The Rotary Club of University Area participates in this great program.  Our club sponsors numerous children who receive these books and the number of children has increased each year. Houston TV Channel ABC 13 interviewed our two members who lead the program for our Rotary Club.  Please CLICK HERE to see the interview.

The Rotary Club of University Area Houston's flag program started in the spring of 2007, has been well received. Our Rotary Club places both American and Texas flags in the front yards of our subscribers and while having a beautiful flag in their yards on four patriotic holidays, our subscribers also benefit by helping our Rotary Club raise funds for our various charitable activities. Please click on the HOLIDAY FLAG PROGRAM to go to our special flag website where you can use your credit card when ordering your flags and read about our various charitable programs.  (Note--Funds are payable to The University Area Rotary Foundation-a 501(c)3 charitable foundation.)  To sign up on line or download a PDF form (CLICK HERE >>FLAG SUBSCRIPTION FORM.  We appreciate your participation!

• Irene Hickey was named District 5890 Rotarian of the Year and chosen to serve on the District Governor Selection Committee
• Sonya Heath was named Rising ROTARIAN of the Year
• Homero Ponce-Lopez presented the RFFH and  there are now several clubs who are interested in partnering with our club
• The beer garden hospitality suite that Joe Ridley and Phil Cezeaux coordinated was a success
• Jerry Harris won a door prize
• And special friend of RCUA, Lindsey Kroll and his team won first place in the golf tournament and Lindsey won the wheelbarrow of beer.
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• SAN LOUIS RESORT & CONFERNCE CENTER                                                                                                              PRES.ELECT SONYA IS INTRODUCED TO THE DISTRICT AT BANQUET
• LINDSEY & IRENE WITH IRENE'S AWARD
• ROTARY  FIRE FIGHTERS HOME BOOTH

One of our fire trucks being put to the test in a huge oil refinery blaze, this happened in Altamira Mira alta, Tampico, Mexico.

The Rotary Club of University Area Houston celebrated Rotary Days at the Better Block Houston Community event on Sunday, October 19, 2014. District 5890's Governor Lisa Faith Massey made an appearance during the event along with the Rotary Nigerian Friendship Exchange guests coming to checkout the University Area Club's great barbecue.

President elect Irene Hickey delivered 7 BIG bags of toys  Wednesday 12-18-2013 to Houston Fire Station 25 (Scott St.), as part of the HFD annual toy drive.  The two firemen to whom the toys were delivered were very excited about our donation.  Apparently we were the first folks to deliver toys to this particular fire station.  They were like little kids in their excitement.  One of them said, "Wow!  We've had this Christmas Tree and now, finally, we have presents to put under it!" Great job Irene.  You showed that our Rotary Club has the Holiday spirit!

OUR CLUB HELD OUR ANNUAL TAILGATE PARTY AT RICE STADIUM BENEFITING THE BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF HOUSTON, SEVERAL YMCA CHAPTERS AND THE CHINQUAPIN SCHOOL.  THERE WERE OVER 250 ATTENDEES ON THIS BEAUTIFUL WEATHER PERFECT  SATURDAY MORNING.  OUR CLUB WOULD LIKE TO THANK HEB FOOD STORES FOR THEIR GENEROUS DONATION AND SERVICE CORPORATION FOR THE USE OF THEIR TENT.  DICK STABELL AND SUSAN EPPS DID MOST OF THE ORGANIZATION OF THIS YEARS EVENT AND OUR CLUB THANKS THEM FOR THEIR HARD WORK.  THE YOUTH FROM THE VARIOUS ATTENDING ORGANIZATIONS HAD FACE PAINTING, GOOD FOOD AND AN ENJOYABLE FOOTBALL GAME.  OF COURSE THE ROTARY FELLOWSHIP WAS ONE OF THE BEST PARTS.  CLICK TAILGATE PARTY 2013 TO SEE THIS YEARS PICTURES.

OUR ROTARY FIRE FIGHTERS HOME (RFFH) KICK OFF CELEBRATION FRIDAY EVENING WAS A SUCCESSFUL EVENT.  IN ATTENDANCE WERE REPRESENTATIVES FROM THE ROTARY CLUBS OF KINGWOOD, GALLERIA AREA, HARRISBURG, HOUSTON & UNIVERSITY AREA CLUB & FOUNDATION, THE RFFH BOARD & COMMITTEE CHAIRS AND PAST DISTRICT GOVERNORS SUSIE HOWE, CHRIS SCHNEIDER.  ALSO THERE WERE REPRESENTATIVES FROM THE HFD COMMAND STAFF, HFD BURNED CHILDREN'S FOUNDATION-TRENT VANN, BELLAIRE FIRE CHIEF-DARRYL ANDERSON AND THE AMERICAN RED CROSS.  THE PROGRAM INCLUDED PRESENTATION OF FLAGS BY THE HOUSTON FIRE DEPARTMENT (HFD) HONOR GUARD, INVOCATION BY HFD CHAPLIN GARRY BLACKMON AND THE HFD PIPES & DRUMS.  OUR EVENING MC WAS PBS AWARD WINNING ERNIE MANOUSE (A HONORARY ROTARIAN).  THE PROGRAM INCLUDED REMARKS FROM RFFH PROJECT COORDINATOR IRENE HICKEY, A  VERY SPECIAL CANCER FIGHT SURVIVER HFD CAPTAIN BONNIE RICHTER, ASST.FIRE CHIEF THOMAS MUNOZ, ROTARY PAST GOVERNOR CHRIS SCHNEIDER, ROTARIAN RFFH CHAIRMAN PHIL CEZEAUX AND EVENT CHAIR SONYA HEATH.  A SPECIAL THANKS GOES OUT TO THE LOCAL AMERICAN RED CROSS, XEROX CORP, CLAMPITT PAPER, GURROLA REPROGRAPHICS, TWIN PEAKS, BEAVER'S ICE HOUSE AND SAM'S CLUB FOR PROVING LOCATION, PROGRAMS, PAPER, BEVERAGES AND FOOD.  BEFORE AND AFTER THE PROGRAM CONVERSATION AND FELLOWSHIP WAS HAD BY ALL.  THE LADIES PARTICULARLY LIKED THE PERSONALLY SIGNED FIRE FIGHTER'S CALENDERS. 

                                                                               

SUNDAY EVENING AT ART & OLGA BAUTISTA'S CASA OUR CLUB HAD A ROTARY FIRE FIGHTERS HOME PIT TEST.  THE PIT & THE COOKS CAME TROUGH WITH FLYING AND TASTY ACCOLADES.  THE FOOD AND  ROTARY FELLOWSHIP WERE GREAT.  SOME ROTARIANS WHO HAVE BEEN MIA WERE THERE AS WELL AS CURRENT & PAST DISTRICT OFFICERS. CINDY WITH HELP FROM SONYA & IRENE LEAD US TO ANOTHER GREAT CLUB OUTING.  TO SEE ALL THE PHOTOS CLICK ROTARY FFH BAR-B-QUE PIT TEST

Nursing Scholarship Awards were presented to 3 applicants at Wednesday's club meeting.  In the photo from the left are Cindy Murphy Chair of the Scholarship Committee and this year's three recipients.   All recipients will participate the rest of the year in club activities and give us a progress report at the end of their school year. They also promised warm bed pans for Rotarians in the hospital if the need arises.

Past District Governor Ed honored our Rotary Club by being the installing officer transferring our club's presidency from Susan Saeger to Jay Taylor.  Junior Past President Susan passed the long time president's pin to President Jay and he presented her a Past President's pin along with a plaque honoring her year of service.  Congratulations to both and thanks to the PDG Ed for his help in making this a smooth transition.  

Christian Pelz, was our Rotary Youth Exchange student 2003/04.  Christian, now age 25, is now the principal Cellist with the Hamburg Symphony Orchestra.  Christian credits his year here at High School for Visual and Performing Arts to his decision to become what he clearly has become.
To see him playing his music CLICK HERE.

Event chair, Alice Hasting-James led our group of Rotarians including our club President Susan to work the phone bank at the Channel 8 Telethon.  We were there for 4 hours and took more pledges than Channel 8 had originally anticipated.  It was a worthy service project and a great time was had by  all.

Our club meet out west of Tomball to help paint a home at the Boy's & Girl's Country College Campus.  It was a bright cool morning and we were given grey paint for the home.  It looked great until we were told the the grey was for the trim and the white was for the trim.  It really looked better the way it was done.  The ladies form Duchesne Academy and our Lamar Interact Club were present along with some other volunteers.  As usual, Susan Epps, provided great food for all.  This was another meaningful service project.  To see photos of this event click B & G Country Paint Day

Lizzy Tan's Experience at RYLA 2013

I attended RYLA 2013 as a representative of the Lamar High School Interact Club. It was an eye-opening experience. The Rotaract members who ran the camp were phenomenal. I can't express how impressed I am by their attitudes and organization. They truly made RYLA an enjoyable experience rather than just a camp.

I also really enjoyed the speakers' presentations. It was inspiring to experience Dr. Rich’s revolutionary approach to motivation (through the Zumba exercises). She struck me as a very independent, responsible woman - someone I would like to be in the future. Fred Newhouse also inspired me, not only because he is an Olympian (very impressive for us to be able to meet him), but because he was humble and told us to strive to be "the best we can be," rather than just a trite "work hard and you'll achieve all your dreams." I also really liked his motto "You must run this race alone" because it made me realize that I ultimately am responsible for my successes and failures - even if other obstacles impede progress, I am still accountable for my outcomes. He was probably my favorite presenter. What I liked most about the presentation on Cowboy Ethics was the collages each student made - these collages appealed to me because I am a very visually-minded person and like to have tangible goals and evidence.

I liked that we students were divided into small group teams; not only did this push me to interact with others, I also got to make connections with other Interactors that I will be able to work with in the future (on combined projects, etc.). I really liked that everyone at RYLA wanted to be there and that everyone had a positive, involved attitude. The activities we did would have been less enjoyable had there been disinterested students who complained. I definitely enjoyed the ROPES courses we did on the Carolina Creek Facility. It was refreshing to be outside and working through physical obstacles as we made connections to situations involving more metaphorical obstacles. My counselors, Christian and Denise, were awesome coaches. They were very open, easy-going, and passionate; they are the reason that my group got along so well.

Another thing that really made RYLA fun was the setting. The Caroline Creek Christian Camp facilities were well-kept, clean, and functional. The cabins were much nicer than I had anticipated; as you can imagine, having clean, spacious cabins made a huge difference in the campers’ overall experiences! The cafeteria and food were nice additions as well. The Carolina Creek Christian Camp staff worked with students like me in playing games and navigating the ropes courses. I had a very good impression of them and am glad that Rotary chose to host the camp at their facility.

One of my favorite things about RYLA was the social, “free time” in the schedule. These breaks were probably the most influential times I had at RYLA – during breaks, I was able to bond and build relationships with the other campers by playing volleyball, chatting, and relaxing together. I feel like these times were perhaps more critical to our interpersonal relationships than some of the team building skills we played. Houston is such a big metropolis; it was interesting to meet people from areas that I had never heard or been to!

I also really liked the involvement of the Rotary-sponsored foreign exchange students. I was pleasantly surprised that there were so many kids in the program at RYLA. International awareness and creating global connections is something that I am very interested in. As an Asian American myself, I feel that it is important that people of all nations have the opportunity to experience other cultures and make connections with others. I would like to be a foreign exchange student in the future. RYLA also illuminated to me the possibility of doing an exchange program through Rotary, a concept I had been unaware of!

All in all, I am absolutely grateful for having the chance to go to RYLA 2013. I have been to several leadership trainings/camps in the past; however, what I really enjoyed about RYLA was the network of other Rotarians, Rotaractors, and Interactors. No other camp could give me the opportunity to make connections with other like-minded members the way RYLA has. I am very excited about utilizing these network connections to collaborate on projects in the future. RYLA was a great experience and I would highly recommend this camp to anyone.

OUR ROTARY CLUB FOR YEARS HAS BEEN TRYING TO GET LAMAR HIGH SCHOOL INTERACT CLUB TO BECOME AN OFFICIAL ROTARY INTERNATIONAL RECOGNIZED CLUB.  WITH THE HELP OF THEIR SPONSOR, MRS. DAWN FOY, THEIR PRESIDENT AUSTIN RUIZ AND THEIR ENTHUSIASTIC MEMBERS IT HAS FINALLY BECOME A REALITY.  ROTARY DISTRICT 5890 GOVERNOR CHRIS SCHNEIDER PRESENTED THEIR CURRENT PRESIDENT AUSTIN RUIZ THEIR CHARTER.  INTERACT DISTRICT 5890 GOVERNOR GARRETT KNEESE SPOKE TO THE GROUP ABOUT THE WONDERFUL EXPERIENCE THEY WILL HAVE IN INTERACT AND AT INTERACT FUNCTIONS.  WE PRESENTED THEM THEIR CLUB BANNER, A 4-WAY TEST BANNER, BELL, PINS AND MEMBERSHIP CARDS.  PRESENT FROM OUR CLUB WERE JERRY HARRIS, CINDY MURPHY (INTERACT CO-CHAIRS), PHIL CEZEAUX, JAY TAYLOR & JIM CRAIG.  ALSO DISTRICT 5890 YOUTH CHAIRS TOMMIE & CHARLIE BUSCEMI SPOKE TO THE INTERACTORS.  EVERYONE ENJOYED THE AFTERNOON.  LAMAR WILL BE A VERY ACTIVE CLUB.

SATURDAY EVENING OUR CLUB HAD A GREAT 2013 KICKOFF PARTY AT LUCY'S CLUBHOUSE.  IT WAS A FUN EVENING AND HOMERO'S FIREHOUSE TACO TRUCK PROVIDED SOME DELICIOUS MEXICAN FOOD.  TO SEE PHOTOS CLICK HERE 2013 KICKOFF PARTY

Members of our Rotary Club met Saturday morning to build 4 garden plots,at the Santa Maria Hostel which is dedicated the helping women with abuse and drug problems.  The weather was perfect short sleeve temperatures and the work was completed by 11:00 AM.  Dr. Manu Sharma ( our Wednesday speaker), two of our nurse scholarship recipients and fellow Rotarians moved and placed cinder blocks and lots of dirt.  As usual, snacks were  provided by Susan Epps.  We are getting good at the building of these type of above ground gardens thanks to the leadership of Wayne Shull.  As a note to him, he should always pick out days with such great weather.  Click on the Santa Maria album on the tight side of the page to view the pictures or just click GARDEN PICTURES

SATURDAY WAS A GREAT FOOTBALL DAY.  THE WEATHER WAS PERFECT!  THE KIDS FROM THE BOYS & GIRLS CLUB, THE YMCA AND THE CHINQUAPIN SCHOOL REALLY ENJOYED THE FACE PAINTING, THE TATTOS, THE HOT DOGS WITH ALL THE TRIMMINGS AND A GREAT FOOTBALL GAME WHERE RICE SOUNDLY DEFEATED  THE SMU MUSTANGS 36 TO 14.  WHAT A WELL BEHAVED BUNCH OF KIDS.  OUR CLUB WISHES TO THANK OUR SPONSORS FOR THEIR CONTRIBUTIONS IN MAKING THIS HAPPEN:  H.E.B FOOD STORES FOR THE FOOD (EXCEPT THE GREAT DESERTS MADE BY SUSAN EPPS), GEO H LEWIS FUNERAL DIRECTORS FOR THE TENT, THE RICE ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT FOR THE TICKETS AND OUR MANY HELPERS FROM DUCHESNE  ACADEMY, ST. THOMAS AND LAMAR HIGH SCHOOLS AND  OUR FELLOW ROTARIANS WHO CAME OUT TO HELP SERVE AND MAKE THIS EVENT COME OFF SMOOTHLY.  OUR CHIEF COOK, JIM MORES, AND HIS LAST BATCH CAJUN DOGS WERE LARAPIN.   I PERSONALLY WISH TO THANK ALL THOSE WHO DID THE HEAVY LIFTING AND FETCHING WHILE I AM RECOVERING FROM KNEE REPLACEMENT SURGERY.  IT WAS GREAT TO SEE ALL OF THE HELPERS AND WE ALL ENJOYED THE ROTARY FELLOWSHIP.   TO VIEW PHOTOS OF THIS EVENT CLICK ON THE ALBUM  TAILGATE 11-17-2012 ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THIS PAGE OR JUST CLICK TAILGATE PARTY PHOTOS

Saturday was another successful Tailgate Party.  This year our club invited the YMCA along with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Houston and the Chinquapin School.  The sunshine promised  by the weatherman did not show up so next year we should invite the weatherman to insure sunshine.  Susan Epps brought some students from Duchasne Academy and St. Thomas along with some of their mothers.  They entertained the attendees with face painting, Rice tattoos, bean bag toss games and air jumping as well as helping in the serving line where we served between 250 to 300 hot dogs,chili, chips, twinkies and drinks.  Many of our club members were on hand led by Madam President Lucy.  A big Rotary thank you goes out to HEB, our major food sponsor and Geo. H Lewis Company for furnishing the tent.  Dr. Jim brought his propane boiling unit and cooked the dogs.  The last batch has become a custom to be very spicy.  Rotarians enjoyed those tasty dogs.  After the meal our guest attended the Rice football game.
To view some of the pictures of the event please chick HERE .   

FELLOW UNIVERSITY AREA ROTARIANS HAD A FUN EVENING AT THE MILLER OUTDOOR THEATER IN HERMAN PARK.  WE  ATTENDED THE PLAY-DRIVING MISS DAISY.  MOST SAT ON THE HILL WITH LAWN CHAIRS AND BLANKETS AND OTHERS IN THE SEATS.  THOSE OF US WHO WERE AROUND DURING THE TIME PERIOD COVERED IN THE PLAY HAD MEMORIES OF EVENTS PORTRAYED.  SOME WHO HAD RELATIVES OF MISS DAISY'S AGE TRULY UNDERSTOOD THE MEANING EXPRESSED IN THE PLAY.

After a dinner reception at Bill Baker's home Friday evening attended by Past District Governor Suzi Howe and our AG Ronny, on Saturday morning our Rotary Club arranged for the transfer of fire fighting equipment from the Houston Fire Department (HFD) to Tampico, Matamoros & other small Mexican cities via the Club Rotario Matamoros Professional, a Rotary Club of all female professionals.  Their Presidenta 2011-2012 Lillian Martinez Garza and 4 other members flew in for the transfer.  After the equipment was loaded in the 18 wheeler at the HFD's center on Dart Street, the Rotarians & members of the fire department enjoyed breakfast together and then proceeded to Art Bautista's shop where donated computer equipment was added to the shipment. We also included  100 medical ambu bags that were donated by Dr. Cabrera of the Hermann Park Rotary club to Angie Jimenez from the Houston club and Angie donated them to Art, This was another example that "ROTARY WORKS."  Our club also wants to recognize the efforts of our members--Rotarians  Homero Ponce-Lopez, for his continuing help in our relationship with the HFD,  Bill Baker for helping Art pick up computers and monitors in various locations and for hosting the event at his home and Art Bautista for his tireless efforts in making sure all these activities came to fruition. This International Rotary fellowship was enjoyed by all. 

Nursing Scholarship Awards were presented to 3 applicants at Wednesday's club meting.  In the photo from the left are Dick Ferley-Chair of the Scholarship Committee, Cindy Murphy Co-Chair, recipients Natalie Lewis, Bianca Darrington, Sheila Esparza and Madame President Lucy Tausend.  All recipients which attend Prairie View University Nursing School will participate the rest of the year in club activities and give us a progress report at the end of their school year.

Matching Grant for uninterrupted power supply for Piyali School

Piyali Learning Centre presently caters to nearly 200 girl students, who are provided with education, clothes, toiletries, healthcare and two nutritious meals a day free of cost. Their mothers and other womenfolk of the village benefit from the adult literacy, vocational training and self-employment through micro-credit programmes run by the Rotary Club of Calcutta Metropolitan.

The school is presently functioning from rented facilities with limitation of expansion. Therefore, an ambitious task of constructing a new school building and canteen is already being implemented.  The construction of the first phase is likely to be complete by June, 2011 and will cater to 250 girls. The facilities would be gradually expanded to cater to 600 girls and free boarding facilities to girls from class five upwards by the end of 2012.

The power situation in Piyali is very erratic and alarming, due to which the village of Piyali and surrounding areas go without electricity at times for over 10 hours a day. To meet the urgent need to provide a diesel generator in the new premises for uninterrupted education of children, our club has entered into a strategic partnership with Rotary Club of Belur to take up a Matching Grant project of $ 14,559 jointly with Kensington/ Berlin Rotary club and R I Dist 7890 as international sponsors.

Rotarian Art Bautista of University Area Rotary Club, Dist 5890 played an important role in designing the project. He offered a significant amount of club contribution + DDF for this project, but his club is from a Pilot district and TRF policy restricts the use of DDF only from pilot district by way of gift. As such, his district 5890 has made an outright gift of $ 3,000 to be used for this project through D 7890. Matching this gift, D 7890 are putting up an aggregate DDF of $ 5850 (inclusive of gifted DDF).

The application was submitted on 30th March 2011, one day before the closing of deadline for current Rotary year’s Matching Grant cycle, and was acknowledged by TRF with a MG # 75134.

Project partner DG Prasad Menon of D 7890 of USA stated that “This was quite an accomplishment; I haven't seen a MG project put together between 3 Districts and 4 Rotary Clubs in such a short time. Kudos to you for spearheading.”

Primary Host Project Contact is none other than ARRFC PDG Ravi Sehgal, who remarked “Thanks Vishnuji, Its all your effort that we could see the project planning & preparation being completed in record time !!!”

Rotary is very close to eradication polio from the earth - really!   With the help of fellow Rotarians and worldwide caring, it will be done.  If you wish to help, please contribute your tax-deductible donation by clicking  DONATE.

After more than 25 years of hard work, Rotary and its partners are now "This Close" to eradicating polio, and a wide array of public figures and celebrities have signed on to help Rotary spread the word. Headlined by Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates, this diverse lineup of influential leaders and personalities includes Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, action movie star Jackie Chan, conservationist Jane Goodall, premier violinist Itzhak Perlman, Grammy Award winners A.R. Rahman, Angelique Kidjo and Ziggy Marley, golfing great Jack Nicklaus, and peace advocate Queen Noor of Jordan. In a series of print, broadcast and outdoor public service advertisements each uses a simple hand gesture to show Rotary is "This Close" to wiping out polio worldwide. Nicklaus, Perlman and Tutu are themselves survivors of this crippling disease. Broadcast television commercials feature a mix of celebrities and non-celebrities around the world saying, "We are this close to making history. We are this close to changing the world. We are this close to ending polio—all we need is you." To view or download the materials in high quality, please click on the related media below.

 Saturday morning our club along with the girls form Duchesne Academy and a few boys from St Thomas High School performed a painting project at the Boys & Girls Country campus in Hockley, TX.  Our Rotary club was represented by Project Leader Wayne Schull, President Bob Schamus , food & labor coordinator Susan Epps (her wonderful coffee cake was gone fast), Alice Hastings-James, Mitchell Lou and nephew Joseph Lau, Phil & Ute Cezeaux, our new member Cindy Murphy, Fred Meyer, Art & Olga Bautista with granddaughter, Bill & Kate Baker,  Jerry Harris,  Gerry Rein, Bill Sharber, Jim Moers & Dick Stabell.  (If I left anyone our or put someone in, my appologies.)  It was a beautiful spring morning and the project was completed by noon.  It was a wonderful opportunity for Rotary fellowship and Service Above Self  to the community. 

Saturday morning our club toured the Houston ship channel abord the S/V Sam Houston.  The weather was cool to start but the Rotary fellowship was warm.  It was impressive to see the industry that has facilities along the channel but looking at the brown water was a little sad.  Folks need to stop throwing stuff into the streams and bayous that feed the channel.  After the tour we met at Brady's Landing Restaurant and consumed a great buffet.  The club get together was enjoyed by all.  Thank you Susan Seager for planning the event and ordering such a beautiful sunny day.

Saturday morning our club along with the girls form Duchesne Academy and the boys from St Thomas High School performed a painting project at the Boys & Girls Country campus in Hockley, TX.  Our Rotary club was represented by Project Leader Wayne Schull, President Bob Schamus, PE Lucy Tausend, VP Susan Seager, food & labor coordinator Susan Epps, new Rotarians Jay Taylor, his wife & son and Alice Hastings-James, Mitchell Lou, Shubra Gosh, Jean-Francois Meyrat, Fred Meyer, Fred de Oliveria, Bill Baker, Ron Donelson, Jerry Harris, Dick Ferley, Nelson Starbranch, Gerry Rein, Dick Stabell and his friend Mike.  (If I left anyone our or put someone in, my appologies.)  It was a beautiful fall morning and the project was completed by noon.  It was a wonderful opportunity for Rotary fellowship and Service Above Self  to the community. 

It did not take long before Jonas realized that long hair in Texas is HOT.   He is now sporting his new cooler TEXAS hairdo.  It looks great!

 The club took Jonas to Los Tios Mexican Restaurant for his welcome dinner.

Saturday morning our club helped sort medical supplies at Medical Bridges to be shipped to clinics and hospitals in South America.  We did LOTS of counting and as usual there were some items that defied our knowledge.  Thank goodness there was an RN who worked there who knew what everything was.  Jack counted in Chinese while Doris counted in banking language.  Good fellowship was had by all.  Those wanting more info can click on Medical Bridges .  Take a look at Rotary - in action!

The Rotary Club of University Area has undertaken the great service project of assisting firefighters and first responders and their immediate families or caregivers by providing low cost, fully furnished housing (40 unit apartment complex) that is secure and accessible to The Texas Medical Center (TMC) while they are undergoing active treatment at TMC for any medical condition, particularly cancer,  that is the result of an on the job injury or resulting medical condition.  The housing will be open to firefighters and first responders throughout the United States and to foreign firefighters on a "space available" basis.  Firefighters are held in high regard worldwide for the selfless service they perform on a daily basis and deserve the support of all.  The ROTARY FIREFIGHTERS HOME IS A 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization approved by the IRS.  Donations are tax deductible to the extent of the IRS code.  The City of Houston, the Houston Fire Department, the Bellaire Fire Department, the Local chapter of the International Association of Fire Fighters , The International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF), The Rotary Club of New York and fellow Rotarians are going to be participants in seeing the project come to completion.  To see some of the ways you or any Rotary Club or organization can help, please see the initial write up by clicking ROTARY FIREFIGHTERS HOME .  You are welcome to print out this informational PDF and give it out to your friends and associated to help our club spread the word about this great project.  Please watch our YouTube video by CLICKING HERE .  To see more about the home and how you can help click at the top on the ROTARY FIREFIGHTERS HOME logo and just chick HERE   Thank you for your interest and help.

Our  Rotary Club was well represented at  our district all club meeting, in attendance present and accounted for were; Our club President Irene Hickey, Vice President Sonya Heath, Jerry Harris, Mitchell Lou, Kathy Kennedy, G.V. Krishnan,  Homero Ponce, Jim Craig and Art Bautista.  Our new Paul Harris Society members;  Mitchell Lou, G. V. Krishnan, Sonya Heath and Jerry Harris were invited to the VIP room to meet our Rotary International President.

Homero Ponce and Jim Craig did a great job at our expo table promoting the FIRE FIGHTERS HOME  project.

This was by far the liveliest and more fun all club meeting that I have attended, RI president Gary  Huang is a great speaker and he was teaching us all Chinese.

One of our fire trucks being put to the test in a huge oil refinery blaze, this happened in Altamira Mira alta, Tampico, Mexico. We should all feel proud of the work that we have accomplished in helping the fighter fighters in Tampico with much needed gear and since 2009  3 containers of fire fighting equipment, 7 fire trucks and 1 ambulance, a big thank you to all our club members who have helped with this worthy cause and a huge THANK YOU to all the drivers who made the nearly 17 hour drive trip on more than one occasion  to deliver the fire trucks to Pharr, Texas.

The 2014 Annual Nursing Awards were presented to Evellin Umanzor & Ingy Yamilet Umanzor both from UST school of nursing and our first pair of  sisters and Nicole Pepito from PVAM school of nursing.  Shown with the recipients are ours clubs nursing chair Rotarian Cindy Murphy and Rotarian Ron Donelson.

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THE GREAT NEWS WAS THAT XEROX GRANTED IRENE HICKEY A 6 MONTH LEAVE WITH FULL BENEFITS (LIKE PAY) TO WORK FULL TIME ON OUR ROTARY FIRE FIGHTER'S HOME PROJECT TO PROVIDE A HOME AWAY FROM HOME TO FIREFIGHTERS COMING TO MD ANDERSON CANCER HOSPITAL.  SHE IS ONE OF FIVE EMPLOYEES NATIONALLY AND THE ONLY WOMEN THAT XEROX GRANTED THIS WONDERFUL BENEFIT.  SHE WAS PROVIDED A PR TEAM COURTESY OF XEROX TO HELP US GET THE WORD OUT.  THE FIRE FIGHTER'S HOME WILL PROVIDE THE FIRE FIGHTERS WITH A QUALITY PLACE TO STAY AT A VERY LOW COST WHILE RECEIVING CANCER TREATMENT.  HOUSING NEAR THE MEDICAL CENTER IS USUALLY EXPENSIVE AND MOST TREATMENTS TAKE WEEKS IF NOT LONGER.  MD ANDERSON CANCER HOSPITAL, THE MAYOR'S OFFICE, THE HOUSTON FIRE DEPARTMENT AND THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF FIRE FIGHTERS, BOTH LOCALLY AND NATIONALLY, ARE ALL WORKING ON PARTICIPATING IN OUR PROJECT WHICH HAS BEEN PRESENTED TO THEM AT SEVERAL MEETINGS.  IRENE WORKED WITH ALL STARTING IN APRIL 2013 TO BRING THIS GREAT PROJECT FRUITION.  OUR CLUB OWES HER AND XEROX OUR GRATITUDE FOR GETTING THIS FULLY INVOLVED.

 On March 19th Past President Bill delivered Fire Truck #1 to the Texas border.  This truck was donated to our Sister City of Tampico by our club. 

The club, with the help of new member Captain Homero Ponce, purchased a firetruck and we are paying for the parts to fix an ambulance.  President Art Bautista donated his mechanic skills to replace the engine of the ambulance and to get it in good working condition. The firetruck will soon be driven to its new home at the Tampico (Mexico) Fire Department, while the ambulance will be sent to aid in relief work in Haiti.

Please help me congratulate our new graduates of the Gulf Coast Leadership Institute Susan Saeger and Irene Hickey;they both spent the weekend learning about rotary and how to be great leaders, after attending grueling courses on Ethics,Characteristics of leaders,Management,Personal Accountability,Listening,Generational differences and many other subjects. Then they had to cross a trecherous river by building a bridge using only the materials that they could find.

Homero Ponce-Lopez has completed his Membership Proposal form. He is being sponsored by Art Bautista, his classification is "Fireman"; he is a Captain in the HFD in charge of Public Relations with office at 500 Jefferson 16th floor. He is married to Belediana; has two children. He attended the University of Houston.

 The weather was perfect on November 7 as Rotarians teamed with students from St Thomas High School and Duchesne Academy to paint the houses of Boys and Girls Country.  The cameraderie was wonderful, and many thanks to Wayne Shull for coordinating our efforts.

(Top Row: Brandon Johnson, Bola Jaiyedla, Dick Ferley, President Art Bautista, Ron Donelson. Front Row: Elexis Mitchell, Elaine Nadal, Jeanan Alameddine, Erina Imasogie)

Scholarship Chairman Dick, Committee Member Ron and President Art presented Nurses Scholarships to six deserving students with two more to come in the next few weeks. This year's applicants were hard to choose due to the many worthy request. They promised warm bed pans for all Rotarians they may help in the future. Our club thanks the Rotarians who served on the committee and The University Area Rotary Foundation for the funding. This is a wonderful example of the money from the Flag Program (See Flag Program above) put to it's intended use. Many thanks to our flag subscription participants.

As provided by Dick Ferley, the table below shows the history of our club's long-running nursing scholarship program:

1960                2 scholarships @ $150 each

1961 - 1978      Unknown number per year @ $150-250

1979 - 1983      8 scholarships per year @ $250

1984 - 1989      4 scholarships per year @ $750

1990 - 2000      Unknown number @ $750 - 1,500

2001                4 scholarships @ $1500

2002 - 2004      4 scholarships per year @ $2000

2005 - 2006      6 scholarships per year @ $2000

2007 -2009       8 scholarships per year @ $2000

2010                 5 scholarships @ $2000

2011                3 scholarships @ $2000

2012                3 scholarships @ $2000

2013                3 scholarships @ $2000

SINCE THE INCEPTION OF THE SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM, THE ROTARY CLUB OF UNIVERSITY AREA HOUSTON HAS PROVIDED APPROXIMATELY $220,000 IN AWARDS.