HISTORY OF ROTARY BIRDHOUSE FUNDRAISER INITIATED BY THE ROTARY CLUB OF WOODVILLE, TEXAS
Two birdhouses were fabricated by a friend of Rotary, Mr. Hogostream, in Woodville for fundraising which were quite successful. The first house was won by Abdon Norris of the La Marque Rotary Club and his family still possess it. The second house was won by Stan Duitsch, PDG 1978-79, member of the La Marque Rotary Club at the District Conference in Galveston in 1993. They were beautifully crafted and covered with many symbols of Rotary.
Stan is giving his birdhouse back to District 5910 to continue fundraising for polio plus. Tickets are now being sold from now through District Conference in June 2020. The drawing for the winner will be held at the conference.
The cost of the tickets will be $25 each or 5 tickets for $100. To purchase, please contact Governor Betsy Robinson (281) 451-4478, PDG Ann Bragg (832) 419-2777, or your club's assistant governor.
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FOUND ON MY TRAVELS:
It seems that Boulevard Brewing Co. and Rotary are very much alike!
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Tropical Storm Imelda has created historic flooding in District 5910. Many of our fellow Rotarians need assistance and many others want to provide that assistance. In an effort to coordinate without duplicating efforts we are asking the following:
Please designate someone in your club to handle the responses to this email who can then let DGN Jerry Springfield (contact information below) know so it can be directed to the correct people. (It can be you if you are willing.)
Ask your club coordinators to survey your club and find out a) who, if anyone, has sustained damage and needs assistance, and b) who would be willing to offer assistance, along with the type of assistance they could provide. This can be anything from labor to remove sheet rock and carpet, to financial assistance, to skill trades. They should also indicate when they could be available to work.
Your or your contact person’s cell phone numbers are needed for texting as well as an email address that is checked often so you can be contacted as needs get matched with assistance. Please include your club’s name.
Presidents or your designated coordinators should contact DGN Jerry Springfield with this information as soon as possible: (409) 283-0557 (jgspring@hotmail.com).
For the Southeast Texas area this disaster may well exceed the damage from Hurricane Harvey. Many who had just returned home are flooded out again. Please keep all those suffering from this in your thoughts and prayers.
I wanted to check in with you since we've had a few weeks to think about all that we learned at our District Membership, Foundation, and Public Image seminar in Galveston. I have loaded several quick links on our District web page, www.Rotary5910.org. Bookmark this site since it is always a good spot to check periodically for useful content.
This is the "Know to Grow Membership" presentation that includes the Member Spotlight Video "how to guide". I look forward to seeing the videos from all our Rotary Clubs! When posting your membership videos & photos to Facebook include @Rotary5910 so we can see it and be sure and "Like" our District page too. Remember, the Rotary Club citation bonus goal encourages clubs to post videos and photos 4 times a month to social media outlets (share the WHY, not just the WHAT).
District 5910 Rotary Ambassadorial Global Grant Scholarships will be used to fund one year of post-baccalaureate study at a recognized university in a non-U.S. country in a study discipline that supports the Object of Rotary and the Mission of The Rotary Foundation (see www.rotary.org).
Applicant’s planned studies must lead to sustainable, high-impact outcomes in one of the following six Areas of Focus:
Peace and conflict prevention/resolution;
Disease prevention and treatment;
Water and sanitation;
Maternal and child health;
Basic education and literacy; and/or
Economic and community development
The application form can be found through the link in the left column on the website page for Global Grant Scholar.
While school acceptance is not required for the District Application, it is required for RI submission. Applicants are highly encouraged to have researched their choice school(s), verify that they meet all qualifications and communicate with the school their intent to at least learn of any hurdles, and open communication/get conditional approval. If pending admission in writing has been received, please include that in the application.
Deadline to turn in the application is October 31, 2019. That date and other details are listed in the first page of the application.
A number of our Interact clubs have been suspended because no one from the club has gone in to the Rotary International website and certified them. Our 58 Interact clubs and are down to 31! Please get your certifications taken care of ASAP!
All too soon following Harvey, Rotarians in several southeast Texas communities again found themselves involved in hands-on recovery work following the record-breaking rainfall of Tropical Storm Imelda that pounded the entire region in September.
Members of the Rotary Club of Beaumont rolled up their sleeves again and began helping to muck houses, clean out a local shelter, and assist other charitable organizations in recovery work.
That is a story, but the real story is what takes place that few people see. It is what Rotary is. It is about one Rotarian from a neighboring state making a connection with a Beaumont Rotarian, learning of the need and inspiring his club into action. What followed was a Louisiana club completing a week-long drive collecting supplies needed to do mucking and cleaning. They phoned to say they were renting a truck, driving over two hours to reach Beaumont, and delivering supplies that will be used by people they will never meet. They unloaded the truck, spent a few minutes in pleasantries and well-wishes, and were gone again. Rotary IS People of Action.
St. Martinville Rotary Club, we are grateful. Thank you for demonstrating Service Above Self and what Rotary really is.
Mary Cohn, Library Director at Austin Memorial Library, municipal library for the City of Cleveland, spoke to the Rotary Club of Cleveland on Wednesday, September 25, bringing lots of information concerning the library to Rotarians. There are four libraries in Liberty County; the Cleveland library is the only one open on Sundays (4 hours), Houston libraries are closed on Sunday.
The library offers services that can help businesses: faxing, scanning, copying, research, equipment, resurfacing of CD/DVD’s, one on one computer help, and programs to teach computer skills and foreign language. Of course, the library also offers more than 50,000 titles, books on tape, audio books, electronic media, wireless access with printing, and various programs for kids, adults, and seniors. Programming at the library includes pre-school skills, early literacy library.
The Cleveland library promotes literacy and has a goal that kids read 1000 books before kindergarten. The Austin Memorial Library is a “family place” library!
Friendswood Police Officer, Carlos Granillo, was named a Paul Harris Fellow at our Rotary Club's meeting on September 11th in recognition of his contributions supporting the Foundation’s goals for service worldwide. Officer Granillo was sponsored by Friendswood Rotarians Chief Bob Wieners and Sally Branson.
Officer Granillo shows exemplary service to our community and the Friendswood Police Department. Our Rotary Club is recognizing him for demonstrating one of our core values, "Service Above Self" with a club award in addition to his Paul Harris Award.
Pictured with Officer Carlos Granillo are his wife Katherine Granillo, Club President Robin Hall, Chief Bob Wieners, Sally Branson, and Dave Barron.
Rest In Peace Fellow Rotarian
GERT EITEL BAHLO August 9, 1946 - September 8, 2019
Gert was born in Chemnitz, Germany August 9th, 1946 to Marie & Fritz Bahlo. He lived in East Germany until he married Marta Farkas from Hungary in August 1967. They lived together in Hungary and dreamed of one day living in the United States. With hard work and a bit of luck, Gert & Marta escaped from behind the iron curtain to immigrate to the United States with the sponsorship of Gert’s eldest brother Klaus in 1969.
After 6 years of working full time and studying, Gert earned his BS in Engineering from The New England College of Technology and his MBA from Babson College. After graduation, Gert & Marta moved to Houston, Texas. Gert always had a very strong entrepreneurial spirit and his dream was to start his own business. After trying two partnerships, Gert became the sole founder of G. B. Industry in 1986.
He was a very active member of many Rotary Clubs for more than 35 years and a past President of Gulfway Hobby Rotary Club. He started the first Youth Exchange Programs with Hungary & East Germany, while both were still under communist rule. He hosted many different exchange students from all over the world. He enjoyed giving back to his community and had an impact on many youth’s and young entrepreneurs lives through Rotary Youth and other exchange programs.
Holly McDonald was introduced at a recent meeting of the Rotary Club of Galveston as a new member. Also pictured are Club President, Jim Byrom (left) and Rotarian Fred Raschke, McDonald's sponsor.
Ruth Finkelstein Suhler (right), Immediate Past President of the Rotary Club of Galveston, sponsored and introduced Leah Jacobs as a new member at a recent meeting. Club President, Jim Byrom, also participated in welcoming Jacobs to the club.
The Rotary Club of Galveston recently welcomed 9 Rotary International Youth Exchange Students from Rotary District 5910 (southeast Texas): Alice and Laura from Brazil, Baptiste and Eloïse from France, Greta from Germany, Leti from Italy, Cris from Spain, Sophie from Switzerland, and Ploy from Thailand. They were joined by four former Rotary Exchange Students (Rotex) from Texas: Cynthia and Irma, who spent a year in France, Willie a year in Spain, and Zoe a year in Thailand. The students attended a special orientation meeting in Galveston to prepare them for their school year in Texas. Each will live with 2-3 host families and attend local high schools. The students are hosted by the Rotary Clubs of Bryan, College Station, Friendswood, Galveston, Huntsville, Lake Conroe, Livingston, Palestine, and The Woodlands. (Photo by Ulli Budelmann.)
On Thursday, September 5, members of Island Rotary and Galveston Rotary joined together for the time-honored tradition of kicking off the United Way of Galveston’s Workplace Giving Campaign. In Galveston, Rotary and United Way go back as far as any of us can remember, and it’s for good reason. The Third Object of Rotary is the application of the ideal of service in each Rotarian’s personal, business, and community life. United Way is where all of those areas intersect, and our United Way serves as the bridge that connects the workplace to the nonprofit organizations who are helping people in need.
Every year, Island Rotary and Galveston Rotary take turns, one President calls the meeting to order, and the other leads adjourns. This year, Island Rotary President Sam Malchar called the meeting to order.
Galveston Rotary President Jim Byrom led the Four-Way Test to adjourn the meeting.
Nearly 350 people attended the United Way of Galveston Campaign Kick-off Luncheon, which demonstrates how much the Galveston community supports our United Way and their 20+ Partner Agencies.
Keynote Speakers Angela Wilson, Community News Editor at the Galveston County Daily News, and Rev. Richard Rhoades from First Lutheran Galveston (a member of Galveston Rotary), had an armchair conversation. They swapped stories of local people and families whose lives had been forever changed by United Way of Galveston.
Orange Rotary members enjoyed a social event in celebration of the club’s 100 anniversary year. Rotarians gathered for Happy Hour on the porch of the new restaurant Reel Cajun at the Sunset Grove Country Club. Members chatted and shared stories while enjoying a view of the beautiful grounds of the golf course, which had been commissioned by the first president of Orange Rotary, Lutcher Stark.
September was a great month for programs; past president Natasha Garrett brought Jennifer Burch on issues of aging, Liz Fredrichs on the Better Business Bureau, and Kathy Chessher on the American Cancer Society. Ryan Dubose capped the month with first-hand information about the impact of RYLA, as the Orange club made plans for sponsoring students for RYLA.
Rotarian Sarah Boehme reported to the Board on great experiences at District training at Galveston.
At a recent meeting, Spindletop Rotary stuffed socks for the homeless in the second annual Stuff the Socks service project. Socks are stuffed with a bottle of water, soap, toothbrush and toothpaste, nutritious snacks, and a comb.
Members then keep the stuffed socks in their cars and hand them out to the homeless in the community as they encounter them. This is a quick simple project that makes a big difference to people who live on the street. Spindletop is proud to be able to assist in this small way.
