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 23, 2019
"End Polio Now!"
Arne Almquist
End Polio Now Chair
How did Rotary International become involved in the effort to eradicate polio? Do you know? Can you answer that question to potential donors or to a potential new member who is curious to know? Now is your chance to learn about how Rotary became involved in the worldwide effort to rid the world of a dreaded and deadly disease - polio. When polio is eradicated, it will be only the second time in history that a disease that has crippled and killed many will be eradicated.
"This film (Dare to Dream: How Rotary Became the Heart and Soul of Polio Eradication) gives Rotarians and non-Rotarians, the back-story to the incredible decision to eradicate polio. Audiences will be astounded to learn that the Rotary Foundation was not involved in the early days of polio eradication, that the public health community was not interested in eradicating single diseases, and that several prominent Rotary leaders were vehemently opposed to Rotary getting involved with service projects on a global scale.
Yet three successive RI Presidents along with a few other extraordinary Rotary leaders pursued a grand vision and eventually overcame all obstacles in setting Rotary on a course that, more than thirty years later, is set to achieve the most incredible public health victory the world has ever seen."
Perhaps you attended the Club's meeting on October 24th last year when we showed the full-length version of this movie. This year, we will show the edited version, made possible by PDG Chuck Mason. "With the help of a new benefactor of the movie, Zone 21B End Polio Now Coordinator and Arch Klumph Society Member, (and newly named Dare to Dream Producer) Chuck Mason, we have recently completed editing two new versions of the movie." - from Big News About Dare to Dream, a blog by Ken Solow, District Governor, 2015-2016 Rotary International, District 7620.
Come enjoy the edited movie and remember to bring your donation to End Polio Now to feed to Marco Polio. If you would like to make a larger donation and have your gift matched by the Club bring a check to make sure the donation is noted with your name so together it can be donated to the Rotary Foundation for End Polio Now, matched with club recognition points, and move you closer to earning a Paul Harris Fellow.
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CALENDAR OF ROTARY EVENTS
(Club events & opportunities for meeting makeups)
OCTOBER
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
20
No meeting - Thanksgiving holiday
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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.
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WOULD YOU LIKE TO GO TO CAMP?!
Perhaps you've only heard about it ... or perhaps you've attended before ... either way, Rotarians are invited to participate in District 5910 RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership Awards) Camp!
Whether you would like to go for the full three-day experience, or can only go for a small part of a day, you must sign up/register to take part. New volunteers planning to participate in the entire event are required to arrive on Thursday, January 9. Please:
a. go to the District 5910 website (Rotary5910.org);
b. click on Youth/Young Professionals tab found in the white area at the top of the page;
c. on the drop down menu, click on RYLA;
d. go to to left column, under Links, and click on 2020 RYLA Volunteer Registration.
There is no charge for adult volunteers but you must be registered through this online link. If you need assistance, phone the Rotary office at 409-842-1913.
Get registered, and then get packed to go to camp!
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Meet the Newest Rotarians in our Club!
With much excitement, President-Elect Cindy Cherry introduced and President Joe Domino welcomed four new members to the Club.
Meet Virtue Alexander!
Virtue is the Director of Sales at InterMountain Managment now after having served as Director of Sales for 14 years at the MCM Elegante Hotel. Before her entry into the Hospitality Industry, she was in customer service at Conn's Appliances and was membership director for the Greater Beaumont Chamber of Commerce. She is married to Arthur Alexander and Rotarian Amber Clark is one of her three grown children. Virtue loves to sing and dance but it sounds like it will take some coaxing to get her to perform for us!
Meet Allen Ayres!
Allen Ayres founded and is President of Compassion Healthcare. He is a Lamar University graduate with a Bachelors in Nursing and an MBA. While working to get Compassion Healthcare started, he was a professional photographer and still enjoys photography as a part-time profession and hobby. Allen loves to cook and barbeque, competing professionally!
Meet Kim Huber!
Kim Huber, known to some as Kimber, was born in Jasper, Texas, and earned her BA from Lamar University. She formerly owned a small retail business, and is currently District Manager for Maddison Outdoor Media. Kim's favorite hobby is beach photography, and she has had her work published in the local beach magazine. Not to soon be forgotten, Kim and her husband Ernie were married in Las Vegas and she rode every rollercoaster in Vegas while wearing her wedding gown!
Meet Sandra Whitmire!
Sandra Whitmire was born in California and lived there for 30 years. She moved to Texas in 2017, stopping off in San Antonio before she found her way to Southeast Texas. She calls Silsbee her home, and she loves being involved with the activities of the Silsbee and Beaumont Chambers. Sandra put her years of education to work as a Nurse consultant and Infection Control nurse and now is the Manager of MedExpress Urgent Care. She loves crafts, making stained glass, cooking and spending time with friends.
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Thank you to the Rotarians who helped on Saturday, October 19 at the CASA Carnival! We send a big thank you to Service Projects Chair John Lee for organizing the Rotary volunteers.
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It is always a pleasure to share the notes and good wishes that are sent to the Club.
First, a thank you was sent by Charlton-Pollard Elementary for the work we did on the N.E.S.T. project there in September.
This thank you came from Family Services for the work a group of Rotarians helped with post-Imelda at the Women's and Children's Shelter.
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Post-Imelda wishes for recovery from Bath Sunrise Rotary in Bath, Maine.
At Wednesday, October 16th meeting, we had guests visiting from the Lafayette Club. Rotarian Joshua Savoie, a member of the Lafayette Club traded banners with President Joe Domino.
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Last Call!
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.
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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.
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Cheryl Bilyeu
October 21
Roy Huckaby
October 24
Chad Mason
October 28
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PROGRAM REVIEW
October 16, 2019
"The Levingston Shipyard Builds Legacy"
Paul Mattingly
Author
by Paula Bothe
Our speaker, Paul A. Mattingly, Jr., received two heartfelt introductions to the club. First, his good friend of many years, Michael Wolf, provided a brief chronicle of Mr. Mattingly’s family association with Southeast Texas and A&M. The second was by Mrs. Mattingly who introduced several members of speaker’s family and numerous published authors in attendance at the meeting including Ellen Rienstra.
Mr. Mattingly is the author of “Orange to Singapore.” He began his remarks with a salute to the Four Way Test and the Rotarians who live by it. He then proceeded to provide an overview of his book and the legacy of the Levingston Shipyard legacy. According to Mr. Mattingly, the company began on a five and a half acre tract in Orange, Texas. The company with the “Can Do Spirit” grew into a worldwide operation named Far East Levingston Shipbuilding. Now known as Keppel FELS Singapore, the company operates more than twenty shipyards all over the world.
Among Mr. Mattingly’s remarks was his humorous revelation of how Cecil Beason abandoned his ambition to become a doctor and instead became the creator of the Cajun workforce by teaching the workforce how to speak English. His hard working and talented Acadiana team was recruited from Beaumont to the state of Mississippi and consisted of 7,000 “purebred” Cajuns.
Mr. Mattingly’s fact packed speech included mentions of prominent influencers in the growth of the company that included Henry Weiss, founder of Humble Oil that later became Exxon and Edgar Brown of Orange who was the driving force behind Levingston in its early days. The company’s other contribution to America include the revolutionary earth science ship, the Glomar Explorer which is famous for its work as a CIA operative instrumental in the sinking of the Russian sub, K-129. Mr. Mattingly also revealed that the Glomar Challenger had one of the first microcomputers, which revolutionized integrated circuit silicon chips and reduced the cost of such chips from $25 each to $1.25 each thus enabling the creation of the personal computers now in common use.
The dynasty that began in the 1970’s became the largest builder of offshore rigs in the world with more than 33,000 employees.
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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.
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If you attended Wine Down With Rotary and lost a pen with some 
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