Local Chamber Executive
Accepts Similar Position In
Kentucky
BY SUSAN USHER
After a little over a year on the
!^' iCaloChamber execulive vice
president Bill Dearman will leave
the : South Brunswick Islands Cham
^rB^,"he^0fScP'
a similar posi
tion in Barren
County. Ky.
He will join
the Glasgow
Barren County
Chamber 0f
Commerce as its
executive. Dear
man said the
600-member dearman
chamber's main focus is on tourism,
with a lesser emphasis on economic
development.
Dearman learned of the job from
friencfc in Kentucky, who encour
aged him to apply.
'Nan and I anguished over this
for a number of weeks before we de
cided that it was an opportunity we
should accept," he said. "We have
made an awful lot of real good
friends and we will really miss the
area. We hope we can return to vis
Al Laughinghouse, chamber pres
ident, confirmed the board had re
ceived Dearman 's resignation effec
tive Sept. 30, but had no further
comment. He said directors would
Organizers
Offer Useful
Safety Tips
Big Sweep organizers are making
final plans for Saturday's waterway
and beach clean-up, and they're
stressing safety for participants.
Volunteers will meet Saturday
morning, Sept. 18, under the Holden
Beach bridge; at the Museum of
Coastal Carolina, Ocean Isle Beach;
and in the parking lot on Sunset
Boulevard, Sunset Beach to collect
trash on the strand in the three towns.
Big Sweep is a tun event, but
there's a potential for injury and we
want to minimize that," said Susan
Bartholomew, executive director.
She offers these safety tips for vo
lunteers:
?Wear gloves.
?Don't go barefoot. Wear sturdy,
closed-toe shoes thai you don't mind
getting wet.
?Protect yourself from the sun.
Wear sunscreen and a hat or visor.
?Wear insect repellant.
?Wear comfortable old clothes that
you don't mind getting dirty.
?Be sure children are supervised by
an adult.
?Don't wade into water to pick up
debris unless you can swim and
know the water depth.
?Don't touch dangerous items like
medical debris, chemical containers
or barrels, and pesticides. Note their
location and tell your site coordina
tor, who will contact the property
authorities.
?Watch for fish hooks in beach
trash.
During Beach Sweep 1992, vol
unteers picked up more than 255
tons of waterway debris.
Sign Language
Class Continues
At BCC Campus
An intermediate class in Ame
rican Sign Language is being of
fered through Brunswick Comm
unity College's Department of Con
tinuing Education.
The self-supporting class will
meet Thursdays from 6:30 p.m. to 9
p.m. on the main campus of BCC
near Supply. It is a continuation of
the beginners sign class taught dur
ing summer quarter.
Cost of the eight-week course is
$50 per person, based on a mini
mum enrollment of 12 students.
To register, call the Continuing
Education Department at 754-6922
and ask for Stuart Callari or Perry
Hall.
Benefit Ticket
Is Canned Goods
A fish fry and gospel singing
Saturday, Sept. 25, will benefit the
South Brunswick Islands Inter
church Council Food Bank.
The event will be held from 12
noon to 5 p.m. at Cardinal Care, 494
Mulberry Street, Shallotte. Admis
sion will be a donation of canned
goods, said Cardinal Care spokes
man Margaret Keller.
The Interchurch Council is a coal
ition of pastors and laity of area
churches working together to meet
human service needs. Among its
projects are the food bank, a clothes
closet and the local CROP Walk For
Hunger.
For more information about the
gospel sing and fish fry call Keller
at 754-6621.
talk about their plans at the board's
next meeting, Tuesday, Sept. 21.
During his tenure, Dearman said
he thought the chamber has seen
success in several areas, with greater
involvement and pajjicipation by
members, the start of quarterly
breakfast meetings, growth of the
Hometown Holidays promotion and
good member response to the new
Autumn Days promotional cam
paign. A recent drive helped push
membership up to between 350 and
400, surpassing the chamber's annu
al goals for membership monies and
memberships.
"We've worked very closely with
all the communities and begun to
build some trust between those com
munities and the chamber." said
Dearman.
On another front, through cooper
ative advertising efforts the chamber
is also increasing outside awareness
of the area ? an ad in this month's
Southern Living magazine, for ex
ample, and 20-page golfing bro
chure that is a cooperative effort
among 12 courses, three motel
groups and the chamber. The bro
chure will be distributed to 100,000
golfers in targeted areas of the
United States.
He is the second employee to re
sign from the chamber staff in recent
weeks. Receptionist Ann Laugh
inghouse left Aug. 31, and has since
?
IF
joined the staff of The Odom Co. at
Sunset Beach.
Despite the changeover in staff,
Dearman said the chamber "is in
good hands."
While much was achieved during
the past year, Dearman said he wrote
in his resignation letter to hoard
members that there also was much
"still to be done, but that perhaps I
was not the right person to do it."
Dearman joined the chamber as
executive vice president Sept. 15,
1992, drawing on more than 20
years of experience in chamber ad
ministration and economic develop
ment in three southern states.
Immediately prior to taking the
local position, he was employed in
Albany, Ga., by a marketing group
and for the four years prior to that as
executive witn the Albany Chamber
of Commerce, Fall on the Flint Inc.
and Albany Chamber Foundation.
He also served as secretary/treasurer
of the Albany Dougherty Payroll
Development Authority.
At the South Brunswick Islands
Chamber of Commerce, he filled the
vacancy created by the April 17,
1992. firing of then-executive Holly
Richards after she had been on the
job less than a year. Legal actions
stemming from that dismissal have
yet to be resolved.
Richards filed suit against the
chamber and two of its board mem
bers, Terry Barbee and Annette
Odom. alleging discrimination as a
factor in her dismissal. The suit was
later dismissed without prejudice,
with Richards indicating she plan
ned to refile her complaint at a fu
ture date in either state or federal
court.
Perilling In Brunswick County
Superior Court is a civil complaint
filed by Odom and Barbee seeking
court-ordered sanctions against
Richards for filing a complaint "not
well grounded in fact. ..and inter
posed for an improper purpose."
BOATS
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Calabash ? 579-3200
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