Vice-President Cara Sauceda rang the bell and started the meeting at 12:04 pm. David Hartman led the invocation in the way that only he can. Arnold Oliver led the club in the Pledge of Allegiance and in singing ROTARY, that spells “Rotary”.
There were no visitors or guests today and no birthdays.
Nothing was reported for the Sunshine Report this week.
Rotary’s storage container will be gone through, and some things will not be saved. Check with Andy if you think would like to help look and see if we need to save any items of our history.
The Brag Bucket had Shirley Craft bragging on Cara Sauceda’s promotion at the Boys and Girls Club and Monica Horton bragged on Noros Martin being forward thinking and bringing the Better Business Bureau to Wichita Falls so many years ago, and for hiring Monica. Thanks Cara and thanks Noros.
Today’s member spotlight is on John Deason. John and I are friends and are on the same flag team and I learned much more about John today. John was born in Olney and raised in Petrolia. In high school, John ran a backhoe working in the oil fields that paid enough that he drove an El Camino. John has 3 brothers and 1 sister and a close family. John is married to Laurie, and they have two grown children and 2 grandchildren. John has retired from the trucking business after 42 years. Hal Strother brought John into our Rotary Club in 2002. Thanks John.
Lance Spruiell introduced our Youth of the Month, Haylee Maxwell. Haylee is 13 years old and is in the 8th grade at McNeil Middle School. She attends the Southwest Boys & Girls Club. Congratulations to Haylee.
Benay Ayers then joined with John Deason to present a check for $5,000 to Terry Points, Parks Director for the City of Wichita Falls to add more improvements to Rotary Park. John and Benay have worked with Terry and the City of Wichita Falls to bring Rotary Park to where it is now and where it will be when the next swing is added, soon. When people like Terry, John and Benay decide to make a difference to Rotary Park, it happens.
Josh Phillips introduced Becky Trammell with her program, Making Wichita County History. The Texas State Library and Historical Commission was created by the Legislature in 1909. In the middle of the Great Depression in 1936, the Texas Centennial Commission placed more than 1,100 markers and monuments around the state to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Texas Revolution and the establishment of the Republic of Texas. During the 1950’s and 1960's, pink granite monuments and grave markers were placed across Texas. The current Official Texas Historical Marker program dates to 1962. Becky referred to these as “History on a stick”. There are more than 16,000 state historical markers in Texas,
Becky Trammell then displayed a slide with images of important people and events in Wichita County.
John Hardin was a pioneer settler financier and philanthropist. He came to Texas in 1876 and to this area in 1879. Operating a store and owning extensive lands, he amassed a fortune and with his second wife, Mary, gave money for Hardin Junior College, Hardin-Simmons University, Abilene Christian College, Mary Hardin-Baylor College, and many others.
Charley Lee Coe was an oil field driller in Burkburnett in 1923 when a neighbor’s house caught fire. Charley worked his way through the smoke-filled home and found Arnold and David, ages 3 and 1) trapped in a bedroom. Arnold was saved, but David and Charley died in the fire. Charley was awarded the Carnegie Gold Medal and a pension for his family for his brave actions.
Charlye Ola Farris graduated from Booker T. Washington High School at age 15 as valedictorian and from Prairie View A&M College in 1948 at the age of 18. After a year of teaching, Charlye pursued her interest in becoming an attorney. Charlye received her law degree from Howard University in Washington, D.C. and returned to Wichita Falls to practice law, becoming the first black to actively practice law in Wichita Couty. At Howard University, her class worked on the landmark racial desegregation case, Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka.
Joseph Sterling Bridwell moved to Wichita Falls in 1909 and went into the real estate business. By 1915, Bridwell began buying, selling, and trading oil leases. Bridwell also had a passion for ranching. In 1940, he sold the government 300 acres for one dollar which helped locate Sheppard Field here in Wichita County. He founded the Bridwell Foundation in 1949 which funds many charities and universities.
On conclusion of the program, Cara explained that there will be a donation made to the WFISD Foundation in the name of Becky Trammell for speaking with us today.
After the Four Way Test, we adjourned.