Second class of Leadership NA graduates

The second group of participants in Leadership North Augusta last Wednesday moved into the history books as 13 local members of the business community graduated.

A total of nine men and four women gathered with their guests for a dinner at Lookaway Hall. They shared some thoughts on what they had learned through the eight-month-long experience.

Patrick Zier, a member of the first Leadership North Augusta class and president of the board of directors during this past year, told the group of graduates, "This is just the beginning." He said North Augusta will benefit from the program as will those who have been a part of it.

He suggested those graduates should go back and thank their employers, who not only put up the money for each one to participate but also gave their employees the time to spend one Wednesday a month out of the business and in Leadership North Augusta.

Zier reminded the gathering that Leadership North Augusta is a growing, changing program. He indicated the board, which will include several from the newly-completed class, is charged with looking at the program and determining what is working, what they would like to see done differently, etc. Shelley Craft, who is the incoming board president, agreed. "We need to keep it changing each year," she said.

Two members of the class, Karen Denny of Grace United Methodist Church and Alphia Dunbar of the Aiken Center put together a PowerPoint presentation and gave a brief comment on the many facets of their education through Leadership North Augusta.

"I was born and raised here, but I've never learned so much in my life," said Denny, as she enumerated the first half of the group's journey through the Leadership NA classes, which included a day at Camp Gravatt for team-building exercises under the guidance of Connie Pritchard, an Arts and History Day led by Brenda Baratto, economic development day including a trip to Sage Mill Industrial Park, government day, plus time focused on quality of life and faith, health and human services, education, and recreation in North Augusta. The final day was a leadership forum which included all the leadership programs in the CSRA - including Aiken County, Columbia County, Augusta/Richmond County, McDuffie County and even Barnwell County.

Denny said she was particularly fascinated with Bridgestone/Firestone and with MTU Detroit Diesel, two stops during the day spent on economic development.

The presentation was followed by a brief description of the class project. Kyle Dickert explained the class had been approached by the North Augusta Elementary School PTO to help with an outdoor classroom. Dickert pointed out the Leadership NA class had lots of connections in the construction world, so the project seemed like a good fit. "We had the means and the know-how. We had a lot of the skills," said Dickert, who noted the project would have long-lasting effect - something else the group was looking for.

There will be a ground-breaking for the outdoor classroom on Thursday, June 9.

Dunbar summed up what Leadership North Augusta is about with a quote she had gleaned from the guest speaker at the Leadership Forum. Charles Nickell had quoted John Quincy Adams, saying, "If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader."

Graduates from the class include Toi Bowie with SCE&G, Chris Chavous with the Aiken County Sheriff's Office, James Dean with Cranston Engineering, Karen Denny with Grace United Methodist Church, Fletcher Dickert with Allen-Batchelor Construction, Alphia Dunbar with Aiken Center, Michael Ford with Rowland Funeral Home, Danny Geddes with Keystone Homes, Kristy Harwood with Quality Printing, David Noyce with North Augusta Roofing/Lee Remodeling, Walker Posey with Posey Funeral Home, Josh Rhoden with SRP Federal Credit Union, David Shaver with SRNS, Rebecca Sylvester with University Health Care and Karl Waldhauer of North Augusta Department of Parks, Recreation and Leisure Services.

Contact News Editor Phyllis Britt at editor@northaugustastar.com.