Clint Morse was wearing his Rotary pin when his name was called, so he was rewarded with a bottle of wine.
Stories
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 We have a weekly game where you can buy a chance to win some cash, and help raise funds for Rotary. Lucy Wilke's ticket was drawn, and she drew card, but wasn't the lucky winner. The weekly pot keeps getting bigger until someone wins, so buy a ticket this Wednesday. The winner and our Rotary club split the pot. |
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Volunteer Opportunities: Veterans Breakfast is Thursday April 18 from 8-930 at the Veterans Center on Meadowview Ln. Come grab a taco & enjoy time with our local heroes. First Responder's Golf Tournament April 22, Monday. If you want to play or sponsor a hole, there's still some room! Get with Jeff Wendling or Jeff Harris. Josh the Otter water safety program committee has started meeting. We're arranging to read Josh the Otter's story to local second and third graders. If you're interested in volunteering to read or work the puppet, contact Paul Anderson or Kristy Vandenberg. Youth Citizenship Awards-it's that time of year again! If you're interested in spending a few minutes of your time to present the annual Citizenship Awards to local fifth graders, see Jeff Anderson for details. Save the date, for our Rotary Club Annual Picnic, May 8th. Justin Hamilton from our satellite club will be cooking up some yummy barbecue! Come enjoy fun & fellowship! Families in Rotary: I've just been given an update on Stockton Williams' wife, Leslie. She has been diagnosed with Stage 4 pancreatic cancer. Please keep the Williams family in your prayers. Also, continue to pray for David LeMeilleur and the LeMeilleur family. He's seeing some improvement. He's finished his first round of radiation and they are going to be trying a new regimen of chemotherapy soon. TOMORROW WE WILL BE AT THE INN of THE HILLS.......next week we will be at the KROC CENTER. See you all tomorrow. Rob |
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 New members Ken Asel, Mike Cave, and Roy Boudreaux exchange their red badges for blue ones. |
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 Robert Puig provided the program on the rich history of Mexican Americans in Kerr County. Mexican Americans have been in the area for one hundred and forty seven years. His family was one of the first in Kerrville, and his great uncles came to Texas to work as cowboys and found friendship and employment with Captain Charles Schreiner.  The area along Lemos Street (named for a celebrated Mexican American WWI veteran) was the home to their community, and a General Merchandise Store was at the center of their activities. Father Kemper was one of the first priests in the area, and was disappointed to find out that the Mexican Americans were not welcome at the Catholic Church in town. So, he organized and built them a church and school on the corner of Jefferson and Lemos.  |
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   George then led us with the song of the day, Deep in the Heart of Texas. |
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 George Eychner led us with the prayer and pledge. |
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 Tom Terrell let us know about a new game where we draw cards to get a chance to win some cash at lunch, and it also benefits Rotary. Bring a few extra dollars at lunch and see if you are a lucky winner. April 18, Veterans Breakfast, come and greet local Veterans & thank them for their service. Contact Donna Peterson (donna@joecookagency.com) if you'd like to volunteer for this event. .jpg) April 22, Second Annual First Responder's Golf Tournament. Talk to Jeff Harris or Jeff Wendling if you're interested in helping with this event. Josh the Otter will be starting in April!! If you're interested in helping read about water safety to second & third graders, talk to Paul Anderson or email him at paul.anderson@cpa.com. |
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 Roy Boudreaux exchanges Red Badge for Blue. Congratulations Roy  Jimmy Hutto Welcomes Mark Dizdar as the newest member Of the Kerrville Noon Rotary Club. Mark moves here from the Kingsville Tx area |
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 We were all ask to move to a table that we had never sat at before. Then we were handed instructions on what to do next. .jpg) So most folks go up moved and begin telling about them selves. .jpg) So we moved again and did the same thing, we were to do this a third time but ran out of time |
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Please continue to keep David and Denise LeMeilleur in your prayers, as David continues his battle with lymphoma. |
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  We had two winners that were wearing their pins and won the wine! Chris Braaten on the left and Danny Wheat. Way to go guys!!!! |
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  Kellie Early leads the group in the invocation and pledge of allegiance.  George leads us in Happy April Birthdays |
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The Spoke wants YOU! We will show you how to go through the simple steps and provide any assistance that you need. The steps create The Spoke and update the club web page at the same time. Extensive computer skills are not a requirement.
This is a great way to learn about our club. It is also an easy way to contribute to the club on your own schedule. Contact Jimmy Hutto, David Martin, Paul Anderson, or Sue Whinnery. |
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 George Eychner led us in an appropriate song for the Habitat program.  |
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 Judy Eychner provided the prayer and pledge. |
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 Philip Stacy, the executive director for the Kerr County Habitat for Humanity, gave an overview of the local chapter of this global organization. Habitat began in 1976 in Americas, Georgia, and provides affordable housing with a no interest loan to people who go through a qualification process. Kerr County Habitat is the largest single family builder in the county, and accomplishes its mission with mainly volunteer help. Various organizations and churches have sponsored houses locally, and provide volunteer labor and support to get them built. The house that our club sponsored was #113 in Kerr County. The average cost to a home owner is $550.00 to $600.00 per month, including taxes and insurance, which is substantially less than any comparable rent for a local house or apartment. There is a very low default rate, and the owners put in hundreds of hours of sweat equity into building their and other recipient's houses in order to meet the ownership criteria. In addition to building and financing the house, Habitat volunteers provide life training skills to prepare the recipients for ownership, including education on maintenance, financial basics and insurance. For more information, visit habitatkerr.org.  Out Rotary club has donated $30,000.00 over the last three years to Habitat, and this photo shows members of the local board accepting the gift. |
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 Baby Giraffe with mom.  a cross between a Donkey & a Zebra know as Zonkeys |
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Dear Club: Calendar of Events: March 20, Phil Stacy and his board will be talking about Habitat for Humanity & our club's contribution of $30,000 to help build a new Rotary house in Kerrville. For those new members, Past Presidents Kim Clarkson, Stephanie Miller & Jeff Talarico each committed to donate $10,000 for their Rotary year to build a Rotary house to benefit a local family. We will be making the check presentation next week at our weekly meeting. March 21, Chamber Networking Luncheon sponsored by our Club. Join us for the quarterly networking lunch and hear great things about our club & our contributions to the community. You will need to pay the entry fee to the Chamber if you choose to attend. This will count as a makeup for a missed meeting. March 23, New Member Project at Tivy High School to benefit Project Graduation. Come and test drive a new vehicle & Ford will donate $10 for every test drive to Project Graduation. April 18, Veterans Breakfast, come and greet local Veterans & thank them for their service. Contact Donna Peterson (donna@joecookagency.com) if you'd like to volunteer for this event. April 22, Second Annual First Responder's Golf Tournament. Talk to Jeff Harris or Jeff Wendling if you're interested in helping with this event. Josh the Otter will be starting in April!! If you're interested in helping read about water safety to second & third graders, talk to Paul Anderson or email him at paul.anderson@cpa.com. As my dear friend, Janelle Peralt says, she loves Rotary because there's so much going on, but the beauty of it is that you can jump in and join any event when you have time and not feel obligated to do more than you have time for! Don't feel obligated to do everything, but these are opportunities for service in the community. For those of you who need to exchange your red badge for a blue badge, today is our board meeting at 11:30 at Community First Bank. The board meets on the second Tuesday of every month at 11:30 at Community First Bank. Sorry for the late notice on this! If you can't make this month, plan to join us in April!! See you tomorrow! Rob Tammy's Thought for the week  The kids had a blast |
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General Michael Hagee CEO Nimitz Foundation was our guest speaker Biography |
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Mike Allen's Mother in Law passed away I received a message from fellow Rotarian, Denise LeMeilleur and wanted to update you all. David's situation has worsened. Some fellow Rotarians have set up a bank account at Centennial Bank for anyone interested in helping with medical expenses. They do have insurance, but the bills are mounting which is adding to their stress. Continue to pray for David & Denise. Rosalie & David Reast and Brian Bowers can be contacted for further details. |
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Satellite Meeting February 19thSpeaker: Mark McDaniel, Kerrville City Manger There are a lot of big changes coming to our beautiful town of Kerrville and Mark McDaniel came to talk to us about the Kerrville 2050 Comprehensive Plan. He was able to cram a lot of information in a short amount of time but the changes will range from an updated Olympic Pool, housing, parks, public services and a new hotel and so much more. If you want to read the full plan it is offered online. http://kerrville2050.com/ Club Business: We are starting a new service project and will be teaming up with Christian Ministries CSI group to help fix up, clean, or improve properties of low income/elderly people in our community who are not able to do these things themselves. We are still looking for volunteers if anyone would like to participate. Please email Erin at info@mostybrothersnursery.com |
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 New member Carlina Villalpando, who is the publisher of the Kerrville Daily Times. Her proposed is Charlie McIlvain.  Roy Boudreaux joins our club, and is the owner of Kerrville Clock Company. David Jones proposed Roy for membership. .jpg) Howard Freeman serves as Chief Advancement Officer for International Care Ministries, a non profit serving poor communities in the Philippines. Robin Miears proposed Howard for membership. |
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  Our Rotary Club helped fill the Food Bank at the local Veteran's Center on Meadowview. Pictured are Jimmy and Bekki Hutto delivering groceries. |
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 George Eychner started the meeting with the prayer and pledge.   In honor of our speaker's topic, hiking the Appalachian Trail, George also led us in singing John Denver's "Country Road". |
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  Clint Morse introduced our program with a flashback to past, introducing three guests in the fashion of the game show "To Tell the Truth". The three "contestants" all claimed to be Lorie Hess, who recently hiked the entire length of the Appalachian Trail. After some questions from the Rotary audience to determine who was the real Lorie Hess, the truth became known. The real Lori Hess did indeed hike the trail, and she provided insight and inspiration for anyone with their own mountain to climb.  Lorie is actually a Rotarian from Fredericksburg, and started the hike last year on March 21st. She experienced her last freezing night about a month later, and spent about six months hiking the trail. Friends, family and Rotarians sent packages of food, letters, and encouragement throughout the trip, and when she received them, it made a big impact on her ability to keep hiking. Lorie tent camped much of the way, although shelters were available occasionally and were a welcome respite from the rain storms that often came. Although she did hike alone for part of the trip, she did find some hiking partners whose comradery lifted her spirits and kept her putting one foot in front of the other. Although the physical aspect of hiking an average of twelve miles a day with a fully loaded pack took its toll, the mental fortitude was the bigger challenge. She credits the "Tramilies" (trail families) and trail angels, who were strangers that opened up their houses to put her up for a night, with helping her succeed. Lorie continues to give lectures and motivational speeches about her Appalachian Trail experience, and hopes to provide inspiration to others facing their own life challenges. |
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Dear Club,
Several of your Rotary friends recently gathered at Nimitz Elementary to see one of our club grants put into action by watching kindergarteners work with the sphero balls. It was excited and fun to watch them. We will have another opportunity in the next few weeks at Tom Daniels if anyone is interested in seeing these things in action.
We have another great speaker coming to talk to us today about "Hiking the Appalachian Trail." Many of you know Lorie Hess and know she's a great speaker.
We also have 3 new members that we will be welcoming to the club. Please make them feel welcome by offering to have them sit at your table.
Rob
Also -
Upcoming Events: Habitat Ground Breaking on Rotary House March 23 Veterans Breakfast is April 18 2nd Annual First Responder's Golf Tournament - April 22
Host Families Needed! We are looking for host families for an exchange student next year. Our club has hosted students from many different countries over the years, and this is a wonderful way to expand your horizons while providing a home for a student for three months next year. Contact Robin or a board member if you are interested in getting more information about the process. Rotarian John Sibert's daughter will be an outbound exchange student next year, so we wish her great success wherever she lands. |
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 The club recently donated $4,000 to the Kerr County Child Services Board. The mission of the organization is to meet the critical needs of abused and neglected children through local education, collaboration, and provision of emergency resources. By building partnerships with community volunteers, local government, and other agencies, KCCSB increases community awareness of child abuse and helps children grow up to be healthy, productive adults. The KCCSB is composed entirely of volunteers who give tirelessly to assist these Kerr County children placed in the care and custody of Child Protective Services. It's an honor to back to such a wonderful organization that gives so much to the children of our community! |
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.jpg) Robin welcomes Jenna Moebes, Executive Director of United Way Kerr County, as a new member to the club. Welcome Jenna! |
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 Ashley Phillips exchanged her red badge for a blue one! Way to go Ashley! |
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 George prepped the club for Sidney Hurlbert's shenanigans with the Kenny Rogers classic, "The Gambler"! |
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A salute to Women Veterans was held last weekend at the Cailloux Theater. Rotarian Jimmy Hutto and Wife Bekki and were on hand to lend a hand and give appreciation to their service.    |
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 Ken Asel is a retired Episcopal priest, and was a former Rotarian in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Doug Whinnery introduced Ken to the club.  Mike Wilson is a semi retired attorney, and he now makes Kerrville his home. Bob Fairchild proposed Mike for membership.  Jenna Moebes is the new executive director at the United Way, and Rosalie Reast introduced Jenna to the club. |
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 George played the trumpet during singing of the National Anthem |
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 Jeff Wendling lead the meeting by telling the Agencies Honored and introducing first guest Rusty Kerr County Sheriff's Office Presenter Rusty Hierholtzer   Kerr County Sheriff's Office Deputy Sheriff of the year Kerr County Sheriff's Office Corrections Officer of the year Narcotics Investigator Luke Flores Corporal Matthew Reusser Kerrville Fire Department presenter Chief Dannie Smith   Kerrville Fire Department Firefighter of the Year Kerrville Fire Department Officer of the Year Firefighter/Paramedic AJ Reed Lieutenant Billy Williams Kerrville Fire Department EMS Person of the Year Jordan Garcia Jordan was unable to attend Kerrville Police Department presented by Chief David Knight  Kerrville Police Department Police Officer of the Year Officer Tyler Cottonware Texas Parks and Wildlife Depatement presenter Captain Jeff Carter  Texas Parks & Wildlife Department Game Warden of the Year Game Warden II Nicole Leonard Kerr County Volunteer First Responder presenter Tom Moser  Kerr County Volunteer First Responders First Responder of the Year Comfort Volunteer Fire Department Ingram Police Department presenter Lt. Brian Blackburn  Ingram Police Department Officer of the Year Officer Jose Salazar Texas Department of Public Safety presenter Lt. Sidney Pullin .JPG) Texas Department of Safety Trooper of the Year Sergeant Chris L. LaLonde Lifetime Achievement presenter Chief Dannie Smith  Public Safety "Service Above Self" Lifetime Achievement Award KFD Division Chief Roger W. Lampman, Jr  All the awardees |
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 Tammy was wearing her Rotary pin and won a bottle of wine. Congrats Tammy |
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Please keep David Martin and family in your Prayers, his mother in law passed away recently. Also keep Doug Lidiak's family in your prayers as he lost his mother in law also. Walter Shellhase's wife Barbara has been put on hospice, prayers please. |
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Tammy's thought for the week   Above are her parents Robin is presenting the Service Above Self Award for lifesaving safety skills demonstration on Jan 22 2019. Madaline Munoz only 10 years old. February 15 Satellite Meeting February 16 Trash Pickup
I am needing help Saturday February the 16th, we are meeting at Talley elementary by the flag pole. We will be picking up trash for about a hour 7:30-8:30. Please arrive at 7:00 I will have coffee Doughnut and Kolache for everyone please bring gloves and wear long pants. The area we are working is from Junction highway intersection down part of Goat Creek. Please invite or bring who you would like to help. Would love to get 20 Volunteers. Thank you so much for your help. Please respond to this email or you can call or text me. Todd Odom 830-928-2466
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Enjoy More Pictures from the Rise Against Hunger event, held this past Saturday. Rotary Club was well represented. Way to go!!!   Not sure how many folks were involved this is at the end of 2nd shift we packaged 41,256 meals |
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 Clint Morse introduces our guest   William Groneman III, born and raised in New York City as a member of the Baby Boomer generation, grew up on a steady diet of Western television shows and films. Walt Disney’s Davy Crockett series of the early 1950s sparked his interest in the frontier hero and the battle of the Alamo. He has written a number of books related to the Alamo, among them are Eyewitness to the Alamo, David Crockett—Hero of the Common Man and Death of a Legend—the Myth and Mystery of Davy Crockett’s Death at the Alamo. He also authored September 11: A Memoir. Today’s historians work hard to dispel beliefs about the man engendered by the earlier and popular ABC miniseries. Still, after hundreds of books, documentaries and movies, misconceptions persist. Some of the most outlandish claims made about him include those stating David Crockett. Wasn’t Davy: Crockett signed his correspondence with “David.” In print, others—including President Andrew Jackson—called him Davy. Crockett even referred to himself as Davy during a speech in Ohio on July 12, 1834. Was lazy: Crockett worked as a drover, freighter, farm hand, hatter, farmer, soldier, scout, magistrate, justice of the peace, town commissioner, militia officer, Tennessee State legislator, member of the U.S. House of Representatives, hunter, trail blazer for new roads, author and finally a volunteer soldier in the 1835-36 Texas Revolution. Was uncouth: Contemporaries described him as: “A pleasant, courteous, and interesting man, who, though uneducated in books was a man of fine instincts and intellect…a man of high sense of honor, of good morals, not intemperate, nor a gambler” (Sen. Ephraim H. Foster); “…rarely, if ever, exhibited in conversation or manner, attributes of coarseness of character that prevailing popular opinion very unjustly assign to him. I cannot recall to mind an instance of his indulgence in gasconade or profanity” (painter John Gadsby Chapman); and “just such a one as you would desire to meet with if any accident or misfortune had happened to you on the highway” (Niles’ Register, September 7, 1833). Was of diminutive stature: Contemporaries described Crockett as: “Tall in stature and large in frame” (Helen Chapman); “About six feet high—stoutly built” (Cincinnati Mirror and Western Gazette of Literature); “About six feet high, weighed about two hundred pounds, had no surplus flesh, broad shouldered, stood erect, was a man of great physical strength” (John L. Jacobs). Never wore a coonskin cap: Matilda Crockett said of her father’s departure for Texas that “He was dressed in his hunting suit, wearing a coon skin cap.” James Davis, seeing Crockett leaving Memphis for Texas wrote, “He wore that same veritable coon-skin cap and hunting shirt.” Sarah S. King recalled Alamo child survivor Enrique Esparza stating Crockett “Wore a buckskin suit and a coonskin cap.” Abandoned his family: Crockett left his family in autumn 1835 and died at the Alamo in March 1836. Before setting out he wrote to his brother-in-law, “I want to explore Texas well before I return.” Daughter Matilda recalled that he wanted to move his family immediately, but her mother convinced him to look the country over first. He arranged a barbecue and barn dance for family and friends before he left, hardly the actions of a man abandoning his family. Kept a journal at the Alamo: Richard Penn Smith created the spurious Col. Crockett’s Exploits and Adventures in Texas under Crockett’s name four months after the frontiersman’s death. Many works still cite it as Crockett’s own. Was executed after surrendering: The main source of his “surrender at the Alamo” is the handwritten De la Peña “diary.” Yet no record of this “diary” exists before 1955. Plus, not one page is in De la Peña’s handwriting. A number of details are obviously lifted from other sources available only after De la Peña’s death. The word “surrender” never appears in the document in regard to Crockett. A journal of the Texas campaign in De la Peña’s handwriting mentions the Alamo only in passing and Crockett not at all
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“The month of February is very special in the Rotary calendar since it is designated World Understanding Month. The month also includes the anniversary of the first meeting of Rotary held on February 23, 1905, now designated World Understanding and Peace Day… World Understanding Month is a chance for every club to pause, plan and promote the Fourth Avenue of Service-Rotary’s continued quest for goodwill, peace and understanding among people of the world.” Many of our clubs and their representatives are already participating in activities that promote world understanding through humanitarian service in support of a variety of international projects. Please consider what your club can do to promote more World Understanding in our Rotary World. |
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Dear Club: We have another great program this week! William Groneman is talking to us about "The Things We Still Get Wrong About Davy Crockett." Reminders: BRING A BOTTLE OF WINE for the SUPERBALL WINE PULL. If you have a bottle that you got for Christmas that you don't like, bring it!! SuperBall is this Saturday night. If you still haven't gotten your tickets, see Amber Thomason or Donna Peterson for information. February 6th is our 8th Annual First Responders Recognition Luncheon. We will be in the Conference Center in the back of the Inn of the Hills NEXT WEEK. February 9th is Rise Against Hunger. Bring your kids and grandkids to help out. We're looking for a total of 200 volunteers. We're about 1/3 of the way there. If you want to sign up, please go to Tammy's Thought for the week   This center helps folks from all walks of life. |
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This is a great program that was started back in 2005 here in Kerrville. The Christian Men’s Job Corp helps through classes, counseling and much more get men prepared for the workforce. They teach them life skills, baking, anger management, work ethics and much more. It is the second program in the Nation like this and has been one of the leading ones sense they started. Their programs are 12 weeks long and they have one in the fall and one in the spring. The sessions are in the evenings and they run from 5:30-9:30 two days a week. Mr. Jones is very passionate about what he does and pointed out that most of these guys just lack hope and that is what he wants to do is give them hope. They are funded only through local donations so please reach out to them and donate if you are able to. I'm very excited about our upcoming Rotary Satellite service project with the Christian Ministries CSI group. As we discussed at our last meeting, the volunteer day for this project will be April 13th.
We will work as a team/group to help members in the community to fix up and clean up their properties. The CSI volunteer day includes many different organizations in Kerrville. I hope to have a good turnout to represent our Rotary group!" |
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.JPG) Charlie introduces the two Red badge Exchange members   Asley Phillips with Hill Country Youth Ranch Tim Campbell also with Hill Country Youth Ranch Way to go Asley & Tim welcome to the Blue Badge folks. Great work. |
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 Kristy Vandenberg told us about her great RYLA experience recently. RYLA stands for Rotary Youth Leadership Awards, which is an annual retreat of young folks developing their leadership skills. This is one of many great programs that Rotary organizes and sponsors, and it appears our future is bright with the enthusiasm of these young leaders. |
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 Chris Braaten led us in the prayer and pledge. |
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 Courtney Lions Garcia was the speaker last Wednesday, and the topic was Big Bend National Park. Courtney is the executive director of the Big Bend Conservancy, whose mission is to promote, protect and raise funds for Big Bend National Park and the Rio Grande Wild and Scenic River. Big Bend was the first national park in Texas, and was purchased and established in 1945, making this year the 75th anniversary of the park. With 450 species of birds, 55 reptile species, 11 amphibian and 40 fish species, Big Bend has plenty to offer visitors. Three distinct ecosystems define the park, including the mountainous Chisos Basin, the Chihuahuan Desert, and the Rio Grande River. The Big Bend Conservancy partners with the Park to help improve visitor experiences, and has raised over 3.7 million dollars through license plates, grants and membership gifts. Projects include rehabilitating aging exhibits at Rio Grande Village, restoration of the Homer Wilson Ranch, and a fossil discovery exhibit. |
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The Hill Country District Junior Livestock Show Association and the Kerrville Convention and Visitors Bureau are teaming up for the 15th annual Cowboy Breakfast. Two new activities will be included in this year’s event commemorating the 75th Stock Show in Kerrville. In addition to traditional breakfast wraps, pancakes and sausage will be served. The elected official’s cow chip toss event will be replaced with the “Bouncy Horse Race” sponsored by Fore Premier Properties. Mayor Blackburn and members of the Kerrville City Council will compete against County Judge Pollard and members of the Kerr County Commissions Court. Local businesses will compete for the coveted award as best “Goat Milking Team” with 10-12 teams participating in that event.  .JPG)      its all for the Kids |
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 Charlie introduces our guest   Cody Newcomb Superintendent of Center Point ISD. Center Point ISD serves over 600 student’s pre k – twelfth grade, and honors a rich tradition of student success in academics as well as extracurricular activities. It is our fervent goal to provide a quality education and equip our students with the tools that they need to become well rounded citizens and positive members of our society. Being the Superintendent of a school in an unincorporated city has its challenges. Besides being responsible for 600 students, all the teachers, and staff he has more. The school district is responsible for the water system cleaning operation at least until they the get a new system put in. When the School Board decided to have a police force, Cody decided the best place for the office was on the campus. Jimmy Poole was selected to head up the new department on campus as its first chief of police. When Cody noticed the old admin office at the campus was not being used except to store old stuff, he decided the make it into a Center Point School Education Center and Museum, Now folks come from all over to visit the museum and to donate school related items to be displayed. This building now has a historical marker. The community needed a fitness center so Cody decided to use the museum to have this center, They have near 40 or so folks a week come in and use the facility. Not one piece of equipment has suffered any damage at all. |
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Dear Club, Happy New Year! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. Tomorrow we have Cody Newcomb, Superintendent of Center Point Schools telling us about their district and programs. Charlie will also update us on Superball. Important dates to remember: February 2 Superball Fundraiser February 6 First Responder's Recognition Luncheon February 9 Rise Against Hunger & community food drive February 15 Satellite Meeting Have a great day! Rob |
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 George led us in song with the Salvation Army band. |
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 Robin Miears presented three Paul Harris fellows at our Wednesday meeting. Congratulations to John Miller + 6, Trey Atkission +2, and Mark McDaniel +1. |
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  Captain David Swyers of the Salvation Army, with family and other members of the Salvation Army band, provided a number of Christmas songs for the Rotary Club last Wednesday. |
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 Ron Blilie gave the invocation and pledge. |
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 The Tivy Antler Football Team celebrated an unbelievable 2018 season with the club last week. Tivy finished 11-2 overall, while posting a perfect mark of 7-0 in district play.  Tivy Football Head Coad David Jones praised his assistant coaches for a job well done and announced individual All District award recipients (too many to individually list here!) to honor the team for their incredible accomplishments in 2018. As a club, we also recognize the amazing job you've done Coach to elevate our Antlers to these heights!  Club Secretary Tammy Prout also brought attention to the team's generosity off the field by highlighting their contributions to Coldwell Banker's (D'Ann Harper) local Teddy Bears for Children program.  The team also showed the club they could hold their own in the buffet line as well! In all seriousness, the club was truly honored to host the football team as our guests. We look forward to celebrating in your accomplishments next year! |
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 Gerald Irion was the lucky winner of the wine drawing last Wednesday! |
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 Michael Kahl, Schreiner University Choir Director, leads the choir - and the "vocally gifted" members of the Noon Rotary Club - in a number of Christmas favorites. The list included hits such as "Winter Wonderland," "O' Christmas Tree," "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer," "Jingle Bells," and "Carol of the Bells." In addition to singing our hearts out, we had the opportunity to hear from all of the choir members as well. A great time was had by all!! |
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 George led all in attendance (which included the Tivy Football Team and the Schreiner University Choir as our honored guests) in the Tivy School Song to kick off the celebration. |
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 Lew McCoy of the Kerrville Morning Rotary Club provided the prayer and pledge. This meeting provide an opportunity for our club, the Morning Club, and the Kerrville Kiwanas Club to join together in fellowship the day before Thanksgiving, as is our annual tradition. |
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 Martin Peterson provided the program at last Wednesday's meeting, describing the art and science of jury selection. Martin is a successful consultant who assists attorneys in developing strategies to determine the biases of potential jurors. Some of his work includes doing focus groups to see how people react to certain questions, which they can possibly ask to the jury pool. Martin described two high profile cases, which he challenged us to consider how our biases affected our opinions about the cases. One was the McDonald's hot coffee spill in the lap of the plaintiff, which produced third degree burns. At first glance, this could be dismissed as a frivolous lawsuit, but testimony showed that the cups and lids McDonald's used were not rated for the higher than normal coffee temperatures. It was also revealed that McDonald's considered the cost of settling numerous previous spill and scalding cases less expensive and better business than buying more expensive cups that would allow the lid to the cup to remain intact at the higher temperatures, thus avoiding some potential spills. The plaintiff was awarded a significant settlement. Other interesting observations: Jurors that attorneys like to avoid (by profession): School teachers- especially elementary school- they are more likely to be rule based in their thinking, and less likely to make moral based judgments. Lawyers- they become the leaders of the panel and become a jury of one. Journalists- they may not hear the emotional part of the story. And, people who can't judge because of religious reasons. |
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Happy Thanksgiving Club! Tomorrow we have another awesome speaker. Martin Peterson is a forensic anthropologist who specializes in jury selection science. We also have our joint meeting with the Kiwanis, Morning Rotary Club, & Satellite Club. We still need bell ringers for November 24th. If you're able to ring the bell, please logon to clubrunner at kerrvillerotary.org and sign up. See you all tomorrow! If you're traveling for the holiday, safe travels! |
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 Dave Samuel reminded us to sign up for the bell ringing for the Salvation Army. We will be ringing at Gibsons for several Saturdays during the Holidays, and volunteers for one hour shifts are especially needed for this coming Saturday. |
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 George led us in singing God Bless America. |
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 John Onstott provided the prayer and pledge. |
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 Carol Twiss provided the program last week on Human Trafficking. Carol has worked in law enforcement for 26 years, starting out as a corrections officer, transitioning into a jail administrator, and now manages the criminal investigations department for Kerr County Sherrif's department. One important fact is that trafficking is not the same as smuggling, where a number of people might be transported in the back of a tractor trailer to some destination and then released. Trafficking generally falls into four different categories: Kidnapping, sexual abuse, unlawful restraint and forced labor without pay. High risk groups include runaways, teenagers, children in foster care, victims of sexual or physical abuse, drug addicts, immigrants and those on parole. Trafficking has replaced drugs as the number one industry for organized criminal gang organizations. Trafficking happens in small communities like ours, so be aware and report any suspicious activities to local law enforcement. Carol Twiss can be reached at 830-739-6639. |
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 Kellie Early introduces our guest   Representative Andrew Murr was first elected in 2014 to represent District 53 in the Texas House of Representatives. The district includes Bandera, Crockett, Edwards, Kerr, Kimble, Llano, Mason, Medina, Menard, Real, Schleicher and Sutton Counties. An eighth generation Texan, he was raised on a ranch in Kimble County, and attended school in Junction. Representative Murr attended Texas A&M University, receiving a bachelor degree, summa cum laude, in Agricultural Development with an emphasis in economics and policy. Following graduation, he worked toward his master's degree at A&M and earned his teaching certification, completing his student teaching in Mason. He subsequently graduated with highest honors from Texas Tech University School of Law. In 2008, Representative Murr was elected Kimble County Attorney. However, he was appointed to the position of County Judge, due to a vacancy, before he was sworn in. During his tenure in the House, he has served on the Transportation Committee, Culture, Recreation and Tourism Committee, Rules and Resolutions Committee, Ways and Means Committee, Judiciary and Civil Jurisprudence Committee, State Federal Power and Responsibility Committee (Vice Chair), Local and Consent Calendars Committee, Select Committee on Mental Health, and the Select Committee on Opioids and Substance Abuse.
https://andrewmurr.org/ |
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Families in Rotary: Please keep Doug & Sue Whinnery in your prayers as she is home recovering Prayers for Bob Finch's wife Delores broke her arm, in hospital rehab. Prayers for Jacques Dubose is being deployed to flood areas. Red Cross Centennial of Hill Country Chapter Celebration Allegria Barn off Hwy 16 5:30 to 8:30 Cocktail Attire.
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  Bob Schmerbeck introduces the Paul Harris Fellows Tim Creweige and John Miller received their Paul Harris award. Why to go for guys!!!! |
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 Many names were called before all the wine was given away. Several were called but not wearing thier Rotary pin. |
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Dear Club, I hope you all enjoyed the beautiful weather this past weekend. What an awesome presentation last week from Jeffrey Jensen with the FBI! If you see Bryant Truitt, please say thanks to him for bringing that great program to us!! This week, we have another great program scheduled. We are welcoming fellow Rotarian, Representative Andrew Murr, who will give us a Texas legislative update. Since the meeting will be held on Halloween, the fellowship committee has asked anyone who'd like to dress up to please do so! Next week on November 7th, will be our Veterans Day Program. I will be starting that program early and there will be no time for announcements. Also on November 7th, we will hold our Veteran's Appreciation Breakfast at the Veterans Center on Meadowview Ln. We are looking for volunteers to come and sit with the veterans and eat with them from 8-9:30. We have volunteers to get set up and help serve, but we really need some club members to sit and talk with the veterans. Please email donna@joecookagency.com if you can help out. See you Wednesday! Rob |
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 FBI special agent Agent Jeff Jensen discussed various ways scammers attempt to get money out of people. Jeff worked as a bank examiner before he joined the FBI, and this was good training for investigating white collar crime, especially business account take overs. If a business has been hacked and money has been stolen, there are delays built into the system that allow retrieval of the funds if reported within 72 hours. Con artists tend to be more successful with those who are elderly and those whose judgement is questionable. They generally target home phones, and information about most of us is readily available on the internet. His advice- if you don't recognize the phone number on the caller ID, don't answer the phone. If you have fallen for a scam, or answered phone and engaged in conversations with someone who is trying to get money, you are probably on a list that is being sold to other scammers. The IRS and FBI won't contact you by email, so don't fall for those type of scams either. If you use social media, don't friend anyone you don't know- scams are prevalent there too. Health Care, Medicare and Medicaid fraud are commonly investigated. The volume various types of cases of white collar fraud is significant, and local law enforcement will generally try to handle the investigation of cases with input from the FBI. Unfortunately, the prison sentences are light if conviction is achieved, so that is not much of a deterrent. |
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Tammy Prout recognized the Kerrville Fire Department and other first responders for rescuing a person from a vehicle that had washed off a low water crossing during the recent floods.  |
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 .JPG) The Rotary Club's Pints for Polio event was held recently at St. Peter's Church. Funds were raised to help with Rotary International's ongoing work towards the eradication of polio. |
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.jpg) George led us in the fourth verse of America the beautiful. |
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 Kristy Vandenberg started the meeting with the prayer and pledge. |
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 Former Tivy History Teacher and "History Coach" Clifton Fifer offered up fascinating historical information on the life and times of the famous Buffalo Soldier regiments of the United States Army. Although several African American regiments were raised during the Civil War as part of the Union Army (including the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry and the many United States Colored Troops Regiments), the "Buffalo Soldiers" weren't officially established by Congress until after the Civil War. The Buffalo Soldiers, the first peacetime all-black regiments in the regular U.S. Army, originally were members of the 10th Cavalry Regiment of the U.S. Army, formed in 1866 at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Sources disagree on how the nickname "Buffalo Soldiers" began. According to the Buffalo Soldiers National Museum, the name originated with the Cheyenne warriors in the winter of 1877, the actual Cheyenne translation being "Wild Buffalo." Some sources assert that the nickname was given out of respect for the fierce fighting ability of the 10th Cavalry. Still other sources point to a combination of both legends. Another possible source could be from the Plains Indians (the Buffalo Soldiers served at Ft. Davis, in Texas, as well as other plains locations) who gave them that name because of the bison coats they wore in winter. The term Buffalo Soldiers became a generic term for all black soldiers. It is now used for U.S. Army units that trace their direct lineage back to the 9th and 10th Cavalry units, whose service earned them an honored place in U.S. history. Clifton also noted that the Buffalo Soldiers have fought for our country in every major war since the Civil War (where black regiments fought under a different moniker). In addition to the origin stories of the famous group(s), Clifton involved a good number of Rotarians in games and songs prevalent during their heyday. Here are just some of the pictures from last week's meeting (and like last week's speaker, Clifton was hard to get on camera because he was always on the move):  Clifton shows the group the buffalo hide coverings the soldiers would wear in the winter time, possibly giving rise to the nickname Buffalo Soldier from the Plains Indians.  Clifton serenades to group in a rendition of "Buffalo Soldiers," originally sung by the Doo-wop group The Persuasions. This picture does not do him justice. He really is an incredible singer.  Rotarians Todd Odom and Ingrid Painter assist Clifton in delivering an "authentic" American Indian music presentation.  Greg Appel gets the party started on his washtub bass!  Other Rotarians are inspired to action. Who knew we had such musical talent in the club!? Clifton also introduced tools and toys used during the times of the Buffalo Soldier - see below:  Witching Sticks - Need water anyone?  Jacob's Ladder - an amazing feat of early engineering!  Jon Sibert demonstrating the pull of the Hooey Stick.  Clifton Fifer demonstrating the right way to conduct the Wood Dancer.  Rotarian Paul Anderson demonstrating the wrong way (who let that guy up there!?)...... There was so much action, that it was impossible to document it all. Thank you Clifton for such a riveting presentation!! |
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Dear Club, Tomorrow we have another great speaker, Jeffrey Jensen, FBI Special Agent, coming to talk to us about business account takeovers. In order to give him as much time as possible for his presentation, I will be starting the meeting around 11:55 instead of 12:10 so please try to be on time. We will not have time for much club business so I'm going to give you the announcements via email now: 1. Pints for Polio was a success! What a fun event! Amanda Taylor is one of our newer Rotarians and she did a FANTASTIC job planning this event. The music was superb, the food was tasty, and the beverages were top notch. We will have those final figures for you next week. If you missed the event and still want to donate, please see either Amanda Taylor, Kristy Vandenberg, or myself. 2. We need volunteers who would like to help with the Veterans Breakfast on November 7th which is just 2 weeks away! If you would like to help, please email Donna Peterson at donna@joecookagency.com. 3. We have the Schreiner basketball mixer on November 8th. If you want details about this get with Kristy Vandenberg. 4. Our Christmas Party will be December 12th. Please save the date. It will be held this year at the Inn of the Hills. 5. Superball planning has begun! If you are interested in helping plan our big fundraising event, please get with Charlie McIlvain or Amber Thomason to find out how you can help. Save the date of February 2, 2019. As you know this is our main fundraiser and our goal is to raise $50,000 that we use for scholarships for local high school and college students and to run our other projects like Blue Santa, Veterans initiatives, advanced training grants for First Responders, Chalk Fest sponsorship, Harper 5K walk/run, etc. It's a fun event with food trucks with awesome food, drinks, and other tailgating events! 6. Christmas is quickly approaching. Dave Samuel will be looking for volunteers soon to ring the bell for Salvation Army at Gibson's. Stay tuned for additional information soon. See you tomorrow - five minutes early!! Rob  |
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 Making a difference!!! Kuddos to you Kristy |
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 Amber Thomason was wearing her Rotary pin, so she won a bottle of wine when her name was called. |
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 Greg Peschel provided the prayer and pledge, and also introduced our program speaker, Bobby Templeton. |
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 Tammy Prout was the most recent Rotarian of the year, and now has the plaque to go with it. Tammy is also in line to become president of our club in a couple of years. |
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 Greg Peschel introduced Ingram I.S.D. superintendent Bobby Templeton as our speaker last Wednesday. Bobby is a former member of our club and previously was the principal at Tivy high School. Bobby described the way Ingram ISD is addressing security at their campus in light of events in our country over the last several years. Ingram has 74 video cameras dispersed throughout the various buildings, athletic complex, and entrance to the campus. Upon entering the campus, your picture is taken and in addition to being visible to the administration, the pictures also go to Ingram police vehicles and headquarters. Ingram wants to give their kids a reason to say no to drugs, so they have random drug testing and drug sniffing dogs make the rounds. Ingram is one of four schools in Texas that initiated a School Marshal program this year. The marshals are possible because of a new classification of law enforcement officer that was recently authorized by the Texas legislature. The five marshals have a badge and a gun, and were already school staff, although their identity is not publicized to the general public. This past summer, they went through an intensive training, including psychological test and profile, concealed handgun carry training, first aid training, and non violent deescalation training. |
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 Last week's meeting was at Shriner University in support of the Hill Country College Fund ("HCCF"). The fund is celebrating four decades of awarding student grants! Some quick facts about the HCCF (courtesy of the University's website:):
Rotarians Jack Pratt (Current HCCF Campaign Chairman) and Marta Diffen (University Director of Development) were among those who addressed the crowd at the event:  Chairman Pratt mentioned that $11 million-plus each year is distributed in financial aide and mentioned the 2018 fundraising goal was $625,000. He mentioned that the University expects to give more than 200 grants to approximately 15% of Schreiner's students! .jpg) Marta talked about being part of this effort that's grown over the past 40 years. She emphasized that every gift counts and that the community's generosity enables student to say "Yes we can!"  Former HCCF scholarship recipient Frida de la Garza spoke to the crowd concerning her journey, and the support of the HCCF that made her dreams possible. You can see her story, along with additional details of the event (courtesy of the Hill Country Community Journal), at http://www.hccommunityjournal.com/article_bc220988-c67a-11e8-a51b-4740e84f4bf2.html . To volunteer or for information about the HCCF campaign, call Johnson at 702-7204; or email her at lejohnson@schreiner.edu. Donations may be made online at www.schreiner.edu/giving/hccf. |
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 This outstanding group of volunteers was up early on Saturday, picking up trash in our community. We had five students that wanted to get involved as well, including some from the Kerrville Tivy Interact Club! Also - Thank you to the Stoepel family for the use of the all new Ford F150 Trucks! Thank you again so much for your help. Thank You to the following list of awesome volunteers: Michelle McGinnis Robin Miears Todd Odom Mayor Bill Blackburn John Lang Bill Tucker David Rittenhouse Max Reinbach Carol Twiss Mike Thornton |
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This week, we have Bobby Templeton from Ingram ISD. Many of you will remember Bobby as a past member of this club. It should be a good presentation as always!
The First Responder's Golf Tournament went off without a hitch! For those of you who played or sponsored THANK YOU! We will have the final figures in the next week or so, but it looks like we made about $6,000 that will go towards our First Responder Training Grants. This is a huge investment in our community & I thank you all for your support.
Our next big event will be Pints for Polio on October 20. This will not just be a beer event, but also for those wine drinkers. We have several different wines and beers that will be available along with some good eats! Mark your calendars to attend this event & help out the Foundation!
Also, make sure you have these other dates on your calendar: November 7, Veteran's Breakfast November 21, Thanksgiving Joint Meeting with Kiwanis December 19, Christmas Party February 9, Rise Against Hunger & Community Food Drive
Also mixed in late November and December will be Bell Ringing at Gibson's and Blue Santa.
Thanks! Robin |
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Our Rotary club is hosting a golf tournament to raise money for training and education for First Responders in the Kerrville Area. October 1st is the date, so put it on your calendar to help support this worthy cause. Contact Jeff Wendling for player and sponsorship opportunities. ( jlwendling@lycos.com ) |
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Satellite Meeting September 18thSpeaker: Lee Johnson Guest: Mr. Overby from Davidson Freedle Espenhover & Overby, P.C. Our guest came to give us some great information on the upcoming Kerrville ISD bond. He also talked to us about how there will be voting sites at some of the local schools including; Tivy High School, Hal Peterson Middle School, Nimitz Elementary School, and Starkey Elementary School. This will make voting so much more convenient for parents as well as school staff/teachers. Lee Johnson was our speaker and he came to talk to us about the new member process for Rotary. He talked to us about the process from when you first fill out your paperwork to when you get to remove your red new member sticker off your name badge. The part he went over the most with us was the orientation and how he makes it fun so people are excited about joining. We brought up the idea to him of our new Satellite members we get in the future being able to join in on his orientations so they can get a more in depth introduction to the club. Club Business: We had a group pow wow of sorts this week after our speaker to decide what we want to use the $3,000 towards that Robin has given our club to start a new committee or project. The two top ideas we have thus far are joining the CSI group volunteers to help fix-up/clean up local properties. Their primary goal is to use volunteers to improve the living conditions of primarily low-income and elderly persons in the community, who cannot afford to provide for the upkeep of their homes. Our other idea was to use the money and volunteers to help improve the Doyle Community Center Garden. This garden currently is kept up by the community but they would like to work on improving and beautifying the space.  .jpg)  |
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.JPG)  Clint Morris introduces out guest Bryan McAuley  .JPG) Bryan is the Interim Site Manager, San Felipe State Historic Site San Felipe de Austin Historic Site is a historic site located in San Felipe, Austin County. The site preserves the first provisional capital and Anglo-American colony in Mexican-owned Texas. So much history that went through this early town. A lot of names we recognized in later history books. Bryan had a few Texas trivia pursuit question to the winner he gave out a copy of the book San Felipe de Austin State Historic Site. I and many others were impressed learning about Texas history. I added several links below if you want to learn more about San Felipe de Austin State Historic Site. |
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Prayer for the family of Dave Vinyard, a longtime Rotarian as he passed away. Bill Muldoon is competing in the World Senior Games in racquetball, St, George's Utah. |
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 Sue Tiemann introduced Tivy alum Tom Carpenter, who joined our club. Tom is in the LED lighting business.  Mike Cave was introduced by Judy Eychner as our newest member. Mike is a retired Methodist minister in the Hunt area. |
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George led us in the Tivy fight song.  And numerous Tivy graduates joined in.....  |
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 Bill Crumrine provided the prayer and pledge. |
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 City Councilmember (club member) Delayne Sigerman introduces Mark McDaniel, City Manager (at right - also a club member!) at last week's meeting. Mark has 30+ years of experience in municipal government management that spans seven Texas cities. Prior to moving to the Texas Hill Country, Mark served as the assistant city manager for the City of Dallas. With Mark's background (which includes attending Harvard University's "Senior Executive in Local Government Program") in finance, organizational development, performance improvement, planning, operations management, and economic development, he has proven to be a trusted leader in his profession. Mark has served as President for the Texas City Management Association and Vice President for the International City/County Management Association (ICMA), representing the central US. He now serves on the board for the Alliance for Innovation.  Mark addressed the club concerning the city's Kerrville 2050 Comprehensive Plan. See excerpts from Mark's (KERRVILLE 2050 - YOUR VOICE/YOUR CITY) presentation below: PURPOSE
KERRVILLE 2050 PLAN TOPICS (CHAPTERS)
THE COMMUNITY'S PLAN The Comprehensive Plan was derived with input from:
EARLY ACTIONS ITEMS (SAMPLING)
.jpg) OTHER IMPORTANT ACTION ITEMS
Much more detail is available concerning Kerrville's 2050 Plan at http://kerrville2050.com/. Thank you Mark for such an informative presentation! |
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Dear Club,
Hello Everyone! Thank you Mark McDaniel for the great presentation last week. We are so fortunate to have such a great ambassador for Kerrville.
Upcoming important dates: September 18, Satellite Club Meeting (Next Tuesday) September 29, Trash Cleanup (Meet at Talley Elementary) October 1, First Responder's Golf Tournament October 20, Pints for Polio February 3, Superball Fundraiser February 9, Rise Against Hunger
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.jpg) George led us in a song welcoming the City Manager, Mark McDaniel. .jpg) Lyrics for Mark - "the man who sees it all!" |
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 Pictured is new member Tim Campbell! Tim is the Chief Development Officer at the Hill Country Youth Ranch and is responsible for the organization's fundraising and marketing activities. Previous to his time in the nonprofit sector, Tim owned and operated an outdoor sporting goods store in Denver Colorado. A jack of all trades!  Pictured is new member Eli Garcia. Eli is the Public Information Officer/Training Sgt. for the Kerr County Sheriff's office (18 years of service!). He is also a Tivy graduate and a father of FIVE Tivy grads! Please welcome Tim and Eli to the club! |
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.jpg) Pictured is Kim Clarkson - Paul Harris Fellow +2. Congrats Kim!! |
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Let's remember what happened 17 years ago (9/11/2001), and keep the families of those suffering loss in the 9/11 tragedy in our prayers and thoughts. |
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 Paul Anderson led us in the prayer and pledge. |
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.JPG) .JPG) Kathy told about her career after the US Coast Guard. upon completion of the Police Academy. She looked towards Kerrville. They ask her if she would take over the investigating sex offenders and she has been there 4 years. She is the first female detective in the Kerrville Police force. She made us aware of the fact that 55 sex offenders live in Kerrville. We also found out that another near 60 lived in Kerr county. https://www.dps.texas.gov then click services in the top bar then Highlight Crime Records then Highlight Sex Offenders Search. the you can type city and see where they live. I went through this process and it was fairly easy |
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A number of members were awarded perfect attendance certificates. Bob Schmerbeck gets the award for longevity, with 50 years of perfect attendance.  Jimmy Hutto gets his award.  Bob Schmerbeck and District Governor Kathy Hubbard. 50 Years! |
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 Rotarian Guy Jarvis presented the 2018 Tivy Hall of Fame Class to the club on 8/15/2018. Back in his prime (just kidding Guy) Guy was quite the athlete himself! Guy graduated from Tivy High School in 1979, served as the Tivy Athletic Booster Club president from 2003-2008, and now currently presides as the chairman of the Tivy Athletic HOF Selection Committee. As an athlete, Guy dished out 23 assists the night Jon Chambers set the all-time scoring record for most points in one game. Tivy was 29-4 that year!! An all-around Kerrville All-Star, Guy has been a member of our club since 1984 and also served as its president from 1994-1995. And on another note, Guy took time to visit with us on his 37th wedding anniversary. Thanks Guy! Guy began his presentation by pointing out that the Tivy Athletic HOF is celebrating its 13th year, and it remains as competitive as ever to garner induction. There were 62 nominations for the 2018 class alone. He noted that it is such an honor to be inducted, that many recipients cry, or literally shout out in joy when they learn of their selection. And with that emphasis, Guy presented the selections for the 2018 Tivy Athletic HOF. 1. The 1965-66 Boys Track - State Semi-Finalist Mile Relay Team 
 2. Former Head Tivy Football Coach Mark Smith 
 3. Kyle Yates (Baseball & Football)  
A Tivy Moment Guy also highlighted that this would be the first year the HOF Selection Committee would select a "Tivy Moment" to commemorate "An outstanding moment in Tivy Athletics Sports History that exemplifies the Spirit of Tivy Fight Never Dies!" The 2018 selection celebrates the 1980 basketball team's ten overtime victory over the South San West Cougars - that's right - TEN OVERTIME PERIODS. See more below:
 Team Members: Coach James Sharp Gus Benson Phillip Sarrell David Norris James Ehler Chuck Downey Stephen Stengal Ricky Coldwell Ricky Mahan Joe Cook Buddy Galloway Manager Stephen Fine Manager Danny Lara |
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 Jeff Harris gives a big grin to celebrate his new bottle of wine. Also, Dave Rittenhouse (not pictured) won a bottle of wine for answering Robin's questions pertaining to our video "homework" for the week - What a teacher's pet!! Just kidding Dave! Just more great reasons to wear your pin! |
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 Jimmy Hutto leads the group in prayer and the pledge. |
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Satellite meeting August 21st Guests: Jeff Wendling (noon), Jeff Harris (noon), Morgan Bond (guest), Rob Poindexter (noon), & Robin Miears (noon) Speaker: Robin Miears Kerrville Rotary President Robin talked with us about her goals for the next year as president. She also went over why she joined Rotary and the different reasons most people do join Rotary. Some of our upcoming events we also talked about are the Labor Day Walk A Fun that Kristy is still needing volunteers for. Also The First Responders Golf Tournament that is going to be on October 1st. If anyone needs any more information on joining or helping contact Jeff Wendling or Jeff Harris. Also the Veterans Breakfast on November 7th. If anyone wants to come out and help us serve and thank our Veterans please contact Donna Peterson. Robin also talked passionately about what we can do to help our community through Rotary. Besides the many committees that people can join Rotary is always looking to starting new committees. The new member group will be coming up with a new project and she has also offered for Satellite to come up with another project. Kristy is also working on starting a Rotaract program that will be $25 a quarter and will be for ages 22-32. There were also two Paul Harris awards given out to Erin Wofford and Tricia Byrom. |
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 Todd Odom won a bottle of wine for wearing his Rotary pin. Don't forget to wear yours. Robin also sent out a short clip about Rotary. She ask a question and Amanda Taylor answered correctly and won a bottle. |
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  Dr Mark Foust is a dedicated superintendent. The goals the board has set are all about the children. The kids are taught skills for 20th century living. Also financial literacy. more can be found in this link http://kisdcfac.net/
Mark was ask a question at the end of answer session. Someone ask when he was going to join Rotary? His answer was when the School Bond was passed. |
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Please keep Tim Cooney's dad in your prayers. |
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Three new members were inducted into our Club:  Bill Blackburn, also known as "mayor".  Carol Twiss is the chief criminal investigator for the Kerr County sheriff's office.  Austin Dickson is the executive director of the Community Foundation. |
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 Jimmy and Becky Hutto and grandkids provided groceries and supplies from our Rotary Club to the local Veterans Center. |
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What an awesome speaker we had last week! Willie Ng is truly an inspiration. We have another great speaker this week, Bill Blackburn, mayor of Kerrville. He will update us on the state of the city. This will be a great time to ask your questions. This month is Membership and New Clubs Month. Our past President, Kristy Vandenberg, is working on a community Rotaract Club. If you know of a young person between 22-32 years old that is interested in service, please get with Kristy. Upcoming dates: August 22 -- District Governor Kathy Hubbard will address our club. September 3 -- 2nd Annual Walk A Fun at Louise Hays Park -- Kristy Vandenberg will head this committee. See her for more details. October 1 -- First Responder's Golf Tournament at Riverhill Country Club -- Jeff Wendling and Jeff Harris will coordinate this event. See them if you'd like to sponsor a hole or you just want to get a team together to play. November 7 -- Veterans Appreciation Breakfast at the Veterans Center -- Donna Peterson is chair of this committee. Email her at donna@joecookagency.com if you're interested in helping with this. If you have an administrative questions, get with Kristy Vandenberg, kerrvillerotary@gmail.com, 713 397 6176. If you have a bookkeeping question, please see Gena Carter at gena@braunandcarter.com or 830 992 1785. |
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Satellite Meeting July 17th Speaker: Josh Rodrigue a Parks and Recreation Specialists from Kerrville Parks and Rec We had the pleasure getting to have Josh come speak to us about what the Kerrville Parks & Recreation do and what the plans are for the future. He also explained to us about how Parks & Recreation do a lot more things then “just mow the lawns”. Even though there is over 350 acres of grass that they have to mow and keep up. Some of the future plans consist of redoing the HEB tennis courts and possibly adding more courts and other improvements. They are also currently doing a study for the next six to nine months about how they want to update the Olympic Pool. Also the option to possibly having an indoor competition size pool. There were two local sisters that are also Girl Scouts who raised $795 to have an adaptive chair installed at the Lehmann and Monroe Park here in Kerrville. The raised all the funds on their own and put in some of their own money. There is a great Activity guide that you can look at on their website with a list of activities that are going on. https://kerrvilletx.gov/93/Parks-and-Recreation |
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.jpg) Past President Kristy exchanged her president badge for a regular Rotarian badge, but we know she will continue to be quite active. |
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 Steve Pautler enjoys his prize scarf from Schreiner University, as several Rotary members names were called to receive free memorabilia from Schreiner. The university is holding a golf tournament to benefit Schreiner Athletics and their student-athletes. The tournament is scheduled for August 4th, at Scott Schreiner Golf Course, and teams and sponsors are encouraged. Contact Rotarian David Reast for more information. dreast@schreiner.edu |
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.JPG) Clint introduced our guest .JPG) .JPG) Dawn Buckingham a Texas State Senator was our guest. She spoke of her career and about why se joined the political field. She said she could get a lot more done from the inside rather than outside. She spoke on several issues and knows her stuff. Texas State Senator District 24 Biography Dawn Buckingham is a conservative small business owner who believes the best approach to government is "less is more." As a doctor, she has witnessed firsthand how government often interferes, rather than enhances, an individual’s or a business’ success. Dawn Buckingham’s forefathers were among the first settlers to Texas seven generations ago, and that tough, independent, pioneer spirit is deeply rooted in her personality. Dawn spent her early years growing up on Fox Run Farm until the family moved to Austin. While she graduated from Westlake High School, Dawn remains a country girl at heart as an avid hunter and outdoorswoman. Her commitment to service began early, serving as a volunteer fire fighter, and she is a graduate of the A&M Fire School. Dawn lived at home and worked two jobs to pay for college, graduating Magna Cum Laude and debt-free. It was during college that Dawn met the love of her life and husband, Ed Buckingham. Dawn and Ed both received their medical degrees from the Texas Medical Branch at Galveston. Dawn’s commitment to service and recognition for her work has allowed her to hold leadership positions in local, state, and national medical organizations. |
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Prayers for Calvin Weinheimer's family. He passed Sunday. He joined Rotary in 1999. Services pending at Grimes Funeral Chapels. |
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This week we have a great program. Senator Dawn Buckingham will provide a legislative update. I will also have committee lists available for sign up for the new Rotary year. I look forward to seeing you all at the Inn of the Hills!
Also, Please try and view this video prior to today's meeting (7/18/2018)
At the meeting, Robin will ask a question about the video. There will be a prize for the member who can answer the question!
Hope to see everyone there today! |
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 Bob Schmerbeck introduces new Noon Rotary Club President Robin Miears, along with her new fearless board, to the group.  (Kristy, Paul, Tim, Jeff H., Jeff W., Gena, Tammy, Charlie & Robin - Not Pictured is Janelle & Ingrid) - See BOD Assignments Below: Your new Board of Directors for the 2018-2019 Rotary Year:
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  George led us in song with an appreciation for President Kristy's leadership for the past year. |
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 Tammy Prout was named Rotarian of the Year for our club. Congratulations Tammy! |
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   Greg Peschel was wearing his pin and got a bottle of Wine.  Also John Lang picked up a bottle that he had won a few weeks back |
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  Before Stockton started the program we had technical difficulties   Once the program got going we were told a lot about Uganda.  \ Like exactly where Uganda is located in Africa.      Several ways to say Thank You |
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 Tim Cooney exchanged his red badge for Blue. Congratulations Tim !!! |
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 At the meeting last Wednesday, Javier Ferrebasket reviewed his time as a Rotary exchange student with the club. See some highlights below: Why did he travel all this way from Zaragoza, Spain? According to Javi, he loves to travel, and wanted to come to the U.S. for quite some time. On top of that, he just "loves adventure" and found himself "getting bored" in his hometown. Javier's English teacher suggested that he get in touch with Rotary to make that dream a reality, and the rest is history! Was it worth it? "Of course!" Even though it was tough to leave his biological family behind for such a long period, Javi mentioned that the trip was well worth the time away. He mentioned how exciting it was to learn new cultures and customs, and that the experience helped him "understand how people in other countries can see certain topics so differently." Home(s) Away from Home - And even though Javi had to spend time away from his biological family in Zaragoza, he became part of three host families while here in the Hill Country. He gave sincere thanks to the Alvarez/Chedzoy, Sibert, and Hays families and shared pictures (some are seen below) and stories from each stay. You could tell how much Javier really enjoyed himself with each stay! New Adventures - Javi spoke of his new adventures here in the states, including running cross country and track in lieu of playing basketball (he mentioned he was grateful for this experience, and that he appreciated doing something instead of basketball which he had played his whole life), spending time as a brother to two sisters (he has only brothers back home), making Christmas cookies, hiking the River Trail, indoor skydiving, a trip to Big Bend, bull frog hunting & shotgun shooting over Spring Break, visiting the Rodeo with other Rotary exchange students, attending a Sweet Sixteen Basket Ball game, traveling to California, and experiencing "American" prom! Javi's new adventures also included experiencing a root beer float for the first time (which he said is the "weirdest" American custom he experienced)! We will miss you Javier, but at least you have cowboy boots (see picture above) and soon will have a cowboy hat (courtesy of David Reast) to take with you on your grand 30 day adventure around the U.S., and then back to Spain. Thanks for the memories!!         |
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Hope to see you Wednesday (6/20) at our meeting! Stockton Williams will be speaking about his trip to Uganda. This will be informative and entertaining! Thank you to Courtney Compton and Tricia Byrom for chairing the Scholarship Committee. The club awarded $25,000 in scholarships to deserving college and college bound students this year!! You can see a picture of the recipients below.  There will be no meeting on Wednesday, July 4th. Robin will get her year started on 7/11! See you Wednesday ... wear your pin to win! |
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 George Eychner and Kerrville's most "infamous" philanthropist, Art Bell, led us in the song of the day, "The Philanthropist Song". .jpg) Thanks for all you do Art!! |
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  Kenneth Early led us in the opening prayer and pledges - that's right - two pledges as we also paid homage to the Texas Flag to celebrate Flag Day. See the Texas Pledge below. The Texas Pledge: Honor the Texas flag I pledge allegiance to thee, One state under God, One & indivisible |
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Literacy & Water Safety Project: Dates and times are being set now for all KISD schools, Harper, Ingram, Notre Dame and Hunt. If you want to help share water safety information with the 2nd and 3rd graders, please let me know ASAP so that I can get you in touch with the coordinator at one of the schools! Let's help prevent drownings in our area! Josh the Otter program reached somewhere between 700 & 800 kids. This is a great idea to teach water safety to the children. Special thanks to all Rotarians who helped put the program on. Mark your calendars NOW for the New Member Happy Hour & Party! The date is Thursday, June 14th at Jimmy & Bekki Hutto's house. Starting time is 5:30pm. There will be appetizers and drinks! I will be sending out more information in an RSVP email soon! Please respond! Lastly, have you planted a tree lately? If so, let me know!!!  Charlie introduced guest & members with guest. |
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 Clint Morse introduced our guest.   It was a pleasure to listen to a lady that truly believes in what she is doing. She told of her life in camping world. Staff close to 100. Kitchen staff of 11. Dr. in the camp 24/ 7. Has 150 kids at a time and like 350 total all summer. Camp last only 28 days now. Two sessions a summer. This is due to the shrinking of summer by the schools. About Jane RagsdaleJane Ragsdale (Mrs. Dick Howell) is the director of Heart O’ the Hills. She was a Heart camper and counselor, and served as program director from 1978-87. She has been one of the owners since 1976, and director since 1988. a link to find out more about the Camp. https://heartothehillscamp.wordpress.com/author/janeragsdale/
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This tournament was held June 2nd. a lot of money was collected for the VA's major fund raiser. |
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  .JPG) The wind was blowing gently, so it was cool under the shade. A lot of folks gave a few speeches, Bagpipes played. |
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We welcomed our newest member of the club, Gillian Davidson, proposed by Jeff Talarico. Gill is Director of Activities at Riverhill Country Club.  |
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Congratulations to District 5840's Rotary president of the year, our own Kristy Vandenberg. We knew she did a great job as our president, and it is wonderful that she is recognized throughout our Rotary district for spearheading our club's accomplishments this year.  |
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Congratulations to Rotarians Judy Eychner and Delayne Sigerman for their election to the Kerrville City Council. Thank you to Warren Ferguson for his service on council as well. |
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Nadia Noel-Anglade provided the prayer and pledge at the meeting last Wednesday.  |
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 Last Wednesday, Crystal Dockery was honored for her contributions to our Rotary Club over the last several years. She led the fellowship committee and organized many Rotary events, including the annual picnic, Halloween and other themed meetings, Valentine's day program, Christmas parties and much more. She and members of the fellowship committee have done a great job over the last few years, and we owe them a big thanks for all they do. We wish Crystal the best of luck in her move to Austin. |
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Rotarian Warren Ferguson provided the program on Pakistan.  Pakistan is an ethnically and linguistically diverse country with a similarly diverse geography. It gained its independence in 1947, and has a population of about 215 million people. Pakistan has three governing entities: an elected national government, the military, and ISI (their intelligence agency). America has a complicated history in Pakistan. One interesting book written by Steven Coll is titled Directorate S, which is about America's secret wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan.  China is building a deep water commercial port off the southern coast of Pakistan, and there is some suspicion that it could ultimately be a military strategy to enhance China's presence in the area.  Warren previously worked for a large engineering firm, and spent some time assessing Pakistan's communications network, which has some challenges.  Other interesting notes: Pakistan is estimated to have about 120 nuclear weapons compared to about 20 for India. Russia has had a volatile relationship with Pakistan over the years, but has recently gotten more friendly. |
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 Clint Morris introduces two of the candidates running to replace Lamar Smith in congress. .JPG) Joseph Kopser Democrat Joseph spoke of his military background and why he would be a good representative. *Fight for universal Healthcare *Work towards 100% Renewable Energy *Build a better Economy Joseph made some good points in his speech. for more info on Joseph see https://kopserforcongress.com/  Chip Roy Republican was the second guest to present his views. Chip also had several bullet points *Support our Military *Secure the Border *Healthcare Freedom Chip also made some good points. for more info follow the link https://chiproy.com/issues/ |
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 Charlie announces guest & members with guest.  David Reast introduced Gabby with the Veterans Hospital was asking for volunteers to assist in getting the vets from their room to the bus. And then to assist in getting them to the cemetery for the program on Monday May the 28th |
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David Jones is going thru some issues so please keep his family in your prayers. |
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Our annual picnic was held last Wednesday at the Schreiner University Robbins Lewis Pavilion. Great fajitas and fun! Thank you to the fellowship committee for another great picnic. Crystal Dockery was honored for leading this committee for several years. She will be leaving us soon for another opportunity in Austin, so we wish her well. More random photos                   |
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 Jeff Talarico introduced new Member Todd Odom, who is with Ken Stoepel Ford here in Kerrville. Welcome to the club, Todd! |
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Don't forget the Rotary annual picnic is this Wednesday afternoon, starting with happy hour at 5:15 and a fajita dinner at 6:00. Location is at the Robbins Lewis Pavilion on the Schreiner University campus. There will not be a noon meeting Wednesday. Bob Fairchild was wearing his Rotary pin at the last meeting and won a bottle of wine. Donate at least $25 to the Rotary Foundation and receive a FREE Rotary Club of Kerrville Baseball Cap! This week we will again have cruise tickets for sale. Buy three ($30) and you not only enter to win a cruise, but you can pick up your customized Rotary Cap! Working on getting 100% participation. We cannot do it without your help! We take cash and checks!!! Our Literacy and Water Safety Education Project started last Fridays Friday in CenterPoint. Then, later in May we will be at Tally, Nimitz, Tom Daniels and Starkey within KISD. We are also scheduling readings at Notre Dame, Harper, Hunt and Ingram elementary schools! Do you want to help? Let me know and I can put you in touch with the Rotarian who is making it happen at one of these schools! You can participate for 30-45 minutes or 2 hours ... would love to have more readers and assistants! Ready for our last Habitat for Humanity build? It will be Saturday, May 19th starting at 8am. We would love to have a large turnout for this day - you can wear your new Rotary Cap and save your shirt for the next event! RSVP to Rob or Rebecca Poindexter! Kristy just received a great email from our International President, Ian Riseley, about the Tree Planting Initiative. There is still time to plant a tree before June 30th! Right now we are still encouraging everyone to plant one - and we are at 176 planted! More members = More trees! Come on ... get in on the fun! |
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 Blake Hastings Rex Boyland introduced Blake Hastings, who provided the program on the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, San Antonio Branch. The Federal Reserve Bank sets monetary policy, puts money into circulation and supervises and regulates a number of financial institutions. The organization is a system of twelve decentralized banks, with the Dallas branch serving our area. Blake indicated that the labor market is tight now, and the recent tax reform should help GDP growth up to 1%, but potential tariffs and resulting trade wars could trim that back. Demographics is an long term issue to be considered, since we have an aging workforce. In terms of economic growth, two factors can help: Workforce growth and increased productivity. But, there are few places in the world where the workforce is growing, namely India and some parts of Africa. Locally, Texas weakened some in 2015 and 2016, but the good news is that we rebounded in 2017 (2.1 % growth) and are expected to grow by 3.4% in 2018. |
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 Coach Paul Harris and the Center Point boys basketball team were honored at the meeting last Wednesday. The Pirates had a great year, with a Bi District Championship, a 19-13 overall record and 7-1 in District. They made the playoffs and had a winning season for the fist time since 2004. Congratulations! |
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 The Sargent at Arms committee was recognized for the diligent work they do before and after each meeting, checking us in and preparing the room on Wednesdays. Pictured are Diane Green, Ingrid Painter, Brenda Thompson, Lloyd Painter, Kim Clarkson, Doug Lidiak, Quincy Smith. |
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 State Representative and Rotarian Andrew Murr led us in the prayer and Pledge. |
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.jpg) George and Richard lead us in God Bless America. As an added bonus, Richard also shared some of the war time lines to the original song! |
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 We took time to honor the Tivy Antler Basketball Team for a great season. Congrats girls! It's also worth noting that the ENTIRE team is composed of straight A students and a host of Academic All Americans! What an accomplishment!! |
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Please keep Carolyn Northcutt and Austin Clarkson in your prayers due to the recent passing of family members (Son-in-Law and Father, respectively). Also, please keep Kristy (who recently had a hip replacement), Bob Finch (wife Deborah is going through kidney failure), Jimmy Hutto (had shoulder surgery recently), and Charlie McIlvain's wife, Rhonda (extended hospital stay) in your prayers as we wish for speedy recoveries for all. |
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 New Member Tim Cooney led us in the prayer and pledge. |
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.jpg) Walt Koenig, Kerrville Chamber of Commerce President, and a member of our Noon Rotary Club, shares his expertise on the country of Afghanistan derived from his time there (and in Iraq) as a U.S. diplomat. According to Walt, Afghanistan is a country of contradictions - 90% of the population have cell phones, while electricity penetration is amongst the lowest in the world. It is a landlocked country of about 260,000 square miles in area (about the size of Texas). The country's population is estimated at 37 million, with 70% below the age of 30. It's a highly tribal country with 11 major ethic groups and 2 official languages (Dari & Pashtu). Afghanistan also has a very long history of occupation, resistance and upheaval dating back to the time of Alexander the Great (who conquered the country in 330 on his way to India). With respect to U.S. involvement in Afghanistan, 9/11/2001 is the date that changed everything. The attack on the twin towers led to our direct involvement in the region. According to Walt, with little obstacles or military resistance, getting into the country was not difficult (particularly for a fighting force like the U. S. military). Gains were easy at first, and there was much international involvement and support. A constitution was drafted and initial elections appeared both clean and fair. However, early gains were lost quickly, and Walt surmised that the Iraq conflict was primarily to blame. With a diversion of assets and attention to the Iraq War, things got messy in Afghanistan. A huge influx of funds earmarked for development led to rampant corruption. The weak central government was unable to control the provinces and tribal areas, and to make matters worse, Afghanistan's neighbors were less than helpful. Iran, China, Pakistan and other surrounding ex-Soviet states were all prohibitive and restrictive, also influencing discontent and upheaval in the country's outlying regions. General complacency also contributed to these troubles. A military and civilian surge helped the U.S. stabilize the situation as a response to these losses. The initial military surge, and subsequent increase in troop count, helped restore equilibrium to the country. Working in tandem with the troop surge, the whole of the U.S. Government worked to rebuild civil society in Afghanistan through re-establishing the rule of law, rebuilding essential government structures, and working to create opportunities for economic development. Walt was integrally involved in developing economic opportunities in Afghanistan, as he began the first Chamber of Commerce in the country's long history! He worked to create $100M in trade deals, many with American blue-chip companies, on a $1M budget. As a matter of fact, Walt mentioned that this experience is what drove his interest in working with chambers in future endeavors. He also met his lovely wife Maria, during his stint in Afghanistan, as it was her responsibility to check references in vetting applications for Visas for the chamber. According to Walt, despite the relative stability, there is still a lot to do in Afghanistan. However, with a different approach from the White House - one more of pressuring the enemies of our efforts there instead of appeasing them and criticizing the efforts of the Afghan people - he is optimistic of the continued gains we can achieve. Pakistan is key. They are responsible for creating, funding, and mobilizing the Taliban, and were clearly guilty of harboring Osama Bin Laden during our search for the terrorist leader. Walt mentioned that we have significant leverage on Pakistan, and with a concerted effort, we may be able to work with the country to help bring more lasting stability to Afghanistan. He also mentioned the importance of maintaining a continued military presence in Central Asia. Thank you Walt for sharing your expertise! |
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  Kristi Announces the winner of the Wine Jimmy Hutto |
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  Charlie take the floor. He does a lot to help bring tourist dollars to Kerrville   Just a partial list of topics discussed |
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child abuse bcfshttps://clubrunner.blob.core.windows.net/00000003595/en-ca/files/homepage/bcfs/BCFS-Breakfast.pdf Community Pinthttps://clubrunner.blob.core.windows.net/00000003595/en-ca/files/homepage/pint-night/Pint-Night.pdf Night http://17Cruise Tickets are available- see Robin Miears. |
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Praise Kristy is back!!!! Prayers for Ronda McLlvain as she continues to recover at home. Payers for David Jones who is having some health issues. Payers for Lois who is still at Hilltop. Praise for Stephanie Miller who finished a 1/2 marathon and raised over $1,300 for HCYR way to go Steph! |
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Just a reminder that our next Rotary Satellite meeting is tomorrow, April 17th at 5:30pm. Meeting will be held in the Community Room of Wells Fargo Bank at Five Points (second floor). Our guest speaker this month is Martin Peterson, Forensic Anthropologist. We hope you will join us and as always refreshments will be served.
Thank you, Tricia Byrom |
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 Kristy was promoting the veterans breakfast          Sponsored by the new members of Rotary |
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  Wendy Weske exchanges her Red Badge for a Blue Badge!!!!! Way to get er done Wendy  Be sure you save the dates...  Mindy told us about Spellabration 2018. May 3 2018 |
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 Clint Morse introduces Mary Wilson the Democratic Candidate Followed by Mat McCall the Republican Candidate   Mary explained why she was running and her ideas.   Matt told us of his plan if elected |
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The Satellite Club is having a Social and Networking event at Basement Brewers of Texas, 5:30-7:30, Tuesday March 20th. The address is 521 Clay St. Come join the club for great networking opportunities and socializing, and bring a potential Rotarian. .jpg)  The meeting was a success, this is a picture of the menu. For a lot of the folks that came to meeting this was their first trip the BBT. |
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  George honored our guest speaker with a song. |
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 Chris Braaten won two tickets to the Symphony of the Hills next show. |
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 Walt Koenig was wearing his Rotary pin, and his name was called, so he won a fine bottle of white wine. |
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.JPG) The program last Wednesday was provided by Dr. Gene Dowdy, who is in his third year as conductor of the Symphony of the Hills. He is a professor of music at UTSA, and conducts the orchestra there as well. Music is in his family, as both his father and grandfather were band directors, and both his daughters are musicians. He gave a great program on a "500 years of music in 5 minutes". Accompanied by his violin, he explained how dance tunes were a common way to lift people's spirits in the middle ages. Later, composers took these songs and adapted them into concert tunes. Dr. Dowdy expertly played bits of songs from Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven, and then followed with a bit of relatively contemporary music, "Dust in the Wind" by Kansas. The Symphony of the Hills is a professional orchestra drawn from the Hill Country and Central Texas, and provides about five concerts per year. In addition to the orchestra performances, dedicated board members and volunteers educate local kids about music, seeing over 2,000 students per year. The next Symphony of the Hills performance is April 26th, and is called "Strike up the Band". |
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 New Member Chris Braaten led us in the prayer and pledge. |
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.JPG) Ed Hamilton introduced our guest  Since 1980 Blair Labatt has been President & CEO of Labatt Food Service, now the tenth-largest broadline foodservice distributor nationally. Blair spoke of funding or not funding of the Padres Mesa Demonstration Ranch. This is currently being funded by the US Government. This is a program that is teaching native Americans how to raise prime beef to sell in their own casinos. The more they work at it the more money they can make. This leads to jobs & more land being turned into more productive land. This is one program that is actually working. This program is supported by John McCain. In 11 years the profit should rise from $615,000 to 19,830.00. This works. If you were not hear you missed a great program. .jpg) Working the cattle .jpg) Ranch Foreman Bill Inman  The entire crew |
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 Jeff Harris is the newest member of the Kerrville Noon Rotary Club. Welcome Jeff. Jeff is on the New Member Committee.  Mike Allen was at the meeting and his name was drawn and he was wearing his pen. Way to go Mike! |
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Stephanie Miller's daughter Morgan was inducted into the national honor society. Mom is very proud. Co Doo's to you Morgan. Please keep Jimmy Hutto's step-son Shane Breneman, with the United States Air Force, in your prayers. He is currently deployed in Afghanistan. |
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 In 1985, Rotary declared basic literacy to be a pre-condition to the development of peace. Literacy continues to be one of the focus areas of Rotarians and our Rotary Foundation – and so March is named “Rotary Literacy Month”. Literacy is the foundation for virtually all forms of education and a crucial component of effective social and economic participation, human development, and poverty reduction. According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) nearly 800 million people over the age of 15 lack even basic reading and writing skills worldwide. In addition, there are roughly 137 million school age children who are illiterate around the world. Sadly, over 64% of all illiterate people in the world today are women. |
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Our next meeting is Wednesday, March 7th when Blair LaBatt will be talking about the Business Outlook for our area. Hope to see all of you at the luncheon.
What a great time we had last Saturday at Rise Against Hunger! We had 175 volunteers present to help package 20K meals for Hunger Plus! We also collected 3 carloads of groceries for Salvation Army, CAM and the Veteran's Center! See some pictures from the event below. Also, see the "Rise Against Hunger, A Picture Gallery" section of the newsletter.
Mark your calendars for Thursday 3/15 and plan on attending the Kerrville Chamber luncheon at Schreiner University! We are sponsoring this event and it is a great opportunity to talk to leaders in Kerr County about what our club is accomplishing!
Habitat for Humanity build is Saturday, March 24th. Hoping for a turnout of 20 volunteers - let Rob or Rebecca Poindexter know that you can help! Hours are 8am-12noon. Cruise raffle tickets are available- 10 for $100.00. See Robin Miears for tickets. The Satellite Club will be hosting a "New Member Social" at Grape Juice on 3/20. Also, if you have a little spare cash at your disposal, please consider providing Javi with some spending money for his trip to California. |
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.jpg)  President Kristy Vandenberg revisits the status of major Kerrville Noon Rotary Club initiatives for the 2017-2018 period. See some highlights below (with status updates in red):
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 Brian Bowers led us in the prayer and pledge. |
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 Satellite Member Tricia Byrom introduced new member Christopher Braaten, SVP of Community Banking at Guadalupe National Bank, to the club.
Chris got his start in banking in Dallas in 2000 after graduating from Texas A&M. He loaned money to large corporations for seven years. His largest customer hired him away to be their CFO. He was the CFO for the nation’s largest fireplace distributor for a decade before deciding to slow down the pace of life and return to banking here in Kerrville.
He is a proud Texas Aggie, married to a proud Texas Longhorn. He has a boy and a girl both in Kerrville Schools, and is anxious to get to know as many people as possible in the Hill Country. Chris’ dad served for 30+ years as a Rotarian in both Tennessee and Texas and he cannot wait to get started serving.
Welcome to the club! |
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We will be co-hosting a Rise Against Hunger event with the Kerrville Morning Rotary Club on Saturday, March 3rd at the Hill Country Youth Event Center from 9am-12noon. (Mark your calendar)
In conjunction with the Rise Against Hunger event we will be coordinating a county wide food drive to fill all the local Kerr County food pantries. This includes the Salvation Army, St. Vincent de Paul, Christian Assistance Ministry, the Veteran's Center and local churches. Please plan on shopping prior to the 3rd and bringing your box of groceries to the event. We want to fill all the shelves for our neighbors. |
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.JPG) Kristy makes announcements and send a very special thanks to Denise LeMeilleur for single-handedly decorating all the tables in the room for Valentines Day.  then Kristy announced the bottle of wine winner who had his pin on Danny Wheat. Congrats Danny |
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 Crystal still on point as Master of Ceremony introduces the players  Kellie & Kenneth Early, Rosalie & David Reast & Denise & David LeMeilleur. A special thanks goes to the constants that surly the audience enjoyed immensely.  First the Men were ask to leave  And the Ladies were ask questions  Then it was the men's turn  then the all got to compare answers. Rosalie & David Reast won by a nose. If you were not in attendance you missed a great show. |
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 Our Master of Ceremony Crystal Introduces Rosalie  Rosalie told her side of the story of the meeting between her & David. David had told his side last year. We all enjoyed the story from start to finish. Several times the entire audience was laughing almost to tears. |
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 We knew is was a special day when we walked in. Two Ladies Denise LeMeilleur and Stephane Miller were handing our cookies for all the gentlemen & a single rose for all the Ladies. Way to go Ladies |
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Jacque Dubose's oldest son Brennan, who is a Type 1 Juvenile Diabetic, Is till having problems. Please keep him in your prayers. Bekki Hutto's son Shane is currently deployed in Afghanistan with the United States Air force. Please keep him and all other service personal in your prayers. |
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 An unidentified volunteer shelves books donated by Kerrville Rotarians to a school in St. Lucia. Morning Rotary provides books to St. Lucia The Kerrville Morning Rotary Club announced that it has provided more than 700 books and magazines to the library of the Anse La Raye Primary School on the island of St. Lucia in the Caribbean. The project is the brainchild of Rotarian John Aceti and his wife, Carol, who have tutored at the school in St. Lucia. Assisting in the project were fellow Rotarians, Samantha Booth, Drew Whitehead and Laura Bechtel, who also happens to be the director of Kerrville's own Butt-Holdsworth Memorial Library. The Kerrville Morning Rotary Club wishes to thank the following for their generous donations: • Notre Dame Catholic School and Comfort libraries, and, • Friends of the Butt-Holdsworth Memorial Library. Additional expressions of gratitude are due to the owners of the local UPS store, Ginny and Bill Bull, and their daughter, Angela Brinkley, for their assistance. The morning group meets at 6:45 a.m. Thursdays at The Salvation Army Ray and Joan Kroc Corps Community Center, 201 Holdsworth Drive in Kerrville. Scheduled to speak on Feb. 15 is Barry Wall, of Texas Rainwater Systems. Leading the morning group are: Lew McCoy, president; Laura Bechtel, president-elect; Jon Tilley, treasurer; Kenneth O'Neal, secretary; Frank Dunlap, sergeant-at-arms; Waverly Jones, past president, and Randy McClay, for the Rotary Foundation. To find out more about the Kerrville Morning Rotary Club, including its calendar of speakers and projects, visit www.kerrvillemorningrotary.org. |
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.jpg) Want to make a difference? Want to make our president, Kristy, SMILE? Then be sure you wear your Rotary International pin!  |
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Kerr County 1st Responders honored by the Rotary Club of Kerrville Kerrville Fire and EMS  Kerrville Fire Department Chief Dannie Smith, left, presents a plaque and recognizes 2017 EMS Person of the Year, Firefighter/Paramedic Ken Chambers.  Kerrville Fire Department Lt. Troy Seewald, right, is honored as the 2017 KFD Officer of the Year by KFD Chief Dannie Smith. (Kerrville Fire Department's 2017 Firefighter of the Year award recipient, Justin Blue, a driver/paramedic, was not in attendance.) Kerrville Police Department Kerrville Police Department Chief David Knight took to the podium to address the Rotary Club of Kerrville and give thanks to the organization for making the time and expending the effort to honor those in uniform.  Chief Knight, left, announced that Officer Austin Beal was the recipient of the 2017 KPD Officer of the Year award. Kerr County Sheriff's Office  Kerr County Sheriff Rusty Hierholzer reported to attendees that the past year wasn't an easy one for his office, what with the closing of the juvenile detention facility, the expansion of the county jail, the fire that happened during the expansion of the jail, the need to transport prisoners out of county to accommodate the project, and ... oh, and a whole host of criminals his department had to round up.  The sheriff recognized Sergeant William W. Callcott as the 2017 KCSO Deputy Sheriff of the Year.  Sheriff Hierholzer commended Corrections Officer Wayne D. Johnson as the 2017 Corrections Officer of the Year. Ingram Police Department  Ingram Police Chief Byron Griffin was pleased in his second year at the helm of his department to name Sergeant Trudy Allen as the 2017 Ingram Police Officer of the Year. Kerr County Volunteer First Responder  Joshua "Road" Block, left, was commended by Kerr County Commissioner Bob Reeves for saving the life of a child last year. Block was named the 2017 Kerr County Volunteer First Responder. Texas Department of Public Safety  Department of Public Safety Senior Trooper James “Jim” Behrens, right, is recognized as 2017 Trooper of the Year by Sgt. Chris LeLonde.
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department
Filling in for Captain Jeff Carter, who was unavoidably absent due to illness, Major Alan Teague, left, names TPWD Game Warden V Sam C. Harris as the 2017 Game Warden of the Year. Special Achievement Awards  Kerr County Deputy Constable Reagan W. Givens, second from right, and Deputy Constable James B. Lang, right, both who serve in the Kerr County Environmental Health and Animal Services Department were honored with 2017 Special Achievement Awards, presented at the luncheon by, from left: Kerr County Commissioners Tom Moser, Harley Belew and Bob Reeves. |
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  Kerrville Fire Department Lt. Troy Seewald, top, puts his hand over his heart as the American flag is paraded in with the colors by Tivy High School ROTC cadet Aidan Baxter, bottom, to lead off the Rotary Club of Kerrville's annual 1st Responders Awards luncheon at the Inn of Hills Hotel and Conference Center. The program for the meeting last Wednesday, Feb. 7, was a favorite of many Rotarians — the annual 1st Responders Salute, during which our membership is joined by those who serve in uniform in our community. We truly enjoy honoring the well-deserving, best of the best within their ranks.  President Kristy Vandenberg, above, led off the program, while Charlie McIlvain, below, recognized dignitaries who had joined us for the annual awards program.   Serving as master of ceremonies for the occasion, and giving the proper introductions of the various presenters during the program was Rotarian Jeff Wendling. The program was held before a crowded conference center room full of club members, as well as honored firefighters, law enforcement officers, paramedics, game wardens, DPS troopers, a large gathering of their fellow servicemen and servicewomen in uniform, and, to our delight, some of their family members.  |
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Do you just LOVE good LOVE STORIES ?  Then you will not want to miss today's program. Rotarian Crystal Dockery has a lineup of stories sure to warm our hearts. It's a perfect way to spend your Valentine's Day lunch. Be sure to bring your sweetheart!  Lunch starts at 11:45 a.m. at the Inn of the Hills, 1001 Junction Highway in Kerrville. Use the side door for easy access and join us for some lovely love stories. |
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 Bill Crumrine became a lucky recipient of a bottle of fine wine for the second time! Wear that pin! |
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2018 First Responders Luncheon: Jeff Wendling and George Eychner have been working hard to make this year's luncheon a great success! We will hold this special luncheon in the Conference Center Ballroom. If you can, please show up a little bit early (by 11:15AM) to welcome our responders as they arrive. The meeting will have a prompt 12:00 noon start. Additionally, based on the nature of the event, we may go a little past one ‘o clock. Please don’t walk out early on our honored guests. Let’s let them know how much we appreciate their service! 2018 Super Ball: The 2018 Super Ball extravaganza was a smashing success. Stay tuned for pictures and fundraising totals in next week's version of the Spoke!! Valentine's Day Luncheon: We already have two great Rotarians confirmed to share their love story. If this is something that you are interested in ... please contact Crystal Dockery! This year's luncheon actually falls on Valentine's Day - extra special! Odd Jobs and Unique Experiences: If you are attending an event, going on a trip, or are otherwise doing something in the near future that you think would be a memorable experience for Javi, please consider including him in your adventure. Also, Javi’s ready to roll up his sleeves and get his hands dirty to garner a little extra spending money for his time here in the states. If you need something to get done, give Javi a call! Lastly, we have just firmed up the times for our Rise Against Hunger and Community Food Drive. The date is Saturday, March 3rd. The drive up food drop off will be open from 9am-12noon. Lots of volunteers are needed for the event, so I will be setting up an event in ClubRunner and asking all of you to RSVP from 9:45 am - 12 noon. The event will be held at the Kerr County Youth Event Center. |
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 Ron Blilie leads the club in the prayer and pledge. |
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 Becky Dinnin, Executive Director for The Alamo Endowment, addressed the club regarding the current plan - known as the Alamo Master Plan, to preserve the 1836 Alamo battlefield. Becky is a sixth generation Texan and a direct descendant of Sarah Dodson, known for sewing one of the first Texas flags. Sarah's father, Edward Bradley, moved to Texas in 1823 as one of Stephen F. Austin's original three hundred. Sarah's husband, Archelaus, was among the early Texas volunteers when hostilities broke out with the Mexicans in the fall of 1835. He joined Andrew Robinson in forming the Harrisburg Company of Texas volunteers. Sarah designed a flag for the volunteers, and that flag was in San Antonio for the December 1835 siege of the city. In referencing her proud Texas heritage, Becky also took time to honor some of the original heroes of the Alamo preservation effort. One such individual was Clara Driscoll, an author, politician, cattlewoman, and activist who purchased the Alamo church for $75K in 1903 (and was later reimbursed by the state in 1905). She also lobbied the state for $84K to purchase land behind the Alamo church for the Alamo park - now the 1936 gardens. She is also responsible for building the Alamo gift shop for $50K. For her efforts, Clara is often referred to as the Savior of the Alamo. .png) Another notable contributor to the Alamo preservation effort was school teacher Adina De Zavala. When she learned of the city's plan to tear down the old Convento (long barracks) to build a hotel and park, she barricaded herself in the Long Barrack for three days with no food or water, saving the historic structure. Adina ultimately convinced the state to protect and make the Long Barrack a part of the historic property.  Unfortunately, despite the efforts of Clara, Adina, and many others to protect and preserve the grounds of the Alamo for noble historic purposes, this is the scene you'll often see now - right on top of the hallowed ground where many defenders of the Alamo died in their fight for Texas independence.  The Alamo Master Plan attempts to take back the grounds of this historic landmark, increasing the total public space from approximately 2.7 acres to approximately 9.5 acres, placing a buffer zone between the Alamo grounds and the remaining 6 acres or so of public "1st Amendment" space. Currently, the Alamo Master Plan proposes a few key concepts toward its goal of preserving the 1836 Alamo battlefield: 1) Preserve the Alamo Church and the Long Barracks. Texas' most treasured historic buildings are in desperate need of repair. The Master Plan proposes that preservation work begins this year, preserving the buildings as they are today, so that future generations can visit and remember. 2) Remove entertainment attractions from the 1836 battlefield. Alamo Plaza and Alamo Street, which were both part of the 1836 Alamo battlefield, are currently owned by the City of San Antonio. The plan proposes removing current entertainment attractions from the battlefield and shifting ownership and care of these battlefield areas to the State and people of Texas. 3) Close Alamo Street (which currently runs directly on top of the 1836 Alamo battlefield) to vehicle traffic. 4) Create an Alamo museum, and the world’s largest exhibit on the Texas Revolution, in the buildings currently known as the Crockett Block, located across the street from the Alamo. 5) Restore and preserve the Alamo Cenotaph, which was erected in the battlefield area in 1939 (more on this in the FAQ section below). Additionally, Becky mentioned that the Alamo frequently appears as a vulnerable target on terrorist websites and that a major security overhaul is needed to help deter attacks from these organizations. Economic payback on the project is expected in 6 to 10 years as there will be greater incentive for tourists and local residents alike to stay longer and visit the expanded landmark. If you're interested, you can find out more about the project, as well as additional images and answers to frequently asked questions at the following website:  |
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Membership Chair David Jones presented us with different ways we can make-up a meeting. Those options are listed below in David's well crafted slide: .jpg) Also, please remember - Board Meetings count as a make-up activity as well. However, David did warn us that a gathering of two or three Rotarians at the bar does not constitute a make-up meeting! Darn!! |
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.jpg) George Eychner pays homage to the Alamo to the tune of an old Texas favorite! |
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 Rick Assunto was ask to step in when the other guest speaker Catherine Mayfield , Rise Against Hunger had to postpone due to weather. Rick is writing a book. This book is called They Shot my Horse but I Kept on Going. Rick told of his days growing up in a tough neighborhood, Some of the things he was involved in was jaw dropping. If you were not there I am sorry but you will have to wait for the book. Or Movie? Rick did a great job since he did not have any idea he was going to speak to the Noon Rotary Club before he got there. Great job Rick I am sure everyone there were on their seats the whole time as I was. |
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 Kristy opens the meeting with her usual flare. |
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The newest member joined our club last Wednesday. Kristy proposed Brandy Puckett as a new member   Brandy is the Executive Director at the River Point of Kerrville.  Robin introducing guest & making announcements |
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Due to inclement weather 15th thru 19th the decision was made to reschedule the Satellite Tuesday 16th meeting to next Tuesday, January 23rd. We wanted everyone to stay safe!
See you on the 23rd! |
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Please support our club's sponsorship of a new Habitat for Humanity house by joining us for a Work Day on Saturday, Janurary 23, 2018. We will meet at the Habitat for Humanity office located at 129 Rankin Nix (at the corner of Rankin Nix and Meeker Road) at 8:00 a.m. and work until about 2:00 p.m. It's fine if you can't commit to the full work day - any amount of time you can give is needed and appreciated!
Lunch, water, and supplies/equipment will be provided. We recommend wearing closed-toe work shoes and bringing your own sunglasses/sunscreen/hat, etc. It may also be helpful to bring work gloves since Habitat's supply is well-worn and large-sized.
You don't need any construction experience or special skills to be able to help. Habitat staff will find a task that suits your abilities or instruct you in how to accomplish something new to you.
Volunteers consistently express that contributing to this worthy cause is especially satisfying, so don't hesitate to give it a try! Please call Rob or Rebecca Poindexter at 830-285-6980 if you plan on helping (and what hours you can be there), need more information, or even if you just need more encouragement to try!
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 Carol Holmes - District Governor 2017-2018 Carol Holmes retired as Vice president of Texas National Bank, Tomball, Texas. She joined Tomball Rotary Club in 1992 and served as president from 2003-2004. Carol and her husband, Doug, moved to Mason, Texas in 2007. She joined Brady Rotary Club and served as president from 2011-2012. In 2012, she was awarded “Club President of the Year” by District 5840. Carol is a Paul Harris Society member, Bequest Society member, and multiple Paul Harris Fellows. She served as Assistant Governor for Brady and the three Fredericksburg clubs in 2014-2015 and served as a PETS Ranger in 2015. She has completed all three parts of Rotary Leadership Institute. She attended RYLA’s four-day conference in San Marcos as a chaperone in 2015. She and her husband served as Aides to the RI President’s Representative and her husband for the District Conference in 2015. Carol is actively involved with a Rotary Foundation/World Vision global grant for 23 water wells to be drilled in Southeast Honduras. In addition, she is working with District 5840 and Texas Water Mission to produce a children’s manual to supplement the classes taught by the Honduran Health and Hygiene team at all the well site villages. Carol’s husband has been involved with the water well program in Honduras for several years and currently serves on the board of Texas Water Mission. See a picture of Carol's children manual below:  |
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 PDG Doug Whinnery has been awarded The Rotary Foundation Distinguished Service Award for exemplary service to The Rotary Foundation. Whinnery has been a member of the Rotary Club of Kerrville since 1992 and served as 2005-2006 District Governor for Rotary District 5840, which includes 58 clubs throughout central and south-central Texas. The award was presented by District 5840 Governor Carol Holmes of Brady and Past District Governor Jerry Hardy of San Antonio, who will serve as District chair for The Rotary Foundation in 2018-19. In 2012, Whinnery received The Rotary Foundation Citation for Meritorious Service, a prerequisite to the Distinguished Service Award. The Distinguished Service Award, the Foundation’s highest service recognition for Rotarians, is given annually to only 50 Rotarians worldwide for work in support of The Rotary Foundation. Whinnery served twice as chair of the District 5840 Rotary Foundation Committee and in 2011 chaired a successful “Million Dollar Dinner” that raised $1.07 million to further the work of the Rotary Foundation. For the past 15 years, he has presented numerous training seminars on Rotary Foundation programs and fund-raising efforts for Rotary clubs and volunteer leaders throughout the district and state. He served four years as coordinator for fund-raising efforts and educational outreach for The Rotary Foundation’s Polio Plus campaign with responsibility for 10 Rotary districts in Texas and Oklahoma. During his tenure in this position, he presented numerous seminars on Rotary’s polio eradication efforts to individual Rotary clubs and at state-wide training events including President-Elect Training Seminar (PETS), Zone Institutes and Multi-District Training. Since Rotary launched Polio Plus in 1985, Rotarians around the world have contributed more than $1.7 billion and countless volunteer hours to immunize more than 2.5 billion children in 122 countries. When this effort began, more than 1000 children were paralyzed by polio every day; in 2017, there were only 20 cases of polio reported in the three countries where the virus is still present in the environment (Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria). |
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.jpg) Bob Schmerbeck kicks off the meeting with prayer and the pledge. |
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Congratulations to our Rotary Interact Clubs at Tivy HS and Peterson MS. There are approximately 100 high school and middle school students in the two clubs. They have been very busy helping with Polio Plus fundraising and other community events. We hope to get them all involved in our Kerr County Food Drive which will be held in conjunction with the Rise Against Hunger event on Saturday, March 3rd! Let's support the Rotary Habitat for Humanity Build on Saturday, January 20th. Volunteers should report at 8am to the office located at 129 Rankin Nix. Work will continue until about noon. If you can help for a couple hours, please let Rob Poindexter know!!! Hoping to get at least 10 folks out and building! AND ... have you purchased your Rotary Raffle Ticket for the SuperBall? This raffle will fund our service projects and scholarships for the upcoming year! Tickets are $100 and give the winner a chance to win amazing prizes! Bring your check book or cash to our meeting this Wed. We are asking all members to either buy or sell 1-2 tickets to help us reach our goal. We have a total of 600 to sell - so please help! Lastly, tables for the 2018 SuperBall Tailgating Event are starting to fill up! This is a fun event with a great outcome of raising funds for our club. Contact Kim Clarkson if you are interested in purchasing a table! If you want to purchase individual tickets - I am working on putting together some tables. Let me know! Come one and all to the 14th Annual Cowboy Breakfast, which will take place on Friday, January 12, at the Hill Country Youth Event Center (3785 Highway 27), from 6am to 8am. This is a FREE event and breakfast is served by our local 4-H and FFA students to kickoff the Hill Country District Junior Livestock Show. Come laugh at - I mean support - your fellow Rotarians as they partake in the "Almost Famous" Goat Milking Contest and the Cow Chip Toss! Tomorrow's program (1/10/2018) is on the Dynamic Learning Institute! We look forward to hearing from Jeff Anderson and others who will share information about upcoming learning opportunities! What a great topic for the New Year! Please consider planting a tree to support the goal of 170 new trees for this year. It is a Rotary goal to plant a tree to equal the number of Rotarians in our club. So, if you have a need at your home or business, or know of a church, school, park or other entity that could use a tree, please contact President Kristy. Total trees planted to date (as of 1/9/2018) = 148. We're getting there, but we still have work to do! Betty Vernon provided a picture of the new red oak planted at Peterson Plaza. Very nice!  Dates to mark on your calendar now!!! 1/13 Highway Trash Pick-Up - Coffee & Donuts & Fun 1/24 Membership Drive - Invite a prospective member to lunch! 2/3 SuperBall - Have you bought your tickets/table yet? 3/3 Rise Against Hunger Event & Kerr Co Food Drive |
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 George Eychner leads the group in "Auld Lang Syne," to kick off 2018 in style! |
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Jacques Du Bose’s son is having surgery today. Please keep him in your prayers. Stephanie is asking for prayers for her son Brennan. He has been in the hospital since December 26th. He has a major infection in his right leg muscles. He is also a type one diabetic. She would greatly appreciate your prayers for Brennan, the Surgeons and medical team operating on him. |
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Satellite Rotary Minutes December 19, 2017  On December 9th, Stephanie Skrumeda and all the Satellite Members helped work and coordinate a successful Blue Santa event. In total, our club contributed $1,500 to this effort with a District matching grant of $1,500 for a total of $3K to purchase food for 49 families with 106 children! To many families, the gifts, food and clothing received through the Blue Santa program will relieve the stress of trying to provide gifts and “holiday magic” to their children. There were 15 Rotarians who helped with this effort and several family members who together volunteered over 27 hours. The event was again held at Ronnie Bock’s Kerrville RV and was coordinated by the Citizens Police Academy, Satellite Rotary Group and Kerrville Elks lodge. Kudos to Stephanie and all the Rotarians who came out to help.    The Satellite Club held their Dec. 19th meeting at the Kerrville State Hospital by sponsoring a Christmas party for patients of the hospital. They had special guests who attended including Santa Claus, our very own Jeff Talarico, and Chris Huber & Greg Bitkower who played and lead the group in Christmas carols. Jacques Duhr once again showcased his culinary skills for the dinner and it must have been great because there were very few leftovers. Austin Clarkson came up with a Jingle Bell toss and the patients were all eager to participate. A prize was given to the winner of each of the three rounds. There were plenty of desserts and fun during the night. One patient gave us some one liner jokes and made everyone laugh, Santa even said he gets some of his best work from this patient! Gifts were distributed, and all the patients left with full tummy’s and a present in hand. Another example of “Service above Self”! Satellite Rotary’s next meeting will be Jan. 16th at the Wells Fargo Bank Community Room |
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Thank you to all the Rotarians who singed up to ring the bell for the Salvation Army at Gibsons over the past several weeks.  Jimmy and Bekki Hutto  The Smithson family |
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Buckhorn Resort hosted our annual Christmas party. The dinner was great, and a good time was had by all.               |
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Several new Paul Harris fellows were honored at the meeting.  Lois Schlieiter, Jimmy Hutto (+2), Rosa Lavender (+2), Robin Miears (+3), Delmar Hiller (+1), John Forister (+2), Dave Rittenhouse (+3). |
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Past Kerrville Rotary Club president Kenneth Early presided over the annual meeting last Wednesday where the upcoming year slate of officers was presented and approved by the membership. The officers and directors are: Robin Miears President Charlie Mcllvain Vice President Crystal Dockery Secretary Gena Carter Treasurer Tammy Prout Director Jeff Wendling Director Janelle Peralt Director Chris Chedzoy Director Tim Crenwelge Director Ingrid Painter Director |
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Prayers go out to our President Kristy, who had a hip replaced last week. We hope for a speedy rehab and recovery. |
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 Tivy High School's volleyball team joined us for the Wednesday meeting. They had a very successful year, winning several matches in the post season, and excelling in the classroom as well. |
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Members of the Schreiner University Choir provided the entertainment with Christmas songs at last Wednesday's meeting. Led by director Michael Kahl, the students sang a number of favorites, including We Three Kings, God Rest You Merry Gentlemen, Feliz Navidad, Rudolf and Jingle Bells.    |
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 Mark McDaniel, City Manager, introduces Cliff Kaplan, Program Manager for the Hill Country Alliance, who spoke to the group concerning the preservation of our night skies.  .jpg) Cliff started his presentation by informing the club that four out of five people in this country have now lost their view of the Milky Way due to pervasive light pollution. Light pollution is excessive and inappropriate artificial light. The four components of light pollution are often combined and overlapping:
This map shows the varying degrees of light pollution we face here in the Texas Hill Country:  The adverse effects of light pollution extend beyond the study of our night skies.
Practical actions we can take to reduce light pollution:
 Other ways we can protect our Hill Country Skies:
Next Steps for the Kerrville Community:
Let's come together and protect our night skies!! |
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   Lots Of Pumpkin Pies Before meeting started |
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Robin Miears President Charlie Mcllvain Vice President Crystal Dockery Secretary Gena Carter Treasurer Tammy Prout Director Jeff Windling Director Jennelle Peralt Director Chris Chedzoy Director Tim Crenwelge Director |
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            Salvation Army was there Worldwide countries   |
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  Charlie Heuber President of Kiwanis Club of Kerrville opens the meeting and leads us in song.  Captain Beth Swyers lead us in Prayer  Pledge of Allegiance  Kristi introduces the President of Morning Rotary Club Lew McCoy. |
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 HAPPY THANKSGIVING! ATTENTION ALL ROTARIANS: Do not forget that today's pre-Thanksgiving luncheon meeting will be at the Ray and Joan Kroc Corps Community Center, 201 Holdsworth Drive. Start time is set for 11:45 a.m. for this Nov. 22 meeting, which will be a combined gathering between members of the Rotary Club of Kerrville and members of the Kerrville Kiwanis Club. According to President Kristy Vandenberg, Rotarians will also be joined by some members of the Kerrville Host Lions Club and the Morning Rotary Club members. "It'll be a whole group of people in Kerrville who believe in service to this community," Kristy said. Reservations were asked for in advance, because "it is very tough to plan how many people to make lunch for if I don't know how many people will actually sign up," Kristy told our group last week, and urged them to sign up either by way of the online portal or by way of sign-up sheets that were distributed among the tables. The featured speaker today will be Captain Beth Swyre, who will be assisted by her husband, David. They will talk about the work The Salvation Army does and how local residents can assist. "We have much to be thankful for. Hope to see you at the meeting," Kristy said. |
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Guest speaker for the Nov. 15 was Anne Krause. A resident of San Antonio for 14 years now, she serves as president and executive director of the Hemisfair Conservancy and has done so since its inception. Krause received a Bachelor of Science degree from the United States Air Force Academy, as well as a Master of Arts degree from The University of Texas at Austin. She began her career as an Air Force officer. While serving her country, she flew jets, deployed to Cuba and served as the executive officer of the United States Air Force Thunderbirds Demonstration Team. When she transitioned to the civilian world, she has served in leadership roles in a number of nonprofits and is passionate about arts and education in her community. On top of everything else she's accomplished, she and her husband are the parents of four children.  “Thank you so much for that warm welcome. I really do enjoy speaking to Rotary groups, because we do have that shared alignment with service. And, I think that’s really kind of the theme of my professional life. People ask me, 'How did you go from flying jets to raising money for various agencies?’ And the truth is, when I left the military in 1999 to have more time with my family, something was missing and I didn’t realize what it was exactly. I did feel that call to service." "And, when I got involved in nonprofits, I was just looking to be a volunteer to fill my day and meet people. But, when people find out you were a military officer, you end up as president of everything — whether you meant to or not. And I learned so many tools of the trade from people along the way," Krause said. She went on to recognize all the veterans in the room and said she wished they had a nice Veterans Day, and then thanked them for their service.
Thunderbirds Krause went to pilot training in Lubbock, Texas. Krause gave a brief history of her time with the Thunderbirds. Congress did not rescind the combat exclusion rule until 1995, so there was no way she was going to be put in a fighter. But the "neat thing is I did like to go fast and light my hair on fire," she said, so they let her be an instructor pilot and she got to learn to fly the T38, which was "a lot of fun." It was a "wild ride" and definitely a young person's game, she said. She was the only female officer for the team. Her job was to be the acting commander when the team was on the road. She was in charge of the budget, of human relations and hiring and all that type of stuff. But, sometimes they needed a female officer to travel with the team, and so she learned a lot about public relations from that experience. "I had the privilege of representing the women in the Department of Defense in that position," she said.  She wasn't the first female officer on the team, but she was definitely one of the first female officers on the team. "I really was proud of the day that they did hire the first female pilot, because she was exceptionally qualified and reflected well on the rest of us," she said. "That legacy continues today and I am really proud to be a part of the Thunderbirds alumni." Hemisfair Now, she runs the philanthropic arm of the Transformational Hemisfair Redevelopment Project in downtown San Antonio. She polled those who went to the World's Fair in 1968. She asked if anyone had a memory of that fair they'd like to share. "I love hearing people's stories. It's really neat," she said.  While the World's Fair wasn't a huge financial success, what it did do was bring more than 6 million people to San Antonio from April and October of 1968. "It really put San Antonio on the map as a travel destination," she said. "And I think San Antonio has done an amazing job of catering to tourists ever since then." Part of the reason this redevelopment is underway is because the locals want it to be more "for us." "We want our neighbors in Kerrville and surrounding areas — this is a place for YOU to come. And, yeah, the savvy tourists are going to hear about it, but all the design and the programming are for South Texans." "This is really OUR park. It is excited to see it redeveloped," she said. It fell into neglect. Now, "we believe great cities have great downtowns and great downtowns have great urban spaces." "What we're going for now is a 36-acre development in the heart of San Antonio" -- 19 acres of which will be green space and 17 acres of which will be developable park. The first of the 3 parks installed opened in October 2015 and "I'm pleased to tell you that we've had 1 million, 100 thousands visitors since we opened," she said. Of those, 85 percent of visitors are locals. Transforming it from more of a park to a "district." The second park is going to be the flagship — the Civic Park. The third park will be called "Tower Park" at the base of the iconic structure, the tower that was built for the World's Fair of 1968. Krause continued on with details in how they involve the public — families and children — in the redevelopment process. They have more than 600 events on the calendar for 2017 and 95 percent of them are free to the public, made possible through partnerships with nonprofits and other organizations in San Antonio. |
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After lunch was well underway, Rotary President Kristy Vandenberg rang the bell to officially start our Nov. 15 meeting.  She called on Stockton Williams to perform a POD (Prayer On Demand.) Having just returned from Uganda, he spoke of the lag in translation and how it complicated his communications and preaching. After a few chuckles, he then led our group in the following prayer:
“Heavenly Father, we thank you for this beautiful day. We thank you for the blessing of living in the Texas Hill Country. It's just the best part of the best state in the best country. We thank you for Rotary and what it means to all of us — 'Service Above Self.' We thank you for this Rotary Club here in Kerrville. We thank you for this food. In Jesus' name, Amen.”
Following the prayer, Rotary members joined in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.
After that, George Eychner — our bandmaster — announced the members observing birthdays in November and we collectively sang "Happy Birthday" to those members standing around the room.
Taking the podium next was Charlie McIlvain, who introduced visiting Rotarians, our Rotary exchange student, Javi, and Rotary members, who in turn introduced their guests for the luncheon at the Inn of the Hills. Of course, Charlie had to impart with us another joke. "We've probably all been in airports with flight delays from time to time. And now they have determined there is a new disease related to all that ... it's called 'terminal illness.'"
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Rotary Satellite-Minutes September 19, 2017 Call To Order/Welcome Tricia Invocation Denise LeMeilleur PLEDGE – Tricia Byrom Introductions - Guests-Cynthia McNeely, Kristi Vandenberg (Noon Rotary) Guests – Pete Calderon and Donna Winstead (pending members) Guest- Rusty Heirholzer Program- Rusty Heirholzer    Sheriff Hierholzer, "Rusty" to many in the community that know him, is a native Texan that took residence in Kerr County in 1975. He is married with 3 daughters, 1 son. And is a proud grandfather. Sheriff Hierholzer has over 32 years with the Kerr County Sheriff's Department. During his period in law enforcement he has worked as the Criminal Investigator with the 198th District Attorney's Office. During his career with the department over the years he has worked with many sheriffs and in doing so he has served as a Patrol Deputy, Jail Administrator, Instructor, and Chief Criminal Investigator. In April of 2000 he became the Sheriff of Kerr County.Kerr County Sheriff W.R. “Rusty” Hierholzer shared with Rotary his department currently houses between 85 to 90 inmates in Burnet County, Hierholzer said, “the daily rate for contract prisoners is presently $35 per day with an interlocal agreement between Kerr and Burnet counties. Additionally, the Kerr County Sheriff’s department houses approximately 50 plus prisoners in Bell County, including female inmates.” Hierholzer stated having prisoners in both counties makes for a lot if mileage and keeps employees busy. Sometimes they have two vehicles with prisoners going in two different directions and sometimes more than once a day. His department will transport prisoners for court and then have to take them back. Prisoners can only be held for less than 24 hours and then need to be taken back. He is looking forward to Dec. 22, the projected completion date for the jail expansion project. When asked about the largest problem in Kerr County outside of the jail housing issue, Hierholzer replied simply “Drugs”. He explained that with the legalization of marijuana in many states, it has changed the type of drug influx coming across the border. It’s no longer simply marijuana. It’s the hard stuff, crystal meth, cocaine, and even a recent spike in PCP and Heroin. Prescription drugs abuse continues to be on the rise, as it is nationwide. In closing, Mr. Hierholzer indicated he would not be running for re-election this next election cycle. He said he would miss working with his talented crew and the wonderful people of Kerr County but alas, his time has come to slip quietly into retirement. Club Business
October Meetings 10/17/2017 Regular satellite meeting 10/19/2017 Pints for Polio 10/25/2017 Noon Rotary Halloween lunch Closing - Four Way – Tricia Byrom |
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 Kristy opens the meeting  Charlie introduces guest & visitors |
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 Prayers for Sue Whinnery she broke her foot when she lost her balance. She is in a boot and will be consulting her orthopedic surgeon. Kudos for Crystal Dockery for the amazing job she does with the Hunt School. Rotary passed out dictionaries to 27 third grade students. |
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 David Reast introduced out guest speaker.   Bill Raleigh is Schreiner University’s Director of Athletics. Bill explained the differences between the different divisions of the NCAA. Division I gets most the money for scholarships. Division II gets a small portion, Division III gets nothing for sports. For most folks this was a very enlightened program. |
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Our next Habitat for Humanity Work Day is November 4, 2017 (this Saturday).
Next week's meeting 11/8 will be our Veteran's Day Salute! Thanks to Tom Terrell for coordinating the speakers! He has asked that all Veteran's wear their uniforms, caps and medals! What a great time to thank our own members for their service! Our Wednesday meeting before Thanksgiving will be Captains David and Beth Swyre. Plan on attending this combined meeting with Kiwanis at the Salvation Army KROC! SuperBall is our big fund raiser for the year, and it is scheduled for February 3, 2018, the Saturday night before the Superbowl. Put it on your calendar, and please support this great event that is all about helping out our community. Host a Rotary Exchange Student - Javy still needs a host family for the middle third of the year! |
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 Our exchange student Javier provided the program at Last Wednesday's meeting. Javier is from Zaragoza, Spain, and is enjoying his time in Kerrville. He is currently running cross country at Tivy, and has earned medals at several events. He has been busy learning about life in the states and has enjoyed going to the Tivy football games and other activities with his new friends. Javier comes from a large extended family, and loves to travel, having previously visited New York, Washington D.C. and Disney World. He would love to experience more of Texas and the states, so if any Rotarians would like to take him hunting, fishing, skiing or similar exciting activities, please volunteer to do so.  Thank you to Chris Chedzoy and his family for being the current host family. Our club is looking for another host family for Javi for the next three to four months, so if you are interested and are able to be a host, please contact Janelle Peralt. .JPG) Javi enjoys kayaking on the Guadalupe River. |
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 Rotarian Rosa Lavender introduced two former exchange students that were visiting Kerrville. Karyn Johnson is from New Zealand, and was here in 1982. Stefan Richman was from Germany, and is now living in New York city. He was an exchange student in 1988. It's great to see that these former students were impacted thirty years ago by Rotary and the exchange student program, and still keep up with their host families. Thank you to Rosa and the other host families for making that happen. |
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  Before meeting started .JPG) serving line one end. Lunch was soup or chili served with a salad and baked potato. |
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 Speaker Theresa Jones addressed the club last week about the unfortunate reality of human trafficking. Below are excerpts from Theresa's presentation that help define, explain, and address this awful activity. Human Trafficking Defined The Trafficking in Persons Report defines human trafficking as the act of recruiting, harboring, transporting, providing, or obtaining a person for compelled labor or commercial sex acts through the use of force, fraud, or coercion.
Types of Human Trafficking Forced Labor - a person is forced to work with little or no pay
Bonded Labor - known as debt bondage, traffickers or "recruiters" unlawfully exploit a debt the worker owes, forcing them to pay off an inflated debt beyond what is humanly possibly to pay. Involuntary Domestic Servitude - a person is forced to work in the same location with little or no pay.
Sex Trafficking - when a person is coerced, forced, or deceived into prostitution or maintained in prostitution through coercion, fraud, or deceit.
Child Soldiers - The unlawful recruitment or abduction and use of children as combatants, porters, cooks, guards, servants, messengers, spies or for sexual exploitation by armed forces. Local Impact
What Can We Do? We can combat this criminal activity in the following manner:
Conclusion We must ALL participate in combating this heinous crime. Theresa Jones mentioned that "We must teach our children the importance of treating all humans as a deserving population, not a disposable one. We need to teach our children how to respect each other and themselves." Additionally, she requested that we keep victims of human trafficking, those that are at most at risk for victimization, and those individuals and organizations currently working to combat this criminal activity in our prayers. |
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 We welcome our newest member of the club, Marta Diffen, who serves as the Director of Development for Schreiner University. |
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Remember that our meeting today is in the Callioux Ballroom at Schreiner University for the Hill Country College Fund Kick-Off Luncheon! Plant a Tree!! Our club's goal is to plant 170 trees this year, so contact Kristy Vandenberg if you have a need for a tree in your yard at home, office, or elsewhere. Halloween will be here before you know it, and Crystal and the fellowship committee encourage you to wear a costume for the meeting on Wednesday, October 25th. Treats are certain to be available. Our local Interact Club is hard at work. The club now boasts over 70 members, and 20 participated at our recent Labor Day Walkathon and 8 took part in our club's latest Habitat for Humanity project. The Interact Club also raised $330 during their recent fundraising efforts. Good job guys!! |
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The Pints for Polio event is set for Thursday October 19th, 6-9 p.m. This annual event raises money for the polio eradication campaign. Due to efforts by Rotary International, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and many others, the number of new polio cases worldwide has dropped from nearly 400,000 per year in the late 1980’s to less than 100 last year. This year, there will be four locations where you can have your favorite brew and donate to eradicate polio: Pint and Plow, Azul’s, Grape Juice, and Wilson’s Ice House. A $25 wrist band at the door will get you two drinks at one of the four participating locations. Sponsorships at levels of $100, $250, $500, and $1,000 are also available. Interested sponsors and other donors can make checks out to the "Rotary Club of Kerrville Community Service Fund," a qualifying charitable organization. |
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.jpg) George Eychner kicks things off with patriotic song! |
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 Sue Whinnery led us in the prayer and pledge. |
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 Jeff Talarico and Lamar Smith  Lamar Smith and Ed Hamilton The Rotary Foundation funds projects worldwide including polio eradication, education, and clean drinking water. The Paul Harris fellowship recognition acknowledges individuals who contribute, or who have contributions made in their name, of $1,000 to The Rotary Foundation of Rotary International. Two Paul Harris Fellowships were presented at the meeting last Wednesday. Past Kerrville Rotary President Jeff Talarico’s contribution to the Foundation honored Lamar Smith as a recipient of a Paul Harris Fellowship. Rotarian Ed Hamilton provided a Paul Harris Fellowship to honor Donald Trump, and Lamar Smith will present the award to the president in the coming months. |
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Greetings to All! Kristy Vandenberg opened the meeting with the bell, then led the Rotary Club of Kerrville in a beautiful invocation which kept in our thoughts those families recovering from Hurricanes Irma and Harvey. She then welcomed club members to join her in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.  After that, stepping into the figurative spotlight was George Eychner, who almost always leads us in song.  For the Sept. 13 program, he had cleverly rewritten lyrics (as he sometimes does) -- this time to the tune of "America, the Beautiful" -- in what he said was an effort to "kiss up" to our state representative, Rep. Andrew Murr, who was a guest of honor and our speaker. His little tune went something like this... Kerrville, the Hill Country, our piece of par-a-dise, of thee we sing. Our state rep An-drew Murr works hard to keep it pure, we're grateful Lord for liv-ing, here in this great land.  It was a rousing success!  Robin Miears then introduced visiting Rotarians for the day's luncheon, including Rep. Murr, who was a visiting Rotarian from the Junction club. She also introduced members with guests in attendance at the gathering at the Inn of the Hills. |
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— Rep. Andrew Murr — Sept. 13, 2017  Rep. Andrew Murr, of Junction, joined the Rotary Club of Kerrville for a guest talk on Sept. 13 at the Inn of the Hills.  There are 150 members in the Texas House. If you'll look here, our district- they all have the same population - about 170,000 people. Well, it takes us 12 counties to get to that. Our district is in red in the following map. We have about 15,000 square miles — our district is larger than 9 states.  "The benefit is, I want to put something into perspective for you when we talk policy," Murr said. "So, I sat down with a colleague one day and we counted the 15 most populous counties in the state," Murr said.  "In the 15 most populous counties in the state, 100 of the 150 House members reside and represent." "So, what that leaves is 239 counties represented by one-third of the Texas House." "I guess what I'm trying to say is that there's actually a growing divide between urban and rural, and we have to keep cognizant of that whenever we are talking about politics and policy and what's best for one part of the state doesn't necessarily measure up to what's best for where we live. In doing that, I always strive to build strong relationships. Just as what you do here in the community. You want to get to know your neighbors — the people you do business with and the people you associate with." He explained that he uses those relationships to form open communications with representatives from other districts, in order to look out for the interests of the Hill Country.  "I give that, because it applies in Rotary, it applies in our business and it applies in Austin." The Texas Legislature meets 140 days every 2 years. From January to the end of May was the recent session. They also had a special session, which only the governor can call. He also decides when the 30-day special session will be and what business will be discussed. One of the items of focus the governor emphasized was property taxes. "You all will agree, for the most part, that property taxes play a very important role in what we do," Murr said.  In Texas, when you get billed for property taxes next month, you will see that the majority of the Texans in the state pay more toward supporting public education than anything else. Then, we also pay our county taxes, our city taxes. And, then you have special purpose districts, which vary across the state. "I wanted you to put that into perspective in how that works," Murr said. "In the Texas Constitution, the state is prohibited from collecting property taxes. It's only done at the local level, and that's very important to keep in mind. So, when someone says 'Hey, State of Texas, can you do something about my property taxes?' the answer is 'Well, indirectly, because directly it is all collected at the local level."  "But, there's one thing in the Texas Constitution, and that is how we pay schools," Murr said. In Kerr County, on average, of every $1 that gets collected, 56 cents goes to schools.  "We're kind of mad, because we pay taxes, and if you live in some school districts, your money goes somewhere else. At the same time, your school district — rightly so — complains, sometimes, they don't have enough funds to do certain things. That's where we start talking about what the state can do." There was talk about a rollback tax rate. The Texas Legislature talked about reducing the percentage before a county has to face a rollback.  "It doesn't put any of this back in your pocket, and that's where a lot of people get frustrated. They were labeling it 'property tax relief.' Now, I will ask a lot of you what you think relief is. Is relief giving you some of this (money) to put back in your pocket? That's what most people I talk to think. But, changing the rollback tax rate doesn't change the pile of money on the table. What it does do is it changes the way local government goes about budgeting itself," Murr continued. "At the end of the day, the House and Senate did not agree on language, so no change has occurred yet. I know it'll be addressed in the future."  "When we study the pie chart, it is so obvious that, at the local level, we're paying a lot of money toward schools. Let's talk about school funding for a moment, because that's where I thought maybe we ought to give the attention. The State of Texas and the Constitution provides that the state will pay for a free and public education for our youth. That's the one area that the State of Texas could step up and do something." In 1994, in the last big revamp of public education, that's when Texas started "Robinhood." Initially, the state paid about half and the local government taxes paid about half toward public education. "If you advance forward almost a quarter of a century, you can see that the state pays less of its share and WE — everybody in this room —are now paying a greater share, and that's going to continue," Murr said. With public frustrations mounting in regard to funding education and property taxes, Murr said he decided to file a bill that proposed abolishing the property taxes collected for school districts, and, offset that by increasing sales taxes statewide to 12%. "I fully anticipate that, after the hours of testimony we had in hearings, that this will be revisited." "I can tell you that there is no advocacy for having a state income tax. The Constitution prohibits, just like a state property tax, and you'll never have traction to change that — at least not while all of us are alive." |
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 Rep. Andrew Murr and his guest, Verna Benham Rep. Murr invited Mrs. Joe (Verna) Benham to the podium for a special presentation. "In recognition for a unique and important individual in all of our lives ... I know that every time I attended Rotary here, I had the opportunity to visit with him before, during and after with your husband (Joe Benham). So, what I'm presenting you with is a resolution passed by the Texas House of Representatives in honor of an admired citizen with a unique historical background. I enjoyed many moments of talking about the enormous things that he had to do and enjoyed doing in life and, with that, I had delayed getting this to you until I could deliver it in person, and I can think of no better place than to do it here at Rotary Club." "And, honestly folks, that's the highlight of my presentation."  |
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 David Jones introduced the guest speaker, Rep. Andrew Murr. He first gave kudos to George as being "amazing" for his song lyrics, before adding a quick quip that "Murr" rhymes with "poor" and George could have used that! He then moved on to the task at hand, saying that introducing Andy Murr is an easy task. "Andy's standard-issue Aggie," Jones said. He quoted President Lyndon Johnson, who once said you're really not a politician until you've run for a county election in a small county in Texas. Rep. Murr is the former county judge of Kimble County. He serves us well in our State Legislature, Jones said, before turning over the microphone to our visiting representative from the Texas House. |
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 Rosa ask for donations for victims of Hurricane Harvey Rosa Lavender's contact info Home Phone 830-792-4880 Cell Phone 830-459-1380 Email jnlrl@ktc.com Please contact by Wednesday Sept 13th in order to make arrangements to pick up any donated items. |
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.jpg) Justin Moore of Airborne Aerial Photography addressed the club about the new frontier of drone flight and photography. Since 1999, Justin Moore has been photographing landscapes, nature and human beings as a professional photographer for Moore Photography & Design. In 2001, his passion for flying became a reality when he earned his Private Pilot certificate. He later earned an Instrument Rating and combined his passions as a freelance photographer for General Aviation News. In late 2014, Justin was introduced to UAS (Un-manned Aerial Systems) - known commonly to the public as "drones", when he purchased a DJI Phantom FC40 - a small, multi-rotor "drone" with an attached camera. Needless to say, he was hooked. Drones combined Justin's two passions - flying and photography. He used his drones to capture low-altitude imagery to promote conservation, parks and communities by donating his time and equipment to promote public awareness of drones and to demonstrate their many positive benefits. In 2016, Justin officially launched Airborne Aerial Photography - a FAA approved aerial photography division of Moore Photography & Design. Justin is a certificated Remote Pilot operating under the FAA's new "Part 107" regulations. In 2017, Justin became the nation's first Certified Drone Photographer after helping to pilot a new aerial photography certification program with the Professional Photographer's Association of America (PPA). The Certified Drone Photographer program is an intensive program that measures technical competence and aerial photography proficiency. .jpg) Justin emphasized the safety benefits of unmanned flight to conduct tasks that are otherwise very risky. Some of his examples included wildlife management flights, airborne photography (such as filming great white sharks at a close distance), and search and rescue. He predicted that drones will be used in search and rescue efforts related to Hurricane Harvey due to their ability to safely travel where other manned aircraft cannot. Drones can be equipped with thermal cameras to help locate trapped survivors, like those trapped in attics in flooded areas devastated by Harvey. Drone usage is coordinated by an "Incident Commander" (appointed by the FAA) in such disaster situations. Like manned aircraft flight, drone flight is also subject to it's own set of regulations. Some regulations of note include the need for proper licensure (Remote Pilot Certificate or special Section 333 Exemption), the necessity to maintain a line of sight with your aircraft (unless a waiver is granted in special circumstances), flight up to a maximum altitude of 400ft., the need for a permit to uses drones for any reason in our state parks, and the complete prohibition of flight in our National Parks (do in part to the irresponsible use of a drone that ended up on the lawn of the White House!). It is also unlawful to use a drone for surveillance purposes. Drones come in multiple shapes and sizes, but many can be purchased on Amazon, just like anything else you can buy online these days! An example, like the model Justin brought to the presentation, is a Spark Quadcopter that usually starts at around $500. See below:  For those that are interested, please check out Justin's website at http://www.texasbyair.com/about/ to learn more about Justin, his business, and the emerging industry of drone photography. He has incredible photographs in the "portfolio" section of his website for your viewing pleasure like the sample from the San Antonio Botanical Gardens below:  Enjoy! |
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 Betty Vernon led us in the prayer and pledge. |
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Our club is committed to planting 170 trees in the coming year, so if you have a need for a tree in your yard or office, or know of a place that would benefit from planting trees, please let Kristy know. If you are a KPUB customer, you may be able to get a $25 rebate per tree! We are planning on planting trees in late October/early November, so don't delay!! Rotary polo shirts were given out (free!) at the last two meetings. If you didn't get one, there are still some available. Wear your pin and win some wine! |
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Courtney Compton of our Satellite Club is dealing with the recent passing of both her grandmother and her husband's aunt. Larry Freeman's brother Dick also recently passed. Please keep Courtney, Larry and those affected by Hurricane Harvey in your prayers. |
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 As announced at today's meeting the club's constitution and bylaws have been updated in accordance with actions taken at the 2016 Council on Legislation. Your Board of Directors have reviewed and approved the updates as presented. The revised documents were emailed out on 8/23/2017 for your review.
The next step in the process is a vote by the club members to approve the process. In accordance with the governance documents, club members have to have at least 10 days to review the proposed changes. Based on the 8/23 document distribution, President Kristy has set September 6th as the day we vote to approve the documents.
Please review the documents. If you have questions about the documents please contact either me, Walt Koenig, Gena Carter, or President Kristy.
Yours in Rotary service,
PDG Doug Whinnery Chair, Governance Committee |
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Rotary Satellite-Minutes July 18, 2017 Call to Order/Welcome Tricia Invocation — Pete Calderon (Guest) PLEDGE — Tricia Byrom Introductions - Guests: Cynthia McNeely, Caroline Wilson-Club Admin, Kim Clarkson (Noon Rotary) Guest: Otto Segner, invited by Katie Muehlstein Guest: Pete Calderon, invited by Leann Fitzpatrick Guest: Eddie Byrom, invited by Tricia Byrom Guest-Kayla Avirett, invited by Courtney Compton Program featured Dr. Mark Foust, superintendent of the Kerrville Independent School District
Dr. Mark Foust, superintendent of KISD schools presented to the Satellite Rotary a PowerPoint presentation of his vision and objectives for KISD. Prior to coming to Kerrville, he served on the Executive leadership team at Fort Bend ISD where he has spent the last 21 years of his career as an educator. While there he was a coach, teacher and Assistant Superintendent. He also served as a principal of Dulles High School prior to being called to Kerrville. Part of who he is was clearly exhibited with his “Why”, referring to why he became an educator. He stated an English teacher inspired him and he became involved in FCA in high school; he felt it was his mission or “calling” to give back. His core belief is we all make a difference and we are here to serve every student wherever they are. “Serve Kids & Change Lives” is his mission. One core example of this is in his statement; “Our job as educators is to inspire kids to learn.” As we teach and educate we must begin with the end in mind, graduation. He said the best is yet to be and feels like one of the schools’ best resources is the staff. This was evidenced by KISD being awarded educational excellence. In listening to him he talked about the school district and the students, some topics he mentioned were, career readiness, core skills, strong education system and the school district being the bedrock of the community. We are all lifelong learners and we, as educators, need to put the Kids #1. We need to also understand safety throughout our system needs to come first. He would like to see KISD collaborate with local community college to offer medical and technical skills. He quoted Ben Franklin, “An empty bag can’t stand upright” and he also stated his first impression, “Folks, we have a lot of hats here,” when he was talking about needs of the students and KISD’s role in the community. Looking to the future he said the KISD Vision, Mission and Goals haven’t been updated or reviewed and as a rule every 3-5 years these need to be updated and refreshed to be relevant for today’s student. He was excited to talk about the collaboration with KPSF and they’re being a recipient of the Kerrville Chalk Festival. Overall, he was excited about the Vision statement of KISD and felt like as a school district we were on point. KISD VISION STATEMENT: The purpose of the Kerrville Independent School District is to educate all students to be successful and productive citizens in a way that meets parent and community expectations through continual improvement in curriculum and instruction, a safe and orderly learning environment, sound fiscal management, and leadership dedicated to excellence. Club Business
On Sept. 4 from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. in 2-hour shifts.
September Meetings 09/04/2017 — Labor Day Picnic and Walkafun 09/19/2017 — Regular Satellite Meeting, from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.
Closing - Four Way |
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