President Stacie called the meeting to order and asked Dr Dave Hartman to offer the invocation. Dave very appropriately used this time to reflect on the sacrifices made by so many that enable us to enjoy a Memorial Day holiday. Following the prayer, Stacie led us in the pledge and then we sang “Thank You for Being a Friend” in the style from the Golden Girls sitcom theme song.
Afterward we greeted our fellow members in our usual fashion and introduced the visiting guests for the week. Bill Miller’s son, Bill Miller was visiting along with Ms Mary Helmick, the guest of Alex Pappas and Carol Murray introduced Nancy Brown.
We had no birthdays for the week and for the Sunshine Report Stacie reported that John Deason’ mother-in-law had passed away. President Elect John Mayfield informed the membership that a memorial service for the young pilot that was fatally injured in an aircraft mishap on May 13th at Sheppard Air Force Base will be held the day after Memorial Day, May 28th at First Baptist Church. There will be a 21-gun salute and a 4-aircraft flyover performing the missing man formation following the service.
For announcements, we were all reminded that Memorial Day is our first flag day and Andy asked that Flag Captains review the number of flags they have on their trailers for any extra flags as some teams will need more flags this year. John Mayfield then took a few moments to let the membership know that committee preference sheets had been distributed and he encouraged the members to sign-up for committees they would be interested in serving on for the coming year.
The Brag Bucket came out next with Carol at the helm. Walter Coppage shared that he had the honor of riding in the Santa Rosa Roundup Parade in Vernon and reminded everyone that he is a candidate for State Representative District 69 and spoke briefly about school vouchers. Benay gave an update on the Liberty Swing for Rotary Park indicating that the final payment had been made and the swing was being shipped from Australia. The Liberty Swing allows children in wheelchairs to experience the joy of swinging in the park. Unlike traditional swings, it is specifically designed for wheelchair users. James Hughes bragged that he had two daughters that each celebrated graduations and Lance Spruiell bragged on Kenny Weeks for coaching his granddaughter’s softball team, the Holiday “Red Hots” to a championship this year. Lance also indicated his grandson’s baseball team, the Holiday “Bombers” also were on top in their league.
Stacie then introduced Mr Tim Short, Mayor of Wichita Falls as our speaker for the day. Elected in 2023, Short is the 42nd Mayor to serve the city. He spoke about the several topics where his focus resides beginning with the relationship between the community and Sheppard Air Force Base. The mayor indicated that half of all Air Force personnel come through Sheppard. He highlighted the SMAC (Sheppard Military Affairs Committee) as the link between the city and the base which provides an annual $3.2 billion in economic impact to the community. Sheppard was established in 1941 and has grown into the most diverse training installation for the Air Force. They provide technically trained airmen and combat pilots for the NATO alliance.
The mayor reported that a group of city leaders just recently returned from a trip to the Nation’s capital where they met with Texas representatives. He indicated the trip was long overdue he will push to restore these annual trips to D.C. The leaders who recently visited returned with news of the potential that Sheppard will pick up five more Air Force school houses that would also benefit the local community as the base flourishes.
He then went on to say the Chamber of Commerce is in great shape and he briefly discussed the economic development sales tax funds that are designated for specific types of projects to promote the city’s growth that are known as 4A and 4B monies.
The mayor then switched to the downtown area of the city which he said continues to grow fueled with the addition of numerous affordable apartments. The mayor indicated these are quite popular with MSU students.
He also highlighted the two new high schools and said these are the type of things that attracts new businesses to the area. He also pointed out that the gauge that businesses use when relocating is commuting time and in Wichita Falls you can be most anywhere in about 12 minutes – and that’s even during rush hour!
Mayor Short wrapped up his remarks indicating the city would be re-looking at lake levels and the Stage 1 drought restrictions. He indicated that the day that the lakes rose to a level that would have taken the city out of the watering restrictions it was also 95 degrees so he hopes that continued rainfall and runoff will increase the lake levels. He then spoke about the Lake Ringgold project saying that numerous water alternatives were explored for the city but the lake is the only viable option. He said the city is going through the permitting process now with the Army Corps of Engineers who are next in the approval chain. These approvals, if issued, will give the City the authority to start construction of the lake reservoir. This entire process could take 15 to 20 years to complete. Even with this timeline, the Mayor indicated that we are building this lake for our grandchildren and he does not want to say years from now that we should have taken action when we have a plan in front of us now.
After responding to several questions from the members, Stacie presented the Mayor with our usual speaker’s gift of a donation to the Wichita Falls ISD Foundation and then she led us in the Four-Way Test followed by our adjournment.