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.
The 2019-20 Season of the Symphony of Southeast Texas:
Musical Spirits
Maestro Chelsea Tipton, II
Music Director & Conductor
The Symphony of Southeast Texas
How lucky are we that such an accomplished and widely-acclaimed musician and conductor as Chelsea Tipton agrees to present a program at our meeting! Moreover, that he also is a Beaumont Rotarian, joins us at weekly meetings when he is in town, and makes even the silly, fun-loving shenanigans while toasting-and-roasting an outgoing club president sound almost like a professional performance! Really...almost!
Chelsea's musical genius is recognized worldwide. Over the past twenty years, Tipton has enjoyed working with nationally recognized orchestras throughout the US and Europe, including The Cleveland Orchestra, National Symphony, symphonies in Detroit, Houston, Pittsburgh, Indianapolis, Atlanta, New Jersey, Brooklyn, Nashville, San Antonio and others. European orchestras include the Dohnanyi Symphony,(Budapest), Sinfonia Siciliana,(Palermo, Italy), and others. This year, when not in Beaumont or other parts of Texas, Chelsea can be found conducting the New Haven Symphony Orchestra, Fresno Philharmonic, Vermont Symphony, South Bend Symphony, IN, Greater Bridgeport Symphony, and Charleston, SC’s festival, The Colour of Music Festival. Chelsea has enjoyed three major opportunities. Most recently, he was called upon by Mayor Sylvester Turner to lead Houston Symphony’s Memorial concert for the late President George Walker Bush, performed on the steps of Houston City Hall, receiving national recognition. He was also asked to conduct the Brooklyn Philharmonic in an all Gershwin program as a last minute substitute for conductor Robert Spano. He was also honored by the Sphinx Competition to conduct in Carnegie Hall as a result of a ten-city tour with the orchestra.
That is the caliber of a conductor that we are privileged to have in Beaumont and speaking at the club meeting. Those attending will get to hear from the Maestro about the Symphony of Southeast Texas' season which will be tuning-up for their first performance of the 2019-20 year on September 14.
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CALENDAR OF ROTARY EVENTS
(Club events & opportunities for meeting makeups)
AUGUST
27
Board of Directors meeting, 11:45 a.m. at the Art Museum of Southeast Texas
SEPTEMBER
2
Labor Day holiday; Rotary Office will be closed.
7
District 5910 Training in Galveston; register online
19
Rotary After Hours, 5:30-7:00 p.m.; location TBA
20
Money due for Wine Down With Rotary tickets sold; please return all unsold tickets.
24
Board of Directors meeting, 11:45 a.m. at the Art Museum of Southeast Texas
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A group of Club members are going to Galveston on Saturday, September 7. Would you like to go? No, we won't be on the beach but we will be having a good time at the annual Membership, Foundation, and Public Image Training Seminar.
Everyone is invited to attend and sharpen their skills. In the area of Foundation, there will be discussion about Global Grants and the continuing efforts to End Polio Now with a screening of "Dare to Dream." Membership will focus on innovative ways to recruit new members and engage current members. The Public Image aspect will teach skills about creating a good press release. The keynote and closing addresses will be given by 2017 Rotary Peace Fellow Scott Martin. Scott is a founding member of Mediators Beyond Borders, International and a former co-leader of the Rwanda Team and currently working on the Cambodia Project.
The day begins at 8:00 a.m. and will end by 3:30 p.m. Registration is $32 (includes lunch) and can be paid online by credit card, cash or check. You can sign up on the District website at https://rotary5910.org/event/rotary-round-up--memb---foundation---pi-seminar/. Let Joe Domino or Jacque Chapman know if you are attending and would like to share a ride with the Beaumont delegation.
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Patriot Day is an annual observance on September 11 to remember those who were injured or died during the terrorist attacks in the United States on September 11, 2001. Many Americans refer to Patriot Day as 9/11 or September 11.
The Rotary Club of Beaumont recognizes Patriot Day each year with the "Show Your Colors" display of American flags at subscribers' homes and businesses across the city of Beaumont. Won't you join us by subscribing and/or volunteering to work on a team distributing the flags?
Pat Anderson reports that he has about 50% of the volunteers needed for the flag project on September 11. If you can serve, please contact Pat Anderson at 782-4057 or Gary Moncla at 781-3778 to volunteer. We thank you!
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The much anticipated annual fundraiser, Wine Down With Rotary, will take place on Thursday, October 3, 2019 from 5:30-7:30 at the Beaumont Event Centre. The proceeds from this fundraiser go to the Beaumont Rotary Foundation, Inc. which provides the financial support to the Club's service projects.
Tickets will be distributed to members on Wednesday, so you can begin selling them to your co-workers, friends and neighbors. Please plan to pick up at least one packet of six tickets at the "Wine Sales" table in the back of the Ballroom on Wednesday or visit the Rotary office at your convenience.
We are asking for you to also consider becoming a sponsor of the event or arranging for your business to be a sponsor. A BIG thank you to those who have already done so! We appreciate your support!
The Committee would love to make this our most profitable Wine Down With Rotary yet, and they are working hard! Won't you please support this fundraiser with your sponsorship or by purchasing a bundle of tickets?
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ROTARY AFTER HOURS
Amacate Tortillia Bar opened their doors to Rotary on Thursday, August 22 and Rotarians filled the room with conversation and laughter! Such a fun time with friends and members alike. Thank you to Amy Dansby for organizing and hosting the event. And a BIG shout out goes to Andre Glassey, who welcomed us to the restaurant and provided appetizers in the fun atmosphere. A gracious thank you goes to the waitstaff, all of whom were kept busy throughout the evening.
Don't miss the next Rotary After Hours, tentatively scheduled for Thursday, September 19, location to be announced. While that's not the 4th Thursday of the month like we usually schedule "After Hours," it allows a little more time before "Wine Down With Rotary."
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Lee Freeland
August 27
Stephanie Roberts
August 27
Kevin Roy
August 27
Chelsea Tipton
August 27
Leslie Harrison
August 29
Anthony Toups
August 29
Ann Scoggin
August 30
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PROGRAM REVIEW
August 21, 2019
"An Electoral College Education"
Chase Untermeyer
Former Director of Presidential Personnel and Former Ambassador to Qatar
by Chuck Heare
The Electoral College was an invention of the 1787 Constitutional Convention. The founders of our country trusted its people to a degree, but they were also concerned that the election of the very powerful office of President would be fair and representative of the whole country, not just the highly populated regions of the country. They designed the Electoral College to achieve the sense of the people, not the will of the people.
Therefore, when we vote for President, we are actually voting for the electors of our individual state to vote for the President in our place. There are 538 electors, which is the result of 435 House members, 100 Senators and 3 District of Columbia representatives in Congress. The total number of electors divided by 2 is 269, then if you add 1 to 269, you arrive at the number of electoral votes required to win the Presidency, or 270 electoral votes.
One result of this system is that a candidate can win the popular vote (the most number of total votes) and still not win the Presidency. This actually occurred in the 2000 and 2016 elections where the candidate who won the Presidency did not get the most number of individual votes, Bush in 2000 and Trump in 2016. The lesser populated states are better represented with this system in place.
Candidates must not just focus on the most highly populated parts of the country, but must also go to other parts of the country and campaign to assure they get enough Electoral College votes. In the 2020 election coming up, there are states that traditionally vote Democrat and states that traditionally vote Republican. Then there are "Swing States" that have voted differently the last few elections. These are the states the candidates will focus on to try and win the swing votes: Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida.
In the 2016 election, Donald Trump received 306 Electoral College votes to 232 for Hillary Clinton, even though Clinton received some 2 million more votes in the election. An effort is underway to achieve an "Interstate Compact" in which state legislatures would agree to award all of their Electoral College votes to the presidential candidate who wins the national popular vote, not necessarily the candidate who won their state. At this time 15 states plus the District of Columbia have entered into this agreement representing 196 Electoral College votes. Congress would have to approve the Interstate Compact for it to go into effect, and this probably cannot happen before the 2020 election.
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