Charlotte Observer article
Posted
on Thursday, Dec. 11, 2003
Good
Fellows dig deeper to help those less blessed
Men
pitch in $171,556 for needy families; Tomlinson
leaving post
Jeri Fischer Krentz
Staff Writer
Charlotte's
all-male Good Fellows Club gathered for its
86th annual lunch Wednesday and raised $171,556
to help needy families through the next year.
The holiday tradition drew 1,140 to the
Charlotte Convention Center.
"This is a room full of the most blessed men in
the city of Charlotte," club vice president
Bill White told the group of government
officials, bankers, developers and lawyers.
To encourage the men to open their wallets,
three speakers described visits with families
who need Good Fellows support.
Peter Browning, dean of the McColl Graduate
School of Business at Queens University of
Charlotte, told of a couple who moved to
Charlotte hoping for a better life for their
children. They then lost their jobs because of
the economy.
Graham Denton, Charlotte market president for
Bank of America, met a family of six whose
furniture had been repossessed and their
utilities disconnected. They used candles for
light and cooked at a neighbor's.
Jerry Richardson, owner of the Carolina
Panthers, visited a single mother of four who
takes two buses daily to get to a job that pays
$6.50 an hour.
Said Richardson: "I had a sobering dose of
reality."
After the speeches, a half-dozen "basket boys"
-- all well-known Charlotteans -- visited
tables to collect cash, checks and pledges.
For the first time since 1987, club president
Larry Tomlinson didn't preside over the
meeting. He's retiring as president of the
board Jan. 1.
The club has had only three presidents in its
history. The previous presidents were David
Ovens and Col. J. Norman Pease. Tomlinson, a
retired insurance executive, attended his first
lunch in 1946.
"Larry has been `Mr. Good Fellow' for 17
years," White said.
White announced that the club was giving
Tomlinson a book of his funniest jokes -- and a
pen for writing them in "because we couldn't
think of any."
Last year's lunch brought in about $133,000.
The group's female counterpart, Good Friends,
met Tuesday and raised $131,259.
Want to Give?
For more information, call Good Fellows at
(704) 374-1108.
History from the Hornets' Nest
Excerpts from: Hornets' Nest The Story of
Charlotte and Mecklenburg County, published in
1961
The
Good Fellows Club has been described as "The
most unusual organization in the world," and
belongs to Charlotte alone. This unusual club
had its beginning in the Men's Benevolent
Association which was sponsored by Dr.
Archibald A. McGeachy, pastor of the Second
Presbyterian Church and one of the most popular
men in Charlotte. The first meeting was held in
the backyard of the McGeachy home, probably in
the summer of 1917. Its purpose was to interest
a group of "good fellows" to give a helping
hand with certain charities not covered by
other organizations. The club is non-sectarian.
There was a reorganization of the original
group in the fall of 1919 with a change of name
to the Good Fellows Club. David Ovens, one of
Charlotte's outstanding business men was named
as president. Mr. Ovens presided at all
meetings in his inimitable way and continued as
president until his death in September 1957.
The following are some of the men who have
served as Directors and given much of their
time to carrying out the work of the Good
Fellows: A. Jackson Beall; Claude A. Cochran;
E. McA. Currie; W. Carey Dowd, Jr.; John C.
Erwin; Dr. Edgar Gammon; Thomas M. Glasgow;
Mark P. Johnson; Dr. James A. Jones; Robert A.
Mayer; Dr. Oren Moore; Carl G. McCraw; Colonel
J. Notman Pease; Victor Shaw; and Paul C.
Whitlock.
The one meeting each year is held just before
Christmas, and there is always an outstanding
musical program. The heart of the program is
three talks limited to three minutes each by
members of the club who present needs of a
destitute family or someone in distress.
As much as $6,000 has been donated at a single
meeting [prior to 1961. The annual meeting
raises closer to $200,000 in 2006.] This money,
together with the... annual dues... constitutes
the club's budget to carry on its work with
needy cases during the entire year. The club
works closely with the Welfare Department.
Membership is open at all times to any who want
to be "good fellows" by giving a helping
hand.