Congratulations, Mary, for the great job you did as the 2004 Clay Shoot Coordinator. Profits jumped by almost 25 percent this year to set a new record. We cleared a little over $36,000. This was in spite of inclement weather during the shoot weekend. However, Mary being the glass is half full kind of person didn’t see things that way. She says it just rained when we needed it to. We had a little shower late Saturday afternoon to make the shooters stop their practice rounds when we wanted them in the picnic area. And, aside from some drizzle early Sunday, wetting only the early shooters, the weather cooperated allowing an early finish. The ground was wet, so there was no dust. What is the positive spin on all the stuck vehicles? It reduced the traffic problem?

Sponsorship sales were up slightly from last year. We brought in $16,570 last year and this year we received $17,490. A good trend was that the donors gave larger amounts. We had 53 donors this year vice 61 last year.

Here is a breakdown of the 53 sponsors—two food underwriters, 17 corporate sponsors, 13 station sponsors, 11 youth sponsors, and ten auction sponsors. Hayden Gregg’s Feedlot Steakhouse signed again to be the food underwriter and Homewood Residence furnished salad and potatoes. The corporate sponsors were Suwannee Supply, Alexander & Marek, Ruth Constant, Crossroads Abstract & Title, Brannan Paving, Chesnick Furniture, Texas Glass & Tinting, First Victoria National Bank, Jack Whitmire, SCCI Hospital, AEP-American Electric Power, Calvo’s Janitorial & CLEAN ALL, Speedy Stop, Pryor Sales & Service, Victoria Eye Center, Rexco, and Zarsky Lumber—all repeats from prior years except AEP and Rexco. Blackwood Toyota is back again this year upgrading to a station sponsor. The others are Victoria Business Magazine, The Victoria Advocate, HEB, Victoria OMS Associates, Shirley Breedlove, Barbara Briggs, and Bruce Bauknight & David Drost, Friendly Oaks Bed & Breakfast, Pat Pachta State Farm, DeTar Healthcare System, and Anderson Smith Null & Stofer. Cole, Cole & Easley along with Truman Transfer & Storage, Frost Insurance Agency, Glass Doctor of Six Flags, Frost Insurance, The Westermeier Company, Associated Engineering & Surveying, Wells-Fargo, Equistar Chemicals, and BHP Engineering & Construction were our youth sponsors. Janecka Insurance, Carole Parks, Fagan Answering Service, Gerald Parker, Hodgkinson PC, Victoria’s House of Lamps, Armstrong Warehouse & Transfer, R.E. Clegg, Rainbow International, and Interiors by Sherry made donations to our auction.

The charity auction revenue grew 44 percent thanks to Tim’s efforts. It brought in $13,735 this year, another record amount. Tim, also, arranged for the auctioneer for the Calcutta which set another record. We get none of the revenues, but it gives the shooters incentive to participate in our shoot since the only prizes we give are trophies.

In addition to the sponsors and auction we have another revenue center—the raffle. The Boys & Girls Club puts it together and we sell a book of tickets to each of our members. The Club Board normally approves charging members for one book of tickets and distributing the tickets in the April Quarterly bill. The remainder of the tickets are sold by the Boys & Girls Club board members or at the shoot. It brought in a little over $4,000 this year.

We had another $5,000 in sales at the shoot itself. This comes from individual shooters, practice rounds, extra dinners, and shooting games.

There was no major change in the Clay Shoot format; we continued like in prior years—Boys & Girls Club youth activities, shooter registration, shooter practice, steak dinner, and auctions on Saturday and the shoot on Sunday. The only major change was a positive one. We changed equipment vendors. David Selby from Port Lavaca volunteered his equipment and expertise in setting the traps. His equipment functioned flawlessly, a welcome change.

Omar will be in charge of the 2005 Clay Shoot which will not be held the last weekend in April because it would conflict with the RI District 5930 Conference. Instead, it is scheduled a week earlier, April 16-17, 2005, so set that weekend aside to help. Omar will be contacting you soon because work begins this month. ▲

I thank everyone for the enthusiastic honking at our club’s officer installation. I need all your energies and encouragement to accomplish everything I would like during this centennial year. Glenn Estess, Rotary International’s president, in his Rotary theme for 2004-2005 calls on Rotarians to Celebrate Rotary, not with a sense of complacency based on past success, but with a renewed sense of urgency based on today’s challenges. To make this year memorable our Lane committees need your input and effort as well. If Mary or Omar ask you to help them on the Club or Club Service Lane please be there for them. If you have an idea for a meeting topic let Dexter know and he will try to get it into our program. If you know of a worthy volunteer opportunity let Earl know and he will see what our Community Service Lane can do to help. To make this the best Rotary year ever we each have to Celebrate the ideals of Rotary every day as we put Service above Self. By so doing we can make a better, more understanding world.

Some of our ongoing projects needing your assistance are the Centennial Project, which is well underway with the playground equipment having been ordered, our annual Shots Across Texas child immunization program held at the zoo and our Organ, Tissue & Blood donation booth at the Health Fair again this year. Be on the lookout for the sign-up sheets to volunteer for these events. Fellowship and fun will be had by all.

My goals for international projects this year are an infants’ supply drive for the orphanage in Matamoras, Mexico, and a medical supply drive for a Cerebral Palsy/Paraplegic hospital in Cost Rica. I have made a number of contacts through Rotary and feel that through grant applications we will have the resources to accomplish these goals.

Our Rotary District asked us to participate in a child identification program sponsored by the FBI and the NFL Coaches Association. The District would, also, like us to take on the public health issue of TB through an educational campaign in conjunction with the local Health Department. We mustn’t forget that Rotary is in its final push to eradicate polio from the face of the earth and is in need of funds to accomplish this worthy goal.

Rotary’s next century promises even greater opportunities for service. In order to keep up with the steady growth in requests for Matching Grants and new humanitarian and educational programs Rotary 

International has asked that each Rotarian give an additional $100.00 a year to the Rotary Foundation. This money will be used to reactivate the 3-H Grants (Health, Hunger and Humanity) which have been in moratorium for several years. The 3-H Grants are used by Rotary to pay for large international projects that truly benefit mankind. Please be generous in your giving.

I am looking forward to a year of accomplishments that will be fun as well as worthwhile. ▲

Wondering what Rotary is all about? Let me share this with you ... it is about guests becoming members, members becoming friends, and friends working together on committees. This year Emily Layton and Mary Hodgkinson will be available to assist you in finding the committee that not only fulfills your needs, but also fits your schedule. Each committee is listed in the Club Directory, Article VIII, Duties of Committees, pgs 28-31. Need help? Check with us, marypthpc@mcleodusa.net, or emily@emilylaytondesign.com. ▲

Neal Stevenson as selection committee chair presented the 2004 Vocational Achievement to Dr. Sean O’Sullivan. Each year the Victoria Rotary Club presents the award to one of its members who exemplifies the Rotary International motto, Service above self. Sean was recognized for achievements in his vocation--radiology. He was chosen for the persistence in treatment and the care that he gives to his patients every day in his practice, O’Sullivan Referral Radiology, 1401A Victoria Station Dr.. ▲

The Club’s Paul Harris Committee selected twelve members to receive Paul Harris Fellows. They were Wayne Alexander, John Beck, Tim Braaten, Peggy Cunningham, Don Day, Cally Fromme, Travis Fromme, Mary Hodgkinson, Bobby Leon, Robert Loeb, Sean O’Sullivan, and Jack Whitmire. Anyone who contributes – or in whose name is contributed – a gift of $1,000 or more to the Rotary Foundation Annual Programs Fund may become a Paul Harris Fellow. So, basically, anyone—Rotarian or non-Rotarian—may become a Paul Harris Fellow, but in this case since the money was contributed in the names of the recipients they were selected for their service to the Club and community. Wayne has been in charge of one of the stations at the clay shoot. John has contributed to our fundraising success by allowing us to use his ranch to hold the function. He moves cattle, mows, and pulls people out of the mud. Tim was in charge of the auctions this year and we set a revenue record. Peggy, like Wayne, volunteers to operate a clay shoot station each year. Don quietly furnishes and serves hamburgers to the Boys and Girls Club kids Saturday at the clay shoot. Cally, for the second year, organized the Child Protective Services picnic. She enlisted the help of the district CPS representative to get more enthusiasm at the local level. Travis handled the grounds job at the clay shoot. Mary as Clay Shoot Coordinator set a revenue record by a large margin. Bobby Leon coordinated the field activities at the clay shoot allowing things to run smoothly despite inclement weather. Robert was a one-man show coordinating our weekly programs. Sean single-handedly arranged for two students to attend the World Affairs Seminar, a task he has undertaken for several years. Jack designed and donated a covered trailer for use in Rotary Club activities.▲

Vance will enforce the Club Board’s direction to tighten attendance rules. He will follow the RI rules which allow members to make-up meetings during a four week period—two weeks before and two weeks after a missed meeting. Any Rotary function counts—other club meeting, conference, convention, committee meeting, board meeting, Rotary work project. An on-line make-up is available, too. ▲

The Club is joining the other two Victoria Rotary Clubs in a Centennial Project to donate and install and landscape a playground at the Anna Blackley Apartments. The equipment has been ordered and is expected to be here for the first work weekend, July 24-25. If you can’t help, come for moral support. ▲