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History
of
The Rotary Club of Space Center (Houston), Texas, and U.S.A.
Rotary
International District 5890 (589)
Club 2010
for
Rotary
Year 1993-1994
President
Victor G. Maria
Chartered
August 6, 1964
Thirty years of serving the local and world communities
with a passion for “Service Above Self”
Officers
President Elect
David Taylor
Secretary
Lamar D. Bowles
Treasurer
Bill Lowes
Sergeant at Arms
Donnie Johnson
Directors
Huey Barnett
Ron Blilie
Mike Dennard
Clay Fulcher
Bill Geissler
Dick Gregg, Jr.
Mike Porterfield
Bill Taylor
Johnny White
Were we successful? Yes!!
Words by President
Maria
I want to express my sincere thanks to the members
of the Space Center Rotary Club for giving me the opportunity to
experience the wonders of being the president of this Rotary
Club. It has been a great honor being president of one of the,
if not the, greatest rotary Club in the world. For me it has
been a terrific year. I am not saying it was always fun, nor
has it always been easy, but it sure was different,
interesting and a true challenge. Read the entire article
by President Maria.
History
President Maria sent a letter to District
5890 Governor Weseman summarizing the
accomplishments
and
activities of the
Club which provided a good overview of events for his
tenure. Also the July 19, 1993 Blastoff had an
interesting and heart felt
article by
President Maria titled "HOW DID I GET HERE" that related his
feelings about Rotary and the Club. View a
photo gallery
consisting of miscellaneous pictures, some before and some
after his tenure as president, of Maria and his wife
Norma.
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, Mary Wylie was the Program
Committee Chair. Ray Graham and
Jerome Bourgeois led the members in songs and the members
shared in saying the pledge to the U. S. flag and
prayer. Golf under the leadership of David Murphy
was a favorite fellowship activity. More fellowship was
provided with Rotary Nite at the Astros including with
the youngsters from Hope Village,
Rotary at the Rodeo, other fun outings
with the Hope Village
youngsters, and a Christmas
party.
Fourteen 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. It was an emotional
moment was when the Club recognized these charter members for thirty
years of loyal membership. The Club’s membership at the end of the
Rotary year was 169 members based
on information in the history folder. A pictured Club
directory was
produced in December 1993. There was one Club Board
of Director meeting
minutes.
There was a listing of the avenues of service committees and
committee chairs.
The amount
of donations
given to service projects was $22,600 based on information in the Blastoffs
and information sent to District Governor Weseman on the accomplishments of the
Club. The amount of monies made from the fund
raisers since the first recorded fund raiser in 1968 is
estimated $502,268. The only
other financial data was the adjusted
administrative
and service budgets with no
date.
There were 19 (out a possible 23)
issues of the Club’s newsletters,
Blastoff, that can be
located. The
Club Programs and
Special Events
listing contained 15 programs.
The newsletters contained a variety of interesting
items such as notes on 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. Gene Oley was
the editor, production Robert Frost and Bill
Geissler, and Dennis Dillon,"Mac" Balfe, Carver
Shivers, and Vince Lipovsky photographers
(photo of staff).
Photos were taken for many events and programs
and used in the Blastoff and the media.
The newsletter was standard size, glossy off
white in color, with a black header. Most
of the newsletters consisted of several pages.
The 20th
Shrimporee, chaired by
Bill Taylor,
was held on September 18, 1993 at the Landolt Pavilion
Clear Lake Park Seabrook, Texas. There were the 7th
annual Shrimporee Golf Championship held on August 30 at South
Shore Harbor Country Club headed by
Tedd
Olkowski
and the
5K Fun Run put together by
Mary Allen Wylie, in addition to
the auction and all the good food. It turned out to be a
great event yielding $20,000. The auctioneers,
sponsors, and the auction items can be viewed in the September
13
Blastoff.
Read more information and concerns about the
Shrimporee. Each year of the golf
tournament, a wooden monkey trophy was presented
to the winner of the Golf Tournament. This year
President Maria won the trophy. View photo gallery.
The first
spring fundraiser, Jamboree, was held May 21, 1994 at the
Landolt Pavilion, Clear Lake Park Seabrook, Texas. The
only source of information other than a notice in the
newsletter was a
poster and a
ticket. It
was noted that it was non-stop entertainment with
different kinds of music, food, drink, rides, a charity
raffle, and a silent auction. The event was from 11:00
am to 7:00 pm with adult ticket costing $3. Three
photos were in
the June 13 Blastoff. Over
$3,000
net
was raised by the event.
Thanks
to Space Center Rotary, students in the Bridgeport Communities
in Schools Program had transportation to important
meetings and events. With generous donations of $7,000 from
the Club and $10,000 from the Assistant League of the Bay
Area, Bridgeport purchased a 1992, 15 passenger
Ford van from
McRee Ford. The Club has always played an
important role in the successes of Bridgeport. During
President Billy Weseman's term of office, Bridgeport was
selected as the primary beneficiary of that years Shrimporee.
This helped Bridgeport get started. During the following years
the youth committee has provide much needed support.
Also, many Rotarians have become tutors and mentors in the
Bridgeport program. Read
more in
the August 16 Blastoff "ON THE ROAD AGAIN".
Six
teachers from 43
nominations representing 18 schools in the Clear Creek
Independent School District received Certificates of
Excellence Awards in a Club meeting on May 9. Vickie M.
Smith, Space Center Intermediate, received the Teacher of
the Year Award. Janet Barksdale, Space Center
Intermediate; Berth "Bert" Campbell, John F. Ward Elementary;
Gwendolyn Cash, Clear Creek High School; Janine M. Morrell,
Clear View High School; and Sherry A. Roach, Gifted and
Talented Program were the other winners. This
was the fourth year for the award. View photo
gallery
of newspaper articles.
The Club sponsored a
Police Officer of the Year award and recognized four
runner ups. This was the
second year for the Police Officer Award.
The Club withdrew its pledge of $100,000
made in February 1991 in support of a community
center. In a letter dated May 24, 1993, President Hesson
(Rotary Year 1992-1993) responded to a letter from
Commissioner
Fonteno: "Your
letter to me dated March 17, 1993, was presented to our board
of directors for discussion and, in light of the unforeseen
complications and uncertainty of timing for this project, the
Board has decided to suspend any further fund raising
activities for the Center. While we will certainly consider
this project again, when the problems have been solved, Space
Center Rotary Club must withdraw it previous pledge of
$100,000.00 and be relieved of this obligation. Because our
budgeting is annual, it is difficult to sustain financial
commitments that extend beyond the term of one
president." Read the entire
letter. As
a result of the letter, the senior citizens who had been
actively raising money for the center and who worked with the
Club on a raffle in 1992, became upset because they
thought the Club had reneged on its commitment to donate
the money from the raffle (over $11,000) to the community
center. Letters were received from
Bay Area Sunshine Club,
"The Mainstreamers",
and the National Association
of Retired Federal Employees
regarding the
$11,000. President Maria responded to the letters
stating that a meeting was scheduled August 27 at the Nassau
Bay City Hall to discuss the issue. In President Maria's
own words "It was not until I met with members of the Senior
Citizens Clubs on August 27, 1993 at the Nassau Bay City Hall
that I realized the level of animosity the Senior Citizens had
against the Rotary Club over this matter." He summarized
the project from approval in 1991 to October 10, 1993
the date of the writing of the
summary.
President Maria again summarized the events in a letter to
Commissioner Fonteno dated December 21, 1993. Read
entire
letter.
He clearly enumerated the following actions:
"On
December 7, 1993 the Space Center Rotary Club Board of
Directors raised the question about the Club's position
concerning the proposed Clear Lake/ Bay Area Community Center.
In response, the following was submitted as a summary of
actions taken by the Space Center Rotary Club and the office
of County Commissioner Jim Fonteno since early
1993.
a. On March 17, 1993
Commissioner Fonteno canceled the initial
agreement between Space Center
Rotary Club and Commissioner Fonteno
concerning the Community Center
project.
b. Commissioner Fonteno agreed that when he
has specific information about when and where the Community
Center is to be built, he will then submit a new proposal for
the consideration of the Space Center Rotary Club Board of
Directors.
c. The Space Center Rotary Club has
deposited the eleven thousand seven hundred eighty dollars and
fifty-three cents ($11,780.53), raised through a car raffle,
in the Club's Endowment Foundation account.
d. The
above funds will remain in the Endowment Fund account and can
only be removed from this account by the approval of the Space
Center Rotary Club's Board of
Directors.
e. Commissioner Jim Fonteno had no
objection to the above handling of the funds
raised.
f. The Space Center Rotary Club plans
to take no further action in this matter until it hears from
Commissioner Fonteno."
(Note from
Historian 2009: See photos of the
Center, the major
contributors, and
the Space Center Rotary
nameplate
taken in
October 2010).
The most emotional event of the year was
the formal dedication of the Space Center Rotary Club memorial
marker at Cap Landolt Park. Many family members of deceased
Space Center Rotarians were in attendance and expressed their
heartfelt appreciation to the club for holding this event. The
first formal memorial dedication service for
the deceased members was held at the deceased member
monument at the "Cap" Landolt
Pavilion in Clear Lake Park. The service was held
during a regular Club meeting April 25 and families of
the deceased members named on the monument were invited to
attend. Read more in the May 16
Blastoff ,
MEMORIAL DEDICATION SERVICE.
Hilmar
Zeissig was invited to Evanston, Illinois by The Rotary
Foundation as a consultant for drafting Rotary’s new GSE
guidelines. He was also District 5890 GSE
Chairman.
The Club was actively
involved in the "Project Free Enterprise" .
Rotarians from Poland came to the Club to get a first hand
look at how we operate in the U.S.A. View a photo
of the Club's
The Freedom Team celebrating their successful visit to
Poland. visit to Poland. "Dr. Taylor is definitely
an idea man, who not only conceives and develops those ideas
but is successful in having his rotary club adopt and pursue
those programs to their proper conclusion" was the quote from
Lucy Eisenhower in regard to The Freedoms Foundation At Valley
Forge
award to Club
member Dr. David Taylor. Read more in an
article
from the November 15 Blastoff and view the
program.
Read request for
information on seminar.
The Career
Development Committee initiated a pilot project involving
Clear View Alternative High School formerly at-risk students
with careers. If the programs successful, other high
schools in the area will be added. Committee members
introduced Vocational Internship Program, VIP, students to the
community through visits to local businesses, industries,
professional organizations; and attendance at Space Center
Rotary Club meetings and functions. This program not
only served as a tremendous incentive for as risk students to
complete high school, but it also helped them become
productive citizens. Read more in the March 21
Blastoff,
ROTARIANS HELP STUDENTS WITH CAREERS. A banquet
was held May 9 at Space Center Intermediate to recognize these
students' success in staying in school. overcoming their
problems, and earning an diploma. Matt Deskins, Tracey
Parker, and Truong Ngo, who attained VIP status, each received
$400. Read more in the May 16
Blastoff,
ROTARIANS SPONSOR BANQUET.
The Club was treated to a tour of
Australia by the 1994 Group Study Exchange team.
This team of men and women from Australia presented a highly
professional pictorial visit to their homeland. Each member,
in turn, spoke with great fondness of their memories and
personal experiences. From Wombats to Kiwi, we shared a bit of
their lives. Picture and more information in the May
16 Blastoff.
The Club hosted the annual International Youth
weekend on April 7-10, 1994. Over 80 young people from
19 different countries attended, including inbound students,
American outbound students, and other American students
interested in learning about youth exchange. Countries
represented at the banquet were: USA, Mexico, Brazil,
Argentina, Russia, Ukraine, Estonia, Hungary, Turkey, Rumania,
Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Japan,
Philippines, South. Africa, and Morocco. Read more in the
April 25
Blastoff,
INTERNATIONAL YOUTH BANQUET. View
picture of Alan Wylie and Mary
Allen Wylie with two exchange students. President
Maria's noted in his letter to the District 5890 Governor
Weseman the following activities:
Travel to Tulsa for seven State Exchange
Conference
Support trip to East Texas to
expose exchange students to small town USA.
Sponsor and furnish $100 per month to Exchange Student from
Holland.
This was the 9th year which the Club was
actively involved with the International Youth Exchange
Program. Alan Wylie was Chairman of District 5890 Long
Term International Youth Exchange.
The Club continued
(second 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 12 bicycles for this program. Just imagine the
happiness of these children when they awoke on Christmas
morning to find their name on one of these bicycles. A
note by President
Maria discusses the program in more detail. See a photo
journey on bikes that
cover from 1992-2003.
The Club was actively
involved with Hope Village, an organization which provided a
resident and meanful work for the mentally challenged.
Their primary work was making ceramics. President Maria
and his wife Norma received a certificate of Honorary Membership
to Hope Village Parent’s Group for their involvement with the
Village. They often would carry lunch to the Village,
eat with residents, and just spend time with them. They
had many parties with them and even helped take them to Rotary
Night Out at the Astros. An article in the June 14, 1993
Blastoff relates how the Space Center Women of
Rotary started giving birthday parties to the residents.
President Maria related a story as how he was visiting
the village and saw one of the rest room’s door taped up
to prevent a person from entering. He inquired about it
and found that the commode was not working. Being
frugal, he sought a good used one, and found it. The
problem was that it had no seat. Knowing that the Club’s
members were like him and someone probably had a good seat in
the garage at home, he solicited help. Sure enough Terry
Hesson had a seat, a Texas Longhorn seat. In fact Terry
gave President Maria 2 seats which he installed on both of the
commodes. You can see President Maria in deep thought on how to install the seat.
View a photo gallery of pictures of the residents and President
Maria and Norma.
The November 15 Blastoff has an article on
the C.L.E.A.R. (Clean Living, Encouragement, and
Responsibility) program which kicked off Red Ribbon week at
the Club meeting November 8. Rotarians first heard about
the C.L.E.A.R. program in February 1991 when Brad Bailey, Ryan
Mossman, and Sean Granere (view
photo)
were just starting C.L.E.A.R. and spoke
to the Club members about the program.
An Interact
Club was formed at Clear View Alternative High School.
This was the first year in action for the Clear View
Club and it turned out to be a wonderful club. The club was
originally the idea of Ten Hernandez who passed the idea on to
Tim Kropp, chairman of the Space Center Rotary Interact
Committee. Bill Davidson was Rotary sponsor and Joe Coen the
faculty sponsor. Read more in the December 20, Blastoff,
INTERACT.
An
write up in the October 18,
Blastoff was about Luis Rodriguez, one of the
patients selected by the Club's sister club in
Mexico City (Aeropuerto Rotary Club) to have
corrective procedures performed under the World Heath
Committee program. This is the 10th year of the
program.
President Maria and his
wife Norma sponsored and were host for a young Palestinian girl
who was severely burned and who received treatment by Dr.
Fustok at the St. John's Hospital in the City of
Nassau Bay, Texas. Her name was Narimann Farrah.
The Maria's have keep in touch with her since she came to
the United States in April 8, 1991 when she
underwent reconstructive surgery. (Note: Historian 2009.
The Maria's continued in touch in 2009. View
a
photo gallery
of her starting at the age of 5
through about 2009. The Maria's also received a
Christmas card in about 2005 from Narimann). A very
comprehensive
article by Lisa
Barley tells the story of Narimann, the injury, and how
she was brought in contact with President Maria and
Norma. President Maria initiated the process by
contacting
Steve Sosebee
at that time an American free lance writer who
covered the West Bank and Gaza Strip in
Israel.
It was a very
cold day in November when President Maria and Bill Yarbrough
went to a ranch in outside of Houston to get 50 geese.
They were to be given to the Interfaith Caring Ministries for
Thanksgiving. Upon arriving, only about half of the
50 geese had been killed, so the rancher went off, shot the
remaining geese and bought them back to the ranch.
Originally the cleaning and packaging of the geese was to
be done at local catholic Church, but plans changed and the
geese were cleaned outside a meat market on Kirby
Road in Seabrook. What President Maria remembered most
about the day that it was very cold. After President
Maria and Bill Yarbrough cleaned the geese, the meat
market cut them up and packaged them for delivery to
Interfaith Caring Ministries. Visit the occasion in
photos.
The Club awarded
Drug Essay Scholarships to three high school seniors.
Read more in the June 13 Blastoff, This was the 6th year for
the drug essay program.
Several activities
noted by President Maria in his letter to District 5890
Governor Weseman on the accomplishments of the Club were as
follows: donated $5,000 to the
Bay
Area Turning Point,
a new
facility in the area to help and house battered women;
assisted "Hope Village" in selling their ceramics; worked with
the children of "Hope Village" at least weekly, brought them
gifts and goodies, and took them to functions; and
collected and donated a large amount of eye glasses for the
District 5890 eye program in Mexico;and initiated a
drive to get as many members as possible to fill out cards to
become organ donors. In preparation of the program,
Dr. Michael Debakey,
world renowned heart specialists, and a heart transplant
recipient spoke to the Club. The Club also initiated a
program to record the blood type of each member in case of a
need for a specific blood type. The Club collected bath
toiletries from
their travels and provided them to Bay Area Turning
Point. Gene Oley worked with the manager of
Linen N Things to
get overstocked, damaged, and discontinued items which were
given to Saint Bernadette Catholic Church for distribution to
the community.
President Maria and his wife Norma
visited the sister Club of
Aeropuerto, Mexico City, Mexico and exchanged plans and
ideas. View a
picture of
President Maria and wife Norma and the
equipment furnished by the Women of Rotary in the Aero Puerto
Rotary Club in Mexico City. View
photos of the
Maria's trip to Mexico.
The Club added 17 Paul Harris Fellows
bringing the total to 194 since the first recorded
Paul Harris Fellow in 1973.
The 85nd
Rotary
International Convention was held at Taipel, Taiwan June 12-15,
1994. There were 31,161 in attendance. President Elect
David Taylor from Space Center Rotary Club, Houston attended.
District 5890
Conference was held May 12-14, 1994 in Lafayette, Louisiana. The
Cover for the
conference's program and
words in
the program from Governor Weseman can be viewed by clicking on
the underlined words.
The Rotary National
Award for Space Achievement (RNASA) Foundation
presented Edward C. "Pete" Aldridge with
the 1994 National Space Trophy at the 8th annual stellar
banquet held at the Hyatt Regency Houston, Texas. The
front cover of the 1994 Rotary National Award for Space
Achievement Program can be viewed by clicking on
1994 RNASA Program
. The
names of the members of the 1994
RNASA Foundation can be viewed by clicking on
1994 RNASA Foundation . The real
RNASA Board can be seen in this
photo.
President Maria's
closing remarks.
President Maria approved the
history for Rotary 1993-94 and it was placed in archives
October 2010.
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President Maria
