Charles and Elizabeth McKeller were honored jointly for their inductions into the Second Wind Hall of Fame in a recent ceremony.  Together, they have contributed greatly to our community.

The Rotary Club of Tryon sponsored Charles M. McKeller for induction. McKeller is a past president of the club and current president of the RCOT Foundation. In addition, he has served on the board of the Gillette Woods Association, is a member of the BMW Charity Golf Tournament, the Blue Ridge Barbecue Festival, Meals on Wheels, and is active in the Tryon First Baptist Church.

McKeller earned a bachelor of science degree in industrial management from Auburn University in 1959, augmented later by an executive program at UNC Chapel Hill. McKeller retired after a 42-year management career in the textile industry. He earned the Order of the Arrow from the Boy Scouts of America, the Order of the Long Leaf Pine from the state in 1993, and was a member of the NC Study Commission to Deregulate Electricity.

Elizabeth W. McKeller was sponsored for induction into the Second Wind Hall of Fame by the Thermal Belt Outreach Ministry, for which she has devoted many years of volunteer service.  Also, she is the past president of the Magnolia Garden Club, and past chairperson of the bereavement committee of the Tryon First Baptist Church.

Her long record of community activities includes Meals on Wheels, the Blue Ridge Barbecue Festival, and many years of volunteer efforts on Rotary service projects such as Stop Hunger Now, Reading is Fundamental and the scholarships program for local students. Elizabeth was educated at UNC-Greensboro and had a career with State Farm Insurance.

Charles and Elizabeth retired here in the Thermal Belt in July 2001. They have two children. Charles W. McKeller lives in Brevard, while David N McKeller resides in Durham, N.C.

The Second Wind Hall of Fame is a 35-year-old Thermal Belt organization whose mission is to identify and celebrate those local volunteers who contribute significantly to the quality of life in our community. More than 180 outstanding volunteers are current members of “Second Wind.”

The objective of the organization is to inspire other retirees to recognize that they now have an opportunity for even greater service to their community and a continued benefit to mankind.

– article submitted by Larry Poe