Daughters of the British Empire

A new chapter of the Daughters of the British Empire has been formed in Pinehurst. The Duke of Wellington Chapter is open to all women of British or Commonwealth ancestry or who are the wives of British or Commonwealth men.

There are many chapters throughout the U.S.A. holding monthly meetings. Each chapter plans functions and events that form the basis of the organization, a commitment to help support one of the four District Homes for the elderly located in their local region.

The other aim is to promote Anglo-American friendship.

The American-based society was founded in 1909. The DBE is a charitable, nonprofit, nonpolitical, nonsectarian voluntary organization. Membership covers the United States with approximately 5,000 women.

If this sounds like "your cup of tea," contact Gwen Healy at (910) 255-6276.

W.P. Garden Club

On Tuesday, Oct. 6, Bob and Ruth Stolting presented the Whispering Pines Garden Club program. Their topic was "Ode to the Long Leaf Pine."

New this year will be a garden club gathering just to socialize and enjoy appetizers and desserts on Tuesday, Dec. 1, at 6 p.m. Bring a dessert or appetizer to share. There will be no program. This is just a social.

AAUW

At the meeting of the American Association of University Women Sandhills/Southern Pines Branch on Thursday, Nov. 12, Judy Allen, branch co-president, will give a talk on Vietnam and Cambodia from her recent tour, which was sponsored by the Arts Council of Moore County.

Allen will talk about her journey from Hanoi in the north, the cities and areas she visited on the trip south to Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City), and the tour of Angkor Wat in Cambodia.

Her presentation will include photographs and highlights on the area history, lives of the people, their language, present government and education.

The meeting will be held at 1 p.m. at Our Saviour Lutheran Church, Southern Pines.

Interested nonmembers and guests are welcome.

For information, contact Eleanor Chajkowski at (910) 255-6027 or Lois McCarthy at (910) 295-2871.

Computer Club

Computer Club of Seven Lakes meets Tuesday, Nov. 10, at 3 p.m. in the Seven Lakes North Game Room.

Club member Chuck Kersey, a photo enthusiast, will present a slideshow of Yellowstone National Park. He will discuss the program and the procedure used in preparing it.

Guests are welcome.

Eureka ECA

The Eureka ECA Club met Tuesday, Oct. 20, at the home of Grace Horne.

Nellie Greene presided in the absence of President Earlene Frye.

The club has sent $200 to the Coalition for Human Care from the sale of its cookbook.

Greene presented an informative program on "Causes of Strokes."

The November meeting will be held at the Agriculture Building, where the members will bake "The World's Greatest" cookies and chocolate cluster cookies that will be sold at the "Decorative Christmas Table" event at the Little River Golf Resort.

The club will adopt a foster teen for Christmas, and members are to bring in a suitable gift.

For more information, call Florence Wozniak at (910) 947-3481.

Computer Club of SH

The Computer Club of the Sandhills meets Monday, Nov. 9, at 4 p.m. in the lower level of the Whispering Pines Village Hall.

Jim Anderson will present "Latest Security Products for your Computer."

Anderson is an expert on computer and Internet-related technologies. He retired in 2008 from Sandhills Community College, where he was a professor and coordinator of networking technology. He will also demonstrate Windows 7 as well as Advanced System Care and the IO Bits security suite.

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

For additional information, contact George McNally at (910) 949-2294.

Seven Lakes Lions

Val Scantlin, from Hearing Solutions, a new business in town, was the guest speaker at the Seven Lakes Lions Club on Sept. 17.

Scantlin updated members on the latest developments in the his field.

NARFE

The National Active and Retired Federal Employees (NARFE), Sandhills Chapter 1895, will hold its monthly meeting Monday, Nov. 9, at 10:30 a.m. at the Community Congregational Church, 141 N. Bennett St., Southern Pines.

Cynthia Pizzini, from Classic Care Home Care of Southern Pines, will be the guest speaker.

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.

S.P. Garden Club

A program on the master plan of the Pinehurst Village Arboretum and the challenges of its implementation was presented to the Southern Pines Garden Club Monday, Oct. 26, by Larry Best.

Best, who continues to donate his professional expertise in land use planning in the Arboretum's development, described the transformation of a former landfill into the current grassy meadow.

The restoration of the formerly polluted creeks enhances the wooded trail areas. The architecture of the structures and bridges and the choices of plant material were of particularly interest to the Garden Club.

One pavilion houses a chess table and chairs, frequently enjoyed by visitors to the Arboretum.

Like the Fair Barn before it, the Arboretum is being developed solely with private funding through the Village Heritage Foundation.

Sandhills Computer Club

If the words "Facebook" and "Wwitter" are like a foreign language to you, then for sure you will want to attend the November meeting of the Sandhills Community College Continuing Education Computer Club, held in Van Dusen Hall on the college campus, Thursday, Nov. 5.

Facebook is a global social networking Web site privately owned and operated by Facebook Inc. Users can establish profiles, find friends, send messages, join networks organized by city, workplace, schools and organizations.

Started by a group of students at Harvard University, the Web site's name stems from the colloquial name of books given at the start of the academic year by university administrators to help students get to know each other better.

The Web site's membership was originally limited to Harvard students and was expanded to other colleges in the Boston area. Today there are more than 300 million Facebook users worldwide.

Twitter is a free social networking and micro-blogging network that enables users to send messages known as "tweets." Tweets are text-based posts of up to 140 characters displayed on the author's profile page and delivered to the author's subscribers, who are known as followers.

Speaker for the meeting will be Lori Williams, the director of community education and outreach in the Division of Continuing Education at Sandhills Community College. She coordinates opportunities of community awareness and education with the campus community

In her 30s, Williams began her education as a community college student, received a bachelor's degree from Franklin University in applied management through distance education and is currently working on her master's degree in community college administration from Western Carolina University.

The meeting will begin at 3:30 p.m. and end promptly at 4:30 p.m. There will be a door prize, and light refreshments will be available.

UDC

Five members of the John Blue Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy attended the UDC state division convention in Fayetteville from Oct. 8-10, at the Doubletree Hotel in Fayetteville.

Members attending were Dorothy Thomas, Paula Caddell, Martha Faircloth, Claudyne Brock and Kelly Hinson. Members voted on by-law changes, and the chapter received an Honor Chapter award.

Members provided floral arrangements of red and white carnations and baby's breath and small candy baskets for each place on the table for the Friday luncheon. They also gave out tickets for door prizes.

One member had a table to sell products for the Moore Junior. Reserves Chapter of the Children of the Confederacy that the chapter is reactivating and sponsoring.

Members attended the memorial service for deceased members of the North Carolina Division, including the late Evaline Garner Garrison, a former member of the John Blue Chapter.

Historical night was a special event with the members of the Fayetteville Light Artillery and the Cumberland County Sons of the Confederate Veterans attending as the color guard.

Five men were awarded UDC military service medals for their military service during war time. They must also have a Civil War ancestor to receive this honor.

Photo Club

"Take a Second Look with George" is the topic of the next Sandhills Photography Club meeting on Monday, Nov. 9, at 7 p.m. at Christ Fellowship Church on the corner of Midland and Pee Dee roads in Southern Pines.

The evening will feature constructive critiques by George Butt, of Seven Lakes, whose knowledgeable and humorous comments are based on 60 years of participation in worldwide photography competitions and exhibitions.

Members of the club will submit photographs so that Butt, also a longtime member of the club, can make suggestions for improvement.

This is not a photography competition, but a fun-packed evening of expert instruction and entertainment.

On Saturday, Nov. 14, Bob Biamonte will host a workshop for members on "Sharpening Images in Photoshop" from 10 a.m. to noon in Van Dusen Hall, room 106, on the Sandhills Community College campus.

Guests are welcome at all SPC meetings and competitions. Newsletters and winning photographs from previous competitions can be found on the club Web site, www.sandhillsphoto club.org

Pointing Breeds Club

The Sandhills Pointing Breeds Club will hold its monthly meeting at 10 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 7, at the club grounds 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 Kathy Apffel at eapffel@earthlink.net or at (910) 235-0636.

Men's Fellowship

The Sandhills Men's Fellowship welcomes Sgt. First Class Jeff McKellop as its guest speaker Tuesday, Nov. 10, for the continuation of its breakfast speaker series.

McKellop is a member of the Army's special operations community, and currently serves as a communications sergeant for a Special Forces operational detachment.

He is also cross-trained as the team medic. He has been deployed on numerous military operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Kenya and Nigeria.

He is a graduate of the Army Airborne School, the Army Air Assault School, the Special Forces qualification course and other courses designed to hone special operations skills.

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 (910) 295-9775.