What’s A Girl To Do In Seven Lakes?

A lot of you raise your hand and volunteer like Kathy Kirst has been doing since moving here in 1999. Kathy has an MS in Accounting and was a CPA.  Her career was filled with positions in major corporations and financial institutions where she utilized her financial education coupled with her counseling and facilitation skills to troubleshoot and fix problems by consensus.

Kathy and Paul moved here in 1999 after Paul’s retirement, and Kathy continued to work for a few years before leaving the working world and joining the world of volunteering.  She decided that she wanted to be involved in her community.  Involved she has been, starting with working on the Community Picnic committee.

Yes, we used to have a community picnic at Johnson Point when the community was smaller. Kathy then stepped up to serve on the Judicial Panel and then was elected to the Board, serving for three years as Treasurer.  Her twenty years of committee service also includes the Long-Range Planning Committee, Finance Committee, Library Committee, Leadership Support, Recruiting Committee and continuing to serve on Judicial Panel.

Those years of service to the Seven Lakes West community gave her a unique view of change and growth.  Starting when there were only 250 homes and very little else, she has seen many changes.  Some major initiatives included building and opening the Community Center and folding the Beacon Ridge subdivision into SLW and joining the NC Planned Communities Act.  During her Board term starting in 2007, open Board work sessions were initiated in addition to monthly information sessions with the community.  The road over the dam was closed. 

Although extremely controversial, the decision came down to – lake or no lake. She served on Long Range Planning, helping to develop a mission statement and plan for the amenities the community would need.  She participated in the meetings with Senator Elizabeth Dole on home mail delivery versus the mail house process.  Mail House won after escalating the process to the Postmaster General.  Using the plan for upcoming required maintenance of our roads she initiated the first HOA dues increase in five years to increase reserves to cover the future cost. 

She sponsored and obtained funding for Judy Pendleton’s re-formalizing the SLW Library from a stash of books to a physical facility to serve the community. Kathy has worked for many years on several committees reviewing governance and our financial reporting structures to improve our processes. 

When the local paper brought to light an issue not offering a choice for board elections, she was part of the Recruiting committee that educated board candidates on the opportunities and challenges of serving on the board. 

A total of over twenty years of service to our community working to understand our needs and provide for those needs through effective changes in our systems.  Some of those changes worked better than others.  Our needs continue to evolve with growth and change.

When Kathy’s plate was not totally covered with community challenges, she was actually enjoying our community.  She and Paul have a lifetime of sailing experience and continued that interest here with our Sailing Club and they were both involved in golf for many years. 

She also enjoys reading, cooking, and knitting.  Her special pleasure is her family.  Her son and his wife and infant daughter moved here when Madison was just six months old. You can see Paul and Kathy breakfasting with now-teenager Madison at Greenbows most Sunday mornings.

At the urging of friends, she joined the Kiwanis Club of Seven Lakes in 2017 and quickly filled an opening for Treasurer a position she continues to hold.  Her first actions included the implementation of a new accounting system that has streamlined accounting processes and simplified the Audit process. 

Kathy is a reliable and frequent participant in many Kiwanis activities including, Back Pak Pal deliveries, Terrific Kids award pack stuffing, Teddy Bear Fair bag building, Kindergarten Bird House Building, Pancake Breakfast raffle sales, and running the snack bar at Bingo.  She enjoys the opportunity to work with children and help in their growth and development.

Kathy enjoys volunteering she says, “Helping and volunteering was how I was raised.”  She has generously spread her skills and abilities throughout our community including volunteering with First Health and the Clara McClean House and assisting local organization with their financial structure reviews and donating any compensation to support Kiwanis projects.

Her willingness to step-up, listen, and facilitate positive outcomes gives her pleasure and benefits us all.