March 12, 2026 Notes by Noros Martin
On this beautiful North Central Texas afternoon at 12:05pm the weekly meeting of the Rotary Club of Wichita Falls was called to order by President Cara as she struck our bell to get our attention.
David Hartman came to the front to provide a wonderful invocation. Thank you, David, as always, for your inspiring words. David Spencer came forward as we all joined together repeating in unison the Pledge of Allegiance and then sang “You’re A Grand Old Flag”. Gosh, we all sounded great as we sang today!
A couple guests were introduced today. President Cara introduced her son and John Mayfield’s wife. We are glad you all were our guest and hope you all will come back in the future. You all are always welcome to be our guest.
During the Sunshine Report we were asked to remember John Deason in our prayers in his speedy, successful, recovery from recent surgery.
President Cara auctioned off a wonderful, fresh baked, homemade cake and a nice size portion of homemade jelly. Thanks, Carla Dowlen, for the goodies you made and brought to our meeting. It helped put some more money into our Rotary coffers. John Mayfield presented his wife, Debbie, with a Paul Harris pin. Good job, John and congratulations, Debbie.
Our program was quite different today. It was a zoom presentation about Melanoma. It was presented by Steve Fine, Founder of the Melanoma Education Foundation. Mr. Fine told us that the Foundation is a 501c3 and was started in 2000.
While anyone can develop melanoma, some people have a higher risk than others. Your risk of melanoma goes up if you have:
- A lighter natural skin color.
- Blue or green eyes, blond or red hair
- Many moles
- A family history of melanoma.
- Spend a lot of time outdoors without using sun protection.
- A week immune system.
Caucasians and men older than 50 have a higher risk of developing melanoma than the general population.
He told us that we should learn how to check our own skin for the sign of changes in our skin. Preforming a skin self-exam means taking note of all the spots on your body, from moles to freckles to age spots. Skin cancer can develop anywhere on the skin and is one of the few cancers you can usually see on your body. Common areas of interest for females is their legs, and for males, the upper portion of their bodies. This was a very informative program for all of us and we all should have learned something from our presenter today.
The program was adjourned at 1:00 and with all of us standing and reciting the Rotary 4 Way Test.