Newcomers settle in ‘welcoming’ place
Newcomers find Kinston a warm and welcoming place, three of them told the Kinston Rotary Club during a panel discussion that was the program for the March 6 meeting.
“Everybody is welcoming here,” said Lynn Johnson-Blake, wife of Spirit AeroSystems executive Don Blake and a panel member along with John McPhaul and Dr. Pradeep Aramugham. Club member Adrian King moderated the discussion.
Johnson-Blake said she and her husband had shuttled between Witchita, Kan., where Spirit is headquartered, and a town in Oklahoma where Don Blake was posted for about six months before the couple landed in Kinston. The reception here was much friendlier, she said.
Work also brought McPhaul and Aramugham to Kinston. A heart specialist, Aramugham brought new surgical procedures to Lenoir Memorial Hospital. He’s found the city has “a lot of good doctors” and said the move from Greenville opened a door for him professionally. “This is a new opportunity for me,” he said of “setting up a program” at LMH.
McPhaul moved to Kinston with his family when he became a franchisee with Chick-fil-A, but he wasn’t a complete stranger to the area. His grandmother was from La Grange, he has friends in Morehead City and he grew up in Raeford.
“We were excited about the opportunity to live in a small town,” he said. “The community has definitely embraced us.”
Kinston Rotary Club meets at 1 p.m. each Thursday at King’s Restaurant.
Bridge club names winners
The Fairfield Duplicate Bridge Club played a sectional tournament at clubs game March 26.
Stratification A winners were: Nancy Barwick/Edith Cahn and Roz Ahrens/Jack Weeden, first-place tie; Joe Goldwasser and Pearl Schechter, third; and Jeannie Exum and Anita Exum, fourth.
Winners for Stratifications B and C were: Nancy Barwick/Edith Cahn and Roz Ahrens/Jack Weeden, first-place tie; Jeannie Exum and Anita Exum, third; and Eva Balknight and Jenny Holt, fourth.
In a sectional tournament at clubs, these winners’ scores will be compared with games held at the same time in other states to determine the overall winners.
The tournament also was the last time that Pearl Schechter, our only gold life master, will direct our games. To honor her and say farewell, the club provided brunch and presented her with a memory book composed by the club.
It was fitting that she and partner, Joe Goldwasser, bid and made a grand slam. She will be missed!
A regular game will be played at 9:50 a.m. Tuesday. The club welcomes and encourages all bridge players. For more club information, call 252-523-6791.
