New President John Mayfield started our meeting with a solid gong to the bell at 12:12. The invocation was given by David Hartman with the Pledge and song by Cara Sauceda. Arnold Oliver and David Kelley had recent birthday celebrations and several Perfect Attendance Awards were made:
Andy Kocher - 18 Years
David Kelly - 10 years
Bill Miller - 17 years
Jackie Lebow - 25 years
Noros Martin choreographed the Brag Bucket starting with a Thank You to John for being this year’s Club President. Jackie Lebow stuffed the bucket with a generous gift to our club by a subscriber on their Flag Route. The Sheppard AFB paper recognized the scope of our club’s Fund Raiser Flag Program which is supported by many airmen at the base. Noros Martin announced his daughter’s award as a top realtor in Fort Worth and President John recognized Josh Phillips for continuing as Program Director.
We had a brief and very informative presentation on the Straight Street Program by JJ Schweiger and Angela Stahler. This group helps create a motivating Christian environment and programs for at risk youth, 11-18 years. The rates of crime, suicide and other deleterious issues for this group is surprisingly high. JJ said there are over 100,000 gang members and 10,000 gangs in Texas alone. Over 79,000 children are sex trafficked. Programs to help these young people are funded by a number of programs.
President John then listed several Club Goals for 2024-2025:
· Increase membership from 65 to 70
· Reach a contribution goal of $18,000 for the Rotary Foundation
· Complete 3 Service Projects with at least 50 club members participating
· Start an Interact Rotary Club at the new Memorial High School
· Plan at least 6 social events for our club
· Develop a New Member Sponsorship Program
· Have 5 club members participate in Rotary Leadership Development
· Encourage more participation in “Every Rotarian Every Year” Program
· Remind club members of the matching Polio Plus / Rotary Fellow opportunity in our club.
The 2025 Rotary International Convention will be held in Calgary, Alberta, a convenient 4-hour flight from DFW. Calgary is a beautiful city and Banff NP is only 90 minutes west on Hwy 1. Plus, Yoho NP is just across the provincial border in British Columbia. Numerous nice golf courses in the area to make the trip even better. Western Canada is quite pretty country.
John rang the bell at 1:05 and that completed the meeting.