January 20, 2015 - Rotary Club of Charlotte

REPORTER
January 20, 2015
Colonel William Grey
North Carolina State Highway Patrol
Today we had the pleasure of hearing from Colonel
Bill Grey, the 26th Colonel in charge of the North
Carolina Highway Patrol since its inception in 1929.
Bill grew up in Winston Salem, graduated from
Guilford College and then became a Marine for 10 years completing his duty in
1989. As a Marine, Bill served under club member General Rudy Rudisill who
introduced him to the club today. He joined the NCSHP in 1991 and has been a
Trooper, a Sergeant, Captain, Major and was appointed Colonel by Governor Pat
McCrory March 1, 2013. He and his wife have a daughter and son in their early
20’s and make their home in Statesville. Bill also introduced 5 of his leadership
team that joined him today and recognized them for services they have done in
the line of duty.
Bill started his presentation with a short video on the history and current day NC
Highway Patrol. NC had a huge growth in the number of motor vehicles registered
from 121,000 in 1921 to over 500,000 in 1929. As the number of vehicles
increased, so did the number of people killed in traffic accidents (690 in 1929).
The NCSHP was founded in 1929 as a paramilitary organization to keep the
highways of NC safe and efficient, to generate revenue thru traffic citations,
collision investigations, and arresting and processing impaired drivers. Many folks
may think the NCSHP is all about writing tickets but in reality it is about saving
lives. In 2013, there were 32,719 traffic related deaths on America’s highways, 88
per day and 4 per hour. In NC we had 1,162 killed in 2013, 21 per week and 3 per
day. The goal is ZERO and one is too many. Education is the way to reduce these
numbers but rest assured if they do not reach through education, they will through
enforcement.
Today each trooper must complete a 29 week training academy before being
deployed into service. Currently the NCSHP has 2,340 total employees of which
over 1,600 are troopers. The organization is comprised of 8 state districts, an
aviation unit with 9 helicopters, a criminal interdiction team, K-9 units, motorcycle
units and a collision and reconstruction unit. They also routinely work with local
police and sheriff law enforcement offices. NC is the 9th most populous state in
America and is 2nd only to Texas in number of highway miles to patrol. Due to
limited state budgets, we are still using the same # of troopers we had in the
1970’s. The annual NCSHP grew to $220 million a few years ago and has been
trimmed to $190 million for 2014.
Challenges/Opportunities for the future of the NCSHP are recruiting, diversity and
staying out of harm’s way with the attention of crazy citizens we have currently. A
troopers starting pay is $35,000 a year, offers great benefits, an opportunity to
make a difference and to develop your leadership skills. Attracting employees
reflecting the population they serve is key and Bill asked us to send him diverse
young people from 21-39 years old who we think would do a fine job. Bill
commented how demanding and dangerous being a State Trooper is but he gave
this plug for recruiting; “I cannot think of a better way to spend a lifetime serving
others and saving lives, for me it has been rewarding and a real blessing, not to
mention a ton of fun along the way!”
We are fortunate to have such a fine organization patrolling our roads with safety
as their #1 priority and to have a strong leader in Bill Grey looking out for us.
It was nice of Bill not to issue any citations to the “wine table” as those boys can
get a little out of hand!
Written by: George MacBain
Head Table: Ron Kimble, Dena Diorio, Tony Zeiss, Rudy Rudisill, Karen Simon, David Baker;
Invocation: Tony Marciano; Visitors & Guests: Tom Hutchins; Song: Gray Langley; Health,
Happiness & History: Matt Joyner; AV: Jessica Dupree & Nikki Keith; Photos: Bert Voswinkel
Club News
Past President Ronnie Pruett has been diagnosed with Leukemia and is undergoing
chemotherapy. As upbeat as ever, Ronnie is thinking about maintaining his almost 31
years of perfect attendance; Mary Ciminelli’s (Matthews Rotary and former member of
th
Charlotte Rotary) husband, Ron, passed January 6 away while they were on a cruise.
Daryl Holland is unable to return to Rotary following his recent accident and has decided
to resign. Best wished to Daryl for continued improvement; Sandy Osborne is back from
knee surgery and the club owes a big thank you to Jill Santuccio for keeping everything
on track.
Rob Thomas provided comments on the role of credit unions and business loans. Rob
is currently vice president with Allegacy Federal Credit Union; David Erdman made
headlines in the paper and local newscasts for the MLK “Dream” speech he honored with
a song; Major Donor recognition is quite a big deal – this happens when you have made
a $10,000 donation to The Rotary Foundation. President Tony had the honor of
recognizing Tom Burgess and Katie Tyler for their outstanding support and awarded
each with the beautiful crystal. Congratulations!
Posted for membership: (comments to Rotary office by 1/28/15)
Tom Blocker, Heartbright Foundation (Medicine, Cardiology Preventive Care; Sponsor: Byron
Bullard; Endorsed: Tony Marciano, Luther Fincher)
Fred Wagner, Enventys (Inventor; Sponsor: Tony Zeiss; Endorsed: Katie Tyler, Larry Hyatt)
Michael Orzech, Promotion Magic (Promotional Items; Sponsor: Terri DeBoo; Endorsed: Denise
Hallett, Ron Kimble)
Bob Denson, Siemens Industry, Inc. (Engineering; Sponsor: Bill Bartee; Endorsed: Luke Maybry,
Waxhaw-Weddington Rotary Club)
All Rotarians are invited to the annual SMS Catering Super Bowl Party for free (or if you’d
like to pay the $15 entrance fee, Robert and Bob Freeman will donate your payment
back to the club) on Feb. 1. Pre-game festivities begin at 4 p.m.; the game is from 6:30 –
10 p.m. and SMS is located at 1764 Norland Road, Charlotte, NC 28205.
UPCOMING BIRTHDAYS (1/21/15 – 1/27/15)
1/24 Dan Rajkowski, Benton Bragg, Chase Saunders
1/25 Davan Cloninger
1/27 Fae Shaffer
UPCOMING ANNIVERSARIES (1/21/15 – 1/27/15)
No anniversaries this upcoming week
ATTENDANCE
Visitors & Guests
Club Members
Total Attendance
Percentage
17
155
176
56.4%
MEMBERSHIP
01/21/2015
321
07/01/2014
317
Net Increase:
+4
New Members:
Resignations: Wes Sugg, Brad Picot, Daryl Holland
VISITORS ON 1/20/14
Vesonika and Jana, Fred Wagner, Andrew Kerr, Chris Higgenbotham, Dorette Coetsee,
Joseph Hanley, Matthew Joyner, Jr., Gene Bodycott, Diane Restano, Michale Orzech
UPCOMING LUNCHEONS (www.charlotterotary.org and click on the events tab)
1/27 – Bethany Bradsher, Author; Bones McKinney: Basketball’s Unforgettable Showman
2/3 – Jim Morgan, President, Krispy Kreme
Photos from this week’s luncheon – thanks Bert!
Photos from our luncheons and other events can be found on Flickr Click here
charlotterotary.org 704.375.6816
841 Baxter Street | Suite 118 | Charlotte, NC 28202-2720 USA
© The Rotary Club of Charlotte 2014