Rep. Michele Bachmann, candidate for the Republican nomination for president, was to serve as keynote speaker Thursday night for a Moore County GOP fundraiser.

Bachmann spoke at the Pinehurst Members Club to raise money for local Republican Party efforts. She was to hold a fundraiser for her presidential campaign Friday morning at the Country Club of North Carolina in Pinehurst.

This morning, Congress-man Howard Coble planned to join Bachmann for her campaign fundraiser “meet and greet” at the Country Club of North Carolina. Coble is spending most of the day in Southern Pines and Pinehurst.

CONGRATS — On Thursday, Coble inserted a congratulatory statement into the Congressional Record honoring the Greensboro Grasshoppers as the new South Atlantic League champions.

It is the first time the team has captured a professional baseball title since 1982. The Congressional Record is the official journal of both the U.S. House and the U.S. Senate.

COLD WAR TALK — Vern Pike, of Pinehurst, will be the speaker for the Monday luncheon meeting of the Shaftesbury Society hosted by the John Locke Foundation in Raleigh.

He will review the book “Checkpoint Charlie — Hotspot of the Cold War.”

Pike, a retired Army colonel and businessman, was the first officer in charge of Checkpoint Charlie on the night when the Berlin Wall was erected in 1961. He served two terms in Vietnam as a company commander and, later, as a battalion executive officer.

After completing graduate school, Pike was an assistant professor of international relations at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. His military career included command positions in Germany, taking special forces to Grenada, and service on the U.S. Army staff and the joint staff in the Pentagon.

Pike is a graduate of Wake Forest University and served almost 30 years in the Army before retiring in 1988. He then operated his own business as a Washington lobbyist for small North Carolina companies before retiring a second time in 1998 to Pinehurst.

EMMERT — Tim Emmert, community development planner, has been appointed fair housing officer by the Moore County Board of Commissioners.

He succeeds Joey Raczkowski, who resigned in August as the county’s planning director.

The fair housing officer serves as the point of contact for fair housing complaints.

In other action at the Sept. 20 board meeting, the commissioners appointed Cynthia Ransom and Mamie Bennett to the RSVP (Retired and Senior Volunteer Program) Advisory Council.

CANCELED — The Moore County Board of Health has canceled its Oct. 6 meeting, according to a notice from the health department. The next regular meeting will be held Thursday, Dec. 1.

Contact Florence Gilkeson at florence@thepilot.com.