Civil War Round Table

The Rufus Barringer Civil War Round Table will meet at 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 19, at the Southern Pines Civic Club located at the corner of Ashe Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, Southern Pines.

Chris Fonvielle will speak on "Never Suffer the Machines of War: Louis Froelich as Arms-maker to North Carolina."

For information, call (910) 315-1213.

AARP

AARP Chapter No. 2564 meets Tuesday, Feb. 17, at 10 a.m. at First Bank, 205 SE Broad St., in Southern Pines.

The program will be presented by Bill Roberson who represents AARP Tax Aid. He will discuss tax preparation for 2009. AARP meets the third Tuesday of every month except July and August.

"We welcome guests," says a spokesman.

Eureka ECA

The Eureka ECA met at 2 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 27, at the home of Grace Horne.

Nellie Greene presided over the meeting in the absence of the president. Information for the coming year was given to those present. A discussion on filling out yearly activities and service followed.

The needs of a double amputee widow with diabetes were presented, and club members voted to help her.

The backpack schedule for pickups was filled out through March.

The February meeting will be held at 2 p.m. Tuesday, March 17, in the home of Mary Ruth Whitaker.

Kiwanis Club

At the Jan. 14 meeting of the Kiwanis of the Sandhills, guest speaker Ron Hodiak, executive director of Pinetree Community Services Inc., spoke about this nonprofit organization that aids individuals with mental illness or substance abuse challenges through the recovery process.

Pinetree helps the individuals achieve and maintain their rehabilitative, sobriety and recovery goals and address the mental health, financial, social and other treatment support needs with a well-qualified and devoted staff. Pinetree assists the individual in acquiring skills necessary to address successfully his/her educational, vocational and housing needs.

For more information about Pinetree Community Services, call (910) 692-6008.

At the Jan. 21 meeting, member Paula Bouchard introduced guest speaker Lisa Hildebrand, electronic banking coordinator for Crescent Bank. Hildebrand gave the members important prevention tips on ways to fight financial fraud, listing the top 10 frauds that are widespread over the Internet, including fraudulent weight-loss products, foreign lottery scams and prize promotions, to name a few.

Adam Crocker, Village of Pinehurst Parks and Recreation coordinator, presented the program at the Kiwanis Club of the Sandhills luncheon meeting Wednesday, Jan. 28.

Crocker provided the club an overview of Pinehurst's current park and greenway system and details regarding a planned recreation center at Cannon Park. The 17,000-square-foot, $3.3 million proposed facility will house a gymnasium, classrooms, office space, and rental areas for birthday parties and reunions.

The Parks and Recreation Department is applying for a Trust Fund Grant and hopes to begin construction in the spring of 2010. Crocker says that this facility will create needed space for offices, programs to accommodate a growing youth population, and will allow the department to offer new programs to the community.

For more information on the Kiwanis Club of the Sandhills, call Susan Holmes at (910) 255-0131.

Kiwanis of the Pines

Milton Sills gave a history of education in the United States at a recent meeting of the Kiwanis of the Pines.

The United States educational platform is supported by taxes and is separated from any religious sect. Other parts of the world, religion plays a large part in education. In colonial times, the ladies of the house developed curricula for their children, then came the Dame Schools with Bible verses and the Ten Commandments. In 1627 Harvard College began, which taught the Bible, Latin and Hebrew as well as a few other classes.

In 1788 the first public college supported by taxpayer dollars was opened in Chapel Hill, now known as the University of North Carolina. Many of the colleges in this era were land grant colleges coming out of an 1884 act. North Carolina State is an example of this type of college that taught agricultural and technology courses.

In 1840 a reader and a blue book speller were devised that did not include religion.

Horace Mann began a movement in 1850 at Antioch College located in Yellow Springs, Ohio, that would teach individuals to become teachers. Up to this point there was very little formal education for teachers.

Right after World War I, the Veterans Administration Act began, but got its real push after World War II, allowing returning service men to attend college without cost to them. This was a huge success for many members of the Kiwanis of the Pines, many of whom attended higher educational programs and got degrees through that program.

Social change began in 1954 with Brown vs. the Board of Education to integrate the public schools of the U.S. In the 1960s the community and technical college movements were developed, giving students a greater chance to choose curricula that suited their needs. The next change in education came from the Affirmative Action Act of 1970 allowing women to participate in all sports and vocational areas.

PFLAG

The Sandhills PFLAG Chapter welcomes two guests to its regular monthly meeting at 10 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 14, at the Congregational Church of Pinehurst, United Church of Christ, 895 Linden Street, Pinehurst.

Attorney Coleen Kochanek, from Raleigh, and her partner, Stephanie Norris, will share their story and welcome guests to explore the challenges and reality of their experiences as a gay married couple.

The chapter was formed to educate memberts and give support to lesbians and gays in the community and their families. Interested persons may obtain further information about the chapter by calling Lee at 695-1850 or simply coming to the meeting and learning from the presentation and the discussion.

Light refreshments will be served.

Garden Society

The Sandhills Garden Society's next meeting will be Thursday, Feb.12, at 7 p.m. at the Southern Pines Civic Club.

The speaker will be Ronny Holmes, a self-employed landscaper with 20 years' experience. He is a N.C. registered contractor, a certified irrigation contractor, a certified interlocking paving contractor and a licensed pesticide applicator.

SCWC

Sandhills Christian Women's Connection holds its monthly luncheon Thursday, Feb. 19.

DeLoris Coggin is coming from Pinehurst Cardiology. February is Women's Heart Health Month, and Coggin will offer members tips for keeping their hearts healthy.

Sue Falcone, of Greensboro, will be the speaker. Falcone is a Dale Carnegie and Zig Ziglar graduate.

Teaching others to manage and market themselves, as well as their products and services is one of her many varied interests. As a small business owner, she has herself gained a background in time management, sales and marketing, financial counseling and writing that she enjoys sharing.

All Sandhills women and their guests are welcome to attend the luncheon held at the National Golf Club in Pinehurst from noon to 1:30 p.m.

Call Joan at 673-5146 or Anne at 215-0074 to make reservations.

"Be sure to let us know if you will be taking advantage of our free nursery," says a spokesman.

The cost of this month's luncheon is $13, all-inclusive. A courtesy call is requested no later than Tuesday, Feb. 17.