President Hunt s November Message: Called for Such a Time as This

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1 Minute-By-Minute Minute-By-Minute is the Monthly Newsletter of the North Carolina Association of Municipal Clerks November 2017 Inside this issue: President Hunt s November Message: President s Message 1 Director s Article 4 Called for Such a Time as This A Time of Thankfulness 11 Greetings, Fellow Clerks, Every time I turn around or turn on my television, I hear of a tragedy nearby or far away! How many times have you heard, What is this world coming to? Rest assured, although we might not know from day-to-day, what is unfolding, there is One who does. Therefore, in whatever state that we find ourselves in, let us give thanks. We should learn to give thanks in every situation. I am very thankful to be a part of this great Association!! I thank you for all that you do! You each bring gifts, talents, and skills to the group that only you can. I am thankful for the forty-two (42) clerks who graduated on October 27th from the 2017 Clerks Certification Institute. Welcome aboard! Dates of importance include January Clerks School at the Sheraton Imperial Hotel, Research Triangle Park; and 2018 Spring Regional Schools: Region 1: April 6th New Bern Region 2: April 13th Clayton Region 3: April 20th Biscoe Region 4: April 27th Hendersonville Special thanks to Melody Shuler, Jim Byrd and the Program & Education Committee for all that they do!! The question was asked, Can one name in fifteen (15) minutes all that he/she is thankful for? If you answer, yes, in my opinion, you would be one of the few who could. President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed one national day of Thanksgiving to give thanks. Although it is during this time that loved ones gather together to give thanks, this should be a year-long occurrence! Let s give thanks for our spouse, our children, and our jobs. Let s give thanks for our material blessings and our achievements. Most of all, let s give thanks to our Creator and giver of life. Life in itself is magnificent blessings! Continued on Page 2-President s message 1

2 President Hunt s Message Continued During this season of thanksgiving, count your many blessings. Be thankful for all things beginning with the air that you breathe. Thank you, fellow clerks, for all that you!! Always remember, that we are a grand design called, destined, and appointed FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS! Elaine F. Hunt, MMC, NCCMC NCAMC President NCLM News I recently attend the NCLM Board Meeting in New Bern, North Carolina. First of all, I liked to say Thank You for allowing me to serve as your liaison. New Bern is a BEAUTIFUL CITY, I had not been there in years and so much has changed. One of the highlights of the Board Meeting was a session on Generational Diversity. It was enlightening as well as eye-opening. Younger and younger people are getting into politics and making changes. It is not an easy thing to accomplish. Millennials, as they are called, are getting involved and it has created some waves in city/town halls all over the country. I hope you all take the time to read it. It is very interesting and eye-opening. It also answered several questions for me. Here's the best line and right on topic: "The youngest generation is pretty sure that we can do it better than the folks that have been doing it for a long time, "says Myrick. "And the folks that have been doing it for a long time are pretty sure that the youngest generation has no idea what we're doing." This was in the October 12,2017 issue of Time Magazine written by Charlotte Alter. 2

3 Happy Birthday! November Birthdays December Birthdays 15 Tammie Drake Mary Lucas Rhonda Webb 18 Paula Pulley 20 Barbara Baker 21 Diane Autry Amira Hunt Leigh Summerour 22 ShaTasira Bailey Kelly Baker DiAnne Enoch 23 JoAnn Strickland 24 Linda Brown Natashia McCants Glenda Sansosti Tamara Ward 25 Pam Casey Holly Doerr Melody Hancock Jacqueline Nicholson 26 Diana Davis 28 Debbie Coffey Amy Harvey 29 Leslie Crowder Michelle Jolley Betsy Nicholson Sandra Smith Gail Thomas 1 Shawna Black 10. Jayne Danner 2 Bianca Payne Debbie Hinson Catherine Tilley 3 Cynthia Ezzell 4 Melissa Corser Kimberly Worley 5 Linda Noble Karen Williams 6 Jeanne Giblin Lucy Williams 7 Georgia Overman 8. Jamie Brown Jill Howell-Shook Barbara Jones Mellisa Jo Knox Sarah White 9. Luann Ellis Melody Graham Send birthday updates to Karen: kwingo@townofwingatenc.gov 3

4 Thankful Tammy Hatley, MMC, NCCMC, District 9 Director City Clerk, City of King As we draw closer to the Thanksgiving holiday it is nice to take a moment to reflect on the things we have to be thankful for. In the City of King we have many things to count among our blessings but the most recent is a new community built playground which is all-inclusive to allow children with physical disabilities the opportunity to play alongside their able-bodied friends. This project began as the dream of a few people who met with our local governments and state representative as well as area businesses, citizens, and most importantly the children of our community. The children in our local schools were asked to voice their opinions of what their dream playground would include. Professional playground designers drew up the plans based on those dreams and included special equipment designed to accommodate many types of physical disabilities as well as traditional play-ground structures. Many fund raising projects were then held over the next year. During the week of September 25, 2017, members of our community came out and volunteered their time to build this wonderful project on land provided by the City of King at King Recreation Acres Park. It was inspiring to see so many people from different walks of life join together for the common goal of making life better for the children of our community. Working together, we can achieve great things. I am thankful to live in such a caring community where people can dream big dreams and work together to make them come true. 4

5 November /December in North Carolina 2017 Festival of Trees...Pinehurst Nov.29th Dec. 3rd Christmas in New Bern.....New Bern Dec.9th & 16th Blowing Rock Christmas....Blowing Rock Nov. 24th 36th Annual Christmas Candlelight Tour-..Edenton-Dec. 8th-9th Holiday Stroll & Food Tour...Beaufort Nov. 27th Dec.30th Uncover Lost Inventions of DaVinci..Charlotte Nov. 4th May6th 30th Annual Christmas at Captain White s...graham Nov. 18th- Dec. 23rd. Belmont s Holiday Lights...Belmont Nov. 17th Dec 31st High Country Choose & Cut..Boone Nov. 24th-Dec,24th Holiday Pottery Open House..Seagrove Dec. 2nd, 9th & 16th Jacksonville Winterfest.....Jacksonville Dec. 1st-3rd NC Holiday Flotilla..Wrightsville Beach Nov. 24th &25th Polar Express Train Ride...Bryson City Nov. 10th Dec. 31st Deck the Halls....Pilot Mountain Nov. 25th Centennial Reynolda...Winston Salem Nov.21- Dec. 31st. 5

6 You can help to make someone s holiday brighter and happier. You can put a smile on a child s face and food on a family s table. How, you are probably asking yourself? Visit your local Department of Social Services office and pick a name or names from the Angel Tree. Adopt a family for Thanksgiving and help with the family meal. You can also do the same for the upcoming Christmas holidays. It doesn t take much. Spread some good will! Spread some holiday cheer! 6

7 Sweet Potato & Bacon Soup Ingredients 4 Slices Bacon roughly chopped 1/2 yellow onion, chopped 1/2 teaspoon each kosher salt and black pepper 3 medium baked sweet potatoes, skin removed 1 quart chicken or turkey stock 1/4 cup heavy cream Chopped chives for garnish Instructions Cook bacon in large soup pot until crisp, drain on paper towel Add onions to pot, season with salt and pepper and sauté over medium heat for 4 to 5 minutes Add sweet potato and stock, stir, bring to a simmer Once bubbling, stir in cream and puree soup Serve topped with reserved bacon and chop chives Yum, yum, yum! 7

8 Pecan and Maple Glazed Leftover Thanksgiving Roll Bread Pudding Bread Pudding 4-4 1/2 cups cubed leftover rolls, slightly stale 4 large eggs 1/4 cup brown sugar 1 1/2 cups milk 1 1/2 cups heavy cream 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg 1/4 cup maple syrup 1/4 cup diced pecans Drizzle 1 tablespoon melted butter 1/4 cup maple syrup 1 cup powdered sugar, more if needed Directions 1. Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees. 2. Whisk eggs and sugar in a large bowl. 3. Add milk, cream, vanilla, salt, nutmeg and maple syrup. Whisk until smooth. 4. Tear up leftover rolls and submerge in the custard. Let sit to absorb. 5. Add in pecans. And stir to combine. 6. Grease jumbo muffin tins. 7. Add soaked bread to each tin. Making sure that the bread is saturated with the custard mixture. 8. Bake in preheated oven for minutes or until browned and crusty on top. 9. Mix melted butter with maple syrup and whisk in powdered sugar. Drizzle each with glaze and let set. 10. Allow to cool before serving. 8

9 Broccoli and Rice Casserole Ingredients 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter 1 large onion, chopped (about 1 cup) 1 package (16 ounces) frozen chopped broccoli 1/3 cup reduced fat (2%) milk 1 can (10 1/2 ounces) Campbell's Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup or Campbell's Condensed 98% Fat Free Cream of Chicken Soup 1 jar (8 ounces) pasteurized process cheese sauce 1 1/2 cups cooked long grain white rice Step 1 Heat the butter in a 10-inch skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until tender-crisp, stirring occasionally. Step 2 Stir the broccoli in the skillet and cook until it's tender-crisp, stirring occasionally. Stir in the milk, soup, cheese sauce and rice. Cook and stir until the cheese is melted. Pour the broccoli mixture into a 2-quart shallow baking dish. Step 3 Bake at 350 F. for 30 minutes or until the mixture is hot and bubbling. 9

10 Thanksgiving Libation If you are like me you are in the kitchen the day before, the day of and sometimes the day after the holidays. It is your responsibility to make sure everything is ready, it looks great and is on the table when it s time to eat. How many of you know, the job does not stop there? After a great meal and meaningful conversation, the task of cleaning up is staring you right in the face. You walk into the kitchen and it looks like a tornado has come through, every serving dish you own is dirty! There is gravy on the counter, mac and cheese on the table and low and behold; there is egg on the floor. It is time for little pick me up. Here is a recipe for a cocktail that will carry you through the rest of the day. Relax and enjoy! Cheers! Cranberry Cinnamon Cocktails 64 ounces Cranberry juice 4 cinnamon sticks 2 oranges (juiced) 8 tsp Sweet n Low ( or your favorite sugar substitute) 9 ounces of your favorite Rum Cinnamon sticks and orange slices to garnish Then pour all the ingredients in a slow cooker for about an hour and then serve while warm. Sharing is optional. You have actually killed two birds with one stone. You have a very relaxing drink and an air freshener. The aroma fills the kitchen and eliminates some of the food odor from dinner. Bottoms up! 10

11 A Time of Thankfulness Despite all the political and social unrest that may be going on in our country, it is still the best country in the world, to me. Our country is rooted in deep history and tradition that will withstand the test of time. We, as Americans have so much to be thankful for, so let s just take a quick glimpse. 1. We can voice our opinions. We can say mostly whatever we want without fear of repercussions. We can agree to disagree. 2. We can attend any college of our choosing. If the money is there, so are we. We are not told where to go to school. 3. We can dress pretty much anyway we want. Sure, we have to be presentable,, but if I want to wear black all the time, I can. 4. We can make things happen for ourselves. We don t have to wait on someone else. We can make things happen. 5. We can connect with people all over the world. We are not limited. We have the capability of conversing (text, phone, , snail mail) with anyone, anywhere. 6. We can listen to music whenever we want. We can also listen to whatever kind of music we choose. We can listen to music on our way to work, to school, or play. We can listen to classical, rap, country, or rhythm and blues. 7. We can travel all over the world. If you can buy the ticket you can fly or take a cruise to anywhere. There are only a few places that are off limits. 8. We can cut toxic people out of our lives. We can walk away from people that don t add value to our lives. 9. We can be whoever we want to be. We don t have to be afraid to chase our dreams. 10.We can do things that make us happy (legal things). Forget what other folk say and JUST DO YOU! 11.We can choose ourselves first. We can take a big gulp of self-love and not be ashamed of it. 12.We can learn something new everyday. We are not limited, there is endless information out there and we are privy to it. 13.We can walk away from bad situations. We don t have to stay if it is damaging. It just takes courage. 14.We can love whoever and whatever we want. 15.We can fight for our beliefs. We can be activists and stand up for what is right. See, when you take the time to think about it, we have a lot to be thankful for! 11