SALISBURY — Scott Robinson of Salisbury has been elected 2014 vice president of the nation’s largest professional association of real estate appraisers.
Robinson’s one-year term at the Appraisal Institute will begin Jan. 1, followed by one year each as president-elect, president and immediate past president. The election was held July 26 in Indianapolis.
“I am humbled and honored by this opportunity, and I promise to give everything I have to this role,” Robinson said. “I’m grateful to everyone who helped me reach this point in my career.”
Robinson has been active in real property appraisal and consulting since 1987, when he joined Robinson Associates, a Salisbury firm his father started in the mid 1960s. The firm is a general and residential practice encompassing all types of real property solutions for various client types.
Robinson has been involved with the Appraisal Institute since joining as a candidate for SRA in 1987. He has served in all offices for the North Carolina chapter and has been active at the regional and national levels since 1991.
In 2007, he completed a four-year term on the national board of directors and was chair of Region V.
He is a senior national screener for residential and general experience domestically and abroad and is a facilitator for the Capstone program. He received the AI President’s Award in 2008 and was named an AI Volunteer of Distinction in 2010.
Robinson received a bachelor’s degree from Wake Forest University in 1981. He received the SRA designation in 1991 and the MAI designation in 1997. He became a licensed real estate broker in North Carolina in 1989 and has been qualified as an expert witness in numerous courts and jurisdictions.
SALISBURY — Bayada Home Health Care in Salisbury recently presented four employees with the Heroes on the Home Front Award.
Bayada honors employees who have met or exceeded the core values of compassion, excellence and reliability.
Home health aide Latasha Davis, home health aide Myra Bentley and LPN Joe Chovit earned the Local and Divisional Hero Award and registered nurse Lindsay Stout earned the Local Hero Award.
SALISBURY — Mobile Farm Fresh was featured in the July 15 edition of the “National Association of Counties News” magazine.
The article, written by Charles Taylor, featured Mobile Farm Fresh and its market locations in Rowan County. The National Association of Counties is a national organization that represents many of the nation’s counties, parishes and boroughs.
Mobile Farm Fresh is a local nonprofit organization founded to address the problems of hunger, food insecurity and lack of access to healthy, affordable fruits, vegetables and other wholesome food staples. The market focuses on those living in food deserts.
Mobile Farm Fresh operates five markets within Rowan County and will be opening more locations in August. To learn more about Mobile Farm Fresh, review market times and location or find out how to get involved, visit www.MobileFarmFresh.com.
SALISBURY — Russ Garland, general manager of the Olive Garden, and Chris Foote, managing partner of the LongHorn Steakhouse, have been presented with Darden Restaurants’ top honor, the Joe R. Lee Diamond Club Award, named after the company’s first chairman and CEO.
Now in its 16th year, the award is presented annually to general managers throughout North America who demonstrate outstanding results in customer service while also achieving top financial performance.
This marks the fourth time Garland has received the award.
“Russ is a passionate leader who inspires his team to provide an exceptional dining experience for each of our guests,” said Dave George, president of Olive Garden.
Garland was one of 39 general managers selected from more than 800 Olive Garden restaurants.
“I am honored to receive a Diamond Club Award and owe this success to my amazing team members and managers,” Garland said.
This is the second time Foote has received the recognition.
“Chris is an exceptional leader who embodies LongHorn’s core values and is committed to excellence,” said Valerie Insignares, president of LongHorn Steakhouse.
Foote was one of 19 managing partners selected from more than 410 LongHorn Steakhouse restaurants.
“I am honored to receive the Diamond Club award and am proud of my team who is committed delighting our guests,” Foote said.
SALISBURY — Thomas A. Schneider, a funeral service licensee with Summersett Funeral Home, was recently elected by his peers as a district director for the N.C. Funeral Directors Association.
Schneider has worked with Summersett Funeral Home since September 2007 and lives in Rockwell.
He is married to a Salisbury native Morgan Beck Schneider and they have three children.
Schneider and his family are members of Mt. Tabor United Methodist Church, and he is president of the Salisbury Kiwanis club.
SALISBURY — The Rowan County Chamber of Commerce has launched a new breakfast meeting program called Power in Partnership.
The monthly gatherings for chamber members will feature well-known speakers on topics relevant to today’s economy, including state commerce Secretary Sharon Decker, scheduled to speak in December.
The meetings will replace the Friday Forums and will be held the third Thursday of every month from September to May at Trinity Oaks.
Other speakers will include Mike Hughes with Duke Energy, Salisbury native Phil Kirk and Erik Pages with EntreWorks.
Future topics will be an economic outlook, health care and the film industry.

Home Instead promotes Abram, Lowery
Home Instead Senior Care of Concord and Salisbury has promoted Dominique Abram to customer service manager.
Abram was most recently the recruitment and retention coordinator for both offices, and she has been with Home Instead since November 2006. 
Her experience includes caregiver to seniors, as well as manager of a children’s daycare center in Salisbury.   
Jasmine Lowery has been named the new recruitment and retention coordinator.
Lowery has been a caregiver for Home Instead Senior Care in Concord since June 2011.
She graduated from Winston-Salem State University with a bachelor’s degree in gerontology in May. Previously, she worked as a certified nursing assistant for Bayada Nurses and interned with Home Instead Senior Care in Winston-Salem.
SALISBURY — Robert Coleman has opened a pressure washing business based in Salisbury.
Coleman started Bob’s Pressure Washing in July. He offers services to residents and businesses throughout Rowan County including removing dirt, grime, mildew and more from aluminium, brick, vinyl and wood surfaces.  
A retired master sergeant in the U.S. Air Force, Coleman worked in the customer service and hospitality industry in food service, fitness and military lodging. Since retiring in January 2012, he has been a stay-at-home father to his three children while wife Cindy Coleman teaches math at North Rowan High School. 
To contact Coleman, call 980-234-6401.
KANNAPOLIS — Golfweek Magazine’s annual August special edition, “Ultimate Guide to Golf Course Living and Great Escapes,” ranked The Club at Irish Creek in Kannapolis as no. 70 on the list of 100 Best Residential Golf Courses in America.
The Club at Irish Creek is a Davis Love III Signature Golf Course that takes advantage of pristine 400-acre Kannapolis Lake, creeks and a mature forest of hardwoods and pines as the backdrop for its 18-hole course and the six-hole short course.
Love created the course on land previously home to Kannapolis Country Club, developing a layout that combines the best of the old property with the landscape and rolling terrain. The course regularly hosts PGA and CPGA events, as well as an annual collegiate championship.
Love minimized the environmental impact wherever possible by placing new holes within old golf corridors, routing roads around specimen trees and implementing architectural controls to limit impervious surfaces. Home sites have been situated to preserve the mature tree canopy while maximizing the view of the golf course and the lake.
The ranking “makes Irish Creek the best residential golf course in the greater Charlotte region, as well as one of the best in the country,” said Jeff Austin, Club at Irish Creek general manager.
With more than 550 courses, North Carolina golf provides close to 70,000 jobs and almost $1.7 billion in wage income.
More than 25 students completed the search for Where’s Waldo in Salisbury, turning in their Waldo Passports to The Literary Bookpost by the deadline last week.
Several downtown merchants donated prizes for the event finale, where local youth actor Anthony Cataldo protrayed Waldo himself. Page Rose was the grand prize winner and took home the complete collection of Waldo books and a Waldo puzzle.