Our newest members at the Bellaire/SW Houston Rotary Club, Adam Heghinian, Carlos Iglesias, and Kelly Cook, were given a wonderful orientation on Wednesday, March 29 at the home of Neil and Traci Silverman.  

2015-16 Slate of Board Directors and Officers for Bellaire/SW Rotary:

President & Director - Norman Neskar;
President Elect/Foundation Director - Andy Pollard;
Vice President & Director Brent Borgstedte;
Secretary & Director - Mary Welch;
Treasurer & Director Don Beckner;
Past President & Director Julian Fisher-Hanks;
Sgt at Arms & Director - David Montague;
PR/Communications/Media Director Nan Wagoner;
Grants Director- Trung Doan;
Membership Director - Kathleen Wiesenthal;
Flags Director - Ray Burgert;
Club Administration Director- Ralph Rieger;
Service Projects Director - Judy Harwell;
Vocational Director Ed Burdzinski;
Youth Director- Ole Donaho;
Social Director- Shawn Nichol;
Programs Director- Richard Cole;
Director at Large - Craig Wooten;
Director at Large - Byron Holloway;
Club Announcer& Director - Mark Dickens.

Who doesn’t love a farmers market?  — the produce, the cheese, the prepared foods, the fresh air! More than a half-dozen markets occur every week in various spots around Houston, and now is the time to turn over a new leaf and check these out for yourself – take a Rotary friend with you.

Urban Harvest Farmers Market at HCC Southwest

West Loop Campus

• 5601 West Loop South Freeway (HCC West Loop S parking lot), Houston, TX 77081
• Friday afternoons 3-7pm
• Features vendors from Eastside, Highland Village & City Hall markets, plus ‘street food’ vendors, food trucks, and prepared foods
• Visit Website

Houston Farmers Market at Rice Village

• 2100 University Blvd., Houston TX 77005. In Christ the King church parking lot and within walking distance to many places in Rice Village.
• Tuesdays 3:30-6:30 p.m.
• Features seasonal produce, micro greens/ herbs from Gundermann and other area farms, bread from Kraftsmen Bakery, chocolates, preserves, hot pepper jellies, handmade soaps, flowers.

• Visit Website

Urban Harvest Farmers Market

• 3000 Richmond, Houston, TX 77098. Phone: 713-880-5540
• Saturdays from 8am to noon and Sundays from noon to 4pm
• Features local fruits, vegetables, coffee, meats, honey, Hatterman Poultry Farm eggs, Pola Cheese and the Grateful Bread (slab bacon, vanilla extract and more). Weekly events range from live music to culinary demonstrations using local products
• Visit Website

Farmers Market at Imperial

• 198 Kempner St, Sugar Land, TX, Highway 90 at Brooks Street (13 mi from Bellaire)
• Saturdays from 9am to 1pm
• Often features entertainment & food demos as well as vendors

For Full Information, Click 2015-2016 Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship Application

District 5890 Rotary Ambassadorial 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). 

Applicants’ planned studies must:

      Lead to sustainable, high-impact outcomes in one of the following six Areas of Focus:

            (a)       Peace and conflict prevention/resolution;

            (b)       Disease prevention and treatment;

            (c)       Water and sanitation;

            (d)       Maternal and child health;

            (e)       Basic education and literacy; and/or

            (f)        Economic and community development

Applicants must submit this application and all supplementary sheets completed in full to a Rotary club in District 5890.  All Required Documents (see page 5) must reach the District Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarships Chair no later than October 10, 2014.  Applicants are not to forward this application to The Rotary Foundation or to Rotary International.

Interviews will be held only on November 8, 2014; if an applicant is unable to be interviewed in person that day, due to scheduling conflicts, he/she will not be eligible for consideration for a scholarship.

Click >> 2015-16 Global Grants Scholar Package for complete information

District 5890 will sponsor Global Grant Scholars for the 2015-16 Rotary year. The grants are required to qualify under one of the six Areas of Focus established by The Rotary Foundation. Although it is not required in the Global Grant structure, the District Foundation Leadership Team has decided to retain the ambassadorial nature of the scholarship program in District 5890. More information regarding the requirements is contained in the Ambassadorial Scholarship Application form. We are aware that there will be many questions from clubs as we continue to convert programs to the Global Grant guidelines. Please find attached helpful information regarding how we in District 5890 will move forward with selecting scholars this year. Clubs that want to sponsor a Global Grant Scholar must be qualified under the grant management guidelines, and have signed the Memorandum of Understanding, before they can do so. If a club’s candidate is endorsed by the District 5890 Scholarships Committee, it is the responsibility of the sponsoring club and the endorsed candidate to jointly apply for a Global Grant Scholarship on The Rotary Foundation web site, and to comply with the procedures and regulations of The Rotary Foundation. The Rotary Foundation will ultimately determine the final approval or disapproval of the Global Grant Scholarship Application.

As always, please contact me with questions and I will make every effort to maintain our District 5890 website scholarship pages. Yours in Rotary Service, Bill Barmore District 5890 Scholarships Chair bbarmore5890@gmail.com

General Qualifications

·      The academic program must be located in a foreign country.

·      Applicant must complete a District 5890 Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship Application (attached).

·      The scholar must have selected the university that he/she wants to attend.

·      The scholar must be studying within one of the six Areas of Focus established by Rotary International (see attached list).

·      The academic program must be no less than one academic year.

·      The program must be a graduate level program only.

·      The scholar must begin his/her academic program during the 2015-16 Rotary year.

·      The applicant must complete all required reports during and after his/her scholarship time.

District 5890 honored Rotary Youth Exchange families February 15 with an appreciation dinner hosted by Humble Intercontinental Rotary. Rotary's RYE program engages future leaders and their families  in understanding other cultures on a very personal level and promotes world peace on a long-term basis. Photos show DG Lisa Massey welcoming the colorful group and PDG Bob Gebhard thanking participants for the important outreach that this wonderful program provides worldwide.

At its February meeting, the Bellaire/SW Rotary Board voted to donate $500 to support the 2015 InterAct District 5890 Conference, an annual District event which will take place this year on March 28th. Our Club also will contribute a $30 gift card as a door prize. This year's conference will be held at Channelview High School, 1100 Sheldon Road (Houston TX 77530), and will not include an overnight lock-in.. (Photo depicts PDG Bob Gebhard with InterActors showing the "this much" sign for how close we are to eliminating polio.)

Bellaire Rotary is helping fund training and treatment of cervical cancer in rural Guatemala in cooperation with the Faith in Practice  Women's Health Project. Local practitioners are trained in the Johns Hopkins VIA/Cryotherapy method to screen with acetic acid (VIA), then freeze and kill pre-cancerous cells discovered, all in a single patient-visit. Faith in Practice sends medical volunteers to provide the training, screenings, and cryotherapy, and has certified more than 200 doctors, nurses, and educators in the VIA/Cryo program. Cervical cancer reportedly is the number one killer of women in Guatemala, with eight women dying there for every one that dies in the U.S. from the disease. Women in impoverished rural areas are particularly vulnerable. Faith in Practice has received a 4-star rating from Charity Navigator for the past decade and ranks in the top 1% of all charities rated for fiscal responsibility and efficiency.

Bellaire Rotary is donating $2500 to equip 55 needy children in the Houston area with school supplies and clothing for the next school year.  The grant to the Christian Community Service Center ("CCSC") will provide the supplies and clothing before school starts to ensure that children have the tools and resources to start school better prepared for academic success. (Photo shows CCSC volunteers distributing school supplies.) CCSC volunteers will staff and promote distribution points in the late-summer to get the supplies into the hands of those in need. The CCSC, a community-based non-profit, serves the inner-city poor, hungry, disabled, and otherwise needy while respecting their religious, ethnic or cultural differences.  It also offers emergency assistance for needy families, job training, and school vision screening.

Bellaire Rotary sponsored a February character-development program for Sylvan Rodriguez Elementary students featuring the famous Harlan Ambassadors during their Texas tour. The program, which emphasized the importance of staying in school, remaining drug-free, and avoiding bullying, was a great hit with the grades 3-5 crowd of students. The Ambassadors are college-educated, drug-free hoopsters who travel worldwide promoting positive values for youths.  Photo (upper Left) shows BSWH Rotarians Judy Harwell, Mike White, and Vicki Wang with the Ambassadors and principal Elena Martinez-Buley. Read on for sample answers to chlldren's questions from Ambassadors Coach Lady Majic.

January is Rotary Awareness Month - a time when we make a special effort to tell others about what Rotary does and all the wonderful people in our Rotary family - the extended family that starts with the family of every Bellaire Rotarian and widens to include all whose lives are touched and improved by this great organization.

Congrats to Scooby Wright, winner of the 45^th Rotary Lombardi Award, presented December 10 at the Bayou Music Center.  DG Lisa and other District 5890 Executives attended, as did Elda Loesch of BSWH Rotary. The program booklet featured a full-page ad highlighting the clubs of Rotary District 5890. The finalists for the this year’s award were: Vic Beasley (Clemson); Joey Bosa (Ohio State); Hau’oli Kikaha (Washington); and Scooby Wright III (Arizona).

I am a Rotarian because I was asked to be a Rotarian by a friend. When I started my Dental practice I knew it was important to become well known in the community. I found that my church would almost immediately allow me to get involved. As I made friends at church, one of my new friends, who was an active business person in the community, invited me to a Rotary Club meeting. I thought this might be a good opportunity for me to meet other business persons in the community. When I attend this meeting I said "Wow!" this is where the business leaders of this community get together. In short order I was proposed for membership, approved and inducted. 

Thanks to all who participated in our summer Blood Drive, chaired by Norm Neskar. It was our second project of the new Rotary year that began July 1. Pictured at right are President Julian Fisher with Norm at our Rotary welcome booth, and at left are Julian and Norm with Blood Center personnel outside the donor-mobile. Bellaire Rotarians Craig Wooten and Mel Kalmans are shown in the bottom row giving the gift of life. We appreciate Tradition Bank Bellaire providing the venue.

District 5890 Polio Plus Chair Wayne Staton presented Bellaire Rotarians with an inspiring program on the importance of Rotary’s efforts to eradicate polio and shared his compelling personal saga of what it is like to live life as a  polio survivor.  In a related story, Bill Gates congratulated Rotary International members around the world in a VIDEO for their tireless fight to end polio in Southeast Asia, saying, "Thanks to these efforts, Rotary is helping make global polio eradication a reality."  Staton is shown with President Trung Doan autographing the children's book to be donated to the YMCA in his honor by the club; and at right displaying the leg brace he still wears from his bout with polio.