West U Rotary Happenings for the week of April 17th

Posted by Greg Faldyn 
on Apr 19, 2016
 
Historic Day in Houston and for West U Rotary
 
A Special Matching Donation Opportunity
 
District Conference Just Around the Corner
 
West U Rotary Happenings for the week of April 17, 2016 ….
 
Is there anyone a little tired this morning? Anybody wake up around 3 AM to the torrential downpour? Well, for West U Rotary this was literally a historic rainfall. Not just because we received approximately 8” of rain in just a few hours, not just because it fell on tax day 2016 but most importantly because it caused our very first cancelation (delay?) of our annual West U Rotary Club charity golf classic. The proceeds from this year’s tournament go to the Emergency Aid Coalition (EAC) and the West U Rotary Foundation. This was our 20th anniversary of the golf tournament and to go 19 straight years without a rain out is impressive! Also impressive was the amount of rain that dropped from the sky in such a short period of time – some have estimated it to be approximately 225 million gallons of water in Houston alone. As Houston dries out hopefully in the next couple of days … we will determine if there will be a rain make up and we will calculate the proceeds of the tournament. Huge thanks go to Bob Geary and Geoff Lanceley for 19 years as the dynamic duo in organizing our annual event. Also thanks to Dee Ullrich, Carol Lester and all our club members and friends who participated on the committee or donated towards the tournament. Please note, it is still not too late to contribute towards the golf tournament. Please make all donations to the West U Rotary Foundation (c/o golf tournament).  
 
 
But April is not just about our annual golf tournament. It has been a busy month for us but we still have a number of additional activities – volunteer opportunities and socials coming up this month and those activities are listed below.  Thanks again to all of our club members who have volunteered this month.
  • It is baseball season and with baseball comes the Challenger League dugout duties. We have 2 remaining games this season: April 24th and May 1st. Please join us in the dugout to serve up some tasty dogs, cold beverages and snow-cones or join us in the stands to cheer the kids on.
  • April 21st – our monthly social at the Brooklyn Athletic Club – games, beverages and dinner – located at 601 Richmond. Come out and join us for a fun evening. Don’t miss out, come on our and enjoy some time with your Rotary friends.
  • April 22nd – April 23rd – Lamar FFA / Horticulture / Culinary show and auction. Each year, we support the FFA program and we continue to support them again this year. Several of our club members will attend the auction on Saturday.
  • April 28th – May 1st – Rotary 5890 District Conference in Galveston. There are several fellowship opportunities available while in Galveston.
    • Tentative dinner and historic homes tour – details to be announced soon
    • Visit to the Galveston Seafarer’s Center
    • Hospitality Suites – West U in partnership with CyFair are hosting the wine suite (there will be several other hospitality suites as well). So plan on joining us each evening for lots of fun.
    • The District has also planned a couple of service projects
      • Educational supplies for Parker Elementary School
      • Community Blood Drive with Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center
Last week, our guest Kim Sawyer – Executive Coach and Facilitator discussed The Technology of Celebration. What does it mean to celebrate someone or something? Kim presented new perspectives and alternative ways of thinking about celebration.
 
This week, our special guest is Andrew Gustafson – Curator of the Bryan Museum in Galveston (something else to do while in Galveston). The Bryan Museum presents the history of Texas and the western part of the US. Andrew will provide information about the museum and the history of the artifacts.
 
Remember a couple of weeks ago when we had the ladies from the Rice 360 program. They are doing some amazing things to “Innovate for Global Impact.” An anonymous donor has pledged up to $5,000 in matching donations for anyone in the club who makes a donation to the Rice 360 program. If you want to support this organization and have your donation matched dollar for dollar please see me for details on how to make that donation.   
 
Let’s end this week’s message with something a little different. Don’t you enjoy trying to decode those vanity plates messages? Here are 3 plates, have fun solving. One is pretty easy and the other 2 require some thinking. (Answers next week)
  • DOOZPD (Leslie will appreciate this one)
  • B4DKCME (Kerry and Stephen should get this one)
  • AUYLOKS
Have a great week. Peace!
 
Greg Faldyn
West U Rotary Prez