The Rotary Club of Beaumont, TX, is a large and diverse fellowship of inspired business, professional, and civic leaders with significant community connections that foster the ideals of Service Above Self and high ethical standards.
Weekly meetings are held in a hybrid format. Members may choose to attend in person at the Elegante while others choose to meet using Zoom. The buffet at the hotel will open at 11:30 and those using Zoom may begin signing into the meeting at 11:30 a.m.
Members attending at the Elegante are asked to follow the Covid safety guidelines of seating only four to a table, wearing masks when not seated at the table, standing three-feet apart through the buffet line and while visiting with others. Namebadges will not be used at this time; attendance will be taken from the reservation list. Members are asked to make a reservation before 4:00 p.m. every Monday preceding the Wednesday meeting.
MEETING PREVIEW
April 14, 2021
"Oh, The Places You'll Go!”
Caroline Fluke
Recipient2012-2016
Mary Kim
Recipient2016-2020
Victoria White
Recipient2018-2022
Each year, a considerable part of the Beaumont Rotary Foundation budget is to designate funds to continue the Rotary Scholarship for students enrolled in an undergraduate program of study at an institution of higher education. The program this week will be a celebration of the Beaumont Rotary Scholarship program and the many young people who have been assisted through their collegiate career by being named a recipient. Rotarian Craig Escamilla will serve as moderator of a panel discussion by three of our past or current scholarship recipients: Caroline Fluke, Mary Kim and Victoria White. We are looking forward to hearing about their education, careers or future careers, and life goals.
Continuing the impactful program, Rotarian John Seth Bullard, Chair of the 2021 Scholarship Committee, will tell us about the Committee's work this year. His presentation will culminate with the announcement of the two 2021 recipients of this distinguished honor who will each have the opportunity to accept the award and share of their college plans.
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The Beaumont Rotary Club is now meeting in hybrid format, meaning members have a choice of attending on Zoom or in person at the Elegante Hotel.
To ensure everyone attending the meeting in person feels safe and comfortable, the following guidelines will be in place:
We will have seating for only four at each table to create 3-feet of distance. (Chairs may not be moved to expand table size, please.)
We ask - and strongly encourage - everyone to wear a face mask when you are entering and leaving the building and when you aren’t seated at your table.
Elegante employees will serve the food from the buffet.
The Elegante needs to know in advance how many tables to set up and how many meals to prepare. We ask that you specify in advance whether you will attend in person and eat a meal at the meeting. You can go to the Google form (https://forms.gle/7UKBUGH5X2CJRA6g8) to respond OR CALL the Rotary Office at 842-1913 BY MONDAY at 4:00 p.m. each week to make a reservation to attend.
We ask that you help us consider the concerns of other club members and comply with the requests so that everyone enjoys the meeting. Thank you for your patience through this time of change and adjustment. We look forward to your return when you are personally ready to do so.
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Virtual Head Table for April 14
Invocation:
Lynn Castle
Executive Director
Art Museum of Southeast Texas
Pledge to USA Flag:
Virtue Alexander
Beauty Consultant
Mary Kay Cosmetics
Program Moderator:
Craig Escamilla
Consultant & Owner
CAE Solutions, LLC
If you would like to serve on the head table at a date in the future, please sign up online at https://www.signupgenius.com/go/904054ba5a62fa3f49-head or phone chair, Mandy Clayton at 409-718-7056 or email arclayton@lit.edu
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CALENDAR OF ROTARY EVENTS
(Club events & opportunities for meeting makeups)
April
21
No weekly meeting today; District Conference meeting on Thursday or Friday or participation in the Rise Against Hunger Project on Saturday substitutes as meeting of the week.
22
District Conference - Day 1; 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.; on Zoom; sign up to attend
23
District Conference - Day 2; 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.; on Zoom; sign up to attend
24
District Conference - Day 3 - Rise Against Hunger project in Conroe; sign up to attend
27
Board of Directors monthly meeting; 11:30 a.m.; as a hybrid meeting
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The Rotary Club of Beaumont is hosting the District 5910 Conference, and YOU should be a part! As a virtual conference, everyone can attend at no cost. The Club meeting on Wednesday, April 21 has been cancelled and attending either the Thursday or Friday Zoom sessions or the Rise Against Hunger project (in person) on Saturday will count as your attendance for the week. Please register to attend any of the sessions through the links below.
President Cindy Cherry signed the BIG check to make the commitment official - the Rotary Club of Beaumont is collaborating with Lamar University to be an official sponsor of a Cardinal N.E.S.T. at Martin Elementary. We are excited to bring this custom made innovative learning lab to the Martin campus!
Some members of the Board of Directors and some serving on the fundraising committee with Chair Kevin Reed made the presentation to Lamar officials on Thursday, April 8.
N.E.S.T. stands for Navigating Excellence, Success and Triumph and are designed to be a learning lab for young students to acquire enhanced curriculum in STEAM-related (science, technology, engineering, arts, and math) curriculum. Watch and listen for more information as the planning and fundraising gets underway. Everyone can take part to make this dream a reality.
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The Beaumont Rotary Centennial Playground spring cleaning & refreshing day was such fun! It was the best kind of "Super-Spreader Event" like Chair John Lee promised. Thankfully, the City had accomplished a lot of the ground work in preparation for Saturday's workday, adding fill dirt and bringing in mulch that was so badly lacking.
Rotarians Beverly Hatcher and Wes Shipley got started early by spreading mulch.
Members of the 100 Black Men of Greater Beaumont helped too.
With five members of Lamar Rotaract, two members of Collegiate 100 - Lamar Chapter, and Lamar "Big Event" students volunteering, the work was accomplished in no time at all. Thank you to everyone who helped!
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Norma Sampson
April 12
Chuck Heare
April 14
S. L. Greenberg
April 15
Sandy Moschettieri
April 17
Liz Fredrichs
April 19
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ROTARY ANNIVERSARIES
We celebrate your
membership in our Club!
Marcia Crone
April 13, 2005
16 years
Charles B. Locke
April 16, 1958
63 years
Polly Grissom
April 17, 2019
2 years
Robert Turner
April 17, 2002
19 years
Sharen Kirksey
April 19, 1989
32 years
John Rollins
April 19, 2017
4 years
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Rotarians, we really need you to become a part of the weekly meeting! We need volunteers for leading the invocation and the pledges. Please consider volunteering! Look at your calendar and select a date that is convenient for your schedule. Red Badges are strongly encouraged to volunteer for this opportunity so you can move closer to your blue badge and members can get to know you better too.
The job of Beaumont Convention & Visitors Bureau (Beaumont CVB) is to showcase Beaumont for tourist attraction. The Hotel Occupancy Tax pays for this service which is to encourage tourism. Nature has had the biggest impact for visitors and the vast majority of the nature interest is from birders. Our area has seen a great increase in this area in 2020 even during the pandemic due to Cattail Marsh.
The Marsh appeals to all ages. John Beaver’s narrative along with a video of the Marsh presented a wonderful look at a local treasure. Over 900 acres of land, with an 8 – 9-mile walking/jogging path, contain the marsh in a protected area. There is an Education Center and a Gift Shop on sight which have seen much use. A Cattail Explorers Class is held on Saturday from 11 -2, Coffee & Cattail Tuesdays 8:30- to 9:30 am and Yoga on Saturday from 9:30 to 10:30 am. Photo workshops and other events are advertised regularly on the Facebook site (Cattail Marsh Education Center). Starting next week every Tuesday (3-4) and Thursday (10-11) free van tours will begin. There is a link to sign up on Facebook or you can call 409 554-2447 for further information.
Christina spoke about CVB’s part in promoting Beaumont at large. The Marsh is part of Tyrrell Park which also hosts a golf course and Nature Center. A nature trail to Cattail Marsh will be available soon from the Nature Center which includes the Botanical Gardens. The Nature Center will be a welcome center and lobby area introducing the “wetlands and wonders”. There will be a Butterfly Garden with an open-air ceiling that will be available for school tours. There will also be an entry way to the Marsh with a connecting trail.
Other projects of CVB include a new bike-sharing for the downtown area with wayfinding concrete stickers pointing to places of interest. Areas of downtown will be museum, Crockett street, and cathedral areas. They will be kicking off a Cajun trail on April 17 which is National Crawfish Day with a free mobile passport program. Restaurant week was held this spring and over 1800 Beaumont residents took part with many out-of-town tourists. This program met its budget which is much more than was expected.
Beaumont is the only city in Texas which has had a positive increase in tourism during the pandemic. Many international visitors for birding have been part of this increase. In the US, tourism spending for birders is over $41 billion.
The enthusiasm and energy to create new programs by CVB is a breath of fresh air. Let’s go out to Cattail Marsh and grab some of that air. For more information visit Beaumonttexas.gov.
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Link to the Zoom page which includes this and all the recorded meetings for April - June 2021.
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The Beaumont Rotary Club is now meeting in hybrid format, meaning members have a choice of attending on Zoom or in person at the Elegante Hotel. 
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