The 2019 Guntoberfest raffle was held at the October 31st meeting. 416 of the 500 tickets were sold. This is one of our major fundraising events of the year. Money raised by this event will be used to support various charities.

 

 

The Installation dinner for the 2019/2020 year was held at the Bank of Brenham. Thanks to Jim Kruse for providing that venue.

The new officers for the upcoming year are President: William grote, President elect: Lowell Ogle, Vice President:  John Turner, Secretary: Kathleen Schwarze , Treasurer: Daphne Kohring, Sergeant at Arms Barbara Wilganowski and Past President: Brice Milliorn.

This year the start for our bikeride moved from Chappell Hill to Brenham High School and the WC Fairgrounds. This meant that we had to re-route the ride. Some of the routes were new, but portions of the route were on the same roads as the old routes.The bad weather held off with the exception of a few light sprinkles, but mostly the weather was near-perfect: cloudy cool and light winds. The big new thing for our ride this year was the affiliation with the BPMS150 ride. We got "Recommended Ride" status which meant that we were listed on the BPMS150 website as a Recommended ride. There are over 12,000 riders on the BPMS150 and that means they all had an opportunity to find us through that website. We don't have the final figures, but we had around 1200 riders. Many had never ridden our ride and we heard a lot of positive feedback from riders. Attached are some photos from the ride.

 

At our meeting on July 12, Jim Kite gave us an update on the situation on Nicaragua where the country is in crisis. As a result of years of corrupt practices by president Ortega, he has angered the elderly, the students, the business community and even his own party. over 300 people have been murdered during peaceful protests by Ortega's men. As a result, the whole country's roads have been blocked off and no trucks or shipping can bring supplies into the country. Some supplies can be flown in, but can't be distributed because all major highways are blockaded. As a result people can't get medical treatment and many who already live hand-to-mouth are starving.Jim says that we can help by sending money that can be wired-in so that basic foods can be purchased from local farmers within the country and distributed through back roads in small pickups, off of the main highways to people who need it. This can be done through the 501C3 organization Hope and Relief International that Jim and other Rotarians set up several years ago to help build schools and hospitals in Nicaragus. If Rotarians Want to help they can send money to Jim payable to HOPE AND RELIEF INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION 10700 Gerke Rd, Brenham, TX 77833.

For more information on the crisis: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-44779257

For the third week in a row, local charities receive donations from the Rotary Club of Washington County. Some of the money that we raise goes to the Rotary Foundation which is used to fund projects throughout the country and the world. One of the projects that Rotary International is involved in is the eradication of Polio. We are down to under 10 cases in the world this year!

Rotary President Paige Michelle is shown here with representatives of local charities. To the right of Paige Michele is: John Hill Representing BISD Foundation, JD Young and Randy Wells representing Faith Mission, Disabled American Vets represented by Commander Robert Squyres, Miracle Farm represented by Gena Wilimitis, and Rotary House represented by Charles Gaskamp

One of the main missions of the Rotary Club of Washington County is to serve our community by supporting non-profit charities. We do that by volunteering, and raising money to support many of our local charities. This year, The Rotary Club of Washington County raised $56,375 for charities in Washington County. Shown at the 5/31/18 meeting representing their organizations with a symbolic check presented by our President Page Michel are left to right: Rosellyn McIver,Brenham Children's Chorus; Paige Michel, President of WC Rotary; Debbie Forland and Neil Krebs, JAM Ministry; Craig Borchardt, Hospice Brazos Valley; Leslie Wood,Unity Theater Summer Camp; Stephanie Wehring, Boys and Girls Club; and Steve Miller, of the Senior Center. We will have more recipients next meeting!

The Rotary Club of Washington County Texas received the Presidential Citation for the year 2016-1017. There are approximately 1,000 clubs out of the more than 32,00 clubs world wide that receive a Presidential Citation. Shown here accepting the award from Pat D.G. Eric Liu, Kurt Podeszwa, Past President for the 2016 2017 year.

 

	Adam’s Angels* BISD Foundation* Boy Scouts* Boys and Girls Club* Bread Partners Brenham Children’s Choir* Brenham Heritage Museum Camp for All* Clean Water Projects CPS Adoption Fair* Disabled Veterans Faith Mission Game Changers* Girl Scouts* Guerrero Eye Clinic Habitat for Humanity Here I Am Orphan Ministries* Heritage Society of Washington County		Hospice Brazos Valley Interact Scholarships* Job Partnerships-WC Main Street Local History Day* MBLA-DG* Miracle Farm* Morning Glory Ranch* New Beginnings* Nicaragua (Children of the Dump Scholarships)* Pink Angels Polio Plus* Project Graduation* Rotary House Senior Center of WC Teacher of the Year Award Unity Summer Camps* Volunteer Services Council WC Food Coalition*