Commitment to Smart Start
has brought great results
On April 25, Smart Start Rowan hosted a Spring Garden Party and Open House commemorating 10 years of services to children and families in Rowan County. We had reason to celebrate! Smart Start Rowan has made significant strides in improving child care quality, accessibility and affordability, improving the health of young children, and providing education and support to parents.
I would like to thank every Rowan County citizen who embraced former Governor Hunt’s vision for creating a comprehensive, community-based system of early care and education to ensure that every child has the opportunity to grow up healthy and ready to succeed. Over the past 10 years, your determination and commitment to Rowan County’s young children have produced extraordinary results. One of the parents who attended the Open House expressed her feelings this way: “Smart Start Rowan has made a huge difference in my life, and the lives of my children. They gave me hope for my children’s future.”
We will continue to accomplish significant change as the whole community works together, focusing all its varied resources toward “building brighter futures for all young children.”
ó Linda Coplin
Salisbury
Editor’s note: Linda Coplin is community awareness and outreach coordinator for Smart Start Rowan.
Investing in Rowan’s youth
Thanks to a tremendous effort from volunteers, the YMCA of Rowan County recently raised more than $80,000 in its annual Invest In Youth Campaign to provide scholarships to kids who otherwise could not afford to participate in YMCA programs. In 2006, more than $500,000 in financial assistance was awarded to those in need. In addition to its Invest In Youth Program, the YMCA also receives funding from the Rowan County United Way to help provide these scholarships. I would like to personally thank all of the citizens of Rowan County that continue to help us impact kids’ lives by supporting the YMCA and the United Way.
ó Jamie Morgan
Salisbury
Editor’s note: Jamie Morgan is CEO of the YMCA of Rowan County.
Beautification, by the yard
I would like to thank whoever nominated and elected my yard as the Salisbury Community Appearance Commission’s “Yard of the Month.” This was a special event for me.
I would also like to thank my neighbors and friends who have generously shared plants and ideas over the years. Looking at the hundreds of beautifully landscaped homes makes me think of Christmas lights twinkling in the warm months! Many friends and I spend time in our yards, remembering those who have passed away before us. I especially enjoy this time in my yard, as my son Dean’s last job before he passed away was in landscaping!
Let’s keep Salisbury growing! Again, thank you.
ó Mary Ann Martinelli
Salisbury
Music program was a treat
In all of our years in Salisbury, we never saw anything better than the performance last Sunday afternoon by the Salisbury- Rowan Choral Society, the Salisbury High Varsity Voices and the Amadeus Children’s Chorus. The entire program was “high quality.” The orchestra did an exemplary job, and the addition of guest soloist Dan Truhitte, who played Rolf in “The Sound of Music,” was an indescribable treat. Accolades go to director Sarah Hall. Our community should be proud of the commitment of these performers. Salisbury needs a community children’s chorus, and hopefully the Amadeus children’s choir will continue and grow. Those of you who missed this production will have to promise yourselves to attend next year and support this local group. What fun!!
ó Dotty Clement
Salisbury
Concert was a joyful event
The “Sounds of Music” spring concert of the Salisbury-Rowan Choral Society was a brilliant, memorable musical program ó in great part due to the capable leadership of musical director Sarah Hall. She is a Salisbury treasure.
Our community is indeed blessed to have Sarah Hall, a dedicated, exemplary music teacher, to lead the Amadeus Children’s Chorus and the Salisbury-Rowan Choral Society. (The singers in Sunday’s May 20th concert ranged from ages 7 to the early 80s.)
We salute Sarah Hall and all the many participants in this joyful event.
ó Ed and Lorna Brown
Salisbury