Notes From January 15, 2026 by Jake Munholland
President Cara rang the meeting to order at 12:05, then called up David Hartman for the invocation. Benay once again played DJ for the song of the day, which was “This Land is Your Land.” Following the song, we had a round of Rotary and greeted our fellow Rotarians.
After that, we got a little bit out of order, as Noros jumped right into the brag bucket There were several brags for the week made by Jon Dearolf, Noros, Jeff Spoeri, Walter, and Ann. Jon’s brag was to the MSU men’s and women’s basketball team for their support of the Miracle League kids. Noros tried to piggyback off that and brag on the “Sheppard World Champion” soccer team, only to be corrected by Jeff Spoeri that it was the MSU Men’s soccer team that won the National Championship. Jeff mentioned the championship parade that is scheduled for Sunday, January 25th at 2pm. They are looking for sponsors for the parade to help cover the cost of the championship rings for the team. Sponsorship levels start out at $500. If you are interested, please contact Jeff Spoeri. Walter bragged on his PSA levels then Ann’s brag was for the art exhibit on display at the Boy & Girls Club.
President Cara then tried to get us back on schedule by acknowledging our visitor for the day, Debbie Bigot, who is the owner of Annie Jewelry & Charlies in Wichita Falls. She was the guest of Noros and a potential new member.
For the Sunshine report, President Cara mentioned John Deason, who is now home recovering from surgery. Please remember to keep him in your thoughts and prayers.
President Cara then called on David Hartman for the Youth of the Month presentation. The club recognized Jade Causey as the January 2026 City-Wide Youth of the Month. She is very involved in school, church, and the Boys & Girl Club. Jade is a very bright and impressive young lady and an easy choice for the award.
Next, President-Elect Greg made an announcement about the 2026/2027 club election ballots that were on everyone’s table. President Cara then announced that the Service Excellence Award committee was having a meeting at 5pm on Thursday, January 15th at Mike Saville’s house, and the Membership committee was having a meeting on Tuesday, January 20th at the Wichita Falls Brewery. She also reminded everyone about the challenge for 100% club participation in donating to the Rotary Foundation in the month of January to celebrate the club’s birthday.
This week’s program was the presentation of the Outstanding Citizen Award and Dave Hartman was called on to start the presentation. Dave was trying to stall so that the PowerPoint presentation could be shared with the audience, however they were unable to show the presentation, so they emailed it the membership after the meeting. Dave called up Braden Wood and Sheldon Wang to help announce the winner as our very own, Noros Martin. The acknowledgement came as huge surprise to Noros, who was visibly moved by the recognition. Following the standing ovation, Noros was surprised again by the attendance of his family members who were there to celebrate the honor with him. The members of the Outstanding Citizen Committee were Braden Wood (Chair), Sheldon Wang, Chip Filer, Dave Hartman, and Roland Ramsey. They passed out pamphlets that were made to commemorate Noros and some of his outstanding contributions to our community. Dave Hartman then decided that he would take some time to roast Noros, since his accomplishments were already being recognized. He spoke about how Noros reminded him of the mighty David who was small but still stood up for his beliefs, even in the face of the mighty Goliath. After the roast and recognition, Braden presented Noros with the award and mentioned that Noros was nominated 4 different times by 4 different people. Congratulations Noros, you are an outstanding member of this community and club!
President Cara then closed the meeting at 12:37 with the Four Way Test and rang the bell.