I am writing on behalf of Section 137, Northeastern Carolina (website: https://sections.aws.org/necarolina/) asking for a moment of your time and consideration of our request from the Section 137 Chairman and Officers.
Section 137 covers a wide swath of Eastern North Carolina, and we know the difficulty traveling West to East and North to South on roads lacking decent DOT markings and when the Section previously held meetings, those meetings generally clustered around the Greenville, NC, Pitt Community College area. That was when Roy Lanier was the Section Chair. For those who knew and remember him, he passed October 2023. Covid also played a role in minimizing the number of meetings and, as such, our networking languished during those horrible years.
Personally, the terrible night driving discouraged me from attending more than a few Greenville meetings during the mid-nineties. I would drive from Havelock/New Bern to Greenville to attend meetings and decided against further attendance because of the miles of back roads without great lighting. This discouraged me for many years and started back to attend meetings because I owned a car with better lights for night driving. But deep down, I still wanted to attend the AWS Section meetings and connect with the other members. Those meetings left indelible memories talking with the many members and their day-to-day activities in the welding industry. Other members work late or are not in town long enough to attend the meetings. We understand that is a concern. However, some of us may not have those daily life challenges. This appeal is for all members and without prejudice.
After Roy’s passing, the Section lacked volunteer members to immediately step in and manage the Section. Picking up the pieces of the Section, Joe Flynn, Pamlico CC Welding Instructor and myself, Mark Sapp, engineer with the US Navy, along with Chris Harkness, welder/welding instructor reconstituted the remnants of Section 137 and proceeded to rebuild Section 137. We have approximately 160 members according to AWS and this email is addressed to each and everyone active in AWS. These Section members are known to be active with AWS because of your commitment to retain your membership and receive information distributed through AWS.
We are making a personal appeal to all members of Section 137 to actively participate in developing, organizing, and supporting building this section. This Section belongs to you and as such, this message is directed to you, the member.
Joe, Chris, and I are seeking volunteers dedicated to supporting the Section. We know that time and distance separate us from making the journey when a meeting is held somewhere beyond reasonable travel. But through your volunteerism, we can strive to hold meetings at various locations covering topics of interest, meetings at a Community College (where the Youth are), or places of businesses to showcase your industry or products.
Please visit the Section website at Home – AWS Northeastern Carolina Section and express your interest in volunteering with the section or to showcase your place of business.
We can be reached at the email link on the website or if you prefer a direct contact, feel free to reach out to me at [email protected]. My role as Section Chair will come to an end as I take over District 4 Director starting January 2026 for the next three years. We are looking for volunteers to step up to the plate and assume different roles to make this Section great.
Thank you from Section 137 Officers,
Mark Sapp – Chairman/Treasurer
Joe Flynn, – Vice Chairman
Chris Harkness – Secretary/Program Committee/Technical Committee Chair
Connor Daniels Publicity Chairman/Student Liaison Chair