August 23, 2010 Club Meeting Review
The meeting opened with Steve Owens extending welcomes to visitors and guests after the tradition of singing a song lead by Debbie McBride, reciting the pledge of alliance to the U.S. Flag and the Rotary Four-Way Test, and an invocation by Carlos Villagomez. Assistant District 5890 Governor Chris Schneider and Houston City Council member Mike Sullivan (photo shown with Sheryl Berg) were among the guests. President Coney provided the Club with interesting life facts about one of its members who was Roger Donnelly (Read more about Roger). He also announced District 5890 activities coming up: Family Night At The Astros Thursday Evening, September 9th; District Foundation Seminar, September 25th; and "Be A Friend" Dinner, October 22nd. Details on these events can be viewed on the District 5890 web site which can be accessed from the Club Home Page.
Roger Donnelly gave a boost to the "cell phone for soldiers" program by committing his unit of the American Legion to help fill up a pickup truck with used cell phones. Micki Czarnik briefed the members about the activities of the Women of Rotary. They have 12 members and are meeting for lunch on a regular basis. One of their fundraisers is the Sweet Table at the Shrimporee. "Big Shrimp" Mike Dennard, Shrimporee Chair, challenged the Shrimporee Teams with a gift certificate for wine tasting for 20 for the team chief who would be the first one at the Shrimporee Committee Planning meeting Tuesday night. Scott Rainey noted additional Shrimporee sponsors and reminded members to turn in their used cell phones for the "cell phones for soldiers" program.
Bob Wren, President of the Space Center Rotary Club Endowment Foundation, announced that a sponsorship had been approved for Mitchell Mardis (read more about the sponsorship in the article following the Club review). Past Club President Jon McKinnie made some belated awards; to Steve Owens, the "Service Above Self" award and to Mike Hesse a Plaque of Appreciation and a Paul Harris Fellow.
John Branch introduced
Mary Wood and Patsy Gillham
, Directors of Plastic Pollution Texas, who made a presentation on proposed Texas Bottle Bill 2011. They noted that 11 states have bottle bills and a bottle bill was pending in 10 states. The Glass Packaging Institute, the Aluminum Association, and the Association of Plastic Recyclers support the bill. It was pointed out that if a bottle bill were passed that the amount of recycled containers would increase from 15% to 75% of units sold based on Texas beverages containers recycled in 2006. They concluded by noting the potential of additional revenue injected back into the Texas economy, the jobs gained in other states with a bottle bill, and the green house gases avoided by recycling. More information is availble on the Club's
Environmental Home Page
.