THERE IS NOT A MEETING AT THE ELEGANTE ON AUGUST 31.
Fellowship and friendship is an important benefit of Rotary membership and this week, we will focus on meeting and getting better acquainted with fellow Rotarians. Rotary members will enjoy the traditional "Rotary Goes Home!"
A huge amount of appreciation goes to each of our hosts for their most gracious hospitality. They are: Bobbie Applegate, Joanne Brown, Scott Hatcher, Sharen Kirksey & Leonard Juncker, Becky & Chuck Mason, Ted Moor, and Bel Morian,
Have fun and enjoy! See you back at the Elegante on September 7.
* * * * * *
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
(and opportunities for meeting makeups)
August 31
NO MEETING AT THE ELEGANTE; Rotarians will attend Rotary Goes Home this week
September 11
Flag Project for Patriot's Day
September 19
Service Project at Beaumont Children's Museum (Beaumont Civic Center); 8:00 a.m.-Noon
September 22
Rotary After Hours, 5:30-7:30 p.m.; location TBA
September 27
Board of Directors meeting, 11:45 a.m., the Beaumont Club
- - - - - - - -
BOARD ACTION
On August 24, Board Secretary Cindy Jeanis announced membership changes approved by the Board of Directors:
Leave of absence: Jay Johnson (medical reason);
Membership terminated: Judy Kelfstrom;
Resignation accepted with regret: Stephen McDonald.
* * * * * * *
Are your Dues Paid?
If you have not yet paid the July - December 2016 invoice for dues, PLEASE do so now as it ispast due. Second notices are being sent this week to your email inbox.
If you receive the notice, it means we are not showing your invoice paid on either the Rotary office's book or the CPA's records. Something must be in error. Please check your bank records, your credit card receipts or with your accounts payable office to see if a payment has been sent. Phone the office if you think there has been an error.
Remember,you don't even have to leave your desk to make a payment. Simply access your personal account through the link on the bottom of the invoice you receive, or use the homepage link, in the right hand column, that looks like this:
If you need assistance or a printed copy of your invoice mailed to you, please phone the Rotary Office at 842-1913.
* * * * * * *
Help for Louisiana Neighbors
After the recent devastating floods in Louisiana, we have been considering how we can help. The Board of Directors is requesting that the Foundation send money to the Rotary District in the Baton Rouge area.
Moreover, members are asked to contribute what you can to the cause. At the August 24 meeting, without announcement, we were able to start the collection with $405!
Again on September 7, we will pass a box so you can drop in cash or checks to help our neighbors in need. Please make any checks to the Beaumont Rotary Foundation and we will send one check for all funds collected.
Thanks for your generosity.
* * * * * * *
Flag Project for Patriot Day
September 11 is a date no American can forget! We will pay tribute to all the nation's patriots with a "Show Your Colors" display across the city.
Please volunteer now to help. Before you head to your place of worship on Sunday, September 11, join with other Rotarians and friends to make sure the flags are flying for our nearly 500 subscribers. Please let Pat Anderson or Gary Moncla know you can join the effort and show Service Above Self.
We also need volunteers who own or can borrow a truck. Please phone Pat at 782-4057 or Gary at 781-3778.
* * * * * * *
COMMUNITY SERVICE PROJECT ANNOUNCED!
Karyn Hawkins, Chair, has announced the next community service project, and this one is going to be another fun time! On Monday morning, September 19, Rotarians and volunteers are going to the museum!
That's right, the Beaumont Children's Museum is calling for our best volunteers to help build an area they will call a "Maker Space" where children and adults can explore how things are made, how they work, and how they are built. It's a creative space for learning, exploring, and experimenting together. The area needs walls to define the work space and to close it off from the rest of the museum. If you can't build structures, you can paint, so come on out and share in the fun.
The project needs to be done when the museum is closed to visitors. That means, Monday morning is the best time to work and get this job done! Mark your calendar now for Monday, September 19 from 8:00 a.m. until Noon.
There will be a volunteer sign up list at the next meeting and an online sign up will be started soon so you can let us know you want to contribute to this great educational exhibit at the Beaumont Children's Museum.
* * * * * * *
Wine Down With Rotary in Second Year!
The second annual "Wine Down With Rotary" fundraiser will be on Thursday, October 6. There will NOT be a Rotary meeting on October 5 so this event will substitute for the meeting of the week.
Get your tickets to attend and some to sell to friends and co-workers at the meeting this week or phone the Rotary Office. It will be another great/not-to-be-missed event!
This year, Wine Down With Rotary will be a celebration of the Centennial of The Rotary Foundation. We will recognize the good works of Rotary through the 100 years of the Foundation.
Plan to be a part of this very special event!
* * * * * * *
UNDERWRITERS NEEDED!
To make the Wine Down With Rotary fundraiser truly successful, we need financial support from donors who will sponsor and help to underwrite one of the expenses of the event. Please consider at which level you would like to help and make a tax-deductible donation to the Beaumont Rotary Foundation as a sponsor. We need multiple donors at each level with the exception of the $1,500. (However, if you would like to donate $1500, we will still make sure you are acknowledged appropriately!)
Click on the image to read full document.
* * * * * *
Auction Items and Essentials Needed
The Wine Down With Rotary committee is expanding the raffle held at the event. Some wonderful items have already been secured. If you can contribute, please bring items to a meeting or to the Rotary Office.
We also need some baskets, filler, wrap and ribbons to complete the display of items.
If you have any size or style of basket or some of these other items that you do not have a use for, please consider donating them also. Thanks.
LOOK
WHAT'S AHEAD!
On September 7, there is another treat in store as Paula Bothe will bring "My Fair Lady" songs and scenes to the Club meeting. You must be present to "win" this much fun!
On the brink of the new season, we are fortunate to have the opportunity to hear directly from Maestro Chelsea Tipton, music director of the Symphony of Southeast Texas, about the excitement in store for the 2016-17 concert season, "SOST Fantastique!"
* * * * * * *
Leslie Harrison
August 29
Anthony Toups
August 29
Ann Scoggin
August 30
Sheri Arnold
September 3
Sharen Kirksey
September 3
Polly Matlock
September 3
Casie Harris
September 5
Kent Walston
September 5
* * * * * * *
FAMILY OF ROTARY
We send wishes for a quick recovery to our friends and fellow Rotarians who have been ill, had or are facing surgery, or just need our thoughts and prayers. We hope you are better soon!
Kate Carroll
Lee Freeland
Mary Poole
Cheryl Williams
Please let us know if you or another Rotarian should be included in our weekly good wishes article!
* * * * * * *
to family & friends
of
Richard Thomas Bothel
December 17, 1946 - August 27, 2016
- - - - - - -
PROGRAM REVIEW
August 24, 2016
"Gerdau: We Are Steel Proud!"
Dean Peery
Vice President and General Manager
by Joshua Taub
photo by Nakisha Burns
Our guest speaker at the August 24 meeting was Dean Peery, an Orange, Texas, native and vice president and general manager of the Gerdau Steel Mill in Beaumont. Gerdau Steel is one of the biggest companies no one has ever heard of, according to Mr. Peery. And yet the products made at Gerdau Steel, one way or another, touch all of our lives. This publicly traded company has a presence in 13 countries around the world and across the United States with two plants here in Texas (Beaumont & Midlothian).
Not being well-versed in the art and science of steel production, this writer learned a number of things from Mr. Peery. Gerdau Steel in Beaumont is a “long bar steel” manufacturing plant; as opposed to a “flat steel” plant. Long bar steel is an important building material (rebar for concrete); flat steel is used to make auto body parts, among other things.
Gerdau Steel is the largest recycler of steel in the state of Texas. Their scrap piles are among the tallest in these parts. Separating out the quality, usable scrap from the unusable requires more than a good eye and a few years of experience. Sorting out the scrap requires extensive knowledge in metallurgy (and I suppose some knowledge of chemistry as well). Once the scrap is sorted (we’re talking tons at a time), electrical power (think arc welding rods) generate extreme heat to melt the scrap into liquid. After removing the slag, alloy is added as necessary, and following a process of cooling, molding, reheating, molding and cooling again, bales of steel wire and/or long bar leave the plant.
Dean Peery was particularly proud of Gerdau Steel’s commitment to good environmental practices. Gone are the days when steel soot coated towns like black dust. More than simply vacuuming this dust out of the air, Gerdau Steel is one of the lowest producers of greenhouse gases. That should all make us breathe a little easier.
Gerdau Steel in Beaumont employs over 350 folks from our area; not a small contribution to our economic landscape. I claim no expertise but Gerdau Steel has a long future as a manufacturing fixture in Beaumont. And that is always good news for our community.
.gif)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
)
.jpg)
.jpg)
