Stories

I want to propose a new member, what do I do?

  Link HERE for the instructions on how to propose a new member for our Rotary Club. (Note: This link is currently under construction, Check with a Club officer for this information.)

 

What forms need to be turned in to propose my new member?

  Link HERE for the forms necessary to fill out when proposing a new member. 

 

Do we have any information about Rotary that I can give my prospective member?

  Link HERE for Rotary Basics information packet for prospective and new members. 

The 4 way test, prayer, Greeter or pledge list is now accessible by clicking on the Rotary Symbol provided below. Please check the list to see if you are scheduled to lead or greet at a future meeting. If you will be absent on the day that you are scheduled, please contact Page Michel [page@brenhamtexas.com] , or 979-836-3695.                                                                        "No one can make you feel inferior without your consent". – Eleanor Roosevelt

If you need to makeup a meeting, you can go to one of the links listed here for eClubs.

www.recswusa.org

 

 

 

 

 

LONG STORY SHORT – “WHAT’S ROTARY”

 

We could never learn to be brave and patient, if there were only joy in the world.

An optimist is the human personification of spring.

The date of the December Board meeting has been moved up to December 3.

Ken Starr, President and Chancellor of Baylor University to be the guest speaker at Rotary Thursday Dec 5th.

 

Topic of his presentation is "Texas our Texas."

With the cool weather in the air, the Holidays are just around the corner. Our Christmas Party is scheduled for December the 12th. We will have the party at Must Be Heaven along with the Brenham Club this year. Catering by Design II. Party begins at 6:00 pm. You may register on line by clicking on the Christmas Party under Events on the left column of the website. or by clicking on the link here. Please  register or Decline before 12-06-13 so we have a good idea of attendance. You may send in a check or pay at one of the meetings before the party.

In the afterglow of Demolition Derby, I’m left with a warm and fuzzy feeling about our club, and what we do for our community. It’s not the first time. After each of our Derbies and Bike Rides, I am always newly inspired!

Our Demolition Derby is unique for bringing the community together -- we get such a wide assortment of humanity that would not otherwise come together.  I often hear comments of amazement about our diverse crowds in the stands, and how well everyone gets along. Much like a football game, there is common ground for camaraderie during the event, regardless of a person’s walk of life.

The community’s involvement is also demonstrated by the multitude of volunteers who work at Derby. Of the 156 workers onsite this year, far less than half were Rotarians! This shows a huge commitment to our event from the larger community, making our club a conduit for the community’s spirit of service.

Although our Bike Ride doesn’t require as many non-Rotarian workers, our whole community benefits from this event. The County is visited by thousands of Houstonians who are likely to come back and spend their money here.

At both events, Washington County is “on stage” to visitors, displaying its physical amenities and its warm, friendly atmosphere.  At each event, we get many comments about our welcoming hospitality and our well-organized management – people are impressed and delighted with what we do! Attendees and non-Rotarian volunteers keep coming back because they believe in us, and they want to be part of it all.

From a more personal perspective, I always leave our events feeling newly connected to fellow Rotarians. Our club is great because we work so well as a team, and our events give us opportunities to bond and become even stronger as a positive community force.

For all these reasons, I’m very proud to be part of this club. We are accomplishing great things together. It may not be apparent when we sit in meetings each week, but we are making a difference in Washington County!

In Rotary service,

Sharon Brass

 

Date	Pledge	Prayer	4-Way Test
Oct 24, 13	Bob Clough	Jeanine Presswood	John Guillory
Oct 31, 13	Carey Council	Julie Rankin	Wayde Hamrick
Nov 07, 13	Gary Crocker	Matt Reue	Keith Hankins

Please welcome Amanda Thornton to our Rotary Club. Amanda is the Executive Director of New Beginnings Life Ministries. Please make her feel welcome and a part of our great club.

 

Our website and weekly bulletins have received a facelift! The new URL for our website is www.washingtoncountyrotary.org Please let us know how you like our new look. Our goal is to better communicate who we are, and how our club is unique, fun and effective.

We’ve also created a new hand-out for our guests. It is a small card to give them information about Rotary and our specific club. We hope the card will answer their questions and entice guests to join.

If you bring a guest during the next few months, be sure to let us know if they comment on the card they receive. Your feedback will help us determine if we should continue giving the cards, and if they need edits.

Many thanks for Ron Werchan for his work on the website, and Cindy Davis for her help and advice on the new bulletin format!

Washington County Judge John Brieden will be our Speaker Thursday August 15, 2013

 

 

                     Thursday, August 22, 2013 Chief Rex Phelps of the Brenham Police Department will be our Speaker.

Welcome new member Andy Hefferly. We are happy to welcome Andy as our latest addition to The Rotary Club of Washington County. Please make an effort to meet Andy and make him feel a part of Rotary.

Some birth dates are wrong in our ClubRunner® website. Please follow these directions to check your birth date.

You can find the website by 3 different ways:

1) Google (Rotary Club of Washington County), or

2) go to this link http://www.clubrunner.ca/Portal/Home.aspx?accountid=3957

3) You can also just click on Club Website at the top of this E-Bulletin, and that should take you to our web-site.

You then log in. If you have never logged in, or if you forgot your username and password, click on "forgot password", and enter your last name and email address, and your username and password will be mailed to you.
Once logged in, click on Admin in the upper right area. On the Admin Page, click on "Edit my Profile" in the upper left corner. Go in, check your date, and if wrong click on "edit" then change the date, and click save. That is all there is to it. Thanks, Ron Werchan & Cindi Davis.

 

                     

Dr. Henry E. Bohne, of College Station, will be guest speaker Thursday, July 25th at The Rotary Club of Washington County. Dr. Bohne will tell of his first-hand experiences at a Forward Operating Base in Afghanistan. His presentation will include information on Forward Surgical Teams and military medicine.

Be sure to put our fall fundraiser on your calendar: Saturday October 19th. This is an important event for our club and our community. We need all Rotarians to come out and help – there are far more jobs than Rotarians! You’ll have fun, and you’ll get to know your fellow Rotarians better. Watch for more news and announcements at upcoming meetings.

 

 

The new officers for the 2013-2014 year were installed on Thursday June 27, 2013. They are as follows:

 President – Jon Hill                                                  

 President Elect – Becky Bosse                                   

 Vice President – Brett Smith                                 

 Secretary – Pat McCauley                                           

 Treasurer – Wayne Hugo                                            

 Past President  - Tieman “Tee” Dippel

 Director Publicity – Sharon Brass                              

 Director Fund Raising – Bill Kaminer                        

 Director Club Administration – Melissa McCune*

 Director Rotary Foundation – Charles Gaskamp*               

 Sergeant of Arms – Cliff Fontenot                          

 Membership Chair – Page Michel                            

 Service Project Chair – Jana Ahlers                          

 *Not in Picture

 

Washington County Rotary Club donated $500 each to the Interact clubs of Brenham Christian Academy represented by Adviser Dr. Charlie Loyd on left, and  Brenham High School represented by adviser Lorie Kirts, and Interacters Katherine Lermus, and Rachel Weiss.

 

Receiving her Paul Harris Foundation award on June 30, 2013 at the regular meeting of WC Rotary Club was Silvie Bulcao, shown here with her Dad, Douglas Bulcao, and club President Tee Dipple.

 

 Receiving their Paul Harris +1 awards awards at the same meeting were Florence Julian, and Ken Korthauer  shown here with club President Tee Dipple.

 

 

President Tee Dippel accepts the 2012 - 2013 Presidential Citation on behalf of the Washington County Rotary Club. Presenting the Citation is District Governor Chris Schneider.

 

 

Thursday evening May 23rd the Brenham Rotary Club and the Washington County Rotary Club held a joint Dinner to honor Paul Harris Foundation recipients at  St Peters Episcopal Church Pictured here are the attendees who received Paul Harris Awards.

 

New Paul Harris Fellows are as follows:

Silveira Gareme Bulcao, Cliff Fontenot, Jane Fontenot, Wayne Hugo, Page Michel, Christy Schlottmann, Jill Vivroux, Ron Werchan.

Paul Harris +1’s are as follows:

Florence Julian, Sondra (Sandy) Kite, Ken Korthauer,  Jim Kruse, Don Voelter,  Rebecca Wellmann.

Paul Harris +2’s are as follows:

A. C. (Buddy) Krizan, Wade Seidel.

The School of the Dump in Chinandega, Nicaragua is supported by Rotarians. Jim Kite of the Brenham Rotary Club heads up the Hope and Relief International Foundation; a nonprofit organization formed to assist in building and maintaining schools and housing for the people of Nicaragua. Several villages have been built with the guidance and assistance of Rotarian volunteers. The "School of the Dump" gives children who live around the city dump in Chinandenga a chance by feeding and educating them. Several children who once were scavengers looking for something to eat in the dump are now College graduates or attending college as a direct consequence of the kindness of strangers.

 

Jim will be taking a group to Nicaragua on  July 31, 2013 and returning 7 days later on August 6, 2013. If you would be interested in going along, Information about the trip including itinerary, and registration forms are available here. This can be a life changing trip, and I would encourage any Rotarian to take it.

Links for INFORMATION  ITINERARY  SIGN-UP

      Together, our Club raised $7,680 and attained our goal of 100% participation from our members  to raise our portion of District 5890’s fundraiser for the Rotary Foundation. The Foundation Committee expresses its thanks to everyone for taking part in this important fundraiser. If you would like to make additional donations to the Rotary Foundation, please contact Charles Gaskamp or any member of the Foundation Committee.

 

 

Several donations were given April 4th by The Rotary Club of Washington County to local organizations, totaling $5,000. These donations were funded by the club's annual fundraisers, the Washington County Demolition Derby and Head For the Hills Bike Ride.

Tee Dippel, the club's president is on far left, presenting the checks. Accepting for their organizations, from left are: Rex Phelps of Brenham Police Department, Ricky Boeker of Brenham Fire Department, John Deans of Crime Stoppers, Trey Hardy of Brenham Children's Chorus, J.D. Young and Randy Wells of Faith Mission.

The weather cooperated and we had a great bikeride. The next day the wind was really blowing, we got lucky. Good cool weather is good for word of mouth advertizing for next year. Thanks to everyone who helped to make this event a success! Check out more images on our facebook page http://www.facebook.com/RotaryclubWC.

 

Congratulations to Kirk Hamilton from Katy Texas who won the Raffle for two days in Brenham. Included was two nights at the Ant Street Inn, two tickets to Horseshoe Junction, two tickets to Unity Theater, two tickets to Westwood Cinema 6, $120 voucher for meals at local resturants, and a selection of locally produced products including ice cream, coffee, salad dressing, and wine.

Kirk is seen here accepting his prize from Tee Dipple, President of the Washington County Rotary Club. Thanks to all who entered the raffle. The money is used to support local charities in the Washington County area.

Welcome to new member Michael Pittman, Administrator Scott and White Hospital, Brenham.

 

 

 

 

 

Terry Zeigler presenting  Washington County Rotary with a Certificate of Appreciation from the Rotary Foundation for our participation in the "Rotary $200 Million Challenge. President Tee Dippel accepting.

photos from the District Grant project with Boys & Girls Club that took place Saturday Feb 16!  Rotarians worked this past Saturday to remove the existing roof structure.  Now a contractor will come in to rebuild a metal roof.  Once completed, a Rotary Day at The Club will be held to dedicate the new gazebo and Rotarians will be involved with the day to day operations and volunteering with the kids at the club.  It will be a great day......once the date is set, We will add the info here.

                                            

     Have a smart phone? Download a QR scanner app, and scan this QR code to go directly to our website.

Remember when you were a "Red Badge" and you only knew one or two members? We have several new members, and in an effort to make them feel welcome and a part of the club, we are trying a new seating program. Look for Red Badge markers at the tables, These reserve a seat for a new member. Let's make an effort to sit at one of those tables and get acquainted with our new members. This is also a chance to get acquainted with some of our Blue Badge members by getting out of our "comfort zone."

 Facebook Click here and "like us" on Facebook

 

It's over! And by all accounts the 2012 Derby was one of our most successful events yet.

For pictures check out our Facebook page.

The Pledge, Prayer, 4-Way Test List for the near future is listed here. If you are unable to attend on the date that you are scheduled, please find a replacement and let Becky Bosse know.    becky.l.bosse.h6rf@statefarm.com

DATE	PLEDGE	PRAYER	4WAY TEST
05/30/13	Charles Gaskamp	Phillip Fenton	Wayne Hugo
6/6/13	Becky Bosse	Tee Dippel	Lynne Holder
6/13/13	Ricky Dickson	Jana Ahlers	Kevin Hill
6/20/13	Ash Patel	Gary Crocker	Jon Hill
6/27/13	Carey Counsil	Bob Clough	Christie Schlottmann
7/04/13
7/11/13	Florence Julian	Douglas Bulcao	Becky Bosse
7/18/13	Pat McCauley	Melissa McCune	Joseph Greenberg
7/25/13	Tom Brazzel	Sharon Brass	Clarence Giles

Congratulations to Richard Neal shown here receiving his Paul Harris award from Hal Machat.

The end of this month (June 2012) marks the close of Rotary’s Challenge for polio eradication.  Through the hard work of Rotarians around the globe, the Rotary Foundation has raised over $200 million, six months ahead of schedule, in response to $355 million in grants from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.  And this was accomplished during the worst global economy in years.  This is Rotary’s third major fundraising campaign for polio eradication; the previous two campaigns were in 1985 and 2003.  The fundraising goals were met and surpassed in those campaigns, but donations to the Foundation’s Annual Fund decreased.  This time donations to the Foundation’s Annual Fund increased during the challenge, and we were able to raise this additional money for polio at the same time.  This was achieved in part due to getting the community involved – Rotarians working with local leaders, holding pancake sales, swima-thons, bike rides – you name it, it’s been tried.  Per Rotary Foundation Trustee, John Germ, chair of Rotary’s $200 Million Challenge Committee, “We could not have done this without the tremendous support of individual Rotarians around the world”.  Now that we’ve reached this milestone, we need to build on our success by promoting the final push to end polio and continuing to raise funds until the world is certified polio-free.                       -excerpt from article in the June 2012 edition of “The Rotarian”

You can link to one of the following Eclubs to makeup a meeting. They are listed on the right side of our website below  Birthdays.

www.recswusa.org

Terry Ziegler, District 5890, just received some good end of 2011 news from our Rotary Foundation.  As of November 30, 2011, District 5890 is #1 in our Zone in giving to the Annual Programs Fund of The Rotary Foundation for this Rotary Year!  Better yet, our contribution is up 107.7% compared to this same time last year.  Please refer to the District Clubrunner website for more information on the breakdown of APF Goal amounts by club in this district, along with the year to date total paid by each club.  You will find Rotary Club of Washington County included in this list.  The website address is:

www.clubrunner.ca/5890/                                                       submitted by Terry R. Ziegler

The Rotary Club of Washington County donated $5,000 to local non-profit organizations last week. Accepting the donations from left to right are: Melissa McCune for Boys and Girls Club, Dr. Buddy Krizan for Rotary House at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, J.D. Young of Faith Mission, John Deans of Crimestoppers, and Ed Triem for Habitat for Humanity. At far right is Jim Kruse, the president of the Rotary Club.

 

 Bank of America is offering a credit card that will benefit our club, and the Rotary Foundation.

 

The Object  of  Rotary is to encourage and  foster the ideal of service as a basis of worthy enterprise and, in particular, to  encourage and foster:

FIRST.  The development of acquaintance as an opportunity for service;

SECOND.  High ethical standards in business and professions, the recognition of the worthiness of all useful occupations, and   the dignifying of each Rotarian’s occupation as an opportunity to serve society;

THIRD.  The application of the ideal of service in each Rotarian’s personal, business, and community life;

FOURTH.  The advancement of international understanding, goodwill, and  peace through a world fellowship of business and professional persons united in the ideal of service.

 

Which leads to the Four-Way Test of the things we think, say or do:

 

IS IT THE TRUTH?

 

IS IT FAIR TO ALL CONCERNED?

 

WILL IT BUILD GOODWILL AND BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?

 

WILL IT BE BENEFICIAL TO ALL CONCERNED?    

 For an additional fee of $30, you can have your license plates personalized with the Rotary Emblem. More than 70% of this money goes to support Rotary. This fee is in addition to your normal license fee.

To order the Rotary plates, click on this LINK.