The Carriage Automotive Group (Nissan, KIA and Mitsubishi Motors) made a donation to North Gwinnett Kiwanis Club (Buford) for the golf tournament.

The donation was presented to Kiwanis Club member Scott Hanlon by Carriage Automotive Group spokespersons Dan Ratcliff from 104.7-FM the Fish Radio, and Shannen Fields, star of the movie "Facing The Giants."

This generous donation helped the Kiwanis Club raise $10,000. The money will be used to fund high school scholarships that the club provides to graduating seniors from Buford, North Gwinnett, Lanier and Mill Creek High Schools.

Over the past 10 years the club has provided more than $100,000 in scholarships. In addition, the club supports the Gwinnett Children’s Shelter, North Gwinnett COOP and various other Charities.

Additional fundraisers include a father/daughter dance in February and Vidalia onion sales in the spring. Visit www.north gwinnettkiwanis.com for more information.

Thanks to a $25,000 grant from The UPS Foundation, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Hall County will be able to ensure that members increase reading and literacy skills, which will have a significant impact in every area of their life for the rest of their lives.

The center will provide members with the support, resources and guidance necessary to help ensure that all members are proficient in reading and help narrow the gap between advantaged and disadvantaged children.

The library and program will offer a structured time and place for Club staff and volunteers to help members with a vital aspect of the educational process — reading.

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   The Mason-Scharfenstein Museum of Art opened with a reception Sept. 23 at Piedmont College in Demorest.

  Some 200 guests, including Gov. Nathan Deal, his wife, Sandra, and three past and present Piedmont presidents, attended the event.

  The museum, under construction for more than a year, began with a gift of 117 paintings and sculptures by Piedmont alum Dr. Bill Mason and Bob Scharfenstein, both of Birmingham, Ala.

  In addition to the permanent collection, the Mason-Scharfenstein Museum of Art includes space for exhibits by students and visiting artists.

  With help from donors, the college began renovating two brick buildings that dated from 1916 in downtown Demorest and previously housed several of the college’s art studio classrooms and a small gallery.

  Graham C. Boettcher, curator of American Art at the Birmingham Museum of Art in Alabama, and Terry Beckham, exhibit designer at the BMA, organized the collection and designed the museum exhibits with Piedmont art department chair Chris Kelly.

  The result is a "first-class art museum," said Piedmont President Danny Hollingsworth upon seeing the finished museum.

  "I’ve not seen it until now, and I am overwhelmed at how gorgeous the building is and how well the art is displayed," said Mason, a member of Piedmont’s Class of 1957.

  Scharfenstein said that as a collector, he has an emotional attachment to the works. "Some of these we have had for 40 years," he said.