(Editor's Note: in addition to the following chapter events & CU Person Award winners, Mountain Credit Union held a Member Appreciation Day event on International Credit Union Day.)
Credit unions and chapters throughout NC came together to celebrate International Credit Union Day last week! The events included plenty of fun, educational opportunities, as well as honors for credit union people who have contributed to the NC movement.
Chapter Recaps
The Tarheel Chapter celebrated on Tuesday with the program Rediscovering our Common Bond. Brandon McAdams and Patrick Livingston of Coastal FCU presented a timeline showing the key dates in credit union history and the various forces that have combined to undermine the common bond in credit unions. McAdams & Livingston also shared their perspective on how credit unions could promote a sense of community among members in the current environment. Some 50 people were on hand for the event.
The Foothills Chapter also met Tuesday to combine community service mixed with a bit of mystery. The Chapter's Disappearance of Death event challenged the 60 attendees on hand to solve a murder mystery. The "whodunit" event took place at the Gateway Hotel & Conference Center in Hickory. The Chapter also collected jars of peanut butter for the Cooperative Christian Ministries (CCM). The chapter also presented $1,000 checks to CCM and the Helping Hands Clinic, as well as $500 checks to the Corner Table and the Hickory Soup Kitchen. The four agencies benefited from the chapter's annual charity golf tournament and other fundraising activities through the year.
The Western Chapter hosted Bingo Night in the West at the Forge Valley Event Center in Mills River on Tuesday. Attendees competed to win a total of $500 in cash prizes. All proceeds from the event benefited the Eblen Charities Food for Thought program, which provides snacks to western NC school kids who would otherwise do without.
Five more chapter events took place on October 20th. The North Piedmont Chapter hosted an evening of pizza and bowling at Gate City Lanes. For an all-inclusive price of just $25, folks got to bowl, eat pizza and have fun with friends and family. The Chapter donated $5 of the registration fee to Victory Junction Gang Camp.
The Piedmont Chapter held its annual Credit Unions Got Talent program. A total of 190 attendees watched contestants compete for $600 in prize money at the event, which was held at the Charlotte Motor Speedway. The chapter also gave out door prizes, held a split the pot and hosted a cash bar.
The Southeast Chapter dressed up for Halloween with a costume contest at the Mainsail Restaurant in Surf City. The attendees competed for prizes, including the best individual and best group costume. The Chapter heard remarks from Donna Yalch of the Lake Waccamaw Boys & Girls Home, which the Chapter has supported for several years. Donations of needed items were also accepted for the Boys & Girls Home.
The Northwest Chapter celebrated the day with mentalist Eric Dobell at the Hawthorne Inn. Dobell wowed and entertained the crowd of 85 attendees with a variety of tricks and sleights-of-hand. The chapter also presented checks to Hospice House and Hope for the Warriors, which benefited from the chapter's fundraising efforts in the past year.
Finally, the new networking group CU Aware welcomed four very special guest speakers to its monthly mixer. Local Government FCU President/CEO Maurice Smith, Larry Blanchard of CUNA Mutual Group, Lois Kitsch of the National Credit Union Foundation and Matt Davis of the Filene Research Institute held a panel discussion on cooperatives, and took questions from the audience of some 75 people in attendance. The event was also streamed on the CU Aware web site (archive here). The special event was held in Raleigh.
Chapter CU Person Honors
Some credit union chapters also took time as they celebrated International Credit Union Day to honor some of the people who have been dedicated leaders at their credit unions over the long haul.
Northwest Chapter: Bob Donley, CU Career Person of the Year.
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| Krista Byrd, Piedmont Advantage CU (left) and Misty Fisher, Lion's Share FCU presented Bob Donley with the NW Chapter Credit Union Career Person of the Year Award. |
Donley, the Executive VP-Administration and Lending at Members Credit Union, received the award for his commitment and leadership within the credit union industry. A 16-year veteran of the credit union movement, Donley has served on the Board of Directors of Members Credit Union since March 1996. Currently he is serving as Director at Large on the North Carolina Credit Union League/Credit Union Service Corporation Board and completing a four-year term on the North Carolina Credit Union Commission.
In addition to lending his professional expertise to further the credit union cause, Donley volunteers to support the community involvement efforts of Members Credit Union and the North Carolina Credit Union League. These efforts include raising money for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and volunteering for the Victory Junction Gang Camp in Randleman, NC.
Piedmont Chapter: Donna Sullivan, CU Career Person of the Year
The Piedmont Chapter named Donna Sullivan, AVP of the Sharonview FCU Call Center, as the Chapter's Career Person of the Year. Sullivan received the award in a rather unusual way ... she was at the podium with Steve LaPrade of Truliant FCU (pictured above) to announce the winner of the award - only to find out that she had won!
Sullivan, a dedicated credit union advocate, received the award in front of nearly 200 people who gathered for the chapter meeting.
Foothills Chapter: Conway Wilson, CU Volunteer Person of the Year
The Foothills Chapter honored Conway Wilson of Hickory Springs FCU as the Chapter Volunteer Person of the Year. Wilson is pictured with his wife Ellie at the Chapter's International Credit Union Day event last week.
He has been on the Hickory Springs FCU Board of Directors since 1999 and has served as chairman since 2011. The credit union has doubled in size since Wilson joined the board and has added an array of new products and services, including debit & credit cards, club accounts, salary advance loans and gift cards. Wilson also designed the credit union's logo, shovels snow in the winter and is the "handyman" for Hickory Springs.