|
History
of
The Rotary Club of Space Center (Houston), Texas, and U.S.A.
Rotary International District 5890
(589)
Club 2010
for
Rotary Year 1999-00
President
William "Bill" H.
Geissler
Chartered
August 6, 1964
Thirty six years of serving the local and world
communities with a passion for “Service Above Self”
Officers
President Elect
Dave
Baldwin
Secretary
Dave Baldwin
Treasurer
Suzie Howe
Sergeant at Arms
Clay Fulcher
Directors
Club
Service A
Rick Clapp
Club Service
B
Laura Hale
Club Service C
Marilyn Musial
Club Service D
Tamara
Anderson
Community Service A
Claire
Taylor
Community Service B
Jim
McDonald
International Service A
Greg
Turley
International Service B
Tim
Kropp
Sheila Self named the Club's"
Outstanding Rotarian of the Year
Sheila response to the award
A portion of
the written
statement by
President Geissler to the Club members at the end of his
tenure follows.
"The past year has been
an enjoyable one for me. I can't say that I have really looked
forward to stepping down as president of the club. I was
told going in that the club runs itself and I believe
it. Hopefully I didn't impede the club progress too
much. The club was its usual active self in giving
scholarship money to local high school students, various youth
organizations and again presenting the teacher, policeman and
school nurse of the year awards. We sponsored 3 Interact
clubs this year. The Rotary National Space Achievement
Award dinner was again a smashing success and the club's own
endowment fund is approaching the $100,000 mark. Our end
of the year party netted $1,000 for the endowment fund and
$2,000 was also given from the Service fund. Surplus
computers were installed at 3 senior citizen
nursing/retirement homes and at the Bay Area Turning
point.
On the international scene we again
sponsored a foreign exchange student (as we have done the past
11 years), supported the Nicaraguan kids by buying a table at
the gala given by the Humble Rotary club, raised $7,500 for
Rotary International through the district raffle which our
Gene Tremble won, and we committed $2,000 towards drilling a
well for a Bolivia (Cochabamba) orphanage that Stan Galanski
is promoting. We also brought back six Mexican children
who had been previously treated by Dr. Fustock for further
plastic surgery treatment. Our membership held around
162, i.e. we lost and gained about 15 members. Obviously
one area where we can always stand improvement is getting our
new members active in the clubs programs. This should be
a commitment from the sponsor to get new members involved and
becoming real Rotarians in the act of "Service Above
Self"." Read the entire
statement.
History
The Club met at the Hilton Hotel in
Nassau Bay, Texas each Monday at noon with interesting
programs from guest speakers and several programs regarding
the Club’s activities. David Baldwin was the Program
Committee Chair. Jerome Bourgeois led the members in
songs for most of the meetings and the members shared in
saying the pledge to the U. S. flag, and a
prayer. A Christmas party, Rotary night at the
Rodeo, and a year end party which netted $1,000 for the
endowment fund and $2,000 given to the the Service
fund provided additional opportunities for fellowship for the
Club members and invited guests. The end of year party
was held in Atrium II at the University of Houston at Clear
Lake on June 3, 2000. A fall trek to Tapatio Springs,
Texas in October for seven Club members and their spouses
provided a most enjoyable weekend of fun and
fellowship. See write up
on planning the event. These fellowships were facilitated
by Bill Taylor with good attendance good and great
fellowship. Golf under the leadership of Bill Predmore
continued to be a favorite. The Phone Tree was handled
by Murray Epstein. View Dr. David Taylor and guest
speaker
Mickey Herskowitz
and District Attorney
Johnny Holmes
(photo). Read
letter of
acknowledgement for a guest speaker Professor
McGreal.
Two of the Club members were former District 5890
governors,
Floyd Boze
1981-1982 and
Billy Weseman
1993-1994. Vince Lipovsky, a chartered member of the
Club, 12 past presidents, and Floyd Boze continue to attend
the weekly Club meetings.
The Board of Directors probably met 11
times in regular sessions however only 10 copies of the
minutes have
been located. (Note by Historian 2009: Apparently there
was no meeting in January since the February
minutes stated that the December minutes were approved
and no mention of the January minutes). The avenues of
service committees and committee members can be viewed by
clicking on
committee members.
Billy R. Smith was the Club’s
Parliamentarian, and maintained and interpreted the Club’s
Constitution and By-Laws.
There was only 5 (out a possible 45) issues of
the Club’s newsletters,
Blastoff, which can
be located. Based on the two issued and previous years'
issues, the newsletters probably contained a
variety of interesting items such as the essence of many of
the Club’s programs with write-ups and pictures; future
programs; make-up opportunities; Shrimporee information; vitas
about club members; general information about the Club,
District, and Rotary International; and promoting fundraisers
sponsors and promoting worth while events. Sheila Self
was the editor and Bob Mitchell the photographer. Photos
were taken for most events and programs and used in the
Blastoff.
Over
$32,414 was given to service
projects, the Rotary International Foundation, and the
Space Center Rotary Club Endowment Foundation. This
amount brings
the total donations since 1964 estimated to
be at least $671,739 (Note Historian 2009: Based
on the June 30, 2000 Balance Statement and
the February 1, 2000 Board meeeting minutes). The Club's
financials can be viewed by clicking on Profit and Loss
Statement
from
July 1, 1999 through June 30, 2000,
Balance Sheet
including investments as of July 12, 2000, and the
Administrative Budget
and Service Budget
as of August 8, 1999. The Club had not made
a donation to Polio Plus in years. Therefore, the board
approved donations of $1,000.00 to Polio Plus and $500.00 to
Hunger Plus. The
investment portfolio,
managed by Dave Taylor and Lamar Bowles, originally started in
1996 with an investment of $15,000.00
now has a current value of $44,106.00.
The Club’s
membership at
the end of the Rotary year was 162 members based on the
Summary of Plans and Objectives. The Club's roster as of
August 1999 (the only roster available in the history
file for Rotary year 1999-00) can be viewed by clicking
on
Club's Roster
.
The 26th Shrimporee was held
on September 25th (see June 1, 1999 Board of Director's
meeting
minutes) at the Clear
Lake Park Seabrook, Texas. It turned out to
be a great event yielding $33,368 net income, re: Profit and
Loss
Statement. The
total amount made from fund raisers since the first
recorded fund raiser in 1968 is estimated $693,847.
The primary beneficiaries were Interfaith Caring Ministries,
Bay Area SPCA, and Crossroads, Community Partnership for
Youth. View
photos and video by ATA Associates of the
Shrimporee.
The Excellence in
Education committee under the leadership of Vissett
Sun presented the winner of the 10th annual Teacher of
the Year award on May 8, 2000 at a luncheon celebration at the
Nassau Bay Hilton and Marina. The finalists each
received a gold teacher's apple, a certificate and $300. The
Teacher of the Year for Elementary and Secondary schools will
each receive $500 and a plaque. The six
teachers were: Mary Beth Barr, Walter Hall Elementary;
Gina Cherry, League City Elementary; Gregory
Dick, Space Center Immediate; Erin Irvine, James F. Bay
Elementary; James M. Kidwell, Clear Lake High School; and Judy
Lucas, Clear Brook High School. From this
group, Gina Cherry was selected the Elementary
Teacher of the Year and Gregory Dick the Secondary
Teacher of the Year. More information can be viewed on
the
press release
The Excellence in Law Enforcement
committee, chaired by Bill Farries, awarded five officers with the
Law Enforcement Distinguished Service Award and of the five,
one the Officer of the Year Award. A total of $2,000 was
given to the officers. The award was held on May 22,
2000 and was the 8th year of the Excellence in Law
Enforcement Award. View the
award program.
The officers were
as follows: Andrew C. Kerstens, Webster Police Department; Brian T. Kirsch,
Harris County Sheriffs Department; David Steele, Harris County Constable Precinct 8;
Keith Warren, Kemah Police Department; and C. Steve Williamson, Houston
Police Department.
The Club sponsored two outbound international
exchange students, Peter Gaskin to Thailand, and Veronica
Matovich to Denmark. Maria Dzurnakova was the inbound student
from Czech Republic.
President Geissler noted in his end of
year summary the following accomplishments: Supported a member
of District 5890 Group Study Exchange team that went
to Germany, gave scholarship to 3 area students
on May 15, sponsored 3 Interact clubs, brought back
six Mexican children who had been previously treated by Dr.
Fustok for further plastic surgery treatment (this was the
16th year for this program), and donated $2,000 towards
drilling a water well (more in a writeup
and photos of the dedication ceremony in November
2001) of at the Amistad Mission at
Cochabamba, Bolivia that Stan Galanski was
sponsoring. (Historian 2009 note: There was a newspaper
article
and picture on 3 drug essay winners in President's archives
for his Rotary year. It is assumed
that it
was in
President's Geissler's Rotary year although there was
no date).
The Excellence
in Health Education Awards had been an annual award for
the past 2 years. The awards and the award
presentation were significantly improved in 1999, and brought
recognition to the Club. (Note Historian 2009: There is no
other information about this award other than stating
that a copy of a letter from a winning nurse in April, 1999
attached (which was no longer attached) stating appreciation
for the recognition to CCISD nurse. The P&L
Statement noted an expenditure of over $1,000 by the Health
and Safety Committee. This information came
from a committee planning
document).
The Excellence in Vocation
committee chaired by Sheila Self selected
Jim Reinhartsen
as the Outstanding Business Person of the
Year. Other
nominees were George Black, Dr. James
Horton, and Bill Staples. Awards were given at the Club
meeting on March 6, 2000.
There were several documents regarding
the Rotary Vocational Visitors program advocated by Dr.
David Taylor. The series of documents were in
answer to inquiries about the program. The last few documents
indicated that the program was closed out.
The Club continued (eigth year) the
Three Wishes for Christmas
program which
fulfilled Christmas wishes for children in the protective
service of Harris and Brazoria Counties. These
wishes were for youngsters up to 18 years of age, who are
in special homes and institutions. These children are
not in Children Protective Services' care for things that they
have done but for abuse or neglect, done to them by parents
and others. This year the Club purchased 41
bicycles and some helmets for this program. See a
photo
journey on bikes.
President Geissler and wife Joan with
other members of the Club attended Rotary Colors of Our Heart
Gala
at the Rice
Hotel which the proceeds from the event went to the
Nicaragua City Dump Kids. The Club had a "Rotary
at Armand Outing" at the Armand Bayou
Nature Center to raise money for the Center. Bill
Lowes headed up the planing committee and Jim Saxe, Suzi
Howe, Bill Geissler, Bill Taylor, and Johnny Gibson were
committee members.
A variety of
pictures
of President Geissler and his wife, Joan,
can be viewed in the photo gallery.
The
Club added 4
Paul Harris Fellows
bringing the total to 230 since the
first recorded Paul Harris Fellow in
1973.
The 91st Rotary International Convention was held June 4-7, 2000 in
Buenos Aires, Argentina. There were 14,301 in attendance.
David Baldwin and his wife attended from Rotary of Space
Center, Houston attended.
District 5890
Conference was
held April 6-8, 2000 in Galveston, Texas. According to the
Board meeting
minutes,
13 Rotarians had signed up to attend the
conference. View pictures of President Geissler at
the District 5890
Conference held April 29-May 1, 1999 at the
Renaissance Austin Hotel in Austin, Texas. Hilmar Zeissig
was District 5890 International Service Chairman.
The Rotary National Award for Space Achievement
(RNASA)
Foundation
presented Captain John W. Young with the
2000 National Space Trophy at the 14th annual stellar banquet
held on March 10, 2000 at the Space Center Houston, Houston,
Texas This was the first year that
proceeds from the event went to benefit the High School
Aerospace Scholars program held at Johnson Space Center. The
front cover of the 2000 Rotary National Award for Space
Achievement Program can be viewed by clicking on
2000 RNASA Program.
Pictures and write up on some of the
attendees are noted in
articles.
President Geissler approved the
history for Rotary year 1999-00 and it was placed in archives July
7,
2010.
|
