July 18, 2013 – Meeting Roundup
Next week Matt Kradel, a former member of our club and a member of the Sunrise club, will talk to us about growing up in the area, his year as a Rotary Youth Exchange Student in Spain, and what he is doing now.
Matt is the son of Paul Kradel who was a member of our club back in the 90’s. He is a 1994 graduate of Martinsburg High School and went, as a Rotary exchange student, to Madrid, Spain for what he refers to as a transformational year. After his year in Spain, he returned and went to college at Shepherd where he graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in education and history. He was also Shepherd’s senior student athlete of the year. He returned to Madrid and did further studies at Universidad De Antonio Nebrija. After graduating he worked in the tri-state area in real estate, banking, and investing and has now returned back home to Martinsburg as a Financial Advisor for My Bank! First United Trust and Investments where he also works with fellow Rotarian Jay Rutowski. Matt is married and has two young sons.
Parks and Recreation
Steve Catlett, executive director of Martinsburg/Berkeley County Parks and Recreation, gave us a summary of all that is going on in our parks and in the two Recreation Centers. His main emphasis was on Ambrose Park, located across from Ambrose Towers, and the W. Randy Smith Recreation Center, which is in Inwood on the Musselman High School campus.
Ambrose Park will serve a dual purpose as a dog park and as a children’s park. The dog park, which is a first for the county, was modeled after a dog park in Naples, Florida. It will provide an opportunity for pet owners to play with their dogs in a large open space and a chance for dogs to interact with other dogs. The children’s area features new play equipment, a new pavilion, and a really neat children’s garden that was designed with the help of the garden club and features things such as a hobbit’s house. The park will have picnic tables and grills, a paved parking area, a practice area for soccer and a practice area for t-ball. There are also rest room facilities.
The W. Randy Smith Recreation Center will be a multiuse facility similar to the Berkeley 2000 Recreation Center. Initially it will have less floor space than the facility next to Lambert Park, but it has the room for eventual expansion. There are now 15 parks throughout the county where it used to be just a few scattered in Martinsburg. There is a BMX/Skateboard park as well as a soccer park (Rotary was very generous in helping get that park developed). Perhaps the crowning achievement was the addition of Poor House Farm park and its subsequent development into a wonderful place with a big barn that can be used for indoor activities.
Cogwheels
Our lone visiting Rotarian was Marie Keegin from the Frederick, MD club. She is now living at the Woods here in the Eastern Panhandle.
Joshua Jolliff was back as a guest of his father, Brian. He has now attended more meetings this month than half our membership. Page Burdette brought his lovely bride, Lois.
Berniece Collis still can use a couple of volunteers for the 8-11 shift at the Berkeley County Youth Fair on August 10th.
Bill Bowen can also use a couple of volunteers for his committee for the Bob Elmer Sports Breakfast, which will be October 19th.
The Golf Tournament is set for August 26th at the Woods. There is a shotgun start at noon with a picnic at 5pm, which is open to all members. A Tee Sponsorship is $100, Prize Sponsorship is $250, and Special Event Sponsorship is $500. There will be a $10,000 Hole-in-One, a new car Hole-in-One, a $2,500 Putting Contest, and a $50,000 Shoot-Out. Send your checks to Rotary Club of Martinsburg, c/o Mike Hite, 124 N. Maple Ave., Martinsburg.
President Mike wants everyone to look at their information at DaCdb and upgrade it or add to it with a picture. Go to DaCdb.com, go to log in and follow the instructions. You need your email address and either your last name or Rotary Member Number.
Tom Keys had the winning 50/50 ticket, but failed in his quest to draw the Ten of Diamonds. He will gladly sell you a ticket or two so you can see if you have better luck. The pot grows as the deck shrinks.