History
of
The Rotary Club of Space Center (Houston), Texas, U.S.A.
Club 2010 District 589
for
Rotary Year 1980-81

President
Chester E. "Pete" Gist

Chartered August 6, 1964

Seventeen years of serving the local and world communities with a passion for
“Service Above Self”

Officers
President Elect
Al Jowid
Secretary
Charles Hartman
Treasurer
Chuck Jacobson
Sergeant at Arms
Bob Stephens

Directors
Floyd Boze
Dick Brown
Lou Rodriquez
Maury Fitch
Bob Mitchell
Jack Eggleston
Bob Montgomery
Carl Lambert
Bill Webb
Larry Rowe

The history file contained very few documents. There were 24 regular and 1 called Board meeting minutes, no information about the avenues of service committees, little correspondence, and&no newsletters, Blastoffs, out of a possible 49, assuming that one was issued every Club meeting day. The Club Programs and Special Events listing did not contain any programs either.

A 1980-81 administrative budget dated April 23, 1981 contains a few annotations regarding expenditures. However there was a handwritten journal for the service account and consequently the amount given to service projects was determined. Unlike the years prior, there was no information about the fund raiser, Shrimporee. The only record is a tabulation from 1982 which showed a net profit of $12,196. The amount of monies made from fund raisers since the first recorded fundraiser in 1968 was $103,021.

The Board approved the purchase of a shrimp costume. This apparently is the first one purchased. It cost between $750 and $1,000 with an expected life of 10 years. Delivery was scheduled for September 9, 1980.

The July 1, 1981 Semi Annual Report of Club Membership noted a membership of 120 active members and 6 honorary members. The Club roster was dated August 18, 1980.  Ten previous presidents were on the membership roster.

The Club received a letter dated July 15, 1981 from the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts stating that the Club was exempted from sales tax effective June 17, 1981.

A write up dated November 10, 1980 requesting that the territorial limits be changed. It was not attached to a letter or the minutes therefore the disposition of the request is not known. Note Historian 2009: Click on territorial boundary   for additional information.

An interesting letter date July 31, 1980 from Chuck Jacobson recommended distributing the Club's monies to various banks in the area. An ad in the Bay Area Pennysaver News asked senior citizens to fill out asurvey about their needs.

There were three Paul Harris Fellows named for the Rotary Year bringing the total for the Club to 15 since 1972.

The 72nd Rotary International Convention was held May 31-June 4,1981 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. There were 15,222 in attendance. President Elect Al Jowid attended from Rotary of Space Center, Houston.

No record could be found regarding District 589 Conference.

This Rotary year history was placed in the archives in 2009.