ROTARY MINUTES
June 4, 2026
Well, it was a beautiful day, June 4, 2026, with the semi-coolness of May still hanging on. President Cara cracked the bell sharply at noon, and we all rose to our feet to hear one of the most stirring prayers that Dr. Hartman has ever prayed. He reminded us that we are indeed stewards of our earthly blessings to include small animals that fly around and have the ability to manufacture honey. While we were standing Pres Cara led us in the pledge to our great country and the many blessings we receive each day, and also, she led us in singing “It’s A Grand Ole Flag.” Even Noros sounded good. Prayers were lifted up for Past Pres Lisa’s husband, Jim.
There was a financial landslide in the “Bragg Bucket” today. Penelope, Cara’s daughter; Ryan got accepted into the doctoral program; Dr. Dave got folks graduating from North Texas Univ.; Ann reminded about the Art Walk at 5:30 PM; Past Pres Monica is a four-time Grandmother; and Past Pres Noros reminded us to sign the 2X4 for the new home that Will’s group is building for folks.
President Elect Greg then brought forth a new piece of legislation for board meetings, and after a thorough exam of ideas the majority ruled to accept the new by-law amendment. Unlike California the votes were counted immediately.
Pres Cara reminded us to get our reservations in for the “Change of Command” on June 18, 2026. There is a $30.00 fee for guests. After this, Pres Cara introduced Josh to introduce today’s program.
Hasn’t Josh done a magnificent job in selecting programs this year, and the two previous, if I’m not mistaken? Today was no exception either. Today’s speaker was Judge Kerry Roach who was known by everyone in the room, but some may have not known of his exceptional ability to create honey to sell from bee-hives. Josh did a wonderful introduction, Judge Roach attended Stamford and Oklahoma for an economics degree, then went on to get his law degree at Texas. He’s practiced law in W.F. for 44 years and retired in 2016. Interestingly, on Christmas before his retirement Chris, his son, gave him a book, “Beekeeping for Dummies.” Chris lives in San Francisco and Clay, son #2, lives in Seattle. He and his wife, Sharon, have been married for 58 years and they have 5 grandchildren.
To hear the genesis of his honey gathering was hilarious. Once he decided to try it out, he ordered bees in January and received them 3 months later. He picked them up in his Tahoe and was driving with his wife with 20,000 bees in the car. Here it is years later and his bee family is uncountable, and he is now one of the key spokesmen for beekeeping in this area. Judge took us all the way back in history, with bees being in Spain and Egypt in Pharoah times. The Pilgrims brought bees to this continent in the 17th Century. There is only one queen per hive, and the different duties for each kind of bees in the hive was very interesting. The Judge covered the topic thoroughly with his wonderful power-point presentation. He closed with the fact that in 1970, Africanized bees from Brazil invaded the United States and this is a bee problem. It was a great and educational presentation, and it made me go out and buy a bottle of honey.
President Cara reminded us of the blood drive Thursday, June 18th at 10:30 AM, and then closed us with the Four Way Test.