|
History
of
The Rotary Club of Space Center (Houston), Texas, and U.S.A.
Club 2010 District 5890 (589)
for
Rotary Year 2007-08
President
Dick H. Gregg III
Chartered
August 6, 1964
Forty four years of serving the local and world communities
with a passion for “Service Above Self”
Officers
President Elect
Mike Hernandez
Past President
Geoff Atwater
Secretary
Gary Johnson
Treasurer
Marilyn Musial
Sergeant-At-Arms
Jon McKinnie
Directors
Club Administration
Mark Humphrey
Public Relations
David Coney
Membership
Bill Taylor
Fund raising
Mike Cornett
Community Service A
Belinda Skloss
Community Service B
Peter Wuenschel
International Service A
Jerrold Dewease
International Service B
Dick Kidder
Vocational Services
Art Wood
Club received Rotary International
Presidential Citation
Words from President Gregg
This past
Rotary year was an incredible experience and it was such an
honor to serve as President of Space Center Rotary Club.
I want to publicly thank the board of directors for their
support throughout the year. While I am the President of
the club this year, I had an enormous supporting cast.
For all of you who helped make this a very successful club
this year, thank you.
As
to the goals of the President, I felt it was important to
raise scholarships for the teachers of the year and the
EMS/Fire fighters/Police of the year. We accomplished that
goal.
The
minimum contribution guidelines for the Rotary Foundation
was $7475 and we contributed $9,470.
We
needed to increase membership. The club had to net at least
one member according to Rotary guidelines. We netted five.
And we have several more the pipeline. We started the membership
recruitment and retention committee. This started the mentor
program for new members. Likewise, we recently revamped
the membership proposal form to a one page (front and back)
form. This will help tremendously in the efficiency of
processing new members and getting them through orientation.
We
achieved the Presidential
Citation
award, which is the highest
honor bestowed upon a club in our district. It was a remarkable
year.
I
began the club assembly by giving a brief overview of the
year. Now I will call upon the other officers and directors
to give reports and as each director come to the podium
I will give each a beautiful rotary recognition award, which
is a paperweight with a globe on top and the base has the
director/officer’s name and position for this year along
with the rotary emblem.
History
The Club continued to meet at the Bay Oaks Country
Club each Monday at noon. The Programs Committee, chaired
by Delia Stephens, provided a variety of interesting programs
from guest speakers. Several of the time slots were used
for club activities such as Club Assemblies and fund raiser
updates. The title of the weekly programs and often a
brief write-up on the program with pictures can be viewed
in the club’s newsletters,Blastoff. Debby McBride led the
members in songs for most of the meetings and the members
shared in leading the club in the pledge of alliance to the U.
S. flag, prayer, and the Four-Way Test. Golf on Thursday
under the leadership of Dick Kidder continued to be a
favorite. Club fellowships were facilitated by Roger
Donnelly and held at a variety of places such as restaurants,
the Bay Oaks Country Club, and the Greyhound racetrack with
good attendance and great fellowship. A
Christmas Party and a trip to the Rodeo provided additional
opportunities for fellowship for the club
members and invited guests. Three of the Club
members were former District 5890 (589) Governors,
Floyd
Boze 1981-1982,
Billy
Weseman 1993-1994, and
Susan
Howe 2006-2007. Vince Lipovsky
(see write up on Vince in the March
31 Blastoff), a chartered member
of the Club, 18 past presidents, Floyd Boze, and Susan Howe
continue to attend the weekly club meetings .
The Board of
Directors met twelve times in regular sessions and four times
for call meetings. Actions and decisions by the Board
are recorded in the
Minutes.
Attendance
to the board meetings by the board members for the year
was seventy-six percent. The avenues of service committees
and committee
members were very active during
the year .
Sixty-eight percent of the club members participated
in one committee, thirty-two percent in two, and sixteen
percent in three or more including committee chairs for the
two fundraise's, Shrimporee and Springoree. The
percents are seventy-eight, forty-one, and eighteen
respectively if participation in the Space Center Rotary
Club
Endowment
Foundation (officers and trustees), and RNASA (officers
and committee) are included.
The
income received from the fundraiser's exceeded $100,000,
the largest amount the Club has ever generated. Over $69,000
was given to service
projects.
The amount of monies made from the fund
raisers since the first recorded fund raiser in 1968 is
estimated $1,211,843.
A comprehensive overview of the
financial condition of the Club can be viewed with the following
documents:
A summary
of the cash and investment balances in various accounts
as of June 2008;
the balance
sheet for a listing of the investments
as of June 30, 2008;
the profit
and loss statement from July
1, 2007 through June 30, 2008;
the
administrative
budget; and
the service
budget.
The history of the Club, dating back to 1964 (year the Club
was chartered), has been organized and place in an environmentally
controlled storage. Work is under way to determine the
feasibility of electronically archiving the pertinent records.
The Club added nine new members with a loss four giving
a net gain of five, well above the one new member that President
Gregg set as a goal for the year. The club’s membership
at the end of the Rotary year was 103 active regular members,
8 Red Badgers, and 3 Rule 85 members bringing the total
to 111 regular members. There were 6 honorary members. The
club’s roster was maintained electronically and could be
viewed and copied from the new Web site. The club’s roster
as of June 30, 2008 can be viewed by clicking on
Roster.
Paper copies of the directory in form of a folded brochure
were made and distributed to the club members.
Public
relations for the year was primarily focused
on the advertising for the Shrimporee. Advertising was
more comprehensive than previous years. Billboard advertising,
radio advertising, good coverage in the Citizen, banners
on the NASA Parkway, yard signs for each club member, posters
for businesses to display, listing on the Rotary District
5890 calendar, flyers, and club members sending email to
friends were the advertising media used. A large poster
check was made to reflect the donations given to projects.
Photos were taken for most events and programs, and used
in the club’s newsletters, for the media, and eventually
archiving.
A new and more comprehensive website was created. The club’s
new website www.clubrunner.ca/CPrg/home/homeC.asp?cid=3954
is a database-backed membership communication tool, accessible
by all club members. It facilitates communicating much
more effectively, as well as saves valuable time. Online
registrations for events and volunteer activities, automatic
email services, and an integrated Blastoff, among other
features, make it easy to promote the club's activities.
The website features easy to use content management tools,
where you do not need to know HTML or FTP to update it.
Accessible by any club member with a browser and Internet
connection, it stays current with less effort.
There were forty four color issues of the club’s newsletters,
Blastoff,
out of a possible forty four. The newsletters contained
a variety of interesting items such as human interest stories
about the club’s members; future programs; make-up opportunities;
fund raisers, Shrimporee and Springoree; information including
pictures and list of the associated sponsors; general information
about the Club, District, and Rotary; and write-ups about
the weekly programs including pictures. Billy R. Smith
was the editor and Bob Mitchell the photographer. Billy was
also the Club’s Parliamentarian, and maintained and interpreted
the Club’s Constitution and By-Laws.
President Gregg requested that a new Membership Recruitment
and Retention Committee be formed, and Jon McKinnie took
up the task. The committee consisted of the following sub-committees:
• Recruitment
• Classification
• Orientation
• Red Badger Mentors
• Retention
All of the recruitment and retention programs received a
major overhaul. A greeter program was instituted allowing
all members to participate, a pro active guest program was
established, and members were encouraged to identify prospects
and invite them to the club’s meetings and fellowships.
The new member approval and Red Badge orientation processes
were streamlined and enhanced including the addition of
mentors for the Red Badgers. One of the most important
changes was a new member commitment letter that clearly
establishes the expectations for new members in regard to
attendance, committee participation, financial obligations
in paying the club’s dues, donating to The Rotary Foundation,
and buying tickets for the club’s fund raiser, Shrimporee.
The evaluation committee included President Gregg, President
Elect Hernandez, Past President Atwater, and Committee Chair
McKinnie. Overall the committees efforts were very successful
as previously mentioned regarding membership.
The 34th Shrimporee
(2007
Shrimporee Report) was held
on October 27 at the Landolt Park, in Seabrook, Texas.
It was a beautiful sunny day reaching a temperature of about
70 degrees. Mike Hernandez was the Chairman. President
Gregg selected two primary beneficiaries for the Shrimporee,
the Bay Shore Boy Scouts subsidizing children’s summer camp,
and the Interfaith Ministries subsidizing child day care.
Several planning meetings were held at the JSC Credit Union
with good participation by most of the committee members
(October
29
Blastoff). The 2007 Shrimporee
poster can be viewed by clicking on 34th
Shrimporee Poster. An article on the Shrimporee can be
viewed by clicking on
article. Also view a video by ATA
associates.
The cash income was
$97,993.65 with cash expenses of $30,773.26 resulting in
a
net profit of $67,220.39. Incomes by major
groups are noted as follows:
$24,872 meal ticket sales
$20,975 auction
$11,376 raffle
$37,700 cash sponsors
$1,460 $tickets, t shirts, caps, etc
$1,610 brisket and shrimp
However,
the true income and expenses when including in-kind donations
and expenditures are as follows:
$123,793 Adjusted income
$56,573 Adjusted expenses
$67,220 Adjusted net profit
In
addition, when the following items on inventory and food
already donated are accounted for:
$500 Unused food donated to the Bridge
$412 Reusable silent auction items
$1738 Reusable signs and banners
The
adjusted total results from the Shrimporee was $69,870.
The sponsors and the financial statement can be viewed by
clicking on 2007
Shrimporee Sponsors
and 2007
Shrimporee Financial Statement
respectively.
Overall, the
Shrimporee attendance was better than recent years with
2218 meal tickets
collected, which is about 10% above last years. The
workers prior to and on the day of the Shrimporee were about
73% of the club’s members, 26 adult volunteers, and 40 young
people volunteers mostly from the Boy Scouts. A DVD of
the Shrimporee prepared by Bob Swint of ATA
Associates can be viewed by clicking on
2007
Shrimporee DVD.
Springoree 2008 (the eight year for
a major fund raiser to be held in addition to the Shrimporee)
was a fantastic success! Kudos to Steve Owens and his
band of assistants. Approximately 170 guests
attended the gala event. Thanks to Brad Bailey, owner of
Bailey’s restaurant, for a perfect venue, great food and
entertainment. The wine poured freely and the auction
poured money. The
income
for the Springoree was $43,660, the expenses were $11,591
leaving a net of $32,068 and adding the beginning balance
results in a net of $35,173. This has become a "don't miss"
event. The raffle prize was a watch donated by Travis Vemeer
of Ben Bridge Baybrook Mall and won by Dr. Jean Walker,
a member of the Club. The May 12
and 19
issues of the Blastoff and an article in the
Bay
Area Citizen have more recognitions
and pictures on the Springoree.
The Excellence in Education Committee under the leadership
of Peter Wuenschel and Rae DeCastro selected
six
teachers, Norma Kaderka of
Robinson Elementary School, Liz Pauli of Robinson Elementary
School, Laura Tucker of Robinson Elementary, Erika Bondy
of Space Center Intermediate, Cathey Wohl of League City
Intermediate, and Theresa Works of Clear View for Distinguished
Service awards. From this group, Liz Pauli and Theresa
Works were honored as “Teacher of the Year” at an awards
ceremony on May 5th club meeting. The finalists received
a gold teacher's apple, a certificate, and $300. The Teacher
of the Year for Elementary and Secondary schools each received
$500 and a plaque. This was the 18th year to present the
Excellence in Education award.
The
Excellence in Public Service committee under the leadership
of Phil Sandlin worked on the first ever recognition of
Emergency Medical Services. After defining the criteria,
nominees were reviewed and five EMS’s David L. Lehmann,
Daniel Swaney, Mark Lavelle, Roy L. Hunter, and Lawrence
Trammell were interviewed and selected for “EMS Distinguished
Service” Awards. On June 9th these awards were presented
at the Space Center Rotary meeting and David Lehman of the
City of Nassau Bay was awarded “EMS
of the Year. ” Each recipient of the Excellence
in Public service Award received $500.00 with the EMT of the
Year receiving an additional $500.00. They also received a
certificate along with a paperweight with the EMT emblem and
their name on it. This was the 16th to present the Excellence in Public
Service award.
Vocational Service activities included the use of the 4-Way
test in all meetings, making members aware of the Declaration
of Rotarians in Businesses and Professions, and awarding
Distinguished Service awards for Teachers and Emergency
Medical Services.
The Scholarship Committee, chaired by Belinda Skloss, awarded
six $1000 scholarships to students who met the following
requirements:
• Active Interact participant
• Average grade point of 3.7 or greater
• Good standing in school
• Commitment to Rotary in the future
The recipients were Maryann Moyer, David Bratton, Devin
Warren, Daniel Dowling, all from Clear Lake High School,
Erica Brody, and Shannon Webb.
Youth Activities were involved giving two Clear Creek Independent
School District Drug Awareness Essay scholarships, one to
Madeline Cockrell, for $750 and one to Christina Francisco
for $250. Pictures of the winners are in the February
25
Blastoff. In addition,
the Interact and Youth Activities Committee oversaw the
children’s activities at the Shrimporee and collected food
for the Interfaith Caring Ministries. There was no active
committee for the Rotaract.
The Community Service Committee, chaired by Steve Waldner,
was active with senior citizens in the area. Members of
the committee paid visits to seniors at three locations
who had no one to visit with them, the Club helped pay for
Life Line (an emergency notification system) for four seniors,
and the Red Rose Program was initiated where red roses were
given to every female senior in three local living facilities.
There was no active committee on Health and Safety. Dr.
Wuenschel, head of Communities in Schools-Bay Area and Director
of the Club, was named Texas Executive Director of the Year
by the state's dropout prevention program. An article on
Dr. Wuenschel can be viewed by clicking on Texas
Executive Director of Year .
The International Youth Exchange Program was very active
during the year. Sara Malmstrom said a tearful goodbye
to Texas and returned to Sweden. “Thank you, Rotary for
a wonderful experience,” she stated at the July 2 club meeting
(picture of Sara is in the July
9 Blastoff. In addition Laura
Knutson (letter from Laura in the October
22 Blastoff) was the out bound
student and returned to Germany. Dick Meyer was her counselor.
Marie Campo of France was the in bound student for the year
and exchanged club banners with President Gregg at the August
13 club meeting. Pat Doughty was her counselor. Out bound
students Hallie Brant and Melanie Mallory shared their exciting
experiences in Sweden and Brazil at the August 6 club meeting
(pictures of Hallie, Melanie, and Marie are in the August
20 Blastoff). The students
expressed their appreciation for the opportunity that Rotary
provided for the exchange and the great experience they had in
America. The students presented slide shows of their
native countries, customs, and families. This was the
23th year that the Club supported the International
Youth Exchange Program.
Dick Meyer successfully completed the MS 150 held on April
12-13 2008 ride /race from Houston to Austin. He noted
in the March 17
Blastoff,
“I am so proud to have successfully completed the MS 150
representing Space Center Rotary and Hector Marin. Thank
you Space Center Rotary for supporting my fund raising and
ride in the MS 150. Together with Hector, my pedal partner
and inspiration, we fought the north winds for 160 miles
to Austin. But the north winds are nothing compared to
the fight those with MS deal with daily. I am proud to
help raise $14 M that goes to support those with MS and
help research the cure.”
Mike Dennard presented a very interesting program about
his experience in leading a Group Study Exchange Team on
a month long visit in June 2006 to Johannesburg, South Africa
at the July
2 Club meeting.
Space Center Rotary was the last host of the French
GSE Team, District
1700, during the week of April 27 before they return
home. They presented a very interesting program about
their professions, home towns and France in general at the
April 28 club meeting. Hilmar & Rose Zeissig in
conjunction with our Club hosted a farewell party for the team
at their townhouse complex. Marie-Jose CAIRE was the
Team leader. Pictures of the Team and vitas are in the
April
28
and May
5
Blastoffs. Hilmar Zeissig
was the District 5890
International Service Chairman.
The Club, Tarija Rotary Club and Engineers Without Walls,
received a matching grant for $25,000 for drilling a water
well in Concepcion, Bolivia for providing safe water to
a school for 400 girls run by the Dominican Sisters. The
participating clubs were Space Center, Friendswood, Wintertur
Club of Switzerland, Bay City, Humble, and Tarija Aranjuez
and Districts 2000 and 5890. The Club also partnered with
the Conchabamba Club to build an irrigation dam in the village
of Aramasi, Bolivia, up in the Andes west of Conchabamba
with a grant for $67,000. The real story of this project
was the coalition with the Humble, Friendswood, West University,
and Wintertur Club of Switzerland. In addition, there were
considerable contributions by individual Rotarians for this
project; $7,000 by Space Center Rotary Club members and
$3,000 by the West University Rotary Club members. Also,
the Friendswood District provided $5,000 in district matching
funds and District 5890 provided matching funds as well.
A slide presentation (January
14, Blastoff) on these projects
by Geoff Atwater and Stan Galanski to the Club on January
7 can be seen by clicking on Humanitarian
Efforts in Bolivia. A write-up on the project is provided
by Stan.
Another project sponsored by the Club is the Water Treatment
Project in Carbonera, Mexico where a bottled water charitable
business is being established at the High School. Also
a water well and associated equipment are being installed
to provide the water and bottling system. Click on Water
Treatment Project in Carbonera,
Mexico for pictures and more detail.
The
Club also participated in a partnership with the Armand Bayou
Nature Center and the United Way to build a Handicap Trail at
the Armand Bayou Nature Center. There were several of
the club’s members who dedicated their time over a period of
several months to make this happen. These were Steve
Owens, Mike Cornett, Pat Doughty, Scott Rainey, Frank Perez,
Debbie McBride, and Bob Taggart. A
news
release on the project reflect
the activities that took place
.
Dr.
Fustok a well-known plastic surgeon, who has done a lot of
gratis surgery for patients (children) over the years
continues to do work in support of the Club starting in 1985
(22 years). The World Health Committee wanted Dr.
Fustok to go to the Guerrero hospital in Mexico but plastic
surgeons were not needed during the year.
A
four year old girl in Monterey, Mexico, who needs a lot
of work including cleft palate surgery, could not travel
because of a heart problem is now ready to travel. However,
communications with her doctor have not been good and the
Committee is still waiting for a response. In fact, the
Committee has been unsuccessful in getting any patients
to the U.S. during the year.
Johnny
White
made his second trip to the Guerrero Surgery and Education
Center in Guerrero, Mexico October 24 - 26, 2007. He said
that he would never be the same after experiencing the good
work going on at the clinic. Johnny operated the autoclave,
which was used to sterilize the instruments. A quote from
District Governor Jeff Tallas’, log states “Yesterday the
clinic had over 250 patients come through. It was truly
amazing and a feat that could not be accomplished without
a very coordinated effort by a lot of people. The motto
of Rotary, "Service Above Self", was truly in full effect.”
Evan Thomas of Engineers Without Walls
presented a very interesting and provocative slide
presentation about water projects in Rwanda which the Club
donated $1,500 to Matching Grant 66007. Pictures of
the presentation are in the
April
7
issue of Blastoff.
The Club
added three
Paul Harris Fellows
bringing the total to 335 since the first recorded
Paul Harris Fellow in 1973 and gave $14,240, (third in
District 5890) to The Rotary Foundation resulting in a total of
$325,572.71 since 1964. There were four Paul Harris Society Members,
thirty sustaining members, and twenty-seven Benefactors.
There were no Ambassadorial Scholarship applicants for the
year.
The Trustees of
the Space Center Rotary Endowment Foundation evaluated several
‘brick and mortar” projects during the year and have signed an
agreement with Space Center Houston for a major project which
will be announced next Rotary Year. This project
requires a major fund raising effort which will
be headed by Kippy Caraway. The Endowment
Foundation is also evaluating multiyear sponsorships for
individuals to attend a trade school. This project will
use the earnings from the principle in the Foundation to fund
the sponsorships. Pictures from the February pancake
breakfast sponsored by the Foundation are in the
February
25
Blastoff.
The Rotary National Award for Space Achievement (RNASA)
Foundation presented Apollo 17 Commander and former Navy
Captain Eugene Cernan with the 2008 National Space Trophy
at the 22nd annual stellar event held April 25, 2008 at
the Houston Hyatt Regency. Additional write-up and pictures
can be viewed in the May
5,
2008 Blastoff. Captain
Cernan’s acceptance letter can be viewed by clicking on
Cernan’s
Acceptance Letter . Proceeds
of the event went to benefit the High
School Aerospace Scholars
program held at Johnson Space Center. ( http://aerospacescholars.jsc.nasa.gov) for the 9th
year. The front cover of the 2008 Rotary National Award
for Space Achievement Program can be viewed by clicking on
2008 RNASA Program. The names of the RNASA Foundation can be
viewed by clicking on
2008 RNASA Foundation.
Thanks
to the generosity of corporate sponsors, RNASA made donations
to two organizations for the purpose of inspiring youth to
pursue science, technology and engineering. A donation
of $11,000 to the Universities Space Research Association
supports the continuation of the Texas Aerospace Scholars,
providing scholarship to high school students to participate
in special programs hosted at Johnson Space Center.
Robert Senter, Vice President of the USRA at their
headquarters in Columbia MD, expressed their appreciation in a
letter to the RNASA Foundation. “Your donation will be used to
provide support to students who have shown a carrier interest
in space research or space science education… Thank you for
your generosity.” An additional donation of $9,000 was
provided to the Johnson Space Center Exchange to purchase the
polo shirts for the participating students in the Texas
Scholars Program. And for the 5th year, RNASA
donated $10,000 to the recipient's institution of
choice. For former Captain Cernan, it was the
Naval Aviation Museum Foundation to support the establishment
of the National Flight Academy in Pensacola, Florida which
will use the latest technology in computer and simulation to
inspire youth to study science, technology, engineering and
math, and to pursue aviation and space as a career.
Former Captain Gene Cernan, a member of the Board of
Trustees of the Aviation Museum Foundation, expressed his
gratitude for the donation in a letter to RNASA Foundation
President Rodolfo Gonzalez. “I am overwhelmed at the
generosity of the RNASA Foundation, and I thank you so much
for this special consideration”. Vice Admiral General L.
Hoewing, USN (Ret.) President of the Naval Aviation Museum
Foundation, also expressed his gratitude for the donation, he
wrote, “We thank you for your support of this world-class
educational venue. Your generosity has been critical to our
success.” For more information on RNASA and
sponsorship opportunities, please visit www.rnasa.org.
District 5890 Conference was held at Moody Gardens in Galveston,
Texas April 23-27, 2008. There were over five hundred in
attendance with eleven
(pictures in May 12 Blastoff) from the Club. Space Center
Rotary Club was awarded a Presidential Citation and Jon
McKinnie received the Governor’s Citation for Club Service. Others
given special recognition were Jon McKinnie who received
the Golden Turkey for best costume, Hilmar Zeissig for International
Service, Alan Wylie for Youth Exchange and Mike Dennard
for Group Study Exchange. Congratulations to all. President-Elect
Johnson and wife Karen attended the 99th Rotary International
Convention held in Los Angeles, California June 15-18, 2008.
The Directors' reports presented during
the June 23, 2008 Club Assembly meeting are listed
below:
Public
Relations
Fund
raising
Club
Administration
International
Service A
International
Service B
Community
Service A
Community
Service B
Vocational
Services
Membership
Treasurer
Sergeant
at Arms
Approved
by President Gregg III and entered into the archives December
2009.
|
