Susan (Susie) Elizabeth Wear and Olivia Agner Goss were presented at the 83rd North Carolina Debutante Ball in Raleigh Friday, Sept. 11, sponsored annually by the Terpsichorean Club of North Carolina. The North Carolina Debutante Ball is the only statewide ball in the nation.
During the ball weekend, eight different functions were attended by the debutantes, their families and their escorts.
Wear is the daughter of Ralph and Susan Wear and the granddaughter of the late Dr. John and Susie Wear and Edward and Mildred Tankard of Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Her father was her chief marshal. Carl Ritchie, son of Amy and Cliff Ritchie, was her assistant marshal.
Wear graduated salutatorian of her 2008 Salisbury High School class and was a Morehead-Cain nominee. She won the 2007 2A State Doubles title in tennis, played No. 1 on the tennis team which won the 2A State championship in 2006 and received the Clary Medal, honoring the top NC scholar athlete in 2008. She was named 2008 Rowan County Female Athlete of the Year and All-County and Conference Female Athlete of the Year. She was awarded Civitan’s Clifford Peeler Scholarship, was named a Rowan County Scholar, a Time Warner Star Student and received the Mayor’s Cup of Excellence.
Currently a dean’s list student at UNC-Chapel Hill, she is involved with Zeta Tau Alpha sorority, interns with NCHSAA, and has been invited to join Sigma Alpha Lambda, a national leadership and honors organization and asked to apply to be a Carolina Admissions Ambassador.
Her Salisbury community involvement has been coordinating a tennis program called “Swing with Susie,” which involves teaching and coaching tennis to at-risk children. She was asked by the city to help with its grant, Girls in Action, a program teaching sports to young girls, and she has volunteered many hours at Rowan Helping Ministries.
Goss is the daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Frederick Uhl Goss and the granddaughter of Dr. and Mrs. Roy Agner.Her father was her chief marshal, and she was escorted by Mingwei Lei of Chapel Hill.
She attends North Carolina State University where she is in the Scholars program, Pre-Health Club, on the all-A honor roll and dean’s list.
In high school she performed more than 250 volunteer hours, including coordinating a “rising star” talent show to raise money for the Red Cross Measles Initiative vaccination program in Africa, assisting with vacation Bible school at St. John’s Lutheran Church, working at the Scott Smith Memorial Scholarship Golf Tournament, and with Meals on Wheels and Habitat for Humanity, Piedmont Players, Operation Christmas Child, and designing a First Aid game to teach youngsters how to respond to emergencies (used in a course at the Red Cross);
She attended National Honors Convocation on Leadership at Loyola-Marymount and was selected for a lead role in a movie at Los Angeles Film Academy for honors students; National Young Leaders Conference sponsored by the Congressional Youth Leadership Council in Washington, D.C.
Goss was an intern with Dr. Sam Roy at Piedmont Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery and was awarded the SHS Exceptional Student Award in business management. She participated in summer study through Cambridge College Programme at Cambridge University outside London.
Brown-Fisher meetingPresident Paul Brown welcomed the 100-plus members to the Brown-Fisher Association Inc. annual meeting on Sunday, Aug. 30 at the Organ Lutheran Church fellowship building.
The invocation was given by the Rev. Carl Ritchie of Mt. Pleasant, S.C. Some members attended the 8:30 a.m. service in the old church building. Members were invited to attend Sunday services at Organ Lutheran Church and nearby Grace Lowerstone United Church of Christ before the meeting.
A meal was catered by the Nathan Brown House Committee. Desserts were furnished by members of the board of directors of the Brown-Fisher Association.
Following the meal, Paul Brown introduced Kaye Brown Hirst, member of Organ Lutheran Church and Dale Bassinger, chair of the congregational church council, who gave a program on the history of Organ Lutheran Church. The congregation is one of the oldest still active in Rowan County. The history was traced from Europe to Pennsylvania to Rowan County, then back to Germany for ministers, returning to Rowan County.
Ministers discussed were Adolphus Nussman, Johann Gottfried Arends, C.A.G. Storch and Samuel Rothrock. The old church building is used for early church services during the summer months. The new church was built in 1960. Copies of the early church records can be purchased at the church office.
Paul Brown introduced the current officers and the board of directors. He encouraged members to get involved in the association by joining the board. He also asked them to remind family members who were not there about the meetings and events.
He asked for a vote for the slate of officers and board for the next year: Paul A. Brown for president; Sarah Z. Brown for vice-president; Patricia B. Beck for secretary; Larry Brown for treasurer; and Madge Brown Russsell, Ann Carlan Bostian, Juanita F. Lagg, Norman Ribelin, Keith Wolfe, and Teresa P. Fox, Rowan Roots editor, for the board.
Treasurer Larry Brown reviewed the financial report for 2008-2009. He stressed the necessity of The Old Stone House Endowment Fund and the need for contributions. The funds are to insure the continuation of events at the Old Stone House and to keep the structure in good repair.
Vice-president Sarah Brown gave goody bags plus drinking cups and crazy straws to the six children present: Ezra Shelton, Kayln Swicegood, Brandy Fox, Angela Haynes, Sarah Clifton and Emma Clifton.Larry Brown introduced two members not previously recognized who had served in the military: Stephen Whitfield Brown of Durham served in the Army 1973-79, and Boyd Vernon Buckwell of Taylors, S.C. served in the Coast Guard 1942-46 and Navy 1950-52.
Juanita Lagg reported that the association has 121 life memberships. Eight new life memberships were introduced at the meeting: Marilyn and Jeffrey Sexton, Louisville, Ky; Walter Fisher, Charlotte; Mary and Parks Berryhill, Salisbury; Martha and Paul Fogleman; Melvene Goodman Koontz, Salisbury; Glenn and Susan Ketner Jr., Salisbury; Dr. and Mrs. John Benbow, Concord; Benjamin Crain Brown of Durham, a gift from his father Stephen W. Brown and Sarah Z. Brown, Landis, a gift from her parents, Larry and Zubecca Brown.
Gold dollars were given to the youngest member present: 2-year-old Emma Clifton; the oldest member present, 95- year-old John Earnhardt; members who traveled the furthest distance, Mary Frances Brown and Carl Ritchie, Mt. Pleasant, S.C., Sue BrownandRobert Pickett, Palmyra, Va; Betty Brown and Boyd Buckwell, Taylor, S.C.; and Jan Brown Anderson and Glenn Eason, Statesboro, Ga; families with the most members present, Clarence Brown with 11 members and Lane C. Brown with nine members; families with the most generations present Clarence Brown with four generations and Lane C. Brown with three generations.
Lynn and Doug Robinson answered questions about the display of the Nathan Brown House and the restoration in progress on the house. The association displayed Volumes I and II of the Fisher book and copies of the Family Favorites cookbook which were for sale.
Members were encouraged to tour the old church, the cemetery and to visit the Old Stone House and the Old Stone Winery after the meeting.
The 2010 Brown-Fisher annual meeting will be held at the Old Stone House on Aug. 28. For more information, contact Patrica B. Beck, secretary of the Brown-Fisher Association by calling 704-633-7633.
Hoffman visitSandy and Julia Hoffman flew from Santa Fe, N.M. to Salisbury on July 20 in preparation for their children and spouses to arrive the following day for a two-and-a-half- week visit with parents Sam and Barbara Hoffman, who live on Mitchell Avenue in Salisbury.
The next day, Nicholas, Melisa and baby Isaiah arrived from Arcata, Calif., where Nicholas studies engineering at Humboldt State University. July 21, Lauren Hoffman Pilger and Brian Pilger arrived from Arcata, Cal. where, in addition to their regular jobs, they lead praise music in their churches. Brian is pusuing a master’s degree in social work at Humboldt State University.
Also on July 21, Nathan Hoffman and Becci Bliemegger arrived from Graz, Austria, where Nathan is majoring in linguistic studies at Karl Franz University.
Julia Eller Hoffman and her children had a reunion with her parents, Sue and Jim Eller of Coley Road in Granite Quarry.
Lauren and Brian Pilger spent their nights with Marc and Anne Hoffman on Hickory Drive.
The Hoffmans took a day trip to the mountains where they cruised down the New River floating on inner tubes.