The Rotary meeting of August 17, 2023 was called to order by President Barry Bondurant at 12:10pm sharp. He invited Nancy Blinn forward to lead us in prayer and the pledge. Unfortunately, Nancy was not available so in true Rotarian form Dr. Sal Capuli stepped forward and filled in to lead us in prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance. Kathleen Smith accompanied us on piano as we sang God Bless America. (With Kathleen accompanying us, we always sound better).
President Barry then invited our “Greeter” for the week, Sally Hopper, to come and introduce visiting Rotarians and Rotarians with guests. She greeted us all. We had two visiting Rotarians from the Arlington Sunrise Club with us; Will Ross and David Acharya. Sally called on Rotarians who had guests to introduce their guests. Darius McCall who was sharply dressed as usual served as the roving microphone reporter for all of the Rotarians who had guests and he was busy. Jim Quick has as his guest, Ira Childress, an associate Athletic Director for UTA. Gloria Pena had her two nieces visiting from Maryland. Gloria is giving these two young ladies a great introduction to Rotary. They joined Gloria at Webb Elementary to hand out sharpened pencils for the first day of school. They will be heading home soon to begin their school year on August 28th but what a joy to have prospective, next-generation Rotarians at our meeting. Randy Hendricks had as his guest Keisha Washington with the Leadership School of Texas. This is the third meeting that Keisha has attended and she is looking like a great candidate for becoming a Rotarian in the near future. Kurt Bartley had as his guest the speaker for the day’s program, Dr. Eileen Clements but he refrained from giving her full introduction. He did introduce her associate Lisa Miller who is in Business Development at UTARI. (More on all of that later).
President Barry continued the meeting by also welcoming all of us and thanking us for providing a ‘full house’. He then invited any Rotarians with announcements to come forward and present their announcements. While those Rotarians came forward, President Barry shared a few announcements of his own. Barry reminded us to continue to sign up to be leaders in the prayer and pledge and to be greeters. Both of these opportunities can be achieved online. President Barry announced the upcoming Rotary Board Meeting (which will be done by the time this goes out so don’t try to attend). Red Badge members should make a point of attending a Rotary Board Meeting and lunch is served so please let President-Elect, Vera McKissic know when you intend to attend a Board Meeting. President Barry then called up Past President, Victoria Farrar-Myers. He shared that at the Synergy Summit hosted by the Rotary District which was held last weekend, our Club (and a lot of other clubs too) received a special award for End Polio Now. He presented the flag to Past President Victoria. There was a slip of the tongue by President Barry about “end Rotary now” … but it was just his way of checking to see if we Rotarians were paying attention. And President Barry learned quickly that we were listening and agreed to End Polio Now but Rotary should go on indefinitely. Susie McAlister made a heartfelt and very timely announcement about Rotary and our service above self. She spoke about the recent, devastating fires in Maui, Hawaii. She shared an “aloha” message to the Rotary Club of Maui with a QR code for donations. The donations will go straight to those in need and to our fellow Rotarians on the island who are aiding the citizens during this crisis. I am certain the QR Code can be found in this edition of the Hubcap, if not, please seek it out on the Rotary website and act accordingly. Bill Daley followed Susie and echoed her sentiment. Bill shared that the Lahaina Club recently (within the last few weeks) celebrated its 53rd anniversary.
Stacy Bridger came forward to announce the upcoming Field of Honor celebrations which will be taking place on Saturday, September 9-16. She provided much information regarding the event. She urged us to attend but to also consider sponsorship opportunities. Stacy also shared that there would be an opportunity on August 26th for Rotarians and friends to join together in assembling the many, many American flags which will be on display during the event. There was information available or you can go on line to arlingtonfof.org.
Will Ross and David Acharya from Arlington Sunrise Club made an announcement regarding one of their service projects- HDNP, Inc. (Help for Desperate and Needy People). They have an upcoming gala on October 14th. This too is a worthy cause and Mr. Acharya gave a passionate explanation of the help already provided but of the great need that still exists.
The final announcement was a ‘housekeeping’ announcement by Clete McAlister regarding submitting pictures, articles, and information for the Hubcap. Clete reminded all of us that the Hubcap is completed before Clete goes to bed on the Sunday evening prior to our weekly meeting. The meeting reminder is also completed and submitted by Sunday evening prior to the weekly meeting. Please note this if you desire to have anything included in the weekly Hubcap. (A note from this reporter, I know that I am typing faster than normal to get this report completed… I am not certain what Clete’s bedtime is on Sunday evenings but I do not want to be late!)
President Barry called Sally Hopper forward for a special Paul Harris Presentation. Sally recognized Pat Conner as a Paul Harris +3. Sally reminded us of the importance of the Paul Harris Award and we all honored Pat with a standing ovation for her Paul Harris +3 award. Well done, Pat!
Don Mebus came forward to lead us in the song of the week, the song of the summer and according to President Barry the song for months into our future… “The Good Old Summertime”. As is his custom, Don led us in singing with much enthusiasm and then had us sing a new, Texas version. I am not certain if the copyright has been issued on this version but I am certain we have not heard the last of it.
Sally Hopper recognized birthdays and anniversaries. There were three birthdays to recognize; and birthday checks from Deborah Coppola, Dan Blumberg, Brian Anderson and LeeAnne Chenoweth Lawson. We sang Happy Birthday to the Rotarians present. Sally recognized Rotarians Chris McMurrough (4 years) and Bill Coppola (11 years) on their anniversaries of service above self.
President Barry invited Kurt Bartley forward to introduce the program for the week UTARI (University of Texas at Arlington Research Institute). Kurt introduced our impressive speaker, Dr. Eileen Clements. She has multiple degrees, has received multiple honors but most importantly she is raising her two children here in the metroplex and has invited her parents to become Texans too. Dr. Clements shared with us that UTARI was established in 1987. The program is part of UTA but the research lab is not located on the Arlington campus. It is located at 7300 Jack Newell Boulevard S., Fort Worth, Texas. I give the address because Dr. Clements invited us all to tour, visit the labs at any time. She is very proud of the work done at the research facility and stressed her desire to make connections between the full-time research staff at UTARI, the UTA students at UTARI and the business community throughout the metroplex and the world.
Currently, some of the various projects being worked on at UTARI include: drone use in controlling feral hog populations, a program to perfect or teach perfection of a golf swing, and seat cushions to aid persons confined to wheelchairs to avoid pressure point sores. Dr. Clements presented a wonderful presentation. She took the time to answer questions from the Rotarians present and stressed again that UTARI is about ‘connections, connections, connections’- connecting business with research experts, connecting UTA students with entrepreneurs and foundations with a desire to support research innovation with the research projects. She provided us with a booklet with further information and also invited us to not only visit the research facility but to consider hosting a meeting (they have a facility that could host up to 100 persons) at their facility.
President Barry presented a book to Dr. Clements which will be donated to the library at Webb Elementary. He also asked her for more information on the golf-swing research.
Kris Landrith came forward for a last laugh. A collective breath was held as Kris began his story with Ellen and he had been to dinner with friends and they discussed role-playing… just be quiet and read the rest of the Hubcap. IF you want to hear the last laughs, come to the Rotary Meeting.
President Barry thanked everyone for attending. He welcomed Kathleen Smith back – she really does help us sing better and her smile always lights up the meeting. He reminded us about our meeting next week- Books on Wheels. President Barry then led us in the Four Way Test and he dismissed us with the ringing of the bell at 1 pm sharp. So, until next time, this is the way it was on August 17, 2023, at the Rotary Club of Arlington.
Barry's Bulletin
