President Stacie Cook rang the bell to kick off the meeting at 12:03 p.m., followed by the invocation by Dave Hartman. Cara Sauceda led the club in the pledge of allegiance and the song, “Edelweiss." During the tune of "R-O-T-A-R-Y," we mingled and greeted one another.
During the Sunshine Report, Stacie Cook informed the club that former member and Past President of our Club Tim Powers passed away Monday, August 21st. Steve Priester announced that Arnold Oliver had fallen and had to go to the hospital. He is at home now, but he is recovering from COVID at this time. We were all excited to see that Glenn Tole was present at the meeting today.
We had a profitable Brag Bucket this week. Carol Murray took some money from Noros Martin for giving away tickets to the Old High Rider game. Will Goodner was excited to announce that his oldest was off at UTA and is doing well. He also reminded the club of the new Habitat for Humanity build. Cara Sauceda announced the start of the new Interact Club at Dexter and that that kids are doing well. Meetings are at 3:45pm on Thursdays. Jake Munholland bragged about his two sons winning their indoor soccer championships. Kenny Weeks congratulated all the parents getting their kids back to school for the new school year.
Will Goodner then introduced Lisa Stephens-Musick for the Members Spotlight. Lisa gave a brief history of her life and how she ended up in the position she is in today. She started working at age 15 and learned many skills that she uses today. She spent some time in Houston, TX before moving back to Wichita Falls and starting at the Appraisal District. Today she is the Chief Appraiser at the Wichita Appraisal District.
We had the pleasure of honoring the August Youth of the Month this week. Cara Sauceda introduced Elijah Berry. Elijah is the 13 year old son of Samuel Berry. He attends City View Middle School where he maintains A’s and B’s. He is very active in school and at City Hope Church. He helps out with chores around the house. He as been described as one of the best members of the Boys and Girls Club. His plans are to work hard in school, earn scholarships, and become an Architect. We were honored to have him join the meeting.
For this week’s program, we had the pleasure of welcoming District Governor Pat Peters. She started the program explaining her history with Rotary and how she ultimately became the District Governor. She grew up in Austin, TX and while she was in High School she won a scholarship from the Austin Rotary Club. Her perception of Rotary was that it was just a bunch of businessmen in suites. Fast forward about 30 years her daughter participated in a 4 Way Test Contest. However, it was not until she moved to Decatur to run the public library were she became active in Rotary. She was invited to the local club in Decatur, joined the club, and very quickly she was elected as the club Secretary and President. One event that she was very passionate about is RYLA. She participates in this program regularly. Through all of her training and being active in her club she learned so much about Rotary. All of this led to her becoming the District Governor for the 2023-2024 year. She is very excited to be DG this year with the current President’s focus for “Creating Hope in the World.” The service projects focus on promoting peace and can be found on the Rotary International Website. There is also a lot of focus on the youth with programs including RYLA, Interact, and the Rotary Youth Exchange Program. She ended the program with a few announcements for upcoming events. The District 5790 events can be found on the events calendar on your phone app.
Following the program Lisa Stephens-Musick delivered the Rotary Minute. She reminded the club that the Rotary Motto is “Service Able Self.” There has been a decline in volunteerism over the last few years but as Rotarians we need to continue to step up and volunteer. The meeting ended with the four way test.