Newly installed club President, Uliana Trylowsky called the meeting to order and welcomed Rotarians and visitors.

Also seated at the head table were Sheree Pierce who requested a moment of silence for those affected by the Central Texas flooding disaster and also provided the Invocation. Chuck Heare led the audience in pledges to the U.S. flag and the Texas flag. Craig Escamilla announced our guests and their hosts.

Other volunteers for today’s meeting include: Jeffrey Richardson and Virtue Alexander manning the Registration table, Jacques Gagne and Misty Fountain at the Finance table, Cindy Jeanis greeting at the buffet line, Nate Jennings providing IT support, and Jennifer Gregory as photographer. Thanks to all our volunteers!

Uliana acknowledged a visitor Juan, who saw information about Rotary online and attended today to learn more. She went on to make several announcements, including:

*The District Rotary is accepting donations for the Kerr County and surrounding counties affected by the flooding disaster – details were in the Rotarygram. Our local club will be discussing the possibility of making donations to disaster relief during the management meetings later this month.

*A big “Thank You” to volunteers who supported the Flag Project on the July 4th holiday – your help was greatly appreciated in the largest of the club’s fundraisers.

*Due to previous unavailability, pins were presented to members: Virtue Alexander for incoming Vice President-Programs; Stephanie Shoemaker for incoming Board Member; and Brad Brown for incoming Presidential Advisor. Another pin was given in recognition of his hard work for the Pollinator Garden to Steve Shoemaker in the form of a Paul Harris Fellow by Uliana.

Past President Tim Sudela introduced our speaker, Lynae Sanford, Executive Director of the Lutcher Theater. Lynae grew up in Orange, TX and attended Lamar University both for her bachelor’s and master's degrees, both Theater related. After working in sales and marketing, she moved to education by teaching Theater including at LU. She joined the Lutcher Theater team in 2009.

Lynae accepted the podium and first introduced the co-workers who also came today and then explained the Lutcher Theater as a 1500 seat center affiliated with the Stark Foundation founded in 1980 to provide professional entertainment for the local area. She expected an interesting topic for her presentation to be explaining how the staff selects the “shows” that are scheduled. A busy season of time, the fall and winter, Lynae travels to various trade shows, Broadway conferences and others that showcase “new artists” - to talk with agents and learn what is available and about emerging new artists. In addition to attending these conferences, it is important to build relationships with “agents” who know what shows would complement the Lutcher Theater. Ongoing conversations with agents then help to plan the “routing schedule” that shows and artists require in order to request a booking. They have four areas of focus: Broadway shows, musical presentations, straight theater, and LT Incredible Kids. The agents know the shows, their availability, and the fees. They inform the Theater of those things and help to arrange the bookings. She also showed an interesting video featuring intros of the exciting shows for the 2025-26 season coming up. Before closing her presentation, Lynae entertained questions, one of which asked if she got to visit with famous stars? It is dependent on the particular celebrity – one might be more private and want solitude in the dressing room, while others may have the time and want to visit local sights and restaurants – so Lynae may have the opportunity to drive the celebrity around town in her vehicle!

Uliana expressed appreciation to Lynae for being today’s speaker by announcing a donation to the Rotary International Foundation in the area of Community Economic Development in her honor. Uliana also announced next week’s speaker to be Dr. Sidney Valentine of LU. After reciting the Four Way Test, the meeting was adjourned and the challenge given to: Unite for Good and Let’s Make Some Noise!