AAUW

The Sandhills/Southern Pines Branch of the American Association of University Women will celebrate Women's History Month at its meeting Thursday, March 12, at 1 p.m. at Our Saviour Lutheran Church in Southern Pines.

The guest speaker, Betty Mangum, is a retired educator who served with the North Carolina Department of Education, as a Wake County Commissioner, and most recently as the 2008 Democratic candidate for Moore County's seat on the North Carolina House of Representatives. Her topic will be "Women in Leadership," and she will share her insights on women leaders in the past who have paved the way for women today and how they touched her life.

Mangum has a bachelor's degree in elementary education from UNC-Pembroke and a master's degree in administration from N.C. Central University. She is a member of AAUW and has received the Women of Achievement Award from the North Carolina Federation of Women's Clubs and the Order of the Long Leaf Pine.

AAUW membership is open to all graduates who hold an associate degree or higher from a regionally accredited college or university. Dues are $34 for the remainder of the year. AAUW advances equity for women and girls through advocacy, education, and research.

"AAUW welcomes guests and new members," says a spokesman.

Those wishing to attend the March meeting can call Eleanor Chajkowski at 255-6027 or Lois McCarthy at 295-2871.

ASGA

The Pinehurst chapter of the American Singles Golf Association announces its March events:

n Dinner and Laughter watching "The Best of Johnny Carson and Dean Martin," Saturday, March 7.

n Dinner meeting at The Magnolia Inn, Thursday, March 1.

n Golf Clinics start Wednesday, March 18, at Knollwood Driving Range, Southern Pines.

n 18-hole season opener at National Golf Club Saturday, March 28, with a Tapas party following golf

n Nine 'n' Dine starts the season Wednesday, March 31, at Longleaf Golf Club.

Those interested in attending a function should e-mail ASGAGolfpinehurst@nc.rr.com or contact Tim at 949-4672.

Pinehurst Business Guild

The Pinehurst Business Guild met at the Pine Crest Inn for its February meeting.

Patrick Barry, president, of the Pinehurst Business Guild, welcomed members to the February meeting at the Pine Crest Inn.

Buddy Spong spoke on behalf of HeartSafe Moore County, about the importance of placing automated external defibrillators throughout Moore County.

Barry also updated members on plans for the annual St. Patrick's Day Parade, which will be held on Saturday, March 14, in the Village of Pinehurst.

The Pinehurst Business Guild is made up of 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.

Coin Club

The Moore Numismatic Association Coin Club will meet at 7 p.m. today (Wednesday) at the Aberdeen Fire Station, U.S. 1.

Meetings are held on the first Wednesday of each month and consist of coin news and events, member presentations and discussions and a coin raffle and auction.

Club membership is $15 per year for adults, $6 for those 17 and under.

"New members are welcome," says Paul Brill, secretary-treasurer.

Call Brill at (910) 638-4542 for information.

Computer Clubs

Computer Club of the Sandhills

The Computer Club of the Sandhills meets Monday, March 9, at 4 p.m. the Whispering Pines Village Hall.

Bill Matthews will present a "Digital Photography Question-and-Answer Session." After a brief overview of digital photography, Matthews will answer questions about digital photography. He is a past president of both the Computer Club of the Sandhills and the Sandhills Photography Club.

Topics may include: camera operation; exposure; shutter speed and f/ stops; depth of focus; depth of field; flash photography; resolution; image and file size; resizing image files; Photoshop; printing; paper types and quality; dye vs. pigment inks; e-mailing images; film vs, digital.

The Computer Club meets on the second Monday of each month, and visitors are welcome.

For additional information contact Art Reetz 949-3733 or George McNally 949-2294.

Computer Club of Seven Lakes

Computer Club of Seven Lakes meets Tuesday, March 10, at 3 p.m. in the game room at Seven Lakes North.

Chris Jones, from Sandhills Community College, will discuss computer networking.

SCC Computer Club

The March meeting of the Sandhills Community College Computer Club will be held Thursday, March 5.

"Anyone who uses e-mail will benefit by attending this meeting," says a spokesman.

Rick Zimmerman, of ConnectNC, who spoke to the club last year, will return.

"Members had so many questions last time, he was unable to finish his presentation," says the spokesman.

ConnectNC was awarded the "Small Business of the Year" award by the Moore County Chamber of Commerce in 2007. Zimmerman will present a two-pronged talk. He will discuss what the ISP (Internet service provider) can do, including spam and filters. He will then discuss e-mail communications and what we can do to improve them.

The meeting will be held in Van Dusen Hall on the Sandhills Community College Campus, starting promptly at 3:30 p.m. and ending promptly at 4:30 p.m. At least 15 minutes of each meeting is devoted to member questions. The remainder of the meeting is given to the speaker. Light refreshments are served.

A door prize is given. A wealth of computer knowledge is available through meetings and through the multitude of computer programs available at the college, all at surprisingly low cost. There is no cost or obligation involved in attending or belonging to the Sandhills Community College Computer Club, of which Dick Kuehl is president.

Eureka ECA

The Eureka ECA met with Mary Ruth Whitaker Tuesday, Feb. 17, at 2 p.m. Nine members were present.

Florence Wozniak presented the program on stress. New officers were elected as follows: Earlene Frye, president; Nellie Greene, vice president; Peggy Gibbs, treasurer; Wilma Thompson, secretary; and Florence Wozniak, publicity.

The Eureka ECA has 52 more cookbooks available to sell. Meetings were planned until June of this year. Vivian Evans will host the meeting in March. Jonathan Craven of Carolina First Aid and Safety will present the program.

Kiwanis of the Pines

John Weaver, a Kiwanis member and a baseball enthusiast, gave a program on being an umpire in baseball. Weaver goes to spring training each year, and loves the game so much that he researched the position of umpires through the last century.

Umpires transformed the game to what it is today; it was not a quick or easy task. There were no dress codes for umpires, but generally they were portly distinguished gentlemen that wore suits and top hats. Today they wear uniforms and equipment to help protect them from bats and balls, sometimes from fans! They stood on the line going between the batting area and first base on or about the Civil War era. It was a dangerous and stressful job in those days, and umpires received a lot of physical assaults and poor behavior in those days.

Weaver pointed out that the umpire has the best seat in the house for the games, which may be a reason the gentlemen did this job. An umpire is usually the only person who agreed with their calls at games. Even though there are books and rules to study from there can be disputes over a call. One of the hardest jobs of an umpire is keeping track of where the runners were so calls can be made. Sometimes it becomes necessary for umpires to divert their attentions by listening for a ball being hit, as well as watching a base so they can make the correct call.

One of the recent developments, which help umpires, is "instant replays." These usually will back up the umpire's call, especially in determining home runs.

MCGS

Moore County Genealogical Society meets Saturday, March 21, at 10:30 a.m., at the Moore County Agricultural Center, 707 Pinehurst Ave., Carthage.

Jane Owen Barbot will speak on her genealogy, and her family's history in the Seagrove area.

"Visitors are welcome," says a spokesman.

Men's Fellowship

The Sandhills Men's Fellowship will continue its 2009 breakfast speaker series with entertainment provided by students of the Sandhills Theatre Arts Renaissance School under the direction of Paul Murphy on Tuesday, March 10.

Murphy is a graduate of UNC Chapel Hill with a bachelor's in music composition and theory; Duke Divinity School with a master of divinity, and is currently pursuing a doctorate at Hood Theological Seminary. Murphy has taught at The O'Neal School, Robbins Elementary, and Pinecrest High School.

He is a professional musician and has performed alongside Carl Anderson, George Winston, and Lou Rawls. He has studied with Roger Hannay, Stephen Jaffe, T.J. Anderson and Tony Bennett. He has most recently performed with Bradford Marsalis at N.C. Central University.

"Please join us at 7:45 a.m. at the Pinehurst Member's Club," says the spokesman. "Breakfast will follow at 8 a.m."

For more information, call Tom Stewart at 295-9775.

NARFE

The National Active and Retired Federal Employees (NARFE) Sandhills Chapter No. 1895 will hold its quarterly "Eating Meeting" Monday, March 9, at 11 a.m. at Kenny's Country Restaurant, U.S. 1, opposite the Shell Station in Pinebluff.

Chapter No. 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.

Pointing Breed Club

The Sandhills Pointing Breeds Club will meet at its new time, 10 a.m., on the first Saturday of the month from now until May. The next meeting is Saturday, March 7, at the club grounds. All members are invited to attend, and light refreshments will be provided. The club's meeting house is located at 3280 Jackson Springs Road, Jackson Springs.

The SPBC is open to anyone interested in the pointing dog breeds. Dog ownership is not required.

For more information about the club, contact Donna Boyce at dboyce@nc.rr.com or at (910) 246-0190.

Seven Lakes Kiwanis

The Feb. 24 meeting of the Seven Lakes Kiwanis was treated to a presentation by Kathy Byron from Communities in Schools.

CIS was organized to help reduce the dropout rate in Moore County schools. United Way and BC/BS funded CIS, researched the major reasons for dropouts, and has developed programs to assist in fighting this important problem. Surprisingly, obesity was highlighted as one of the problems. Obesity has moved North Carolina from fifth in the nation to fourth, and this problem is especially serious in the schools where chubby kids not only find it difficult to participate in normal and healthy activities, but also have their self-esteem challenged with harrassment by their classmates.

A major initiative of CIS, a gardening program started at Aberdeen Elementary school, has been very successful and has spread throughout the school system, including Pinecrest High School.

Students must apply and be agreeable to bringing the story to other students. Participants learn about how to grow things efficiently in small spaces, and perhaps more importantly, are exposed to what constitutes a healthy diet.

Every product that is grown is utilized in some way by the students, including the school cafeteria, where the food being supplied to the students is not always the most nourishable. The program has become very popular with the students, and they have become very aware of their diets. The physical activity has also been helpful in reducing the time spent in front of TVs and computers.

The Seven Lakes Kiwanis meets every Tuesday at noon at the Seven Lakes CC.

John Blue UDC

The John Blue Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy held its February meeting Thursday, Feb. 19, at the Postmaster's House in Aberdeen at 3 p.m. Hostesses Jean Slate and Paula Caddell served refreshments including mini cheese cakes, assorted nuts, cheese straws, ham biscuits, and punch. Decorations were in red, white, and blue.

President Dorothy Thomas brought the meeting to order. Louise Buchan, chaplain, led the group in the ritual. Registrar Harriet Sloan presented two supplemental ancestor certificates each to Martha Faircloth, Claudyne Brock, and Dorothy Thomas.

Vice-president Paula Caddell, gave a report on pins and ribbons that had been ordered and took orders for others. Recorder of military service awards, Eldiweiss Lockey, gave out new forms for military service medals to be presented on May 16 at the Confederate Memorial Service at Old Betheseda.

Shut-ins were remembered. Second vice-president, Elaine Lytton, reported on sending off over 2,000 stamps, a project in which the chapter participates in order to aid veterans.

Other officers gave reports, minutes were read and plans were finalized for the District Meeting in March that will be hosted by the John Blue Chapter. Plans were made for door prizes, gift bags, programs, table decorations, flowers, and the luncheon. Members are looking forward to this event and are making plans for Confederate Memorial Day, as well.

The meeting was adjourned when Paula Caddell led the group in the singing of "Dixie."