History
of
The Rotary Club of Space Center (Houston), Texas, and U.S.A.
Club 2010  District 5890
for
Rotary Year 1991-1992

President
Jack R. Lister

Chartered August 6, 1964

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

Officers
President Elect
Terry Hesson
Secretary
Vic Maria
Treasurer
 David Taylor
Sergeant at Arms
Lamar D. Bowles

Directors
Mike Brown
David Cordell
Mike Dennard
Joseph Hang
Donnie Johnson
Bill Lowes
Gerald Smith
Huey Barnett
Owen Morris

Editors
 Robin Riley
Maggie Adams


"Best Large Club in District 5890"

Some Final Thoughts by President Lister as noted in the June 29, 1992 Blastoff :

AS I COMPLETE MY YEAR AS YOUR PRESIDENT-
—What a great Club Space Center is.
—What a great privilege it has been to serve you this year.
—What wonderful friendships we have in Rotary.
—What an opportunity we all have to serve in all areas of Rotary service at Space Center.
—What a great President we will have next year in Terry Hesson.
—How much I admire so many of you for your dedication to Rotary.
—How this Club is blessed with so many innovative Rotarians.
—How much Governor Floyd Boze has meant to me and this Club.
—How proud we are of Billy Weseman as he becomes District Governor next year.
—How proud I am of our reputation as the Most Outstanding Large Club in our District.

THINK ABOUT HOW OUR CLUB COULD BE EVEN BETTER IF—
—We all were as dedicated to Rotary as Bob Wren and Bill Weseman.
—We all were as wise about Rotary as Floyd Boze.
—We all worked as hard as Alan Wylie, Robin Riley, Billy Smith, Jim Wyatt, Ed Geissler, Maggie Adams, Bert Kraft, Tim Kropp,
    Don Kirk, Donnie Johnson, Mike Brown, Vann Jones, Ron Blilie, Bill Lowes, and so many others.
—We all were as supportive of Rotary programs as Owen Morris, Frank Morgan, Tom Wier, Vic Maria, Terry Hesson, Bill
   Geissler, David Baldwin, Vince Lipovsky, Joe Hang, Billy Weseman, etc.
—We all had the enthusiasm of Jerry Smith, Lamar Bowles, Carlos Villagomez, Bill Rittenhouse, Huey Barnett, Ray Graham,
   Bob Driver, Danielle Dupuis and others.
—We all were as innovative as David Taylor, Charles Hartman, Owen Morris, Carson Stephens and others.
—We all had the Rotary spirit of Tom Butler, John Watson, Larry Rowe, Ken Gurry, Jay Welch, etc.
—We all were as concerned about other Rotarians as George Fleming, Al Brady, Ken Gurry, Jon Hall, Eddie Tarin and Dave
   Owens.

I could go on and on, but the point is we have so many wonderful Rotarians in our Club that I couldn't help but have had many successes as your President this year. With such a supporting cast, Terry, you're going to have a great year. We're looking forward to it!!!

Jack Lister, President



History
The history file contained 4 Board meeting   minutes, several newsletters, a summary of accomplishments by the President, no  correspondence, several Shrimporee pictures, and  administrative and service budgets dated May 31, 1992, and the avenues of service committees members.    

The Club continued to meet at the Nassau Bay Hilton each Monday at noon with interesting programs from guest speakers and several programs regarding the club’s activities, Bill Rittenhouse and Carlos Villagomez were the Program Committee Chairs.  Meetings opened with a song with Ann Fulcher playing the piano, a prayer, and  members saying the pledge to the U. S. flag and the Four-Way Test.  There were two socials during the Rotary year to enable members to become better acquainted and have more meanful fellowship, and golfing continued to be a favorite among the club members.  Bill Lowes chaired the fellowship committee.

President Lister sent a  summary of the Club's accomplishments to District 5890 for nomination for the District's Best Club Award.  Most of the summary is discussed in the following paragraphs. 

Thirteen  of the Club's  former presidents were on the roster.  A former District 589  Governor, Floyd Boze 1981-1982, and a charter member, Vince Lipovsky, attended the weekly club meetings and Frank Morgan, Bev Steadman, and Charles Whynot were on the roster. The Club’s membership at the end of the Rotary year was 170 members based on information in the history file folder.  A pictorial roster was published and distributed for the Rotary year.

The amount of   donations given to service projects  was  $41,351 based on the  May 31, 1992   budget actuals.  The amount of monies made from the fund raisers since the first recorded fund raiser in 1968 is estimated $449,730.   Major contributions were made to youth activities, senior citizens, and YMCA.

There were 14 (out a possible 24) issues of the Club’s newsletters, Blastoff, that can be located.  The   Club Programs and Special Events  listing contained  14 programs.   The newsletters 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; general information about the Club, District, and Rotary International; and promoting fundraisers sponsors and promoting worth while events.  Robin Riley and Maggie Adams were the editor and Robin Riley, Dennis Dillon, and Vince Lipovsky the photographers.  Photos were taken for many events and programs and used in the Blastoff, for the media, and eventually archiving. The newsletter was standard size, glossy off white in color, with a blue header.  Most of the newsletters consisted of several pages.

The 18th Shrimporee chaired by Mike Brown   was held on September 28, 19901 Clear Lake Park Seabrook, Texas. There was a 5K Fun Run, fifth year for it, and a Beauty Contest, in addition to the auction and all the good food. It turned out to be a great event yielding $36,000.  Pictures from the Shrimporee can be viewed in the photo gallery 1 and 2.  View the Shrimporee poster.

Fund raising started for the Bay Area Community Center with a raffle headed by Jerry Smith.  Jerry relates the following story.  He went to Metro Ford and spoke to the Manager about the need to have a car for the raffle.  To his surprise, the manager offered a  Lincoln Town Car with no earnest money or contract.  The only caveat was that Jerry let him know where the car was at the end of each month for inventory purposes.  Of course, as soon as Jerry had accumulated some money he made a deposit on the car.  Jerry used senior citizens and Rotarians to sell the tickets and his strategy was to literally place the car in the front door of wherever he was selling the raffle tickets. The raffle culminated in a Valentine's Dinner/Dance  at the Nassau Bay Hilton with about 200 persons attending.  Over $11,000 was raised for the Community center.  Hannah Moore, Miss Shrimporee drew the winning ticket which went to Emmeline Dodd.    Vic Maria was the chair for the Senior Citizens Committee and liaison between the Club and the County Commissioner.

The Club sponsored a major new Club in District 5890 during the Rotary year. The Club, the Seabrook Rotary Club, began with over 56 charter members and was a very active and successful club.  President Lister asked Charles Hartman of the Space Center Rotary Club to be the key person to advise the Seabrook Club and get it up and running.  He did an excellent job. A tribute to Charles was made in the February 8, 1993 Blastoff regarding his excellent work with the Seabrook Rotary Club.

The second Excellence in Education Awards for teachers in the Clear Creek Independent School District was presented May 4, 1992.  Brenda S. Bond of Clear Lake Intermediate; Lynne Dugat of Webster Primary; Sue Harral of James F. Bay; Glenda Hunt of  La Vace Stewart Elementary; Rick Pruitt of Clear Brook High School; and Patricia Russell  of Clear Lake Immediate School received Excellence in Education Certificates.  Patricia Russell, Clear Lake Immediate School, was named Teacher of the Year.  Pictures and information about the teachers can be viewed in write-up and additional pictures in the   May 18, 1992 Blastoff.

An another excellence in vocation award was developed during the Rotary year.  Dr. David Taylor utilized the organizational model he developed for the award for excellence in teaching to develop a program for a Law Enforcement Distinguished Service Award to be sponsored by the Club.  One outstanding feature was that it was not an award for "bravery", as important as that sometimes is in law enforcement, but an award for excellence in upholding the law in a professional way and serving the community.  The criteria were: professionalism, effectiveness, community involvement, and valor.  The first award was made the next Rotary year.

Earth Day 92, the third annual, was an overwhelming success: There were two hundred and sixty art entries to the club's Earth Day Art Contest. The entries from these elementary school children were outstanding. These were the best of their class. All of the class winners were on display at Baybrook Mall for the month of April. There were sculptures, paintings, sketches, and mobiles. Everyone of the pieces inspired the audience to the surprising depth these children from ages 4 to 10 have of environmental understanding.   There were also booths at the mall on April 18th, the Third Annual Earth Day. They were: Texas Department of Transportation, Texas Parks and Wildlife, Texas Land Commission, Sierra Club, SPCA, Quality Times (environmental newspaper), Aztec Pest Control (environmentally safe pest control), and our own club.  More information is in the April 13, 1992 Blastoff .

The World Health Foundation brought 7 children to Houston for surgery at St John's Hospital in Clear Lake. Six children were from Mexico and one from Jerusalem (a child injured in an auto bombing incident). The July 7, 1992 Board of Directors meeting minutes stated " We have helped seven children with 16 surgical visits to Houston for plastic surgery by Dr. Abdel Fustok. The total cost of surgery performed to date is estimated at $1,000,000."  Information about some of these children is in the  December 9 , 1991 and May 18, 1992 Blastoffs.  Dr. Abdel Fustok, a plastic surgeon at St. John's Hospital in Clear Lake was given an Honorary membership in the Club because of his outstanding volunteer work in the program.  The sister club, Aeropuerto Rotary Club of Mexico City, identified the children that needed medical care and arranged for transportation for them to come to Clear Lake. 

Although there was no social exchange during the Rotary year between the clubs, the Aeropuerto Rotary Club served as the host for President Lister and other Rotarians during the Rotary International Convention in June 2-5, 1991.  Pictures of the trip can be viewed in the photo gallery.

The Space Center Rotary Club Endowment Foundation was established during the Rotary Year with Club President Billy R. Smith (1990-91) as President of the Foundation.  Four of the Club's charter members (Charlie Whynot, Vince Lipovsky, Bev Steadman, and Frank Morgan) were among the first to received Floyd Boze Fellows Awards. The first was Nancy Boze.

The following information was in the February 24, 1992 Blastoff regarding Project Free Enterprise. Dr. David Taylor and his Project Free Enterprise Team II are making plans for their seminars in Poland beginning May 6th through the 18th. The seminars will be free and open to Polish citizens who wish to learn business principles of the United States. The topics include-role of government in business, management, marketing, bookkeeping, accounting, finance, business plans, global marketing, manufacturing, law and business resources. The attendees will also participate in a half-day workshop and communicate directly with the speakers on their topics.  David and his team are looking for professionals from various avenues of American business to travel to Warsaw, Wroclaw and Katowice, Poland in May at the cost of $1,500 each. Members of the team are currently accepting donations and are selling advertising space in the seminar program to finance the trip. Businesses who want exposure in Eastern Europe as well as the many international organizations the program will reach, are encouraged to place an ad early as the deadline is February 1992.  

The 4th  Drug Awareness Essay Contest apparently was completed on March 13th as noted below from the February 24, 1992 and the March 9, 1992 Blastoffs.  However there was no mention of the lunch or the winners in the available newsletters.  "The Youth Group Committee has begun its distribution of the guidelines for the Clear Creek 8th Grade Schools Drug Awareness Essay Contest. Deadline for completion of this contest is March 13th. There will be male and female winners from each school and ultimately one overall prize winner who will get a trip to Space Camp in Huntsville. The winners will be announced by mid April and then invited to a Rotary lunch with their teachers and parents." View  photos of the winners and Committeee Chair, Luwann Tull at June 15 Club meeting.
 
A Rotarian Mentoring program was established for potential school drop-outs in Clear Lake.   Over 20 Rotarians have participated.  Ron Blilie, who chaired the Youth Committee, announced that the group has taken the Mentoring program under its wing and will serve as its sponsor with Terry Hesson and Danielle Dupuis co-chairing this effort.  Claire Taylor, former Club member and teacher at Clear View High school, was also instrumental in developing the program.  Historian 2009: a write-up in the November 16, 1992 Blastoff gives a good perspective on the mentoring program.  It states the followng: "The Club has been in the process of developing a mentoring program over the last several years. The purpose of the program is to provide strong role models for school age boys and girls in the Clear Lake area. The mentoring committee, in cooperation with Bridgeport Communities in Schools, qualifies and trains Space Center Rotarians to be mentors, then matches Rotarians to youth based on common interests.  Mentoring is an opportunity for Rotarians to provide one-on-one adult companionship to interested boys and girls during important formative years. The mentoring program enables Rotarians to have a positive impact on the youth of our area by spending as little as an hour every other week. Several of our members are already qualified as mentors and are actively working with youth in our community."  

Both Rotaract and Interact Clubs were active during the Rotary year.  The Rotaract Club, with 25 students, has adopted a temporarily disadvantaged family and provided services such as home repairs and tax preparation.  In addition, this Club has participated in voluntary Channel 8 Sesame Street activities for children.  Both Clubs have held fund raising activities in support of many community activities. The Club hosted two exchange students during the Rotary year, Deane Baker  from South Africa and  Priscila Leopoldo e Silva   from Sao Paulo, Brazil.  Five $1000 scholarships were awarded to deserving high school and college students in Clear Lake.

The Club added 9  Paul Harris Fellows  bringing the total to 167 since the first recorded Paul Harris Fellow in 1973.  Hilmar Zeissig was the District 5890 (589) GSE Chairman.

The 83nd Rotary International Convention was held June 14-17, 1992 at Orlando, Florida.  There were 19,111 in attendance. No record of anyone  from Rotary of Space Center, Houston attending.

District 5890 Conference was held on April 23-26, 1992 at Corpus Christi, Texas at the Marriott Hotel.  About 22 of the club’s members and their spouses attended the conference.  Pictures of the conference may be viewed in the  May 4, 1992 Blastoff .  The Club was awarded the  "Best Large Club in District"   at the Conference.

The Rotary National Award for Space Achievement (RNASA) Foundation presented Norman R. Augustine with the 1992 National Space Trophy at the 6th annual stellar banquet held on February 28, 1992 at the Hyatt Regency.  The front cover of the 1992 Rotary National Award for Space Achievement Program can be viewed by clicking on 1992 RNASA Program .  The names of the members of the 1992 RNASA Foundation  can be viewed by clicking on 1992 RNASA Foundation.    Admiral Richard Truly, NASA Administrator, presented the award to Mr. Augustine and Johnson Space Center Director Chris Kraft and Apollo Program Director Owen Morris presented a special Corona Award to Dr. Robert Gilruth, the first Director of Johnson Space Center and renowned founder of the Manned Space Program. 

Rotary year 1991-92 was approved by President Lister and placed in archives March 2010.