It Happened Last Meeting
by Carey F. Walker
The weekly meeting was called to order at 12:00 pm by President Vera McKissic. Joyce Stanton offered the invocation and led the Pledge of Allegiance. Everyone sang a beautiful rendition of “God Bless America”. Visiting guests and visiting Rotarians were introduced by our greeter, Judith Scott. President Vera reminded us to report volunteer hours and to sign up to lead the prayer and pledge and to be a greeter.
The following announcements were made:
- Kurt Bartley informed the club of the upcoming 2025 District Training Assembly on April 26, 2025from 8a.-3pm. The club will reimburse 25 members for their attendance fee.
- Jock Bethune announced the Medal of Honor Museum Gala to be held on March 22, 2025, at the museum.
- LouAnn O’Donnell reminded us of Shakespeare Live, a free event to be held at the Levitt Pavilion. The performances are April 3-5, 2025. For more information, please visit www.shakespearelive.org.
- Derrick Kinney let us know that our club will be distributing water in Dallas from 7-8:30 pm.
Judith Scott made the transition from her red badge to a blue badge. Her presenter was Kurt Bartley. We all need to congratulate Judith.
Mac Martin led us in the singing of “Blue Skies”. Mac informed us that the song was written by Irving Berlin in 1926. Willie Nelson recorded this song in 1978, and it became a #1 country music hit.
Sally Hopper announced Rotarians with anniversaries and birthdays. Celebrating birthdays were Kurt Bartley, Chad Bates, Joyce Stanton, Clyde Godfrey, and Bonnie Harris. Celebrating anniversaries are Benjamin Harris and Pat Connor. Sally received birthday checks from Kurt, Joyce and Bonnie.
Randy Hendricks announced the program for today. The program was presented by Trent Ballard, Airport Manager of the Arlington Municipal Airport. Trent has been with the airport since 2014 and began in his current position in 2021. Trent has held City positions as Airport Maintenance Technician, Airport Operations Supervisor and was Assistant Airport Manager from 2016 to 2021. Trent has a bachelor’s degree in aerospace administration and Operations from OSU and a MPA from UTA.
Trent said the goal of the Arlington Municipal Airport (AMA) is to become the corporate airport of choice in the metroplex. There are fourteen airports in the metroplex that support general aviation. The airport currently has twenty-two businesses, employing 900 employees with an annual impact of 236 million dollars. The airport provides over 52 million dollars in wages and benefits to the employees.
The businesses are engaged in aircraft sales, services, storage, flight instruction, research and flight testing. Bell Helicopter-Textron has a facility at the airport. Additionally, E-Space, a telecommunications startup founded in 2022, has plans to develop manufacturing at the airport that would provide a huge economic impact with more than 2500 direct and indirect jobs.
Arlington Air Center provides fueling, catering, heated hangars, meeting room, sleep room with showers, pilot’s lounge transportation, and repairs. The Air Center employees 28 staff members. The City of Arlington purchased the air center in April 2024 and now has a monopoly on these services. The city has a net revenue of approximately one million dollars annually from these services.
Trent indicated that the federal government controls all the airspace in the United States. The Federal Aviation Administration controls all flight patterns, and the air traffic controllers are responsible for directing aircraft flight patterns. The airport must never close. The city does not have authority to ban any type of aircraft and cannot set a curfew.
The airport is constantly involved in outreach to the community. The airport allows field trips, discovery days, and has special events such as historic aircraft tours. The airport is hosting Barnstormer Saturday on March 29, 2025, from 9am-3pm. This event is free to the public with free parking. Visitors will have the opportunity to see the Bell V-280 Valor on display and be able to ride an historic aircraft.
Vera presented a book to be placed in the Webb Elementary Library in honor of Trent Ballard. The last laugh was provided by Kris Landrith.
Next week’s program will be Julie and Jeff Williams- Taste Project Arlington.
The quote for this week: “The air is the only place free from prejudices”. – Elizabeth “Bessie” Coleman.
Vera thanked the special guests and everyone else for coming. She then led us in the Four Way Test, and we were adjourned.
