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.
Bertron T. Brown, MD has been serving the Southeast Texas community for more than 26 years. Brown is a graduate of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, Texas.
He completed his internship and residency at Louisiana State University Medical Center, Shreveport, Louisiana. Brown is board-certified in Internal Medicine.
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Head Table for April 10
Invocation:
Bailey Wingate
Attorney
Wingate Law PLLC
Pledges to USA & Texas Flags:
Mark Hall
Resident Director
Merrill Lynch
Introduction of Guests:
Hannah LeTulle
Sales & Marketing Specialist
Beaumont Independent School District
Introduction of Speaker:
Dana Timaeus
Managing Partner
The Timaeus Law Firm
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 Lynn Hill at 409-781-3291 or lynnhillbd@gmail.com.
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CALENDAR OF ROTARY EVENTS
(Club events & opportunities for meeting makeups)
APRIL
12
Neches River Festival Parade (please see article below)
23
Board of Directors meeting, 11:45 a.m. at the Art Museum of Southeast Texas (please make reservations by Friday, April 19)
25
Rotary After Hours, 5:30-7:00 p.m., poolside at the MCM Eleganté
26
Service project at Ubi Caritas, beginning at 1:00 p.m.
27
District Training Assembly, 9:00 – 3:00, New Caney High School; for incoming club officers, board members, and all interested Rotarians
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ROTARY GOES TO SCHOOL: Stop the Summer Slide at Martin Elementary!
Promoting literacy is one of Rotary's Six Areas of Focus, and Beaumont Rotarians will again "Go to School" at Martin Elementary to focus on literacy!
According to research, students without access to books during the summer months fall behind in reading when compared to those who have easy access to library trips and books in their homes. Martin Elementary administrators are keenly aware of that fact, and they are eagerly having us back this year to work with the same group of students who were first graders last year when we started this project. With several years of data gathered after following the same students until 5th grade, we are hoping Martin Elementary students will have increased reading scores with the increased emphasis on summer reading. Then we will know with certainty that "Rotary Goes to School with Summer Reading!" is a successful effort to help our local young scholars to overcome the summer slide!
On Friday, April 12, a group of Rotarians will assist all second grade students at Martin Elementary School while they select books for their own personal home library to encourage reading this summer.
Do you want to help? We will work at the school this Friday, April 12, from 8:30 until about Noon or after we have assisted 100 second graders. Please click on this link: "ROTARY GOES TO SCHOOL"and let us know you will help. There will be a sign-up form at the meeting on Wednesday also or you may email admin@beaumontrotaryclub.org or see Chair of the project, Rob Glassey.
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Looking for Volunteers!
The annual Neches River Festival parade will take place on Friday, April 12 in downtown Beaumont, and we are looking for all those who would like to represent the Club in the parade to join us!
There will be some walkers ....
and there will be riders! And there will be plenty of room for everyone!
Ty Coudrain will be driving his truck with those who would prefer to ride. If you would like to ride in the truck bed, please bring a folding chair. We will have lots of candy to toss to the crowds of spectators. This is a great public relations event when we are able to get the Rotary brand out and about town! Please plan to join us!
Check-in begins at 5:30 pm at the corner of Pearl and College. We will begin to line up at 5:45 pm and the parade will start at 6:30 pm.
Please let us know if you plan to take part. Sign up HERE.
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Guest Tickets Needed
On April 17, we will celebrate the achievements made by the Interact Clubs we sponsor and announce the two Rotary Scholarship recipients. We will have a large number of students, some parents and the school counselors and Interact advisors as our guests that day. If you can spare a lunch ticket or two to accommodate these guests, please donate at the Wednesday meeting. There will be a donation spot at the lunch line or you can give your donation to Jacque or Brenda at the back tables.
Your generosity is a significant help to the Club budget. Thank you!
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At a recent meeting, local Boy Scout William Bryan asked Rotarians for donations for the homeless in Beaumont which will help him complete his Boy Scout Life Project. He is working in partnership with Matityahu Homeless Ministries and requests your donations by April 10. Many were generous and brought a good amount of items he can use. If you were not able to attend last week or perhaps forgot to bring your donation, please remember to do so this week if you would like to assist him and give to this worthy effort.
Items needed:
blankets
jackets
sleeping bags
tents
socks
t-shirts
2-3 button pullover shirts
toiletries: soap, deodorant, toothbrushes, toothpaste, wet wipes, lip balm, hand lotion, hand sanitizers, etc.)
Wet Wipes in large packages
canned goods (soups, chili, beef stew, etc.)
slightly used shoes
gallon-size ziplock bags
dog or cat food
Items may be brought to the Rotary meeting on April 10, or you may bring your donation by the Rotary office (Suite 213, Eleganté hotel) before Wednesday.
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Rotarians from the "good ol' days" will remember that the Club used to publish a photo directory once a year in print form. Members would keep their directory handy on a bookshelf in a handsome 7.5 x 9-inch binder with the word "Rotary" clearly printed in gold down the spine.
Lucky for you, we still have several dozen of these binders and they will be given to anyone who would like one! Though we don't print the directory any longer (it's out-of-date before it can be put into the binder!) you might have other uses or just want to replace the one you used to have. If you are interested, give the office a call 409-842-1913 and one will be saved for you, or pick one up at the next meeting you attend.
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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.
Sharen Kirksey
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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Norma Sampson
April 12
Chuck Heare
April 14
S. L. Greenberg
April 15
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PROGRAM REVIEW
April 3, 2019
"Shriners Hospital for Children-Galveston"
Lisa Court
Director of Donor Development
Shriners Hospitals for Children
by Chuck Heare
Shriners Hospital of Galveston was established in 1962 to treat children with burns and severe skin conditions. It has become the premier burn treatment center for children in the world. It sees, on average, 145,000 children per year, and its motto is "Restoring Childhood to Children."
Ms. Court told us the faster a burn patient is brought to treatment at the hospital, the better their chances are for survival and recovery. The hospital has doctors who are leaders in the fields of acute burn injury treatment and rehabilitation. The hospital is equipped and staffed to treat acute burns and perform reconstructive surgery for healed burns and severe scarring and deformity to the face. It has a skin tissue bank in house which supplied 750 square feet of skin in 2017. Amnion from the placenta acquired during a C-section is particularly good for hands and face. All of the skin in the bank currently comes only from donors.
Children from birth to age 18 are treated at the hospital regardless of their ability to pay. A child that receives burns to 90% of their body is faced with 45 days in the hospital and possibly years of plastic surgeries, laser treatments and physical therapy, depending on the severity of the burns. Sometimes children are also affected by adverse reactions to medication causing blistering and peeling of their skin. In rehab, they try to get the children up and moving as soon as possible and they make a concerted effort to make it fun so the children will keep at it.
The hospital also has a Child Life Department and a School Re-entry program to help pave the way for children to get back to normal everyday life. Ms. Court gave us a number of examples of children who had gone through treatment at the hospital and gone on to lead productive, happy and in some cases, famous lives. An example is Kechi Okwuchi, one of two survivors of a plane crash in Nigeria in 2005. After over a hundred reconstructive surgeries, Kechi learned that she loved to sing during rehab, and was good at it. She competed in the America's Got Talent competition in 2017 and was a finalist.
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