Black Mountain Rotary Club honors Gale Jackson

Past Rotary President Roger Hibbard and current President Darrell Johnson presented Gale Jackson with the John K. Abernethy Memorial Award during the Rotary Club’s meeting at Givens Highland Farms on Feb. 7.

The award is presented in recognition of exemplary Rotary “Service Above Self” in the areas of club service, community service, international service and/or vocational service.

In presenting the award, Hibbard noted that “Gale Jackson has distinguished herself in all of these areas. She is a Rotary Paul Harris Fellow and has served our club as board member, committee chair and president. In the international arena, Gale has hosted Rotary international visitors and students and has served as a Rotary Group Study Exchange team leader.

“Gale has introduced Rotary to the Swannanoa Valley community in numerous creative ways, not the least of which has been teaching the three ‘Bs’ – butterflies, bees and birds. As executive director of the Black Mountain Center for the Arts, Gale has tapped our Valley’s diverse creative culture, nurtured it and made it a source of pride and enjoyment for all.”

The John K. Abernethy Memorial Award was established in 1995 by The Black Mountain Rotary Club in memory of the late John K. Abernethy, who was a Rotarian for 50-plus years. A past president of the local club, he was the first member of The Black Mountain Rotary Club to become district governor for the Western North Carolina District.