| Rotary International District 5930 Vol. 4 No. 5 Newsletter November 2007 Print |
|
Bi-National Conference Nov 2-4 |
  Governor
Tom writes . . . .Why
I'm a RotarianFor 30 years, our printing shop was in downtown McAllen. Homeless people would often come into our store or sleep in our entrance. I dealt with them everyday and, often, every way. In Rotary, we are able to help so many needy people. Rotary has made it possible for me to travel worldwide and to meet wonderful people and Rotarians in Scotland, Belgium, Sweden, South Africa, and Mexico. Rotarians have lovingly hosted us. My daughter was able to participate in Rotary Youth Exchange to Spain and Belgium. We have hosted young people from Belgium, South Africa, Latvia, Sweden, Philippines, New Zealand, Finland, Argentina, Brazil, and Germany. Our daughter enjoyed and learned so much from RYLA that she did not want to return to her dull high school. Rotary gives us the opportunity to have friends beyond our church and our business. Rotary provides social opportunities for my wife and me beyond our church activities. Many of the activities we volunteer to do in Rotary have parallels in our business and home lives. Rotary gives me a chance talk with and relate to other business owners. Our weekly Rotary Club programs give me a window on the life of our community and give me ideas on things which need to be improved. My life has become fuller because of Rotary. Thank you, Gov. Tom Moore and Carol |
Saturday, February 23, 2008 - McAllen - $100 per person
Paul Harris, renown impersonator James Young of California, will be the featured Paul Harris speaker. He will be in 1930 garb on a an authentic stage setting. You will have the opportunity to have your photo taken with Paul Harris!
(956) 984-7900 (Wyndham room rate $65) McAllen - Say "Rotary"
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November Visit Schedule 1 Weslaco |
2007 Youth Exchange Students are here
Students are hosted by the following clubs:
McAllen North, McAllen
Centennial, McAllen South, Portland,
Edinburg, McAllen, and
Laredo
Gateway |
Assistant Governors meet in McAllen
Most of the Rotary District Assistant District Governors met in McAllen to plan the Rotary year. JD Simpson, Elva Short, DG Tom Moore, (standing) Javier Compean, Tony Rivera, Lionel Betancourt, DGN Dennis Roberts, and Lt. Governor Gilbert Serna met at the home of Governor Tom and Carol Moore. During the two day meeting, several decisions were made concerning the two GSE tours and the District Raffle.
Rockport has a film festival
Thanks
to all of you! We have a
Festival--November 8-11!
In early October, John Aasp and Roc Curry selected the 53 entries for the the First Annual Rockport Film Festival from the 130 entries from around the world with a wonderful film committees input: Vickie Pitluk, Phil Albin, Joan Joslin, Susan Trimmier, the Denty's, Lisa Baer, John Paul Frederick, Pat & John Hopper, Pam Dixon, Candice Hanna, Sam & Alissa Spears, Laura Adams. The evaluations from the film review committee were most helpful in narrowing down all the choices...We even added some blocks of films to accommodate all of the insightful comments of the reviewers. As look over this menu of films, you'll recognize some of your favorites. So, Rotary members, together with Heritage District, Chamber and volunteers from the community are getting it all going.
John, as the co-artistic director, continues to be awesome with the support of Beverly and the Art Center staff. Lisa Baer, Anita Diebel and the Heritage District are all getting the word out...Terri Whitman has kept the details of administration going forward. Pam Fulcrum designed a great ad poster. Larry Feldman's art poster is about ready. Nancy Paulson, our web-mistress, has the tickets on line ready to go....and keeps the web page up to date (thousands of visits from around the world)
So, now on to Phase II, publicity and underwriting and administrative
planning. Yvonne Olvey, a public relations consultant from Corpus has been
very busy getting the word out to all her network of contacts. KLUX will
start to run free air advertising, Diane Probst and the Chamber have been
guiding the pr writing the press release and putting together an initial pr
push. Amy Canterbury has made arrangements with Rockport Pilot for a full
pull out section in the Wednesday edition before the festival...
Now with the schedule of films
we're ready to hit the big time!.
Submitted by
Roc Curry.
Historic Brownsville Rotary Club is planning ahead
Club members have been working on three new projects. Coming up first is the next Heart Gallery. Mary Curtis, President elect, was contacted by Child Protective Services (CPS) to help exhibit the portraits of foster children in another Heart Gallery. Heart Galleries around the nation have helped children in foster care get adopted into forever families. In partnership with the Brownsville Children's’ Museum, the opening of the 2007 Heart Gallery will be Thursday , November 8 at 5:30 pm. All Rotarians, family, and friends are invited to support these children in their quest for permanent homes.
Second, members of the club are raising money to purchase an industrial size recycling bin. In partnership with St. Joseph’s Academy, where the bin will be set up, this is a commitment to help the environment.
Finally, the club is requesting that all master teachers and teacher trainers interested in providing a teacher in-service in Honduras through a volunteer service grant, please contact Mary Curtis. The trip is tentatively being scheduled for May 29-June 8, 2008. Submitted by Mary Curtis.
George Saenz asks for Interact and Rotaract information
Please
let him know if your clubs are active with an Interact or Rotaract club and what
type of activities they have been involved in this year. If there is a specific
person in your club whom he should contact, please let him know who that
person is along with his or her contact information.
Every club has George's contact information from our District Directory. Submitted by George Saenz.
San Benito Rotary Club fetes Clyde Fincher
The
San Benito Rotary Club held a birthday party on October 11 for Clyde
Fincher, celebrating his 101st birthday. Clyde is standing addressing the
club. His comments were to thank the club for all it has done and meant to
him for these past many years. He is now one of less than a 100,000 known to
be 100 or older. Cake was served and birthday greetings were sung. Clyde
Fincher is still strong enough to maintain his perfect attendance as he has
for over forty years. Clyde has had his fair share of visits to a
hospital--mostly the result of an auto accident a few years back. His last
was a brief battle with pneumonia at which time they found a cyst in his
stomach about the size of a golf ball. It was removed and Clyde didn't miss
a meeting. He has served his club faithfully for a long time and continues
to do so as his strength allows. Everyone looks forward to his presence at
meetings. We are guaranteed he will be there. His example will not be
equaled. Submitted by
Lionel Betancourt.
Interested in District scholarships?
This year we had five applicants and awarded three scholarships. One of the winners is 33 years old and out school for a while now.
Applications and qualifications are set forth in the Rotary website. District 5930 does not have any separate criteria except that we promote the $23,000 one year academic scholarships (although we would consider applications for the shorter language training cultural scholarship if there was a compelling reason). There are no limitations on the courses of study and students can list five preferences for foreign universities and generally get one of their first choices.
We are currently accepting applications for scholarships for the 2009-10 school year. The applications must be completed by the students and submitted to their local Rotary Club (Club in their home town or where they go to school). The clubs must have the applications (signed by the Club President) to Art Zeitler by May 31, 2008. There will be mandatory interviews in Kingsville on June 7, 2008.
A current freshman (2007-08) would be interested in the scholarship because they could use it their junior year (i.e., 2009-10). A current junior would also be interested because they could use it for graduate study in 2009-10. Individuals who have already graduated continue to be eligible to apply.
Art Zeitler has brochures he can mail you, but they have less information then the website. However, they are handy to post. Please let him know what else he can do to help.
The Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship program is the largest privately funded
international scholarship program with over 800 recipients each year (three
from our District). As you would expect, it has made a major change in many
young people's lives. Submitted by
Art Zeitler.
Mission joins Reynosa Centenario in international project
The
International Lane, an avenue of service within the Rotary Club of Mission
comprised of 6 members of the club, has undertaken an international project
with the Rotary Club of Reynosa Centenario, México (District 4130).
The Mission Rotary Club is helping to facilitate a project to benefit the children in the Casa Amparo Orphanage and School located in México by the donation of:
● School desks and furniture
● Orphanage & School lockers
● Orphanage & School kitchen equipment
● School office equipment and furniture
● Manpower to handle the logistics of the
project, loading, transportation and unloading of the donated serviceable
items
This project was undertaken on May 31, 2007 with the Rotary Club of Reynosa Centenario. It is an ongoing international project between the two Rotary Clubs as the need is great to lend a hand to children and the orphaned children to achieve a better position in life; this is just one avenue of service of Rotary International (RI) www.rotary.org.
For more information or to help please with this project contact Rotarians list below:
● Polo Garza - Rotary Club of Mission, Texas
USA (956-585-5895)
● Carlos Lopez – Rotary Club of Reynosa
Centenario, México
● Danny Garcia - Rotary Club of Reynosa
Centenario, México
Submitted by
Fran Ciancarelli.
|
Rotary International launched its redesigned Web site on 8 October. In addition to a fresh look and new features, the site offers more advanced search capability and a library of images available for download. The Effective Public Relations section continues to provide you with public relations resources, and it now includes a discussion forum, where you can share your success stories and pose questions. |
Source: RI’s “Rotary PR Tips” newsletter
Laredo News
Early Act from United Day school in Laredo sponsored by Laredo Gateway Rotary receive a Paul Harris Fellowship from PDG Jorge Verduzco.
Visit to Austin Cosmopolitan Rotary Club charter presentation meeting on October 11. Lieutenant Governor Gilbert Serna, ADG Javier Compean, Terri McGraw District Membership chair also Melissa Compean member of the Next Generation new club being formed in Laredo as well as new President of the Next Generation club Jerry Garza attended. Submitted by Javier Compean.
Brownsville Sunrise starts flag project
The
Brownsville Sunrise
Rotary Club began leasing American flags to
citizens of residential and business properties. Flags will be placed at
specified locations on the days of recognition: 1. Patriots’ Day – September
11, Veteran’s Day - November 11, Memorial Day – May 26, Flag Day – June 14,
Independence Day – July 4.
Flags were planted early in the morning and removed late that same day. The
flags measure 3’ by 5’ and were tied to an eight foot pole. These flags
serve as an admirable gesture to men and women who serve or have served in
the military or for people who proudly wish to show their country’s true
colors.
The price for this service is $50.00 annually for residential or $75.00 for
local businesses. This project involves the flag placement by dedicated
Sunrise Rotarians on five different holidays during the year. This year’s
theme, ROTARY SHARES, is the essence of Rotarians sharing by raising funds
to return to the community and to the world through meaningful projects. To
date, this successful project has realized 59 residential and 25 business
contracts. This should be one of the most successful projects for the Brownsville Sunrise
Rotary Club. For more information on the flag project, call
Mike Frazier, (956) 778-8555.
Shown in this photo placing a residential flag on September 11, 2007, is
Luis Cavazos, Club President, and Cesar Pacheco, member.
Submitted by Anna Lopez.
Team! Try Tom's terrific tips to tune totally
Has one of your Rotarians died since January 2007? I will ask you each month so we can remember to gather their pictures and names to be remembered at the District Conference in April 2008.
PDG Marilyn Spencer called attention to an interesting PowerPoint presentation that offers insight into changing demographics and how these changes will affect Rotary recruiting. The future of Rotary depends on our ability to recruit and retain younger generations of Rotarians. Members of Generation X are now 24 to 43 years of age, so they are our major recruitment group. Understanding what is important to Gen Xers and how to most effectively communicate with them is essential to bringing them into Rotary.
How to double your Scholarships: Ask your local college or university to match your Rotary Club scholarship to their school. The Laredo and Alice Rotary Clubs asked their local colleges and universities to match their scholarships and the schools do match if the students attends their schools. Texas A&M University-Kingsville also matches the scholarships for both the Kingsville and Kingsville Sunrise scholarships. Schools consider it a recruiting tool.
The Top Three Rotary Clubs per capita Annual Paul Harris Fellow giving for 2006 - 07:
1. Edcouch-Elsa Rotary Club ..................$383.33
2. Corpus Christi Sunrise Rotary Club......$296.09
3. Laredo Daybreak Rotary Club..............$243.92
That is Amazing. Congratulations!
Rotary Clubs have asked for a bulletin contest. I've asked Jack Whitmire to put together a bulletin contest for our district. Bulletin editors work hard and need recognition and examples to learn from. I have eliminated all the other contests except for Rotarian of the Year from each area. I want the clubs to concentrate on The Presidential Citation.
Contest rules are simple:
1. Make copies of your February 2008 Club Bulletins.
2. Send them to Jack Whitmire to arrive by March 15, 2008.
Submissions may be either hard copy or electronic form. Electronic form is preferred to make distribution to judges easier.
Hard copy--Send five copies.
Electronic copy--The preferred electronic format would be PDF to preserve the
fonts. Word documents and Publisher documents will use only the fonts on the
viewer's computer.
Jack's address:
306 King Arthur St
Victoria TX 77904-1825
World Interact Week is November 5-11. We need to celebrate Interact and if we complete the following four projects, we will be recognized by RI! Form
1) Give a presentation or share an Interact story with a club that doesn't
sponsor a club.
2) Invite Rotarians to an Interact club meeting.
3) Invite Interactors to a weekly Rotary club meeting.
4) Conduct a joint Rotary/Interact project to increase awareness of Interact in
the community.
Simple, rewarding, and "Beneficial to ALL CONCERNED"!
Email from Rotary International:
Interact continues to experience extraordinary growth with the charter of 358 new Interact clubs during 2006-07. Currently there are over 11,100 clubs in 125 countries and geographic areas, with an estimated membership of more than 255,200 Interactors.
I encourage you to celebrate World Interact Week 2007 in your District during the week of 5-11 November. During World Interact Week, Interactors and Rotarians around the world come together to commemorate the charter of the first Interact club. By completing four designated projects, Interact and Rotary clubs can receive special recognition from RI. Please refer to the attached recognition form for more details and feel free to share this information with Interact and Rotary clubs in your District. You can also find more information about World Interact Week on the RI Web site at: http://www.rotary.org/en/StudentsAndYouth/YouthPrograms/Pages/CelebrateWorldInteractWeek.aspx.
Thank you for making Interact one of Rotary’s most successful programs and best wishes for a productive Interact year!
Kind regards,
Annahita Ghaboussi
Coordinator, Youth Activities (Interact-Rotaract-RYLA)
Phone: 847-866-3296
We need one more non-Rotarian team member to complete the GSE team going to Spain. Please help us find one more non-Rotarian, 25 to 40 years old who speaks Spanish, to go to Spain. Applications are available on the Rotary International site. Contact Terri Whitman with your questions and to request a deadline extension. November 1 was the original deadline.
Our Rotary District 5930 website is a thing of beauty providing
easy access to information. However, with Internet Explorer 6 the website looks
like a bad accident. Other browsers do not seem to have a problem. Upgrading to
Internet Explorer 7 is free and it is more secure. Go to
http://www.microsoft.com, type IE7
in the window, and agree to most of the first steps. If you cannot view the
website send a screen shot to help him visualize and troubleshoot the
problem. Submitted by
Tom Moore.
Adoption Awareness puts family in Family of Rotary
Once again the Family of Rotary is and has been coming together for excellent projects for the benefit of all concerned. The following program has become a national program with similar projects in several states.
On the first Saturday in November (this year Nov. 3rd), the five clubs of Area 8, (the Lower Valley) will band together for their annual Adoption Awareness program for children in foster care. The five clubs are, San Benito, Raymondville, Sunburst, Harlingen, and Harlingen North. This project was started in 1998 by our own Assistant District Governor, Lionel Betancourt. Lionel saw a need for children in foster homes and an outlet in Rotary to make that happen.
On November 3rd 2007, these five clubs will band together to give a special celebration for these, in some cases, forgotten children. In the past, there has been an EMS Helicopter for the children to see and touch, police cars with real sirens, fire trucks to climb aboard, balloon rooms for jumping and playing, a train with open air cars for kiddie rides, and hot dogs with all the trimmings. Not only do Rotarians attend to help with the children and the logistics of setting up and tearing down, but they go out into the community to ask businesses to contribute. Everything, including the food, has been donated by merchants in town. As an added outcome, several children have been adopted into very loving homes. The program is coordinated with Child Protective Services. CPS goes into the foster homes and asks those parents to bring the children to this Saturday morning event that has been traditionally held at The Cameron County Fair Grounds in San Benito.
We salute our ADG Lionel Betancourt and his San Benito Club who held the first Adoption Awareness Picnic in 1998. Submitted by Joan Cocozza.
Youth Exchange Training held in McAllen
Our Youth Exchange application process has begun for the 2008-09 Rotary
Youth Exchange Program. Our first event
was held in McAllen, we will hold one in Harlingen, Laredo, the Corpus area,
and other area regions if we are invited and supported by the local Rotary
clubs.
This program is open to any student between the ages of 15 - 17 1/2, there are fees that the families have to pay so Rotarian family members
may participate. If your club would like to participate in this program,
learn how to be send or receive students in this program than please contact
Tamara Sanchez, so she can set up a time to begin the training.
Currently we have the following clubs that are authorized for this program
in 2007-08 (Each year the club will need to be re-trained to participate)
Tamara says thank you and congratulations to the following District 5930
Rotary clubs for their contributions and participation for 2007-08: McAllen,
McAllen Centennial as Host and McAllen South as a partner, McAllen North,
Edinburg, Laredo Gateway and the Portland Club. We hope to continue this
program next year with your support this is a CLUB project with District
support, training and guidance.
No club can host or send students on an exchange without being properly
trained and approved by our District, now is the time to prepare for next
year, call
Tamara for more information or any questions that you may have.
Submitted by
Tamara Sanchez.
Laredo will raise money with a sporting clay shoot
The Laredo Rotary Club is holding its first sporting clay shoot on November 11. Details and a registration form are available. They welcome shooters. Submitted by Becky Garcia.
District Committee Chairs to meet in Alice
A workshop for District Committee Chairs is scheduled for Saturday, November 17, at Jean’s Steak House in Alice from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM to discuss, review, and update the status of your committee goals and projects for this year.
This is the first time for a workshop with our District’s Committee Chairs. Gilbert Serna will be working on the schedule with Governor Tom. If you have any items that you would like to see on the agenda, please submit them to Gilbert.
We will be having a working lunch at the restaurant compliments of the District. Please to Gilbert via e-mail if you plan to attend this workshop.
Place:
Jean’s Steak House, 108 East Main, Alice (361) 661-1123 (This is the
correct address. Google will give you the old address on
South Wright.)
Date: November, 17, 2007
Time: 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM
Required Attendance: District Committee Chairs Submitted by Gilbert Serna.
| The South Texas District 5930 Newsletter is published the first day of each month. , Victoria Rotary Club, edits and distributes it. by the 24th of the month prior to publication. Jack is, also, our webmaster. |
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