West U Rotary Happenings for the week of February 14

Posted by Greg Faldyn 
on Feb 16, 2016
 
A brief history of Valentine's Day
 
This week's speaker - Davis Adams: Houston Commercial Real Estate Market
 
This month's 21st Social - Heart and Soul at the Ensemble Theater
 
 
 
West U Rotary Happenings for the week ending February 13, 2016 ….
 
Happy belated Valentine’s Day to everyone. Contrary to the belief by some that Hallmark or American Greetings conjured up the holiday - the origination of Valentine’s Day has a considerable historical significance. Historians trace the origins of Valentine’s Day back to the ancient Roman Empire. The Romans celebrated the holiday in honor of Juno – the Queen of Roman gods and goddesses. The celebrated event – the Feast of Lupercalia paired young men and women for at least the duration of the festival and often for the entire year. I guess you could say Valentine’s Day and blind dating started about the same time. Rotary clubs around the country celebrate Valentine’s Day. The Rotary Club of Wimberley hosted the annual Smooch event and this week our District hosted two Valentine’s events. University Area Rotary hosted their first ever Firefighters Home Gala and Rotary Community Corp (RCC) hosted an evening of dinner, dancing and auction. “Sir Mix-a lot” Frank Parrilla spun the records and one of our members “the social butterfly” will be going on a photo safari to South Africa with her husband – as winners of the auction.
 
 
Last week, our special guest was Joseph Arabit – Special Agent in charge of the Houston DEA. What an interesting presentation! Joe presented a thorough description of our drug trafficking problem in Houston. The statistics were hard to believe and the activity in this city and surrounding areas is frightening. Houston, yes we do have a problem.
 
This week, Davis Adams (notice the last name) – Houston Managing Director of Holliday Fenoglio Fowler will present an overview about the Houston commercial real estate market. The market has changed a little in the last few months so we are all interested to hear from the experts about the Houston market.
We have several events and activities coming up in the next few weeks. Here is a brief list of the upcoming activities:
  • February 20th – Books for the World book sorting
  • February 21st – Monthly social at the theater – Heart and Soul at Bayou City Concert Musicals with dinner to follow at Piola’s – see Sharon Williams for more details
  • March 12th – Strike Out DIPG Bowl-a-thon tournament at Palace Lanes. We have a few teams participating. See Paul Cornett for details.   
  • March 15th – Veterans Care Packages at Sheltering Arms (we will be collecting toiletry supplies each Thursday leading up to the packing event). See Chad Spencer or Craig Friou for details.
  • April 12th – West U Senior Services Breakfast
  • April 18th – our annual golf tournament at River Bend Country Club benefiting the Emergency Aid Coalition (EAC).
Words of “wisdom” to think about this week:
  • Confucious say:
    • Man who stand behind car get exhausted
    • Man who stand on toilet, high on pot
    • Man who stand in front of car get tired
We are still looking for a few volunteers. If you are looking for an opportunity to get more involved in our club, here are a few positions you should consider:
  •   Are you an early riser? We are looking for someone to assist with the set up and take down for the club meetings. This is an important club position without a big time commitment.
  • Are you interested in participating as a Board member for the West U Rotary Foundation? We will be electing new Foundation Board members in March.
Please let me know if you are interested in serving in any of these important positions.   
 
Have a great week. Peace!
 
Greg Faldyn
West U Rotary Prez