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.
Due to extensive renovations underway at the MCM Eleganté, the weekly meeting will be held at the Broussard's Centré, 1775 Calder Avenue.
PROGRAM PREVIEW
October 16, 2019
"The Levingston Shipyard Builds a Legacy"
Paul A. Mattingly, Jr.
Author
This story starts with Harry Weiss of Beaumont, Texas who, sponsors Edgar Brown Jr. to attend Princeton University. Weiss was a Princeton engineering graduate. In 1916, Weiss started a partnership of young oilmen who came to be known as Humble Oil Company. In 1972 Exxon replaced the brand name of Humble.
Weiss encourages Brown to buy control of Levingston shipyard and the Higman Marine Services a barge towing company. In the late 1930s, Brown recruits young brilliant talent for the shipyard. Williard Ulcher, MIT university graduate, Naval Architecture, Peter Bednar, University of Munich, (Germany), Otho Haunschild, Southern Pacific diesel electric propulsion expert, Paul Mattingly and Dick Allen, Price Waterhouse CPA’s, and Cecil Beeson, football captain and graduate of LSU who oversaw personnel. His main job was educating employees most of the whom were Cajuns and didn’t speak English. Beeson had to create programs for learning English and training the in the skills of shipbuilding. Mr. Beeson served on Lamar University’s Board of Regrets for the 22 years preceding his retirement as Vice-President of Levingston Shipyard. The Lamar Institute of Technology Building bears Mr. Beeson’s name in recognition of his vision, tireless efforts and major contributions.
For the scholar of science, the iconic status of the Glomar Challenger drillship (1968) built by Levingston Shipbuilding in Orange, Texas., has been called ‘famous’, ‘pioneering’ and a ship that revolutionized ‘earth science.’. In the cold war era, its sister ship, which it inspired- the Hughes (Howard) Glomar Explorer is even more famous as a CIA caper and the sinking of the Russian sub K-129 with three nuclear missiles for America. Interestingly, the Glomar Challenger had one of the first minicomputers with the revolutionary Integrated Circuit silicon chips, enabling the world of personal computing that we now know.
The name of Levingston is carried on in the world with the name Far East Levingston Shipbuilding founded in 1967 by the folks in Orange, Texas. It is now known by the initial in the brand Keppel FELS Singapore. They operate over 20 shipyards all over the world, including one is in Brownsville Texas. They are recognized as leaders in the offshore oil business.
* * * * * * *
Head Table for October 16
Invocation:
Craig Escamilla
Executive Director of Retention & Student Success
Lamar University
Pledges to USA & Texas Flags:
Amber Sawyer
Loan Originator
Cardinal Financial Company, LP
Introduction of Guests:
Shannah Quinn
Financial Advisor
Edward Jones
Introduction of Guest Speaker:
Joe Domino
President
Would you like to take part in the weekly meetings in a more active role? Don't wait to be asked. Volunteer for one of the weekly assignments! Choose your role and a date that is convenient. Contact Jennifer Burch at409-201-3016.
* * * * * * *
CALENDAR OF ROTARY EVENTS
(Club events & opportunities for meeting makeups)
OCTOBER
19
CASA Carnival for foster children; volunteers needed from 7:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.
22
Board of Directors meeting, 11:45 a.m. at the Art Museum of Southeast Texas
Board of Directors meeting, 11:45 a.m. at the Art Museum of Southeast Texas
* * * * * * *
They came out and helped us at Wine Down With Rotary. Let's do our part to help Lamar University Rotaract with their fundraiser!
Supporting Lamar University Rotaract
Tuesday, October 15th
5:00 - 10:00 p.m.
McAlister's Deli
3050 Dowlen Road, Beaumont
For everyone who orders food and specifies that they are supporting Lamar University Rotaract, McAlister's will donate 20% of proceeds back to the club. Rotaract officers and club members will be there so come have dinner with us and help support our activities this year!
* * * * * * *
Save the Date for the re-scheduled
Rotary After Hours
which had to be postponed when Imelda arrived.
Rotary After Hours
Thursday, November 7, 2019
5:30 - 7:00 p.m.
Mackenzie's Pub
229 Dowlen Road
Plan to come enjoy the evening together!
Cash bar & food.
* * * * * * *
What a great turnout at our meeting last Tuesday!
Lynn Castle, past president of the Rotary Club of Beaumont, presented the 2018-2019 Presidential Citation to 2018-2019 president Mary Kim and current president Casey Smith.
Chuck Mason, past Rotary 5910 District Governor, spoke to the Club about international service and a possible project.
* * * * * * *
What is more fun than an outdoor carnival?! Rotarians will be serving on Saturday, October 19 at the mini-golf game! Thank you to Service Projects Chair John Lee for organizing and to all who volunteered to serve at the Carnival. We look forward to hearing about the fun activities of the day!
* * * * * * *
Lose Something?
If you attended Wine Down With Rotary and lost a pen with some dollar bills wrapped around it, it was found and turned into us! Please claim it if it belongs to you or a person who was your guest that night. You will need to know what denominations of the bills, how much money and/or what type of pen you lost.
Come by or call the Rotary Office this week or, if unclaimed, the money will be added to the fundraiser profits.
* * * * * * *
We send wishes for a quick recovery to our friends and fellow Rotarians who are ill, are anticipating or recovering from surgery, or just in need of encouragement, support and good wishes.
Roy Huckaby
If you know of others who should be added to this list, please advise the office staff at 409-842-1913.
* * * * * * *
Ivy Pate
October 14
Cynthia Wolf
October 14
Sammy Scoggin
October 15
Charles B. Locke
October 16
Sharon McCabe
October 16
Larry Porter
October 16
Earl Hines
October 18
Cheryl Bilyeu
October 21
* * * * * * *
PROGRAM REVIEW
October 9, 2019
"The AT&T Fiber Optics Network in Beaumont"
Jon McClellan
Director of External & Legislative Affairs
AT&T Texas
by Diane Bass
Vernon Pierce introduced Jon McClellan as a former political hack (with a wink and a smile). His words not mine. It is obvious that Vernon has respect and admiration for Jon and appreciates his service to our community. Jon actually has a decade of experience with state and national governments, political campaigns, legislative work and advocacy to AT&T. Before that he served as Director of Outreach for Public Blueprint, a Texas based public affairs firm and he led integrated public affairs campaigns for a wide array of corporate clients. He has demonstrated his influence with legislators and government campaigns. He is a Baylor graduate and loves his Baylor Bears.
Jon reported that he is proud to be a member of the AT&T team who assisted the Women’s and Children’s Shelter of our area. Volunteers provided goods, money and physical brawn alongside our own Rotarians. Imelda was a severe blow to the shelter since they had just finished the rehab from Harvey.
Fiber Optics in Beaumont is a big deal for all of us. This makes so many functions possible – much more than the gaming that is a major part of the lives of our youngsters (and even some of our oldsters). Fiber enables us to work from home, have multiple users on multiple screens, stream faster, download faster and overall enhance our lives in ways we never imagined.
AT&T won the contract for First Net which is a federal program that was developed as a result of the communication difficulties during the devastation on 9/11. First Net allows first responders from public and private sectors to have preferential status during emergencies. This allows the communication pathway to be cleared of nonessential calls and to be put to the head of the line so to speak.
The city of Beaumont approved the installation of small cells in the areas of high density. There were a few conditions regarding the look of the small suitcase like cells but the light turned green for Beaumont to have the same privileges that Dallas, San Antonio, Houston, Austin and Corpus Christi enjoy. We now have faster networks with fiber and the upgrade to 5G technology.
The 5G technology may not appear at first to be necessary to the majority of residents. However, with the massive draw on the network from distance learning, fit bits, self-driving cars, smart phones, security systems, smart homes, utility solutions, public safety and public transportation to name a few – it’s easy to understand why we need faster and more efficient systems. One example is the gunfire technology which is available in cities across the country. The network can now detect the presence of gunfire, the type of weapon, the location of the gunfire and then notify authorities to respond before anyone calls 911.
Traffic control is enhanced by this technology. Anyone driving from Houston to Beaumont knows that we need all the help we can get with traffic congestion. For businesses 5G will help with streaming large amounts of data, process credit cards, enhance video chatting and online meetings, and increase overall protection against cyber hacking. The benefits are endless.
Fiber is here now in most of Beaumont. Some areas will have to wait a little longer as well as the rural areas surrounding Beaumont. However the future is in fiber and 5G. We appreciate the information that Jon brought us even though some of us had to strain our brains a little to keep us with his program. But not to worry – that’s why we have children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. They know more as toddlers than some of us know after years of learning to text. Thank you to Jon for letting us know what is to come and more importantly what is here now.
* * * * * * *
It is difficult to express enough appreciation to the Wine Down With Rotary sponsors. Without the generosity of these members and friends, we could not have been successful at raising funds to continue serving our community and others around the world. We are most grateful.
.png)
.jpg)
If you attended Wine Down With Rotary and lost a pen with some 
.jpg)
