have appeared in hundreds of publications around the world.

"His presentation at the Community Center affords us all a rare opportunity to see and hear one of the best in his field," says a spokesman.

Pusser will speak of his travels around the world and within North Carolina in search of whales, sharks, snakes, and other interesting creatures. His projects have taken him to over 30 countries and into every ocean basin on earth.

In 2005, Pusser received an award as the BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year, in a competition that received more than 17,000 entries from 57 countries and is considered the most prestigious wildlife photo contest in the world.

In 2006, he received a first place award in the National Wildlife Photo Competition, another major competition that received over 12,000 entries from around the United States. Pusser is a regular writer/photographer for Wildlife in North Carolina magazine and is currently working on a book on biodiversity of his home state.

For those who desire, a buffet dinner will be available at 6:30 p.m. before the speaker's presentation. The dinner cost is $8. Those wishing to make dinner reservations should call Ray Lambert at 673-3006 or Howie Pierce at 673-2087.

The Seven Lakes Lions meets on the first and third Thursdays of the month at 6 p.m. in the West Side Community Center.

SPBA

The Southern Pines Business Association met at The Pilot for its February members' meeting. Melissa McPeake, President of the Southern Pines Business Association, welcomed members and guests to the after-hours gathering.

Founded in 1979 by a small group of dedicated merchants, the Southern Pines Business Association is comprised of retail, professional and service-oriented businesses. Monthly meetings are held the second Wednesday of each month.

The Southern Pines Business Association maintains local signage in the downtown area and also produces a brochure map that is distributed throughout the community. Members are listed on both the downtown signage and brochure maps that are currently being updated to reflect this year's membership.

Information about the Association and a membership application can be found on the Association's Web site, www.southernpines.biz.

Women of Weymouth

Karen Fox will present the program titled "Our Dreams" for the Women of Weymouth Monday, March 17. The meeting begins at 10 a.m. after a 9:30 coffee social time.

Fox became interested in dreams during a spiritual retreat at which dreams were part of the discussion. She took a two-year course on dreams at the Haden Institute in Flat Rock, which offers training on the psychology of Carl Jung. Episcopal priest and therapist Bob Haden is the director of the program.

The training is based on the psychology of Carl Jung. Dreams and their symbols figure prominently in Jungian psychology. Fox explains that she "was a banker by trade, with linear thinking, and when she discovered there was a full other side to the brain, she wanted to use it."

Fox has lived throughout the Midwest and is a native of Springfield, Ohio. She was a project manager for a large regional bank. Looking for a place for early retirement and golf, she came to Pinehurst with her husband, David Cook, six years ago after living 20 years in Connecticut.

Fox has worked with FirstHealth Hospice and Palliative Care patients, families and caregivers for over two years. Her goal is to make people feel better about their dreams and to look at them as gifts.

"Our psyche tells us what is going on, and we should pay attention," she says. "Symbols don't always make sense and can be confusing as well as sometimes scary. My job is to help people understand their symbols."

In addition to her Hospice work, she conducts dream groups for six to 10 people and teaches a class at Sandhills Community College.

"The focus is on symbols," she says. "Nobody can tell you what your dreams mean, but they can help you figure out what they mean."

Program chairman, Dorothy Gibson, invites members and guests to attend this program which she says "promises to be a fascinating subject."

Whispers

Whispers held its annual fundraiser luncheon card and game party Wednesday, Feb. 13. The ladies gathered for bridge, mah-jongg, dominoes and other games after the luncheon. The event was planned by Rita Briskie and her committee, Judy Loughlin, Sally Nealon and Alma Jones.

The next meeting of Whispers titled "Musical March" will be held Wednesday, March 12. The program will present vocal students from Sandhills Community College, ladies singing groups, The Notables, Close Chorders quartet from the Barber Shop Sandhills Harmony Chorus, the Ninettes from CCWP, dancers from the Yellow Rockers Square Dance Club and piano selections by students of Whispering Pines instructor, Sue Aceves.

There will be a door prize of two tickets to the production of "Chicago" at the Crown Center, Fayetteville.

The social hour is 11:30 a.m., with luncheon served at noon in the CCWP dining room. Send a $14 reservation check made out to Whispers, before the Saturday, March 8, deadline. Mail checks to Joan DiLaura, 167 Pine Lake Drive, Whispering Pines.

For more information, call 949-2719.