THERE WAS NO REPLY TO THIS LETTER OR TO FOLLOW-UP PHONE MESSAGES LEFT AT MR. BYRD'S OFFICE

December 11, 2001

Mr. Jones P. Byrd, President
Royal Rhododendron Brigade of Guards Debutante Club
11 N. Market Street
Asheville, NC 28801

Dear Mr. Byrd:

I believe that Pat Smith of the Community Foundation of Western North Carolina shared with you my correspondence expressing concern that the Brigade appears to have broken the agreement related to publicity to which we agreed in 1993. She also shared with me the Brigade's decision not to allow her to respond to my request for details about the amount of the Brigade's contribution and the organization to which it was given in honor of the 2001 debutantes.

While the specifics of your donation are not crucial, the lack of open, forthright communication between us is a concern and may unnecessarily lead to a public confrontation should the debutantes again seek publicity without having actually made a reality out of its 1993 commitment to non-discrimination. My hope and my request through this letter is that we could meet privately and without publicity to discuss our respective concerns and intentions.

In my experience as a community organizer for nearly twenty years on different issues, I have found that areas of potential controversy are often resolved through sitting down and discussing each party's concerns. I would welcome an opportunity to pursue such resolution with you and would be glad to meet you at your office or wherever is convenient. If this proposal is agreeable with you, please feel free to call me at 669-6677 so we can set up a convenient time to get together.

Thank you for consideration of this request.

Sincerely,

Monroe Gilmour

Coordinator